tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77183728900520133712024-03-21T15:50:22.454-07:00PreachWriteActUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-46531845545021988122018-12-04T12:23:00.000-08:002018-12-04T12:23:24.793-08:00So...I'm on Jeopardy! today<div style="text-align: center;">
(See title. That pretty much covers it.)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Be sure to visit <a href="https://m.facebook.com/Tiffany-Brooks-PhD-206395120246977" target="_blank">Tiffany Brooks, PhD</a> for my "live"</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(depending on when the episode airs in your market) critique.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Will I win or will I bring shame upon my family, lo, for seven generations? </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Tune in to find out!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-40020436371365008202018-12-03T13:45:00.000-08:002018-12-04T10:38:31.147-08:00My Best Piece of Holiday Advice<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have very few pieces of profound wisdom that I can offer
the world that did not come from someone else, from common sense, or from
listening to the “Sunscreen Song” about 800 times during the ‘90s.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I do have this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Make it your goal to
go home from the annual “Dirty Santa/Yankee Swap” game with the worst possible
gift.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know, I know. Where did you read that first: The Bible or
Shakespeare? Seriously, though, this is a philosophy that struck me more than a
decade ago, and I have sought to implement ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether it has done me any good is, of
course, debatable, but since I have very few epiphanies I can say with confidence
are completely organic to my own experience, I’ve decided to take this one and run
with it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A dozen years ago or so, when I was at a work Christmas party
where a gift-stealing game was one of the centerpieces of the annual event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I should add that, despite my best efforts, I
tend to be the bearer of less-popular and less-frequently stolen gift. I realize
that bringing alcohol to the exchange would be the easiest remedy to this poor
track record, but since I don’t drink – I say and do enough stupid stuff
without help – I tend not to want to go that route.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, however, I had found a kitchen
gadget that was normally twice as much as the spending limit, marked down to
50% off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was delighted when one of our young interns selected the
gift and her face immediately lit up when she saw it was something practical
and legitimately useful for her as she was just beginning to equip her grown-up
apartment. The gift was quickly stolen by another intern who had a similar
reaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then it was nabbed by a
much older and more well-established co-worker, and then an executive, until it
was finally retired. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember feeling
a little annoyed that people who could have easily forked over the cash for the
kitchen gadget at full price were fighting over it (good-naturedly, of course)
while an intern for whom that item would actually have been a really nice item,
was left with something like a shower radio in the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Which is kind of cool, admittedly.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It got me thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That was the same year when one junior employee brought his out-of-town
girlfriend, and she selected one of the inevitable gag gifts in the bunch: a
hideous Christmas ornament of some local celebrity that made the <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/02/scary_lucy_sculptor_lucille_ball_statue.html" target="_blank">nightmarishLucille Ball sculpture</a> look downright complimentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember how quietly she sat, smiling and
watching the rest of the festivities for the course of the game, but obviously
knowing there was no way she was going to be pulled into any of the socializing-through-gift-swapping
the rest of us were happily engaged in – myself included.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I watched her, I couldn’t help but think that all of our
bids to get the best gift really missed the point of the whole game, which was
draw people in and create a fun banter between people and their partners. The
hope was that we would leave the party knowing each other a little better – a kind
of holiday team-building exercise. But it didn’t really work that way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I emerged with a set of beautiful goblets in a hard-fought
victory against a woman in accounting, but I couldn’t shake the disappointment
on the young woman’s face – not disappointment about her gift, but
disappointment that she was not going to be able to participate in the engagement
that everyone else was enjoying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
end of the party, I approached her and asked if we could trade gifts. I knew it
was too late, but that hideous ornament now leers at me from our tree every
year as a reminder of what I decided that night:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal, from that point forward, would be to
leave every gift exchange with the worst possible gift.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve tried it since then, with other companies I’ve gone on
to work for, with small groups from church, with book clubs, with holiday block
parties – and it’s hard to describe the degree of satisfaction it to know that
you are there with the subversive goal of coming out on bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want to make it clear that I am IN NO WAY suggesting that
games like Dirty Santa/Yankee Swap are harmful and should be banned from
holiday parties for any other kind of overly-sensitive nonsense – they are fun
and spirited and always, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always </i>hilarious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we are committed to the idea that Christmas
or Hanukkah are actually about commemorating sacred events in our faiths’
histories, why not practice that across the board?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing in those exchanges is ever anything I couldn’t buy
for myself, if I actually wanted it, and I suspect the same is true for you,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The much bigger reward is finding a
way to pull people in and to give people who are just starting out a better
return on their $20 gift-limit buy-in than maybe I get.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, there is no good way to share something like this
without sounding like you are holding yourself up as a model of virtue and best
choices, but those of you who know me know that when I am trying to be
intentionally self-congratulatory, I go WAY bigger than this. And I realize
