Not too long ago there was a brief article by Liz Grimes which took only one thing for granted… This is a Christian culture?
I suppose that I could see how, on the surface, one might think so. What, with these Bible beaters throwing “Merry Christmas” down our throats at every turn. And true, the US probably does still rate one of the more modest television lineups when compared to the world at large. But puritanical values do not a Christian culture make.
The truth of the matter is that American culture is far from the values espoused in any sect of Christianity, and so many of the churches will tell you that off the cuff. As the social divisions become more and more apparent the truth behind our society rears its ugly head.
It seems that the lie begins sometime in the 1950’s when some people for the first time in their lives had disposable income, and the emerging TV media was there and waiting with a list of things that were needed in every American home. Somehow in that time purchases became synonymous with being a good, red-blooded, all-American W.A.S.P--the envy of every neighborhood. Mother and Dad and the kids dressed in fine things in the family Buick on the way to Sunday services. This is not Christian culture. Those are Christians living in American Culture.
Honestly I’m really not sure that the majority of people in the US could survive a Christian culture. Christ promises that life will be hard! And, that His followers will be ridiculed. By converse thinking, does that mean if you aren’t finding it difficult to fit into society then maybe you aren’t following closely enough? Being a Christian, a true follower of everything that Jesus stands for is one of the most difficult practices there is. I had a favorite Youth Leader of mine that used to quote, “Mmm. Bein’ a Christian. Ain’t for whimps!”
Unlike other religious beliefs, there is so much more to the faith than a simple doctrine of “reap what you sow.” Not a basic tenant, but it is truly only one facet of the belief. There are in fact two more basic, intrinsic and infinitely more difficult ultimate guidelines: Love God with all your heart and soul and mind (which is numbing in its possibilities—what things in this life or this earth do we truly love so deeply? What is our frame of reference for this deed?), and the other, Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Now, simply to discus in brief the last of these and, to ignore the idea of self loathing, how difficult is this simple phrase in practice?
I know from experience that it is tough to put even my spouse’s desires above my own. Though I love her more than any other person on earth, my first response is to defend myself in arguments, to place my needs above hers. It is a battle not to do so! And yet I do, and I know that she does the same. And yet, as difficult as that is, as hard as we work and talk and understand one another, here is a command from Christ to do that same work with EVERY one of my neighbors. And if you understand that the realm of neighbor could potentially reach out of your neighborhood and touch stores that we frequent, friends and relatives the list seems to spiral out of control—is it even possible?
This is a Christian Culture. One in which every single person puts ever other person ahead of their own desires. I know, much to my wife’s chagrin, that I fail to do that with her on a weekly basis, to say nothing of my actions to people outside my family.
The other point that is important to consider is that goodness will never equal a Christian heart. It actually saddens me that Christians and their habits are not more prevalent so that people are better able to identify Christian attitudes from ones that are simply “good.”
Christians are people who strive, each hour of each day (pray unceasingly!) to set aside their own wishes, to lay down their own selfish humanity and to take on the easy mantle of servant-hood, peace, and self sacrifice. Christians too should “live as gently as possible on the Earth,” if for no other reason than that God entrusted it to us as caretakers, it was given as a blessed gift for our sustenance. Any gardener knows you care for the garden or it gives you weeds you cant eat.
So, instead of reclaiming, seek to dis-claim. Instead of finding things that serve us, seek to serve. A Christian culture is something difficult, seemingly impossible without the miraculous affect of God’s presence. But it is surely not something that exists today except in the minds of those who simply do not have an understanding of what that would be like.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
a Christmas Presence
My wife and I had a discussion the other night about the reasons we trade presents at Christmas. There is the obvious I suppose. The tradition responding to the gifts that were given at that first infant/God birth. Him being the Gift from the Father.
But really it seems like our true motives are maybe a little less humanitarian? Or religious?
Really we give gifts because we want to feel good. We want them to like our present don't' we? I think maybe there is the chance that you saw something with a certain person in mind and got them something because you knew they would like it, but so often the giving becomes a burden and we are simply saddled with the obligation of finding SOMETHING to give these people.
Wouldn't it be great if the expectations of gifts were never present? You could say well I got you this, but I didn't;t see anything for you that struck me so I didn't get you anything!! Ha! That would be great. So much of the holiday revolves around the gifts.
My Good Mother like Thanksgiving more because it's the same family, and food with half the stress of presents and prerequisite obligations.
But really it seems like our true motives are maybe a little less humanitarian? Or religious?
Really we give gifts because we want to feel good. We want them to like our present don't' we? I think maybe there is the chance that you saw something with a certain person in mind and got them something because you knew they would like it, but so often the giving becomes a burden and we are simply saddled with the obligation of finding SOMETHING to give these people.
Wouldn't it be great if the expectations of gifts were never present? You could say well I got you this, but I didn't;t see anything for you that struck me so I didn't get you anything!! Ha! That would be great. So much of the holiday revolves around the gifts.
My Good Mother like Thanksgiving more because it's the same family, and food with half the stress of presents and prerequisite obligations.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Do you hear...
I thought this might be appropriate. If you are unfamiliar with the text it a Henry W. Longfellow poem, circa 1864. It was written just before the end of the civil war and the story goes that he had writen it over uncertain news about his son's life or death. It is always dire news for parents to hear about their war torn children, at Christmas only more so. Grace and Peace be us...
* * *
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet,
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Till ringing, singing, on it's way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth good will to men.
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the south
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth good will to men.
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent
and made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong
and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail,
the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men."
* * *
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet,
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Till ringing, singing, on it's way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth good will to men.
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the south
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth good will to men.
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent
and made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong
and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail,
the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men."
Monday, December 12, 2005
Friday, December 09, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Happy Shmolidays
Ok. Apparently this is the first year in the history of the world that people of different faiths have had to share the same season. Because that is all I am hearing about on talk radio. "Happy Holidays" is like the equivalent of saying "I'm a dirty bastard who wants to kill Jesus and all babies!" for some reason.
People... Please.
Relax.
First of all, I used to say Happy Holidays all the time to people. I always thought it just meant that you were covering Christmas and New Year in one foul swoop since they were so close.
Second, the month of December shares no less than 3 and sometimes 4 other holiday seasons. 5 if you count the pagans that celebrate Solstice. Although if you really want to get riled about something how about Kwanza? Which is probably the strictest kind of PC taboo o even bring up but honestly, how do you make up a holiday? I mean Halmark has been doing it for decades, but aside from them. The thing was created in 1966. I have an idea, how about Happy Dancing Fairy Day? It's a day to celebrate everyone's unique spirit. Huzzah. Who Cares?! Anyway. My point was that we have to share the month with all the religions. When the picked the day for Christmas way back when it was to be the same time as solstice to garner the pagan interest. So the Christians have only themselves to blame.
Thirdly, the worst possible thing is now happening. Christians who are on their high horse about the whole issue are turning it into some kind of game they have to win. Someone in a store says Happy Holidays, as they have been instructed, and the other person retorts, "Merry CHRISTMAS." Like that's not the snottiest thing ever. I guess there is a way to say it kindly, but most of the people who I have talked to are insistent on making a point of it. Yeah, way to keep in the spirit of the season jerk-offs.
The whole "controversy" is getting to be horrible. What we are ending up with is a ton of people who are resentful and bitter that the world exists. "For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men."
How about this. If people want to argue and snipe about what to say to each other. FINE. Let them. They want to stop every Christmas party in every school? Fine. It's a public school, shut your stinking mouth. You don't like it? Enlist in a private school. Can't do that? Then instill the values you want your child to have at home and shut the hell up about it.
I'm going to say Merry Christmas when I feel like it and Happy Holidays when I feel like it. And if someone happens to not be Christian--FINE. If they say so I'll wish them a happy whatever the hell they are having. I think that's more of an example of Christ's love than being a giant ass about it everytime somebody wishes you a good holiday.
"The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth, good will to men."
--H. W. Longfellow
People... Please.
Relax.
First of all, I used to say Happy Holidays all the time to people. I always thought it just meant that you were covering Christmas and New Year in one foul swoop since they were so close.
Second, the month of December shares no less than 3 and sometimes 4 other holiday seasons. 5 if you count the pagans that celebrate Solstice. Although if you really want to get riled about something how about Kwanza? Which is probably the strictest kind of PC taboo o even bring up but honestly, how do you make up a holiday? I mean Halmark has been doing it for decades, but aside from them. The thing was created in 1966. I have an idea, how about Happy Dancing Fairy Day? It's a day to celebrate everyone's unique spirit. Huzzah. Who Cares?! Anyway. My point was that we have to share the month with all the religions. When the picked the day for Christmas way back when it was to be the same time as solstice to garner the pagan interest. So the Christians have only themselves to blame.
Thirdly, the worst possible thing is now happening. Christians who are on their high horse about the whole issue are turning it into some kind of game they have to win. Someone in a store says Happy Holidays, as they have been instructed, and the other person retorts, "Merry CHRISTMAS." Like that's not the snottiest thing ever. I guess there is a way to say it kindly, but most of the people who I have talked to are insistent on making a point of it. Yeah, way to keep in the spirit of the season jerk-offs.
The whole "controversy" is getting to be horrible. What we are ending up with is a ton of people who are resentful and bitter that the world exists. "For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men."
How about this. If people want to argue and snipe about what to say to each other. FINE. Let them. They want to stop every Christmas party in every school? Fine. It's a public school, shut your stinking mouth. You don't like it? Enlist in a private school. Can't do that? Then instill the values you want your child to have at home and shut the hell up about it.
I'm going to say Merry Christmas when I feel like it and Happy Holidays when I feel like it. And if someone happens to not be Christian--FINE. If they say so I'll wish them a happy whatever the hell they are having. I think that's more of an example of Christ's love than being a giant ass about it everytime somebody wishes you a good holiday.
"The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth, good will to men."
--H. W. Longfellow
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Justice in the Holy Land
Here is a shot of what Israeli solders do at check point. The ladies look threatening do they not?
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
Previously On The Layman...
Divestment call 'bold and beautiful'
December 7, 2004
The call to divest from multinational corporations with ties to Israel was one of the boldest and most beautiful moves the church in general has made for a long time. The action only strengthens my feelings that the Presbyterian denomination is one that is filled with people who make a habit out of study and prayerful consideration on important aspects of faith.
It does pain me however to read some of the comments of other lay people who feel that the church's decision was in error and that, in fact, Israel's position and "right to defend" itself were not being taken into account before the decision was made.
To those, I would ask, or better, plead that they follow the footsteps of those who made the decision and rely on their own research to come to conclusions before passing judgment on the General Assembly. By that I mean more than what Fox News and CNN can piece together and spoon feed to the American public.
To date, 3,492 Palestinians have died since September 30, 2000. Compare this to the 986 Israelis who have died in the same span. Fully 20 percent of the intifada victims were Palestinian children. Consider also that while some organizations resort to terrorist tactics the large portion of those deaths have been civilian casualties while the Israeli losses have been almost entirely within the ranks of their armed forces.
Think also of the numerous American peace workers who have been killed by Israeli armed forces. Rachel Corrie, the American girl who refused to move when an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Caterpillar was going to tear down her host family's home. The bulldozer simply drove over her, crushing her to death. A sniper shot Brian Avery, from North Carolina, in the face, while he was trying to carry two children off the street during a tear gas attack by the IDF.
Over and over again IDF and the Israeli government have proven to be callous and unwilling to find a solution that acknowledges the Palestinian people as having the right to life, and to a quality of life that all people all people deserve. Israel breaks international rights laws over and over and the UN has condemned its actions more than once. Most recently, the UN voted unanimously (with the exception of the US) that the Wall in Israel was an apartheid action and the World Court declared it unlawful to continue.
Yet the Israeli government ignores them, and the US has yet to withdraw its support-encouraging injustice with its silence.
The action by PCUSA is a bold and brilliant stand that makes exactly the right statement to the world and our own country. We recognize that the situation in Israel and Palestine is complex beyond measure and has been raging for 50 years and more. Yet we as a church will not support oppression – even when that oppression may be described as "deserving." This was never the way of Christ. And that will never be the way of the church that follows him.
December 7, 2004
The call to divest from multinational corporations with ties to Israel was one of the boldest and most beautiful moves the church in general has made for a long time. The action only strengthens my feelings that the Presbyterian denomination is one that is filled with people who make a habit out of study and prayerful consideration on important aspects of faith.
It does pain me however to read some of the comments of other lay people who feel that the church's decision was in error and that, in fact, Israel's position and "right to defend" itself were not being taken into account before the decision was made.
To those, I would ask, or better, plead that they follow the footsteps of those who made the decision and rely on their own research to come to conclusions before passing judgment on the General Assembly. By that I mean more than what Fox News and CNN can piece together and spoon feed to the American public.
To date, 3,492 Palestinians have died since September 30, 2000. Compare this to the 986 Israelis who have died in the same span. Fully 20 percent of the intifada victims were Palestinian children. Consider also that while some organizations resort to terrorist tactics the large portion of those deaths have been civilian casualties while the Israeli losses have been almost entirely within the ranks of their armed forces.
Think also of the numerous American peace workers who have been killed by Israeli armed forces. Rachel Corrie, the American girl who refused to move when an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Caterpillar was going to tear down her host family's home. The bulldozer simply drove over her, crushing her to death. A sniper shot Brian Avery, from North Carolina, in the face, while he was trying to carry two children off the street during a tear gas attack by the IDF.
