Tangent, anyone?

Oooooh, Shiny!

Friday, February 27, 2009

10:17 am – Back on a plane (CO Seat 9F, in case you’re wondering) bound for Houston. The giant bag of Skittles from WDAFRAB was indeed a sign. I am exhausted and ready to see my husband and kids again, but I’ve just experienced all kinds of awesomeness over the past two days.

I couldn’t possibly cover everything in one blog post. Well, I suppose I could, but it would be more like a novella than a blog post, and I don’t want to steal my pastor’s blog M.O. And speaking of pastor’s blogs, here’s a little tidbit of moderately interesting information: When I started reading Jeff’s Convergence244 blog, I didn’t even know what a blog was. I thought that maybe there were a few people out there that had blogs, but surely not anything I would be interested in reading. The only notable exception to this was another blog called Convergence that had a very similar URL address. Why was it so interesting, pray tell? Because the other convergence blog was A) also called Convergence (which is me restating what I just told you, but I don’t like to have just an “A” and a “B”. I have random moments of OCD.), B) The writer of the blog is also named Jeff, C) the other Jeff’s outlook on life was in such stark contrast with Pastor Jeff’s, that I will heretofore refer to him as “Beyondo Jeff”.

Okay, sorry guys. I’m in full tangent mode. Bear with me…

The creation of Jeff’s blog was intentional. When Jeff , Tam and the girls left our old church and moved back to Ohio, it was for the express purpose of Jeff going back to school to further his post graduate education in church leadership, thereby better equipping him to pursue what God was calling him to do, which was…..”Anyone?....Anyone?....Bueller?.....Bueller?....Ferris Bueller?

That’s right: to plant a church. Good job! Some of you have really been paying attention! The Convergence blog was a means for Jeff to gather his thoughts and get some feedback from friends about the eventuality of planting a church. I don’t know that he necessarily came right out and said that, and it’s not as if he had this sneaky little plan to test the waters and reel in a core group. But it was a way for Jeff to “put himself out there” and see if what he had in mind was a good, Christ-centered thing or just a big bag a hooey. (Moderately interesting sidenote: “hooey” is an actual word, whereas “sidenote” is not. Which reminds me of a great Jim Gaffigan bit where he says, "You are so dumb, Spellcheck!") But I digress in the midst of my tangent...

While Jeff’s blog is full of hope and teaching and encouragement; reminding its readers to rely on God even when He seems very far away, the content of Beyondo Jeff’s blog was as dark as the Blogger skin that he chose for it. One got the impression from reading it that Beyondo Jeff truly believed that life was barely worth living; that people were jerks (himself included), and that he once had a glimpse of a good life but that it was far beyond his grasp now. I left a few comments there, and I know that others have as well, hoping to provide some encouragement to him.

Reading Beyondo Jeff’s blog also served another purpose for me. It was virtual truth that there is much darkness in this world, and millions of people who have yet to experience the freedom of a life seeking to abide in Christ. Our mission is important. If I truly believe in hell (which I do), Then it was high time for me to stop looking sadly upon those whose lives were desperately and hopelessly mired in sin and simply say, “Good luck with all of THAT!” As one of my favorite movie characters Red from “The Shawshank Redemption” would say, It was high time that I “Get busy living (for Christ), or get busy dying.”

Dude. I had no idea I was going to write about that when I started. Katdish: Queen of the tangent. Long may she reign!

A Random Look at my morning.

Hey! That's 3 posts in a row that start with "R". I wonder how long I can keep that up?

I typed this on the airplane. There's more to my day, but it's late and I gotta get some sleep. I need to have my sarcasm "A" game on tomorrow. So, here ya go:

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

12:50 pm – Sitting in seat 8F on CO airlines flight destined for Atlanta. The captain announces that we will be delayed from taxiing to the runway because something just blew into the eyes of a member of the ground crew and they need to find a replacement. Wut?! (The crew member, not his eyes.) Begin reading “Under the Overpass” by Mike Yankoski. Thanks for the recommendation, Marni!

1:20 pm- The flight that was supposed to take off at 12:45 is now in route to the runway. I am frantically attempting to type birthday wishes to Frank, husband of Beth, who still hasn’t posted a Snuggie video. Mission accomplished. Still waiting on said video. Wuzzup with dat? Feeling rather gangsta at the moment, fo shizzle.

1:30 pm- Hear the flight attendant shoving that stupid cart up the aisle and smashing a couple of unsuspecting elbows in the process. Grateful to have a window seat with an empty seat between the woman sitting on the aisle seat. I’m not anti-woman sitting one seat over, it’s just nice to have some elbow room. She is a well dressed, attractive woman reading a book (WDAWRAB). Hold on, I’ll try to see what it’s called (gotta be on the lowdown – shhh!) It’s called “I Feel bad about my Neck”. No, I am NOT making that up!

1:40 pm- I order a diet coke and a bag-o-pretzels. The bag contains approximately 5-1/2 pretzels. I couldn’t eat another bite! Meanwhile, WDAWRAB breaks out a deli sandwich chock full of deliciousness. It pays to plan ahead! Well, at least I guess it pays to plan ahead, I wouldn’t know.

1:45 pm- Oh snap! I am not making this up! WDAWRAB just pulled out a giant bag of Skittles! This, I am confident, is a sign from God declaring the awesomeness of the adventure that awaits me! Kewl.

