a city on a hill.
a chosen people.
a royal priesthood.
a holy nation.
a tree planted by water.
the hope of the world.
i write this as a reminder to me and the people that voted for Barack.
Barack will not save the world. our work is the same as it ever was. it may be a little easier now. it may be a little harder. or a lot on either side. but it's the same work.
i write this as a reminder to the people that voted for John.
Barack will not end the world. your work is the same as it ever was. it may be a little harder now. or a little easier. or a lot on either side. but it's the same work.
and to all of us.
the nation does not need MORE prayer. the president does not need more prayer. they need prayer. the only way "more" should be attached to it is if there was no prayer in the first place.
we...those who follow Jesus...are the light of the world, a city set on a hill, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation.
if there is change that needs to happen, strive to make that true first.
don't only do it for yourself...do it corporately.
warn each other of sin.
spur each other on to good works.
encourage each other
disciple each other.
exhort each other.
do justice together.
be like trees...not a tree. stand in groves that are filled with all kinds of trees.
learn to worship in ways that don't include music.
learn to worship in ways that make you tremble, whether for your safety here on this earth, or for your safety before an awesome and mighty God.
be stewards, not savers or spenders. stewards. stored up treasure on earth is useless. you can't take your stuff with you. what a time to show a different mindset toward your material world!
and pursue His heart for others. one side of these political line is filled with people who believe the main call is to save souls. one side is filled with people who believe the main call is to work for the oppressed. one Man lived to show that there are no sides. there is salvation. the good news to be shared is for soul...and it is for the Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
if you're gonna put it out there...
one of the things i'm willing to accept as part of blogging/posting, is an alternate point of view. my mom threw one up on my uberlong post last night, and i was grateful for it. i didn't agree with her assessment of why i was voting the way i did. but i was appreciative of her views, and her reminder of God's heart and anger expressed in Jeremiah. i'm fully in agreement with her on that, so no worries there.
so...this was put out there today by a friend of mine who attends a christian college here in the city. actually, he might be done now, but that's beside the point. it would probably not have illicted a response were it not for one word he assigned to these 10 points.
truths.
i guess the original author, a conservative christian pastor born late last century, originally called the The Ten Cannots, likely a play on the ten commandments. here's a little paragraph my friend posted about him.
William J. H. Boetcker (1873 – 1962) was an American religious leader and influential public speaker. An outspoken political conservative, Rev. Boetcker is perhaps best remembered for his authorship of a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots. Originally published in 1916, it is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln.
by now some of you probably think i look for the word conservative and go chasing after whatever i find. not true. i really would probably have looked past this as something written many years ago, in a pre-civil rights era...in a time still massively dominated by white males politically, socially, and spiritually. i know where the author is coming from. like i said a few posts ago...i'm from there, too.
but my friend wrote at the top of his note, before listing the 10 cannots, that "These ten truths are timeless, but are especially pertinent today as we elect the next leader of these united States."
what made me bristle was that word truth. they are being presented as absolute truth...they are timeless...they are proven...they are espoused originally by a christian preacher who was also a political conservative...which makes them near gospel in this day and age. a couple of these are true...the ideas behind them are straight out of scripture. but several of them have no basis in scripture, and would more likely be counter to what the Gospel really is.
here are the 10 cannots, followed by my thoughts on several of them. truth, in this case, is based on where you stand, or live, or work. truth for the author and for my friend is not the same truth for me, the people around whom i work and live, and millions of others. these things would be hugely important to mull over and meditate on if you were on the upside of these 10. but if you were on the downside, it would be hard to swallow these whole without the massive amount of sugar that usually accompanies such thoughts.
The 10 Cannots
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
i understand where the thoughts are coming from...the mindset. but it remains that these are thoughts held by people with resources, not by people without them.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
this had been the cause of rebellions throughout history. this country was founded by people who gained strength by weakening the strong. the trouble is, since that founding it's been primarily used (the quote idea) to keep people in their place. slaves were told it would be better for them to not resist. women were told to keep their places and their tongues. workers were told that if they didn't continue to work in whatever manner or length of day the strong wanted, that they would lose their jobs and new people would be found who would put up with it. this of course happened after the "free" labor we "imported" was no longer available...whether african, irish, chinese, or whatever. resistance to this phrase was the birthplace of civil rights, suffrage, and labor unions believe me, there are many people who think we'd be better off without all three of those things.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
another one used to keep wealth with the wealthy. it's not about giving. it's about oppression. those with decide, while those without live in the consequences. recent history has banks and brokerage houses deciding, leaving those without to suffer. and the message sent down via a 750 billion dollar bailout package was "you cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich." but the poor man will suffer either way through this. they do not say to themselves "well, i am poor and i suffer, but at least those with money will not suffer." they say "i am poor and i suffer and it does not matter what i do, i will always suffer." and the rich man does nott say "why, look at the people suffering. i should help." for the most part they do not think of those people at all, as they are able to spend their lives primarily without ever coiming in contact with them. and if, by chance, they are moved to give, they endow the arts and parks and things which are disappearing which need to be preserved. i'm all for that preservation. but God's heart is for the preservation of the oppressed.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
class hatred already existis. and it is not solely poor hating rich. in fact, most poor long to be like and hang out with the rich. most rich long to stay away from, be removed from the poor. their plight is their own fault and they are "fill in the blank." it's a little funny. Jesus told of the man in temple who looked over to see a poor man and his prayer was "thank you God that i'm not like that guy." i was in staff meeting today and our vp said, regarding a discussion we were having on abortion, pregnancy, welfare..."the upper classes hate these people." they definitely don't love them. at best they hate them. at worst, they're indifferent, having no thought toward them at all.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
this has been the rallying cry of privileged people everywhere. in other words, "welfare is the blight of the land. we have created people dependent on handouts, and have kept them from developing the good old anglo work ethic." the trouble is, if you look at people with privilege, you'll be more hard pressed, in my opinion, to find character and courage than if you look at people regarded as lacking initiative and independence. this one could have a book written on it...already has, i'm sure. and independence...why is a christian espousing the idea of independence? that's an individualistic, personal piety view that regards each man as responsible for their own plight. that will not be found in scripture. instead you will find a lot of God continually asking his people to fight for justice...to care for the needs of naked, hungry, thirsty, oppressed people. the church, as described in acts 2 had people who were apparently dependent on others to give. and people did it. sure, they weren't forced, as you stated. but i assume that you're talking about taxation when you talk about the money we're forced to give. well, you gotta give that either way. free market capitalism isn't the way of the Bible. it's share the wealth. it's not well, let's build character and courage into these people by not helping. that character and courage will come from discipleship, and i daresay we in the church could just some massive doses of both.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
again, i think small men might disagree. few big men in history have been servants. more have been oppressors. more have imposed injustice. and if we are to do justice, which is action, as stated in micah 6:8, and not just not do injustice, which is passive, then that means tearing down some big men. it might even mean tearing down some big men who really help keep things the way we like them because the way we like them is oppressive to small men. migrant workers, and the businesses that support them, and our love and need for low prices comes to mind. corporate activities that allow us to have what we want at the expense of the rain forests or oceans or foreign workers comes to mind. tearing down these big men, even presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of defense who fabricate causes for war and who orchestrate massive deception for any number of reason...oil, colonization, etc. and hide it as humanitarian while uganda and sudan and a dozen other places suffer atrocities that are unmatched...even they need to be pulled down. it is the hope of big men everywhere that small men will believe that line.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
unions would disagree. now, unions have become just as corrupt, but the fact is that wage payers exploited wage earners badly before unions. and wage payers now fight to keep from seeing unions happen in their businesses. see walmart, a shining example of the big man wage payer if there ever was one. but we love them because our grocerly/clothing/electronics bill is so much lower. what we would like to remain ignorant of is that those discounts are costing someone. and they are not the only ones. coca cola was hit about 10 years ago with a 150 million dollars judgment brought by women of color who were not paid as their counterparts were...who were passed over for promotions. and now, because coca cola took that 150 million to heart (money drives it all), they are now in the top three companies in the country with regard to diversity and equity in pay and promotion regardless of race or gender. wage earners taking to the wage payer. a study of Foxconn in China might also help explain why this isn't true.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. (find it in proverbs)
You cannot establish security on borrowed money. (find this one in proverbs, too)
but be reminded, you cannot establish security with money, period.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
this is the old "God helps those who help themselves" verse. except it's not a verse. it's just a ideology. God doesn't say stop helping if the people won't help themselves. none of His commands like that regarding caring for the oppressed, marriage, working, whatever...none of them come with a "do this, if..." statement. it's a way out of the loop for us. we say, well, they just won't learn, they just won't get motivated, so i'm done with them. it's a messed up ideology. but it's easy for us. because it, again, makes everything individual...everything their responsibility. we work. we earn. we save. so we are taken care of. but we think we know the ideology of the oppressed..that they are looking for handouts. that they want to be paid for doing nothing. that is a worldview we hold because we haven't experienced the truth close up. we gather and guess from a distance. a safe distance. because safety is key.
i don't know this guy's life story...this William Boetcker. but i can guess pretty well, him being a white conservative evangelical. actually, i don't have to guess. i was one for most of my life. the funny thing is, i'm still white. i'm still conservative (theologically, not politically), and i'm still an evangelical. i just couldn't be further from the 10 truths this guy wrote. they may be truths, but they're not absolute truths. their relative truths...relative to where he stood. i'm standing somewhere completely different.
so...this was put out there today by a friend of mine who attends a christian college here in the city. actually, he might be done now, but that's beside the point. it would probably not have illicted a response were it not for one word he assigned to these 10 points.
truths.
i guess the original author, a conservative christian pastor born late last century, originally called the The Ten Cannots, likely a play on the ten commandments. here's a little paragraph my friend posted about him.
William J. H. Boetcker (1873 – 1962) was an American religious leader and influential public speaker. An outspoken political conservative, Rev. Boetcker is perhaps best remembered for his authorship of a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots. Originally published in 1916, it is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln.
by now some of you probably think i look for the word conservative and go chasing after whatever i find. not true. i really would probably have looked past this as something written many years ago, in a pre-civil rights era...in a time still massively dominated by white males politically, socially, and spiritually. i know where the author is coming from. like i said a few posts ago...i'm from there, too.
but my friend wrote at the top of his note, before listing the 10 cannots, that "These ten truths are timeless, but are especially pertinent today as we elect the next leader of these united States."
what made me bristle was that word truth. they are being presented as absolute truth...they are timeless...they are proven...they are espoused originally by a christian preacher who was also a political conservative...which makes them near gospel in this day and age. a couple of these are true...the ideas behind them are straight out of scripture. but several of them have no basis in scripture, and would more likely be counter to what the Gospel really is.
here are the 10 cannots, followed by my thoughts on several of them. truth, in this case, is based on where you stand, or live, or work. truth for the author and for my friend is not the same truth for me, the people around whom i work and live, and millions of others. these things would be hugely important to mull over and meditate on if you were on the upside of these 10. but if you were on the downside, it would be hard to swallow these whole without the massive amount of sugar that usually accompanies such thoughts.
The 10 Cannots
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
i understand where the thoughts are coming from...the mindset. but it remains that these are thoughts held by people with resources, not by people without them.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
this had been the cause of rebellions throughout history. this country was founded by people who gained strength by weakening the strong. the trouble is, since that founding it's been primarily used (the quote idea) to keep people in their place. slaves were told it would be better for them to not resist. women were told to keep their places and their tongues. workers were told that if they didn't continue to work in whatever manner or length of day the strong wanted, that they would lose their jobs and new people would be found who would put up with it. this of course happened after the "free" labor we "imported" was no longer available...whether african, irish, chinese, or whatever. resistance to this phrase was the birthplace of civil rights, suffrage, and labor unions believe me, there are many people who think we'd be better off without all three of those things.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
another one used to keep wealth with the wealthy. it's not about giving. it's about oppression. those with decide, while those without live in the consequences. recent history has banks and brokerage houses deciding, leaving those without to suffer. and the message sent down via a 750 billion dollar bailout package was "you cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich." but the poor man will suffer either way through this. they do not say to themselves "well, i am poor and i suffer, but at least those with money will not suffer." they say "i am poor and i suffer and it does not matter what i do, i will always suffer." and the rich man does nott say "why, look at the people suffering. i should help." for the most part they do not think of those people at all, as they are able to spend their lives primarily without ever coiming in contact with them. and if, by chance, they are moved to give, they endow the arts and parks and things which are disappearing which need to be preserved. i'm all for that preservation. but God's heart is for the preservation of the oppressed.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
class hatred already existis. and it is not solely poor hating rich. in fact, most poor long to be like and hang out with the rich. most rich long to stay away from, be removed from the poor. their plight is their own fault and they are "fill in the blank." it's a little funny. Jesus told of the man in temple who looked over to see a poor man and his prayer was "thank you God that i'm not like that guy." i was in staff meeting today and our vp said, regarding a discussion we were having on abortion, pregnancy, welfare..."the upper classes hate these people." they definitely don't love them. at best they hate them. at worst, they're indifferent, having no thought toward them at all.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
this has been the rallying cry of privileged people everywhere. in other words, "welfare is the blight of the land. we have created people dependent on handouts, and have kept them from developing the good old anglo work ethic." the trouble is, if you look at people with privilege, you'll be more hard pressed, in my opinion, to find character and courage than if you look at people regarded as lacking initiative and independence. this one could have a book written on it...already has, i'm sure. and independence...why is a christian espousing the idea of independence? that's an individualistic, personal piety view that regards each man as responsible for their own plight. that will not be found in scripture. instead you will find a lot of God continually asking his people to fight for justice...to care for the needs of naked, hungry, thirsty, oppressed people. the church, as described in acts 2 had people who were apparently dependent on others to give. and people did it. sure, they weren't forced, as you stated. but i assume that you're talking about taxation when you talk about the money we're forced to give. well, you gotta give that either way. free market capitalism isn't the way of the Bible. it's share the wealth. it's not well, let's build character and courage into these people by not helping. that character and courage will come from discipleship, and i daresay we in the church could just some massive doses of both.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
again, i think small men might disagree. few big men in history have been servants. more have been oppressors. more have imposed injustice. and if we are to do justice, which is action, as stated in micah 6:8, and not just not do injustice, which is passive, then that means tearing down some big men. it might even mean tearing down some big men who really help keep things the way we like them because the way we like them is oppressive to small men. migrant workers, and the businesses that support them, and our love and need for low prices comes to mind. corporate activities that allow us to have what we want at the expense of the rain forests or oceans or foreign workers comes to mind. tearing down these big men, even presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of defense who fabricate causes for war and who orchestrate massive deception for any number of reason...oil, colonization, etc. and hide it as humanitarian while uganda and sudan and a dozen other places suffer atrocities that are unmatched...even they need to be pulled down. it is the hope of big men everywhere that small men will believe that line.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
unions would disagree. now, unions have become just as corrupt, but the fact is that wage payers exploited wage earners badly before unions. and wage payers now fight to keep from seeing unions happen in their businesses. see walmart, a shining example of the big man wage payer if there ever was one. but we love them because our grocerly/clothing/electronics bill is so much lower. what we would like to remain ignorant of is that those discounts are costing someone. and they are not the only ones. coca cola was hit about 10 years ago with a 150 million dollars judgment brought by women of color who were not paid as their counterparts were...who were passed over for promotions. and now, because coca cola took that 150 million to heart (money drives it all), they are now in the top three companies in the country with regard to diversity and equity in pay and promotion regardless of race or gender. wage earners taking to the wage payer. a study of Foxconn in China might also help explain why this isn't true.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. (find it in proverbs)
You cannot establish security on borrowed money. (find this one in proverbs, too)
but be reminded, you cannot establish security with money, period.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
this is the old "God helps those who help themselves" verse. except it's not a verse. it's just a ideology. God doesn't say stop helping if the people won't help themselves. none of His commands like that regarding caring for the oppressed, marriage, working, whatever...none of them come with a "do this, if..." statement. it's a way out of the loop for us. we say, well, they just won't learn, they just won't get motivated, so i'm done with them. it's a messed up ideology. but it's easy for us. because it, again, makes everything individual...everything their responsibility. we work. we earn. we save. so we are taken care of. but we think we know the ideology of the oppressed..that they are looking for handouts. that they want to be paid for doing nothing. that is a worldview we hold because we haven't experienced the truth close up. we gather and guess from a distance. a safe distance. because safety is key.
i don't know this guy's life story...this William Boetcker. but i can guess pretty well, him being a white conservative evangelical. actually, i don't have to guess. i was one for most of my life. the funny thing is, i'm still white. i'm still conservative (theologically, not politically), and i'm still an evangelical. i just couldn't be further from the 10 truths this guy wrote. they may be truths, but they're not absolute truths. their relative truths...relative to where he stood. i'm standing somewhere completely different.
