So many things to blog about these days! How's a girl to choose? I could go with the light-hearted, nostalgic theme or a deeper, faith-centered one (I've plenty of those lately). I think I'll try something a little different - a collage. A series of "blog-ettes." I'll shoot for 3 (2 faith, 1 nostalgic):
Faith Blog-ette #1
Yesterday morning, I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend of mine with whom I had spent all my formative years - from kindergarten through senior high. Somehow during the course of the two plus hours we had together, we touched on the untouchable: religion and politics (did I just hear you gasp?). No worries though, it didn't get down and dirty, and I daresay we parted as friends. She did, however, touch a sore spot.
She had moved out of our home state about ten years ago. What she didn't realize before her move was the political/religious make-up of the area into which she chose to settle: conservative, right-wing, republican, fundamentalist Christian. After the past ten years surrounded by these folks, she has one question: "where's the compassion?"
As one who lives in the metro area of what most consider fundamentalist Christianity (though far more moderate than right-wing and not necessarily republican), I say, Ouch!
She wants to know, and rightly so: Where's the mercy of God? Where's His heart for the poor that we see throughout the Bible? Where's "love the sinner, not the sin?" Where's humility? - I don't have answers, but I know I've been guilty. I know I can be judgmental, self-righteous, and proud - everything that God is not. I can't answer for the conservative church at large. I can only say, God forgive us and make us more like You.
Faith Blog-ette #2
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog entitled, "Take Possession of The Land." It was about the Israelites being content to wander in the wilderness rather than fight in order to take possession of the land God wanted to give them. My cousin, well, my cousin-in-law actually, ummm . . . okay, she's really my cousin-in-law's wife (too much info?), posted a comment. She very kindly said that the Israelites weren't really content with living in the wilderness. They grumbled and complained all the time. They hated their wanderings. The problem was that they didn't hate it enough.
I love that - they didn't hate it enough. It seems that maybe they got so used to hating the wilderness that they grew content with their discontentment. It's a thought I want to hold onto, a tool to use in examining my life. After carrying my first child to term (and then some), I formed a theory about pregnancy and its nine month duration: God knew exactly how long a woman needs to be pregnant so that she will go through anything to simply not be pregnant. That's when she hates it enough.
The question I want to ask my self is this: what attitude, what behavior, what habit, what situation is in my life that I hate? What do I find myself grumbling and complaining about all the time? Once I figure that out, I need to decide if I hate enough to do something about it.
Finally, the light-hearted, nostalgic blog-ette:
I'm always in the midst of reading several books of different genres - not simultaneously of course. One of my current reads is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It's a highly acclaimed, national bestselling book on the craft of writing that a wonderful friend gave to me. In one of the chapters, she encourages fledgling authors to pull from their childhood memories, using the results as fodder for plots and/or characters. Now, "childhood" is a broad subject and it can be difficult to mine jewels without a little more guidance. She suggested school lunches.
Ms. Lamott describes her own experience: what lunches her peer-judges deemed "in" and what lunches enforced previously attached "dork" labels. Was bologna in or out? How about salami or braunschweiger? A memory buried for nearly forty years swooshed in through the now open door - the day I brought a juicy, bright red tomato fresh from our backyard city-dwellers' garden. I learned that day that whole tomatoes were definitely out. At some point in my elementary years, metal lunch boxes went out. Hard plastic, oval-shaped bags with cool designs (not The Partridge Family) were in. Then, by late junior high, lunchboxes were out altogether. Brown bagging it was in.
So, what do you remember? I would love to know. Really. You can post a comment here or on Facebook or email me at lgal116@gmail.com.
Faith Blog-ette #1
Yesterday morning, I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend of mine with whom I had spent all my formative years - from kindergarten through senior high. Somehow during the course of the two plus hours we had together, we touched on the untouchable: religion and politics (did I just hear you gasp?). No worries though, it didn't get down and dirty, and I daresay we parted as friends. She did, however, touch a sore spot.
She had moved out of our home state about ten years ago. What she didn't realize before her move was the political/religious make-up of the area into which she chose to settle: conservative, right-wing, republican, fundamentalist Christian. After the past ten years surrounded by these folks, she has one question: "where's the compassion?"
As one who lives in the metro area of what most consider fundamentalist Christianity (though far more moderate than right-wing and not necessarily republican), I say, Ouch!
She wants to know, and rightly so: Where's the mercy of God? Where's His heart for the poor that we see throughout the Bible? Where's "love the sinner, not the sin?" Where's humility? - I don't have answers, but I know I've been guilty. I know I can be judgmental, self-righteous, and proud - everything that God is not. I can't answer for the conservative church at large. I can only say, God forgive us and make us more like You.
Faith Blog-ette #2
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog entitled, "Take Possession of The Land." It was about the Israelites being content to wander in the wilderness rather than fight in order to take possession of the land God wanted to give them. My cousin, well, my cousin-in-law actually, ummm . . . okay, she's really my cousin-in-law's wife (too much info?), posted a comment. She very kindly said that the Israelites weren't really content with living in the wilderness. They grumbled and complained all the time. They hated their wanderings. The problem was that they didn't hate it enough.
I love that - they didn't hate it enough. It seems that maybe they got so used to hating the wilderness that they grew content with their discontentment. It's a thought I want to hold onto, a tool to use in examining my life. After carrying my first child to term (and then some), I formed a theory about pregnancy and its nine month duration: God knew exactly how long a woman needs to be pregnant so that she will go through anything to simply not be pregnant. That's when she hates it enough.
The question I want to ask my self is this: what attitude, what behavior, what habit, what situation is in my life that I hate? What do I find myself grumbling and complaining about all the time? Once I figure that out, I need to decide if I hate enough to do something about it.
Finally, the light-hearted, nostalgic blog-ette:
I'm always in the midst of reading several books of different genres - not simultaneously of course. One of my current reads is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It's a highly acclaimed, national bestselling book on the craft of writing that a wonderful friend gave to me. In one of the chapters, she encourages fledgling authors to pull from their childhood memories, using the results as fodder for plots and/or characters. Now, "childhood" is a broad subject and it can be difficult to mine jewels without a little more guidance. She suggested school lunches.
Ms. Lamott describes her own experience: what lunches her peer-judges deemed "in" and what lunches enforced previously attached "dork" labels. Was bologna in or out? How about salami or braunschweiger? A memory buried for nearly forty years swooshed in through the now open door - the day I brought a juicy, bright red tomato fresh from our backyard city-dwellers' garden. I learned that day that whole tomatoes were definitely out. At some point in my elementary years, metal lunch boxes went out. Hard plastic, oval-shaped bags with cool designs (not The Partridge Family) were in. Then, by late junior high, lunchboxes were out altogether. Brown bagging it was in.
So, what do you remember? I would love to know. Really. You can post a comment here or on Facebook or email me at lgal116@gmail.com.
Trish,
ReplyDeleteHere's a memory I've never shared with anyone, nope, not even you! Just about the only crystal clear memory of grade school lunches I have:
One day I sat by Sally Shoemaker, probably in 6th grade. She was tall, geeky and totally straight A+++ in all subjects. Always had a sweet, quiet personality.
When I sat next to her, I said something to the effect that I hope some of her brains would rub off on me. She just smiled and said that no, she hopes some of my brains would rub off on her! Now we both knew she was the genius, (she's a pediatrician now), but her humble response caught me by surprise. I felt valued even though I figured I was but a dunce in her shadow.
Nice thoughts! Thanks for sharing, sweetie!
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