Monday, November 14, 2011
Right Here Now
"Where else would we go?" asks Peter, not because I don't have anywhere else to go, but because I'm exactly where I want to be.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Calling
I am a product of my parents' calling
and as such it is increasingly challenging to discover
a calling of my own.
and as such it is increasingly challenging to discover
a calling of my own.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
At Least I Got a Car
"...don’t you want to just sit still?
Cause you can only run so fast and drive so far
And home might feel like a funny idea that you never understood
But you want it more than you want the car.
...Going home feels like the thing you ought to do
Because you can only drive so far..."
Don Chaffer
Cause you can only run so fast and drive so far
And home might feel like a funny idea that you never understood
But you want it more than you want the car.
...Going home feels like the thing you ought to do
Because you can only drive so far..."
Don Chaffer
Friday, June 17, 2011
Until We Have Faces
"Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? ... All my life the God of the Mountain has been wooing me. Oh, look up at least once before the end and wish me joy. I am going to my lover. Do you not see now?"
~CS Lewis
~CS Lewis
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A Supper Conversation
It's incredible how comfort food is culturally specific. Faced with a night alone in the apartment by myself, and a trip to the grocery store later, I have a pot of stew bubbling on the stove and a bowl of sukuma wiki and chapatis* sitting next to me. When push comes to shove, I always head home. This is true in more facets of my life than my culinary choices.
When I'm confused about my life, one of my first impulses is to either call my mother and father or head home to see them. When my world shifts, I look for familiar, for comfortable, and for love. A cup of tea and a cuddle on the couch. A mug of hot stew and a biscuit in front of the fire while my parents and grandparents catch up. Grape Fanta, cheese puffs, and Reese's Cups. Whether you're a vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, or some variation, it's undeniable that food is an integral part of your life. My home is where my heart is. My home is where I get fed and feed my family and friends.
The professor who taught my Gospels class focused on how Jesus' actions fulfilled Old Testament expectations of the Messiah--like, in the Old Testament, God is described as the one who walks on the sea and when Jesus walked on water, the disciples would have made that connection. The Jews expected the Messiah to heal them, to cast out demons, and to provide the great banquet in heaven. A great part of heaven is food--we will sit down at the marriage feast of the Lamb and we will be fed everything we could possibly need. "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19.9).
Ya'll, this is really freaking cool. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus ate with his disciples and told them how much he'd been looking forward to celebrating Passover with them. But then he adds, "I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22.15-16) And then, hours later, he dies on a cross to fulfill his promise and and to invite us to participate in his marriage supper. We're not just invited to the reception; we're part of the ceremony! And at that feast, no one will go hungry and no one will be lonely or left out and all food allergies will be ancient history.
So when you celebrate the Eucharist with your church family, or eat comfort food at home, or find yourself staring at leftovers again, remember two things. First, this meal is just practice for the marriage feast of the Lamb. Second, Jesus died so that you could eat it.
Praise the Lord.
________________
*Please ignore the fact that chapatis do NOT taste the same with self-rising flour.
When I'm confused about my life, one of my first impulses is to either call my mother and father or head home to see them. When my world shifts, I look for familiar, for comfortable, and for love. A cup of tea and a cuddle on the couch. A mug of hot stew and a biscuit in front of the fire while my parents and grandparents catch up. Grape Fanta, cheese puffs, and Reese's Cups. Whether you're a vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, or some variation, it's undeniable that food is an integral part of your life. My home is where my heart is. My home is where I get fed and feed my family and friends.
The professor who taught my Gospels class focused on how Jesus' actions fulfilled Old Testament expectations of the Messiah--like, in the Old Testament, God is described as the one who walks on the sea and when Jesus walked on water, the disciples would have made that connection. The Jews expected the Messiah to heal them, to cast out demons, and to provide the great banquet in heaven. A great part of heaven is food--we will sit down at the marriage feast of the Lamb and we will be fed everything we could possibly need. "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19.9).
Ya'll, this is really freaking cool. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus ate with his disciples and told them how much he'd been looking forward to celebrating Passover with them. But then he adds, "I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22.15-16) And then, hours later, he dies on a cross to fulfill his promise and and to invite us to participate in his marriage supper. We're not just invited to the reception; we're part of the ceremony! And at that feast, no one will go hungry and no one will be lonely or left out and all food allergies will be ancient history.
So when you celebrate the Eucharist with your church family, or eat comfort food at home, or find yourself staring at leftovers again, remember two things. First, this meal is just practice for the marriage feast of the Lamb. Second, Jesus died so that you could eat it.
Praise the Lord.
________________
*Please ignore the fact that chapatis do NOT taste the same with self-rising flour.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Can't Be Tamed Pasta
Put a big pot on the stove and fill it with water. When the water starts rolling in a boil, put pasta in (as much as you want to eat, or share with friends, or eat for leftovers, or all three).
While the pasta is boiling, chop up an onion (as much as you like) and saute it with some oil (olive, veggie, whatever, no big). While the onions are working their onion-y magic, chop up something else: squash, zucchini, chicken, fish...something you think will work well in pasta sauce. Put this into the pan with the onions and cook until almost done (meat will take longer than veggies)
Check to see if your pasta is cooked; you will need to taste it and find out.
Add some type of pasta sauce to the (not pasta) pan and wait until it starts bubbling. Drain pasta and add to to sauce pan. Mix. Eat.