1:50 pm- Captain has turned on the seatbelt sign as we are expected to experience some mild turbulence. I am lamenting the fact that I didn’t pee before I boarded the airplane. My husband told me to leave the house no later than 10:15 am for a 12:45 flight. Shea, right! Turns out he was annoyingly right yet again. Because I left a tad bit later than that (11ish) and by the time I got to the “Tacky Texas Crap Gift Shop” just before Gate C-29 (which is the very last gate at the end of the concourse), the final boarding call was being made and I had to throw my bag-o-tacky into by purse and make a run for it. Obviously, I made it. So there.

2:00 pm- I seriously gotta pee. Proceed with kegal exercises.

2:01 pm- This isn’t happening right now, I just forgot to tell you this: The pilot said earlier that it is 45 degrees in Atlanta. Forty freaking five degrees? It’s 78 in Houston! I did not bring a jacket. Oh well, it’s a good thing sunshine follows me wherever I go. Still have to pee. Now I’m doing the jiggy leg.

2:10 pm – I just asked the flight attendant when we’re supposed to land in Atlanta. She said 3:45. And I’m thinking, “How suck is that?” She must have sensed my alarm, because she informed me that they are an hour ahead of us. Good thing, cuz I really gotta pee. You know, like Forrest Gump after he drank all those Dr. Peppers at the White House?

2:15 pm- I wonder if anyone would pay money to have me write a book where I simply ramble on incessantly with an occasional prosperity gospel rant. That would be awesome. Angela got mad at me because I tagged her on Facebook for “25 Random things about me”. Which is strange, because I could spout off about 325 random things about me right outta the gate. Seriously, turbulence or not. I’m gonna go find the bathroom…

2:20 pm- Okay. I’m back. Could they make the aisles of these airplanes any narrower? I’m not exactly petite, but it’s not like I’m big like Fat Oprah (who I like way better than Thin Oprah). I just touched at least eleven shoulders with my butt. That’s ridiculous. Then, when I get back to my seat, WDAWRAB, who is listening to some time management CD on a portable disc player with some sweet Bose headphones, stands up to let me in and the dang CD player fell on the floor and under another seat. Katdish: Annoying people at 10,000 feet and beyond.

2:25 pm- There is a little yellow triangle with an exclamation point on my computer battery thingy, so I guess that means “Your time is up”. Also, the trash Nazis are coming down the aisle and they look like they mean business. Now the triangle just turned to a red “x”, so I suppose that would indicate that my battery means business as well. Bummer. Oh! We’re descending, and it’s 64 degrees. I don’t need no stinking jacket! Now, go about your business. I won’t be back until I am safely in Alpharetta with my laptop plugged into the wall!

Reader Survey! Reader Survey!

Question: When you are really overwhelmed and angry about something, what works best for you?

Answer: Prayer. Okay. Right. That's the obvious answer. But have you ever been to a point where you find it difficult to pray? You begin a prayer, then your mind just begins to focus on the very thing or things that brought you to your knees in the first place - not on God. What then?

For me, it is time to hop in the car, pop in a CD and get my angry diva on. Usually, I'm all about lyrics when it comes to songs, but some of my favorite angry diva songs don't have much to do with what they're singing about. It has more to do with how loudly I can sing along. It is a cleansing experience. Plus, you get some interesting looks at the stop light. Do you have an angry diva song or songs? Here's one that I belted out in my car approximately 5 times in a row today:



I would love to know which songs work for you. If you know how, I would love it if you would put a link to a Youtube video of the song. And just to tell you, if anyone says "Walking on Sunshine" or "There is Peace in the Valley", I'm pretty sure we can't be friends anymore...

Heh, Heh, Heh!

BTW - This blog post is coming to you through the magic of scheduled posting. As many of you are reading this, I am in-route to a day of intense leadership training, apple computers and fauxhawked awesomeness, culminating in an extravaganza of worship, skittles, sarcasm and corn hole. That's right, peeps. I'm on my way to Hotlanta for the Catalyst One Day and then I'm off to meet up with Steph at the Red Clay Diaries for Off the Blogs. I will have Wednesday evening to prepare for the event. So please feel free to leave incredibly annoying and stupid questions and comments for the speakers of said event. I'm pretty sure that the ones who know me through their blogs love/hate me already, but this should really put me over the top! Woot! Woot!

Reality Check

Since Friday of last week, I have been pretty much consumed by a viral marketing campaign that I personally find offensive on a very visceral level. After posting about it a couple of times and making several comments on other blogs about it, late last night I made what I hope to be my final public comment about it on Pete Wilson's blog.

I have come to the realization that my connection to it and to the parties involved is just way too personal for me to discuss publicly without becoming overcome by anger and sadness. I am also aware that to a certain extent, there are those who are using this blog and those who have been linked to it as a means to further their exposure into the spotlight. I simply will no longer be a party to any of this. My church will continue to quietly help those that have been left at the curb, even as others deem our efforts as a complete and utter failure. I frankly don't give a rat's patooty what they think.

As to their impassioned pleas for people to give them a chance to prove their critics wrong, I will only say that, if nothing else, I pray that your relationship with Tim will give you a clearer understanding that he and others like him are people, not projects; and that if after this is all said and done you teach others too see people through the eyes of Jesus, I will consider it a tremendous success. In the meantime, all I've got is this:



Now, if you will kindly indulge me once again, I will close with the words of someone whom I consider to one of the most underrated Christian visionaries of our time:

I am a Christian because I have seen the love of God lived out in the people who know Him. The Word has become flesh and I have encountered God in the people who have manifested (in many "unreasonable" ways) His Presence; a presence that is more than convincing, it is a Presence that is compelling. I am a Christian not because someone explained the nuts and bolts of Christianity to me, but because there were people who were willing to be the nuts and bolts, who through their explanation of it, held it together so that I could experience it and be compelled by it to obey. "If I be lifted up," Jesus said, "I will draw all men unto me."