Over and over again IDF and the Israeli government have proven to be callous and unwilling to find a solution that acknowledges the Palestinian people as having the right to life, and to a quality of life that all people all people deserve. Israel breaks international rights laws over and over and the UN has condemned its actions more than once. Most recently, the UN voted unanimously (with the exception of the US) that the Wall in Israel was an apartheid action and the World Court declared it unlawful to continue.
Yet the Israeli government ignores them, and the US has yet to withdraw its support-encouraging injustice with its silence.
The action by PCUSA is a bold and brilliant stand that makes exactly the right statement to the world and our own country. We recognize that the situation in Israel and Palestine is complex beyond measure and has been raging for 50 years and more. Yet we as a church will not support oppression – even when that oppression may be described as "deserving." This was never the way of Christ. And that will never be the way of the church that follows him.
Friday, November 18, 2005
SHUT THE HELL UP --WHINERS!
BBC just had an article in it about the Israeli "refugees." These are, let me remind you, the Jewish "settlers" who were on Palestinian territory completely illegally. Recently when the Israeli government decided to recall those settlers there were a whole slew of people who felt that it was unfair, blah, blah, blah. Basically, lets not forget what really is going on. For comparison. Imagine you live in the US, or in Texas, more precisely. And Mexicans came across the border into Texas and simply started building three story condos in prime Texas real estate. Then the Mexican army came and build walls around them and protected the Mexican settlers with force of arms: tanks, guns, etc. Sounds like a shitty deal, right? Sounds like grounds for war doesn't it?
THAT was the situation in Palestine, in Gaza. Still is the situation in West Bank, actually.
Well the interview was a frigin' train wreck, but one spot was so fabulous I had to share it with you. First we have this couple:
The Sapersteins, who are "Refugees." First off, THE ARE LIVING IN A FUCKING HOTEL. They are staying in the "Jerusalem Gold" hotel, WHICH THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS PAYING FOR. Wow. Refugees. Life is hard I can imagine. Man. Must be awful.
For comparison, here is a Palestinian Refugee camp.
OK? These are real refugees. Live in a tent, wonder about clean water, cook over a hole in the ground, and cover your poop with dirt. THEN you are a fucking refugee you selfish Jewish shit eaters!
I was agog at this family's testimony. They had nothing but complaints. And then, here is the kicker--THEY ARE FROM BROOKLYN. They moved to Israel from the US!? And then feel like they have the right to complain about it when things are set even the least little bit right?
Please, people, at the very least don't have the audacity to call yourself refugees, or to call what you are going through "suffering." You're on a fucking vacation.
THAT was the situation in Palestine, in Gaza. Still is the situation in West Bank, actually.
Well the interview was a frigin' train wreck, but one spot was so fabulous I had to share it with you. First we have this couple:
The Sapersteins, who are "Refugees." First off, THE ARE LIVING IN A FUCKING HOTEL. They are staying in the "Jerusalem Gold" hotel, WHICH THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS PAYING FOR. Wow. Refugees. Life is hard I can imagine. Man. Must be awful.
For comparison, here is a Palestinian Refugee camp.
OK? These are real refugees. Live in a tent, wonder about clean water, cook over a hole in the ground, and cover your poop with dirt. THEN you are a fucking refugee you selfish Jewish shit eaters!
I was agog at this family's testimony. They had nothing but complaints. And then, here is the kicker--THEY ARE FROM BROOKLYN. They moved to Israel from the US!? And then feel like they have the right to complain about it when things are set even the least little bit right?
Please, people, at the very least don't have the audacity to call yourself refugees, or to call what you are going through "suffering." You're on a fucking vacation.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Vet'rans' Day
Veterans Day. Originally Armistice Day, until a few more wars had passed and we realized what a farce the name actually was. So, as opposed to naming the day after peace, we name it in honor of the role of dead who went before to guard that peace.
It’s all very patriotic, only slightly less so than the Fourth of July, and close enough to election day for the politico to make one last stand in front of the big top. Generally it becomes very hard not to become jaded and sickened by the whole commercial ordeal of it all.
Here’s something to try though. Visit with some of the veterans. Hold a small intimate dinner for them and tell no one. Spend the time trying to draw out what experiences they will share. You faith will be re-inspired by the simple sacrifice of those men and women who did what they did for a cause they felt close to. I wonder in another 30 years what our veterans will be? Not to overly glorify the events of the first two “Great” Wars, but if nothing else, they had the most excellent forms of propaganda in those days. The country truly was unified, in a gross majority sense of the word. In this most recent fighting debacle, what will the veterans recount? The needless loss they felt?
But I didn’t set out to, yet again, discuses the absurdities of the current war. But instead to take the holiday to highlight the enormous, un-American spirit that has gripped the country. Also to, perhaps, bring you all some shocking truth.
America is a Christian Nation. It was founded by Christian thinkers, based on Christian morality, and governed for a long while adhering to Christian precepts. Only recent has the perversion of the separation of church and state become the mantra for “freedumb” lovers coast to coast. Here’s a great example: You know ole George W? No, no that one… the Good One. George Washington, Gen. His first official act ad the first president of the country was to not only post a national day of “thanksgiving and prayer” but to also proclaim, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.” A God fearin’ man if ever there was one.
Now don’t let the maniacal ravings of the most recent George put you off the idea of a Christian Nation. The man is a loon, which only means that we should adhere all the more strongly to what the founding fathers laid out.
This is a Christian nation. The separation of church and state is meant to protect the CHURCH, not the other way around. The country still should be based on Christian morality. Don’t like it? Move for heavens sake! For too long Americans have thought that it is an inalienable right to get what ever they damn well want at any time. Well princess, it’s not. And I’m not saying that I agree 100% with the morality of the country, but the fact is that is how it was designed. So, either admit that you are vying for a change, or take things how they are. But for heavens sake, don’t twist around the ideas that were laid down in good faith to serve the secular! You’re just confusing everyone! And they aren’t that smart to start with!
I’ll leave with a quote from Tommy Jefferson: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
It’s all very patriotic, only slightly less so than the Fourth of July, and close enough to election day for the politico to make one last stand in front of the big top. Generally it becomes very hard not to become jaded and sickened by the whole commercial ordeal of it all.
Here’s something to try though. Visit with some of the veterans. Hold a small intimate dinner for them and tell no one. Spend the time trying to draw out what experiences they will share. You faith will be re-inspired by the simple sacrifice of those men and women who did what they did for a cause they felt close to. I wonder in another 30 years what our veterans will be? Not to overly glorify the events of the first two “Great” Wars, but if nothing else, they had the most excellent forms of propaganda in those days. The country truly was unified, in a gross majority sense of the word. In this most recent fighting debacle, what will the veterans recount? The needless loss they felt?
But I didn’t set out to, yet again, discuses the absurdities of the current war. But instead to take the holiday to highlight the enormous, un-American spirit that has gripped the country. Also to, perhaps, bring you all some shocking truth.
America is a Christian Nation. It was founded by Christian thinkers, based on Christian morality, and governed for a long while adhering to Christian precepts. Only recent has the perversion of the separation of church and state become the mantra for “freedumb” lovers coast to coast. Here’s a great example: You know ole George W? No, no that one… the Good One. George Washington, Gen. His first official act ad the first president of the country was to not only post a national day of “thanksgiving and prayer” but to also proclaim, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.” A God fearin’ man if ever there was one.
Now don’t let the maniacal ravings of the most recent George put you off the idea of a Christian Nation. The man is a loon, which only means that we should adhere all the more strongly to what the founding fathers laid out.
This is a Christian nation. The separation of church and state is meant to protect the CHURCH, not the other way around. The country still should be based on Christian morality. Don’t like it? Move for heavens sake! For too long Americans have thought that it is an inalienable right to get what ever they damn well want at any time. Well princess, it’s not. And I’m not saying that I agree 100% with the morality of the country, but the fact is that is how it was designed. So, either admit that you are vying for a change, or take things how they are. But for heavens sake, don’t twist around the ideas that were laid down in good faith to serve the secular! You’re just confusing everyone! And they aren’t that smart to start with!
I’ll leave with a quote from Tommy Jefferson: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Short Short Story
Eyes of a Child
“Daddy?” There came a small tug on the sleeve of the sleeping man. He had collapsed in his chair after dinner and meant only to watch a few minute of television. At his arm, he knew without even opening his eyes that his small girl stood impatiently.
“Mmm. What Wendi?” the father replied lazily, eyes still closed. There were some in his small circle of friends that he had infinite patience with his daughter. Truth be told it wasn’t as hard as they thought.
He felt hands smooth over his face. “Open your eyes Daddy,” his girl said impatiently.
Chuckling he did so, his eyes clearing the blur and holding his daughters form. Her vision was a birth defect, but to a father his daughter is always perfect to behold.
“Daddy,” knowing now that she held his full attention—she accepted nothing less.
“Tell me a story for bedtime.” It was both a question and a command, in that innocent yet manipulative way that only a woman, no matter the age, is able to achieve.
He rubbed a hand over his own face, clearing away the cobwebs, “All right kiddo, any special requests tonight?” He was solidly built, and lifted her easily and giggling into the air to his lap.
“Yes, yes. Your trip to Europe.” At this her father smiled, because he knew that the unspoken request was truly the story of my mother. It was a household favorite for comfort, for good dream, for any number of things.
Wendi's father smiled warmly at his daughter's request, and he remembers the thousands of times he has told her the story of he and her mother's picnic in the Netherlands. His daughter had never asked for a fantasy story, she constantly wanted the stories that he knew of other people's lives. He didn't mind repeating the stories so much, though, they were pretty much all they had left of her mother.
He took a deep breath. “All right kiddo, ready?” she squirmed around a little as she found a comfortable spot and settled in against his chest.
"Ready"
"Well, our day started at the little hotel where we were staying. The day was bright and warm for the north. It was only spring, and even though the day wasn’t completely cloudless it was sunny out." His mind wandered briefly as he remembered the days of simply teaching his little girl what words meant. Her tutor suggested he take an active part, which was easy, but Wendi’s inquisitive mind seemed to always want more. More than once they were up past any normal child’s birthday feeling sand and finding words to describe it. Clouds were difficult. They finally settled that clouds appeared soft, like cotton, and were light and misty, like water from a spray bottle. It was amazing to him every day the way her mind grasps and saw these things. Humans were such visual creatures. To Wendi though, a sunny day meant warmth on the skin, certain breezes. Clouds were brief pauses of chill, that she could feel move across her. “I had gotten out of bed before your mother and had ordered some breakfast to come up to the room. I had toast and jam and a little tea, and she had pancakes with chocolate sprinkles--"
"Haggle, right Daddy?" she interrupted him.
"Yes dear." he never expected an inactive audience and took each outburst with loving stride.
"Yours wasn't very Hollish," she said disapprovingly.
"No dear, not very Hollish," he laughed joggling her on his lap, “but that's what I had.”
So the story went, event after event, interruption after interruption, and laughter following itself. Wendi's father told of how he and his wife took a canal boat to one of the parks that had been erected on a dike, and of how the sleek cranes puttered around at the edge of the water moving their long soft bodies against the warm sky behind them.
Wendi smiled and lifted her face or turned as if listening. He couldn’t really imagine what it was like to imagine a story based on everything but sight. Yet, when he spoke of warm sun her face turned as if feeling it. When there were birds or trams roaring by she turned her head, hearing in her mind. In a way he dearly appreciated the care he had to take in describing that day with his only love. It was an exceptional day. One that made a few of the other that were mediocre, or the once that were spent in a row over who left the train tickets where. But recalling all the “unimportant details” which Wendi was relentless in asking for, made it all the more vibrant a tale.
Early on in their story telling routine he wondered why she never seemed to want stories about dragons or princes. Instead she wanted only stories about his day, his week, his life before she came. Additionally she expected every detail, every nuance to be explained.
Then, he had an epiphany one day as he rose one morning to open the bind in his bedroom window. The room flooded with light and the warm morning hit him. He realized with a small start that this of course was what his daughter was doing. Remembering vicariously through him all the tactile experiences of his day. When he described kite flying as a boy, she felt the wind and the tug of it on the string. When he recalled his roommate in college and their dog Winston, she felt the fur, the bigness, the warm living thing on her face.
In that moment it unnerved him slightly because he realized that he carried so few tactile and auditory memories with him. Scent had always been a deep human memory, but the rest… What had his roommates voice really sounded like? How hard exactly did the kite pull, and how did it feel when its line snapped? These were of course the only things that mattered in the stories to his daughter.
As any good father would from then on he did his utmost to capture the things of life he, like so many others, were guilty of taking for granted. On the way to work he frequently closed his eyes on the train, remembering people by their voices, the sound of the train that day, differences in his route by things other than sight. What he found was even if there were things his daughter knew by touch, say a hot dog. She would tell him that one he had for lunch sounded different than the ones she had at home.
In so many ways she was a miracle in his life.
Her mother died in birthing her and the complications that he foresaw raising her alone were daunting. For years he raised her as best he could in a cloud of deep depression. His firm had a daycare luckily and the care-givers were deeply empathetic to his situation and Wendi’s needs. He spent all the time he could with her—her tutor said that proximity was still vitally important even to children who would never actually see the face of their parents. It did something surely, because now she said she could smell him the moment he entered the garage.