While the pasta is boiling, chop up an onion (as much as you like) and saute it with some oil (olive, veggie, whatever, no big). While the onions are working their onion-y magic, chop up something else: squash, zucchini, chicken, fish...something you think will work well in pasta sauce. Put this into the pan with the onions and cook until almost done (meat will take longer than veggies)
Check to see if your pasta is cooked; you will need to taste it and find out.
Add some type of pasta sauce to the (not pasta) pan and wait until it starts bubbling. Drain pasta and add to to sauce pan. Mix. Eat.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
What I Learned Today
People are complex: just because you relate to them in one way doesn't mean that's the only thing that's going on for them. The girl who stole your boyfriend is also dealing with a divorced mom who's getting remarried.
I might think I'm the center of the universe, but mine is not the only universe and God is still on his throne.
I might think I'm the center of the universe, but mine is not the only universe and God is still on his throne.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Life Happenings
This summer I've chosen to live on my college campus instead of moving home like I did last summer. The decision was made somewhat haphazardly, which is almost an improvement for me: normally I agonize decisions for ages and it was a refreshing change to have something happen quickly. It came on the heels of my visit to Jubilee Partners, an intentional community in northern Georgia whose purpose is to acclimate refugees to life in the United States. The visit was interesting; I'd actually applied for a summer internship and went for a tour.
While walking around the property, the man giving the tour, Robbie, and I discussed community, and fellowship, and what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. On my three hour drive home, I started thinking about MY community; I'd intended to move to Jubilee for the summer to learn about forming community but I have a community here at ACC.
Part of my community is pregnant and delivering her second child mere months away. Another part of my community recently asked me to be in his upcoming wedding. A third (the husband of the pregnant one) and I discuss God and life and the intersection of the two in practical application. Our community garden is growing and growing and leaving for Jubilee when the summer term starts (in a couple of days) would mean leaving the growth, which proved to be an unacceptable loss.
So instead of moving home, west, or to Jubilee, northeast, I moved from Head Hall to apartment building 4 the day before yesterday. My summer's goals look somewhat as follows:
Learn about my place in God's community, through a deepening of the relationships with the people around me, whom I love.
Figure out what it means to be a semi-independent woman living in a major city in the United States.
Watch my friend as she carries her baby to term.
Practice my Greek--my final grade in second semester Greek was less-than-desirable.
READ--lots and lots, anything and everything I can find. This includes the Bible-in-a-year program which took a backseat to finals but does not exclude young adult fiction or academic works.
Figure out exactly how to feed myself and how difficult a proposition that will be.
Learn a balance between working and playing, as opposed to studying and playing.
Blog about all the above.
And I'd love to go to the beach, but goodness knows if that will happen.
While walking around the property, the man giving the tour, Robbie, and I discussed community, and fellowship, and what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. On my three hour drive home, I started thinking about MY community; I'd intended to move to Jubilee for the summer to learn about forming community but I have a community here at ACC.
Part of my community is pregnant and delivering her second child mere months away. Another part of my community recently asked me to be in his upcoming wedding. A third (the husband of the pregnant one) and I discuss God and life and the intersection of the two in practical application. Our community garden is growing and growing and leaving for Jubilee when the summer term starts (in a couple of days) would mean leaving the growth, which proved to be an unacceptable loss.
So instead of moving home, west, or to Jubilee, northeast, I moved from Head Hall to apartment building 4 the day before yesterday. My summer's goals look somewhat as follows:
Learn about my place in God's community, through a deepening of the relationships with the people around me, whom I love.
Figure out what it means to be a semi-independent woman living in a major city in the United States.
Watch my friend as she carries her baby to term.
Practice my Greek--my final grade in second semester Greek was less-than-desirable.
READ--lots and lots, anything and everything I can find. This includes the Bible-in-a-year program which took a backseat to finals but does not exclude young adult fiction or academic works.
Figure out exactly how to feed myself and how difficult a proposition that will be.
Learn a balance between working and playing, as opposed to studying and playing.
Blog about all the above.
And I'd love to go to the beach, but goodness knows if that will happen.
"Religious Refugees" by Frederick A. Norwood
A church
Scattered like leaves before the wind
Of autumn
A congregation of faithful men
Driven
Beyond the sunset and the stars
A communion of saints
Wandering homeless
Seeking a home
The body of Christ
Unbeing
Becoming
A sanctuary
Roofless no walls
Formless on no foundation
Cathedrale engloutie
Sans marque
Sans visage
Secret
Silent
Lonely
A church flowing
Like a river
Never stopping
Unchanneled
Unbound
Free
Are these wanderers
Homeless going home
Still the church?
I've never posted someone else's work on this blog before, but this poem (found in a book entitled Strangers and Exiles: A History of Religious Refugees)... it makes me feel small and lonely but in a good way.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Holy Week
It’s the day after Easter. We’ve experienced the excitement of Holy Week: the triumphal entry and the crowds shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” We’ve sat through the Last Supper, and wondered with worry and confusion at Christ’s words, “This is my body and this is my blood, the cup of the new covenant.” We watched him arrested in the garden of Gethsemane and we’ve followed him to the cross in horror. Our hopes are crushed, and we wait in anguish, our leader, our direction, our light, dead, gone, taken, dead. He’s dead. What now? What do we do now? Then, beyond all expectation, Sunday comes. Sunday comes and with it we have hope. It’s the day after Easter. Christ is risen, indeed, but I’m left behind. On Friday morning, I ask, with Pontius Pilate. “What is truth?” And like Pilate, I have killed the anointed one with my answer.
I don't know what I think about this. It feels true. But I can't quantify it. All I know is that I want to try to polish my writing less, and this is the result of like, fifteen minutes.
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