that I’m a total wet blanket by trying to bring some kind of moral lesson into
one of the most lighthearted and silliest traditions around the holidays. But,
you know, you asked for my best season advice so…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You didn’t
ask. Well, in that case, I probably am just sharing this to feel better about
myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(But seriously, try the worst-gift-in-the-exchange
thing this year…and if you find yourself in a gift exchange with me and I go
home with your gift, please don’t take it personally.)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-54438035611767297772018-11-29T07:50:00.001-08:002018-11-29T07:50:43.158-08:00I'm baaaaaaack!I'm going to attempt to revive this blog after a several-year hiatus that, not coincidentally, alligned precisely with birthing a tiny human into the world.<br />
<br />
Y'all, for real. Any eye roll I ever made when a parent-friend of mine used having kids as an excuse for not having time for <i>literally anything else -- </i>I take it back. I take it back a thousand times.<br />
<br />
But now that the little one is able to go potty on her own AND wash her own hands, I feel like I am suddenly time-rich and I am definitely living my best life now. I mean, seriously, the handwashing thing took up at least 73.86% of every day.<br />
<br />
So here we go again. There is probably going to be some recycled Facebook content at first, and to that I say BACK OFF. I'VE BEEN HELPING MY CHILD NOT BECOME THE TYPHOID MARY OF PRESCHOOL RATHER THAN CREATING A MASSIVE BACK CATALOGUE OF CONTENT. Is that what you wanted -- a nation-wide health epidemic for the sake of your occassional reading pleasure? Geez. Get over yourself.<br />
<br />
Um, yeah. Okay. Here we go. Should be interesting.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-21637973905411257812015-08-04T10:21:00.001-07:002015-08-04T10:21:46.475-07:00<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the same piece I posted on Facebook back on July 24. I
actually wrote it the previous week, more to get my own thoughts down on
paper than anything. I'm not saying it's especially profound, or even
particularly good writing, but since several people have asked what I
thought of /Go Set a Watchman/, I'm just going to share this as my
response.<br /> ---</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Killing <i>Mockingbird</i></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Remember it's a
sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus
say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>“Your father's right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but
make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't
nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for
us.”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>~</i>To Kill a Mockingbird<i>, by Harper Lee</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> When a friend who
works in the news industry first texted me urgently on the morning of
February 3 with the news that Harper Lee would be publishing another
book, I was pretty sure this meant I only had two wishes left from that
genie whose lamp I found on the beach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I rushed to Amazon and
pulled up the page, just to verify with my own eyes. My finger hovered
over the “Pre-Order now” button and I felt flooded with a nerdy
happiness I hadn’t felt since <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i> became available for pre-order. And then…I lowered my itchy trigger
finger and walked away from the mouse. I couldn’t bring myself to do it
and I wasn’t sure why. Still, I reasoned—July was ages away. I’d have
plenty of time to place my order before the release date.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I
couldn’t explain why I felt reluctant to commit, except that maybe, deep
down, I couldn’t fully wrap my head around the reasoning behind why
Harper Lee would be enthusiastic about publishing an earlier, rougher
draft 55 years after her literary mic drop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> There was no way this
could be a bigger travesty than <i>Scarlett</i> was to <i>Gone With the
Wind</i>—I mean, at least these were both authored by the same person—but
there was just something so poetic about a person who told the one
burning story in their soul that they had to tell, and that was all.
There was no sophomore slump to tarnish the legacy; this was A.E.
Housman’s “To An Athlete Dying Young” if ever there was one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Then
the stories began to run and the rumors began to surface that maybe
publishing this manuscript really wasn’t Lee’s idea—or at least not one
she had been agonizing over for more than half a century. And there were
other rumors, too: that the manuscript was, perhaps, not quite as
unsullied a fossilized literary find as one might think; that it read as
if an editor with 21st century sensibilities and New York prejudices,
or even a certain political agenda, might have done some tweaking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The more I read about the manuscript, the more I came to realize that—for now, at least—it was not something I wanted to read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
Not too long after I read <i>To Kill a Mockingbir</i>d for the first time as
a child, a beloved uncle passed away. I remember my mother telling me
at the open-casket funeral, “If you feel uncomfortable looking at the
body, just touch the hair. The hair will always feel natural and real.”
It was good advice—his hair did feel much more lifelike than the
waxy-looking face in the coffin. But that was also the problem. It felt
too real. My uncle had the exact same hair as my mother, and feeling it
was like feeling my own mother’s hair spread out on that satin pillow.
It was at once completely detached from the world in which I was living
and breathing and yet, at the same time, wholly familiar. It was my very
worst fears realized, even though the logical part of my brain knew
that there was nothing logical about my feelings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> That is the
best metaphor I can draw to my feelings regarding <i>Go Set a Watchman</i>.
In reading something that is bound to feel at once so unmistakably
familiar and yet also so utterly foreign, I know I will be groping for
the hair—the one unchanging element that still feels like the story and
characters I have loved so long. And, for me (as I suspect it is for
many readers), that element is Atticus Finch. In my mind, what makes him
so iconic is that he is a beautiful, fixed, immovable character—not
without his flaws, of course—but an almost archetypal figure who
transcends everything else as a timeless hero still deeply rooted in his
time and place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> But I have read enough about this new book to
know that the Atticus Finch of <i>Watchman </i>is, in many ways, a different
man than the Atticus Finch of <i>Mockingbird</i>—yet too similar to be read
with detachment if I find I cannot reconcile them as the same character.
That is not hair that I care to feel. That is not the novel I love.