When she began speaking his darkness and depression took a deeper turn. In a terrible and black cosmic irony her first word was “eye.” Or more probably “I,” because, he reasoned, he caught himself rattling on to her in her infancy about “your mother and I.” But at the time it was more than he could take. Luckily his parents were more than happy to take his daughter for a few days while he “got himself together,” As his father had put it. In some kind of grandparent amazement they had adapted much swifter than he did. Somehow his mother had found baby books in Braille. In those few days he ran the gamut of his lowest and highest point. The lowest when he sat drunk on the floor, railing at the sky, tears streaming his face. The highest was almost a week later when his mother called one afternoon to report his daughter had said her second word. “Hug.” She had said it when she was wrapping a bottle of his cologne for Christmas. She related to him how, over a number of tests—his mother, ever the scientist—she concluded that it was in fact the cologne she was associating. “She a brilliant girl, my dear,” she had said, “and it quite obvious she misses her father.”
So it was that for many more years, “Hug” really meant daddy. As is the way for childhood pet names it was replaced, but he would always miss little arms upraised and the chant of “hug, hug.”
She was his light in this life. Not only giving him the purpose and focus to raise and love and be with her, but also rekindling the love for life he thought snuffed out with his wife.
Now that she was older, she cared for him just as much as he did for her. She read incessantly, her fingers had even become lightly calloused, and so was probably smarter than he was. And had regulated him to no more than one scotch week which had always been a particular after work weakness for him, but she was impossible to get around. She sniffed him out no matter were in the house he was and could hear a screw cap or a decanter top from the other end of it. He had no choice but to comply, or drink in the car, and pride kept him from that.
As the story rode on to its conclusion, with his and his wife’s long kiss in front of the hotel doorman, Wendi was of course already drowsing. He smiled down at her, involuntarily. She was his perfect girl.
“Daddy?” There came a small tug on the sleeve of the sleeping man. He had collapsed in his chair after dinner and meant only to watch a few minute of television. At his arm, he knew without even opening his eyes that his small girl stood impatiently.
“Mmm. What Wendi?” the father replied lazily, eyes still closed. There were some in his small circle of friends that he had infinite patience with his daughter. Truth be told it wasn’t as hard as they thought.
He felt hands smooth over his face. “Open your eyes Daddy,” his girl said impatiently.
Chuckling he did so, his eyes clearing the blur and holding his daughters form. Her vision was a birth defect, but to a father his daughter is always perfect to behold.
“Daddy,” knowing now that she held his full attention—she accepted nothing less.
“Tell me a story for bedtime.” It was both a question and a command, in that innocent yet manipulative way that only a woman, no matter the age, is able to achieve.
He rubbed a hand over his own face, clearing away the cobwebs, “All right kiddo, any special requests tonight?” He was solidly built, and lifted her easily and giggling into the air to his lap.
“Yes, yes. Your trip to Europe.” At this her father smiled, because he knew that the unspoken request was truly the story of my mother. It was a household favorite for comfort, for good dream, for any number of things.
Wendi's father smiled warmly at his daughter's request, and he remembers the thousands of times he has told her the story of he and her mother's picnic in the Netherlands. His daughter had never asked for a fantasy story, she constantly wanted the stories that he knew of other people's lives. He didn't mind repeating the stories so much, though, they were pretty much all they had left of her mother.
He took a deep breath. “All right kiddo, ready?” she squirmed around a little as she found a comfortable spot and settled in against his chest.
"Ready"
"Well, our day started at the little hotel where we were staying. The day was bright and warm for the north. It was only spring, and even though the day wasn’t completely cloudless it was sunny out." His mind wandered briefly as he remembered the days of simply teaching his little girl what words meant. Her tutor suggested he take an active part, which was easy, but Wendi’s inquisitive mind seemed to always want more. More than once they were up past any normal child’s birthday feeling sand and finding words to describe it. Clouds were difficult. They finally settled that clouds appeared soft, like cotton, and were light and misty, like water from a spray bottle. It was amazing to him every day the way her mind grasps and saw these things. Humans were such visual creatures. To Wendi though, a sunny day meant warmth on the skin, certain breezes. Clouds were brief pauses of chill, that she could feel move across her. “I had gotten out of bed before your mother and had ordered some breakfast to come up to the room. I had toast and jam and a little tea, and she had pancakes with chocolate sprinkles--"
"Haggle, right Daddy?" she interrupted him.
"Yes dear." he never expected an inactive audience and took each outburst with loving stride.
"Yours wasn't very Hollish," she said disapprovingly.
"No dear, not very Hollish," he laughed joggling her on his lap, “but that's what I had.”
So the story went, event after event, interruption after interruption, and laughter following itself. Wendi's father told of how he and his wife took a canal boat to one of the parks that had been erected on a dike, and of how the sleek cranes puttered around at the edge of the water moving their long soft bodies against the warm sky behind them.
Wendi smiled and lifted her face or turned as if listening. He couldn’t really imagine what it was like to imagine a story based on everything but sight. Yet, when he spoke of warm sun her face turned as if feeling it. When there were birds or trams roaring by she turned her head, hearing in her mind. In a way he dearly appreciated the care he had to take in describing that day with his only love. It was an exceptional day. One that made a few of the other that were mediocre, or the once that were spent in a row over who left the train tickets where. But recalling all the “unimportant details” which Wendi was relentless in asking for, made it all the more vibrant a tale.
Early on in their story telling routine he wondered why she never seemed to want stories about dragons or princes. Instead she wanted only stories about his day, his week, his life before she came. Additionally she expected every detail, every nuance to be explained.
Then, he had an epiphany one day as he rose one morning to open the bind in his bedroom window. The room flooded with light and the warm morning hit him. He realized with a small start that this of course was what his daughter was doing. Remembering vicariously through him all the tactile experiences of his day. When he described kite flying as a boy, she felt the wind and the tug of it on the string. When he recalled his roommate in college and their dog Winston, she felt the fur, the bigness, the warm living thing on her face.
In that moment it unnerved him slightly because he realized that he carried so few tactile and auditory memories with him. Scent had always been a deep human memory, but the rest… What had his roommates voice really sounded like? How hard exactly did the kite pull, and how did it feel when its line snapped? These were of course the only things that mattered in the stories to his daughter.
As any good father would from then on he did his utmost to capture the things of life he, like so many others, were guilty of taking for granted. On the way to work he frequently closed his eyes on the train, remembering people by their voices, the sound of the train that day, differences in his route by things other than sight. What he found was even if there were things his daughter knew by touch, say a hot dog. She would tell him that one he had for lunch sounded different than the ones she had at home.
In so many ways she was a miracle in his life.
Her mother died in birthing her and the complications that he foresaw raising her alone were daunting. For years he raised her as best he could in a cloud of deep depression. His firm had a daycare luckily and the care-givers were deeply empathetic to his situation and Wendi’s needs. He spent all the time he could with her—her tutor said that proximity was still vitally important even to children who would never actually see the face of their parents. It did something surely, because now she said she could smell him the moment he entered the garage.
When she began speaking his darkness and depression took a deeper turn. In a terrible and black cosmic irony her first word was “eye.” Or more probably “I,” because, he reasoned, he caught himself rattling on to her in her infancy about “your mother and I.” But at the time it was more than he could take. Luckily his parents were more than happy to take his daughter for a few days while he “got himself together,” As his father had put it. In some kind of grandparent amazement they had adapted much swifter than he did. Somehow his mother had found baby books in Braille. In those few days he ran the gamut of his lowest and highest point. The lowest when he sat drunk on the floor, railing at the sky, tears streaming his face. The highest was almost a week later when his mother called one afternoon to report his daughter had said her second word. “Hug.” She had said it when she was wrapping a bottle of his cologne for Christmas. She related to him how, over a number of tests—his mother, ever the scientist—she concluded that it was in fact the cologne she was associating. “She a brilliant girl, my dear,” she had said, “and it quite obvious she misses her father.”
So it was that for many more years, “Hug” really meant daddy. As is the way for childhood pet names it was replaced, but he would always miss little arms upraised and the chant of “hug, hug.”
She was his light in this life. Not only giving him the purpose and focus to raise and love and be with her, but also rekindling the love for life he thought snuffed out with his wife.
Now that she was older, she cared for him just as much as he did for her. She read incessantly, her fingers had even become lightly calloused, and so was probably smarter than he was. And had regulated him to no more than one scotch week which had always been a particular after work weakness for him, but she was impossible to get around. She sniffed him out no matter were in the house he was and could hear a screw cap or a decanter top from the other end of it. He had no choice but to comply, or drink in the car, and pride kept him from that.
As the story rode on to its conclusion, with his and his wife’s long kiss in front of the hotel doorman, Wendi was of course already drowsing. He smiled down at her, involuntarily. She was his perfect girl.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Fiction Writings...
Trains
I was having that same day dream all over again. The one where I don’t really know you yet. All I see is you, this dark clad mystery woman who is walking along-side of a train as it pulls into the station. You look older, but in a younger period of time, a time when trains were still all the rage for travel. I see you from afar as I seem to be just hanging around waiting for you to appear and come into my life. You’re looking for something, or someone though I hope to myself that it’s not the latter. You keep looking down and up from the ticket you hold in your hand to the signs posted above. It seems like one of those commercials that you watch on TV, in fact I think in my real life I’m doing just that, watching one of those sappy commercials and thinking of you instead of the woman selling my perfume or nylon stockings. But in my head the way you look I would buy anything from you if you had the notion to walk up to me and say, “Pardon me sir, but you look as if you could use ‘Librederm Shampoo’.” My only reply would be to look in those stark brown eyes of yours and reply that ‘Librederm’ was in fact the very thing that I had been searching for my whole life.
My real fear is that it won’t happen like that at all. My real fear is that you’ll find that train car that you’re looking for long before you even glance my way, and you‘ll board that train and I’ll be whimsically looking after it as the steam hisses out and the train starts away. End of Film, fin, that’s all folks. That’s my real fear. That for some reason there is some other dapperly dressed high society man sitting on the train in the car you’re looking for, and it’s him that your mind is on not even knowing that somebody has been watching your whole being as you approached them even for a few brief moments in time. That I had made those moments out to be the study of a lifetime; the bounce of your hair as walked, the flutter of your lashes, the strides you took, the shift in the hem of you dress as you came, undaunted, wary and confident. I hope that there isn’t someone on that train.
Then I realize that these are, after all, my thoughts and I can have happen whatever I feel like. So instead of boarding the train you pause. You have the feeling of someone looking at you as you stare at your ticket and I, head half cocked am looking back at you. Hands in my pockets I half hope that you look up to see me standing there, but don’t know what I should do if that happens. You’re studying you ticket intently now looking for your car.
“Help you miss?” It is just like they do in the movies; I come up before you and ask, and you flutter for a moment and reply ‘No, thank you.’ I tip my hat a bit and smile as I start away, my heart leaping at the meeting of this mysterious woman.
I was having that same day dream all over again. The one where I don’t really know you yet. All I see is you, this dark clad mystery woman who is walking along-side of a train as it pulls into the station. You look older, but in a younger period of time, a time when trains were still all the rage for travel. I see you from afar as I seem to be just hanging around waiting for you to appear and come into my life. You’re looking for something, or someone though I hope to myself that it’s not the latter. You keep looking down and up from the ticket you hold in your hand to the signs posted above. It seems like one of those commercials that you watch on TV, in fact I think in my real life I’m doing just that, watching one of those sappy commercials and thinking of you instead of the woman selling my perfume or nylon stockings. But in my head the way you look I would buy anything from you if you had the notion to walk up to me and say, “Pardon me sir, but you look as if you could use ‘Librederm Shampoo’.” My only reply would be to look in those stark brown eyes of yours and reply that ‘Librederm’ was in fact the very thing that I had been searching for my whole life.
My real fear is that it won’t happen like that at all. My real fear is that you’ll find that train car that you’re looking for long before you even glance my way, and you‘ll board that train and I’ll be whimsically looking after it as the steam hisses out and the train starts away. End of Film, fin, that’s all folks. That’s my real fear. That for some reason there is some other dapperly dressed high society man sitting on the train in the car you’re looking for, and it’s him that your mind is on not even knowing that somebody has been watching your whole being as you approached them even for a few brief moments in time. That I had made those moments out to be the study of a lifetime; the bounce of your hair as walked, the flutter of your lashes, the strides you took, the shift in the hem of you dress as you came, undaunted, wary and confident. I hope that there isn’t someone on that train.
Then I realize that these are, after all, my thoughts and I can have happen whatever I feel like. So instead of boarding the train you pause. You have the feeling of someone looking at you as you stare at your ticket and I, head half cocked am looking back at you. Hands in my pockets I half hope that you look up to see me standing there, but don’t know what I should do if that happens. You’re studying you ticket intently now looking for your car.
“Help you miss?” It is just like they do in the movies; I come up before you and ask, and you flutter for a moment and reply ‘No, thank you.’ I tip my hat a bit and smile as I start away, my heart leaping at the meeting of this mysterious woman.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
For The Record
There seems to be some uproar about some things that the new Islamic president of Iran said about the Country of Israel. If, by living under some moss covered rock in the woods, you haven't heard President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be "wiped off the map," which in the first place is not a new sentiment in ANY WAY for the leaders of Iran, so it's odd that the world should be so shocked by it. And second, the guy has a point.
As I am sure readers by now know this is not a new issue for this site, but to reiterate; Israel is a country that was imposed on an indigenous people who had their own country and form of government. They were supported by weapons and monies from the western world and continue to persecute and humiliate the Palestinians whose homes they have commandeered.