Monday, November 3, 2008
get a cup of tea...this is gonna take a while
so...politics, eh? how 'bout them candidates? how 'bout this election? i am backing a candidate...hoping he wins. me and 250 million other americans. me and 100 million evangelicals (so says wheaton college...a number i'm highly skeptical of).
where i come from, there's really only one viable candidate. and there's really only 2.5 reasons why. i believe highly in those 2.5 reasons...and yet i'm going to vote against those 2.5 reasons. not without some amount of wishing i didn't have to choose in such a manner, and not without a considerable amount of huffing and puffing from the places from which i come.
it is the places from which i come that have landed me on the other side of the imaginary line drawn by politicians, pundits, and pollsters. actually, i think they just took up sides on a line drawn long ago. the line was drawn by the church. Glen Kehrein's work on the Church, primarily the white evangelical church (those numbered at 100m) in the country, is an excellent historical look at when and how the Church split in this country...when and how it went in two different directions. one group went "right" and opted (and i'm summarizing greatly here) for a personal piety faith. it was one of a personal relationship with God. you can hear that all across the country still today. it spawns lengthy worship services with hands raised, praising God. it causes people to have difficulty in different worship styles because they don't "connect" personally in that style.
the other side went "left" and they could not understand how a person could claim to know God and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the cries of those God had so clearly told us to help. what was personal piety if widows, orphans, prisoners, infirmed, workers, naked, hungry, and thirsty were left to their suffering. they rejected the rationale that because God said "the poor will always be with you" that there was nothing that could really ever be done. and in their pursuit of a corporate responsibility for "the least of these" they began to ignore the part of God that called each of us into relationship with Him.
over the past 100 years, this dividing line became a gulf. still today, in many churches, mention the words social justice as a viable extension of the Church, and you'll be told you're slipping into liberalism. the implication is that social justice causes include acceptance of homosexuality, acceptance of abortion, and a disregard for the sanctity of marriage. these are the 2.5 things the right cannot stand for (the sanctity of marriage/homosexuality thing have some overlap). and truthfully, i cannot either. i am clear on what the Bible says about each of them, and i fully agree with that. but the truth remains that they are 2.5 things out of many. it's also true, in my opinion, that the conservative (right) church has mishandled these 2.5 things..along with a couple thousand other things. nobody's perfect. i get that. but my disagreement over that, combined with the mindset of the conservative right on the balance of the social justice issues is enough to sway me the other way. it's enough to make me desire core change in how they view the world, this country, the church, and themselves.
i do not guess at this mindset. i come from it. i know there are many different swathes of thought even among the broad stroke that is this evangelical right. it can run anywhere from the extremes of "let's cause disruption in the middle east because it's the land of armegeddon and such, and prophecy shows that when a certain series of events happen there, the end will come and Christ will return" (if you doubt it, just look across the web...it won't be hard to find) to those who believe that America is the new Israel, and that God has put a special blessing on us because of the people and the way in which this country was founded. most don't have specific thought-out positions on those sorts of things. what they do have is the main points of a worldview that is the interweaving of the Kingdom of God, and the American Dream. it gives us access to God in a deep, meaningful, personal son and daughter kind of way, and lets us live comfortably, knowing that God blesses those with whom He is pleased.
there is no doubt that God blesses His people. but we have come to equate blessing with comfort...with lack of pain. and we have come to equate pain with lack of a close relationship, or at worst, a testing of our faith. James does tell us to count it joy when we encounter pain, because the testing of our faith produces endurance. he never says that the pain will end...not here. but we have made a life free of pain the goal. and for many of us we've acheived it...for the most part. that gives a numbness to the pain of others...and it gives us a reason for why they have that pain, whether it be poverty, poor health, lack of education, or consistently facing a different heirarchy of jurisprudence than the rest of us. the reason is simple. a lack of a close personal relationship with God. if it was there, He'd bless those people. after all, this blessed nation, founded on clear biblical principles, has, as one of its benefits, the equal chance for success for every person who lives here. why, we even know some people who own a __________who came here just 10 years ago with nothing. it's proof positive that the system works. it's God's system, after all. freedom, free will, the ability to make it, to become self-sufficient...which is what we are. God helps those who help themselves. pull yourself up by the bootstraps like everyone else had to do (which is entirely not true) . the evangelical worldview places clearly the responsibility...and blame...for anyone's condition on them.
unfortuntely what's missed in that personal relationship with God, hand raised, songs sung, prayers lifted, is the thousands of places God tells His people to care for that long list of "the least of these". if you ever want to try to justify your stance on this, take a long hard look at Matthew 25. it's not talked about too much. we hear all about the time Jesus said "you must be born-again." we've adopted that phrase to more clearly describe the process of salvation. but Jesus does tell another man who inquires after salvation "sell everything you have and give it to the poor." that guy went away sad. and from what we know, he never did it. back to Matt 25. Jesus says, in that chapter, that our salvation will hinge on that list of people. we don't believe it. we're saved by grace, not of works, lest any man should boast. but what of "you show my your faith without your works and i'll show you mine with it"? another James quote. read those verses in Matthew 25 and try to figure out a way to follow Jesus (as if just simply living like He did wouldn't take care of this) without involving yourself with "the least of these". american theologans are making a living at it. they turn out pastors who turn out sheep who know nothing of the seriousness of this call. in fact, most would probably say they're doing something...serving, giving, whatever. the stats don't back it up.
christians give less than 2% of their incomes charitably, and that includes to the church, where they're being told to give 10. the white evangelical church is loosely connected, at best, with homeless, imprisoned, poor, oppressed workers. there are missions trips for a week once a year. there are serving trips to make dinner once a month at a homeless shelter. but connection? knowing the least of these? caring for the least of these? fighting for the least of these? it's not happening. if we serve, we usually find ways to do it in the church...the church full of people that look, smell, work, behave, worship, and love just like us. i know. i did it. for a long time. i still get the urge to do it sometimes. it will probably never go away.
a friend recently posts a couple of status updates on his facebook page disparaging the idea of the redistribution of wealth. it was worked over in the media, and by mccain, as well. socialism...that's what it was branded. to take what one has earned and give it to another...that's definitely not capitalism. that's definitely not free market economy. what it is, oddly enough, is the Acts 2 church. what it is is Jesus telling that man to sell everything and give it to the poor. it's not socialism. it's gospelism. it's just not the church doing it in this case (see the stat below on how badly we don't do this), it's the goverment.
the governement will take our taxes either way. and Jesus told us to follow through with that. so...if the government takes our taxes either way, then do i want them taking taxes from the poor to give to the rich? the "trickle-down" theory? reaganomics would tell you that works really well. but go ask the people who were affected by massive, unprecedented cuts in social programs while that money was taken from them and given back to the corporations and the rich. find out how they felt about it. a word of warning. you're gonna have to leave your neighborhood/suburb to find the people affected. no...i think i'd prefer that if the government is going to tax me either way, that the first people to benefit from it are not oil companies and brokerage firms, but school lunch programs and music/arts programs, and legal aid attorneys and health care for kids. i feel the personal responsibility people getting rankled at that. the idea of welfare will raise the blood pressure of your everyday average white american. you know what? it bugs christians more. why? (well, for the best answer, go read Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson) because it's their fault those people need welfare, and it's their fault they don't have or want jobs. if they'd just take some responsibility for their lives, they'd be living a much better life.
i have also been amazed and appalled at the things i've read linking sarah palin to esther, from the Bible. what does this have to do with "the least of these?" you ask. first, it comes out of that idea that we are a christian nation...that america is God's chosen nation...God bless america and all that. the quotes i've seen and heard have God speaking to pastors telling them that sarah palin is His chosen instrument. they have people applying the "for such a time as this" line from mordecai to esther, saying that this evangelical woman is the instrument God has called out for this time of salvation. could she be? sure. is it likely? no. is it probably a gross misuse of scripture? yes. and here's why.
first, america is not God's people. it is not the new Israel, or the new Jerusalem. christians are God's people. Peter says we, believers, are a chosen people, a holy nation, and a royal priesthood. if sarah palin is chosen for such a time as this, the drawn out application would be that she was going to be put in this place to save her people. that's us believers. from what are we being saved? we have the greatest freedoms of christians probably ever on this planet. do we need to be saved from the judgement of God because of the increased acceptance of homosexuality and abortion, and increased disregard for marriage? maybe. but there are some interesting places in the same Bible that lend a lot more thought to why God is not hearing the cries of His people, if He indeed is not. read Isaiah. the whole book. but specifically read Isaiah 58. it's a dear chapter to me. those who know me know that much of the rebuilding of my faith came from reading Matthew 25 and Isaiah 58 and realizing i did not know those people, and yet i offered my songs, fasting, and worship, wondering where my blessing was.
Isaiah 58 is to the people...to God's people...to us. it was Israel back in the day. it's us now. not america. believers. america has nothing to do with it. but you do, christian. you who wonder where your blessing is. you who lift your hands in 3 hour worship services, loving to sing with all your heart and might, soul and strength. you who fast before the Lord to let Him know how deeply you desire Him, or the thing He can give. and what does He say in response to that fasting, praying, worshiping? it's the proverbial slap in the face. it's what He somehow communicated to Cain. it's "you think this is what i want? then you haven't been paying attention to the hundreds of places I've spoken to you telling what i want." and then...essentially the same list found in Matthew 25.
how is this a plan for the rescue of His people? how is this more applicable than sarah palin? He tells us. if you stop oppressing your workers, if you care for the widow, if you seek justice for prisoners, etc, etc, then your salvation will come like the dawn. then you will be like well-watered gardens. then you will rebuild cities and walls. not sarah palin will bring your salvation like the dawn. but we choose a vote and a verse because what does that take compared to an altered life? nothing. we can hope that mrs palin gains power and changes the course of history. and we can sit in our cars that are too big and cost too much, park them in houses of the same, and do a little something here and there. and never, ever see our salvation come like the dawn.
and so i choose to vote for a candidate whose message says we need to do more for each other. it's not a perfect situation. i am troubled by the 2.5 things. abortion is awful. homosexuality is a sin. marriage is sacred. but these things will not be solved by a conservative vote. mccain will not reverse roe v wade. the agenda promoted by the GLBT group will still be pushed, on a state level, if the federal level doesn't succeed. and marriage will continue to lose it's hallowed position as an instution given by God. but that institution is failing at the same rate among evangelicals as it is everywhere else. homosexuals have been singled out by the Church as commiting a sin that is intolerable. but when God listed the reasons He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the perversion was not first on the list...or second...or third. the first things on the list were that the people of those cities had no regard for those in poverty and who faced injustice. and while we cry out against abortion as murder, we, as believers, aren't even caring for the mothers, fathers, and babies who didn't go that route. and why would we? they made their choice...if they only would give their whole hearts to God, then they would be rescued.
i believe in the interweaving of the personal and corporate responsibility to God as followers of Jesus. unfortunately, the "right", which has the personal down, has lost touch with any idea of a corporate conscience. i have issues with the "left", too...lots of them. i have not added liberal theology when i decided to vote with what is commonly thought to be the liberal candidate. the closest truth is that Jesus is my candidate. i will follow Him regardless of what person wins tomorrow. but when it comes to the election, i will take my conserative theology, which i believe includes more of what liberal politics is about, and i'll make my choice by that.
where i come from, there's really only one viable candidate. and there's really only 2.5 reasons why. i believe highly in those 2.5 reasons...and yet i'm going to vote against those 2.5 reasons. not without some amount of wishing i didn't have to choose in such a manner, and not without a considerable amount of huffing and puffing from the places from which i come.
it is the places from which i come that have landed me on the other side of the imaginary line drawn by politicians, pundits, and pollsters. actually, i think they just took up sides on a line drawn long ago. the line was drawn by the church. Glen Kehrein's work on the Church, primarily the white evangelical church (those numbered at 100m) in the country, is an excellent historical look at when and how the Church split in this country...when and how it went in two different directions. one group went "right" and opted (and i'm summarizing greatly here) for a personal piety faith. it was one of a personal relationship with God. you can hear that all across the country still today. it spawns lengthy worship services with hands raised, praising God. it causes people to have difficulty in different worship styles because they don't "connect" personally in that style.
the other side went "left" and they could not understand how a person could claim to know God and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the cries of those God had so clearly told us to help. what was personal piety if widows, orphans, prisoners, infirmed, workers, naked, hungry, and thirsty were left to their suffering. they rejected the rationale that because God said "the poor will always be with you" that there was nothing that could really ever be done. and in their pursuit of a corporate responsibility for "the least of these" they began to ignore the part of God that called each of us into relationship with Him.
over the past 100 years, this dividing line became a gulf. still today, in many churches, mention the words social justice as a viable extension of the Church, and you'll be told you're slipping into liberalism. the implication is that social justice causes include acceptance of homosexuality, acceptance of abortion, and a disregard for the sanctity of marriage. these are the 2.5 things the right cannot stand for (the sanctity of marriage/homosexuality thing have some overlap). and truthfully, i cannot either. i am clear on what the Bible says about each of them, and i fully agree with that. but the truth remains that they are 2.5 things out of many. it's also true, in my opinion, that the conservative (right) church has mishandled these 2.5 things..along with a couple thousand other things. nobody's perfect. i get that. but my disagreement over that, combined with the mindset of the conservative right on the balance of the social justice issues is enough to sway me the other way. it's enough to make me desire core change in how they view the world, this country, the church, and themselves.
i do not guess at this mindset. i come from it. i know there are many different swathes of thought even among the broad stroke that is this evangelical right. it can run anywhere from the extremes of "let's cause disruption in the middle east because it's the land of armegeddon and such, and prophecy shows that when a certain series of events happen there, the end will come and Christ will return" (if you doubt it, just look across the web...it won't be hard to find) to those who believe that America is the new Israel, and that God has put a special blessing on us because of the people and the way in which this country was founded. most don't have specific thought-out positions on those sorts of things. what they do have is the main points of a worldview that is the interweaving of the Kingdom of God, and the American Dream. it gives us access to God in a deep, meaningful, personal son and daughter kind of way, and lets us live comfortably, knowing that God blesses those with whom He is pleased.