So, here I offer what is possibly the worst thing that can be offered: an explanation of a joke. And, what makes this more inexcusable than the fact that this is that, is the added fact that this is an explanation of a joke you've already gotten. I offer it anyway. I offer it in the hope that it might somehow encourage you to live out your lives and, by your living, tell the joke that I, in my writing, so feebly attempt to explain. Love one another, forgive one another, work as unto God, let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts. Make it your ambition to lead quiet lives. Obey. Greet one another with a holy kiss. No one will argue with that.

Rich Mullins

They forgot to mention a grocery cart and a new squeegee

(The title is meant tongue in cheek --
as far as I know, Tim neither needs nor wants either of these items.)


I hesitate to even publish this post because:

1. As Koffijah pointed out, we are so often motivated by outrage and not compassion, and I'm really struggling with that.
2. I don't want to encourage anyone to visit the website, because that only helps the marketing campaign.
3. I don't want to be defined by what I am against. I want to love what is good and hate what is evil. I also want to hate the sin but love the sinner.
   
   In case you're interested, some of the items you can purchase for Tim are: a ham sandwich $3.50, cheeseburger and fries $4.00, GQ Magazine $6.00, karate lesson $45.00, 1 YR Wall Street Journal $125.00, Laser Hair Removal $130.00, 8G Ipod Mini $130.00, Gym Membership $300.00, BlackBerry Bold $500.00, 2 Semesters at University of Houston $10K.
   
   
   And here's their slogan (I guess):
   
   Sharpie Marker...$1
   Cardboard...$3
   Bum....$100
   Using Internet Marketing to Fight Poverty...Priceless
   
   
   I would also like to point out the "Live Bum Cam" as they so eloquently call it has not been up at any time I have visited the site. Perhaps they've moved on to what they would consider bigger and better bums. But I'm not going to go back there and check, regardless.
   
   Alas, keeping my mouth shut is not one of my spiritual gifts, as you may have already surmised. I really wanted to post emails sent to me from the father and son team behind this campaign. But my husband strongly advised me not to do so, and I know he's right. (Dang it!) I think it's okay to say that they were both very polite and said that they understood my anger at the project. I don't think they could ever convince me that somehow the end will justify the means, but on that point I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree. I will however, tell you what my email said to them:
   
   

Yeah. That's hilarious. Glad the demoralization of a fellow human being is so very amusing to you. Your impassioned pleas for helping Tim get off the street don't hold much weight when you ask him to hold up a sign that says "Pimp this Bum" and let people know he needs a sharpie and a cheeseburger.

Ah, well. Chalk one up for the dark side. I have friends that were spending time with Tim and his friends, helping them as they could, and treating them like human beings. (Were you aware that they actually are human beings?)

I would be wasting my time to tell you that you should be ashamed of yourselves. Clearly you have no shame.

As difficult as it is for me to do so, I'm praying for you.

(I left out a portion of the email only because it mentions Tim's location specifically, and I didn't want to post that.)

I would like to again stress that both men were extremely polite and courteous in their correspondence with me. They also assured me that Tim was "in on the joke". But I'm at a loss as to whether or not they were sincere in their comments. I would also like to say that while I have yet to meet Tim personally, based upon what my friends have told me he well spoken, is an intelligent, caring, generous and compassionate person. It also does not escape my attention that while Tim looks like someone who lives on the streets, he is young, attractive, has good teeth and does not yet show the harsher physical attributes of someone who has spent a few more years on the streets. I'm fairly confident that this observation did not escape the attention of the marketing guys either. After all, who wants to pimp an ugly homeless guy?

There are so many things that bother me about this viral marketing campaign. Probably first and foremost is that even discussing it will in all likelihood cause their hit counter to rise, which is the desired effect. The hit counter doesn't measure your distaste for the content, and interestingly enough, there is no comments section. Ultimately, it is my belief that they feel this experiment will look good on their resumes, attract advertisers and help Tim in the process.

I don't know what will happen to Tim. I truly hope that he gets off the streets and begins to live a life full of hope. If this campaign allows that to happen, then good for him. I only hope that all parties involved understand that money does not address many of the reasons Tim is living on the streets in the first place.

I am continuing to pray for Tim, his friends, and the thousands of people who will sleep without a roof over their heads tonight - many of them women and children. I would be grateful if you would do the same.

Pimp this Bum dot com

One more time, peeps! I promise to write my own post very soon, but I got a call from my pastor today about viral marketing and his first hand experience with it. Please go over there and tell him what you think. I know what I think, but I'm keeping my mouth shut for now, which is no small accomplishment, to be sure.

Here's the link: Marketing Homelessness

What I would really like to do is to draw attention to this issue. I would very much appreciate it you would consider writing a post about this on your blogs as well.

Peace out.

The Chronicles of Marnia

So....

I know what you're thinking. Is katdish just going to post links to other people's blogs or is she actually going to write something? I'll let you in on a little secret: I am really crazy busy doing things in the non-virtual world currently, and it's all I can do just to spend a few minutes trying to keep up with my blog reading. I'm also working on another prosperity gospel rant that will be delightful, I'm sure.

For now, check out Marni's post.

As my friend Ryan B. would say, it's crazy delicious!

