Check out this short movie, scored by local artist Cat Jahnke.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
guns and butter
“What would happen if we were to do away with our armed forces?
If that sounds foolish it’s probably because the idea of disarming would be as unwise today as it would have been in ancient Israel. It doesn’t make sense to lay down weapons in a world where God has often used them to protect His people.”
These words, from the 1997 edition of Our Daily Bread (yeah, I’m a bit behind in my reading . . . ) were jarring to me.
Perhaps because immediately after I read the first line, I was filled with a feeling of peace and excitement. What if we were to do away with our armed forces? What if everyone was to? What if there were no guns or projectile weapons? This sentence enabled me to envision a world which offered more peace to people than the world we live in today.
But then I read on. And apparently I am foolish, and am denying God’s blessing of violent weapons, as this article states.
I simply can’t find God within violent acts. Or violent weapons. Or violent toys, or violent words. I cannot reconcile the person of Jesus with my country’s commitment to violence overseas, and violence to its own people.
The idea of ancient Israel laying down its weapons doesn’t seem foolish to me. Instead, it seems radical. Loving. Countercultural and meaningful. It seems embracive of a different way of living, a way in which all God’s children are respected and nurtured.
Unwise? Most certainly. Radical? Yes. Affirming of God’s life, creation, peoples, words of peace? Most definitely.
If that sounds foolish it’s probably because the idea of disarming would be as unwise today as it would have been in ancient Israel. It doesn’t make sense to lay down weapons in a world where God has often used them to protect His people.”
These words, from the 1997 edition of Our Daily Bread (yeah, I’m a bit behind in my reading . . . ) were jarring to me.
Perhaps because immediately after I read the first line, I was filled with a feeling of peace and excitement. What if we were to do away with our armed forces? What if everyone was to? What if there were no guns or projectile weapons? This sentence enabled me to envision a world which offered more peace to people than the world we live in today.
But then I read on. And apparently I am foolish, and am denying God’s blessing of violent weapons, as this article states.
I simply can’t find God within violent acts. Or violent weapons. Or violent toys, or violent words. I cannot reconcile the person of Jesus with my country’s commitment to violence overseas, and violence to its own people.
The idea of ancient Israel laying down its weapons doesn’t seem foolish to me. Instead, it seems radical. Loving. Countercultural and meaningful. It seems embracive of a different way of living, a way in which all God’s children are respected and nurtured.
Unwise? Most certainly. Radical? Yes. Affirming of God’s life, creation, peoples, words of peace? Most definitely.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Shat.
Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts. - Thomas Merton
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
2010
HI MOM!
I’m glad you’re reading this.
Anyway . . .
A number of people have asked me if I am making any New Year’s resolutions for 2010. I guess I just might seem like the type to do so?
Well, I am. Sort of. But I normally make these resolutions around my birthday, which I find much more of a significant milestone.
On my 29th, I made a commitment to pursue 3 things this year: courage, movement, and self-love. I also forced my close friends to participate in a bizarre birthday ritual focusing on these 3 pursuits (thanks for doing that with me, friends). These three words are very powerful to me, and have been shaping my life and my everyday activities over the past 2 months.
What is good about new year’s is that it comes exactly 2 months after my birthday. It is an opportunity to remember the commitments I have made, to refocus and regroup. What I LOVE about New Year’s is that it always feels so fresh, so promising, like an opportunity to start anew. It reminds me of the resurrection of Christ, of being reborn, of all the promises in Paul’s letters about who we truly are in Christ. New Year’s reminds me that everyday I have the opportunity to start over, to start fresh and clean, to remember that I am clothed in Christ and that through Christ’s person and actions that I am made brand spanking new. The imagry of being clean is powerful to me today, and sort of makes me cry. I guess that’s connected to my need to work on self-love.
So New Year’s reminds me of who I am. And the commitment I have made to myself to keep exploring who I am, keep exploring Christ, and to try and hold true to all that I have learned in this life, and to hold true to who I understand myself and Christ to be. And it reminds me of the abundant grace that has been offered to me, the wonderful gift that I have and my ability to wake up every morning with a clean slate. To be reminded that I am a forgiven and renewed being, free from any blemish deadly enough to separate me from the Love of God. Also theoretically free from anything significant enough to separate me from loving myself. Which I guess is still a lesson I need to learn . . . .
Grace Grace Grace
I’m glad you’re reading this.
Anyway . . .
A number of people have asked me if I am making any New Year’s resolutions for 2010. I guess I just might seem like the type to do so?
Well, I am. Sort of. But I normally make these resolutions around my birthday, which I find much more of a significant milestone.
On my 29th, I made a commitment to pursue 3 things this year: courage, movement, and self-love. I also forced my close friends to participate in a bizarre birthday ritual focusing on these 3 pursuits (thanks for doing that with me, friends). These three words are very powerful to me, and have been shaping my life and my everyday activities over the past 2 months.
What is good about new year’s is that it comes exactly 2 months after my birthday. It is an opportunity to remember the commitments I have made, to refocus and regroup. What I LOVE about New Year’s is that it always feels so fresh, so promising, like an opportunity to start anew. It reminds me of the resurrection of Christ, of being reborn, of all the promises in Paul’s letters about who we truly are in Christ. New Year’s reminds me that everyday I have the opportunity to start over, to start fresh and clean, to remember that I am clothed in Christ and that through Christ’s person and actions that I am made brand spanking new. The imagry of being clean is powerful to me today, and sort of makes me cry. I guess that’s connected to my need to work on self-love.
So New Year’s reminds me of who I am. And the commitment I have made to myself to keep exploring who I am, keep exploring Christ, and to try and hold true to all that I have learned in this life, and to hold true to who I understand myself and Christ to be. And it reminds me of the abundant grace that has been offered to me, the wonderful gift that I have and my ability to wake up every morning with a clean slate. To be reminded that I am a forgiven and renewed being, free from any blemish deadly enough to separate me from the Love of God. Also theoretically free from anything significant enough to separate me from loving myself. Which I guess is still a lesson I need to learn . . . .
Grace Grace Grace
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