That is changing the entire experience of a book that, in its own
complex and challenging way, “didn’t do one thing…but sing its heart out
for us.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> For now, I would still rather enjoy <i>To Kill A
Mockingbird</i> as it has taken on significance to me every time I have
encountered it:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a fifth grader, reading it the first time as,
coincidentally, the Berlin Wall was coming down and German reunification
was beginning. The book and the political situation mirrored one
another to me as I struggled with the deep complexities I knew were far
beyond my capacity or maturity to comprehend; but I understood,
instinctively, that I was witnessing something profound that I would
appreciate more when I was older.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a sixth grader who wanted to
be a professional author someday and pored over the book as if there
were some kind of code I could crack to understand the genius I knew was
there but still did not fully grasp.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a high schooler who
secretly resented Gregory Peck for not resembling the Atticus Finch of
my imagination when we watched the movie at the end of studying the
novel in the tenth grade. And the following year, when I set foot in
England for the first time in my life as part of a drama troupe from our
school performing <i>To Kill A Mockingbird </i>at several schools
around London. (I played the morphine-addled Mrs. Dubose and it was some
of the most fun I have ever had on stage.) That trip was the first real
stepping stone in my life-long love affair with England and set me on a
path that would have me moving there for graduate school several years
later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a brand new English teacher, working to instill a love
and appreciation for the novel in my reluctant high schoolers in rural
North Carolina.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a fledgling college professor, delving into
the place of the novel among 20th century American masterpieces and the
critical issues it raises about race, justice, southern-ness, the canon,
and myriad other topics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As a military wife as we prepared to
move to Meridian, Mississippi. (“That’s Dill’s hometown!” was literally
my first reaction when I learned of our new duty station.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As
that professional writer eleven-year-old me dreamed of becoming a writer
who has actually does make a living by my pen, and who still revisits
old favorites periodically both as a refresher course on great writing
and as a way to keep my ego in check by realizing that I will never,
ever write anything so perfect as what Lee accomplished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> To me,
this is the reality of <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>. It does not need a
sequel or a re-imagining or a glimpse behind the curtain—nothing that
will irrevocably alter it in my mind’s eye. At the risk of being morbid
by tying in another funeral, it’s the same reason I chose not to look my
grandmother in her casket. I knew I would never be able to unsee her in
that way and I would rather remember her as the gorgeous, Liz
Taylor-lookalike who weathered a difficult life and left this world with
a heart on fire for clothing children in the third world. I didn’t want
to see her as the mortician imagined her or even just as the shell of
who she had been—she was so much more than that body.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>To Kill a
Mockingbird</i> is so much more than the events it describes or the words
on the page. It is a novel that has walked me through life, as I know it
has done for millions of other readers, too. That is not an experience I
am ready to relinquish to a companion book (for lack of a better term)
that, once read, I will not be able to un-read. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> One of my
biggest pet peeves is that very loud and determined block of people who
seem determined to make sweeping judgments about movies they haven’t
seen, plays they haven’t watched, albums they haven’t listened to, or
books they haven’t read. And so, for that reason, I am withholding any
verdict. If you choose to read <i>Watchman</i>, I am eager to hear your
opinion on it. I reserve the right to change my mind at any point in the
future if I decide it is something I want to read, too. But for me, for
now, Scout and Jem and Dill will always remain children, Atticus Finch
will always remain the quintessential warrior monk, and it will always
be a sin to kill a mockingbird.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> ###</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-16542189163699919142014-10-02T12:21:00.001-07:002014-10-02T12:23:48.026-07:00Confession<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With all the previews for <i>Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day </i>movie that are out right now, I feel the need to come clear regarding my feelings towards that book.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not a fan.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But before you judge me for my dislike of a classic piece of children’s literature which, I admit, is pretty awesome despite my dislike of it, please allow me to explain.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was a wildly sensitive little kid with a rather extreme tendency for anthropomorphizing anything and everything. [For “was” read “am.” For "little kid" read...yeah. And it’s not just that my car has a name—that’s normal. Lots of cars do. I mean that our vegetable peeler has a name; our lawnmower has a name AND backstory…] Anyway, as a wildly sensitive little kid with a rather extreme tendency for anthropomorphizing anything and everything, I remember vividly the day when Mrs. Amy McDavid read that book to my kindergarten class in 1984, because two things stood out to me:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1) She pronounced the word “pajamas” as “pah-JAH-mahs” with the middle syllable akin to the vowel in “cot” whereas my Yankee parents pronounced the middle syllable akin to “cat”; and<br />2) Alexander says, “I HATE my railroad train pajamas.”</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While the first point is just one example of the many linguistic conundrums that would be a hallmark of my childhood years following my family’s move from Minnesota to a small town in Virginia, it’s the second point that was my problem with Judith Viorst’s timeless tome exploring pre-pubescent angst.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You see, I was hurt—nay, DEVASTATED that Alexander not only harbored such animosity towards said pajamas but then went on to speak it aloud. What if the person who bought them for him heard him? What if they read the book? What if their feelings were terribly hurt?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...and what about the pajama's feelings?!?!?</span></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What if the railroad train pajamas found out about Alexander’s public trashing of their very essence of being? How absolutely worthless would they feel about themselves? They're pajamas for crying out loud--it's not like they had the agency to pick themselves up and walk to the house of a little boy who would love them!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, so my 5-year-old brain probably did not use the phrases “harbored animosity” or “essence of being” or "agency" but the emotions invoked were very, very real. I did have enough of a sense to realize that the devastating distress that book caused for me might seem irrational to other people if I tried to explain it, but I couldn’t NOT tear up when I thought about that page. And so…</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">…I never read the book again. I still haven’t. I know the essence of it. I am culturally literate with regards to its content and message and have been known to tack “even in Australia” to the ends of sentences. But I have never again revisited Alexander in his misery. Now that the commercials for the movie are everywhere, however, I felt compelled to make this confession.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; line-height: 21.466667175293px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now that that is off my chest, I can return to my work as a rational adult…at my desk named “Sylvia.”</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-57193691984323280932013-04-07T16:33:00.002-07:002013-04-07T16:34:55.576-07:00Jamais Vu (Part 3)<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Yeah,
I know it’s been a good half-year or so since I bothered to post anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the surest way to lose any kind of a
consistent blog readership and the precise reason why my last attempt at a blog
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here’s the thing:<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1)
I am a professional writer—as in, I have a full-time job writing 40+ hours a
week to pay the bills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love writing
but I also have a hard time transitioning from “work writing” to “personal
writing” because at the end of the work day, my word-quota has often been
tapped and my brain is ready to clock-out in order to be able to rest before it
goes right back to generating more words on the page tomorrow.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2)
Often, my ruminations are nothing anyone would find interesting or are much too
personal for broadcasting on the interwebs.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3)