And speaking of Ryan (who loves Dr. Pepper), here's a random story: A few years ago, as head of the VBS crafts mafia, I decided that I would have the kids make ships in bottles to go with the story of Jesus calming the seas. I called the Dr. Pepper bottling plant located in the great city of Houston, Texas to see if they would donate some 2 liter plastic bottles. They graciously agreed, so I drove down there to pick them up.

Question: How many empty 2 liter Dr. Pepper bottles will fit into a 2005 Chrystler mini van?


Give up?

Three hundred and fourteen. But only if you have no passengers, you don't mind driving on major freeways in rush hour traffic looking like a recently filled gumball machine, are not so concerned about seeing traffic that is not directly in front of you, do not need to make any sharp turns that would require unrestricted movement of your arms, and have several people waiting at the church to help you pick up EVERY SINGLE BOTTLE. Because they will spill out of said minivan like water from an overfilled balloon as soon as you open the door. So, that was kind of special...

P.S. - If ya'll haven't read Koffi House, you're missing out. IT IS GOOD!

Hey ya'll, Check this out

My new blogger buddy Jason S. over at Connecting to Impact wrote a very thought provoking post. Check it out and leave your two cents worth. (Or in Sherri's case, your five dollars and ninety-two cents worth.)

Here's the link: Withholding the Actual Cost

Me Being Lazy: My maiden voyage into the blogosphere

Annie and Sherri posted their first posts, and since this truly appealed to the lazy slug in me, I thought I would do the same. Here are my first two posts:

Just Me here (4/30/08)

I'm not really sure what this blog is going to be about. But I've found myself writing really long comments on other people's blogs, so I figured I'd start my own and not subject anyone to my rambling commentaries unless they really want to read them. (Yeah, that worked out, huh?)

Since my walk with Jesus is what's on my heart and mind most of my waking moments, (okay, that's what SHOULD be on my heart and mind most of my waking moments), I will probably blog about this often. But I'm also a painter and mural artist. So I'll probably post some pictures of recent work and give some painting how to's as well. And, oh yea, I'm also part of a core group that's planting a church! I'm sure I'll blog about that a bunch!

I guess my blog entries will be very much like my thoughts: A series of seemingly unrelated post-it notes of thoughts and commentaries from my overloaded ADD mind... "Hey look, a chicken!"

After some in-depth research, the results are in: (5/5/08)

I have been cruising all over the blogosphere. Wow! There are some really funny, creative, imaginitive and disturbed people out there!I have come to the conclusion that my blog sucks. I am going to be under some reconstruction for awhile.....

I may not be your Facebook Friend Anymore...

Have you seen this?

Or this?

Here's a couple of snippets from your Facebook Contract:

"You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."

"The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other."

If I'm interpreting these articles correctly, as of February 4, 2009, anything you post on Facebook past, present and future, including links to your blogs, pictures, ANYTHING - they have irrevocable rights to -- FOREVER! If this is correct and legally binding, Facebook could legitimately lay claim to the content of your blog and publishing rights to a book based upon the content therein. Are you reading this Jon?

Perhaps I need to take a chill pill and talk to someone who knows legalese, but for the moment, I'm none too happy about being Facebook's bee-atch and I'm pretty pissed off. Do I have any lawyer lurkers out there that would care to weigh in on this?

Shopper's Alert!

Are you sitting at home thinking how truly awesome it would be to find a one-stop shopping place for all the things in life you really should not live without?

You'd love a Snuggie, but your dog's nails need a trimming, a few rhinestones need to be replaced on your jean jacket, you need to increase your closet hanging space, your produce doesn't have the fridge life you'd hoped for, you have bad mojo due to harmful foot toxins, you have a pesky overabundance of nose hair, your lace dickey is so 5 years ago, you're having a hard time eavesdropping on your neighbors at the mailbox, you have no place to hang your bananas, there's no good place locally to buy waterproof granny panties, you'd like to know what your cat is really trying to tell you, and your dryer is full of lint! Look no further, my friend!
















One visit to the fine folks at Harriet Carter and your troubles are over, my friend! You can find all the aforementioned items and SO MUCH MORE!!! You're welcome. Just trying to make all of your lives a bit easier. I'm generous like that.

P. S. - Who in the heck plays backgammon anymore? Wrapped in a Snuggie or otherwise?

Koffi House: My new favorite blog

Okay, peeps. Don't get your grannie panties all in a bunch. You know you're all my favorites for different reasons. But Koffi House is more like reading a book -- a very, very good book.

Koffijah is a missionary in a "closed" country. For this reason, he does not go into great detail on his profile. He only recently started writing this blog, so you have an opportunity to read it in its entirity and get in on the "ground level". I would highly recommend it -- especially for my friends in ministry.

And Koffijah, if you're reading this, thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom. Please continue to write.

Dear Punk,

Dear Punk kid who stole my son's Yu-Gi-Oh Cards,

You and I both know what you did. You told me everything I needed to know when you avoided eye contact with me. My son is a very trusting kid. Because you guys were hanging out and having fun at the comic store, he naively assumed that he could leave his deck on the table while he left for a few minutes. The emptying of the pockets and the backpack was fairly impressive, but you and I know that you stashed it where it would not be found. I know you think my son is some rich kid from the suburbs, but as I type this, he is doing extra chores to pay for the eight dollar card that he had in his possession a total of 10 minutes.