there is no doubt that God blesses His people. but we have come to equate blessing with comfort...with lack of pain. and we have come to equate pain with lack of a close relationship, or at worst, a testing of our faith. James does tell us to count it joy when we encounter pain, because the testing of our faith produces endurance. he never says that the pain will end...not here. but we have made a life free of pain the goal. and for many of us we've acheived it...for the most part. that gives a numbness to the pain of others...and it gives us a reason for why they have that pain, whether it be poverty, poor health, lack of education, or consistently facing a different heirarchy of jurisprudence than the rest of us. the reason is simple. a lack of a close personal relationship with God. if it was there, He'd bless those people. after all, this blessed nation, founded on clear biblical principles, has, as one of its benefits, the equal chance for success for every person who lives here. why, we even know some people who own a __________who came here just 10 years ago with nothing. it's proof positive that the system works. it's God's system, after all. freedom, free will, the ability to make it, to become self-sufficient...which is what we are. God helps those who help themselves. pull yourself up by the bootstraps like everyone else had to do (which is entirely not true) . the evangelical worldview places clearly the responsibility...and blame...for anyone's condition on them.
unfortuntely what's missed in that personal relationship with God, hand raised, songs sung, prayers lifted, is the thousands of places God tells His people to care for that long list of "the least of these". if you ever want to try to justify your stance on this, take a long hard look at Matthew 25. it's not talked about too much. we hear all about the time Jesus said "you must be born-again." we've adopted that phrase to more clearly describe the process of salvation. but Jesus does tell another man who inquires after salvation "sell everything you have and give it to the poor." that guy went away sad. and from what we know, he never did it. back to Matt 25. Jesus says, in that chapter, that our salvation will hinge on that list of people. we don't believe it. we're saved by grace, not of works, lest any man should boast. but what of "you show my your faith without your works and i'll show you mine with it"? another James quote. read those verses in Matthew 25 and try to figure out a way to follow Jesus (as if just simply living like He did wouldn't take care of this) without involving yourself with "the least of these". american theologans are making a living at it. they turn out pastors who turn out sheep who know nothing of the seriousness of this call. in fact, most would probably say they're doing something...serving, giving, whatever. the stats don't back it up.
christians give less than 2% of their incomes charitably, and that includes to the church, where they're being told to give 10. the white evangelical church is loosely connected, at best, with homeless, imprisoned, poor, oppressed workers. there are missions trips for a week once a year. there are serving trips to make dinner once a month at a homeless shelter. but connection? knowing the least of these? caring for the least of these? fighting for the least of these? it's not happening. if we serve, we usually find ways to do it in the church...the church full of people that look, smell, work, behave, worship, and love just like us. i know. i did it. for a long time. i still get the urge to do it sometimes. it will probably never go away.
a friend recently posts a couple of status updates on his facebook page disparaging the idea of the redistribution of wealth. it was worked over in the media, and by mccain, as well. socialism...that's what it was branded. to take what one has earned and give it to another...that's definitely not capitalism. that's definitely not free market economy. what it is, oddly enough, is the Acts 2 church. what it is is Jesus telling that man to sell everything and give it to the poor. it's not socialism. it's gospelism. it's just not the church doing it in this case (see the stat below on how badly we don't do this), it's the goverment.
the governement will take our taxes either way. and Jesus told us to follow through with that. so...if the government takes our taxes either way, then do i want them taking taxes from the poor to give to the rich? the "trickle-down" theory? reaganomics would tell you that works really well. but go ask the people who were affected by massive, unprecedented cuts in social programs while that money was taken from them and given back to the corporations and the rich. find out how they felt about it. a word of warning. you're gonna have to leave your neighborhood/suburb to find the people affected. no...i think i'd prefer that if the government is going to tax me either way, that the first people to benefit from it are not oil companies and brokerage firms, but school lunch programs and music/arts programs, and legal aid attorneys and health care for kids. i feel the personal responsibility people getting rankled at that. the idea of welfare will raise the blood pressure of your everyday average white american. you know what? it bugs christians more. why? (well, for the best answer, go read Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson) because it's their fault those people need welfare, and it's their fault they don't have or want jobs. if they'd just take some responsibility for their lives, they'd be living a much better life.
i have also been amazed and appalled at the things i've read linking sarah palin to esther, from the Bible. what does this have to do with "the least of these?" you ask. first, it comes out of that idea that we are a christian nation...that america is God's chosen nation...God bless america and all that. the quotes i've seen and heard have God speaking to pastors telling them that sarah palin is His chosen instrument. they have people applying the "for such a time as this" line from mordecai to esther, saying that this evangelical woman is the instrument God has called out for this time of salvation. could she be? sure. is it likely? no. is it probably a gross misuse of scripture? yes. and here's why.
first, america is not God's people. it is not the new Israel, or the new Jerusalem. christians are God's people. Peter says we, believers, are a chosen people, a holy nation, and a royal priesthood. if sarah palin is chosen for such a time as this, the drawn out application would be that she was going to be put in this place to save her people. that's us believers. from what are we being saved? we have the greatest freedoms of christians probably ever on this planet. do we need to be saved from the judgement of God because of the increased acceptance of homosexuality and abortion, and increased disregard for marriage? maybe. but there are some interesting places in the same Bible that lend a lot more thought to why God is not hearing the cries of His people, if He indeed is not. read Isaiah. the whole book. but specifically read Isaiah 58. it's a dear chapter to me. those who know me know that much of the rebuilding of my faith came from reading Matthew 25 and Isaiah 58 and realizing i did not know those people, and yet i offered my songs, fasting, and worship, wondering where my blessing was.
Isaiah 58 is to the people...to God's people...to us. it was Israel back in the day. it's us now. not america. believers. america has nothing to do with it. but you do, christian. you who wonder where your blessing is. you who lift your hands in 3 hour worship services, loving to sing with all your heart and might, soul and strength. you who fast before the Lord to let Him know how deeply you desire Him, or the thing He can give. and what does He say in response to that fasting, praying, worshiping? it's the proverbial slap in the face. it's what He somehow communicated to Cain. it's "you think this is what i want? then you haven't been paying attention to the hundreds of places I've spoken to you telling what i want." and then...essentially the same list found in Matthew 25.
how is this a plan for the rescue of His people? how is this more applicable than sarah palin? He tells us. if you stop oppressing your workers, if you care for the widow, if you seek justice for prisoners, etc, etc, then your salvation will come like the dawn. then you will be like well-watered gardens. then you will rebuild cities and walls. not sarah palin will bring your salvation like the dawn. but we choose a vote and a verse because what does that take compared to an altered life? nothing. we can hope that mrs palin gains power and changes the course of history. and we can sit in our cars that are too big and cost too much, park them in houses of the same, and do a little something here and there. and never, ever see our salvation come like the dawn.
and so i choose to vote for a candidate whose message says we need to do more for each other. it's not a perfect situation. i am troubled by the 2.5 things. abortion is awful. homosexuality is a sin. marriage is sacred. but these things will not be solved by a conservative vote. mccain will not reverse roe v wade. the agenda promoted by the GLBT group will still be pushed, on a state level, if the federal level doesn't succeed. and marriage will continue to lose it's hallowed position as an instution given by God. but that institution is failing at the same rate among evangelicals as it is everywhere else. homosexuals have been singled out by the Church as commiting a sin that is intolerable. but when God listed the reasons He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the perversion was not first on the list...or second...or third. the first things on the list were that the people of those cities had no regard for those in poverty and who faced injustice. and while we cry out against abortion as murder, we, as believers, aren't even caring for the mothers, fathers, and babies who didn't go that route. and why would we? they made their choice...if they only would give their whole hearts to God, then they would be rescued.
i believe in the interweaving of the personal and corporate responsibility to God as followers of Jesus. unfortunately, the "right", which has the personal down, has lost touch with any idea of a corporate conscience. i have issues with the "left", too...lots of them. i have not added liberal theology when i decided to vote with what is commonly thought to be the liberal candidate. the closest truth is that Jesus is my candidate. i will follow Him regardless of what person wins tomorrow. but when it comes to the election, i will take my conserative theology, which i believe includes more of what liberal politics is about, and i'll make my choice by that.
this is the Right?
this is an AP article published today. why don't i hear the Moral Majority speaking out about the underhanded tactics that their party is using? i'm neither democrat nor republican, but i don't hear this sort of thing from the democratic party. i don't get endless emails written by "well-meaning" christians questions every part of John McCain's life. i don't get one whiff of subterfuge from them. but i have read...and deleted...some 100 emails, mostly forwards, over the past couple of months.
any person with a brain could tear apart the mostly very bad lines of reasoning in these emails. but they're not sent for those people. they're sent for people gripped by fear (that they'll be arrested or deported, or that the apocalypse is 10 minutes away if the wrong guy wins). they're sent for people gripped by hate (who judge others by any number of criteria, all of which are designed to divide). they're sent for people who do not want to lose what they have (control, power, position, privilege).
as i said, i am neither democrat nor republican. i am not registered on either candidate's website (i am in an obama group on facebook). i don't believe either party is the answer. i believe Jesus and his people...the Church...is the answer. that doesn't mean i won't vote, and that i don't already know for whom i'll vote. i've had family and friends wonder how and why i could vote the way i will vote. i will simply say that my choice was not made due to one issue...or two. i did not seek to apply bible passages (for such a time as this...for sarah palin) to a candidate. what i did seek was how each party would affect what i feel is a culture of personal responsibility in this country, and in the church. i believe God is clear on corporate responsibility for those in need. and while personal responsibility is important, there are HUGE holes that are created in faith and following if equal attention is not paid to the corporate. i'll write more on this soon.
anyway, here's the article...
******************************************************************************
In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.
The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.
Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.
Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.
In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.
"He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter," said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. "He totally, totally scared the heck out of her."
In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."
Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."
The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.
Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.
Activist groups say it is this fresh crop of ballot-minded citizens that makes some Republicans very nervous. And they say they expect the dirty tricks to get dirtier in final hours before Tuesday.
"Oh, there's plenty of time for things to get ugly," said Zachary Stalberg, president of The Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based government watchdog group that is nonpartisan.
Other reports of intimidation efforts in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania include leaflets taped to picnic benches at Drexel University, warning students that police would be at the polls on Tuesday to arrest would-be voters with prior criminal offenses.
In his Jewish neighborhood, Stalberg said, fliers were recently left claiming Obama was more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israel, and showed a photograph of him speaking in Germany.
"It shows up between the screen door and the front door in the middle of the night," Stalberg said. "Why couldn't someone knock on the door and hand that to me in the middle of the day? In a sense, it's very smartly done. The message gets through. It's done carefully enough that people might read it."
Such tactics are common, and are often impossible to trace. Robo-calls, in which automated, bogus phone messages are sent over and over, are very hard to trace to their source, say voting advocates. E-mails fall into the same category.
In Nevada, for example, Latino voters said they had received calls from people describing themselves as Obama volunteers, urging them to cast their ballot over the phone.
The calls were reported to Election Protection, a nonprofit advocacy group that runs a hot line for election troubles. The organization does not know who orchestrated them.
"The Voting Rights Act makes it a crime to misled and intimidate voters," said McDonald. "If you can find out who's doing it, those people should be prosecuted. But sometimes it's just difficult to know who's doing what. Some of it's just anonymous."
Trying to mislead voters is nothing new.
"We see this every year," said Jonah Goldman of the advocacy group Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It all happens around this time when there's too much other stuff going on in the campaigns, and it doesn't get investigated."
In 2006, automated phone calls in the final days leading to the federal election wrongly warned voters they would not be allowed to vote without a photo ID. In Colorado and Virginia, people reported receiving calls that told them their registrations had expired and they would be arrested if they showed up to vote.
The White House contest of 2004 was marked by similar deceptions. In Milwaukee, fliers went up advising people "if you've already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in the presidential election." In Pennsylvania, a letter bearing what appeared to be the McCandless Township seal falsely proclaimed that in order to cut long voting lines, Republicans would cast ballots on Nov. 2 and Democrats would vote on Nov. 3.
E-mail assaults have become increasingly popular this year, keeping pace with the proliferation of blogging and Obama's massive online campaign efforts, according to voting activists.
"It is newer and more furious than it ever has been before," Goldman said.
And Republicans are not exempt. "Part of it is that election campaigns are more online than ever before," said Goldman. "During the primaries, a lot of Web sites went up that seemed to be for (GOP candidate Rudy) Giuliani, but actually were attack sites."
New York City's former mayor and his high-profile colleagues Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney were also targeted in fake Internet sites that featured "quotes" from the candidates espousing support for extreme positions they never endorsed.
any person with a brain could tear apart the mostly very bad lines of reasoning in these emails. but they're not sent for those people. they're sent for people gripped by fear (that they'll be arrested or deported, or that the apocalypse is 10 minutes away if the wrong guy wins). they're sent for people gripped by hate (who judge others by any number of criteria, all of which are designed to divide). they're sent for people who do not want to lose what they have (control, power, position, privilege).
as i said, i am neither democrat nor republican. i am not registered on either candidate's website (i am in an obama group on facebook). i don't believe either party is the answer. i believe Jesus and his people...the Church...is the answer. that doesn't mean i won't vote, and that i don't already know for whom i'll vote. i've had family and friends wonder how and why i could vote the way i will vote. i will simply say that my choice was not made due to one issue...or two. i did not seek to apply bible passages (for such a time as this...for sarah palin) to a candidate. what i did seek was how each party would affect what i feel is a culture of personal responsibility in this country, and in the church. i believe God is clear on corporate responsibility for those in need. and while personal responsibility is important, there are HUGE holes that are created in faith and following if equal attention is not paid to the corporate. i'll write more on this soon.
anyway, here's the article...
******************************************************************************
In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.
The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.
Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.
Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.
In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.
"He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter," said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. "He totally, totally scared the heck out of her."
In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."
Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."
The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.
Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.
Activist groups say it is this fresh crop of ballot-minded citizens that makes some Republicans very nervous. And they say they expect the dirty tricks to get dirtier in final hours before Tuesday.
"Oh, there's plenty of time for things to get ugly," said Zachary Stalberg, president of The Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based government watchdog group that is nonpartisan.
Other reports of intimidation efforts in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania include leaflets taped to picnic benches at Drexel University, warning students that police would be at the polls on Tuesday to arrest would-be voters with prior criminal offenses.
In his Jewish neighborhood, Stalberg said, fliers were recently left claiming Obama was more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israel, and showed a photograph of him speaking in Germany.
"It shows up between the screen door and the front door in the middle of the night," Stalberg said. "Why couldn't someone knock on the door and hand that to me in the middle of the day? In a sense, it's very smartly done. The message gets through. It's done carefully enough that people might read it."
Such tactics are common, and are often impossible to trace. Robo-calls, in which automated, bogus phone messages are sent over and over, are very hard to trace to their source, say voting advocates. E-mails fall into the same category.
In Nevada, for example, Latino voters said they had received calls from people describing themselves as Obama volunteers, urging them to cast their ballot over the phone.
