Wisdom from Whitehead

The quote on the top of this month's Metanexus Institute's newsletter... food for thought:

"You cannot shelter theology from science,
or science from theology;
nor can you shelter either one from metaphysics,
or metaphysics from either one of them.
There is no shortcut to the truth."
– Alfred North Whitehead, Religion in the Making

Whitehead is a scholar my theology and science prof respects a lot. He's pretty cool... deep into applying process philosophy/thought to this dialogue. Try out Ian Barbour's Religion in an Age of Science to get a glimpse of Whitehead's thoughts... among many others.

Does God exist in the gaps of people's minds?

Some pipsqueek on one of the message boards I peruse was trying to give scientific evidence that God exists and that evolution is crap. What's interesting is that after a few posts (where he seemed to be responding to MEGA negative feedback), he started on the "can't we all just get along" schpeel.... my response is "don't be antagonistic if you don't want to be antagonized." Seriously. His evidence came from some very interesting sources, all of which were creationist/biblical literalist websites... most of which were using philosophic/logic rhetoric to "disprove" scientific theory.

What's interesting about that approach in my opinion is that it really is taking apples to compare oranges... completely different epistemological paradigm for contemporary scientific method than that type of thinking which is kinda pre-Newtonian. It's like using Newtonian physics to explain quantum physics.... of course there's going to be HUGE GAPING HOLES because the intial premise (the basic building blocks) is completely different.

While I was seething at home in front of my computer, I looked at his recommended websites, always curious to see what the other side is thinking, and started looking for alternative websites to offer. The atheist websites I browsed are either just as unhelpfully antagonistic or utterly vague. But then Wikipedia amazed me once again with a fairly thorough look at the different views on the Existence of God. I really appreciated it, helped me wrap my brain around the positions of atheism... which, as a devout theist, I've often had trouble understanding. So, I posted that as an alternative reading source... and no one has bothered me. Guess it didn't really offend anyone... huh. Go figure.

Just don't be trying to scientifically prove the existence of God to me, that riles me up. Wonder why, since I'm Kansas born and bred? :) Besides, I really don't see any point. I have all the proof I need, but it's not exactly measurable by scientific means. ;) Really, that guy did me a favor, I learned a few things I didn't know before, maybe I should thank him.

kenpo, babies, and hot showers.

Sigh. Tonight I went to a karate class at my old "dojo"... It's a bit more small scale than that, but it's the people that make the dojo, not the space. I miss it terribly.

I actually abhor any other form of exercise. Well... that's not true... i just hate exercise for exercise's sake. I love martial arts/self-defense and I love hiking and backpacking and cross country skiing. I love the feeling of working out... but I hate walking in place for 1/2hour or lifting weights on a machine over the physical exercise of accomplishing a task or learning a new skill.

I miss the exhiliration of executing a move correctly or when the move doesn't happen the textbook way and you have think on your feet and kick their butt anyway. :) I miss the comraderie and the seniority of goading and encouraging people on... teaching a technique using different and new illustrations you thought up as well as the wisdom from your own teachers.

Contented sigh. I'm physically exhausted... I can feel the new strains and old ones surfacing, so off to the hot showers for me. Is it sick of me to say that I miss the aches and pains and bruises as well? :) My badges of honor, I guess. My head has been stuck in a book or in front of a computer the past 2 years, I don't even know where the time went.

Enough waxing. I babysat my friend's baby tonight. He's so wonderful... and even in his adorable polite perfect babyness, he wore me out. It takes so much patience and hyper-awareness to be responsible for little ones. I feel more ready than I was ever before, but the time has not yet come... if ever. We'll see. Until then, I'm content to be auntie Regan and hand over the tyke at the end of the night. :)

i could build a house of books

It's true. SIGH. I have, oh, I'd imagine a thousand books or so at least and the piles keep on growing. I try to get rid of the quick read fiction/paperbacks as soon as i read them, but other books keep on creeping into my life when I'm not looking.