When you took that card from him, you took away something else. You see, my son (much like his mom) is a bit of a square peg that never totally fits into the round holes carved out at school. When he goes to those tournaments, he is completely free to be himself and relax with other kids who are also square pegs. He will still enjoy going to these tournaments, but now that's one more place he will have to have his guard up. You taught him a valuable lesson that only experience can teach, but still...

I want you to know something else. We went out to dinner tonight. My husband usually says the prayer for the family, but tonight my son asked if he could pray. Guess who he prayed for? That's right...he prayed for you -- that God would forgive you as he has forgiven you. Do you know what I'm going to pray for tonight? I'm going to pray that every time you steal another kid's cards, you get caught. I want you to get caught stealing in a small way so that you stop while you're ahead. It's a much bigger deal when you move on to bigger things like old ladies' purses and cars. The authorities frown on those things and you might even wind up spending some time in jail, and how suck would that be?

Even though my son is convinced that you took his card, he will still be your friend and he will continue to pray for you. He really gets the "love the sinner but not the sin" concept. But don't be surprised if he wants to talk to you about Jesus. You might want to listen.

What NOT to give for Valentine's Day

I would like to state for the record that my dh and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know my anniversary is also in February. We celebrate that. I'm not hating on February 14. Feel free to spend your hard earned money on fattening chocolate, overpriced greeting cards and jewelry, dying flowers and stuffed animals that no one over the age of six should own. Okay, maybe I am hating on it a little bit...

But seriously, as a recovering pack rat, I am vehemently anti-crap. Have you been to Walmart, Target, et. al. the day AFTER Valentine's Day? It is a virtual wasteland of pink, red and white leftovers that no one needed in the first place. While I am tempted to do so, I will not begin a rant about how there are about a million worthy charities that will suffer because of the economy, and how they could use the money that people will spend on sentimental, sappy, useless items; the recepients of which will keep forever so as not to feel like uncaring, heartless robots. Okay, maybe I'm hating on it A LOT!

Now girlfriends, don't be mad at me for writing this. You know I'm not a girly-girl. In fact, when it comes to February 14, I'm kind of a guy. Truth be told, I'm not really romantic in the traditional sense of the word. Flowers, candy and jewelry are great if you like that stuff, but I'm a pretty low maintenance chick when it comes to personal, material things. The kind of things that I appreciate are more intangible: offering to take and/or pick up the kids from school or some extracurricular activity, emptying the dishwasher and loading it, picking up donuts on Sunday morning before church as I rush around trying to get ready, getting the kids up and letting me sleep in occasionally on a school day, picking up dinner when it's obvious I don't have a clue or a plan for the evening meal. These are all things that my husband does for me on a regular basis. He makes me feel special every day. For me, Valentine's Day displays of love and appreciation seem forced, superficial and manipulative.

If this day is special for you and your main squeeze, please don't take offense to my distaste of it. I may be hating on the manipulation behind the holiday and how incredibly depressing and left out it can make single people feel, but I would never hate on genuine displays of love and affection (as long as they are the appropriate and non-creepy variety). And speaking of genuine displays of love and affection, here is a commercial that is the complete opposite of that. It also makes me want to projectile vomit:




Conclusion: You give her a bear = She owes you something in return (wink, wink).

NOTE: For my male readers that think it would be a great idea to forward this post to their wives in lieu of the usual Valentine's Day gift, I need to remind you of three things:

1. If February 14 is a special day for her, you might want to indulge her.
2. The couch is probably a lousy place to spend a Saturday night, and
3. I'm guessing your lovely wife does not fart then blame it on the dog -- there are two sides to every coin.

Angela wrote a post about this too. Check it out.

For more helpful shopping tips for Valentine's Day, check out my post on The Fellowship of the Traveling Smartypants

Come talk to me

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." - William Congreve

("breast" is often misquoted as "beast", but I think both would apply)

I have probably been to over 100 concerts. I have always loved music. There is not a specific genre that prefer, although most country music does not cut the mustard for me. Which is ironic because I most definitely have a voice that is well suited for country western songs. My criteria for a song is this: Does it move me? Does it reach into my soul and find a place to rest? If you are a lover of music, I suspect that, like me, there are certain songs and/or artists that help define points in your life. I was reminded earlier this week the CD "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morrissette and "Nick of Time" by Bonnie Raitte were my anthems for several months after a particularly nasty break up. And then there's Peter Gabriel. The lyrics to some of his songs and the way in which he sings them denotes a level of pain and longing that is almost palatable. I also believe that they expose what many refer to as "the God-shaped hole in his heart". One of my favorites is "Come Talk to Me", because while I am rarely at a loss for words, there are some feelings and memories that I hold on to for fear that speaking them out loud would leave me emotionally ravaged and unable to recover. God knows the depths to which I have been, and I have no secrets from my husband. Still, there are some places I have not gone. Is there something that you need to share with a loved one or trusted friend? With God?

Come Talk to Me

The wretched desert takes its form, the jackal proud and tight
In search of you, I feel my way, though the slowest heaving night
Whatever fear invents, I swear it make no sense
I reach through the border fence
Come down, come talk to me

In the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast
With reptile tongue, the lightning lashes towers built to last
Darkness creeps in like a thief and offers no relief
Why are you shaking like a leaf
Come on, come talk to me

Ah please talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
We can unlock this misery
Come on, come talk to me

I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can't you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone
From nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one
You lie there with your eyes half closed like there's no-one there at all
There's a tension pulling on your face
Come on, come talk to me

Won't you please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me

Don't you ever change your mind
Now your future's so defined
And you act so deaf and blind
[And you act so deaf so blind]
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

I can imagine the moment
Breaking out through the silence
All the things that we both might say
And the heart it will not be denied
'Til we're both on the same damn side
All the barriers blown away

I said please talk to me
Won't you please come talk to me
Just like it used to be
Come on, come talk to me
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

I said please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me

As I stated at the beginning of this post, I have been to a lot of concerts. I have described the performance of this song to friends, and I was pleased to have found it on YouTube, because my description of it was woefully inadequate. It was so powerful to see it performed live. It may do nothing for you. That's cool, music is such a personal thing. But I wanted to share it, regardless.