The calls were reported to Election Protection, a nonprofit advocacy group that runs a hot line for election troubles. The organization does not know who orchestrated them.
"The Voting Rights Act makes it a crime to misled and intimidate voters," said McDonald. "If you can find out who's doing it, those people should be prosecuted. But sometimes it's just difficult to know who's doing what. Some of it's just anonymous."
Trying to mislead voters is nothing new.
"We see this every year," said Jonah Goldman of the advocacy group Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It all happens around this time when there's too much other stuff going on in the campaigns, and it doesn't get investigated."
In 2006, automated phone calls in the final days leading to the federal election wrongly warned voters they would not be allowed to vote without a photo ID. In Colorado and Virginia, people reported receiving calls that told them their registrations had expired and they would be arrested if they showed up to vote.
The White House contest of 2004 was marked by similar deceptions. In Milwaukee, fliers went up advising people "if you've already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in the presidential election." In Pennsylvania, a letter bearing what appeared to be the McCandless Township seal falsely proclaimed that in order to cut long voting lines, Republicans would cast ballots on Nov. 2 and Democrats would vote on Nov. 3.
E-mail assaults have become increasingly popular this year, keeping pace with the proliferation of blogging and Obama's massive online campaign efforts, according to voting activists.
"It is newer and more furious than it ever has been before," Goldman said.
And Republicans are not exempt. "Part of it is that election campaigns are more online than ever before," said Goldman. "During the primaries, a lot of Web sites went up that seemed to be for (GOP candidate Rudy) Giuliani, but actually were attack sites."
New York City's former mayor and his high-profile colleagues Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney were also targeted in fake Internet sites that featured "quotes" from the candidates espousing support for extreme positions they never endorsed.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
while waitng for one of my 4 drafts to get finished...
here's a few things i wrote back in '05. my friend, kim, and i each wrote 3 and they were done as monologues during a church service.
Led
Led
I am walking through this world
A journey of neon, gold, steel, and flesh
Shiny things catch my attention
And I go where I look
My eye is drawn to reflections of me
Me with money, me with security
Me with control, me with every heart's desire
...and I go where I look
My hands keep me busy
Acting as blinders to narrow my vision
I see only beauty...I avoid ugliness
...and I go where I look
But there is another on this journey with me
Who sees beyone the reflections
Who knows the condition of my heart
Who turns my head, as a rider might, toward things loved deeply
And leads me from the stately to the humble
To broken homes, broken, hearts, broken minds, broken spirits
Even the occasional broken bone
...and I go where I look
Each tug of the reins leads me closer
To becoming the reflection of He who waits for me
At the end of the journey
...and I go where I look
An Almost Voice
An Almost Voice
Sometimes I am talking to God...
and someone answers
Sometimes I am talking to myself...
and someone answers
Sometimes I am not on speaking terms with anyone...
and still someone answers
Oh, it's annoying enough. Mostly I just like
the sound of my own voice. You know...one-sided
arguments, monologues, and what-not.
And so I talk...and if I run out of things to say
I turn up the radio, or watch TV, or hang with friends
ANYTHING to keep the volume above the threshhold
of that "someone who speaks"
But then comes that sneaky moment when my guard is down
and the questions of my life are present in my mind...
...and someone answers
Only this time I listen
And for a while I wonder why I would ever let any other
voice or noise cover the sound of this someone who answers
And I resolve to listen more often
more intently, and more deeply
...at least until my favorite TV show comes on
You're a Nut
I need a minute here. Let's see...walnuts are indeed hard...but...they're not all hard. And they're not unbreakable. And there's good stuff inside.
A hammer! Or a nutcracker. Wait...this is beginning to sound like a painful process. Isn't there a gentler way?
Hmmm...yeah. So...uh...if I drink, I'll be softened?
Over time, it can wear away very large or very hard things. Ooooh! The constant and steady effect of water works wonders on the hardest of things.
Do you understand?
Yes. Your heart is hardened
Like a walnut...
You're a Nut
Your heart is hardened
Ok...hardened. Like steel?
Your heart is a walnut
Didn't you just say...oh...hardened like a walnut.
Yes. Do you understand?
I need a minute here. Let's see...walnuts are indeed hard...but...they're not all hard. And they're not unbreakable. And there's good stuff inside.
Yes. And how do you get to that good stuff?
A hammer! Or a nutcracker. Wait...this is beginning to sound like a painful process. Isn't there a gentler way?
I am Living Water
Hmmm...yeah. So...uh...if I drink, I'll be softened?
It will start the process. Do you know the power of water?
Over time, it can wear away very large or very hard things. Ooooh! The constant and steady effect of water works wonders on the hardest of things.
Do you understand?
If...my...walnut-like heart is...immersed in...a stream of Living Water...um...the hard shell can be worked away without necessarily needing crushing pressure to crack it.
Yes. Your heart is hardened
Like a walnut...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
16 thing you need to know...or not
so i was reading my sister's blog (top o' the list to the right) and she was "tagged" by someone to do this 4x4 list...four questions on four different topics. it seemed a little "MySpacey". i read the list...she's so cute...and enjoyed myself as i always do reading her blog. then at the bottom, she tagged me.
i don't know if you do or did MySpace, but one of the frequent things to come up was surveys. 100 questions, 32 questions, find out how much your worth questions. i'm not over on MySpace much anymore, so i can't say if people are still doing this, but this 4x4 things seemed...well...so 2007. and that's making me wonder what will come along next year that will make blogging passe, or facebook...God forbid! anyway, it may seem like i'm down on surveys and 4x4s (i am on the gas drinking sort) and such. ask tia and meghan. i couldn't resist a good survey. so...here i go. thank you, georgia, for tagging me. i know it's love that causes you to do so! :-)
4x4
Four Things I Did Today - (I will write about yesterday, as it's just now 8 am and i haven't quite got the selection as compared to what turned out to be a full 24 hour day yesterday.)
1) I built just about the best computer money can buy...for my part time job boss. He wants a Home Theater Personal Computer. This will control his very large LCD tv, his 7.1 surround sound stereo, and will come complete with a Blue-Ray player AND an HD-DVD player (nobody makes HD DVDs anymore, but just in case he decides he wants to pick up a used copy of King Kong or Backdraft). The total cost for parts was 1500.00 which is pretty amazing considering what's in this thing. By the way, if you're so inclined, you can get a Blue-Ray player for your computer for just over 100 dollars, which is a lot less than the commercial ones out there. then plug your computer into your tv, and you're High Def just like that...unless your tv is low def.
2) I tagged photos of Dave and Sarah's wedding on Facebook. Who are Dave and Sarah, you may ask? Very dear friends...get yourself to the city of Chicago and meet them. Dave's blog is also listed to the right, to the right. to the left, to the left. (sorry...remnants of dance floor shenanigans from their reception. holy ADD, batman!) ok...back to the pictures. i had a great time shooting some of my own pics. i have some really great shots and some not so great ones. but i don't pick through and hide the bad ones. nope...you get to see them all.
5..."3, sir!" 3) i worked on the i58 website. yes, folks...it's coming! and soon. if anyone wants to come hang out with me and help resize and apply shirt designs (very tedious), please drop me a line. i've got about 1000 to do...arrrgghhh!
4) i watched Baby Mama. i know...stupid, right? you can tell by the name it's gonna be stupid, right? well...not stupid. really good! i spend a lot of time avoiding movies that come out with the SNL crew in them. well, not a lot of time. it's not like i wake and plan how to not come in contact with SNL movies. i don't duck and cover when the grocery store has Ladies' Man for 2.99 at the register endcaps. i just pretty much won't watch anything with them. i don't even watch SNL..although i might consider it if someone would chop the last two minutes off every sketch. they just don't know when to stop. but i digress. there is a shining SNL star...or was. she is Tina Fey. and Amy Poehler is pretty good, too. so...this movie, while not groundbreaking or anything, was really good. steve martin lends a hand. so does greg kinnear. and the actress whose name nobody remembers but is on ER and was on NewsRadio...you know who i'm talking about. tina fey makes me laugh. she's not reliant on off color humor (you should know that for some reason i'm compelled to spell that humour, as i am with colour, but since i have no readership from the UK, i resist the urge) or fart jokes. she's got a great wit, finds the funny in the everyday...like me. and Dave (from thing number 5). so watch Baby Mama. i think you'll like it. and someday i want 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact with each of you.
4 Things on My To Do List - (this one's easy)
1) Make To Do List
2) Put Things On To Do List
3) Read To Do List
4) Ignore To Do List
there could be more...like Lose To Do List, Find To Do List, Crumple To Do List, and Shoot Hoops With To Do List Into A Mostly Empty Coffee Mug Until It Finally Goes In, but we're only supposed to do four. hey, i'm unstructured, ok?
Four of My Guilty Pleasures
1) facebook. i'm pretty sure a poll of americans between 4 and 108 would find that 100% of people list this as number one.
2) reading blogs. i like to read what other people write. it started at a young age with books. don't get me wrong...i still do books. but blogs are books by people who should be publshed and aren't. well, some shouldn't. want a great example of that? (the first part...not the addendum) check out Jessie's blog...right under my sister. she's an amazing writer...and thinker...and is so aware of the moments around her.
3) my xbox 360. we got an atari 2600 when i was 12. it had a cartridge called Combat. it was like 48 variations of 5 different games. you would have hated me if i played you on that game. invisible, guided shots, fast, slow...it didn't matter. i was a savant. (some would argue i later added the idiot piece) so, then came intellivision and nintendo had Zelda. Goldeneye, WWF, Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, etc... i'm a part of an elite group of video gamers. we're not known for our skill, unless you try to take us on in Combat. we're not known for our keen eyes, or amazing hand-eye coordination. we're the Geezer Gamers, and we're known for not calling each other names online...for not quitting if we lose...for not cheating...stuff like that. the local chicago area crew has some of the guys that used to come over every monday night from 6pm til 1 am for 16 player halo matches. we, and another 10-12 guys get together once a year at the very large home of one of our members and we start playing at 10 am and don't quit until around 2 am. there's lots of brats, beer (good stuff...bill is a home brewer) and comraderie. there might also be the need to fumigate the basement when we're done, but you didn't hear that from me.
4) speed. i'm a little removed from this one as i sold my car this summer and my motorcycle was stolen 3 summers ago. i bike everywhere, unless the weather calls for public transit. but i do love a good 3 digit run. motorcycling is my favorite thing to do in the world (see longing post several months ago) and i hope to find one again next summer. there's just something about a great four wheel drift, or pulling .9 lateral g's, or dragging one's knees rounding a turn on a bike. and while one might say this is dangerous, and compared to walking a dog it definitely is. but i've been nearly killed many more times this summer on my bicycle than ever happened on my bike. in truth, i think those days are behind me. i'll be looking for a cruiser this time around. they're built for comfort, not speed. but i will miss the speed...maybe i'll take up the luge.
Four Random Facts About Me
1) i can't speak spanish. this may not seem random to you, but i live in one of the most latino-populated neighborhoods in chicago. i taught esl for 2 1/2 years. my students told me i have exceelent spanish reading and pronunciation skills. i just don't know what i'm saying. oh...i get the odd word. sabor=flavor, panadaria=bakery, and a few i've heard that i can't say...or write. but in spite of reading every spanish billboard, knowing many mexican, puerto rican, and costa rican people, and eating many burritos, tacos, and flautas...and churros...i'm no closer to speaking spanish than when i moved here almost 6 years ago. i just don't get it.
2) i love board games. in a world where "have fun" is the creedo for most everyone (although that creedo is changing to "stay solvent" right now), i just don't understand how board games have disappeared from social gatherings. sure, i can count on the mandatory game of Risk at my brother-in-law's place every thanksgiving and easter. but somehow mcdonald's became the only place to play Monopoly. and Chutes and Ladders is more common in a gentrifying neighborhood gutted rehab than a friday night gathering of friends. Mousetrap? it just doesn't cut it when our rats stand on their hind legs and box poodles...and boxers. i miss board games. and when you're paying 250 dollars a week for gas, why not stay home from dinner and a movie and spend the evening on Park Place...although that's kind of expensive, too. i'm more of a Baltic Ave guy, myself.
3) i love british comedy. don't know why. never been there. don't have any particularly close british friends (although i did spend an evening relaxing with Matt Redman when Gladiator was out and he said at least 20 times *read in british accent* "have you heard the one about the woman who was eaten by her pet crocodile? he was Glad 'e ate 'er." this joke works much better in british english than american english. we'd say Glad He Ate Her...it's just not as funny). i think it started with seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail when i was about 15. it's still one of my favorite movies. Life of Brian, Meaning of Life, and all the television episodes just had me rolling. now there is Simon Pegg...he of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Run, Fat Boy, Run. he's done many other things, like Spaced, which i also enjoy. and i can't forget Fawlty Towers (which my dad loved, too) and all of Rowan Atkinson's work on Mr Bean and Black Adder.
i think i have PBS to thank for bringing those shows to the US. and i am so grateful. i still watch Monty Python on my PC, as well as Spaced. I have DVDs of The Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and Meaning of Life. i'll have them eventually for the Simon Pegg movies.
4) i will be going to NYC for the first time in my life in a month. i have to work with a church out there from the 7-9th and i'm hoping to stay out an extra couple of days to take a peek around. i'm not much on touristy things. i want to get off the beaten path a bit and see things like times square, a letterman show, and the monument that was supposed to be built, but is not yet built, to the sept 11th tragedy. i'd like to see rare things like a cabbie honking his horn, or yelling out the window...or a pedestrian giving a traffic cop the bird. yes, i'd like to be an extra on a Law & Order shoot, or go to the Port Authority and ask him who made him so smart. i want to go to Ellis Island and if they've put up a fence there, too, or just left that to CA, AZ, and NM. i want to ride in that XMen jet that is so much better than Wonder Woman's jet. i want to see the house that Ruth built. i knew baseball players were underpaid back then, but i didn't know they held down two jobs. i hope to go see the First City improv troupe. i bet they're awesome.
so, definitely looking forward to going. i'm sure they've got so many of Chicago's issues worked out already. i'm going to take a pen and notepad and jot down ideas that i can give to mayor daleywhen i get back.
******************************************************************
ok...so that's 4x4. i have a feeling that when i read this later i'll regret most of it. but that's what i get for writing first thing. my brain is not yet working.
oh, and i'm supposed to "tag" four more people to do this. how about the first four people to volunteer in the comments section. maybe you're just itchin to spout profound thoughts about yourself. or inane thoughts. anyway, you claim it, you own it.
i promise, i'll have something productive to say soon.
i don't know if you do or did MySpace, but one of the frequent things to come up was surveys. 100 questions, 32 questions, find out how much your worth questions. i'm not over on MySpace much anymore, so i can't say if people are still doing this, but this 4x4 things seemed...well...so 2007. and that's making me wonder what will come along next year that will make blogging passe, or facebook...God forbid! anyway, it may seem like i'm down on surveys and 4x4s (i am on the gas drinking sort) and such. ask tia and meghan. i couldn't resist a good survey. so...here i go. thank you, georgia, for tagging me. i know it's love that causes you to do so! :-)
4x4
Four Things I Did Today - (I will write about yesterday, as it's just now 8 am and i haven't quite got the selection as compared to what turned out to be a full 24 hour day yesterday.)
