As my housemate and I walked, nay, strutted to church this evening under a warm 5 o clock sun, each of us sporting a cute outfit, hot pink lips and sunglasses, I looked over at her and proclaimed, "I am so content. I know I have been saying this a lot lately, but I know that at some point in the future, I will not be content, and I want to be able to look back on this time and know that at this one point in my life, I was content."
Its not that I don't have a stack of problems and stresses to deal with, but essentially, at this point in time, I am incredibly lucky and its making me happy. I live with awesome people. I am in a functional, nauseatingly cute relationship. I am working part time now and have the promise of a full time nannying job waiting for me just around the corner. I have several reasons to be happy. God is leading me through pretty still waters these days. And I like it.
Tonight though, I realized that I'm not quite as passionate about reaching out to new people as I used to be. I'd rather be with the people who I know will make me happy. They're comfortable. They're fun. I don't need to have awkward conversations with them about what school they go to and what they'll do with the degree they are earning or any of that nonsense. (Why is small talk so uncreative?)
Nevertheless, I am not my own, and I have been blessed with the gift of being able to notice and reach out to lonely people. I am positive that this gift is a large part of who I am meant to be.
I think its okay to be happy - After all, I am happy because of all that God has blessed me with - but I'm not sure we as Christians were ever meant to be comfortable while there is still work to be done. And there is tons of work yet to be done.
Dear God, please make me uncomfortable.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Oh Shane.
There was something written on the stairs, which is why we were sitting that way, with Shane Clairbourne. What was written on the stairs, though, is top secret, and therefore had to be edited out. Yup. We share a secret with Shane Claibourne. Be jealous. He would appreciate me being all elitist about this too, I'm sure.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Baba Yetu is Captivating
I am currently obsessed with this song. It is the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
John Doe became a fan of Thou Shalt Not Inflict Your Religious Crap Upon Others.
This popped up on one of my Facebook friends' walls. Since I am avoiding a paper, I have some thoughts on it.
My initial reaction was hurt and self-consciousness. Was I one of the religious psychos he was referring to? Honestly, its possible.
Then it occurred to me. What if Shakespeare hadn't incorporated anything about Christianity into his writings? That would have been very difficult for him because Christianity in 16th century Britain was his cultural context. God, prayers, Jesus, Puritans, etc. were all common themes in his everyday life so of COURSE he would incorporate and react to these things in his writings. Should HE have shut up about it?
I think its the same thing today. I make sense of the world around me largely by Christian ideas. It then makes sense that when communicating about my concept of reality, Christianity inevitably comes up. I am a Christian, and I make sense of life like one.
I am also an artist (Well, whatever that is. But sure). And so, when wondering why the sky is blue and nature is generally green, I like to think it has something to do with the fact that green is a relaxing colour and blue is a creativity inspiring colour for humans. And so, I like to think that all that was considered by an Artist who was figuring out what colours to use where.
A scientist would have a different perspective, and would likely talk about chlorophil (sp?) and the atmosphere and light. Or something. I don't know. I'm not a scientist.
But the point is, we all have different ways of seeing reality. Is it really fair to label one way, "Religious Crap"? We're all relatively equal in our stupidity about ultimate matters, which effect mundane matters which tend to effect everyday conversation. Why should one voice be silenced because another has dubbed it "crap" (probably without researching it much)?
Granted, some theories of why the world works the way it does are more solid than others and some ideas ought to be discredited as soon as possible. Perhaps that's THE BEST reason then to create a culture where these things can be talked about openly without fear of one point of view being called "crap". If people keep their stupid ideas to themselves or to their circles of friends with similar ideas - in part because they're too scared to talk to anyone else about it - then no light can be shone on how stupid those ideas actually are! So its actually counter productive to divide everyone up like this for the sake of a tolerant peace.
Wouldn't it be so much better if say, the atheistic scientist and the artistic Hindu got together in someone's living room over tea and had an open, unjudgemental dicussion about, say, the sun, and the importance of it to human life? Wouldn't both their worlds be illuminated by the other's point of view, even if neither changed their opinions? Isn't it just beneficial to know, in depth, that there are other ways of looking at something than just the way oneself looks at it?