Yesterday there were boxes of old books (probably from a retired or deceased pastor) in the student center and at first I was going to ignore them (good, Regan) but then a classmate starts reading off titles and I get sucked in. I then try to say "These are out of date and i'll never read them" Then I see John Bright's A History of Israel, a cricital work in bib studies, then I see a book on the Enneagram... before I know it I have 4 books stacked in my arms and I ran away before I grabbed anymore.

Then last night, when I should have been writing my theology of ordination paper, I skimmed through the enneagram book... it using it in a psychoanalytical way... really only focusing on the negatives of each point of the enneagram. It was rather depressing, actually. What was interesting is that while Type 2 (the giver) has historically been mine (see previous post... and many of the traits still resonate often), I find myself transforming more into a type 9... the mediator.

It's amazing, really, how we all change and evolve. Deep down I'm often still that passive type 2, but type 9 really is more about focusing on a goal while still avoiding and deflating conflict, versus sticking your head in the sand. Guess little (HAH! LITTLE?, that's funny) Regan is finally growing up.

My not-so-snarky finals rant & UCC coolness in all things cool

Actually, I'm not feeling very snarky at the moment... For once, I feel good about the ethics exam I just took. This time I at least recognized and could put something down for each of the terms/issues. Too many freaking words and people to remember. Why can't people all just follow the Ethics of Regan... it would make my life easier, and well, the world would be a much better place, because I know what's right. yeah, uh-huh.

What would the ethics of Regan entail, you ask? Well, we'd have to get rid of the idiotic notion that humanity is the top of the spiritual/sentient/ethical food chain. From there, I think the rest would fall into place, don't you?

Anyway, onto more exciting and interesting news, John Thomas, our beloved president is one of OUT Magazine’s "100 Most Intriguing Gay Men, Lesbians and Straight Allies,” the cover story of the slick publication’s December 2005 issue.

Thomas, who has headed the UCC’s national setting since 1999, is listed among nine “straight allies” for his leadership during the UCC General Synod’s deliberations in July that ended with a resolution in support of same-gender marriage equality. The story notes how the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Religious Leaders Roundtable “has lauded Thomas for his efforts and the UCC for its historic leadership in the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in its ministry.” (And, Ron Buford was also listed...)Buford, who is gay, was touted for his leadership of the UCC’s Stillspeaking Initiative.

There's a new line of headline/posters of the God is still speaking campaign... the promotion fo the UCC as a progessive, welcoming place... Here's my faves:

SHELTER for the SPIRITUALLY HOMELESS

Do you know every word, but NONE OF THE MEANING? (a picture of the bible)

Turn your other cheek, NOT YOUR BACK

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM doesn't have to be an OXYMORON.

red state, blue state... or JOYOUS STATE?

Rock on, UCC!!! I know, I shouldn't find such satisfaction from cutting taglines, but I do. Hey, I'm human... and according to the Ethic of Regan, as a human, I'm at the bottom of the spiritual plane, not top. :)

it's colder than, well, cold...out there

Well, it's time to put up the Teva's for the winter, I believe. *sniff* Even with socks, my toes are cold. I despise shoes... or perhaps its more indifference.

satiric journalism... or just full disclosure about the ridiculous nature of media...

I have become hooked on the Daily Show and the Colbert Report on the Comedy Channel. I've been an occasional viewer before, but the state of this nation makes me wanna cry or laugh, so I choose to laugh. I can't decide which is better, the entertaining banter of Daily and his guests and mocking of tv reports... or Colbert and his attempt to mimic conservative reporters without laughing.

Sufis Swarming My Head

So, I can tell that the great sufi poets have influenced a great deal in what I think about poetry. It's not as classically structured, who am I joking? I've always done what I want. But there is a density of quippy one-liners, similar to Thoreau as well. It almost always has heretical thoughts about the universe and God (read pantheism here), totally relies upon nature images and sensory illustrations, and has some type of spiritual/cosmic lesson to ponder. In some ways, it's quite a rut to be in creatively, in others, it's an amazing way to express those esoteric ponderings that are always brewing in my mind and heart.