P. S. - How AWESOME is that bass player?

Flippin' Sweet!

First things first: Do you know what happened on this day in history, February 10, 1996? If you're a big chess fan then
a) you probably wouldn't be reading this blog, and
b) you would know that IBM's Deep Blue defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov.

But another very important, life changing event happened on this date. I married the love of my life. I know people always say stuff like this, but I mean it when I say that I don't know where I would be without him. Or maybe I do and I just don't want to think about something so depressing. Without him, I doubt that I would have stepped through the doors of a church again. Can you imagine how completely unbearable I would be if I didn't have a relationship with Jesus? For this reason and countless others, I am quite literally eternally grateful for my husband. I love you, dear. This is for you:



Okay, so I realize that it's almost Valentine's Day and whatnot, but I just now figured out how to make a movie with my very favorite Christmas gift, my new flip video camera! I'd never even heard of it before I opened it on Christmas eve. Here are three movies I've just created. George Lucas, eat your heart out!

Here's me opening another one of my favorite gifts. And yes, my family IS that loud and obnoxious all of the time, so I come by it naturally.


(My son can barely contain his excitement at the thought of his mom taking over the Wii. And yes, those are the infamous plumber's crack jeans.)


Now, here's a gift for my son from Grampa (thanks, Dad):



And because I'm a proud mama, here's my son Cameron knocking the snot out of a golf ball:



Yeah, he's 11 years old, and he's a REALLY good golfer. How far does he drive the ball? Consistently over 200 yards. (I know, I know...I'm bragging.) But still, pretty cool, huh?

And now for something completely different...

No doubt, millions of you have been on the edge of your seats anxiously awaiting observations I promised about Ted L. Nancy's book "Letters from a Nut". (I realize that my site counter indicates a much lower number, but once it reached infinity, it started over. But I digress...)

"Letters from a Nut" is just that. It is a collection of letters that were actually written and mailed to an assortment of companies, individuals and heads of state. It has been rumored that Ted L. Nancy is actually Jerry Seinfeld, but this has never been proven in a court of law. Without further adieu, the following is one such letter and the corresponding reply:

Ted L. Nancy

560 N. Moorpark Rd., #236

Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

July 10, 1995

Mr. Albert H. Meyer, President

American Seating Company

901 Broadway

Grand Rapids, I 49504

Dear Mr. Meyers:

I had a seating question and I was referred to you because I understand you manufacture stadium and arena seating. My question:

When entering or exiting a seat in a stadium, which is the proper side to face the person sitting down? Rear to them or crotch to them?

I am always at a quandary when this problem comes up. To hence: last week at a sporting event I had to leave my seat. There were a row of people -- ALL FROM THE SAME FAMILY -- that were sitting down the row. I exited my seat, stood up and faced away from this family. Then I moved down the row realizing my buttocks were not 2 inches from this whole guy's family. I had shown an entire family my rear end! But then again if I had turned around and moved down the aisle THAT WAY, wouldn't that be worse?

Stadium seating is the only situation in life where you can show whole rows of people your butt or crotch. And it is acceptable!

Can something be done about this seating? Should the rows be changed? I suggest a single row straight up to the top. You walk into the stadium you simply find your seat number and go up until you get it.

Question: Is there a gracious way to exit?

Thank you, Sir, for your response,

Ted L. Nancy

AMERICAN SEATING

August 3, 1995

Ted L. Nancy

560 N. Moorpark Rd., #236

Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Dear Mr. Nancy:

Your letter on crotch or butt first was most interesting. In fact, in all 38 years which I have been in this business it is probably the most interesting question I have ever been asked. I have shared your letter with numerous of my colleagues, and they have also found it most interesting.

But alas, we have no good answer. Your idea of a single chair has merit, but unfortunately would greatly reduce the number of chairs which could be put in the building.

The only suggestion we could come up with is for you to come early before anyone has arrived, stay in your seat the entire time, and wait until everyone else has gone before leaving. This, of course, could cause an even more embarrassing problem.

If you come up with any solutions, we would welcome hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Albert H. Meyer

This is only one of many works of great literature that have been my inspiration throughout the years. I will from time to time share snippets from some of my other favorites. (Again, you're welcome.)

Isn't it Ironic? (not particularly)

Irony -
1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony
2 a: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c: an ironic expression or utterance
3 a (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2): an event or result marked by such incongruity b: incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony tragic irony.



Thursday night, as I sat in front of my computer reviewing the post I had written for the following morning, I decided it would be a good idea for Jeff (pastor) to review it and make sure I didn't have any glaringly obvious flaws as they pertained to "Zeke" and what he represented for C3 . I attempted to cut and paste the content into an email, but the the pictures became html codes and it was incredibly distracting. (Jeff's a tad ADD himself.) I then got this brilliant idea that I would allow him publishing rights to my blog so he could review the post, then revoke said rights afterwards. It's not that I don't want him to post here. He can tell you that I have asked him on numerous occasions to guest blog, it's just that he's kind of busy. Besides, when I added him as a contributor, my giant head disappeared from the sidebar, and I knew how much all of you would miss that. But I digress...