Just so every one knows. Israel is a horrible country with more blood on its hands than the U.S. (ZING!). In the second place (and this seems to be the real point everyone is missing) you can have a problem with Israel and NOT have a problem with the Jewish people. THEY ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS!! The state of Israel was created by militant ZIONISTS who, in no way, represent the whole censuses of the Jewish people.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
This is really bothersome about the whole issue. You say, Israel is a horrible place and people are immediately up your ass about being a bigoted anti-Semite or something. Hey. The Jews are great man, I love the Jews, and sure they deserve their own country, but do they deserve to crush another people to do it? FUCK NO!
Tom Lantos a Californian Congressman only proves this ignorant point to its conclusion with his statement that "The leader of Iran made one of the most repugnant remarks the international community has heard since Adolf Hitler." Now, Tom seems like a pretty good guy from what I can tell, so I am going to assume he is just jumping on the bandwagon and is just horribly uniformed about the last 50 years of Israeli history, as opposed to being a total shitter.
The leader of Iran is NOTHING LIKE ADOLF HITLER. Let's Review. Hitler wanted the Jews wiped off the face of the earth. The President of Iran wants Israel, the Country, the political boundary, wiped from the face of the earth.
"One of these things is not like the other...."
Please. Is it possible that for once we can think and read and research before we just react by rote and start slavering with hate at the first mention of anything anyone from the middle east says?
As I am sure readers by now know this is not a new issue for this site, but to reiterate; Israel is a country that was imposed on an indigenous people who had their own country and form of government. They were supported by weapons and monies from the western world and continue to persecute and humiliate the Palestinians whose homes they have commandeered.
Just so every one knows. Israel is a horrible country with more blood on its hands than the U.S. (ZING!). In the second place (and this seems to be the real point everyone is missing) you can have a problem with Israel and NOT have a problem with the Jewish people. THEY ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS!! The state of Israel was created by militant ZIONISTS who, in no way, represent the whole censuses of the Jewish people.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
This is really bothersome about the whole issue. You say, Israel is a horrible place and people are immediately up your ass about being a bigoted anti-Semite or something. Hey. The Jews are great man, I love the Jews, and sure they deserve their own country, but do they deserve to crush another people to do it? FUCK NO!
Tom Lantos a Californian Congressman only proves this ignorant point to its conclusion with his statement that "The leader of Iran made one of the most repugnant remarks the international community has heard since Adolf Hitler." Now, Tom seems like a pretty good guy from what I can tell, so I am going to assume he is just jumping on the bandwagon and is just horribly uniformed about the last 50 years of Israeli history, as opposed to being a total shitter.
The leader of Iran is NOTHING LIKE ADOLF HITLER. Let's Review. Hitler wanted the Jews wiped off the face of the earth. The President of Iran wants Israel, the Country, the political boundary, wiped from the face of the earth.
"One of these things is not like the other...."
Please. Is it possible that for once we can think and read and research before we just react by rote and start slavering with hate at the first mention of anything anyone from the middle east says?
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Modelus Operandi
1Thessalonians 1:2-10
"2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
__________________________
My parents both grew up in a city in WV named Huntington. My mother’s father was a chemical engineer at a nearby nickel processing plant, and my father’s father owned a soda fountain and sundries store in downtown and never even owned a car. I blame these facts when it comes to light how little I know about cars. Growing up my dad’s family never even owned a car, and my mother was the girl in her family and in addition I’m not sure that my grandfather knew anything to teach her about cars regardless. So my brother and I grew up without the knowledge, though I remember many times my brother, dad, and I would go to car shows at the mall and goggle at the sleek designs. Cars were appreciated, but more for their aesthetics than their engines.
By the time I was 13 or 14, I took the fascination with the chasse to a different level. I started making model cars. Not running models mind you, but even those plastic ones had an engine you were required to assemble, to some degree, and I was able to come out of it with a rudimentary knowledge of the inner workings. At least enough not to embarrass myself in front of friends. At least enough to stand in front of a temperamental vehicle with the hood up and stare thoughtfully into it. “Well, you see ah, that’s the serpentine belt, and that looks ok. And that’s your oil filter down there, and the air filter. This is wear the sparkplugs are, alternator…” “So do you know why it won’t start?” “Nope. Not a clue.” I think that most men think that people will assume you know what you are doing if you stare thoughtfully at something long enough.
But, models are good at teaching us. We can perhaps remember some sort of physiology model from our classroom days, the human torso, or the human eye. In something of that same way, we can learn from this lesson that Paul has written about the church of Christ.
For a little background on the text let me tell you that Thessalonica was the capitol of Macedonia, which was one of the two Grecian provinces the Romans had established. The northern was Macedonia and the southern was Achaia. The church was fairly early in its time away from Paul, who has fled the city to avoid persecution, thinking that the church would be better off. What happened was much the opposite and the church there is one of the most persecuted. Yet, at the time of Paul’s writing the church is flourishing. In later passages Paul says that the church is our (meaning he and Silas and Timothy) “glory and joy,” and in several passages he seems just to be reminding them of things he knows that they knew. There is a point where he states, “on the teachings of brotherly love—you have no need of them!”
We are in luck to be studying the first part of this passage that basically outlines for us the point of pride that Paul feels in this church. According to Paul this is a model church, and he goes on to describe four (4) benchmarks that are part of what makes them such.
(1) It starts in earnest with verse 6. “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.” This is the aspiration of every preacher, pastor, deacon, elder, and member—all Christians strive to become true imitators of the true source. Martin Luther dubbed believers ‘little Christs,’ the connotation in German being that we should basically be ‘chips off the old block.’ To me, and my warped science fiction loving brain, I think of it as a genetic sample. Every genetic sample of any person or living things keeps, in tact, the entire genetic code of the original. If we then, being creations of the living Christ, pieces of His makeup, we should retain the entire code of behavior and ethics. Of course in reality it is only through continuing study and the leading of the holy spirit that we can discern the nature of Christ, and often times this may involved heavy revision in our thinking from time to time. So in the first point Paul shares with us that the model church has ministers – a job for all believers’ not just ordained clergy – who preach the word, live it and dwell within the Holy Spirit, as we know Christ and Paul did.
(2) Immediately after that Paul hands us the second aspect of the model church. “…for you received the word, in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” The Bible in basic English states it “after the word had come to you in much trouble, with joy in the Holy Spirit.” What this boils down to is the persecution the church is suffering, as I said before. Christianity was not an easy religion in those times. I find it most difficult to imagine not only the theological and life changing implications of a life as a Christian but also to heap upon that the physical hardship or doing it behind the roman’s backs. I don’t know if anyone here has ever traveled to China or Russia before the fall of Communism, but there too is a taste of what the Thessalonians are dealing with daily. And yet, we find that they are not only receiving the text and embodiment of the Word of God , but are also finding in that their joy.
I am often shammed by the actions of people in countries much less prosperous than my own. When I first got out of college some of my family and I went to Palestine to see Bethlehem and some of the other Holy sites. While we were there we also visited an acquaintance of my uncle’s who was a Melkite priest in a town named Iblin. Over the past 10 years or so he had built a school there, during a time when the Israeli government was destroying not building. He went through channels and got the required permits and his school now thrives. While we were there I met a girl who was graduating with high honors and hoped to attend a college in Europe. Later the priest told us that she and her brothers walked 6 miles one way through 2 security checkpoints to get to school. It took them nearly 2 hours, 4 hours total a day. I was never more embarrassed of my “B” average than I was at that moment.
So it is with the early church. They are dealing with a strife and life of secrecy that we will never know, and yet they do it anyway, and more so meet it with joy. We in the church today know persecution as well, but to compare with my friend in Palestine, I too had to walk to school growing up as she did—it took me 6 minutes at the most.
(3) The third piece of our puzzle is that the members of the church in Thessalonica are a blessed example. Paul says that they “…became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Remember that these are the two provinces of Greece. North and South. Paul then goes on to say that their “…faith in God has gone everywhere, so that we need not say anything, for they themselves report…” The word is out about the church in Thessalonica! Being the lamp on the lamp stand giving light to the whole household is a integral part of being the model church. Paul has internalized the truth of Christ’s teachings and knows that a healthy church of Christ is not complete, or whole, or righteous unless they are a beacon to the rest of the world of everything that God holds dear. As Paul describes it he doesn’t even need to pick up a newspaper or get an emailed report about the things that the church there in Greece is doing—he hears it from everyone.
For the span of Christ’s teachings, by that I mean the three years he was in ministry on earth, we have relatively little to go by. That can only mean that every word we have is precious and written and said with power and the spirit behind them. Christ makes not one but two separate examples of the Christians duty to the world. Illuminate it—Flavor it! When it’s pitch dark out and someone flicks on the light, you know it’s there you can zero in on it! When you are cooking and leave out the salt—you know that it is missing! These are the instructions for each Christian and the church then; be known in the world; make the world miss your presence when you are gone; be something that world yearns for.
(4) The final note is one concerning God’s sovereignty. Though I didn’t notice it was until I read from another author. Paul tells of how the church “…turn[s] to God from Idols to serve…”
John Walvoord in 1973 made the note that the order of the phrase in Greek dictates that Paul meant the people of the church turned to God first, and then turned from their idols.
This is the only way that we as individuals can come into the power of God. We must never wait on our own goodness. We cannot try and persevere to be better people before coming to God or the church. That is a reliance on our own power and I tell you a profanity to the nature of our faith. Instead, we must turn to God first, allowing His power to not only transform us but to strengthen us truly, from within, from the wellspring of His power, and then, with that in our spirits, turn from the daily idolatry with which we deal. To do any less would like taking a beautiful piece of cherry to a master cabinet maker and then, while he waits, picking away burs or nettles or sanding imperfections that you think you see in the wood. We will never have the Master’s eyes for the wood. Only His expertise can bring the truest beauty of the grain to the surface in a sturdy useful structure.
These four things then have earned the church of Thessalonica the praise of Paul. In his absence the church is still thriving, still holding to the precepts that he laid down for them, meeting in joy, receiving the Word of God, being examples to all others, and accepting God in the midst of their imperfect with truth and the want for a closer kinship with God.
"2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
__________________________
My parents both grew up in a city in WV named Huntington. My mother’s father was a chemical engineer at a nearby nickel processing plant, and my father’s father owned a soda fountain and sundries store in downtown and never even owned a car. I blame these facts when it comes to light how little I know about cars. Growing up my dad’s family never even owned a car, and my mother was the girl in her family and in addition I’m not sure that my grandfather knew anything to teach her about cars regardless. So my brother and I grew up without the knowledge, though I remember many times my brother, dad, and I would go to car shows at the mall and goggle at the sleek designs. Cars were appreciated, but more for their aesthetics than their engines.
By the time I was 13 or 14, I took the fascination with the chasse to a different level. I started making model cars. Not running models mind you, but even those plastic ones had an engine you were required to assemble, to some degree, and I was able to come out of it with a rudimentary knowledge of the inner workings. At least enough not to embarrass myself in front of friends. At least enough to stand in front of a temperamental vehicle with the hood up and stare thoughtfully into it. “Well, you see ah, that’s the serpentine belt, and that looks ok. And that’s your oil filter down there, and the air filter. This is wear the sparkplugs are, alternator…” “So do you know why it won’t start?” “Nope. Not a clue.” I think that most men think that people will assume you know what you are doing if you stare thoughtfully at something long enough.
But, models are good at teaching us. We can perhaps remember some sort of physiology model from our classroom days, the human torso, or the human eye. In something of that same way, we can learn from this lesson that Paul has written about the church of Christ.
For a little background on the text let me tell you that Thessalonica was the capitol of Macedonia, which was one of the two Grecian provinces the Romans had established. The northern was Macedonia and the southern was Achaia. The church was fairly early in its time away from Paul, who has fled the city to avoid persecution, thinking that the church would be better off. What happened was much the opposite and the church there is one of the most persecuted. Yet, at the time of Paul’s writing the church is flourishing. In later passages Paul says that the church is our (meaning he and Silas and Timothy) “glory and joy,” and in several passages he seems just to be reminding them of things he knows that they knew. There is a point where he states, “on the teachings of brotherly love—you have no need of them!”
We are in luck to be studying the first part of this passage that basically outlines for us the point of pride that Paul feels in this church. According to Paul this is a model church, and he goes on to describe four (4) benchmarks that are part of what makes them such.
(1) It starts in earnest with verse 6. “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.” This is the aspiration of every preacher, pastor, deacon, elder, and member—all Christians strive to become true imitators of the true source. Martin Luther dubbed believers ‘little Christs,’ the connotation in German being that we should basically be ‘chips off the old block.’ To me, and my warped science fiction loving brain, I think of it as a genetic sample. Every genetic sample of any person or living things keeps, in tact, the entire genetic code of the original. If we then, being creations of the living Christ, pieces of His makeup, we should retain the entire code of behavior and ethics. Of course in reality it is only through continuing study and the leading of the holy spirit that we can discern the nature of Christ, and often times this may involved heavy revision in our thinking from time to time. So in the first point Paul shares with us that the model church has ministers – a job for all believers’ not just ordained clergy – who preach the word, live it and dwell within the Holy Spirit, as we know Christ and Paul did.