If I do have a passing funny or interesting thought, I tend to share it on
Facebook rather than here because I get instant gratification on Facebook from
people casually “liking” my status as they scroll aimlessly through their
newsfeed and, for some reason, that makes me feel validated and better about myself.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4)
This is my blog and I’ll update it when I feel like it.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That
being said, I plan to spend the next few weeks (or months…or however long it
takes) re-examining a few of the stories from scripture that I’ve always been
taught to interpret one way but which strike me as potentially having a very
different message when I strip away the preconceived lenses through which I’ve
always read them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
not trying to be intentionally contrary or in any way disparaging or
disrespectful towards more traditional interpretations, nor am I implying that
I have some kind of grander, deeper view on scripture; I’m simply laying out
some questions that have occurred to me and asking for some honest dialogue
about other ways that we might consider these passages and what alternate
lessons they might (or might not) offer us.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s get started.</span></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">---<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Brothers
from Another Mother</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have heard every variety of sermon and Sunday
School lesson as to the impatient actions of Abram and Sarai regarding the
promise of children, which led them to turn to Sarai’s maid Hagar as an
alternate means of reproducing, since Sarai was post-menopausal and had been
barren even in her younger life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through
Hagar, Abram produced Ishmael, who became the father of the Canaanite
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not until a decade or two
later that Sarai (now Sarah) conceived and born Isaac, as the son of the
covenant and the father of the Jewish people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The most common interpretations I have heard tend to
be along the lines of:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And that’s why you should always wait upon
the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abraham and Sarah instead
sought their own way instead of having faith and the result was an illegitimate
son whose descendants are STIL L at odds with the people of Israel today</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Alternately, I have also heard this same
story used as a warning against surrogacy and potentially even IVF or other
alternative fertility processes for childless couples looking to grow a family,
but that is a discussion for another time.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I understand the message of waiting upon the Lord
that is consistently evoked with the reading of this story, but I’m not sure
that’s really the message in the text.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First of all, consider the fact that the promise is
given only to Abram at first, and not to Sarai (Genesis 15:4-5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is told by God that “no one but your very
own issue shall be your heir” (NRSV).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sarai
is nowhere mentioned in this conversation; the assurance is simply that the
child will be Abram’s biological child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first time the promise is extended to include Sarai is in Genesis
17, when God introduces the covenant of circumcision (and with it, the
name-change to Abraham and Sarah), and then again in the following chapter when
the angelic visitors inform Sarah that she will bear a son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the initial promise never said
that Sarai would have a child—only that Abram would.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Given that men retain their fertility much later in
life than women, and since Sarai was already past the point of being fertile,
can we really blame the couple for understanding the promise to imply that Abram’s
child would, necessarily, come from someone other than Sarai?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are so swift to accuse them of not having
faith in God when they involved Hagar but, on the contrary, I think they showed
tremendous faith because (let’s be honest) it would not have been unreasonable
to question whether or not Abram was even…(ahem) capable…of fathering a child
given his own tremendous age.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In fact, the text even tells us that God “brought
him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able
to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he
believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis
15:5-6).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you catch that last
verse?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And he believed the LORD; and
the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.” In other words, Abram had faith
in the promise of God, and God recognized and honored that faith.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So where do we get off casting Abram as a man of no
faith or patience in this story simply because the actions he took next don’t
tie up into a neat and happy ending?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Putting aside the method they chose for a moment lest anyonethink I am advocating adultery, why do we
have such a problem with the fact that Abram and Sarai took the non-traditional
route in order to see God’s promised fulfilled?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Steven Covey (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People</i>) called it “Resourcefulness and Initiative.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother called it “creative problem solving.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever term you use, we celebrate it
in every other aspect of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In myth,
it is how Odysseus frees his men from the Cyclops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In history, it is Hannibal crossing the Alps
by elephant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In science, it is the story
of Apollo 13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the stuff that moves
humanity forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a defining trait
of heroes, both fictional and real.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But in this particular story of Abram, Sarai, and
Hagar, we condemn the characters for looking around themselves, considering the
facts of the case and the reality of the world, and seeking out a viable means
of achieving the reality they have been promised is theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, some of us even blame tragic current
events in the Middle East on that “creative problem solving” from a few millennia
ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I know, I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It makes us uncomfortable to think of one of the fathers of the faith
having a sexual relationship with a woman not his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might even make us uncomfortable to think
about whether Hagar had any choice in the matter or if her social position as a
female servant granted her no power to object if she did not want to be used in
such a way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If that doesn’t make us
uncomfortable, it should.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But whether
we like those implications or not, the fact is that they were the way of the
world in the ancient Near East and nowhere does the text tell us (at least, nowhere
that I can think of) that God was displeased or in any way punished the
characters for those particular actions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course I understand the dangers of cutting God
out of the equation because we do not believe that He is capable of what we
desire and acting according to our own timeline rather than trust His, but how
many people of faith have been paralyzed by inaction simply because they were afraid
of angering God by acting when no obvious solution is apparent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is wrong with empowering believers to
look for unusual, unconventional, and creative ways to see God’s promises realized
in their own lives?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After all, wasn’t Jesus a very different kind of
promised messiah than the one everyone anticipated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he not fulfill many of the prophesies about
him in ways quite different than anyone expected?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Maybe God intended Ishmael to be brought into the
world; after all, we are quick to point out in other contexts that He is the
one who opens and closes wombs, is He not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe God wanted him to grow up and form a nation of his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe Hagar’s son is every bit as much of God’s
intended story for mankind as is Sarah’s son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe the people who lack faith in God’s sovereignty are not the
characters in the story of Abram and Sarai, but we the readers who are too
blinded by our own notions of how the story “should” have gone that fail to see
the events as they are actually recorded and refuse to believe that God may