Here's an example... (this could also be the influence of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his Cosmic Christ/Light illustrations)

We exist as fractured light from a burning Source of Creation.
We never exist apart from that Star of Being.
Its light may bounce and bend until we lose sight of its brilliance.
Yet, our souls, those beams of natural light, cannot be,
Unless always tethered to the Sun.

Logos, a magnifying glass for the Truth of Being,
Concentrates the brilliance of creation into one single beam.
Logos Incarnate, the most beautiful of prisms,
Captures the intesnity of that solar flair within itself
And scatters the light in a million directions.

I know, burn me at the stake now. It's not done, yet, I don't think. If you haven't noticed, one part of the Trinity is absent... though in working of it, it's not so much the Spirit (the sense of that I hope is already conveyed in the first two sections) but us as the living representatives of Logos (and if you're not geeky enough, Logos is one way of talking about Christ in a cosmic way) today. I hope to end it with people of creation(God) being called to be extensions of that prism as best we can.

It's weird to be sharing some of this online. I've always been selective about what parts of my journaling I put online and what I leave to paper. I think paper is much more conducive to creative writing anyway. I'm currently working on something surrounding the Hebrew word nephesh which means life, spirit, well-being etc. It's a deeply rich word... like ruach which means breath, spirit, wind.

I'm also working on imagery with fog as cosmic mystery/tree as rooted faith/ and... something... maybe rolling stone? dandelion or helicopter seeds? as seeking faith. The seeking faith illustration is driving me nuts. Rolling stone is too cliche and too hard. Tumbleweed still pretty cliche and dead. Seeds, while perfect for connecting to the tree imagery would be weighed down by fog. I GOT IT! I think. What about a pine cone? Still connected to the tree... living with hope and promise of growth and life, and capable of going a long distance via many paths like animals/birds, storms, etc.

OK, now I'm rambling. Gotta go and do school work that I'm actually going into debt for and will hopefully get me a paying job someday.

Reverse evolution or just sheer stupidity

So, I remember in my evolution bio class in college we discussed the concept of reverse evolution, whether it can really happen, or if evolution is always a forward moving thing, even when a mutation or change of some sort seems to be detrimental. But today, I am all for the thought of reverse evolution... it's the only explanation.

See article about Kansas' decision to include intelligent design and stuff in science curricula.

Baboons control Kansas schools

I'll have to lament over it more later...

Authority Issues, Me? Never!

So, today in Ministry Seminar I became a little devious, opening my mouth when perhaps I should have kept it shut. In comparing the difference between the UCC and the Methodist church I'm currently working at, I talked myself in circles about the distrust I have in hierarchal structures and anyone or thing that says it has authority over how I act, what I think or say. It's one thing to not want to shock the public with my radical tendencies, but it's another to be micro-managed by supervisors, patronized by mentors or teachers, or told I have to believe a certain way, etc.

It ultimately comes down to respect and trust... it's a two-way street for me. A title, degree, or even a position as a supervisor means squat to me if I don't trust or respect you. And why in the world would I give something like the bible ultimate authority over my faith and interpretation of Christianity? While one of the most packed anthologies of spiritual wisdom, it's also one of the most patchwork-written, inconsistent, and sketchy documents ever compiled. Besides, if God created us with the ability to observe the universe and society... would that not inform our decisions as well? Don't get me wrong, I have limitless amounts of trust and respect for many people as well as how the bible can inform my life and faith. But, for example, the Methodists have a "Book of Discipline" Just the very title makes my skin crawl. :) Thank goodness that within the UCC, I am not subjected to such harsh restrictions, or I'd never stay in the Church.

Becky and I went to Kaldi's in Kirkwood for lunch. I meant to run errands, but she was gone for 4 whole days, so we had to catch up. Kaldi's reminds me of the bohemian/hippy part of Lawrence... it makes me miss my home town. sigh. I'm not meant for this city living. Too many people, the very thought of no open space/countryside for 10 or more miles really freaks me out. Lawrence is perfect in that regard... all the benefits of a university town, only 1/2 hour to the city, and still 5 minutes away from farmland and lakes, etc.