(2) Immediately after that Paul hands us the second aspect of the model church. “…for you received the word, in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” The Bible in basic English states it “after the word had come to you in much trouble, with joy in the Holy Spirit.” What this boils down to is the persecution the church is suffering, as I said before. Christianity was not an easy religion in those times. I find it most difficult to imagine not only the theological and life changing implications of a life as a Christian but also to heap upon that the physical hardship or doing it behind the roman’s backs. I don’t know if anyone here has ever traveled to China or Russia before the fall of Communism, but there too is a taste of what the Thessalonians are dealing with daily. And yet, we find that they are not only receiving the text and embodiment of the Word of God , but are also finding in that their joy.
I am often shammed by the actions of people in countries much less prosperous than my own. When I first got out of college some of my family and I went to Palestine to see Bethlehem and some of the other Holy sites. While we were there we also visited an acquaintance of my uncle’s who was a Melkite priest in a town named Iblin. Over the past 10 years or so he had built a school there, during a time when the Israeli government was destroying not building. He went through channels and got the required permits and his school now thrives. While we were there I met a girl who was graduating with high honors and hoped to attend a college in Europe. Later the priest told us that she and her brothers walked 6 miles one way through 2 security checkpoints to get to school. It took them nearly 2 hours, 4 hours total a day. I was never more embarrassed of my “B” average than I was at that moment.
So it is with the early church. They are dealing with a strife and life of secrecy that we will never know, and yet they do it anyway, and more so meet it with joy. We in the church today know persecution as well, but to compare with my friend in Palestine, I too had to walk to school growing up as she did—it took me 6 minutes at the most.
(3) The third piece of our puzzle is that the members of the church in Thessalonica are a blessed example. Paul says that they “…became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Remember that these are the two provinces of Greece. North and South. Paul then goes on to say that their “…faith in God has gone everywhere, so that we need not say anything, for they themselves report…” The word is out about the church in Thessalonica! Being the lamp on the lamp stand giving light to the whole household is a integral part of being the model church. Paul has internalized the truth of Christ’s teachings and knows that a healthy church of Christ is not complete, or whole, or righteous unless they are a beacon to the rest of the world of everything that God holds dear. As Paul describes it he doesn’t even need to pick up a newspaper or get an emailed report about the things that the church there in Greece is doing—he hears it from everyone.
For the span of Christ’s teachings, by that I mean the three years he was in ministry on earth, we have relatively little to go by. That can only mean that every word we have is precious and written and said with power and the spirit behind them. Christ makes not one but two separate examples of the Christians duty to the world. Illuminate it—Flavor it! When it’s pitch dark out and someone flicks on the light, you know it’s there you can zero in on it! When you are cooking and leave out the salt—you know that it is missing! These are the instructions for each Christian and the church then; be known in the world; make the world miss your presence when you are gone; be something that world yearns for.
(4) The final note is one concerning God’s sovereignty. Though I didn’t notice it was until I read from another author. Paul tells of how the church “…turn[s] to God from Idols to serve…”
John Walvoord in 1973 made the note that the order of the phrase in Greek dictates that Paul meant the people of the church turned to God first, and then turned from their idols.
This is the only way that we as individuals can come into the power of God. We must never wait on our own goodness. We cannot try and persevere to be better people before coming to God or the church. That is a reliance on our own power and I tell you a profanity to the nature of our faith. Instead, we must turn to God first, allowing His power to not only transform us but to strengthen us truly, from within, from the wellspring of His power, and then, with that in our spirits, turn from the daily idolatry with which we deal. To do any less would like taking a beautiful piece of cherry to a master cabinet maker and then, while he waits, picking away burs or nettles or sanding imperfections that you think you see in the wood. We will never have the Master’s eyes for the wood. Only His expertise can bring the truest beauty of the grain to the surface in a sturdy useful structure.
These four things then have earned the church of Thessalonica the praise of Paul. In his absence the church is still thriving, still holding to the precepts that he laid down for them, meeting in joy, receiving the Word of God, being examples to all others, and accepting God in the midst of their imperfect with truth and the want for a closer kinship with God.
Friday, September 16, 2005
What the Blizzle
Here's some interesting thoughts I gleaned from a "documentary" called What the bleep.
--The brain input does not distinguish between reality and imagination. Only reasoning that processes the information does that.
--Read up a little more on Quantum Superpositiong, interesting stuff...
--also Schrödinger's cat if you've never heard of that before...
--Dr Emoto, has performed experiments with water and darkfieldd microscopes that make me twitch with the sureality of it... Basically he snaps a pic of the molecules before and after they are blessed, talked to, berated, or have "happy thoughts" written on their canister..... THE MOLECULES CHANGE MAN... Take a look on his site. It'slikek the slime from Ghostbusters 2 only for REAL MAN.
--IF we know that basically nothing on the quantum level is "real" until it is observed, then it could be said that "reality" needs an observer to make it actual. You need to observe something in order to collapse theinfiniteepossibilitiess of that particle... Then I put it to you that the universe and this PMP are here only because of the Great Observer, God himself...
--The nerve cells in our brains actually form closer bonds to other nerves as we uses them. If we think the same thing over and over and over then the nerve actually reaches closer to the other. If we cease that repeated thought then the nerves grow further apart... For more mind blowing thoughts on this line read A Wind in the Door
--do individual cells have a consciousness? Cells have receptors forneurall peptides created out of emotion in thehypothalamuss I'mm pretty sure). The actual cell, as it replicates, can predisposition itself toreceivee one type of peptide that comes as a result of particular emotion. We can become PHYSICALLY addicted to a certain emotion, just like you can be addicted to heroine. The question then is: do we simply act, or create emotional situations at the behest of our own CELLS?
--The brain input does not distinguish between reality and imagination. Only reasoning that processes the information does that.
--Read up a little more on Quantum Superpositiong, interesting stuff...
--also Schrödinger's cat if you've never heard of that before...
--Dr Emoto, has performed experiments with water and darkfieldd microscopes that make me twitch with the sureality of it... Basically he snaps a pic of the molecules before and after they are blessed, talked to, berated, or have "happy thoughts" written on their canister..... THE MOLECULES CHANGE MAN... Take a look on his site. It'slikek the slime from Ghostbusters 2 only for REAL MAN.
--IF we know that basically nothing on the quantum level is "real" until it is observed, then it could be said that "reality" needs an observer to make it actual. You need to observe something in order to collapse theinfiniteepossibilitiess of that particle... Then I put it to you that the universe and this PMP are here only because of the Great Observer, God himself...
--The nerve cells in our brains actually form closer bonds to other nerves as we uses them. If we think the same thing over and over and over then the nerve actually reaches closer to the other. If we cease that repeated thought then the nerves grow further apart... For more mind blowing thoughts on this line read A Wind in the Door
--do individual cells have a consciousness? Cells have receptors forneurall peptides created out of emotion in thehypothalamuss I'mm pretty sure). The actual cell, as it replicates, can predisposition itself toreceivee one type of peptide that comes as a result of particular emotion. We can become PHYSICALLY addicted to a certain emotion, just like you can be addicted to heroine. The question then is: do we simply act, or create emotional situations at the behest of our own CELLS?
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The Judge
Exodus 14
19Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night[a] without one coming near the other all night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25clogging[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw[c] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Romans 14
1As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess[b] to God."
12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
When I was in college, a favorite pastime of my friends and I was to challenge each other in coming up with the very best jabs for one another. One such time, my roommate made a comment to another friend, and before I could stop myself, I said, “That’s not funny.” Now not in a reprimand mind you, but instead in the voice of total authority. My roommate turned to me and questioned, “What are you, the Judge of Funny?” Thus for many months afterward I was dubbed “the Judge of Funny,” and if any joke was uttered in my presence my friends would stop and say, “wait wait, don’t anybody laugh--we’d better clear this with Chris first.” It was a friendly poke at my expense and good natured. But it was revealing. It showed a side of myself I can still feel poking out every once in a while even now. I’m the judge.
I don’t know if it was because of my being the first born, or some deep sense of justice my mother passed on to me, but my whole life, I have struggled not to pass judgment, or at the very least not express my feelings on it.
In another example, I will relate a story my Dad is often fond of recalling. Dad is and was a teacher of gifted students in the county where we grew up. I was in several of his classes, but one of the first, when I was in fifth grade, was an elementary physics class. Our first project in our first class was a group challenge. Two groups pitted against each other in a race to balance a broom on the top of a chair. We were given no further instruction or hints and were given creative reign to solve the problem as best we saw fit. I had the benefit of learning about an object’s “balance point” earlier in life with dad in some random summer afternoon, and recalling that saw that this was much the same exercise. After listening to some of my other peers solutions, which were not working, I finally lost all patience, snatched the broom out of a girl’s hand, laid it on top of the chair, balanced it perfectly, and shouted at her, “All you have to do is find the balance point.” Well, she burst into tears, and Dad immediately called me into the hallway. Not to detail my punishment, but suffice to say neither my brother nor I ever found favoritism in dad’s classes. But I had judged this girl and found her wanting and doled out her retribution. Dad always said she never recovered and is probably living in some commune in Wyoming trying to find inner peace.
It can be hard not to judge people. My defense to my Dad in the hallway was something to effect of, “but they were WRONG!” It seemed unfair that I should suffer for getting it right.
We are lucky to have the opportunity in the lectionary to take a look at the teachings of Paul to the Romans. In this letter, he takes care to outline instructions for everyday life; instructions that lead to wholeness of not only the faith community but of the individual. He is righting not only for the Jewish believer converted out of the idea that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, but also to the group of gentiles that reside there. To them, Jesus is a completely new and radical way of thinking. They are taking the leap not from Hope in Prophecy to Prophecy Fulfillment, but the leap from a myriad of gods and goddesses to the belief in One true Creator and the path to Life through a man who was that Deity’s Son--Love Incarnate on Earth. Of course, Paul is also dealing with two very distinctive groups of people who are having trouble getting along.
Poor Paul. He’s trying to bring them eternal, everlasting spiritual truth, and they are arguing over dietary nuances.
For the Jews their way of life is truly changing in the light of Jesus’ teachings. Through Paul’s interpretation through the word and the Spirit he sees, and rightfully so, that Jesus as messiah is for the whole world, not just the Jews. He is the fulfillment not only of prophecy, but with the greater promise spoken first to Adam and to every living human on the planet. This is, I love you. I want us to be together.
The Jews of Rome are dealing with judgment.
For so long they have been accustomed to being God’s chosen people. His only chosen. He chose them to inhabit Israel, above the others who were already living there. He chose them to carry his promise, above all others who dwelt in the Fertile Crescent. He chose them to come out of Egypt, above all the other nations that had been made slaves by that empire. And now, suddenly, the Day of Glory has come… but it has come for all people and all nations. Talk about your big let downs.
Suddenly, God doesn’t have favorites. He has redeemed all by the blood. Paul sites several things in the passage. One of the first is his question to the Christians of Rome—Has GOD not owned all those who profess belief in Him and IN Christ? Then who are we, to disown them? To do so, to pass that judgment on people, is to USURP the place of God. He warns too against the feelings between the strong and the weak. Again, we have divisions in the early church, not only between Gentile and Jew, but between those who are strong and secure in the faith and those who are new and weak. Judgment can come out in so many ways. Condescension is one of the most often used tools of Judgment.
But it is hard not to judge.
I can feel for the Jews. After millennia of belong the teachers pet in every way, they suddenly have to give that up. They are just like everyone else. And even if they attain a solid faith—what is their reward? Sameness. There is NO HIERARCHY in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Methodist church I grew up in, they have conference Bishops who are elected by the ministerial body and rule over the general sessions. I was amazed at one General Assembly in which the bishop came down from the dais and washed the feet of my friends and I who were attending. My pastor who was with us, saw me and said simply, “We are all believers, struggling to come closer to God.” The words of the Disciples to Christ rang out, “No teacher, surely you will not wash our feet.” It is only our Human Perception that creates the feudal system of believers.
Paul reminds the Jews especially of God’s words from Isaiah, a book they more than likely knew very well. Chapter 45:23 says “EVERY knee will bow before me…”He says to them in this letter. Just before that in Isaiah 45: 22, God speaks of “the Ends of the Earth” turning towards Him to be saved. Paul reminds them that even in the prophecy God addresses every nation when it comes to salvation.
I feel like I will short you if I don’t interject here the line I drew from this text to our Old Testament reading.
In re-reading this passage, I was reminded of a wonderfully epic theater experience that I was treated to in the movie “The Prince of Egypt.” You can sometimes do in a cartoon what your budget will not allow you to do in live action. Moses, upon God’s command stretches out his hand and the water ROLL BACK in an awesome display. Dolphins and fish can bee seen silhouetted in the water as the nation walks by them. In scripture, however, we must imagine something more than that even. Not only did the waters roll back, but a powerful wind came and DRIED the land that was the bottom of the sea. In addition, look at the chronology of the miracle. Moses with God’s power allows SOME of the water to come back on and destroy the Egyptian chariots. While the nation is still in the trough with them. Yet they continue, unfettered. At the end of the verse we are blessed by the understatement, “Israel saw the great power of the Lord… so they were in awe of Him and believed.”
This is what it takes to be the judge. This kind of might, this kind of mind boggling power. Do you have what it takes to fulfill the role of God as judge? I surely do not.
So then. We are called and commanded to not pass judgment on our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are all people. We can use the verse from Isaiah as a mantra if we must: “Every knee will bow, every tongue confesses.”