1) I built just about the best computer money can buy...for my part time job boss. He wants a Home Theater Personal Computer. This will control his very large LCD tv, his 7.1 surround sound stereo, and will come complete with a Blue-Ray player AND an HD-DVD player (nobody makes HD DVDs anymore, but just in case he decides he wants to pick up a used copy of King Kong or Backdraft). The total cost for parts was 1500.00 which is pretty amazing considering what's in this thing. By the way, if you're so inclined, you can get a Blue-Ray player for your computer for just over 100 dollars, which is a lot less than the commercial ones out there. then plug your computer into your tv, and you're High Def just like that...unless your tv is low def.
2) I tagged photos of Dave and Sarah's wedding on Facebook. Who are Dave and Sarah, you may ask? Very dear friends...get yourself to the city of Chicago and meet them. Dave's blog is also listed to the right, to the right. to the left, to the left. (sorry...remnants of dance floor shenanigans from their reception. holy ADD, batman!) ok...back to the pictures. i had a great time shooting some of my own pics. i have some really great shots and some not so great ones. but i don't pick through and hide the bad ones. nope...you get to see them all.
5..."3, sir!" 3) i worked on the i58 website. yes, folks...it's coming! and soon. if anyone wants to come hang out with me and help resize and apply shirt designs (very tedious), please drop me a line. i've got about 1000 to do...arrrgghhh!
4) i watched Baby Mama. i know...stupid, right? you can tell by the name it's gonna be stupid, right? well...not stupid. really good! i spend a lot of time avoiding movies that come out with the SNL crew in them. well, not a lot of time. it's not like i wake and plan how to not come in contact with SNL movies. i don't duck and cover when the grocery store has Ladies' Man for 2.99 at the register endcaps. i just pretty much won't watch anything with them. i don't even watch SNL..although i might consider it if someone would chop the last two minutes off every sketch. they just don't know when to stop. but i digress. there is a shining SNL star...or was. she is Tina Fey. and Amy Poehler is pretty good, too. so...this movie, while not groundbreaking or anything, was really good. steve martin lends a hand. so does greg kinnear. and the actress whose name nobody remembers but is on ER and was on NewsRadio...you know who i'm talking about. tina fey makes me laugh. she's not reliant on off color humor (you should know that for some reason i'm compelled to spell that humour, as i am with colour, but since i have no readership from the UK, i resist the urge) or fart jokes. she's got a great wit, finds the funny in the everyday...like me. and Dave (from thing number 5). so watch Baby Mama. i think you'll like it. and someday i want 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact with each of you.
4 Things on My To Do List - (this one's easy)
1) Make To Do List
2) Put Things On To Do List
3) Read To Do List
4) Ignore To Do List
there could be more...like Lose To Do List, Find To Do List, Crumple To Do List, and Shoot Hoops With To Do List Into A Mostly Empty Coffee Mug Until It Finally Goes In, but we're only supposed to do four. hey, i'm unstructured, ok?
Four of My Guilty Pleasures
1) facebook. i'm pretty sure a poll of americans between 4 and 108 would find that 100% of people list this as number one.
2) reading blogs. i like to read what other people write. it started at a young age with books. don't get me wrong...i still do books. but blogs are books by people who should be publshed and aren't. well, some shouldn't. want a great example of that? (the first part...not the addendum) check out Jessie's blog...right under my sister. she's an amazing writer...and thinker...and is so aware of the moments around her.
3) my xbox 360. we got an atari 2600 when i was 12. it had a cartridge called Combat. it was like 48 variations of 5 different games. you would have hated me if i played you on that game. invisible, guided shots, fast, slow...it didn't matter. i was a savant. (some would argue i later added the idiot piece) so, then came intellivision and nintendo had Zelda. Goldeneye, WWF, Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, etc... i'm a part of an elite group of video gamers. we're not known for our skill, unless you try to take us on in Combat. we're not known for our keen eyes, or amazing hand-eye coordination. we're the Geezer Gamers, and we're known for not calling each other names online...for not quitting if we lose...for not cheating...stuff like that. the local chicago area crew has some of the guys that used to come over every monday night from 6pm til 1 am for 16 player halo matches. we, and another 10-12 guys get together once a year at the very large home of one of our members and we start playing at 10 am and don't quit until around 2 am. there's lots of brats, beer (good stuff...bill is a home brewer) and comraderie. there might also be the need to fumigate the basement when we're done, but you didn't hear that from me.
4) speed. i'm a little removed from this one as i sold my car this summer and my motorcycle was stolen 3 summers ago. i bike everywhere, unless the weather calls for public transit. but i do love a good 3 digit run. motorcycling is my favorite thing to do in the world (see longing post several months ago) and i hope to find one again next summer. there's just something about a great four wheel drift, or pulling .9 lateral g's, or dragging one's knees rounding a turn on a bike. and while one might say this is dangerous, and compared to walking a dog it definitely is. but i've been nearly killed many more times this summer on my bicycle than ever happened on my bike. in truth, i think those days are behind me. i'll be looking for a cruiser this time around. they're built for comfort, not speed. but i will miss the speed...maybe i'll take up the luge.
Four Random Facts About Me
1) i can't speak spanish. this may not seem random to you, but i live in one of the most latino-populated neighborhoods in chicago. i taught esl for 2 1/2 years. my students told me i have exceelent spanish reading and pronunciation skills. i just don't know what i'm saying. oh...i get the odd word. sabor=flavor, panadaria=bakery, and a few i've heard that i can't say...or write. but in spite of reading every spanish billboard, knowing many mexican, puerto rican, and costa rican people, and eating many burritos, tacos, and flautas...and churros...i'm no closer to speaking spanish than when i moved here almost 6 years ago. i just don't get it.
2) i love board games. in a world where "have fun" is the creedo for most everyone (although that creedo is changing to "stay solvent" right now), i just don't understand how board games have disappeared from social gatherings. sure, i can count on the mandatory game of Risk at my brother-in-law's place every thanksgiving and easter. but somehow mcdonald's became the only place to play Monopoly. and Chutes and Ladders is more common in a gentrifying neighborhood gutted rehab than a friday night gathering of friends. Mousetrap? it just doesn't cut it when our rats stand on their hind legs and box poodles...and boxers. i miss board games. and when you're paying 250 dollars a week for gas, why not stay home from dinner and a movie and spend the evening on Park Place...although that's kind of expensive, too. i'm more of a Baltic Ave guy, myself.
3) i love british comedy. don't know why. never been there. don't have any particularly close british friends (although i did spend an evening relaxing with Matt Redman when Gladiator was out and he said at least 20 times *read in british accent* "have you heard the one about the woman who was eaten by her pet crocodile? he was Glad 'e ate 'er." this joke works much better in british english than american english. we'd say Glad He Ate Her...it's just not as funny). i think it started with seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail when i was about 15. it's still one of my favorite movies. Life of Brian, Meaning of Life, and all the television episodes just had me rolling. now there is Simon Pegg...he of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Run, Fat Boy, Run. he's done many other things, like Spaced, which i also enjoy. and i can't forget Fawlty Towers (which my dad loved, too) and all of Rowan Atkinson's work on Mr Bean and Black Adder.
i think i have PBS to thank for bringing those shows to the US. and i am so grateful. i still watch Monty Python on my PC, as well as Spaced. I have DVDs of The Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and Meaning of Life. i'll have them eventually for the Simon Pegg movies.
4) i will be going to NYC for the first time in my life in a month. i have to work with a church out there from the 7-9th and i'm hoping to stay out an extra couple of days to take a peek around. i'm not much on touristy things. i want to get off the beaten path a bit and see things like times square, a letterman show, and the monument that was supposed to be built, but is not yet built, to the sept 11th tragedy. i'd like to see rare things like a cabbie honking his horn, or yelling out the window...or a pedestrian giving a traffic cop the bird. yes, i'd like to be an extra on a Law & Order shoot, or go to the Port Authority and ask him who made him so smart. i want to go to Ellis Island and if they've put up a fence there, too, or just left that to CA, AZ, and NM. i want to ride in that XMen jet that is so much better than Wonder Woman's jet. i want to see the house that Ruth built. i knew baseball players were underpaid back then, but i didn't know they held down two jobs. i hope to go see the First City improv troupe. i bet they're awesome.
so, definitely looking forward to going. i'm sure they've got so many of Chicago's issues worked out already. i'm going to take a pen and notepad and jot down ideas that i can give to mayor daleywhen i get back.
******************************************************************
ok...so that's 4x4. i have a feeling that when i read this later i'll regret most of it. but that's what i get for writing first thing. my brain is not yet working.
oh, and i'm supposed to "tag" four more people to do this. how about the first four people to volunteer in the comments section. maybe you're just itchin to spout profound thoughts about yourself. or inane thoughts. anyway, you claim it, you own it.
i promise, i'll have something productive to say soon.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
i can see your point...if you hold it out there. OR you're just one i from this being serious
i've got good news and bad news. if you've been around me for the past 3-4 months, you know that i've been having trouble reading the fine print. any small print, for that matter. i've had 20/10 vision my whole life, so it was a little weird to start dealing with it. it came on pretty quickly, too. no gradual adjustment...just sort of one week everything was all good...then, bam...blurry vision for reading up close.
i used to tease my mom and dad about walking across the room with a menu so they could read it. my mom always told me that what you tease people about will happen to you. (talk about a vengeful God complex!) i told her i'd start teasing millionaires and brad pitt. i guess i could just tease brad pitt, eh? anyway, i teased them and suddenly it became my problem.
so today on my way home i saw an eyeglasses place advertising 2 pairs of glasses for 69 bucks. it included a free eye exam. since the reading glasses i had checked out online were priced about the same for one pair i figured i'd check it out.
they had me fill out a bunch of questions, all of which were printed in extremely small lettering. kind of rude, i thought. i mean, nobody goes in there to prove how great their vision is, right? i just answered no to everything, hoping they hadn't asked me if i had any problems with donating my kidneys.
next came the eye exam...the first eye exam, as it turned out. i ripped through the letters except for the bottom row, which used to be my proudest moment. then i had to look at some farm scene that kept going in and out of focus. and finally i had to look at a red light, during which, at a random point, a puff of air was blown at my eye. maybe they needed to test how fast i blinked.
that girl compiled all the information and i went in to see the eye doctor. based on the data from the first eye exam she put the little focus thingy in front of me and off we went to figure out my prescription. things did not go as planned. after a bit, she said "are you trying to fool me?" i am a prankster at heart, but i draw the line at doctors. after a little while, she decided i needed a little more in depth exam.
i was a little concerned at this point. because of how quickly it my reading vision seemed to blur didn't make it any better. the thing that kept me cool was that other than my reading vision, i had no other issues. so...on we went to the new tests. read this...read that...can you see this...can you see that....blah, blah, blah. then she put this ubermagnification system in front of me, complete with a very bright light, and proceeded to look deep into my eyes. somehow, i always thought i'd feel different if a woman was to do that. it was a big letdown.
after a couple of minutes of that, she kept the uber thing in place...and added a big lens that she held in front of each eye while shining said light in there. apparently she was looking at the back of my eye..yon retina. and then she told me i have something. i have central serous retinopathy. i gulped. she heard it...or i imagine so. then she asked me if i've been under a lot of stress. my first answer was no. but then i started thinking about how i've been feeling...stressed...because of the increase in CURE work (and the corresponding lack of support dollars that mean i nearly work for free), the increase in my workload at my part-time job (and the desire to be able to move solely into my CURE work), and trying to get my i58 site and business launched (which will help with both of the first two issues. i remembered having a couple of friendships that were near and dear to me change pretty rapidly. not necessarly badly...just drastically. i remembered that i was stressed about a wedding i thought was happening (see the friend/bmw entry below). i remembered the stress of loving another friend and the opportunity to be in his wedding, but hating that i missed his out of town bachelor party because of money, and stressing some over the cost of standing up out of town. i rememberd the stress of planning events and having the guests of honor suddenly unable to make it, with me not knowing how to shut it down.
and add to the the different life my body ended up going through with becoming a vegetarian and with working out. i lost a good amount of weight pretty quickly. and while that's great for me, it probably didn't help the overall "deal with this" level i put myself through. so...yeah...i guess i was stressed. it's weird because i never thought of myself as stressed.
so you may be asking...what's the good news? well, central serous retinopathy is a temporary condition. it's stress-related. it's most commonly noticed by people who have extraordinary vision (i was always 20/10). it usually affects men between 20 and 50 (i fall in that range :-) ). and while there's not really a treatment, it almost always goes away on its own.
i got my reading glasses prescription...two pairs for 69 bucks...and they'll be in in a week or so. and while i was preparing for life with glasses, thinking into every life a little eyesight degeneration must fall, it seems i can expect things to return to normal. i guess i just need to finish my website and launch my business, drum up a little more CURE support, get through the end of the wedding season, spend some time with friends, start eating meat again (just kidding), get used to working out, and quit planning parties.
and maybe a few months in the french riviera will help...
i used to tease my mom and dad about walking across the room with a menu so they could read it. my mom always told me that what you tease people about will happen to you. (talk about a vengeful God complex!) i told her i'd start teasing millionaires and brad pitt. i guess i could just tease brad pitt, eh? anyway, i teased them and suddenly it became my problem.
so today on my way home i saw an eyeglasses place advertising 2 pairs of glasses for 69 bucks. it included a free eye exam. since the reading glasses i had checked out online were priced about the same for one pair i figured i'd check it out.
they had me fill out a bunch of questions, all of which were printed in extremely small lettering. kind of rude, i thought. i mean, nobody goes in there to prove how great their vision is, right? i just answered no to everything, hoping they hadn't asked me if i had any problems with donating my kidneys.
next came the eye exam...the first eye exam, as it turned out. i ripped through the letters except for the bottom row, which used to be my proudest moment. then i had to look at some farm scene that kept going in and out of focus. and finally i had to look at a red light, during which, at a random point, a puff of air was blown at my eye. maybe they needed to test how fast i blinked.
that girl compiled all the information and i went in to see the eye doctor. based on the data from the first eye exam she put the little focus thingy in front of me and off we went to figure out my prescription. things did not go as planned. after a bit, she said "are you trying to fool me?" i am a prankster at heart, but i draw the line at doctors. after a little while, she decided i needed a little more in depth exam.
i was a little concerned at this point. because of how quickly it my reading vision seemed to blur didn't make it any better. the thing that kept me cool was that other than my reading vision, i had no other issues. so...on we went to the new tests. read this...read that...can you see this...can you see that....blah, blah, blah. then she put this ubermagnification system in front of me, complete with a very bright light, and proceeded to look deep into my eyes. somehow, i always thought i'd feel different if a woman was to do that. it was a big letdown.
after a couple of minutes of that, she kept the uber thing in place...and added a big lens that she held in front of each eye while shining said light in there. apparently she was looking at the back of my eye..yon retina. and then she told me i have something. i have central serous retinopathy. i gulped. she heard it...or i imagine so. then she asked me if i've been under a lot of stress. my first answer was no. but then i started thinking about how i've been feeling...stressed...because of the increase in CURE work (and the corresponding lack of support dollars that mean i nearly work for free), the increase in my workload at my part-time job (and the desire to be able to move solely into my CURE work), and trying to get my i58 site and business launched (which will help with both of the first two issues. i remembered having a couple of friendships that were near and dear to me change pretty rapidly. not necessarly badly...just drastically. i remembered that i was stressed about a wedding i thought was happening (see the friend/bmw entry below). i remembered the stress of loving another friend and the opportunity to be in his wedding, but hating that i missed his out of town bachelor party because of money, and stressing some over the cost of standing up out of town. i rememberd the stress of planning events and having the guests of honor suddenly unable to make it, with me not knowing how to shut it down.