have a bigger plan at work than any of us can possibly imagine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-38213830495439028722012-10-05T08:56:00.006-07:002012-10-05T08:56:46.766-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div style="text-align: center;">
Sorry, all two readers of this thing. September ended up being a far crazier month than anticipated. I'll try to get back into the swing of things with entries and updates this month.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's a Feel-Good Friday clip for today, though.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To set the scene: A few years ago, I decided that I really wanted to master a bizarre skill that could have no possible application at any time, yet would still be awesome. So I set out to learn the lyrics to the B-52's "Rock Lobster" in sign language. I think I can still do most of the first verse.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Anyway, my history with the song coupled with my deep and abiding love for puns is what makes this clip so awesome I want to cry.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJ1oYu6KIoU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-25582659079564042282012-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:002012-08-23T08:15:00.725-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been on the road so I apologize for the lack of posts, but I'm back again and should get back on track with posting next week. But for your Feel-Good Friday, check out Miss Philippines beatboxing for her talent in the finals of the 2012 Miss World pageant.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCZzFyTQwSI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-45692427956517719272012-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:002012-08-10T06:00:11.399-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is courtesy of my hubby, who spotted it on a menu on Wednesday.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out "La Brea Tarpit."</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnF0diovcx7PFXUi15C5X8pUqLajSa40CB4pGsgbcr5xZmb5h_mSjvWEWMSYfXcL4x0bbtKjEvvA8PLt7xuFX2OGjkKdmHxPvKYzkTj88HsyDXmm9E1o4nUGdjIyGPP6nVMRzs06d149m/s1600/IMG_1641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnF0diovcx7PFXUi15C5X8pUqLajSa40CB4pGsgbcr5xZmb5h_mSjvWEWMSYfXcL4x0bbtKjEvvA8PLt7xuFX2OGjkKdmHxPvKYzkTj88HsyDXmm9E1o4nUGdjIyGPP6nVMRzs06d149m/s640/IMG_1641.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-35070988680378535412012-08-08T10:19:00.001-07:002012-08-08T10:20:34.360-07:00Miracles<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Building off of our </span><a href="http://preachwriteact.blogspot.com/2012/08/stuff-i-wish-id-said.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">quote from the other day</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (for which I can
find no identifiable source), just how does God work through people? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we need to consider this from two angles:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) How can God use people, rather than
miracles, in our own lives; and 2) How can God use us, as people, rather than miracles
in the lives of others?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoSEn0PLJWdB50Yqj-1Nfw0I2UN4F3Q7rEMltAUYGy82saNgTaTw3gla4U3oyLgd1Fj2AHB3CdcKeeqwtaJ1lKVS0FzNGRVS2WWnsMtxe-pBE1IEvGI1uUKDuQVCQY0JCV34usuMQ7eNK/s1600/Spotlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoSEn0PLJWdB50Yqj-1Nfw0I2UN4F3Q7rEMltAUYGy82saNgTaTw3gla4U3oyLgd1Fj2AHB3CdcKeeqwtaJ1lKVS0FzNGRVS2WWnsMtxe-pBE1IEvGI1uUKDuQVCQY0JCV34usuMQ7eNK/s320/Spotlight.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To address the first question, I am going to have to reveal
one of my own personal weaknesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
I like to seek the advice and counsel of wise friends and mentors, I often find
myself rejecting their advice for no other reason than that, “They’re just people
and everything I always learned from Sunday School/health class/after school
specials never to do what your friends encourage you to do if you’re
not 100% positive about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m showing greater faith if I
just wait for God to show me what He wants.”</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
shouldn’t rely on your friends when you’re 14 and clearly you are all lacking
in wisdom and experience as exhibited by your hair and fashion choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what about when you’re an adult and the
people who you are consulting are godly men and women?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we really showing faith when we ignore
their guidance in favor of waiting for a flashing neon sign from Heaven or—even
more ridiculous (but you know we’ve all done it)—a song on the radio that seems
to have been written “Just for me!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
certainly don’t deny that God can and does send us signs of advice and
encouragement through songs or sermons on the radio, or billboards, or “coincidences”
in everyday life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is it really wise
to put more faith in something like that than the heartfelt counsel of a
believer? And while we may not be 100% sure about the soundness of their advice, isn't that the reason we talked with them in the first place--because we weren't sure of what to do? Of course we need to use discernment when listening to counsel, but we should never simply reject it outright simply because it came "from a person" rather than "from God."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider the
following verse from Proverbs:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+11%3A14&version=ESV"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proverbs
11:14</span></a></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where there is no
guidance, a people falls; but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+12%3A15&version=ESV"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proverbs
12:15</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way of a fool is right
in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+19%3A20-21&version=ESV"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proverbs
19:20-21</span></a></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to advice and
accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans
in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if those friends-in-the-faith who are offering you
advice <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are the sign God prepared for you</i>—the
sign you kept insisting you were waiting on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What if those people are the very miracle through which God is working in your life?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That leads me to the second question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can God use us, as people, rather than
miracles in the lives of others?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the perennial questions of life is, of course, “Why
does God allow pain?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while I don’t
have a good answer to that, I have gradually been coming to the conclusion that
perhaps one reason He does it so that we can recognize our responsibility to
minister to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Service, empathy, and selflessness, after all, are some of the most important ways that the seeds of faith are watered in our souls. </span>Consider pictures of
starving children in the Sudan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see
those images and are tempted to think, “Why would God allow such suffering to
happen?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not send a miraculous cloud
of peace over the land, fresh springs of water, make the land arable
again, and teach the people how to farm to provide for themselves?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, why don’t we do it ourselves?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why are we waiting upon the supernatural and
feel frustrated with God when He doesn’t ease the pain through miraculous means,
when it is within our power to do something—even a little something—but we don’t?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question, then, becomes not “Why does God
allow suffering?” but “Why do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i>
allow suffering?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rob Bell points out in his [rather controversial] book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Wins</i>, that if Christians were a
little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">less</i> focused on the life to
come and a little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i> focused on the
here and now, maybe we would put ourselves into action to dig wells in India or
help out a struggling single parent down the street or mentor a child in our community who needs some guidance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course our hope is built on something
beyond this world, but that does not mean that we cannot, or should not, invest
ourselves in this one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We often hear people talk about “the miracle of birth”—but what
about everything after the moment that new life enters the world?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about the potential that individual has—that
we all have—every single day on earth, to be a miracle to someone else?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I think it’s true that God works through people more
than He does through miracles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But are