So, all that happened. He added the disclaimer about Jesus being the Living Cornerstone and associated scripture. Which was great, because some people will look for any reason to tell you how whack they think your theology is. Anyhoo, I made the final changes, scheduled it to post simultaneously with my my SCL premiere, then revoked Jeff's publishing rights. Except that I accidentally revoked my OWN publishing rights instead. I immediately called Jeff and told him what I had done. Irony? I'm not so sure. I think that situation would fall under the category of grace - unmerited favor, because he could have REALLY made me suffer, and trust me -- we wouldn't even be close to even in that department. So, do I have a point to this story? Not really. It just reminded me of the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morrissette:



and the fact that the situations described in that song are unfortunate, but not ironic. As a public service, I have decided to add some words to the song, thereby making it ironic. (You're welcome.)

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day (because he accidentally poked himself in the jugular vein with the pencil he used to fill out the winning ticket)
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay (that happened to be an albino fly, so it was white)
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late (because the electric surge caused by the execution resulted in the phone lines going out two minutes earlier)
Isn't it ironic ... don't you think (no, not really)
Chorus

It's like rain on your wedding day (in the Sahara desert)
It's a free ride when you've already paid (for the bus)
It's the good advice that you just didn't take (from Governor Blagojevitch)
Who would've thought ... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
'Well isn't this nice...' (Okay, that actually is kind of ironic)
And isn't it ironic ... don't you think
Repeat Chorus

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face (and that is very unfortunate, but not ironic)

It's a traffic jam when you're already late (for your job as the head of public transportation)
It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break (at the Marlboro plant)
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife (to cut open the boxes of spoons)
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife (who works as a pharmaceuticals rep for Ambien sleep aid)
And isn't it ironic... don't you think
A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think... (no, not really)
Repeat Chorus

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out (which is nice, but not ironic)

Here's some irony for you: Angry, white Canadian girl becomes international singing sensation with a smash hit called "Ironic", which isn't.

Okay, maybe I can connect all these rabbit trails. On a day when I had planned to sit at my computer all day and bask in the glory of my new found pseudo-celebrity status, I realize that I have to go the grocery store, the "oil changed required" light comes on in my car, and I get a call from the school nurse informing me that my daughter is running a fever and I need to come pick her up.

Do I consider this ironic? Nah. I consider that God saying to me, "Get over yourself You're not that big a deal."

The Building of Christ?

Okay seminary students and those in positions of leadership at your local house of worship, how many of you have seen and/or used this particular model? If I understand this correctly, PRAYER is the foundation, MISSIONS, DISCIPLESHIP, FELLOWSHIP, MINISTRY & STEWARDSHIP are the pillars that support WORSHIP.

I suppose it's a decent enough model, but here's my problem with it: If you remove one or more of the center pillars, WORSHIP is still supported by the remaining outer pillars. Perhaps not the strongest support, but still, it holds up. MISSIONS and STEWARDSHIP are critical aspects of a healthy church, but not superior to the remaining pillars. Besides, I don't ever recall reading that we are the Building of Christ. (While that's technically true, 1 Peter 2:5 says "you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." This is in context of Jesus as the living cornerstone, not the cornerstone of an inorganic, static building.) I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that we're supposed to be the Body of Christ. Oh yeah, here it is:

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

If the church is the Body of Christ, doesn't it make sense that the model should be a body?

Maybe something like this:

• The head would represent prayer. Without it, the rest of the body could not sustain itself.


• The torso, or core would represent worship. Obviously, the head is not self-sustaining, and the torso by itself is of little use.


• The head (prayer) and core (worship) could function to form the body, but with extreme limitations. It could communicate with and praise God, but what about the other vitally important parts that form the complete body?


• What if one of the two legs were to represent ministry?


• And maybe the other leg represented equipping?


• Perhaps one of the arms could represent missions,


• And the other arm could represent outreach.

Yeah, that makes more sense to me. I like the idea of the church being a living, breathing vital body, made up of many parts all working in harmony with one another to form the Body of Christ. If this model was studied, understood and lived out by a church and its members, would they model Christ more effectively? In this model, maybe people would no longer associate a church with a building. Wouldn't it be cool if, instead of someone saying, "Bob goes to such and such church", they would say, "Bob is part of such and such church". Maybe it's semantics to you, but I think that it might begin to change how people viewed the church as a whole. Perhaps some people would forgo the attitude of "What does this church have to offer me?", and begin to excitedly ask "What specific part am I meant to be here? How do I get the sense of fellowship and purpose that the people of this church seem to have?" That would be fantastic!

The next question I would ask is, "What is this model supposed to look like?" I don't know about you, but using a representation of the physical Jesus Christ seems -- I don't know -- disrespectful. Since I'm all about keeping things simple, what if you used a stick person? Okay, maybe that's too simple (and lame). But what if you happened to be part of this core group of amazingly diverse and talented people? For the sake of argument, say the pastor of this group got the whole "church represented as a body" concept while taking post graduate classes at a Midwestern bible college and wrote it out on a piece of paper. Then he had a friend with a graphics design background make a mock-up of this idea. Awhile later, he asked an incredibly creative core group member with daft computer animation and graphic arts skills to come up with the final model. I wonder if it would look something like this:












Because that would be AWESOME!

(Please don't misunderstand me -- I'm not suggesting that a picture has that kind of power, but I think what it represents certainly does!)

