Mom, when were you born?

Titus just asked me, "Mom, when were you born?"

"April 16, 1966."

"Wow, that's a long time ago! Was that before the dinosaurs?"

Remember when high school students seemed old?

Has anybody seen my record?

Last week when Titus was exhibiting one of my less flattering characteristics - melting down over a little spill - I found myself singing a song from my childhood treasure. The Sesame Street 2 album had a great song "Everyone Makes Mistakes" - and I still remember it.

The moment of reverie got me thinking about that thing. Where did it go? I know I had it when I was in college. I used to whip it out and play now and then. If anyone ever sees my copy or a vintage copy in great shape, please get it for me.

And, it has to have the inside book included...oh, how I want to hear it!

things fall apart

A wise woman once reminded me that cars are machines and machines break - plan on it.

Well, that's not all that breaks. Lets add snowblowers, leaf blowers, bed frames, glass on your favorite artwork, Christmas ornaments, sofa legs, furnaces, plumbing, and houses in general due to things like termites for example.

Yep. That's our life this week. And don't forget cars.

Chinua Achebe wrote "Things Fall Apart" about the deterioration of social groups when facing change and stressors and how peace is eroded between others and within ourselves. I was reminded of his book this week mostly due to the title. But then I thought, you know, things do fall apart - they break. Fortunately things can be fixed. It all takes money of course. But really, it will all be OK. This week, in spite of more frustrations with our stuff, I'm content, at peace, and relaxed.

Thanks God for teaching me. I'm glad I can rest in Divine Love -

home of champions

Tonight Titus wrapped up Lil Dribblers - no its not a drinking rehab program for kids, though it does sort of sound like it, huh? (think Airplane, people) Ray just found Titus' award certificate. "So everyone was an MVP?" - I had kind of not even noticed that Titus got an MVP award.

Which reminded us of a very funny story. We once spent a few hours letting our toddler run around a gymnastics gym in Cary, IL. It was memorable primarily for the big sign above the door - "Cary Gymnastics - Home of Champions", wow I thought - cool I wonder if Olympic gymnasts train here - and then I saw the words just below..."where everyone is a champion".

Ah yes - political correctness and meaningless affirmation run amuck!*

*Ray and I have a theory that American Idol thrives on this kind of stuff - at least in those early rounds when you have delusional people who can't sing thinking they are IT. When did we lose the right to be average, just OK, or even not very good at some things?

little dog: round two

So I've had a desire for a little dog for a long time. Caesar is a real dog, as Ray would put it. Dogs are big. Little dogs, the kind that you can carry on one arm and snuggle on your chest during afternoon naps - those are emergency backup dogs, again, as Ray would put it.

Well, I want an emergency back up dog. And after much consideration, we've taken the plunge. About six weeks ago I heard about some pups from my hairstylist - part pomeranian, part schnauzer, part chihuahua - the pups that is, not my hairstylist. Yesterday when I was back for a cut I found out there was one pup left. The owner happens to now work at the salon too and quickly had her brother bring him over.

It was love at first sight. We are trying him out for the weekend and the vote is unanimous. He's a keeper. Welcome Samson to the Weikal clan!

Sacred/Secular and Other False Dichotomies

Some older posts ...

Maybe you've seen this video or the others in the series. These parodies of the Mac/PC commercials pit a stereotypical conservative Evangelical-ish Christian in suit and tie against a jeans/t-shirt/hoodie clad "Christ-follower". Obviously one is cool and one isn't. Now, I am sensitive to insulting people who aren't "cool" - and the video series does bug me a bit in that regard. However, the point I want to cull from this video is important - at least in my opinion.



Here's the deal. I think it is our tendency to create false dichotomies. We make two piles when there could be many. We limit ourselves to two choices, when there may be...oh...at least three.

But what troubles me is when we pull this tendency into the arena of faith and religion - specifically, the sacred/secular dichotomy. Who draws the lines? Do we have to draw lines? I have a friend, Jewish by birth and culture, who had a spiritual awakening sitting in his car listening to U2 in his high school's parking lot. My husband found God on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. My life as a Christ-follower has been shaped by Pulp Fiction and Crash - two movies that might not pass muster in many a "sacred throng".

I am sure that MY life has been most influenced by the Bible and the discourse I've been a part of in church communities and relationships with other Christians. But what I don't buy into this idea that God is restricted to "sacred" media. I can't say "everything is sacred" - I have a hard time finding anything uplifting in pornography for example. But I'm leaning hard toward beauty - whether art, music, or my sons large yet perfectly proportioned four year old hands - as an echo of divine wonderment. Wouldn't our lives be richer if we looked for Truth and Love in every nook and cranny of existence?