That is why I think hospitality trumps tolerance as a virtue. Inviting people in for open discussion, where there's food, couches and the ability to make a joke or a comment on the art on the walls - this is so much better than cold, academic coexistance. Or worse, insisting that everyone should shut up when discussions about Truth ever come up. Because they will come up. Its natural, and so connected to everday life. We MIGHT AS WELL enjoy spaghetti together while we talk about it.
Just to prove that I'm not completely full of idealistic crap, we (my housemates and I) do actually have this type of relationship with John Doe and his housemates. They have been to our house several times, and we've been over there a few times too. So it works. I even thinks he enjoys us as people and can look past our awkward evangelical labels.
THE END. Back to my paper.
My initial reaction was hurt and self-consciousness. Was I one of the religious psychos he was referring to? Honestly, its possible.
Then it occurred to me. What if Shakespeare hadn't incorporated anything about Christianity into his writings? That would have been very difficult for him because Christianity in 16th century Britain was his cultural context. God, prayers, Jesus, Puritans, etc. were all common themes in his everyday life so of COURSE he would incorporate and react to these things in his writings. Should HE have shut up about it?
I think its the same thing today. I make sense of the world around me largely by Christian ideas. It then makes sense that when communicating about my concept of reality, Christianity inevitably comes up. I am a Christian, and I make sense of life like one.
I am also an artist (Well, whatever that is. But sure). And so, when wondering why the sky is blue and nature is generally green, I like to think it has something to do with the fact that green is a relaxing colour and blue is a creativity inspiring colour for humans. And so, I like to think that all that was considered by an Artist who was figuring out what colours to use where.
A scientist would have a different perspective, and would likely talk about chlorophil (sp?) and the atmosphere and light. Or something. I don't know. I'm not a scientist.
But the point is, we all have different ways of seeing reality. Is it really fair to label one way, "Religious Crap"? We're all relatively equal in our stupidity about ultimate matters, which effect mundane matters which tend to effect everyday conversation. Why should one voice be silenced because another has dubbed it "crap" (probably without researching it much)?
Granted, some theories of why the world works the way it does are more solid than others and some ideas ought to be discredited as soon as possible. Perhaps that's THE BEST reason then to create a culture where these things can be talked about openly without fear of one point of view being called "crap". If people keep their stupid ideas to themselves or to their circles of friends with similar ideas - in part because they're too scared to talk to anyone else about it - then no light can be shone on how stupid those ideas actually are! So its actually counter productive to divide everyone up like this for the sake of a tolerant peace.
Wouldn't it be so much better if say, the atheistic scientist and the artistic Hindu got together in someone's living room over tea and had an open, unjudgemental dicussion about, say, the sun, and the importance of it to human life? Wouldn't both their worlds be illuminated by the other's point of view, even if neither changed their opinions? Isn't it just beneficial to know, in depth, that there are other ways of looking at something than just the way oneself looks at it?
That is why I think hospitality trumps tolerance as a virtue. Inviting people in for open discussion, where there's food, couches and the ability to make a joke or a comment on the art on the walls - this is so much better than cold, academic coexistance. Or worse, insisting that everyone should shut up when discussions about Truth ever come up. Because they will come up. Its natural, and so connected to everday life. We MIGHT AS WELL enjoy spaghetti together while we talk about it.
Just to prove that I'm not completely full of idealistic crap, we (my housemates and I) do actually have this type of relationship with John Doe and his housemates. They have been to our house several times, and we've been over there a few times too. So it works. I even thinks he enjoys us as people and can look past our awkward evangelical labels.
THE END. Back to my paper.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Passion
“Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping … waiting … and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir … open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us … guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love … the clarity of hatred … the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we’d know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we’d be truly dead.”
—Joss Whedon
—Joss Whedon
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Happy!
Sometimes it feels like there's a spinning ball of utter JOY in my stomach!
And not just the Christian kind either.
And not just the Christian kind either.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)