and add to the the different life my body ended up going through with becoming a vegetarian and with working out. i lost a good amount of weight pretty quickly. and while that's great for me, it probably didn't help the overall "deal with this" level i put myself through. so...yeah...i guess i was stressed. it's weird because i never thought of myself as stressed.
so you may be asking...what's the good news? well, central serous retinopathy is a temporary condition. it's stress-related. it's most commonly noticed by people who have extraordinary vision (i was always 20/10). it usually affects men between 20 and 50 (i fall in that range :-) ). and while there's not really a treatment, it almost always goes away on its own.
i got my reading glasses prescription...two pairs for 69 bucks...and they'll be in in a week or so. and while i was preparing for life with glasses, thinking into every life a little eyesight degeneration must fall, it seems i can expect things to return to normal. i guess i just need to finish my website and launch my business, drum up a little more CURE support, get through the end of the wedding season, spend some time with friends, start eating meat again (just kidding), get used to working out, and quit planning parties.
and maybe a few months in the french riviera will help...
i can feel it coming in the air tonight
the fall is here. my favorite time of the year. i'm not a huge lover of winter, but it has its qualities. snowboarding, driving in the snow (yeah, i love it), hot chocolate, fireplaces, no light through my bedroom window at 5 am, down comforters, rest for the land and people, and such. but if biting, bitter, boring (as in drilling deep) cold were not bad enough, it bring with it a promise in its end...a promise which i hate more than anything in this world...well, anything not man-made.
mosquitos. i am not alone in my hatred for mosquitos. jeff pelletier, a good friend and one-time roommate and i were sitting in the living room once, along with another friend. we were railing against mosquitos. we were trying to figure out what possible contribution they could offer the planet. we came up with zero. birds and bugs eat mosquitos. but they eat other insects, too. eliminate mosquitos...no great ecological impact in our estimation.
jeff said "when i get to heaven, the first question i'm going to ask God is "mosquitos...what's up with that?" joe said, "yeah...and God will say "sin...what's up with that?" jeff replied "i asked you first." i doubt, or at least hope, that that isn't the initial exchange they have...but i have often thought that might be my first question, too.
ok...back to autumn. among the many, many qualities of fall is the deliverance on summer's exit strategy...no more mosquitos. i can now sit on my front porch with my guitar without pausing to swat, splat, and scratch. i can take a fresh cup of coffee out with me, put on a hoodie, and talk on the phone (which i must do because AT&T's more bars in more places doesn't include my apartment). i can walk and note the way the cool air invades my lungs, making breathing not just an invisible part of my life. and i can see a palate of color that i connect with more than all the others i love. the blue of water is engulfing. the 256 shades of grey in winter turns the color world into black and white. the green of spring is like Pleasantville in real life. but the auburns and golds and burgundys and oranges and browns of fall...they are the colors of my soul. they are majestic and regal and life and death...and they remind me.
i sat on top of vermont's tallest mountain about 14 years ago, looking across the Green Mountains (vermont is from the french words for green and mountain...verde and mont) in a first ditch effort to meet the God i'd professed to follow my whole life. and with pen in hand, i wrote of the promises of Jeremiah 29:11-13 and that even though i had no idea what it meant to seek, let alone with my whole heart, it had to be now or it would be never. and i found Him.
my friend, shane, says that truly following...truly seeking results in layers coming off of us. like an onion we come with lots of layers. some of it is just part of being human. some comes with our culture. family, friends, school, desire...they're all a part of those layers. but in seeking, the layers come off until we're left with only Him. it's probably not that easy. we add layers, often simultaneously to peeling away others. i know i sometimes like to put layers back on that i've already taken off. but as best as i can, since that day on Mt. Mansfield, i've been trying to let those dead things fall to the ground and whisk away in the wind.
every year, in september, i go back to that place. not vermont, but the internal one where i found i had never sought with my whole heart. it's not an easy place, but i still love it. i call it ruthless self-examination. it's introspection with no filters of what i'd like to be true...just what is. and i lay that truth against what i see in the life of Jesus, whom i follow, and the heart of His and my Father. no more comparisons with church ideologies, theologies, or any other "ologies". only that which was in the beginning, that was with God, and that is God. and i do that every september because, even though i try to keep in touch with this regularly, by the time a year goes by i've put layers back on. and if i don't want to be what i used to be, or to head toward my natural inclinations, i've got to pay attention to it.
if whatever change has occured in my life can be pointed to one thing, it's that prayer up on that mountain, and since, saying i have no idea how to search with my whole heart...and asking for help in that. i need to stay on top of that prayer because my heart is often divided in what it wishes to seek...fragmented would be a better word. but i long to have a whole heart, not in total, but in unity. and so i am working, sometimes hard, sometimes not, on making that statement true. i wish to seek with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to let everything else fall away.
so...fall...i am reminded every year as your air comes cool and crisp. i will seek...and He will be found...if i search with my whole heart.
mosquitos. i am not alone in my hatred for mosquitos. jeff pelletier, a good friend and one-time roommate and i were sitting in the living room once, along with another friend. we were railing against mosquitos. we were trying to figure out what possible contribution they could offer the planet. we came up with zero. birds and bugs eat mosquitos. but they eat other insects, too. eliminate mosquitos...no great ecological impact in our estimation.
jeff said "when i get to heaven, the first question i'm going to ask God is "mosquitos...what's up with that?" joe said, "yeah...and God will say "sin...what's up with that?" jeff replied "i asked you first." i doubt, or at least hope, that that isn't the initial exchange they have...but i have often thought that might be my first question, too.
ok...back to autumn. among the many, many qualities of fall is the deliverance on summer's exit strategy...no more mosquitos. i can now sit on my front porch with my guitar without pausing to swat, splat, and scratch. i can take a fresh cup of coffee out with me, put on a hoodie, and talk on the phone (which i must do because AT&T's more bars in more places doesn't include my apartment). i can walk and note the way the cool air invades my lungs, making breathing not just an invisible part of my life. and i can see a palate of color that i connect with more than all the others i love. the blue of water is engulfing. the 256 shades of grey in winter turns the color world into black and white. the green of spring is like Pleasantville in real life. but the auburns and golds and burgundys and oranges and browns of fall...they are the colors of my soul. they are majestic and regal and life and death...and they remind me.
i sat on top of vermont's tallest mountain about 14 years ago, looking across the Green Mountains (vermont is from the french words for green and mountain...verde and mont) in a first ditch effort to meet the God i'd professed to follow my whole life. and with pen in hand, i wrote of the promises of Jeremiah 29:11-13 and that even though i had no idea what it meant to seek, let alone with my whole heart, it had to be now or it would be never. and i found Him.
my friend, shane, says that truly following...truly seeking results in layers coming off of us. like an onion we come with lots of layers. some of it is just part of being human. some comes with our culture. family, friends, school, desire...they're all a part of those layers. but in seeking, the layers come off until we're left with only Him. it's probably not that easy. we add layers, often simultaneously to peeling away others. i know i sometimes like to put layers back on that i've already taken off. but as best as i can, since that day on Mt. Mansfield, i've been trying to let those dead things fall to the ground and whisk away in the wind.
every year, in september, i go back to that place. not vermont, but the internal one where i found i had never sought with my whole heart. it's not an easy place, but i still love it. i call it ruthless self-examination. it's introspection with no filters of what i'd like to be true...just what is. and i lay that truth against what i see in the life of Jesus, whom i follow, and the heart of His and my Father. no more comparisons with church ideologies, theologies, or any other "ologies". only that which was in the beginning, that was with God, and that is God. and i do that every september because, even though i try to keep in touch with this regularly, by the time a year goes by i've put layers back on. and if i don't want to be what i used to be, or to head toward my natural inclinations, i've got to pay attention to it.
if whatever change has occured in my life can be pointed to one thing, it's that prayer up on that mountain, and since, saying i have no idea how to search with my whole heart...and asking for help in that. i need to stay on top of that prayer because my heart is often divided in what it wishes to seek...fragmented would be a better word. but i long to have a whole heart, not in total, but in unity. and so i am working, sometimes hard, sometimes not, on making that statement true. i wish to seek with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to let everything else fall away.
so...fall...i am reminded every year as your air comes cool and crisp. i will seek...and He will be found...if i search with my whole heart.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
how to fool your friend into lending you his bmw...
I think I've been working too much. probably not...but it helps in explaining away this one. the actors in the play are:
1) Soraya, a friend about to get married. I'm playing guitar in her wedding.
2) Ryan...he owns the Beemer...a Z4 convertible. i've ridden in it a few times...pretty sweet.
3) Me...the imbecile.
So...about a month ago, Soraya messages a few of us asking if we can help find some people to do X, Y, and Z in her wedding. A guitar player is one of those needs. I say Yes. she's thrilled. i call her to find out what exactly I'll be playing. Some song...don't know it...don't own it...never heard of it. She is fortunate by not requesting The Chicken Dance, which i have sworn a blood oath to never be a part of in any one's wedding.
I ask Soraya to send me the song via email. After two weeks...no song. I call and ask, and she says she will put it on a CD and send it to me...the mp3 thing isn't working for some reason. I hear in this conversation something about the wedding in two weeks and having enough time to learn yon song. I hear this, but this is not said. I do not know it at the time. I find out yesterday.
I anxiously await the aforementioned CD. Then early this past week I message Soraya asking about wedding times/location, etc. I know it's in Lake Forest and it's tough to bike there. "I'll be needing transportation", I'm thinking, "and I should work this out a bit in advance." We mutually figure out that I should really see about finding a car to use. "No problem," say I. "I have a friend who told me if i ever needed a car in a situation like this, I could use it." Soraya says she is leaving in 30 minutes for the airport to fly to Chicago and finalize the prep for the wedding. In my mind, leaving Tuesday means a few days to nail stuff down, just in time for the wedding on the weekend.
I decide to see what public transit options I have in getting to Lake Forest. I can take the train...the Metra...but it's a little sketchy on the early Sunday morning availability I'll need to get to the wedding. In the end, a car is the only way I see this working. I have to call Ryan anyway to work out a time to move some furniture he's giving to a friend of mine. So we figure that all out, and then I ask about the car. I'm very clear that if it's any sort of problem, it's no worry. I can always buy a car from CarMax and return it within the first 7 days with no penalty. He's more than gracious and says that he and his girlfriend are taking her car to a wedding out of town this weekend anyway. It will be no trouble. This conversation goes down on Thursday.
Thursday...and I have no CD. I'm playing a song I've never heard, accompanying a singer I've never heard, and I have no CD. I figure I've always been good with learning music quickly so I'll wait. Friday will give me plenty of time.
Friday...and I have no CD. I ride my bike home from work in the rain for the 3rd time in a week, and wonder how an outdoor wedding will go if it rains too much. I run for the mail...and no CD. I'm a little freaked out at this point. I have a wedding in two days...a rehearsal in 18 hours, at least 7 of which I'm determined to sleep. I call Soraya. Voice mail. I note that the rain has increased. I am up until 1 am...and no call.
Let me say that I have personally perfected the art of procrastination. In fact, my name makes up the VERY LAST four letters of the word procrastinate. I believe I am predisposed toward procrastination because of this. Yet, even I am freaking out about Soraya's nonchalance regarding my need for the music I will be playing in her wedding. "It's her wedding," I think to myself. "If she wants me to have to play The Chicken Dance instead of what was surely a meaningful song, so be it. I'll not fret over this any longer." Not true.
I awaken Saturday and have no calls from Soraya, but do have one from Ryan. I call him and we arrange for the car dropoff. I leave one more message for Soraya saying I'm sure she's got a ton going on with figuring out what to do with an outdoor wedding and Ike's pouring on her parade. I'm sure there are a ton of logistical issues to deal with. But at a minimum, I need to know where the rehearsal is being held. I'm okay with not having the song. I once had to sing a song in front of several hundred people where I only sung this song once in my life and it was 5 years ago and they didn't have the lyrics for it and could I possibly remember it enough to sing it, and yes, it went off fine. I was sure that God would not let me ruin Soraya's wedding because she had been too busy to send me the CD.
I get a call from Soraya at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. I am so relieved. I tell her I have a car to get to both the rehearsal and the wedding. She is thrilled. She says she is going to put the CD in the mail...it won't take long to get from Lake Forest to Chicago. And I begin to realize that a wire or three may be crossed. And then she laughs at my freaking outness and says "You know the wedding is on the 28th, right?" Ummmm...no. And she laughs more at me. "Yes...two weeks from this weekend." Ohhhhh...that 28th. Too late to slough it off as "Sure...I knew...I just wanted to be prepared." She has proof on her voice mail.
So...I now have a BMW for the rest of the weekend. "Oh...one thing", Ryan tells me when he hands me the keys. "It leaks at the corners of the roof when it rains. You can stuff paper up in there, but it will still drip." I stay in on Saturday night. Sunday, it's still raining...along the lines of that called for by the FOTF guy in Denver...so I drive the 4 blocks to church. I may possibly have been less wet had I walked sans umbrella.
I'll be spending the next two weeks befriending a Mercedes hardtop owner.
1) Soraya, a friend about to get married. I'm playing guitar in her wedding.
2) Ryan...he owns the Beemer...a Z4 convertible. i've ridden in it a few times...pretty sweet.
3) Me...the imbecile.
So...about a month ago, Soraya messages a few of us asking if we can help find some people to do X, Y, and Z in her wedding. A guitar player is one of those needs. I say Yes. she's thrilled. i call her to find out what exactly I'll be playing. Some song...don't know it...don't own it...never heard of it. She is fortunate by not requesting The Chicken Dance, which i have sworn a blood oath to never be a part of in any one's wedding.
I ask Soraya to send me the song via email. After two weeks...no song. I call and ask, and she says she will put it on a CD and send it to me...the mp3 thing isn't working for some reason. I hear in this conversation something about the wedding in two weeks and having enough time to learn yon song. I hear this, but this is not said. I do not know it at the time. I find out yesterday.
I anxiously await the aforementioned CD. Then early this past week I message Soraya asking about wedding times/location, etc. I know it's in Lake Forest and it's tough to bike there. "I'll be needing transportation", I'm thinking, "and I should work this out a bit in advance." We mutually figure out that I should really see about finding a car to use. "No problem," say I. "I have a friend who told me if i ever needed a car in a situation like this, I could use it." Soraya says she is leaving in 30 minutes for the airport to fly to Chicago and finalize the prep for the wedding. In my mind, leaving Tuesday means a few days to nail stuff down, just in time for the wedding on the weekend.
I decide to see what public transit options I have in getting to Lake Forest. I can take the train...the Metra...but it's a little sketchy on the early Sunday morning availability I'll need to get to the wedding. In the end, a car is the only way I see this working. I have to call Ryan anyway to work out a time to move some furniture he's giving to a friend of mine. So we figure that all out, and then I ask about the car. I'm very clear that if it's any sort of problem, it's no worry. I can always buy a car from CarMax and return it within the first 7 days with no penalty. He's more than gracious and says that he and his girlfriend are taking her car to a wedding out of town this weekend anyway. It will be no trouble. This conversation goes down on Thursday.