we letting Him?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-46525078659099053052012-08-05T23:05:00.002-07:002012-08-05T23:05:39.174-07:00Stuff I Wish I'd Said<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"God works through people more than He does through miracles."</span></div>
<div align="center">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-13271595113929117072012-08-03T08:37:00.002-07:002012-08-03T08:37:32.555-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zc7V05jdrf4Y3NEPWkQb4kuAd7kWhvA-j_wsXAM-sCnLOvIhK0t2B86vQgULVkLOa7YldBpz62LbdZyWmjwucAHtW0wG7jDig0eQnAauziuPFDZs7FgxIKFVa0tK2NJ2PJ-CUDWVc7Mo/s1600/Barbie+-+Hitchcock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zc7V05jdrf4Y3NEPWkQb4kuAd7kWhvA-j_wsXAM-sCnLOvIhK0t2B86vQgULVkLOa7YldBpz62LbdZyWmjwucAHtW0wG7jDig0eQnAauziuPFDZs7FgxIKFVa0tK2NJ2PJ-CUDWVc7Mo/s320/Barbie+-+Hitchcock.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an image of the official Alfred Hitchcock Barbie, released in 2003 in honor of the</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">40th anniversary of <em>The Birds</em>. No, I'm serious. It's for real.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Barbie's case, though, the birds are detachable.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's why it qualifies as a candidate for "Feel-Good Friday" instead of "Terrifying Tuesday."</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-20578787749267955232012-07-31T08:38:00.000-07:002012-08-03T08:37:46.627-07:00Jamais Vu (Part 2)<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night I came across Psalm
147 and had to laugh about the timing with the Olympic Games, since that
passage contains the verse that Eric Liddell so famously quoted in Chariots of
Fire:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His pleasure is not in
the strength of the horse, <br />
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;<br />
<sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></sup>the Lord delights in those
who fear him, <br />
who put their hope in his unfailing love.</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Psalm 147:10-11)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But just a few lines down, as the Psalmist is describing the
works of the Lord in the natural world, he or she writes something I had never
noticed before:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">15 </span></sup>He sends
his command to the earth;<br />
his word runs swiftly.<br />
<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">16 </span></sup>He spreads the snow like wool<br />
and scatters the frost like ashes.<br />
<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">17 </span></sup>He hurls down <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b> hail
like pebbles.<br />
Who can withstand <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b> icy blast?<br />
<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">18 </span></sup>He sends his word and melts them;<br />
he stirs up <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b> breezes, and the
waters flow.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply by including the possessive pronoun, the Psalmist
reminds us that everything in the world is God’s, even the weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wind and the hail and the hot and the cold
and each little raindrop that falls from the sky—they are all God’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much more so, then, every little action
we make during the day?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every word we
say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every attitude we posses or thought
we have or move we make?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it is a
wonderful reminder that every last thing in this world is under God’s dominion—and
we are its stewards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that’s not a
tremendous reminder of the importance of being trustworthy in the small things so that He may entrust us with the greater things,
I don’t know what is!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-42581555323504814002012-07-27T06:32:00.001-07:002012-07-27T06:32:15.150-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PCqRRfJVH6Q?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, this isn't any kind of political statement about the on-going Chick-Fil-A kerfuffle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just love Grover and this is an especially nice way to start out the morning--especially in the spirit of international cooperation with the start today of the </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2012 Olympic Games.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or something like that. Mostly, I just wanted some Grover in the mix.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong>"Pure poetry!"</strong></em></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-57091335165188456792012-07-26T11:02:00.001-07:002012-07-26T11:04:03.863-07:00I'm sorry!<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to apologize for the lack of updates over the past few days. I have a couple of deadlines I'm pushing to make for work both self-imposed and publisher-imposed. To make it up to you, however, please allow me to suggest that you:1) leave this site</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) head directly over to Google</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) type in "Where is Chuck Norris?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) click on the first result</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) laugh your fool head off.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe that will tide you over until the next Feel-Good Friday tomorrow.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-34672935624920587222012-07-23T10:29:00.002-07:002012-07-23T20:33:53.630-07:00Praying in Pencil<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think better in pencil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I always have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While pens are preferable
for writing letters or taking notes at meetings or even writing grocery lists,
when it comes to creative endeavors, such as outlining a story or imagining some
dialogue I’ve not yet plugged into a scene or trying to figure out a timeline
within the narrative story arc, I find I do it best with pencil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s because a pen is so permanent—so
set, so unchangeable without crossing something out and leaving a big, inky
scar on the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Graphite, on the other
hand, is more of a suggestion, a placeholder for our thoughts that can be
erased and written over if a better idea comes along.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It occurs to me that our prayer life can be the same way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too often, I think, we approach God with
prayers written in pen: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dark, inky
statements that sink and bleed into the fibers of the paper—unchangeable and
inflexible . . . at least, not without having to endure some cross-outs.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if we approach our prayer life with a pencil (a soft
lead that leaves a bold, confident line is absolutely fine), I think we are
getting closer to the heart of prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are allowing God, “the author and perfector (or editor) of our faith,”
the opportunity to erase and recraft them in a far gentler and much more
pleasing manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Stephen Crotts once
wrote: “God has editing rights over our prayers. He will . . . edit them, correct
them, bring them in line with His will and then hand them back to us to be
resubmitted.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the
pencil-written prayer is greater than them both.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-49057899031249663182012-07-20T08:17:00.001-07:002012-07-20T08:17:42.747-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/5_sfnQDr1-o/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5_sfnQDr1-o&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5_sfnQDr1-o&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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You're welcome.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-27394512526859421572012-07-19T12:27:00.003-07:002012-07-19T12:27:42.505-07:00Stuff I Wish I'd Said<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Prayer of Abandonment" - Thomas Merton</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Lord God,<br />I have no idea where I am going.<br />I do not see the road
ahead of me.<br />I cannot know for certain<br />where it will end. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nor do I really know myself,<br />and that I think I am following your
will<br />does not mean I am actually doing so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I believe<br />the desire to please you<br />does in fact please you.<br />And
I hope I have that desire<br />in all I am doing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope<br />I will never do anything<br />apart from that desire.<br />And I know
if I do this<br />you will lead me by the right road<br />though I may know nothing
about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will trust you always<br />though I may seem to be lost<br />and in the shadow
of death.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will not fear,<br />for you will never leave me<br />to face my perils