A Civics Lesson

I'm sure many of you must wonder, "How did katdish get so darned smart?" Okay, so maybe not, but cut me some slack, I'm trying to introduce a blog post, here. I don't know what kind of learner I am, but I know that if you put something in the form of a catchy song, I'm very likely to remember it. I owe much to Schoolhouse Rock, including acing my 12th grade government exam where we had to write out the preamble to the Constitution. Does anyone remember that one? Very catchy indeed.

So anyway, I make a concerted effort not to discuss politics on this blog. I have already broken one of two of the rules about never discussing religion and politics. But this stimulus package is really astounding me. How can you spend your way out of debt? Why do I have to be fiscally responsible, but Washington wants to act like Amelda Marcos on a shoe shopping spree? Here's my basic understanding of how a bill becomes a law:



Well, comparatively speaking, judging by the size of that little bill sitting on the steps on the capitol building, I imagine the president's stimulus bill would equate to something like this:



Or maybe that's just representative of the collective egos of our elected officials. (Sorry about the s-bomb in there, btw.)

Prodigal

DISCLAIMER: The following thoughts are from my not seminary trained mind and heart. If there is something within the content of this post that is downright unscriptural, I am counting on my friends who know better to set me straight.

Main Entry: 1prod·i·gal
Pronunciation: \ˈprä-di-gəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin prodigus, from prodigere to drive away, squander, from pro-, prod- forth + agere to drive — more at pro-, agent
Date: 15th century

1 : characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure : lavish
2 : recklessly spendthrift
3 : yielding abundantly : luxuriant.

Luke 15:11-32
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[b]'

22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

To my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ:
How many sermons, bible studies and personal studies have been devoted to this parable? Personally, I've lost count. And while I love the idea of Father God welcoming home his son who "was dead and is alive again", it always left me with this feeling of an incomplete story. So often we devote so much discussion to the wayward son and the forgiving father. But it has been my experience that the older brother is mentioned merely as an afterthought. Even when the oldest is discussed at length, it is with the caveat that "at least he's not THAT guy!" (referring to the younger brother).

This never sat well with me because at the end of the story, I always said to myself, "What about the older brother? That guy was a TOOL!" Perhaps it is because I naturally identify so much with the younger brother, but I think it is more than that. Check out how Luke Chapter 15 begins:

1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Is it too far of a stretch for me to suggest that the main intended audience for this parable (and the rest of them for that matter) is the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? Notice that the father (God) is reconciled with the younger son (sinners). What Jesus does not tell us is whether or not the older brother ever got over himself and realized his sin. So bitter was his hatred towards his younger sibling that he would not even recognize him as his brother. I don't know about you, but I find this more than just a little unsettling.

As I mentioned before, I identify with the younger son, but there have been times in my life that I have identified with the older brother. When I begin to feel righteous about my faith, I try to do a gut check to make sure that it is not self-righteousness, especially when I find myself making excuses for my lack of compassion and apathy. While we are saved by grace and not works, we will give an accounting to God as to how we lived our lives; how we loved one another.

My inspiration for the post was a book by Tim Keller called The Prodigal God. While I would highly recommend the book, what I really want to recommend is this:

If it's been awhile since you've read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, put aside everything else you are reading for a bit. Read this amazing and life changing story of the Savior of the world with the wonder of a child. It is the most compelling love story ever written.

"In this story [of the lost sons] the father represents the Heavenly Father Jesus knew so well. St. Paul writes: 'God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses' (2 Cor 5:19-American Standard Version). Jesus is showing us the God of Great Expenditure, who is nothing if not prodigal toward us, his children. God's reckless grace is our greatest hope, a life-changing experience..." (Tim Keller, The Prodigal God)

May you feel renewed by the love of a Prodigal God, whose love for you is beyond measure.

P.S. - Nick the Geek wrote a great post along these same lines. Check it out here

The Little Old Man from Sydney

Hey ya'll!

I was going to post something ridiculous, but I have to go paint some stripes on a wall today, and I thought this was infinitely more encouraging than a book review of "Letters from a Nut" by Ted L. Nancy. I promise to get to that soon enough. For now, hop on over to "Fellowship of the Traveling Smartypants" and check out this:

THE LITTLE OLD MAN FROM SYDNEY.

Peace out, homeys.

The least of these...

Sorry folks. No ridiculous or silly post today. I'll probably post something silly later today on The Fellowship of the Traveling Smartypants, but I really want to share some good stuff that Jeff talked about in church yesterday.

I'll begin with a command from Jesus found in Matthew 22:

36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So, practically speaking, what does the phrase "Love your neighbor as yourself" mean? The following is taken from Jeff's sermon yesterday:

James 1:22-25, 27:

22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Matthew 25: 31-46:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

What does this Scripture teach us about Christian responsibility?

Who are "the least of these brothers of mine"?

James 2:14-17:
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.


Two important characteristics in people who put their faith into action:

Someone who puts their faith into action has their eyes open.
Someone who puts their faith into action has their hands ready.

I missed Jeff's sermon, as it was Tia and my turn to teach the kids this week. But since I've had conversations with Jeff on the subject, I think I understand where he's coming from. He also shared this story: Frozen Indifference from Charlie LeDuff of the Detroit News. It is as outrageously infuriating as it is heartbreaking. And if I were to tell you that it wasn't more than a little convicting, I would be lying to you.

Sorry to be such a downer on a Monday (especially all you Cardinal fans out there), but of the multitudes of sins I will commit, I don't want to start my day right off the bat with apathy and indifference.