What then is the action verb to go along with this omission in behavior? Paul goes on in Romans immediately after this verse with a resolution: “Make up your mind not to be a stumbling block.” This is active opposite of not judging. He asks us in this to not place anything in the path of those who are trying to come to the Lord. To resolute ourselves to not create an obstacle course to the loving arms of God. But there is more to it…
Recently, Clyde Albright was letting me in on a little piece of farm lore concerning cows. If cows are looking down and there is anything in their way, they will stop. Be it a body, a car, or a twig they are immovable. So then I’ll paint you a scenario, a parable, with that in mind. It’s a bitter winter and the cattle need to spend the night in the barn. The father entrusts his son and his daughter to put them there. Now, they put out fresh hay, open the doors, and see the cows within sight of the barn coming toward it. The next morning the cows are all dead. Bringing the two children out to dead animals the farmer shows them a branch that was in their path to the barn. Being cows, they had stopped and frozen to death. The boy is indignant and says, “But father, we didn’t put that branch there!” And on the way to the woodshed the father replies, “But neither did you remove it.”
Paul’s real objective in all this is to build a more perfect Christian community. Not being a stumbling block is not only to not become a detriment to someone else’s spiritual life, but also in the obverse to do everything in our power to better it. In verse 19 of the same chapter Paul charges the church to make EVERY effort to do what is mutually up building of one another.
I’ve heard repent means to make an about face from a sin or wrongdoing and face God or His loving will. The repentant opposite then of Judgment is this mutual up building that Paul is talking about.
Like I said tough; it’s hard not to judge. We must all be ever vigilant to turn away from those self righteous temptations and instead reach lovingly out to those weaker in the faith and bring one another into a place of mutual up building. It’s this that makes the Church and our faith strong. It’s this that allows the church to grow in love and rightness toward God.
19Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night[a] without one coming near the other all night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25clogging[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw[c] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Romans 14
1As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess[b] to God."
12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
When I was in college, a favorite pastime of my friends and I was to challenge each other in coming up with the very best jabs for one another. One such time, my roommate made a comment to another friend, and before I could stop myself, I said, “That’s not funny.” Now not in a reprimand mind you, but instead in the voice of total authority. My roommate turned to me and questioned, “What are you, the Judge of Funny?” Thus for many months afterward I was dubbed “the Judge of Funny,” and if any joke was uttered in my presence my friends would stop and say, “wait wait, don’t anybody laugh--we’d better clear this with Chris first.” It was a friendly poke at my expense and good natured. But it was revealing. It showed a side of myself I can still feel poking out every once in a while even now. I’m the judge.
I don’t know if it was because of my being the first born, or some deep sense of justice my mother passed on to me, but my whole life, I have struggled not to pass judgment, or at the very least not express my feelings on it.
In another example, I will relate a story my Dad is often fond of recalling. Dad is and was a teacher of gifted students in the county where we grew up. I was in several of his classes, but one of the first, when I was in fifth grade, was an elementary physics class. Our first project in our first class was a group challenge. Two groups pitted against each other in a race to balance a broom on the top of a chair. We were given no further instruction or hints and were given creative reign to solve the problem as best we saw fit. I had the benefit of learning about an object’s “balance point” earlier in life with dad in some random summer afternoon, and recalling that saw that this was much the same exercise. After listening to some of my other peers solutions, which were not working, I finally lost all patience, snatched the broom out of a girl’s hand, laid it on top of the chair, balanced it perfectly, and shouted at her, “All you have to do is find the balance point.” Well, she burst into tears, and Dad immediately called me into the hallway. Not to detail my punishment, but suffice to say neither my brother nor I ever found favoritism in dad’s classes. But I had judged this girl and found her wanting and doled out her retribution. Dad always said she never recovered and is probably living in some commune in Wyoming trying to find inner peace.
It can be hard not to judge people. My defense to my Dad in the hallway was something to effect of, “but they were WRONG!” It seemed unfair that I should suffer for getting it right.
We are lucky to have the opportunity in the lectionary to take a look at the teachings of Paul to the Romans. In this letter, he takes care to outline instructions for everyday life; instructions that lead to wholeness of not only the faith community but of the individual. He is righting not only for the Jewish believer converted out of the idea that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, but also to the group of gentiles that reside there. To them, Jesus is a completely new and radical way of thinking. They are taking the leap not from Hope in Prophecy to Prophecy Fulfillment, but the leap from a myriad of gods and goddesses to the belief in One true Creator and the path to Life through a man who was that Deity’s Son--Love Incarnate on Earth. Of course, Paul is also dealing with two very distinctive groups of people who are having trouble getting along.
Poor Paul. He’s trying to bring them eternal, everlasting spiritual truth, and they are arguing over dietary nuances.
For the Jews their way of life is truly changing in the light of Jesus’ teachings. Through Paul’s interpretation through the word and the Spirit he sees, and rightfully so, that Jesus as messiah is for the whole world, not just the Jews. He is the fulfillment not only of prophecy, but with the greater promise spoken first to Adam and to every living human on the planet. This is, I love you. I want us to be together.
The Jews of Rome are dealing with judgment.
For so long they have been accustomed to being God’s chosen people. His only chosen. He chose them to inhabit Israel, above the others who were already living there. He chose them to carry his promise, above all others who dwelt in the Fertile Crescent. He chose them to come out of Egypt, above all the other nations that had been made slaves by that empire. And now, suddenly, the Day of Glory has come… but it has come for all people and all nations. Talk about your big let downs.
Suddenly, God doesn’t have favorites. He has redeemed all by the blood. Paul sites several things in the passage. One of the first is his question to the Christians of Rome—Has GOD not owned all those who profess belief in Him and IN Christ? Then who are we, to disown them? To do so, to pass that judgment on people, is to USURP the place of God. He warns too against the feelings between the strong and the weak. Again, we have divisions in the early church, not only between Gentile and Jew, but between those who are strong and secure in the faith and those who are new and weak. Judgment can come out in so many ways. Condescension is one of the most often used tools of Judgment.
But it is hard not to judge.
I can feel for the Jews. After millennia of belong the teachers pet in every way, they suddenly have to give that up. They are just like everyone else. And even if they attain a solid faith—what is their reward? Sameness. There is NO HIERARCHY in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Methodist church I grew up in, they have conference Bishops who are elected by the ministerial body and rule over the general sessions. I was amazed at one General Assembly in which the bishop came down from the dais and washed the feet of my friends and I who were attending. My pastor who was with us, saw me and said simply, “We are all believers, struggling to come closer to God.” The words of the Disciples to Christ rang out, “No teacher, surely you will not wash our feet.” It is only our Human Perception that creates the feudal system of believers.
Paul reminds the Jews especially of God’s words from Isaiah, a book they more than likely knew very well. Chapter 45:23 says “EVERY knee will bow before me…”He says to them in this letter. Just before that in Isaiah 45: 22, God speaks of “the Ends of the Earth” turning towards Him to be saved. Paul reminds them that even in the prophecy God addresses every nation when it comes to salvation.
I feel like I will short you if I don’t interject here the line I drew from this text to our Old Testament reading.
In re-reading this passage, I was reminded of a wonderfully epic theater experience that I was treated to in the movie “The Prince of Egypt.” You can sometimes do in a cartoon what your budget will not allow you to do in live action. Moses, upon God’s command stretches out his hand and the water ROLL BACK in an awesome display. Dolphins and fish can bee seen silhouetted in the water as the nation walks by them. In scripture, however, we must imagine something more than that even. Not only did the waters roll back, but a powerful wind came and DRIED the land that was the bottom of the sea. In addition, look at the chronology of the miracle. Moses with God’s power allows SOME of the water to come back on and destroy the Egyptian chariots. While the nation is still in the trough with them. Yet they continue, unfettered. At the end of the verse we are blessed by the understatement, “Israel saw the great power of the Lord… so they were in awe of Him and believed.”
This is what it takes to be the judge. This kind of might, this kind of mind boggling power. Do you have what it takes to fulfill the role of God as judge? I surely do not.
So then. We are called and commanded to not pass judgment on our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are all people. We can use the verse from Isaiah as a mantra if we must: “Every knee will bow, every tongue confesses.”
What then is the action verb to go along with this omission in behavior? Paul goes on in Romans immediately after this verse with a resolution: “Make up your mind not to be a stumbling block.” This is active opposite of not judging. He asks us in this to not place anything in the path of those who are trying to come to the Lord. To resolute ourselves to not create an obstacle course to the loving arms of God. But there is more to it…
Recently, Clyde Albright was letting me in on a little piece of farm lore concerning cows. If cows are looking down and there is anything in their way, they will stop. Be it a body, a car, or a twig they are immovable. So then I’ll paint you a scenario, a parable, with that in mind. It’s a bitter winter and the cattle need to spend the night in the barn. The father entrusts his son and his daughter to put them there. Now, they put out fresh hay, open the doors, and see the cows within sight of the barn coming toward it. The next morning the cows are all dead. Bringing the two children out to dead animals the farmer shows them a branch that was in their path to the barn. Being cows, they had stopped and frozen to death. The boy is indignant and says, “But father, we didn’t put that branch there!” And on the way to the woodshed the father replies, “But neither did you remove it.”
Paul’s real objective in all this is to build a more perfect Christian community. Not being a stumbling block is not only to not become a detriment to someone else’s spiritual life, but also in the obverse to do everything in our power to better it. In verse 19 of the same chapter Paul charges the church to make EVERY effort to do what is mutually up building of one another.
I’ve heard repent means to make an about face from a sin or wrongdoing and face God or His loving will. The repentant opposite then of Judgment is this mutual up building that Paul is talking about.
Like I said tough; it’s hard not to judge. We must all be ever vigilant to turn away from those self righteous temptations and instead reach lovingly out to those weaker in the faith and bring one another into a place of mutual up building. It’s this that makes the Church and our faith strong. It’s this that allows the church to grow in love and rightness toward God.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
I never thought I'd want more gas...
So, agreed, this is THE best way to get people to do all of those things. The only problem with that is the US has been so backward for the past 50 years we have NO mass transit system upon which to fall back.
So that leaves the population of the US where? Shit City, that's where. With NO OTHER WAY to get places we need to go we are left high and dry until state and local government decide to get on with it. Busses, trains, inner city trams, we need 4 times as many as we have now and with double the running times and locations to even approach the state in which we will be able to function normally.
How about instead of foreign aid for New Orleans the countries of Europe come over and build us a transit system that doesn't suck balls.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
The dragon
As promised here are some pictures of "F'neir" a dragon I build for a Kids Festival for my wife.
and this last one is some of the kids painting him...
I think I'd like to do a bigger one, myabe one that is standing. And one of course that I would paint myself... Ha. It was nice for the Kids Fair, but... I mean. Well you know. It was for fun for them, not for art... or not to actually end up looking like a dragon... Ha ha... Or maybe it is what a dragon looks like for all we know.
and this last one is some of the kids painting him...
I think I'd like to do a bigger one, myabe one that is standing. And one of course that I would paint myself... Ha. It was nice for the Kids Fair, but... I mean. Well you know. It was for fun for them, not for art... or not to actually end up looking like a dragon... Ha ha... Or maybe it is what a dragon looks like for all we know.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Welcome America!
I feel like some of the other places in the world should hold up signs like that all over.
I was looking at the news the other night and they were covering living condition in the West Bank(Palestine), people in Darfur, people struggling in Iraq, and people in New Orleans. For the most part I could tell no difference at all.
It seems some kind of ironic justice for the American populace. Maybe that's not quite right, but what I do mean is that people in that area are really getting a taste of what hundreds of places around the world deal with every day, every year, for their entire lives. And unlike the people of the Big Easy they have no parent government who is bailing them out, looking for their best interests etc.
And never in my life have I seen a bigger bunch of complainers. It's like the handout mentality all over again. "Why isn't the government doing for me what I should be able to do for myself?" Boo hoo hoo... People in other nations have been refugees their ENTIRE LIVES. What the hell are you complaining about?
And get ready refugee states, your are going to be stuck with the detritus of those affected areas. They have no means with which to "start over." The poor and unemployed are going to cast themselves like leavings on the shores of every other surrounding town and state. Steel yourselves and your welfare programs.
Meanwhile the nation deals with a poverty increase. Now keep in mind that this is poverty, not just someone who is poor, OR on welfare. The actual percentage of that is .2%--but keep in mind that means 1.1 MILLION people are NEW to poverty in the last YEAR. Now don't get me wrong, I am not so moon eyed as to think there is such a society where poverty does not exist. Human failure, human nature, and greed will always see to that. However, the trend we are missing is that it is on the rise. And we must take into consideration that, as I said these are not the working poor, which society MUST HAVE in order to function. These instead are the working poverty, which are a burden on every facet of functional government. Unemployment has peaked at somewhere near 6%, yet poverty continues to be on the rise.
This means only one thing. That the jobs people hold are not paying a LIVING wage. Right now "poverty" is anyone making less than $19,307. For fun lets divide up a salary of $20,000. Rent,$6000 (500/mo) Food $1,200 (100/mo) Car $1,800(150/mo) Clothing $600 ($50/mo. That seems like pleanty right?! Well, this is about the barest most frugal budget in the world, and for ONE person it would work out pretty ok. You COULD survive somewhere and still have something left for a movie or a night out every once in a while. Of course on top of these things most people have medical expenses which could be 8-10K a year. And the other issue is that FAMILIES are trying to survive on that income.
So we have two choices. And these choices will invigorate the economy, drive down violent crime, and increase state tax coffers and commerce.
