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Archive - May, 2011

when Jesus isn’t enough

May 31, 2011 in bits of theological ramblings, reflections with 7 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was with my mother running errands after church when we stumbled upon a small display in a convenience store that read: “Wear it to share it!” atop a carousel of Christian-themed tshirts. Among them, one which stood out in particular to me boldly declared: “Jesus is my BFF! – John 11:15.”

I took a picture and posted it to Instagram, vowing to blog about it soon. I have, since then, spent time reflecting on exactly what I want to say. It would be easy to rant here, because the whole genre of Christian-themed tshirts is in and of itself ridiculous to me. It would be easy to poke fun at the complete delusion of it all, thinking that your witness is somehow substantiated by a theologically impoverished tshirt you picked up from a discount retailers. But there’s something greater at stake here, something that I think is the undertow of my dislike of the phrasing: the central message of this tshirt is simply that Jesus really isn’t enough. Continue Reading…

life happens

May 26, 2011 in reflections with 0 Comments

I haven’t posted the past few days as I had planned.

Life happens.

A distant relative has passed away and I am about to make the six and half hour drive to attend a funeral.

I’m under no expectation to go, but in times like this, well, all the time, I think the question we should ask ourselves is this: would my showing up, being there, sending something, giving something, etc., cause someone there to have uplift, hope, joy, or any other Christian and goodly response, even if it’s an inconvenience to me?

If the answer is yes, and it often is, then you do it.

Because that’s just what you do.

So I’m going away now. I’ll be back posting, regularly, and not about food, next week.

Life happens. Praying for all of your lives today.

the post about food, part one

May 24, 2011 in food with 1 Comment

I know, I know, it’s not what I normally write about. There’s not going to be a devotional here, not even a theological commentary, at least, not much of one. But I was encouraged by some people to share some of the food items I’ve been reveling in for the past few days. You see, I recently got the little app Instagram on my iPhone. Well, I had it for a long time, but I only recently started really using it. Its nifty way of changing photographs with little effort made me a pro at photography in a snap. (Not true, of course, but enough of the delusion stuck to produce these photos.) And if I can take stylistic photos to represent my life, you can bet food is going to be a part of it. And people noticed. And they wanted to know more.

So these next three days. Yes. Three. Days. These next three days are going to be all about food. Cool?

The kitchen is where I am most honest with God. I’m angry, quiet, joyous, frustrated, vulnerable. At times I have spent more time in prayer as I cream butter and sugar than I have in church. So, let’s do this. Let’s talk about food. Continue Reading…

monday muddlings: garden party

May 23, 2011 in monday fiction with 0 Comments

It’s another fiction Monday. This one is … way odd and perhaps my closest exploration of evil. So this is what came out of reflecting about evil this past week. I’m sure that’s quite cheery for you all. Also, a note to the exceptional Jerry Hodge: with regard to the name, it was already there, as well as his fate, well before I realized the connection. So there’s the subconscious at work, for you!

Garden Party

“Thomas, do you hear how the earth is screaming? It cries out in pangs of labor, ready to give birth to the famine of our apocalypse. It has drunk the blood of the first slain and is now to avenge seven fold. Run and run again to try and hide yourself from its wrath, but it shall find you. It shall find us all.”

Véronique stared out onto the south lawn of the manor house, which was a fairyland of light and laughter as the party greeted the first hour of the early morning under the watch of the Storm moon. She wore a lavender chiffon dress, which kissed the ground when she walked, having long abandoned her shoes when she had climbed the stairs to the balcony to watch the party. Her brunette hair was pulled up, held in place by a myriad of pins with diamonds at their cap, causing her to sparkle like a fay whenever she passed by a candle or under a luminary. The young French exile pushed her hands across the stone of the balcony’s railing and felt the tense elements writhe beneath her. The earth was screaming. Somewhere in the midst of the party the string quartet began to play Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor. A glass shattered. There was a chorus of laughter. Continue Reading…

the thirteenth formica friday

May 20, 2011 in formica friday with 2 Comments

It’s that time again, another Formica Friday, a treasure trove of hodgepodge, random tidbits, and a bit of this and that. What exactly is Formica Friday? Check out the tongue-in-cheek, I got away with this?, definition from the first post. Continue Reading…