I'm going to go and read more depressing stuff on the state of the world and how it's all going down the drain... mostly because of people in authority. :)

cannibals and the bible

So, i heard a horrifically funny story yesterday.

Someone I know had a pastor once who just loved and lived by the verse Micah 6:8... you know the one that says:

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?"

Well, this pastor decides to get the type of license plate on her car that you can chose a letter/number combo and placed her first choice as MICAH68 and then her NAME1 and her NAME2 as the 2nd and 3rd choices. Unfortunately, she did not mark the box that said "Do not change the numbers to random choices if these options are not available."

So she ended up with a license plate with random (or perhaps not so random?)numbers chosen which said MICAH33. Not knowing what that verse said, she immediately went home to check it out. This is what passage Micah 3:3 says:

"Who eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them,
break their bones into pieces, and chop them up
like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a cauldron."

To top it all off, this pastor is a vegetarian.

wow! talk about a lesson in the mixed messages of the bible.

sermons:coming down from the mountaintop

I've been trying to figure out how to have my sermons on here without requiring people to read through them all if they don't want to. This is when being a little more computer savvy would go a long ways. Alas, I'm just a poor seminary student whose geekiness shines through in ways other than computer know-how. So, here's a sermon I don't believe I ever preached, so I need to remember to keep it around. It's on the Ephesians text "that they may all be one" and I think on the ascension... maybe...

"That they may be one" is the passage on the UCC logo and yet, I don't think I ever took the time to find out which text it was from before. So, today as I'm looking at the lectionary passage for the day I preach at the church i'm hoping will license me as a lay pastor... THERE IT IS!!!

This past year has been a test or lesson on why I am UCC to the heart... why I am no longer Lutheran... and why, ultimately, there isn't much difference between the two. I'm going to school to learn how to pull out the tiny threads of differences in beliefs, to draw out the nuances of people's perspectives and discover multiple layers in every thought, word and deed of the church and its people. Then they give us tools to weave it all back together again, seeing the unity of all things, the similarities that connect us all to God. Through all this, the seminary helps us see a world made up of a kaleidescope of beliefs and experiences. And, then, when the professors have thoroughly turned our world upside down, made us dizzy with 4 syllable words and reeling from thousands of pages of reading, they pick us back up again, brush us off and say "Haha! Just kidding! Go back to your everyday life, go back to doing dishes and walking the dog... your mountaintop experience is over."

It's quite a let down sometimes, let me tell you! Here I am, on a roll, writing page after page of theological jargon, getting into the discussions on soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology and every other kind of -ology... and then bam! Back to the real world.

I imagine that is what the apostles felt like when the resurrected Christ left them, finally ascending into heaven. First their world is turned uspide down by this man drawing them away from their fishing boats and other jobs, telling them the world is not as it seems...revealing the richness and beauty of faith in God. Then their leader, no, actually not just a leader, their Lord, their messiah, is executed by the government. Talk about a shock to the system. They think the mountaintop experience is over, time to go home... but WAIT! Christ resurrects from the dead, renewing and energizing their faith in him and his work in the world. The mountaintop experience is even more revealing, even more profound. This time, Jesus is more pointed about what they are to do, preparing them for when he leaves them again, ascending into heaven. Imagine the disappoint they must have felt to see Jesus rise up and leave... watching the incarnation, the inspiration of all that God is, go away... again.
Personally, I'd want to follow Jesus, leave all the trials and tribulations of this world behind. After all that talk of how wonderful being with his Father is compared to our world... Buy me a ticket, I'm going to paradise. It's like watching all your friends go to the Bahamas for Christmas, why aren't you taking me, Jesus?