Thursday...and I have no CD. I'm playing a song I've never heard, accompanying a singer I've never heard, and I have no CD. I figure I've always been good with learning music quickly so I'll wait. Friday will give me plenty of time.
Friday...and I have no CD. I ride my bike home from work in the rain for the 3rd time in a week, and wonder how an outdoor wedding will go if it rains too much. I run for the mail...and no CD. I'm a little freaked out at this point. I have a wedding in two days...a rehearsal in 18 hours, at least 7 of which I'm determined to sleep. I call Soraya. Voice mail. I note that the rain has increased. I am up until 1 am...and no call.
Let me say that I have personally perfected the art of procrastination. In fact, my name makes up the VERY LAST four letters of the word procrastinate. I believe I am predisposed toward procrastination because of this. Yet, even I am freaking out about Soraya's nonchalance regarding my need for the music I will be playing in her wedding. "It's her wedding," I think to myself. "If she wants me to have to play The Chicken Dance instead of what was surely a meaningful song, so be it. I'll not fret over this any longer." Not true.
I awaken Saturday and have no calls from Soraya, but do have one from Ryan. I call him and we arrange for the car dropoff. I leave one more message for Soraya saying I'm sure she's got a ton going on with figuring out what to do with an outdoor wedding and Ike's pouring on her parade. I'm sure there are a ton of logistical issues to deal with. But at a minimum, I need to know where the rehearsal is being held. I'm okay with not having the song. I once had to sing a song in front of several hundred people where I only sung this song once in my life and it was 5 years ago and they didn't have the lyrics for it and could I possibly remember it enough to sing it, and yes, it went off fine. I was sure that God would not let me ruin Soraya's wedding because she had been too busy to send me the CD.
I get a call from Soraya at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. I am so relieved. I tell her I have a car to get to both the rehearsal and the wedding. She is thrilled. She says she is going to put the CD in the mail...it won't take long to get from Lake Forest to Chicago. And I begin to realize that a wire or three may be crossed. And then she laughs at my freaking outness and says "You know the wedding is on the 28th, right?" Ummmm...no. And she laughs more at me. "Yes...two weeks from this weekend." Ohhhhh...that 28th. Too late to slough it off as "Sure...I knew...I just wanted to be prepared." She has proof on her voice mail.
So...I now have a BMW for the rest of the weekend. "Oh...one thing", Ryan tells me when he hands me the keys. "It leaks at the corners of the roof when it rains. You can stuff paper up in there, but it will still drip." I stay in on Saturday night. Sunday, it's still raining...along the lines of that called for by the FOTF guy in Denver...so I drive the 4 blocks to church. I may possibly have been less wet had I walked sans umbrella.
I'll be spending the next two weeks befriending a Mercedes hardtop owner.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Identically
newest song...and everyone's favorite now. i gotta say...i like it. it's pretty poppy, though.
and no, it's not written about someone. so cease and desist on the inquiring minds emails.
Identically
there is one thing you should know
girl, i like to take things slow
to rush it just ain't me
i just like to take my time
share my heart and share my wine
we'll get there eventually
so if you don't mind walking slow
talking 'bout nothing at all
then i think we'll be alright
we'll say the same thing, laugh and curse
then we'll both say "no, you first"
and we'll smile like we don't know...
but the truth is we
are identically
thinking, hoping, laughing, wanting
praying that the dawn will never come
there is one thing you should note
'bout that first verse that i wrote
well, it prob'ly just ain't true
cuz i remember how it felt
how my heart just seemed to melt
the first time i saw you
so if you don't mind hangin on
while the wind takes us along
then i think we'll be ok
we'll find a spot and settle in
wonder where each other's been
and we'll smile like we don't know...
but the truth is we
are identically
thinking, hoping, laughing, wanting
praying that the dawn will never come
and no, it's not written about someone. so cease and desist on the inquiring minds emails.
Identically
there is one thing you should know
girl, i like to take things slow
to rush it just ain't me
i just like to take my time
share my heart and share my wine
we'll get there eventually
so if you don't mind walking slow
talking 'bout nothing at all
then i think we'll be alright
we'll say the same thing, laugh and curse
then we'll both say "no, you first"
and we'll smile like we don't know...
but the truth is we
are identically
thinking, hoping, laughing, wanting
praying that the dawn will never come
there is one thing you should note
'bout that first verse that i wrote
well, it prob'ly just ain't true
cuz i remember how it felt
how my heart just seemed to melt
the first time i saw you
so if you don't mind hangin on
while the wind takes us along
then i think we'll be ok
we'll find a spot and settle in
wonder where each other's been
and we'll smile like we don't know...
but the truth is we
are identically
thinking, hoping, laughing, wanting
praying that the dawn will never come
4 tracks...4 trains
i'm observant. like, too much. i notice things like 5 consecutive white cars, or how many stars are in the Paramount movie studio logo (26). i find patterns in numbers, floor tiles, wallpaper...my brain just likes to notice and solve. which is a little weird because i'm pretty right brained.
but there are two things...observations more than patterns that are driving me nuts (yes, dp) these days. the first is my insane ability to ride/drive/walk below El tracks while trains roar overhead. considering a train goes by every 10-15 minutes or so, my chances of catching the 5 seconds while one goes past, or 30 second while it stops and starts, pretty slim. in fact, just based on time, it makes the chances of walking under something like 1 in 60...based on 120 5 second segments in a 10 minute time frame, divided by 2 for trains running in opposite directions. obviously the stopping trains take longer, but then trains probably run more like every 15-20 minutes on average.
so...that around a 1.6% chance of being under the tracks during a passing train. but i am running considerably higher than that. in fact, i'd put my percentage somewhere around 50%. and i'm estimating conservatively. my friends, jenn and jodi, are aware of this phenomenon. jenn thinks i'm crazy. jodi has seen it in action, though. she was skeptical at first, but after a few weeks began to notice it, too.
so, today...i ride my bike to my staff meeting in Lawndale. some 5 miles or so, each way. two tracks to ride under each way. took a different route there and back...just to see more neighborhood. 4 tracks. 4 trains. not an anomaly, really. but enough to finally get me to write it down.
i should also point out that noticing trains and all did not start with the Chicago mass transit system. back in the day i drove a delivery truck part time for a friend from my old church. one of the joys of this job was he and i had nextel and could chat whenever. if you were to ask him how many times i held the phone out the window of the truck so he could hear the crossing gates as freight and passenger trains went by he'd back it up. everyone gets caught once in a while. it was definitely more than that for me.
the second thing is a little harder to nail down as far as how often it happens to me, or anyone. but the total of it is just a little strange to me. i listen to music a lot. one of the places i do this is at my part time job. Pandora, iPod, cds, whatever...i have my headphones on most of the time. i also do a lot of typing at this job. i write press releases, articles, website content, product descriptions, html/css code, and Facebook status updates. lots of typing. i sit at my computer all day. so...it happened once and i thought...that's funny. then again, and i thought...that's odd. and again. and again. i wouldn't say it's a daily occurrence, but it's more than once a week, too. i'll be typing away when the exact same word i'm typing is the exact same word being sung.
now your naturally critical thinking process might lead you to "and, the, when, if" and words like that. i'm sure those happen, but they'd be so quick it would be hard to notice, i think. no...these are words like "different, regret, reality, forgiving, example" and more. i wish i'd have gotten to writing them down sooner. one might think that my subconscious mind is a line or two ahead in the lyrics and is prepping my sentence structure to use that word. i could see how that could be a valid position. but i don't know many of the songs i listen to. and still, to be able to need that word right then when the article/description/Facebook update might not have any use for such a word...well, it's kind of amazing to me.
i know i'm a little odd. that space is for family and friends to say "a little?" or some variation of it. and maybe millions of people have similar things they note every day...or could note if they were noticing things. maybe you have had the same sorts of experiences. tell me. i'd like to hear them.
as far as this entry, it just came to the point where i decided that someone...me...i should document some of the odder details about my life. i'd hate to pass someday and have people think i was a pretty normal guy. nope...i'm magnetized to trains.
but there are two things...observations more than patterns that are driving me nuts (yes, dp) these days. the first is my insane ability to ride/drive/walk below El tracks while trains roar overhead. considering a train goes by every 10-15 minutes or so, my chances of catching the 5 seconds while one goes past, or 30 second while it stops and starts, pretty slim. in fact, just based on time, it makes the chances of walking under something like 1 in 60...based on 120 5 second segments in a 10 minute time frame, divided by 2 for trains running in opposite directions. obviously the stopping trains take longer, but then trains probably run more like every 15-20 minutes on average.
so...that around a 1.6% chance of being under the tracks during a passing train. but i am running considerably higher than that. in fact, i'd put my percentage somewhere around 50%. and i'm estimating conservatively. my friends, jenn and jodi, are aware of this phenomenon. jenn thinks i'm crazy. jodi has seen it in action, though. she was skeptical at first, but after a few weeks began to notice it, too.
so, today...i ride my bike to my staff meeting in Lawndale. some 5 miles or so, each way. two tracks to ride under each way. took a different route there and back...just to see more neighborhood. 4 tracks. 4 trains. not an anomaly, really. but enough to finally get me to write it down.
i should also point out that noticing trains and all did not start with the Chicago mass transit system. back in the day i drove a delivery truck part time for a friend from my old church. one of the joys of this job was he and i had nextel and could chat whenever. if you were to ask him how many times i held the phone out the window of the truck so he could hear the crossing gates as freight and passenger trains went by he'd back it up. everyone gets caught once in a while. it was definitely more than that for me.
the second thing is a little harder to nail down as far as how often it happens to me, or anyone. but the total of it is just a little strange to me. i listen to music a lot. one of the places i do this is at my part time job. Pandora, iPod, cds, whatever...i have my headphones on most of the time. i also do a lot of typing at this job. i write press releases, articles, website content, product descriptions, html/css code, and Facebook status updates. lots of typing. i sit at my computer all day. so...it happened once and i thought...that's funny. then again, and i thought...that's odd. and again. and again. i wouldn't say it's a daily occurrence, but it's more than once a week, too. i'll be typing away when the exact same word i'm typing is the exact same word being sung.
now your naturally critical thinking process might lead you to "and, the, when, if" and words like that. i'm sure those happen, but they'd be so quick it would be hard to notice, i think. no...these are words like "different, regret, reality, forgiving, example" and more. i wish i'd have gotten to writing them down sooner. one might think that my subconscious mind is a line or two ahead in the lyrics and is prepping my sentence structure to use that word. i could see how that could be a valid position. but i don't know many of the songs i listen to. and still, to be able to need that word right then when the article/description/Facebook update might not have any use for such a word...well, it's kind of amazing to me.
i know i'm a little odd. that space is for family and friends to say "a little?" or some variation of it. and maybe millions of people have similar things they note every day...or could note if they were noticing things. maybe you have had the same sorts of experiences. tell me. i'd like to hear them.
as far as this entry, it just came to the point where i decided that someone...me...i should document some of the odder details about my life. i'd hate to pass someday and have people think i was a pretty normal guy. nope...i'm magnetized to trains.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Run, River
rough draft on some new song lyrics...a song called Run, River (at least right now)
someday soon
gonna leave this place
find me a little town
in an open space
maybe some foothills
to break the plane
and a quiet river
that knows my name
i'll find my rythym
maybe a job
as leaves turn over
i might find God
He might not know me
been gone that long
my friends even call me
the prodigal one
(chorus)
it's time for some changes
there's no denying
i'm alive on the outside
but my spirit is dying
so disappointed
in who i've been
maybe that river
can hold my sin
the lords of concrete
have brought me down
nose to the grindstone
and ear to the ground
the sirens sing loudly
the sirens don't stop
they sing to me sweetly
as i crash on the rocks
(chorus)
i don't have a bridge yet...we'll see how that goes. i've actually got about 4 soungs working right now, lyrically. it's still not flowing, but there seems to be a crack in the dam.
btw, in case you haven't heard elsewhere, i've got a gig opening for a national touring act this sunday night. ya'll should come out to hear me! just drop me a comment for directions and time
someday soon
gonna leave this place
find me a little town
in an open space
maybe some foothills
to break the plane
and a quiet river
that knows my name
i'll find my rythym
maybe a job
as leaves turn over
i might find God
He might not know me
been gone that long
my friends even call me
the prodigal one
(chorus)
it's time for some changes
there's no denying
i'm alive on the outside
but my spirit is dying
so disappointed
in who i've been
maybe that river
can hold my sin
the lords of concrete
have brought me down
nose to the grindstone
and ear to the ground
the sirens sing loudly
the sirens don't stop
they sing to me sweetly
as i crash on the rocks
(chorus)
i don't have a bridge yet...we'll see how that goes. i've actually got about 4 soungs working right now, lyrically. it's still not flowing, but there seems to be a crack in the dam.
btw, in case you haven't heard elsewhere, i've got a gig opening for a national touring act this sunday night. ya'll should come out to hear me! just drop me a comment for directions and time
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
my last blog was a parable...
so, i was lying in bed in a bit of a meditative state...something i do regularly upon waking up...and the "rearview mirror" blog i posted some days ago crossed my mind (i could link to it, but it's right below this one). i started to think about who crosses my path, who i stop for, when i keep going, etc. and it hit me...this story was already told. and i started to think a little differently about the players.
there's still the "deer". he's robbed, beaten, and lying in his own blood on the side of the road. and three people come upon this crash. in real life, probably more, but the story was told about the three.
the first one is someone whose life is given to working on behalf of God's people. he doesn't see the crash, but he comes upon it. and he swerves to avoid it. maybe it was hatred...i've always heard it was. maybe it was deep, almost subconscious hatred...the kind that doesn't come out until someone is pushed hard...to the point where they say "YOU PEOPLE" with a finger pointing at the stereotype or collective thought welling up. but maybe it was wanting to miss the hurting person. maybe he thought "someone else will get that...i've got a youth group meeting to get to". maybe he felt compassionately as he went by but he just didn't have the time or materials to stop. could be anywhere in between. "sucks to be you". "if you weren't there in the first place..." "when will someone do something about these bandit-types? they're really mucking up this neighborhood!" whatever it was...hatred, discomfort, lack of time, no available resources, fear, or the idea that someone else would come along...he kept going.
then comes the assistant. he sees the crash site. he crosses the street. same thing. another person out doing the work of God. or maybe not. maybe he's on his way to a movie with friends...let's say small group friends. or dinner at this pretty sweet new skewer joint. maybe his family is getting ready to go on vacation and he needs to get home. maybe the dog needs to be walked. maybe he's tired of seeing beat-up people in the road on his way to and from work and since he can't stop for all of them, it doesn't seem fair to help one of them. maybe he thinks he's better than the crash victim and thinks to himself "man...i'm glad God has my back!" maybe he flips him a church invite card so that when the guy is well...if he ever gets well...he can come and see what God has in store for him.
so many maybe's...so little time. and it could be he does have somewhere to be so he swerves to avoid the crash, looks back and thinks "is there something i should be doing?" maybe that illegitimate compassion wells up inside him as he sees the victim and he lifts a prayer to thank God it's not his kid lying in the road.
