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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Oh the Church

Oh dear Bride of Christ, when will you cease your bickering? Why are we so prone to argue about "who does church right or best?" Goodness!

I've been thinking a lot about PoMo in Australia and the one thing I took away (among many things, mind you) is that there are many different types of being Church to fit many different types of people, and that isn't wrong. In fact, its beautiful. We are so diverse as a body, as a family that we need to do things differently. 

It's similar to an actual demographic of people. I feel that if we pool people about the way they do things, even simple things, like get ready in the morning, that each person would have a different plan. For me, I wake up, check my email, eat breakfast after saying good morning to my lovely roommates, brush my teeth and wash my face, get a shower, get dressed, do my hair, pack a lunch and my bag and I'm out the door. If someone doesn't get up in the morning in the same order, I'm not going to criticize them. 

Or take something more spiritual, like the disciplines. There are many disciplines and some people connect to God by doing different things. I've discovered that I connect to God best through community and prayer, and that I don't really commune well with God through lectio divina. Do I still try it, yes. But a relationship isn't meant to be tied down. It's like human relationships: my relationship with Shane (my friend) is different from that with Chris (my brother), which is different from Hannah (another friend), etc. Yet there are Christians who want everybody to feel just as they do. 

So please don't put someone else's practices on trial. There are enough people doing that. Instead, praise God that they have a meaningful way to connect with the Divine and a different way to reach others then you do, because we cannot be the body by ourselves. (Doesn't Paul say something about that?)


Saturday, December 27, 2008

Have you ever noticed how sentiments in songs can lead us astray?
"I'll never break your heart. I'll never make you cry..."
Have you ever been in a human relationship were this is the case? The longer I live and the more depth I cultivate in relationships, I realize that we should cry. Yes, in a perfect world there would be no tears (from pain), but in an imperfect world, we cannot make promises like those in the above song. For those whom we love the deepest, hurt us the most. But those tears we shed only make the bright moments so much better. 

And I would never want to trade in those tears; when I cry from being hurt, I realize more about myself and about the person I am in relationship with then I could ever learn from a 1,000 good moments.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Oh Theology

On my way home from school the other day I found a CD of worship songs and stuck it in to sing to. It didn't take me long to start skipping songs left and right because I didn't agree with what they were saying. Some were out-right unBiblical. Some were way too "Jesus is my boyfriend, so screw the world". But the one that upset me the most was Fields of Grace, specifically for the line "There's a place where religion finally dies".
Maybe I'm just not versed in my Bible well enough, but where did Christians get the idea that "it's about a relationship, not a religion" because as far as I read, that's not Biblical. I guess if you stretched Paul you could say that Romans advocates for this idea with the language about the law, but that's only if you stretch it pretty far out of context. It's lines like this that just increase anti-semintism and create supersensionist tendancies.
I for one like religion. In fact I think its benefical. I also think that a religion reminds people that its not just you and Jesus. That our relationship with the divine produces good relationships with our neighbors. Religion reminds us that we are part of a body of believers who hold us accountable. And tradition is weaved into everything we do, say, and believe.

Monday, December 15, 2008

I'm starting to forget.... and that scares me.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Green

When did "going green" become trendy? Greening isn't something that is we do to make ourselves look good. In fact it isn't even about us, its about sustaining the enviorment for future generations.
There has been a shift in advertisment over the past couple of months towards green and organic. Who are the advertizers trying to reach? Because those of us who know better, know that McDonalds using organic products, including organic oil, does not make their food much healther when its friend. Frying in organic oil, is still frying and its still bad for you. Or cut up apples for kids. I appluade them for the choice, but seriously, you still dump a ton of chemical perservatives on the food to make it fresh. Add to that fact that none of it is local or in growing season, thus travels thousands of miles to reach each location and the entire essence of organic and green is gone.
Or there's green giant vegtables who fall under the same catagories of problems. Fine, you pick the food when its fresh. I can buy that, but then you dump perservatives on it and send it one a truck around the country. I'm sorry if I'd rather cook greenbeans my own way, hand selecting each one and then steaming. Yummy!
How can you save the Earth today? And is the same way that the advertizers lead you to believe?

PS> When are we going to have ads for composting bins?

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Where I live

I live in a world where soccer mom's in their huge gas guggling SUVs drive to Whole Foods and spend $500 dollars a week or more, then go to Starbucks and haggle over drink prices, while telling the Salvation Army bell ringer they don't have any money to spare.

I live in a world where people pay $400 for CHristmas trees they won't even decorate themselves but won't donate any money to the needy (because "they'll spend it on the wrong things.").

I live in a world where this time of the year should be marked by giving, love, hope, blessings, and instead we are ignoring the cries of injustice and making excuses for poverty and consumerism.

Thank you, God, for reminding me that where I live is not my home.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Hindsight

We, as humans, seem to see better in hindsight. But out personal hindsight also gives us a clearer view of people's present situations and a glimpse into their futures. I think this is why we need community, to glean from other people's wisdoms. The young and the old (spiritually, maturity wise, and refering to age) in community together. Yet, we are so unused to this type of fellowship that we fear it, run away, block ourselves from wisdom. And that is so frustrating to those who see where we are going. How can we become the young and old learning together?

Rules

This weekend I made the 6 hour trek to visit a good friend at my old college. During the time I went through three different states and observed three very different types of driving based off of 1.) which state I was in and 2.) where the cars beside me where from. I am obviously biased towards my home state, PA, because it is where I have the most experience driving and where I learned the laws/ rules associated with being liscensed. It has been quite challenging for me to go to different states and see how laws change. For example in PA, if you windshield wippers are on, then your head lights have to be on. Yet in PA, drivers from other states don't know this law because it isn't posted. But really, should common sense items be posted? On the drive to Hoghton, it was pouring in PA. Literally water and fog every where. And I was one of the few cars to have headlights on. Stupid?Yes. Seriously, I couldn't even see other cars who refused to have their head lights on, thus making this part of the ride quite dangerous. Ugh. My other favorite is in PA you are NOT allowed to pass on the right. Yet, Jersey drivers love to do it, crowding other cars. It is hard for me to transition into Jersey driving and break PA rules that make sense to me. When are we called to adapt to different states and when are we called to follow common sense?