07…it begins…

The following is from the “to write love on her arms” blog…the founder, Jamie, offers an amazing encouragment to all people as we begin the next 365 days of our lives…thanks Jamie…enjoy y’all…graceandpeace…

You are brighter than the fireworks that paint the sky at midnight.

Something happens at midnight. Or something is supposed to, right?

I think the big idea is change. The thing we want to believe is that things can change, things can be new, that at midnight it might be possible to leave some things behind. Start over. Hope. New.

I know it isn’t simple, that we live with broken stuff that doesn’t just vanish with the stroke of a clock. I know we need more than a moment. But I like that the world celebrates this moment. I believe that right now, millions of people are also celebrating hope. Some don’t even realize it but they are smiling at the possibility that 2007 can be the best year of their life.

I have tasted a few different versions of New Year’s. I have known it laughing with friends. I have known it alone with pain. Five years ago, this was one of my darkest nights. I didn’t know how to let go. I had never known that life could hurt so much.

But changes come. I just want to say that wherever you’re at tonight, or when you read this, right now… that there is hope. That you are loved. That you are not alone. That 2007 can be the best year of your life. That the world is broken and scary but it’s also huge and beautiful and all of that means endless possibilities, endless opportunities. You were made with a purpose. You are a part of a bigger story of hope and change and you have a part to play.

You are brighter than the fireworks that paint the sky at midnight. You matter even more.

Hope and change. Welcome to 2007.
Happy New Year.
jamie

New Christmas idea…

…I’m in between Christmas Eve services and need to get this idea outta my head…it’s weird and probably stupid, but then again so is this blog, so I guess this is appropriate…Christmas is a commercialized holiday, as most holidays are…Christmas was never really about Christ, so it seems as history tells it, as far as I can tell…Christians are doing some stupid things to try to reclaim Christmas for Christ, i.e. Bill O’Reilly’s stupid “War on Christmas” stories…let’s just let it go…give Christmas away as a Christmas present…we should celebrate the birth of Jesus on another day…let’s say April 25th…yeah that sounds good…April 25th is now the day I shall celebrate Jesus’ birth…and I shall celebrate by doing exactly the same thing I should be doing on April 24th or April 26th or any other day for that matter…OK maybe I’ll build a cake…graceandpeace y’all…OUT

You know what you really need…

This is a story about the world’s tallest man saving some dolphins in China…it goes like this…some dolphins ate some plastic from their pool at a Chinese aquarium…all the technology in the world could not retrieve the plastic from the dolphins stomach…so what happens…did they invent a new machine to extract the plastic, thus saving the dolphins…did they perform a lengthy microsurgery on the animals…I say nay, we are but men…the Chinese aquarium, in all their wisdom, said, “you know what we need…we need the world’s tallest man!”…and so Bao Xishun, a 7′8″ man with a arm measuring nearly 3.5 feet long, reached into the stomach of the dolphins and safely extracted the plastic…the dolphins are recovering nicely…so I propose that from now on the answer to all the world’s problems is “the world’s tallest man!”…I need a ride to the airport…you need the world’s tallest man…I can’t find my car keys…you need the world’s tallest man…world peace…you know what you need…you need the world’s tallest man…world hunger…guess what…you need the world’s tallest man…ending poverty…say it with me now…you need the world’s tallest man…join me in making this solution the next biggest catchphrase in pop culture…hey the Chinese thought of it, and we invented fireworks…what more do you need…graceandpeace y’all…OUT!

Maybe Festivus was a great idea…

“There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1850.

I’ve been complaining a lot, probably to the annoyance of my friends and family, about Christmas…so now it’s your turn…first off I’m not exempted from the hordes of holiday shoppers, yet I am complaining…call it hypocracy if you want, but it is very difficult to swim alone against the current…this year over $150 bah, bah, bah billion will be spent on holiday consumming…over $500 per man, woman, and child…are you freakin’ kidding me…that’s 5 times the amount budgeted by the U.S. for fighting AIDS and poverty…we could do some damage with that kind of scrill…

…so here’s my idea…for several years I have challenged myself to do some kind of fast for the year…in the past it’s been deep fried foods, alcohol, red meat, and this year it was cable TV (which was absolutely great, and I don’t plan on jacking back in anytime soon)…so this year because of my participation in the rampant consummerism of the season…I think I need a break…in 2007 I will refrain from consumming…no I don’t know the details of this…it basically breaks down to not buying anything for myself…I wonder what this might do for my desires…will I stop wanting things I see advertised because I know I can’t have them?…will nothing happen…how much $$ will it save?…that’s scary to think about…is there something more that must be done…is this even a holiday worth rescuing…was it ever a holiday for Christ’s disciples…

…graceandpeace y’all…OUT!!!

Read this NOW!!!

I just finished re-reading this book (I don’t remember reading it the first time!?!?!), it was absolutely amazing!! Rabbi Kushner brings us wisdom from the Jewish perspective. It is a really easy read, with concise, yet very hard hitting chapters. I was forced to examine my own views on spirituality and re-adjust some of my thoughts. I have already loaned my copy out, but will be posting excerpts soon…graceandpeace y’all…OUT!

Hawaiian Goodies

I can’t believe it…first I post 3 days in a row…now twice within hours of each other…could this be a breakthrough or just a mountaintop in my blogosphere experience…lets hope not…or if you despise my ramblings hope so…in either case…on with the show…

I have just finished glutting myself on what might be the greatest of all things that hail from Hawaii, a land of plenty of wonderful things…you can see a picture of it below…

…this beauty is called Loco Moco…and as with many great things, it is elegant in its brilliance…sticky white rice!…seasoned hamburger patties!…fried eggs, over easy!…gravy!…and scrumpteous mac salad on the side…yum, yum, and more yum…God is good!…OUT!

Church = Church…or does it?!?!?

“What do we want the Church to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches of fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.”

— Cesar Chavez

The church has been so many things to so many people…a source of hope…a source of pain…the embodiment of all that God has desired for his special creation…the symbol of pure evil…what are the marks of the true church, the authentic body of Christ…I think Cesar Chavez is on to something…graceandpeace y’all…

The truth is…

“My way of joking is to tell the truth.
That’s the funniest joke in the world.”
Muhammad Ali

I think this is actually an Ali quote of an obscure English Lord…or maybe it is the other way around…in any case does anyone else ever feel as though we take our versions of the truth too seriously…I guess, for me, the pursuit is way more exciting and valuable than the possession…think of the way some old dogma sounds to outside ears…the earth is flat…some people are more valuable than others…some people aren’t people at all…you can buy your way into heaven (OK maybe this one isn’t so old)…”chuckle, chuckle”…graceandpeace y’all…out!!

Use your imagination…

Hey friends…I know it has been awhile…but I shall renew my attempts at this thing…so here it goes…

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

- Martin Luther King Jr.

 Is it so hard to use our imaginations to conceive of a better way…in all of history war has never resulted in true peace…shall we re-examine the saying about the definition of insanity…or maybe “we have never done it that way before” sounds like a great excuse to close off the possibility of something other than war…by the way this goes way beyond modern politics and into the realm of the character of a kingdom…let us discuss…graceandpeace…out…

YouTube – To Write Love on Her Arms – INTRO.

YouTube – To Write Love on Her Arms – INTRO.