But some of the scriptures read today tells us why. There is still work to be done. We are to be witnesses to the ends of the earth of what God has done through Christ. We are to continue the ministry Jesus began, reflecting God's love and grace to all the peoples. Easier said than done, boy, I tell you! I'm still looking over my shoulder, pining away for heaven, for those glimpses in my life of the resurrected Christ. The apostles were a bit stubborn about it too. In fact, angels had to come and tell them to get off their rear ends and get to work. They asked them: "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?"

Now I'm a person that really likes to daydream, I like to stand, or sit, or lie around looking towards heaven, thinking about who God is, who I am, what tomorrow may bring. My mom, on the other hand, is a pretty practical person. I heard the other day the quote from Ben Frankiln that says don't put off doing something tomorrow when you can do it today. And I immediately thought of my mom and I. Busy, busy ,busy even when she's havng fun. It takes a lot to get my mom to sit down sometimes. And sometimes, it's just the opposite for me. :) It's not laziness. I'm a busy person, too, really, I am. Many days I leave my house near sunrise and get back 12, 14, 18 hours later. But, here's some examples: In her spare time, Mom likes to garden. In mine, I like to learn how the garden grows. Mom does Tae Bo, I do martial arts to learn the history and theories behind the moves. Mom reads mystery/crime suspense books and I read science fiction and fantasy. While we both are movie junkies, I also like watching those artsy flicks nobody can ever figure out. Mom became a lawyer and I am becoming a minister. There's nothing wrong with how either of us goes about things. The world needs people like my mom and I believe the world needs people like me too. But sometimes, when I'm stuck staring at the clouds, looking for heaven, I need someone like my mom to bring me back to earth and tell me to do the dishes. And sometimes, when my mom is doing the dishes, she needs someone to tell her sit down and read a book.

The messages in the scritpure read today are telling us to both slow down, pay attention to God, hand over our burdens to God and to also get off the couch and bring some of God's kingdom to the people around us. Nothing like a well-balanced lectionary to start the day off with... :)

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My sunshine has come...

I have found my anthem for this year... from an older Angie Stone CD I hadn't listened to in a very long while. It's funny how I never really noticed the lyrics before... now they mean something more I guess.

Artist: Angie Stone
Song: No more rain (in this cloud)
Album: Black Diamond
link to CD


Chorus:
My sunshine has come
And I'm all cried out
And there's no more rain in this cloud

There's no hiding place
When someone has hurt you
It's written on your face, and it reads
"Broken spirit, lost and confused"
"Empty, scared, used and abused, a fool"
Oh, ain't it funny that the way you feel
Shows on your face... Chorus

So you want to live and to you I shall give
All the space that you requested
Hope you don't live to regret it
So you say you're in your prime
Baby, don't waste your time
Remember my love, it's only a thin line
(It's never too late)... Chorus

Spring has come and winter's gone, my love
But don't look around for me, child
I'll be gone (I'll be gone, gone, gone, gone)
Not afraid because the seasons have changed
I'm gonna count my blessing then just follow the sun
Cuz you see... Chorus

(It's written all over your face, yeah)
And the smile you used to wear
Seems a little bit out of place
(Tracks of your tears)
People oh, hold on
In time it gets a little better, whoa... Chorus

Any Surprises Here?

OK, I swear I will stop putting all the tests I'm taking on here, but here is one more... my political tendencies...

You are a Social Liberal (76% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (8% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

The Apiru Champion

So, I'm on a test taking kick these days. I took the myers-briggs again... no changes, still an ENFP. I've been thinking about ANE (ancient near east) culture and stuff all day. There's so many parallels to back then to today. So, as an advocate for the underdog, I have named myself the Apiru (pre-Hebrew)Champion!!!!