Either A) Pay workers a living wage for family life, or B) Sterilize the poor so they will cease breeding what they cannot hope to support.
CHOOSE America. Stop nancying around and grow some balls.
Or New Orleans and the death of the poor there will be only the beginning.
I was looking at the news the other night and they were covering living condition in the West Bank(Palestine), people in Darfur, people struggling in Iraq, and people in New Orleans. For the most part I could tell no difference at all.
It seems some kind of ironic justice for the American populace. Maybe that's not quite right, but what I do mean is that people in that area are really getting a taste of what hundreds of places around the world deal with every day, every year, for their entire lives. And unlike the people of the Big Easy they have no parent government who is bailing them out, looking for their best interests etc.
And never in my life have I seen a bigger bunch of complainers. It's like the handout mentality all over again. "Why isn't the government doing for me what I should be able to do for myself?" Boo hoo hoo... People in other nations have been refugees their ENTIRE LIVES. What the hell are you complaining about?
And get ready refugee states, your are going to be stuck with the detritus of those affected areas. They have no means with which to "start over." The poor and unemployed are going to cast themselves like leavings on the shores of every other surrounding town and state. Steel yourselves and your welfare programs.
Meanwhile the nation deals with a poverty increase. Now keep in mind that this is poverty, not just someone who is poor, OR on welfare. The actual percentage of that is .2%--but keep in mind that means 1.1 MILLION people are NEW to poverty in the last YEAR. Now don't get me wrong, I am not so moon eyed as to think there is such a society where poverty does not exist. Human failure, human nature, and greed will always see to that. However, the trend we are missing is that it is on the rise. And we must take into consideration that, as I said these are not the working poor, which society MUST HAVE in order to function. These instead are the working poverty, which are a burden on every facet of functional government. Unemployment has peaked at somewhere near 6%, yet poverty continues to be on the rise.
This means only one thing. That the jobs people hold are not paying a LIVING wage. Right now "poverty" is anyone making less than $19,307. For fun lets divide up a salary of $20,000. Rent,$6000 (500/mo) Food $1,200 (100/mo) Car $1,800(150/mo) Clothing $600 ($50/mo. That seems like pleanty right?! Well, this is about the barest most frugal budget in the world, and for ONE person it would work out pretty ok. You COULD survive somewhere and still have something left for a movie or a night out every once in a while. Of course on top of these things most people have medical expenses which could be 8-10K a year. And the other issue is that FAMILIES are trying to survive on that income.
So we have two choices. And these choices will invigorate the economy, drive down violent crime, and increase state tax coffers and commerce.
Either A) Pay workers a living wage for family life, or B) Sterilize the poor so they will cease breeding what they cannot hope to support.
CHOOSE America. Stop nancying around and grow some balls.
Or New Orleans and the death of the poor there will be only the beginning.
Friday, September 02, 2005
American Hubris
The word stems from a Greek work that can also mean wanton violence. Seems somehow appropriate for America's foreign policy.
the most recent debacle come from statements made by Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.
On July 15 during a radio interview on WFLA-AM he urged the US to "take out [Muslim] holy sites." They asked if he meant Mecca and he said, "Yeah."
Later on July 22 on CNN the AAI president told the congressman, "My fear is that your words have consequences, and they're and incitement."
To which this asshole responds, "I hope so. I hope they have consequences. I hope people will talk about it, it's fine. So what if it plays badly? I am not here to make sure that the spin on what I say works out well, whether it's in my own district or around the world."
I mean at least Pat Robertson had the decency to backpedal and try to make it seem as if the euphemism "take them out" only meant like, take them to a movie, or to the zoo...
But this dickweed from Colorado knows no shame and makes it so much worse. He's supposed to be a congressman for heaven's sake, can we have a little role modeling? What the hell is the rest of the world supposed to think? We have a hard enough time combating world opinion in the wake of our government refusing to join things like G8 and the Kyoto Protocols without shits like this guys simply proving to everyone how retarded and backwater we are.
Imagine for a moment that an Islamic leader of an Arabic country said nearly the same thing? That say, India should bomb, oh I dunno... Atlanta or something? We'd be up in arms before the broadcast was finished. Meanwhile we expect the Arab dogs to just sit there and take it cause we can say whatever we want cause this here's "Amuricuh."
Well here's Tommy's info if you want to vent to him directly or post on his blog or sign him up for adds or something...
Blog URL: http://tancredo.house.gov/press/press_blog.shtml
Mailing Addresses
the most recent debacle come from statements made by Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.
On July 15 during a radio interview on WFLA-AM he urged the US to "take out [Muslim] holy sites." They asked if he meant Mecca and he said, "Yeah."
Later on July 22 on CNN the AAI president told the congressman, "My fear is that your words have consequences, and they're and incitement."
To which this asshole responds, "I hope so. I hope they have consequences. I hope people will talk about it, it's fine. So what if it plays badly? I am not here to make sure that the spin on what I say works out well, whether it's in my own district or around the world."
I mean at least Pat Robertson had the decency to backpedal and try to make it seem as if the euphemism "take them out" only meant like, take them to a movie, or to the zoo...
But this dickweed from Colorado knows no shame and makes it so much worse. He's supposed to be a congressman for heaven's sake, can we have a little role modeling? What the hell is the rest of the world supposed to think? We have a hard enough time combating world opinion in the wake of our government refusing to join things like G8 and the Kyoto Protocols without shits like this guys simply proving to everyone how retarded and backwater we are.
Imagine for a moment that an Islamic leader of an Arabic country said nearly the same thing? That say, India should bomb, oh I dunno... Atlanta or something? We'd be up in arms before the broadcast was finished. Meanwhile we expect the Arab dogs to just sit there and take it cause we can say whatever we want cause this here's "Amuricuh."
Well here's Tommy's info if you want to vent to him directly or post on his blog or sign him up for adds or something...Blog URL: http://tancredo.house.gov/press/press_blog.shtml
Mailing Addresses
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
What the World is Saying
See this is (to paraphrase Lewis Black)one of those times when the Earth is giving you a message. And that message is: "MOVE."
I have a hard time having pity for these people, especially after the rash of hurricanes that we have had. It's like they just automatically expect the tax money of the northern states to endlessly bail them out every time they get flooded. YOU GET HURRICANES! MOVE AWAY!
I mean like these guys. I mean come on. We have the tech. Build your house underground, out of concrete, areodynamicaly-- SOMETHING that shows us you are trying instead of like the EVERLOVING FIRST and SECOND PIGS.
"Oh no! My house of sticks fell down AGAIN! I thought this time for sure it would hold..."
I heard on the radio this morning that it is going to take like 2 months to get the power back to xmillion people... Here's an idea. BURY your POWERLINES. Lots of people do it. It really just comes down to Louisiana and the rest being dumb moneygrubbing fucks who refused to retrofit anything. I mean I agree it does suck for the people who are suffering, but they should be rioting in the street over the ill preparation in their state and local government.
Yes Pat, I'd like to buy a clue...
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Changing places...
I had some pictures of F'neir up recently, but had to chuck them, something wrong with the way they were up. I'll have some others later.
For we've just returned from a weekend of seeing our little niece Zoe (pic). Lovely, wonderful, beautiful girl! Her dad commented that this was the only phase of life when we can drool and poop in our pants and receive only the highest praise.
Upon return though I find my attention drawn to the church (meaning the church at large) and the changes it may face in the next few years. While there have been a lot of talk over issues like Homosexuality in the Church, I don't really think that is the biggest problem. In reality the mainstream church has been losing church members and priests and ministers for a little while now.
The reason? I'm not really sure, but I do think that the whole process of the church is kind of like what a perfect democracy is like. Built to overhaul itself from time to time. The church has become radically dis-associated from the common people. It seems that the church at some point took the street of moral superiority and infallibility instead of continuing to communicate to the people. A lot of what the "new" non denominational churches are doing is just that, finding new ways of communication. Meanwhile the Church is still trying to cling to the organ. The problem really is that mainline churches have become in some ways far to unwieldy to change as fast as they need to in order to continue reaching the people of their area.
Christianity will not fall, but many of the mainline denominations are in for a crash in a lot of ways I think.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
قولى لهم
يقولون أن شيئا ما بيننا
فسخرت منهم ... بل ما زال بيننا
وقلت لهم .. بل كل الأشياء بيننا ... بل أسماها بيننا
فأنتى يا سيدتى
أيعجبك قولهم ... ؟
أيعجبك هزلهم ... ؟
فقولى لهم على لسانى
أنك تجرى منى مجرى الدم فى العروق
وقولى لهــــم
أن شذاك ... يملأ الدنيا عطرا وجمالا
وقولى لهــــم
أن شمسك تملأ دنياى ضياء
وقولى لهــم
أنك نفسى ... وعمرى ودنياى
قولى ولا تتوقفى عن الكلام
ولا تتلعثمى ... ولا تترددى
قولى لهــم ... وقولى وقولى
قولى أن الحب مازال طفلا ينمو بيننا
وأنك عندى أحب وأقرب الأشيا
Monday, August 22, 2005
Southern Hospitality goes "shubt"
Ok here is once thing that I have notice since coming here almost a year ago. Even though I wasn't really that far "North" I suppose that the difference in the two places are enough that I notice them. There really is a different purveying attitude here.
One of the WORST things is this little "just kidding" attitude that a lot of people seem to have here. It's like this backhanded way of being really mean to people.
Per example.
You ask for a day off and everyone says oh man! You think you deserve that! Or, wow, you sure haven't done enough work around here to get time off have you! And then they laugh like, ha ha, I wasn't really just an arrogant asshole just then, that was all part of this really funny joke.
I thought maybe it was just a few of the people I work with around here but the more I live in the south the more I understand it's this weird passive aggressive mentality that erupted from some warped form or kindness I think...
effin BIZARRE is what it is. SAY WHAT YOU FREAKING MEAN!!
One of the WORST things is this little "just kidding" attitude that a lot of people seem to have here. It's like this backhanded way of being really mean to people.
Per example.
You ask for a day off and everyone says oh man! You think you deserve that! Or, wow, you sure haven't done enough work around here to get time off have you! And then they laugh like, ha ha, I wasn't really just an arrogant asshole just then, that was all part of this really funny joke.
I thought maybe it was just a few of the people I work with around here but the more I live in the south the more I understand it's this weird passive aggressive mentality that erupted from some warped form or kindness I think...
effin BIZARRE is what it is. SAY WHAT YOU FREAKING MEAN!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Boo-Effing-Hoo
Israel. More to it... Gaza Strip.
These stinking fuckers are actually COMPLAINING ABOUT LEAVING. Oh, boo hoo, you poor things you are having to leave a country that never allowed you to settle there and when you did you used land that was already being used by other families and simply bulldozed them to make way for your own house. That must be rough.
Here's a message for every settler in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who are now shedding even one tear at having to leave: EAT MY SHIT AND CHOKE YOU EVIL MOTHER HUMPING ZIONIST PIGS.
Now, I know I might sound a little upset over all this, but I guess what has really gotten me is how the media seems to be twisting it like it is this awful thing as opposed to saying, "For all the love in Heaven it's about frilling TIME this happened."
There is one thing that worries me and that is the whole reason for the removal. Sharon. Not that I am complaining, but the guy has been an ass for over 30 years... Why the sudden change of heart?! It makes me feel really uneasy, like there might even be something more insidious at the heart of all this.
In the meantime though it is great to hear the whining of the "yahoodi" as they are finally forced to leave the land that was never theirs to begin with.
In all this though I am not surprised at the attitude of the americans. Their entire society was built on repeatedly taking land that didn't belong to them and either claiming divine right or some other such shite in order to cover their consciences on the matter.
These stinking fuckers are actually COMPLAINING ABOUT LEAVING. Oh, boo hoo, you poor things you are having to leave a country that never allowed you to settle there and when you did you used land that was already being used by other families and simply bulldozed them to make way for your own house. That must be rough.
Here's a message for every settler in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who are now shedding even one tear at having to leave: EAT MY SHIT AND CHOKE YOU EVIL MOTHER HUMPING ZIONIST PIGS.
Now, I know I might sound a little upset over all this, but I guess what has really gotten me is how the media seems to be twisting it like it is this awful thing as opposed to saying, "For all the love in Heaven it's about frilling TIME this happened."
There is one thing that worries me and that is the whole reason for the removal. Sharon. Not that I am complaining, but the guy has been an ass for over 30 years... Why the sudden change of heart?! It makes me feel really uneasy, like there might even be something more insidious at the heart of all this.
In the meantime though it is great to hear the whining of the "yahoodi" as they are finally forced to leave the land that was never theirs to begin with.
In all this though I am not surprised at the attitude of the americans. Their entire society was built on repeatedly taking land that didn't belong to them and either claiming divine right or some other such shite in order to cover their consciences on the matter.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Code Vomit
Ok so on the radio this morning I hear that today in my medium size NC city that we have a CODE ORANGE pollution alert, and if you don't have to go outside you shouldn't. As I am lying there I think holy fark, what the hell happened? Is there some toxic spill? Some waste dump gone awry? So I lie (lay?) there in rapt attention waiting for the details, but they mention nothing about it. As if they have just said "oh, it will be a little sprinkly outside so wear your rubbers."
Come to find out that it is a pretty usual thing around here. Like Smoky the bear saying that the forest fire alter is red or yellow. When I found this out I was like... Uh... isn't that a problem? This city is NOT New York or LA or Chicago or Atlanta!! Should we be having POLLUTION ALERTS?!