alone.</span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-59813394314027980642012-07-16T08:12:00.000-07:002012-07-23T20:32:41.071-07:00Jamais Vu (Part 1)<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<em>Jamais vu is, essentially, the opposite of deja vu--it is seeing something familiar as if experiencing it for the first time. There is a wonderful example of it in</em> The Sun Also Rises <em>when Jake describes walking down the mainstreet of his town after a concussion in a high school football game and everything looks foreign... Okay, I'm getting off-topic. The point is, we all occassinally come across passages of scripture that we may have read dozens of times and they suddenly stand out to us with new significance. I hope to share some of my own jamais vu expereinces on this blog.)</em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the city wall of Jerusalem was being rebuilt following in
the Babylonian Captivity, Nehemiah, verse 3:12 notes: “Shallum son of
Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section
with the help of his daughters.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stumbled
across this verse about a year ago and was surprised that I’d never really thought about it before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just a simple mention,
obviously, but it was significant enough to the author that he note the
participation of these women.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is, perhaps, equally as significant, is that the writer
makes no further comment—that is, the women seem to have completed the job put
before them without any of the drama and jealousies that so often seem to
accompany stories about sisters, be they biblical (Leah and Rachel) or literary
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Lear</i>) or artistic (Olivia
DeHavilland and Joan Fontaine) or in popular culture (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Downton Abbey</i>, season one – before the war made everyone nice) or
in wildly-over-exposed-media-outlets (the Kardashians).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The point is, it’s exciting to me when I notice something in
scripture that points to the lives of
people about whom we otherwise know very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the sight of women harmoniously and manually
contributing to the reconstruction of military fortifications would have been
somewhat unusual for the time, so it is an interesting glimpse into the sense
of ownership and individual responsibility these woman felt towards the work
going on around them.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My prayer for the week is that we will all feel a sense of
personal investment in reaching out to do whatever needs doing in our
community, rather than passing the job off to other citizens or “the government”
(as if that is not simply other citizens, as well), and that we can do so in a peaceful and edifying manner that gets the job done effectively.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-83437830277890050482012-07-13T07:58:00.005-07:002012-07-13T07:58:56.380-07:00Feel-Good Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xL9uReo691A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeah, I know I posted this on Facebook a few months ago, but it's too good not to repeat.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Friday!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-4984148729417425652012-07-11T06:04:00.004-07:002012-07-11T06:04:43.770-07:00Stuff I Wish I'd Said<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television.”</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~Paul Hawken</span><br /> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-38328945157505782062012-07-10T07:28:00.005-07:002012-07-10T07:33:06.287-07:00I wish this was a joke.<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the cinematic masterpiece, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baby Mama</i>, Tina Fey’s character confesses that she tried to keep
paper and a pen next to the bed to write down ideas that came to her when she
was sleeping: “But none of it made sense. I woke up and had things like, ‘MAKE
EVERYBODY BE TWINS!’ and ‘ELECTRIC TOILET’.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I can empathize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saturday night, I woke up around 1:00 AM from
dreaming in a British accent (which I still do on occasion, even though I moved
back to the U.S. 9 years ago) with what I was certain was the most brilliant,
hilarious, and (for some reason) important concept ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My laptop happened to be next to the bed so I
grabbed it, typed it all out, and went back to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What follows is the exact, unedited text—presumably
with some help from IMDB (and, I’ll admit, after-the-fact spell check).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I promise you, this is actually how my mind
works when I’m sleeping.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Determining One’s
Masterpiece Classic Quotient<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One point for</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-appearing
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gosford Park</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-appearing at any point in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter</i> film octology</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every on-screen
Jane Austen adaptation (or films about Jane Austen)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every on-screen Shakespeare
adaptation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every on-screen Dickens adaptation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-mythology-themes movie (since, for
some reason the Greek pantheon seems to always speak with a British accent)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every appearance set primarily in
a boarding school</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every appearance as royalty,
peerage, or a villain in an American, Canadian, or Australian film (animated
films included)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every appearance in a period drama
or period drama series not on Masterpiece Classic<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Subtract:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One point for</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every appearance
in a film with Hugh Grant</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-appearing in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love, Actually</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One half-point for</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-every appearance
in a film with Kiera Knightly or James McAvoy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-role in which one
was required to adopt an American accent</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Appearances with Colin Firth, Judy Dench, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helen Miren, and Helena Bonham Carter, and
adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s works are neutral</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The incomparable Maggie Smith, for example, would have an
approximate MQ of 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+ 1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gosford Park</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Becoming Jane</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">David Copperfield</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Clash of the Titans</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Becoming Jane</i> (starring James McAvoy)</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kiera Knightly would have an approximate MQ of 7 1/2:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-1/2, being Kiera Knightly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anna Karenina</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and
Prejudice</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pirates of the
Caribbean</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Duchess</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atonement</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Arthur</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dr. Zhivago</i>
(remake—obviously)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oliver Twist</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love, Actually</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*An MQ of greater than 5 means you live in Hollywood anyway,
so there’s no way you’re schlepping back to the UK to make films that pay PBS
budgets…unless, of course, you are Maggie Smith who (in the rage-filled words
of Avery Jessup on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">30 Rock</i>) “IS A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TREASURE</i>!!!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*3-5, You contribute to the majority of the PBS programming
that does not have to do with the folk music of Mississippi or fund
raising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chances are good you a played a
member of the Weasley family.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*1-2, You are every other actor in the whole of the British
Isles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">----</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you have it. Maybe now, when you wonder why my self-editing function isn't quite as strong as it should be in terms of filtering out lame puns and unnecessarily complicated humor, you'll understand why: It's clogged up by keeping stuff like this from flying out of my mouth. Happy Tuesday, everyone!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-5014945386659176422012-07-09T09:53:00.002-07:002012-07-09T09:53:51.605-07:00All I Really Need to Know in Life, I Learned from /The Twilight Zone/<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are things I really like, such as the ranch dressing from Outback