ENFP===The Champion
You scored 54% I to E, 15% N to S, 33% F to T, and 63% J to P!
Your type is known as the Champion type, which is part of the larger group called idealists. Nothing occurs that does not have some deep and ethical significance in your eyes. You see life as an exciting drama. You are very charismatic, yet tend to be too harsh on yourself for not being as genuine as you think you should be. 3% of the population shares your type.
As a romantic partner, you need to talk about what is going on in your life. You are a strong supporter for your partner's efforts to grow and change and be happy. You need to feel that same support from your partner. Expressive, optimistic, and curious, you are eager to enjoy new experiences with your partner, whom you wish to be your confidant and soul mate, as well as play mate. You are uncomfortable sharing negative emotion, though, and tend to withdraw from confrontation and process your feelings privately. You feel most loved when your partner appreciates your creativity, accepts your uniqueness, and sees you as the compassionate person you are. You need to hear your partner tell you how much you mean to them and would love if they did thoughtful spontaneous things to demonstrate it.
Your group summary: idealists (NF)
Your type summary: ENFP

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 53% on I to E

You scored higher than 11% on N to S

You scored higher than 43% on F to T

You scored higher than 75% on J to P

I am the Reincarnation of Mother Teresa... wait, I'm too old

So, I ran across all these online tests I took a year ago from Tickle.com. Some interesting stuff. Here's my Enneagram results...

Regan, you're a Type 2 - The Humanitarian

Friends, family, and colleagues probably appreciate your caring and generous
nature. They're also apt to know that when they come to you with a problem,
you'll usually offer a shoulder to cry on and unparalleled compassion. As a
Humanitarian, you're likely to be seen as a loving and helpful person with a
kind heart.Being a member of this type puts you in good company. Mother Teresa,
with her tireless devotion to aid the sick and destitute members of society, and
Bishop Desmond Tutu, with his emphasis on nonviolent protest against racial
injustices, are also Type 2sThis means that compared to the eight other
Enneagram types, you have a strong sense of empathy for other people. In fact,
you're the kind of warm, sincere person who can be uniquely capable of seeing
the good in others.

Well, that's me to a tee... okay, maybe on a good day... actually, it's probably only true right after I ate a good piece of chocolate. Which means any future children I may someday have will want to invest in bulk. ;)

Headline: Treehuggers delay coming of Christ

So, I'm reading a plethora of articles and books in preparation for writing my paper on Christian Environmental Ethics, but have a found a particularly juicy book of essays by evangelical Christians called The Care of Creation. In an essay on eschatology (for some meaning end times, armageddon, return of Christ, etc.) a professor at a bible college responds to his students' relevant question....

"If the end of history will involve the annihilation of creation, does
not Christian involvement in green issues serve to delay the Lord's
return?"

SIGH. I always knew this thought was lurking in the back of some people's brains. Probably the same people who see the recent hurricanes as a sign of an immanent armageddon. The author of the essay does give a provocative argument using none other than Jurgen Moltmann's theology of hope (saying that creation transforms daily towards the promised future kingdom of God) combined with Paul's call to use our spiritual gifts for today's problems.

UCC or bust

So, today I was browsing some of my classmate's blogs and pondering how little I ponder on the importance of my denominational affiliation. Why, after 5 years of membership in the United Church of Christ, does this collection of God's people still fit me so well?

In my web wandering, I came upon this article from last December and a response to the response of our national ad campaign. The Compassion of the Christ. It sums it up pretty well... in a round about way... the only way the UCC does stuff, you know.

I'll think about this stuff some more and write about it later....

Dog breath and leg cramps

I just got back from a late night walk with my buddy Becky. Now that the weather is cooling off and we are both back into trying to be healthy, we're getting back into the habit of walking. It's been a bit painful for me. My leg with the bum knee (from the black belt test) has been cramping up in the calves/ankle/arch, esp uphill. Stretching will help for a little bit and I think just keeping on plugging away and it will decrease.

But my previous post about cool fall weather? Scratch that. It's muggier than bad dog breath out there and I'm drenched. UGH. Don't care if it's not 100 degrees out, it's still icky and I wish it'd stop!!!

I've been doing well with focusing on being healthy and not on the losing weight thing, but this weekend has been esp. hard on the morale. A good friend has been doing the low-carb thing for a few weeks now and has lost 15 pounds. Another has a personal trainer and has some kind of weird diet restrictions and is melting away the pounds too. I keep on telling myself that rapid weight loss is not my goal. I do NOT want to be a yo-yo dieter my whole life. And drastically changing my eating habits has not been successful for me in the past, I just quit when life gets tough. And focusing on making healthier choices in stead of measuring and counting may mean it's slower going, but is really making a positive difference in my mood, attitude and overall sense of well-being. Who exactly am I preaching to? Moi. I thought so.

