Matt Gordon's Blog, page 3

Come Unto Me

The other night I had an indoor soccer game, and a state of maximum hydration forced a pre-game visit to the restroom. The facility I play in has a swimming pool and a workout facility, and I guess some swimming lessons had just concluded because there in the bathroom with me was a small boy exiting the shower. He was wearing some sort of super hero underpants—you know, the type little boys wear. He had taken a shower to wash the chlorine from his little pudgy body, and he bounded out and ski...

The Sun Came Out

This is the day The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

When I walked from my home this morning, a golden orb hung in the sky. It was a new, foreign thing and it brought with it another surprise—heat!

It has been a long, cold winter, and it only makes one delight even more in the cameo of the formerly repressed sun, and the beautiful affect it has—I only wore one jacket to work today!

And it is days like these—Gospel days in and of themselves—that can remind us that God...

Down to the Very Last Stone

I watched some curling yesterday. I like curling, and yesterday as I watched and cheered for the US Team to set up a decent block to protect the stone they had in the house in the Tenth End—yes, I had watched too much curling at that point—I realized why I like it more than, say, the Downhill Skiing. Sure, the Downhill is exciting—with skiers zipping along at break-neck speeds and cutting in knee-jarring angles down the treacherous path. But the Downhill is impossible—for me, at least. You se...

Recapping the Bill Nye-Ken Ham Debate . . . The One I Didn’t Watch

“Mr. Nye, you may now proceed with your opening position . . .”

The lanky science hunk loped to the microphone. Ecstatically the crowd—most of whom were flashing back to the sixth grade versions of themselves—chanted wildly, “BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!”

Nye calmly, almost scientifically, raised his hand to quiet them in order to dash their faith and kill their God, but it was no use, they chanted on, “BILL! BILL! BILL!”

“What can I say?” Nye grinned back at Ham and used his brainy brain make his sh...

Winds in the East: An Ode to Bob Reeves

Bob Reeves has officially announced his retirement from being a professional meteorologist. He will still predict weather, but he will do so pro-bono, at carnivals and family reunions.

Reeves’ journey into weather forecasting was anything but prophetic—actually, it was precisely the opposite, as he had formerly been employed, just out of high school, as a fortune teller. Tarot cards, palm readings, séances, craps (this last had nothing to do with his fortune telling career . . . he just had a...

Posers on Phony Wakeboards

Yesterday, I had to swing by the mall to pick up an item for a workmate. It was midday, and there in the entrance to the local mall were two middle-aged women. They were taking turns standing on a display featuring a wakeboard with a lake in the background. The display is one of those advertisement booths that one can pose on and have their picture taken. And that is just what these women were doing. I paused and acted like I had pressing business on my phone just to have an excuse to stand t...

Beautiful Thoughtless “Yes”

This morning I was at the office early when I stumbled upon some handy bit of magic. I had a meeting across town so I was grabbing my computer charger from the bottom drawer of my shelving unit, a drawer filled with heavy hardback books. I grabbed the charger and slid the drawer shut with my foot. It closed with a small thud and a wondrous side-effect—there, at eye level, four feet above said drawer, sits a collection of bobblehead figurines. Ten or so of the dead-eyed figures are from the TV...

The Beauty of New Friendship

Last night, I met a few new people and made a new friend!

Is there anything quite like the perfect truth of friendship?

The relationship began, as so many do, with a conversation. He asked me where I was from, and just like that, the magic of connecting commenced!

“I’m originally from Southeast Missouri,” I answered with a mouth full of Cheez-Its.

“Oh, yeah, I know that area well,” he said. “Do you know Ted Summers from down there?”

“Ted! Well, sure I know Ted!” I didn’t. I mean, maybe I did, but...

The Power (and Timing) of Love

I realized the most basic truth today. The epiphany was prompted by a few compliments I’ve recently received after offering some small kindness to someone (and if you know me, you know I’m a pretty hard guy to compliment, so I remember each rare one like a day at the sea!). The gist of the comment was this, “You have no idea how perfect the timing was . . .” or something to that extent.

I thought that maybe “timing” was my spiritual gift, my super power. Maybe God, or fate, or spirituality, or...

Onward Into the Night

I just had to send an embarrassing email. I’m speaking at a camp this weekend, and it is a return engagement for me—meaning I spoke at the very same camp (in the very SAME place!) last year.

I am also a man. Despite my wispy frame, this statement holds true. And with my burly—yes, burly—disposition comes an unrelenting hatred for seeking any sort of navigational help. I would drive around aimlessly, reassuring my wife that I know where we are, until the car sputtered to the side of the road, o...