one more guy. oh, he's not much of a guy. in fact, his lifestyle is routinely pointed out as immoral. definitely NOT a part of the people of God. they can tell just looking at him. they can certainly tell by talking to him. this guy is not who they want in their neighborhood. this is the guy they move away from. this is the guy that nobody even thinks to invite to temple...why would they? he's an idolator, or something like that...bad theology at the least. sounds too much like something, not enough like something else. he just doesn't fit the mold.
that's readily apparent. for where the two godly men walk by, this one whom God would barely notice, as they see it, shows himself to be altogether different. he...stops. he...heals. he...puts the man in his car, eschewing the blood on the fine Corinthian leather, and gets him to shelter. he...pays! oh...there goes Disneyland. or the Harley. or the kid's college education. or the retirement fund. or maybe not. maybe he made enough money to put it to work in such a way and still get that new toga. regardless, he intervenes when two men who thought themselves deeply connected to God ignored His heart completely and kept walking.
at the end of "the rearview mirror" i imagined God praying that we would do something about these crash victims. but at the end of this parable, Jesus asks who the neighbor is in this story. he gets the answer "the one who showed mercy." He responds to the answerer (man #1) "go and do likewise." no prayer...just a command.
unwittingly, "the rearview mirror" was just some sort of retelling of The Good Samaritan. you can check it out for yourself in Luke 10.
there's still the "deer". he's robbed, beaten, and lying in his own blood on the side of the road. and three people come upon this crash. in real life, probably more, but the story was told about the three.
the first one is someone whose life is given to working on behalf of God's people. he doesn't see the crash, but he comes upon it. and he swerves to avoid it. maybe it was hatred...i've always heard it was. maybe it was deep, almost subconscious hatred...the kind that doesn't come out until someone is pushed hard...to the point where they say "YOU PEOPLE" with a finger pointing at the stereotype or collective thought welling up. but maybe it was wanting to miss the hurting person. maybe he thought "someone else will get that...i've got a youth group meeting to get to". maybe he felt compassionately as he went by but he just didn't have the time or materials to stop. could be anywhere in between. "sucks to be you". "if you weren't there in the first place..." "when will someone do something about these bandit-types? they're really mucking up this neighborhood!" whatever it was...hatred, discomfort, lack of time, no available resources, fear, or the idea that someone else would come along...he kept going.
then comes the assistant. he sees the crash site. he crosses the street. same thing. another person out doing the work of God. or maybe not. maybe he's on his way to a movie with friends...let's say small group friends. or dinner at this pretty sweet new skewer joint. maybe his family is getting ready to go on vacation and he needs to get home. maybe the dog needs to be walked. maybe he's tired of seeing beat-up people in the road on his way to and from work and since he can't stop for all of them, it doesn't seem fair to help one of them. maybe he thinks he's better than the crash victim and thinks to himself "man...i'm glad God has my back!" maybe he flips him a church invite card so that when the guy is well...if he ever gets well...he can come and see what God has in store for him.
so many maybe's...so little time. and it could be he does have somewhere to be so he swerves to avoid the crash, looks back and thinks "is there something i should be doing?" maybe that illegitimate compassion wells up inside him as he sees the victim and he lifts a prayer to thank God it's not his kid lying in the road.
one more guy. oh, he's not much of a guy. in fact, his lifestyle is routinely pointed out as immoral. definitely NOT a part of the people of God. they can tell just looking at him. they can certainly tell by talking to him. this guy is not who they want in their neighborhood. this is the guy they move away from. this is the guy that nobody even thinks to invite to temple...why would they? he's an idolator, or something like that...bad theology at the least. sounds too much like something, not enough like something else. he just doesn't fit the mold.
that's readily apparent. for where the two godly men walk by, this one whom God would barely notice, as they see it, shows himself to be altogether different. he...stops. he...heals. he...puts the man in his car, eschewing the blood on the fine Corinthian leather, and gets him to shelter. he...pays! oh...there goes Disneyland. or the Harley. or the kid's college education. or the retirement fund. or maybe not. maybe he made enough money to put it to work in such a way and still get that new toga. regardless, he intervenes when two men who thought themselves deeply connected to God ignored His heart completely and kept walking.
at the end of "the rearview mirror" i imagined God praying that we would do something about these crash victims. but at the end of this parable, Jesus asks who the neighbor is in this story. he gets the answer "the one who showed mercy." He responds to the answerer (man #1) "go and do likewise." no prayer...just a command.
unwittingly, "the rearview mirror" was just some sort of retelling of The Good Samaritan. you can check it out for yourself in Luke 10.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
the rearview mirror
i heard a story a couple of weeks ago. it was about a guy who was struggling to pray for the people around the world who were hurting. not that he didn't want to. he just didn't know what to say, essentially. he was specifically talking about those who are left in pain from the iraqi war. i don't know if he was feeling it for both sides, or one in particular. in the end it doesn't really matter.
the story went that while in this difficult time of feeling intense compassion, yet unable to pray, that he was driving home through wisconsin and saw a doe and fawn on the side of a 4 lane highway. the deer decided to cross traffic as deer are prone to do. the doe made it, but the car in front of this guy hit the fawn's back legs and sent it spiraling down to the pavement. (at this point in the story, a collective gasp of empathy went out from the 100 or so folks in attendance.) this man made it around the deer without crippling it any further and then looked back through his rearview mirror to see the fawn frantically struggling to get up, but destined to its fate because of the injuries it sustained.
you know the number of thoughts that can flash through your mind in mere seconds...well, he had the same thing happen. he thought about going back to put it out of it's misery. he wondered how he would do that. he thought about the doe. and eventually, as the deer got smaller and smaller, he reasoned that someone else would have already intervened...called 911...called someone...and that going back now would be futile, redundant, or unnecessary. all this time his concern for the picture in the mirror never wavered. his heart was still full of feeling for that broken fawn.
but the mirror eventually showed only the empty road behind him...
or perhaps the headlights of other cars that drove past thinking it was a horrible situation...
but someone behind him would surely have done something...
to be honest, i can't recall how that sight allowed him, upon reflection, to pray for those people he had on his heart. i was busy sorting out this part of the story as it relates to the very difficulties he was having. i think we all see the bulk of this world through the rearview mirror. it's a picture or video on a small rectangular piece of glass showing us things that genuinely move us. they bring us to tears or make our hearts swell in anger or compassion or any number of genuine emotions. but the picture changes soon enough and, while we may reflect on it, we rarely go to the places where death and life hang in the balance. we rarely go to the places where it might cause our planned path to alter...where we might have to go back...where we might have to get out of our box containing the picture holder and touch the ones in the picture.
we hear that a cyclone could leave 1.5 million people dead...and we're deeply moved...but just inside. we're not physically moved. we see another 8 year old girl is shot while standing outside her house...and we think "what a world we live in"...but we stay in ours. we watch countless stories...each day they fill our windshields, and we manage to avoid them, and then watch sadly as they disappear.
it's tough. there's so many stories...never-ending stories. and sometimes getting hit and lying sprawled out on the pavement is entirely the fault of the story. why would we ever intervene when it's someone's own fault? even if it isn't, how can we ever keep up? as fast as one disappears, another one comes. sometimes they're 10 or 20 at a time. it's all we can do to keep from colliding with those stories. we're on a straight and narrow road and we've got somewhere to go. just the driving part of the story has loads of unpacking in it (what if we slowed down...walked? stayed?).
but what if we just stopped the car for one story...one picture. what if we turned around and didn't just feel for the situation...didn't just watch it slowly fade from memory? what if we all turned around for once...put the story back in front of us, stopped the car, and got involved? i think there's enough pictures to go around. i think we might see the collision that mattered was when we got out and met the story...met the people...met with Jesus. He did say that when we do intertwine with the story, we've done it unto Him. He also said if we don't, we don't know Him...not like we think we do.
that feeling we get when we look in the rearview is a good thing. it's a very good thing. it's just not designed to be the end of the story. it's not supposed to be left to wither under "someone else will get to that." it's supposed to make us turn around. without the action, we might as well just take down the mirrors. why entangle ourselves in those emotions if there's not gonna be some step, some turn, taken? we can focus on the race to the end of that straight and narrow road if we don't get distracted by these things. any runner will tell you turning around slows you down. any race car driver will tell you if you turn around you're gonna get passed. what kind of race would we be called to that asks us to turn around? maybe we're not supposed to turn around. maybe we're supposed to stop in the first place. maybe we should be so in tune with compassion, with loving mercy, that the race is walking humbly...and stopping at the collision instead of passing it. maybe we should be looking for places where collisions happen frequently and watching and waiting in those places.
i'm sure that all these pictures, whether a deer, the war in Iraq, or the 8 year old girl cause something in us. i'm sure that the response to pray...deeply...interventionally...would be a good thing. but we're praying for God to step in...and He's doing the same thing with us.
the story went that while in this difficult time of feeling intense compassion, yet unable to pray, that he was driving home through wisconsin and saw a doe and fawn on the side of a 4 lane highway. the deer decided to cross traffic as deer are prone to do. the doe made it, but the car in front of this guy hit the fawn's back legs and sent it spiraling down to the pavement. (at this point in the story, a collective gasp of empathy went out from the 100 or so folks in attendance.) this man made it around the deer without crippling it any further and then looked back through his rearview mirror to see the fawn frantically struggling to get up, but destined to its fate because of the injuries it sustained.
you know the number of thoughts that can flash through your mind in mere seconds...well, he had the same thing happen. he thought about going back to put it out of it's misery. he wondered how he would do that. he thought about the doe. and eventually, as the deer got smaller and smaller, he reasoned that someone else would have already intervened...called 911...called someone...and that going back now would be futile, redundant, or unnecessary. all this time his concern for the picture in the mirror never wavered. his heart was still full of feeling for that broken fawn.
but the mirror eventually showed only the empty road behind him...
or perhaps the headlights of other cars that drove past thinking it was a horrible situation...
but someone behind him would surely have done something...
to be honest, i can't recall how that sight allowed him, upon reflection, to pray for those people he had on his heart. i was busy sorting out this part of the story as it relates to the very difficulties he was having. i think we all see the bulk of this world through the rearview mirror. it's a picture or video on a small rectangular piece of glass showing us things that genuinely move us. they bring us to tears or make our hearts swell in anger or compassion or any number of genuine emotions. but the picture changes soon enough and, while we may reflect on it, we rarely go to the places where death and life hang in the balance. we rarely go to the places where it might cause our planned path to alter...where we might have to go back...where we might have to get out of our box containing the picture holder and touch the ones in the picture.
we hear that a cyclone could leave 1.5 million people dead...and we're deeply moved...but just inside. we're not physically moved. we see another 8 year old girl is shot while standing outside her house...and we think "what a world we live in"...but we stay in ours. we watch countless stories...each day they fill our windshields, and we manage to avoid them, and then watch sadly as they disappear.
it's tough. there's so many stories...never-ending stories. and sometimes getting hit and lying sprawled out on the pavement is entirely the fault of the story. why would we ever intervene when it's someone's own fault? even if it isn't, how can we ever keep up? as fast as one disappears, another one comes. sometimes they're 10 or 20 at a time. it's all we can do to keep from colliding with those stories. we're on a straight and narrow road and we've got somewhere to go. just the driving part of the story has loads of unpacking in it (what if we slowed down...walked? stayed?).
but what if we just stopped the car for one story...one picture. what if we turned around and didn't just feel for the situation...didn't just watch it slowly fade from memory? what if we all turned around for once...put the story back in front of us, stopped the car, and got involved? i think there's enough pictures to go around. i think we might see the collision that mattered was when we got out and met the story...met the people...met with Jesus. He did say that when we do intertwine with the story, we've done it unto Him. He also said if we don't, we don't know Him...not like we think we do.
that feeling we get when we look in the rearview is a good thing. it's a very good thing. it's just not designed to be the end of the story. it's not supposed to be left to wither under "someone else will get to that." it's supposed to make us turn around. without the action, we might as well just take down the mirrors. why entangle ourselves in those emotions if there's not gonna be some step, some turn, taken? we can focus on the race to the end of that straight and narrow road if we don't get distracted by these things. any runner will tell you turning around slows you down. any race car driver will tell you if you turn around you're gonna get passed. what kind of race would we be called to that asks us to turn around? maybe we're not supposed to turn around. maybe we're supposed to stop in the first place. maybe we should be so in tune with compassion, with loving mercy, that the race is walking humbly...and stopping at the collision instead of passing it. maybe we should be looking for places where collisions happen frequently and watching and waiting in those places.
i'm sure that all these pictures, whether a deer, the war in Iraq, or the 8 year old girl cause something in us. i'm sure that the response to pray...deeply...interventionally...would be a good thing. but we're praying for God to step in...and He's doing the same thing with us.
Monday, April 21, 2008
it's hard to believe
that one weekend could make up for the worst winter ever. but i played catch friday, and sat on the front porch with my guitar and a pot of coffee on saturday and sunday. both are very favorite passtimes of mine. i also went back to the shaved head summer mode, despite jodi's two votes for a cut with the old #1 length trimmer, and alisa's request for a mohawk. i could believe how long my hair got between september and now.
also hung out with the two J's, and chris and pam last night. it was a very funny night, including attempts at sexy cracker eating, and improvisational dance to no music...something at which i'm quite gifted.
then last night i went to Gallery Cabaret for the sunday night open mic. it was my first time at the sunday edition, and it's quite the different crowd. saw some pretty talented people i've not heard over there before, and then got the most complete and best compliment i've ever gotten about my music. it came from a 63 year old guy who's been in music his whole life and has known and played with some of the most well known folk artists of the 60's and 70's. it was more of a discussion, but i came away a little shocked. it made me want to work even harder, and i'm already working harder than i ever have.
and now today is absolutely beautiful. i get to ride my bike to work, and then i'm rehearsing with chris tofilon again tonight for thursday's show. should be good times.
i'm so glad winter is over.
and congrats to jessica hockaday on her engagement
the cubs are in first place
one of my kids i tutor went from mostly f's and some d's at the beginning of this year to all a's and one b. awesome work, gerald! (this was a collaborative effort...miss ruth, the 5th grade teacher at By The Hand, should get the lion's share of the credit).
so, yeah...outside of a ridiculous weekend of gun violence (37 shot, 7 killed), it's been a good few days.
also hung out with the two J's, and chris and pam last night. it was a very funny night, including attempts at sexy cracker eating, and improvisational dance to no music...something at which i'm quite gifted.
then last night i went to Gallery Cabaret for the sunday night open mic. it was my first time at the sunday edition, and it's quite the different crowd. saw some pretty talented people i've not heard over there before, and then got the most complete and best compliment i've ever gotten about my music. it came from a 63 year old guy who's been in music his whole life and has known and played with some of the most well known folk artists of the 60's and 70's. it was more of a discussion, but i came away a little shocked. it made me want to work even harder, and i'm already working harder than i ever have.
and now today is absolutely beautiful. i get to ride my bike to work, and then i'm rehearsing with chris tofilon again tonight for thursday's show. should be good times.
i'm so glad winter is over.
and congrats to jessica hockaday on her engagement
the cubs are in first place
one of my kids i tutor went from mostly f's and some d's at the beginning of this year to all a's and one b. awesome work, gerald! (this was a collaborative effort...miss ruth, the 5th grade teacher at By The Hand, should get the lion's share of the credit).
so, yeah...outside of a ridiculous weekend of gun violence (37 shot, 7 killed), it's been a good few days.
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