Had a full day at church today. From 8:15am to 8pm with a 2 hour break in the middle. It was a pretty good day, anyway, but I'm pooped. Off to bed.

Time to separate the kids

So, I realized that I don't particularly like the lack of privacy on Blogger compared to my livejournal account, so this is now my family-friendly and more public blog site. Any complaints? Too bad. You'll just have to sign up with LJ and get on my friends list to post your complaint.

LOVING the post-storm weather. the wind is almost too brisk... fall is finally in the air. I'm so excited. I hated St. Louis in the summer time. I hope I can find a way out of this joint for my last summer in seminary. I don't think I could take a repeat.

Confessions of a closet sci-fi junkie

It's Here! The long-awaited Season 2 of Dead Like Me is on DVD!!!! For those of you who I did not force into watching season 1, this is a dark comedy on a young disaffected suburbanite woman who dies and is recruited to be a "grim reaper" for other dying souls. She, of course resists her call and there is plenty of mayhem ensuing... Yippee!!!

And, of course it has our very own song-and-dance man, Mandy Patinkin, as the supervisor/mentor of our wayward reaper. Jayhawks Rock! (Whatever. Like I've ever felt any devotion to my home town's pride and joy university.)But who doesn't know the "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." man?

I'm ordering it online as we speak, or I speak, or write, or whatever. Something to look forward to. SO many questions not answered. SIGH. Too bad Season 2 is the last one. All the good shows get cancelled, while reality shows clone, I mean drone on.

Speaking of good shows being cancelled, Joss Whedon's Serenity is coming up on the BIG SCREEN!!! Based on his one partial-season hit series Firefly... a combo of sci-fi and western. IRRESISTABLE. Stupid TV Producers don't know good stuff when they're sitting on it. Anyway, for a glimpse into the world of Joss Whedon's world, I recommend Hellmouth Central. It's all about the many worlds created by this man's brain. And to see the going's on of those extremely dedicated to Serenity, visit the Browncoats.

I know, what's a crazy theological nerd like myself doing wrapped up in the worlds of vampires and sci-fi cowboys... wait, what kind of question is that?

The Sufi in all of us

Last Wednesday I picked up a volume of Sufi poetry at the Subterranean Bookstore on the Loop. This book, called The Gift, is full of contemporary translations of Hafiz, a 14th century Persian poet and Sufi master. As I flipped through the pages and read the history of this amazing wordsmith, I felt an amazing sense of dejavu. Not the kind that repeats a detail from a crazy dream, but the kind that dregs up a memory of a similar experience in a similar place. I began thinking how my journey in choosing ministry as a vocation, my journey to seminary, may have started in an obscure bookstore reading my first volume of Rumi’s poetry.

I remembered reading a passage of Rumi in a world religions class, being blown away by its complex simplicity and sensual spirituality. I remembered highlighting and underlining verses like some do in their bibles, journaling and referencing Rumi every chance I got. Through a few simple verses in a humanities course in college, I became a convert to mysticism. Mysticism opened a window through which my badly scarred spirit could reenter Christianity again. From Teresa of Avila to Evelyn Underhill to Kathleen Norris, these visionary Christians welcomed me into a world where the parameters of the Church did not restrict their relationship to the Divine.
Happening upon this book of poems made me feel as if I’ve completed some type of circle. The title, The Gift, seemed, still seems, to be of great importance. Not only is the book and words in them a gift, but this glimpse back in the direction from whence I’ve come is a gift. At the time of my awakening, I could never have imagined I would progress this far. The Gift also reminds me of why I feel prepared for ministry. It is a reminder that I not only am aware of my own gifts, but I also have learned much in how to better use my gifts. My heart converted with an earnest fervor to the concept of a ministry vocation years ago, perhaps even upon reading that first verse of Rumi, but I’m not sure my head and hands knew how to respond right away.