WE ARE POISONING OURSELVES!!! I'm about to the point now were people are like, oh I have cancer, and all I want to say is "SERVES YOU RIGHT." Which I guess is pretty awful.. but... come on. Pollution Alerts? Am I the only one to feel like this is a terrible problem? Are there not senators and the farking president waking up and going, "boy... maybe we SHOULD do something... since I'm not really supposed to BREATH THE AIR OUTSIDE TODAY because of the pollution."
...I'm moving to...the underside of a rock... any takers?
Come to find out that it is a pretty usual thing around here. Like Smoky the bear saying that the forest fire alter is red or yellow. When I found this out I was like... Uh... isn't that a problem? This city is NOT New York or LA or Chicago or Atlanta!! Should we be having POLLUTION ALERTS?!
WE ARE POISONING OURSELVES!!! I'm about to the point now were people are like, oh I have cancer, and all I want to say is "SERVES YOU RIGHT." Which I guess is pretty awful.. but... come on. Pollution Alerts? Am I the only one to feel like this is a terrible problem? Are there not senators and the farking president waking up and going, "boy... maybe we SHOULD do something... since I'm not really supposed to BREATH THE AIR OUTSIDE TODAY because of the pollution."
...I'm moving to...the underside of a rock... any takers?
Thursday, July 28, 2005
as if there wasn't enough reason...
Here's another author you should look up if you can muster the cahones...
Guy by the name of Robert Pape in his recent book, "Dying to Win: the Logic of Suicide Terrorism," take a really firm look at the mentality of our newest "enemy."
The book is so good partly because of the amount of information the man draws from; a database that includes EVERY suicide-bomb attack from 1980-2004.
The conclusions are such that you could probably guess them if you have half a brain (basically that these bombers attack in order to get democratic powers OUT of certain areas, and that invading them only generates more not less. As in Iraq, in which the number of bombings has doubled every year that we have been there.), but the way in which he puts these things together is really well done.
Guy by the name of Robert Pape in his recent book, "Dying to Win: the Logic of Suicide Terrorism," take a really firm look at the mentality of our newest "enemy."
The book is so good partly because of the amount of information the man draws from; a database that includes EVERY suicide-bomb attack from 1980-2004.
The conclusions are such that you could probably guess them if you have half a brain (basically that these bombers attack in order to get democratic powers OUT of certain areas, and that invading them only generates more not less. As in Iraq, in which the number of bombings has doubled every year that we have been there.), but the way in which he puts these things together is really well done.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Spacious Cries
Ever feel like a traitor when you are singing that song? Like the writer of America The Beautiful will come out of her(Kathie Bates) grave and smite you?
We were singing it recently and several things struck me...
Spacious Skies-- Which we have polluted and chemically treated
Amber waves of Grain, Above the fruited Plain-- ground and ground waters which we have poisoned and chemically altered so that it has become dependent on man made synthetic fertilizers, fruits and crops that are treated with hormones and pesticides so that we have to wash what we get from the stores or risk strange ailments (do you realize we didn't have to do that since the beginning of TIME??)
Purple Mountain Majesty-- which we bring low with unrestricted strip mining which causes flooding and again poisonous ground water with un-treated runoff
Alabaster Cities--have you SEEN LA recently?
I realize she only wrote the song in 1913, but so much has become perverted in that time I feel like the worst kind of person singing the song. We as a nation were given a glorious gift in this country and we have squandered it in the name of progress and the greed of the elite.
In reality there is nothing worth saving out of our government except the most precious original ideals that were first laid down. It was a good idea, but just like every other thing in this whole country we have perverted and destroyed it to the point of being unrecognizable.
God's Grace sure better be shining on us... cause we freakin need it...
We were singing it recently and several things struck me...
Spacious Skies-- Which we have polluted and chemically treated
Amber waves of Grain, Above the fruited Plain-- ground and ground waters which we have poisoned and chemically altered so that it has become dependent on man made synthetic fertilizers, fruits and crops that are treated with hormones and pesticides so that we have to wash what we get from the stores or risk strange ailments (do you realize we didn't have to do that since the beginning of TIME??)
Purple Mountain Majesty-- which we bring low with unrestricted strip mining which causes flooding and again poisonous ground water with un-treated runoff
Alabaster Cities--have you SEEN LA recently?
I realize she only wrote the song in 1913, but so much has become perverted in that time I feel like the worst kind of person singing the song. We as a nation were given a glorious gift in this country and we have squandered it in the name of progress and the greed of the elite.
In reality there is nothing worth saving out of our government except the most precious original ideals that were first laid down. It was a good idea, but just like every other thing in this whole country we have perverted and destroyed it to the point of being unrecognizable.
God's Grace sure better be shining on us... cause we freakin need it...
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Blacksploitation
I got a ad in the mail the other day, which must have been some bizarre demographical error, but the add was for a Black Book Club... As in the ethnicity, or Afr. Am. or whatever it is I am supposed to say now. Regardless I was actually put off by this. Why you say? The same reason I kinda have a problem with BET, or Ebony for that matter.
All these mediums simply increase the wedge that I was under the impression black leaders have been trying to erase. Or maybe I am out of the loop. I thought that we were all going for the idea that people are the same no matter what their skin color. Apparent;y these magazines and book clubs say differently. They seem to say that black people not only have different tastes in books, but that only a Black Book Club is able to cater to their specific needs. Same with magazines, and TV channels. All of these things do nothing but state to a person--"YOU ARE DIFFERENT."
Of course the motivation behind all these enterprises in NOT some noble spirit that seeks to provide for "their" people. Let us be CLEAR on that. The motivation is MONEY. They are telling on part of the community BUY OUR PRODUCTS!! YOU HAVE TO!! YOUR SKIN COLOR DEMANDS IT!!! I mean... talk about blacksploitation...
Like I said maybe I am wrong and out of the loop. Maybe we have all given up on the pretense of trying to combine races into the idea of equality. Maybe catering to the "black" vote as opposed to white vote is still happening. Maybe we should drop all pretenses and re-institute black schools, since white schools and white school teachers will never be able to understand the black nation since they don't watch BET and subscribe to Ebony or read "black" books...
who the hell have we been kidding all these years?
All these mediums simply increase the wedge that I was under the impression black leaders have been trying to erase. Or maybe I am out of the loop. I thought that we were all going for the idea that people are the same no matter what their skin color. Apparent;y these magazines and book clubs say differently. They seem to say that black people not only have different tastes in books, but that only a Black Book Club is able to cater to their specific needs. Same with magazines, and TV channels. All of these things do nothing but state to a person--"YOU ARE DIFFERENT."
Of course the motivation behind all these enterprises in NOT some noble spirit that seeks to provide for "their" people. Let us be CLEAR on that. The motivation is MONEY. They are telling on part of the community BUY OUR PRODUCTS!! YOU HAVE TO!! YOUR SKIN COLOR DEMANDS IT!!! I mean... talk about blacksploitation...
Like I said maybe I am wrong and out of the loop. Maybe we have all given up on the pretense of trying to combine races into the idea of equality. Maybe catering to the "black" vote as opposed to white vote is still happening. Maybe we should drop all pretenses and re-institute black schools, since white schools and white school teachers will never be able to understand the black nation since they don't watch BET and subscribe to Ebony or read "black" books...
who the hell have we been kidding all these years?
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
The Little People
Romans 16:12-23 (Contemporary English Version)
Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard for the Lord.Greet my dear friend Persis. She also works hard for the Lord.
Greet Rufus, that special servant of the Lord, and greet his mother, who has been like a mother to me. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and Hermas, as well as our friends who are with them.Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God's people who are with them. Be sure to give each other a warm greeting. All of Christ's churches greet you.
My friends, I beg you to watch out for anyone who causes trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them! 18They want to serve themselves and not Christ the Lord. Their flattery and fancy talk fool people who don't know any better. 19I am glad that everyone knows how well you obey the Lord. But still, I want you to understand what is good and not have anything to do with evil. 20Then God, who gives peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. I pray that our Lord Jesus will be kind to you.
Genesis 22:1-14 (New International Version) Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
1 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
It’s exciting when we feel that the scriptures written so long ago still have the resonance of truth in our lives today. We feel sometimes that this world we live in is so drastically different from the one about which Paul was writing. Yet, here at the end of Romans we find instruction that was originally meant for that church filled with loving instructions that we can still apply today.
First we must bear in mind that the church in
It is in this context that we are required to look at his last words of instruction for the new church. It boils down basically to three things:
1) Watch Out!
2) Keep yourselves focused
3) Hold out for God’s help
In the first place Paul tells the church to look sharp! And this goes beyond the boundaries of what we may initially consider. It is not a matter of NOT doing wrong, but of actively pursuing the right.
I’ve heard people comment on the old adage that if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all—the Christian turn on that phrase would have to be, “if you can’t say anything nice about someone, then tell them all the things you love about them.” We fail sometimes to see that inaction can be equally as harmful.
My father is an immensely safe driver. Growing up and riding in the car with him I always felt safe. His focus was only on his driving no matter what else; hands at ten and two, blinker used at every merger, everything was by the driver’s manual. One night as he was driving to visit his mother in
So here Paul is warning the church to stay awake at the wheel! Don’t let trouble makers take root in the church community, he asks. One translation includes at the end of verse (17) says, “Keep away from them!” But, I enjoy a different translation which comes out “Look sharply at them” Not only keep your eye on them, but make it known that they are outside the community of faith with their actions.
In a way this goes along with Paul’s second point, which is asking the church to stay focused on the goals at hand. They are there not to serve themselves, but Christ; they have important work and Paul asks them to be truly concerned with that and not with the flattery or fancy talk that the troublemakers bring.
The last part of his wisdom, Paul talks of the God of peace “coming to crush the adversary.” Hold out for God’s work, this says. Hold out for His help in these matters. These people who, again, I like the words of my translation, which read “those who put stumbling blocks before you.” These people, however, will be dealt with by God, or by his work. We can perceive the warning here; never act to try and protect our own pride, but instead keep an eye on those who would hinder the deeds of Christ with their attitude, and let God’s Will prevail with them.
It a hard distinction to make but an important one. It’s the difference between doing our will and the Lord’s.
***
But why are these people here? So, even in the earliest days of the church there were those who, much to the chagrin of the other Saints, stood in the way of faith led people taking action? Or, was Paul’s warning even deeper to include the leaders themselves? Perhaps the better question than “why are those people around?” is “how do we keep from becoming like them?”
For the Why and for an understanding of those who would place the stumbling blocks in our path, we are in luck that our reading this week is matched up with the familiar Old Testament tale of Father Abraham.
My own father actually doesn’t like this story very much at all. He has a hard time perceiving not only the act but why God would ever even ask it of Abraham in the first place. I suppose as his son the fact that this idea is so foreign to him is comforting somehow…
And it is a difficult story to read. Poor Abe! After years of waiting is finally able to rejoice in the blessing of a son, the promise made so long ago has come to fruition only for God to go and ask for the gift back! I am sure I would not have been able to stand up to the task. Some can say that God is unfairly baiting Abraham, waiting for him to fail, hinging the promise on some gruesome act. Others would say that it is a test for Abraham, a monument to his faith if he is able to truly draw the knife across his son’s throat. The latter, I think, is more correct.
It is a test, but here we have to understand the deep relationship that Abe and the Lord of Heaven shared between them. In essence God had been testing Abraham since he was a young man, commanding him to leave the
Don't talk of stars burning above; If you're in love,
Show me!
Tell me no dreams filled with desire. If you're on fire,
Show me!
And so, I can imagine God saying those exact same things. If you love me. Show me. If you are on fire. Show me. Thus has it always been for Abraham. What I meant when I originally said we must understand the relationship so as to understand the real meaning of the tests, was that Abraham’s life wasn’t really a test as we think of it, but more like all our lives are, truly, a succession of Opportunities to show God our true heart. This is the only way he has of getting to know us… With Abraham it is only more so. God will allow nothing to get between him and his chosen Steward of the Promise. If anything in Abraham’s life is going to get in the way of God’s Will, it is going to be his son.
The son who is the culmination of decades of waiting. The son who, to Abe at least, represents the entirety of God’s promise to him. It is a symbol of their connection even. But God, as we know, is a jealous god, and will let nothing be between them. So, the call comes out... Give me your son. Show me. Understand here though that Abraham’s love was not in question here, but instead God questions the placement of his heart. Which is it? Your son and all he represents, or continual obedience to my Will, not matter what that may be. No matter if you will or won’t understand it.
It’s a hard question. And yet the same is asked of use all every day in a thousand ways we are constantly provided with the opportunities to show our God how we love Him.
So why must we bear the troublemakers who divide the church? Because, they are only those who have come up short in the question of heart placement. And, yes, we are asked to separate ourselves from the doctrine of foolish talk that they come out with, but we are commanded to watch them, because what is the true purpose of the church if not to take people when they fail the Test of Abraham, and guide them, and love them to more opportunities for continued reconciliation with God?
So we take Paul’s last words of his letter to a beloved church, and we remember not to “fix” people as we see them in need, but we respond in love to them as God guides us to do. Because the last part of verse (20) echoes to us out of the ages: “I pray that Jesus will be kind to you.” A lasting warning from Paul, “Follow what I am asking of you, because sooner or later we are all on the receiving end of Grace, and in need of Christ’s compassion.”
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