and cashew chicken and driving a 5-speed car and a wedding with good dancing to
non-annoying music and the clearance rack at Banana Republic and
well-scripted/well-acted movies with minimal swearing that have a good message
but don’t get pedantic.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are the things I can’t live without, such as Dr. Pepper
and homemade salsa and/or guacamole with extra cilantro and books and jeans with a 34” inseam and good conversation with good people.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are the things that make life worth living, like
well-behaved dogs and people who are nice to animals and the Pizza Hut Pizza
Buffet and period dramas and the music from the likes of Paul Simon or The
Mountain Goats and moving worship services and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">30 Rock</i> reruns.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there are the things whose value is far greater than the
amount of time to which I have actually devoted to them, such as Kiva.org and great
ape sanctuaries and really knowing the nitty-gritty of constitutional law and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> The Twilight Zone</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Twilight Zone</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It feels like watching good literature—that the
twists are rarely predictable (just like an O. Henry story) and the study of
irony is top-notch (as in Hemingway) and the themes of humanity are often both
encouraging and convicting (much like T.S. Eliot).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider myself fairly well-versed in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TTZ</i> canon, though I must admit that I
have certainly not seen every episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore, I look forward to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight
Zone</i> marathon that Syfy runs every New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July,
because it gives me the chance to catch up on a “new” episode or two.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, I was able to see Burgess Meredith in “The
Obsolete Man”—and I have not been able to get it out of my head because of the
final scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plot synopsis is as
follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meredith is a librarian
[actually, his second <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TTZ</i> librarian role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone know his other, more famous one?] in a
futuristic society wherein books no longer exist, technology rules, and anyone
ruled by The State to be obsolete must be “liquidated” within 48 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faced with such a verdict, Meredith makes the
request (as is his prerogative) that he be executed in a manner that is to
remain secret until he shall reveal it, and that his final hours be broadcast
for the nation to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The judge from
his trail, a State goon, comes to visit Meredith in his book-filled home as he
awaits his execution, and Meredith locks the door behind him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, Meredith reveals that he has requested from
his executioner that a bomb be planted in his home, set to detonate at
midnight, with everyone watching.</span></div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDn3tcPiMRA"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This clip</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, about 5:30 long, is the end of the episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be sure to watch until Rod Serling appears
at the end and delivers the moral like a 1960s Aesop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then ask yourself the rather frightening question
of whether or not those of us who share Serling’s view on the matter have also
become obsolete.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-28710978876067487432012-07-06T08:47:00.002-07:002012-07-07T09:52:06.986-07:00I Was Watching /Pan Am/ Instead of THIS on Sunday Nights? (Part 1)<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Season One of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Downton
Abbey</i>, the sweet but simple kitchen maid, Daisy, is so caught up in her
crush on the conniving footman Thomas, she begins to adapt her actions to
mirror his in the hopes of catching his attention and winning his favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point in Episode Four, she makes an
unkind crack about one of the houseguests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mr. Bates, the noble valet, turns to her and remarks, simply, "Don’t be
so nasty, Daisy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t suit you.”
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
all he has to say, but the shame apparent on Daisy’s face makes it clear that
the correction struck home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His admonition
was not cruel or self-righteous but, rather, rooted in the fact that he
considered her character to be better than what she was currently displaying.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, that we should all be fortunate enough to have a Mr.
Bates in our lives—someone who gently but unashamedly corrects us when we
succumb to the temptation to be less than our best selves; someone whose
disappointment stings more and cuts deeper because their own character is
marked by both integrity and humility; someone who sees us not for how we are
acting at the moment but for who we truly strive to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been blessed with a Mr. Bates—a friend who is
well-loved by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone</i> because of her
naturally sunny, hilarious personality and who pours out kindness on everyone
in her orbit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet she is not above
simple comments of correction to remind others that she knows they are better
than how they are acting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Well, I say “others”
when, really, I’ve only ever witnessed such moments directed at myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it is because she has the tact and
class to address such issues in private . . . or maybe I’m just the only person
in her circle who requires such reminders.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The point is that for more than half of our lives, since the time we
were about 15, she has been willing to do the sometimes rather uncomfortable
task of saying (without exactly saying it):“Tiffany, you’re better than that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I get too caught up in my own snark or too
self-congratulatory in my own sarcastic observations, she will often make a
quiet comment before continuing the conversation in a more positive direction
and carrying on as if nothing happened. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never feel she is judging me or thinks of me
less as a person. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, she simply
reminds me of who I want to be, and can be, and am—so long as I don’t opt for the
low road simply because it’s easier or funnier or makes me feel clever.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, that we should all be fortunate enough to have a Mr.
Bates, indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are the ones who
remind us that we are made of better stuff than this world.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7718372890052013371.post-36344794417355003452012-07-05T07:57:00.000-07:002012-07-05T18:01:06.506-07:00DIY Rejoicing<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rejoicing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's one of those loaded churchy words that we know and love and totally want to do and find it quite easy to undertake at great news from work or an exciting moment in our family or when we find our missing teaching copy of <em>The Sun Also Rises</em> with three years' worth of notes in the margin. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But how do we "rejoice in the Lord" as we are so often urged to do?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rejoicing is different from giving thanks for what He has done for us (though, obviously, that is hugely important, as well). I think it's more about worshipping His unfathomable greatness and sovereignty with a mixture of humility, excitement, and joy. If we look at the Old Testament models of rejoicing, since it abounds there, there seems to be quite a bit about lyres and timbrils and rattler-sistrums and dancing and burnt offerings. However, since I left my rattler-sistrum in my other pants and Mississippi is currently under a burn-ban, how else do we worship with rejoicing? I'll be honest: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have attempted to dance before the Lord. Unless the Lord is into </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY_DF2Af3LM"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Senifeld</em></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> reruns, I don't think it was the most effective worship time...for either of us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how do you rejoice? What suggestions do you have for genuine, effective, joy-sharing, soul-lifting rejoicing?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1