Here's some Hafiz to contemplate on: (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

The small man builds cages for everyone he knows.
While the sage, who has to
duck his head when the moon is low,
keeps dropping keys all night long
for the beautiful rowdy
prisoners.

Toe Jam of Corporate America

where does the time go when you're shoved into the darkest corner of the corporate storage closet known as the data entry world? 3 months have passed and the only thing i've accomplished, besides keeping the bill collectors at bay, is to turn even more pasty white (impossible, you say, with all the 120 degree weather... HA! not if you're a blob who gets up at the butt-crack of dawn to commute, stare at a computer screen all day, commute home, eat take out, and stare at a TV screen until bed) and gain 10 more pounds.
This is the antithesis of last summer's adventures. Almost like pennance or something, if I believed in such a thing, that is.

Liberation of the OOMPA LOOMPAS

I've been gone wayyy too long from my journal and spendign wayyyy too much time doign data entry... i'm starting to contemplate scary thoughts on the state of the universe and what I could do to shake things up a bit... all while typing in 60-80 purchase orders an hour. UGH! I'm getting to the point (finally) that school is starting to look like a double decker gooey chocolate cake compared to the mind-numbing appeal of $10/hr.What have I been thinking about while typing my fingers into a numbing frenzy? Well, after the 20th time watching a preview for some extreme martial arts fighting tourney on pay-per-view... sometimes I'd be fantasizing over what I could do to a big testosterone dripping tattoo marked karate stud... well, enough of that...

I've actually composed a few sermons in my head while entering in all these orders for self-help fundies and prosperity gospel how-tos. Of course, the sermons went over AMAZINGLY well in my head... entire congregations of disaffected suburbanites standing up and joining the fight to save the world from whatever suffering I'm preaching on. SIGH. if only life were really like that. No need for OOMPA LOOMPAS to make the candy anymore, we all would make our own candy from organically shade-grown cocoa and sustainably grown sugarcane... no need for the dictator Willy Wonka to use slave labor, victimizing little orange people and drugging us into believing his fairy tale with the sweetest of opiates... REFINED SUGAR... the WHACK CRACK for sweet tooth junkies. Personally? Give me my dark chocolate... the purest richest flavor there is... mmm....



Sigh. sorry, needed a moment there. where was i? :) Ah, yes, my life-changing sermons. Well, I hope that i didn't waste all my good sermon ideas on the little people in my head... cuz they'll obviously think anything I think is genius... and I've already converted them to my cult by using sleep deprivation, hallucinagenic drugs, and the power of suggestion. Hate to double dip my efforts like that.

20 questions

Do you ever wonder how you become friends with someone? Where did it all start... what makes some friends confidants, others hang-out buddies, others like family, others like bitter medicine you swallow like its good for you... And then there are some friends, just a few... really only one or two... that are all of the above... It's strange, really. Of course, most of the time I just thank my lucky stars that there are people out there who put up with all my quirks and deviancies. We're all just messed up human beings who tolerate eachother's crap in the hopes that someone else will tolerate ours.

I'm sitting at my computer by the window, smelling the rain, hearing the thunder... probably just asking Mother Nature to come fry my computer. But I don't care. I LOVE summer storms and I'm feeling contemplative... go figure.

I am a jar of peanut butter...

My horoscope today said "Going nuts is only a plus if your a jar of peanut butter". I read that after spending 3 hours this morning in bed staring at the ceiling recalling all the stupid things I've said or done, all the comments that could be taken as put downs, all the crap dribbling in my brain I normally shut down. One of my realizations this morning is that my life seems to be one long journey from crossroad to crossroad, always facing some other huge philosophical/ethical/esoteric BS question that will ultimately define who I am, what the world is and WHAT THE HECK I AM DOING HERE...

sometimes I wonder why I even try

Today marks the end of a week in the enemy trenches...