Don't we all want to know just what exactly went on during the week of Creation? Now we can!
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Friday, December 16, 2005
Sounds Fischy! (But This is a Good Fischy)
I've come across a few new things this morning that I'd love to share with y'all. A friend of mine sent me an article from a website called The Fischtank and today I read it and delved into the contents of the site, which is written by a musician and author named John Fischer. It has various news, tidbits, and thoughts to ponder. So far my favorites are his Articles and In The Tank thoughts, both of which can be commented on. The said article is called Fearless Faith and is an excerpt from his book of the same name. He's written some useful and thought-provoking articles that I think I'll enjoy for a long time to come, so I've placed a link to his homepage under my "Stuff I Read."
Thursday, December 08, 2005
I Love in the Abstract
"It is not love in the abstract that counts. Men have loved a cause as they have loved a woman. They have loved the brotherhood, the workers, the poor, the oppressed - but they have not loved [humanity]; they have not loved the least of these. They have not loved "personally." It is hard to love. It is the hardest thing in the world, naturally speaking. Have you ever read Tolstoy's Resurrection? He tells of political prisoners in a long prison train, enduring chains and persecution for the love of their brothers, ignoring those same brothers on a long trek to Siberia. It is never the brothers right next to us, but the brothers in the abstract that are easy to love."
- Dorothy Day, social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Nov. 29 was the 25th anniversary of Day's death. (Sojo Mail's source: Daily Dig.)
- Dorothy Day, social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Nov. 29 was the 25th anniversary of Day's death. (Sojo Mail's source: Daily Dig.)
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
And Sometimes I'm Perplexed
It's been forever, I know. And I'm sorry. Man, the way you guys want new posts from me makes me feel so popular! Thanks! ;) I do have some things to say, but there's so much in my brain that's jumbled lately, thoughts on this and that, but not very many conclusions. And I hate to leave you without conclusions, but maybe it's okay to do that sometimes. I guess that's what we do here anyway: we post stuff and then have little discussions in comment form. I didn't want my page to be a "This is the be-all and end-all and that's that" type of blog, but just various things I think about, like (or maybe don't like), and want to share with those I like.... which is YOU!
So today's post is part rant, part awareness raising, and partly random thoughts.
1. Who ever came up with the notion of, "I can love so and so, but I don't have to like them"? Do we think the Bible really says this? I'm hard pressed to find any verses where Jesus taught or modeled such an idea. To me it just sounds like an excuse to hate those who think or act differently under the guise of spiritual sounding talk. Let me say so clearly that I'm the first one who doesn't love others as she should and who is the worst at obeying the second biggest commandment. There are so many people I really don't like. REALLY don't like. But when we claim to be loving others and at the same time really 'dislike' them (read that: hate) in our hearts, that's not love. And in doing that we're not only disobeying Jesus, but at the same time patting ourselves on the back and thinking we're such good Christians. God help us. God help me. I don't want to be like that anymore.
2. Let's talk about judgment a little bit. I used to think it was okay to judge someone as long as I made sure I didn't falter in that area of my own life first. Now I don't think so. What happens when we judge? We set ourselves up as someone else's master instead of leaving that job to God (Rom. 14:4). And I'm not talking about church discipline, but about "the people that you meet when you're walking down the street, it's the people that you meet each day" (I think Sesame Street is right on about who's my neighbor).
My high school biology teacher had a friend who'd undergone cancer treatment and lost his hair. One day the two were walking together in a mall when a woman saw them and berated my teacher's friend for being a neo-nazi.
A girl I know of had her baby with her on the bus one day, and a woman said to her, "I don't know how you do it, being a single mother and having to take public transportation!" To which this girl replied, "My husband has our car at work today."
There are a million more examples.
What possesses us to think we can make these assumptions? What convinces us that we have all the facts? I'm sure that even if we think we know someone else's situation, there are details we're missing. Why not leave the judgment to God? We're not even competant anyway! Our job is to love others, not judge them. I don't think those who are focused on loving have the time to judge.
I heard a song today that's pretty relevant and probably what reminded me of this topic today. It's 'Does Anybody Hear Her?' by Casting Crowns. Great song.
3. A guy friend of mine told me recently about XXXchurch, a website with help and downloadable accountability software for people enslaved to pornography. I think it really is the odd guy (by that I mean uncommon, not abnormal) who doesn't struggle with porn; most do. People are on both sides of the fence about the site - there's some fun 'hate mail' you can read to learn what certain Christians and nonChristians think about it all - but it looks pretty effective to me. The software is cool. According to the website, this is what it does: "Whenever you browse the Internet and access a site which may contain questionable material, the program will save the site name on your computer. Approximately every 30 days or 2 weeks (depending on your preference), a person of your choice (an accountability partner) will receive an email containing all possible questionable sites you may have visited within the month. This information is meant to encourage open and honest conversation between friends and help us all be more accountable." Good stuff for dealing with bad stuff. I applaud every guy who makes a concerted effort to get away from porn.