Speaking of False Dichotomies...Condemn/Condone

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Speaking of False Dichotomies...Condemn/Condone

Do ya'll remember about 10 years or so ago when Ellen Degeneres came out? (seems like a different world then, huh?) Well, I remember at the time being absolutely steamed by a comment that Jerry Falwell made, calling her "Ellen Degenerate". I seriously wanted to write her an apology and him a plea to SHUT UP. But I digress.

The point, and I do have one, is this - I recently found an article on the web which was written shortly after the Degeneres/Falwell thing. It asked this -"Would Jesus condemn or condone Ellen Degeneres?" Kudos, by the way, to the author. His answer was "neither - Jesus would LOVE her".

Why is it that we force ourselves into this categorical response? Are we for or against? In particular, as Christians, do we condemn or condone? Will we speak out against the evil or say nothing, which is just another way of saying it ain't evil at all...or so it is interpreted.

What I love about Jesus is that he was uber-clever. He always knew how to find the third way. I wish I were so creative. Since I'm not, I guess I'll default to the position of love. What can it hurt? Am I called to point out sin or love my neighbor? I think it is far easier to point out sin, to separate myself from really having to relate to anyone who is "misbehaving". I think I've done that a lot in my life.

When I look at the Gospels, I see Jesus relating to sinners who are transformed by his love and willingness to be a part of their lives where they live. It is the religious who are most often chastised for their sinfulness. What would happen if we made it our mission to truly love and left the condemning and condoning out of the equation? Do you think our love would draw anyone toward God, toward wholeness, toward freedom?

If we are going to do God's will here on earth as it is in heaven, we'd better start loving with reckless abandon. When is the last time you expressed love to someone whose behavior you would never condone?

God at Work in Russian Revolution?

Here's another post from the blog for our former congregation, reverb. I just want to have some of the record of my thoughts on the journey here for my new friends....

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

a people's tragedy

My husband reads books. I read them too, of course. But I read books. He reads BOOKS. You know, the big thick history books about English kings and Russia. He reads them over and again until the binding breaks and chunks fall out like first graders' teeth.

One of those chunks has been migrating around our house lately, moving from kitchen table to bathroom, bedroom to living room floor. Pages 363 through 452, if you care.

"Listen to this," Ray called from the other room. He began to read.

"There was also a new stress on the workers' own sense of dignity...and they were no longer willing to be treated with any disrespect by either foremen or managers...Domestic servants marched to demand that they should be addressed with the formal 'you', as opposed to the familiar 'you', previously used to address the serfs. Yardmen demanded that their degrading title should now be changed to 'house director'. Women workers demanded equal pay to men, an end to 'degrading body searches', fully paid maternity leave and the abolition of child labour. As the workers saw it, these were basic issues of morality...Many workers spoke of founding a 'new moral life', based on law and individual rights, in which there would be no more drunkenness, swearing, gambling or wife-beating."

"Do you get it?" He asked. "I know exactly what you're thinking. I got it in about the second sentence." (Married people are like that sometimes) "Sounds a lot like the Kingdom, huh?"

I find it interesting that God's kingdom rises up in unlikely places at times. That was Russia in 1917 - around the time Americans were fighting for suffrage and prohibition. About the time that our denomination was gaining legs. Here's my question. Does God's kingdom rely on religious people to cause it to happen or could it possibly move at Divine impulse through means the religious do not sanction or call their own?

* the painting is titled "Revolution" by Marc Chagall

Where are the Republicans?

I spent an hour or so watching some of the Brown & Black Forum from Des Moines - a presidential candidate forum focusing on minority issues. Seven of the eight Democratic candidates were there. NO REPUBLICANS. All were invited.

I don't get it. Why would you decline an opportunity to discuss minority issues on a national stage? The explanation given by the moderator was that the Republican party thinks they do not have any chance of winning the racial/ethnic minority vote in Iowa, so they didn't go.

There it is. It is about winning, not about public discourse. Not about saying to Iowa minorities, "you matter - your concerns matter - your burdens are my burdens - minority issues are issues we all must face together as one country, black, white, brown, and any shade in between".

I want a political leader who cares about all Americans, not just the wealthy whites. Don't tell me any of the Republican leaders truly cares - they weren't there.