4. Do you think it's possible for major poverty to be wiped out in one generation? Why not? Jars of Clay's aid organization, Blood:Water Mission, has a goal to build one thousand wells in Africa, providing clean water in rural areas. Imagine men and women with HIV/AIDS having a prolonged life because the spread of preventable disease was slowed as they now have clean water. Imagine children not having to walk miles every day for water but instead being able to go to school.
"We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious deseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care." - Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General
www.bloodwatermission.org says that $1 provides one year of clean water for an African. The goal is to build a well in 1000 communities, most wells costing between $2000 and $5000 US depending on location and the difficulty of drilling. Worth it, since 80% of all deaths in developing countries are caused by water-borne illnesses.
So today's post is part rant, part awareness raising, and partly random thoughts.
1. Who ever came up with the notion of, "I can love so and so, but I don't have to like them"? Do we think the Bible really says this? I'm hard pressed to find any verses where Jesus taught or modeled such an idea. To me it just sounds like an excuse to hate those who think or act differently under the guise of spiritual sounding talk. Let me say so clearly that I'm the first one who doesn't love others as she should and who is the worst at obeying the second biggest commandment. There are so many people I really don't like. REALLY don't like. But when we claim to be loving others and at the same time really 'dislike' them (read that: hate) in our hearts, that's not love. And in doing that we're not only disobeying Jesus, but at the same time patting ourselves on the back and thinking we're such good Christians. God help us. God help me. I don't want to be like that anymore.
2. Let's talk about judgment a little bit. I used to think it was okay to judge someone as long as I made sure I didn't falter in that area of my own life first. Now I don't think so. What happens when we judge? We set ourselves up as someone else's master instead of leaving that job to God (Rom. 14:4). And I'm not talking about church discipline, but about "the people that you meet when you're walking down the street, it's the people that you meet each day" (I think Sesame Street is right on about who's my neighbor).
My high school biology teacher had a friend who'd undergone cancer treatment and lost his hair. One day the two were walking together in a mall when a woman saw them and berated my teacher's friend for being a neo-nazi.
A girl I know of had her baby with her on the bus one day, and a woman said to her, "I don't know how you do it, being a single mother and having to take public transportation!" To which this girl replied, "My husband has our car at work today."
There are a million more examples.
What possesses us to think we can make these assumptions? What convinces us that we have all the facts? I'm sure that even if we think we know someone else's situation, there are details we're missing. Why not leave the judgment to God? We're not even competant anyway! Our job is to love others, not judge them. I don't think those who are focused on loving have the time to judge.
I heard a song today that's pretty relevant and probably what reminded me of this topic today. It's 'Does Anybody Hear Her?' by Casting Crowns. Great song.
3. A guy friend of mine told me recently about XXXchurch, a website with help and downloadable accountability software for people enslaved to pornography. I think it really is the odd guy (by that I mean uncommon, not abnormal) who doesn't struggle with porn; most do. People are on both sides of the fence about the site - there's some fun 'hate mail' you can read to learn what certain Christians and nonChristians think about it all - but it looks pretty effective to me. The software is cool. According to the website, this is what it does: "Whenever you browse the Internet and access a site which may contain questionable material, the program will save the site name on your computer. Approximately every 30 days or 2 weeks (depending on your preference), a person of your choice (an accountability partner) will receive an email containing all possible questionable sites you may have visited within the month. This information is meant to encourage open and honest conversation between friends and help us all be more accountable." Good stuff for dealing with bad stuff. I applaud every guy who makes a concerted effort to get away from porn.
4. Do you think it's possible for major poverty to be wiped out in one generation? Why not? Jars of Clay's aid organization, Blood:Water Mission, has a goal to build one thousand wells in Africa, providing clean water in rural areas. Imagine men and women with HIV/AIDS having a prolonged life because the spread of preventable disease was slowed as they now have clean water. Imagine children not having to walk miles every day for water but instead being able to go to school.
"We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious deseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care." - Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General
www.bloodwatermission.org says that $1 provides one year of clean water for an African. The goal is to build a well in 1000 communities, most wells costing between $2000 and $5000 US depending on location and the difficulty of drilling. Worth it, since 80% of all deaths in developing countries are caused by water-borne illnesses.
Well, that should give you some things to chew on. I'll try not to take so long to blog next time! Thanks for hearing me out!
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