Snow Day

Holy Snow! 16 inches of that lovely white stuff poured down on the Twin Cities yesterday and today. As a result, Bethel canceled all classes today. SNOW DAY! Wow, haven’t had one of those in a while. You’ve never seen such a happy bunch of people as a college during a snow day. Almost everyone was outside playing in the snow. Snowballs were flying, snow sculptures were being made (I would say snowmen, but there’s a large green turtle outside my window), students were flying down snowy hills on cafeteria trays, and others were jumping buried picnic tables on snowboards. Ah, children frolicking in the snow. I too helped make a snowman today, a Calvin & Hobbes style snowman. It was lying on its back with a tree coming up through its middle. A high class piece of art, if I do say so myself.

In lieu of the snow, all intellectual thought has been canceled today.

Original Music

Are we spoon-fed Christianity? How often does it seem that the basics of the faith are repeated and repeated and repeated. The stereotypical Christian song doesn’t express anything new, it simply rehashes what we already know. This is where Christian music has taken a lot of hits. Certainly not all Christian music is like this, I can think of numerous examples that don’t. But so often the lyrics seem just a little simple. Doesn’t Paul call us to move beyond the simple matters of faith? When I was a child I talked like a child, but now I am a man and should act so. Shouldn’t we be moving beyond this spiritual baby food to something more substantial. Intelligence is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us, and it’s a shame that it often goes neglected. I could even extend this critique to the Christian book industry, but I don’t think you want me to go there. I applaud the efforts of Christians who use their minds. A song by the group Silage comes to mind. It’s called Original, and you can get a high quality MP3 version of the song by following that neat little link. The lyrics are rather biting, so I decided I’d put ’em all here:

“Original” by Silage:

Let’s get lost in an original sound / I heard a band that was better / Than the last one around / So, take my time, my line, my beat down / I serve a God that doesn’t judge me / By a new sound / Ok, honestly, it’s coming too easy / I’m makin’ up an old used verse, chorus, key / This has not been done before / This hasn’t been done before

That’s it, get down, we’re lookin for / Some new ground / Gotta break through with the break through / New sound / And that won’t happen ’cause it’s / Time to get down / Here’s a tune, where’s the truth / Inside, we found / It’s almost, it’s almost, it’s almost, it’s almost / it’s almost over and I haven’t said a word yet / That hasn’t been done before / This hasn’t been done before

Breakdown / Gotta have a breakdown / Build it up / Back to the verse and / It’s alright to write a song that / Sounds like everyone else’s song so

Let’s get lost in an original sound / I heard a band that was better / Than the last one around / This hasn’t been done before / This hasn’t been done before

Grocery Store Eye Candy

A computer shaves the pounds off a model, and a young girl sees how much farther below the supposed standard she is. But it’s not really the standard. It’s just an image. An image that no real woman could successfully hide behind. At the grocery store this weekend I saw a rather disturbing cover of some woman’s fitness magazine. I think it was called Shape or Self or something like that. The cover featured the typical skinny model, but this one was adorned in what could only be her underwear. But it wasn’t simply that. You find that in every flyer in the Sunday paper. A bow tie has more fabric than this woman’s underwear. I suppose this grocery store eye candy did it’s job. The image still sticks with me, no matter how hard I try to forget it. What confuses me, is why would a woman’s fitness magazine put something like that on the cover? Doesn’t it simply perpetuate the unobtainable standard? Do women willfully accept this standard? As sick as it is, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue makes sense, because men are simply lusting after the women and seeing them as mere objects. But a woman’s fitness magazine? Where’s the draw of putting skinny, almost naked women on the cover? Is this some kind of guilt persuasion?

Image is too important today. The clothes you wear, the shape of your body, the car you drive. When is it going to stop? When are we going to stop keeping up with the Jones and start being content with who we are and what we have?

Gerald McGrew

“Yes… that’s what I’d do,” said young Gerald McGrew.

“I’d make a few changes If I ran the zoo.” (If I Ran the Zoo, by Dr. Seuss)

Tonight I read a bunch of stories by the master of children’s writing, Dr. Seuss. Yep, I went to the bookstore, sat in the kid’s section and read children’s books. Don’t laugh. Everyone should try it sometime. The funny thing is that I was there around 11:00 p.m. and a little girl was there with her Dad. She was probably five or six, but I don’t understand how she was still going that late at night. She read books out loud to herself and talked to herself, totally enthralled by all the books. Too bad her Dad was engrossed in his newspaper. It was kind of an odd sight. You don’t expect to share the children’s section of a bookstore with a little kid at 11:00 p.m. She must be getting ready for college a little early.

Anyway, I was rather impressed by young Gerald. He had quite an imagination. But more than that, he had a vision. He had a dream. He knew what he would do to that boring old zoo. If only Gerald was given a chance. How many of us have dreams like that? I wish I did. Can you dream of dreams? I suppose it comes to my mind so readily because I’m at a spot in life where you either chase your dreams, or spend your life wishing you had. It seems like only young people think they can change the world and still have the guts to try. I guess I’m one of those people, and I’m still waiting to see if I have the guts.

On a totally unrelated tangent (or is it?), I heard these words in a song today, and they really resonated with me:

“But tonight I’m so lonely / Just put your arms around me / And tell me that you love me so much / I’m tired of seeking slowly / Lately I’ve been crazy / Maybe I’m just getting out of touch / Now I’m holding on / ‘Till the night is gone” (Put Your Arms Around Me, by All Star United)

Birthplace of Apathy

Have you ever had one of those days where you look back and it doesn’t seem like it happened? Nothing important stands out and the day just kind of washes together as a big nothing. The morning feels like last month and the afternoon feels like last week. It wasn’t necessarily a long day, just a rather odd day. At least it’s Friday, I can now sleep the oddness away. I think I’ve found the birthplace of apathy.

Prayer is a Conversation with a Friend

High above a nearly full moon lights up the night sky, a round white ball in the middle of the emptiness. As I stand there and wait, things begin to slow down and I can actually see. My eyes watch as the gray puffs of clouds roll across the black tapestry. Frowning, I see that they’re about to block my view of the moon. But as they slowly move past, the glowing orb isn’t lost in a cloudy haze. It shines on, despite the foggy covering. It glows just as brightly as it did before. I look again, thinking my eyes deceive me and that the moon is below the clouds. But the clouds are passing in front of the moon, and its silvery glow is shining through as if the clouds weren’t even there.

Continue reading Prayer is a Conversation with a Friend

Going for a Walk

Have you ever had something so immense to deal with that you just don’t know what to do? Your fingers are trembling, your stomach feels twisted in knots, and there’s a large lump in your throat that can only be your heart. You don’t know what to do, what to think, what to say, or how to react in any way. You just want to run out the door and out into the street and scream. You want to do something so bizarre, as if you were in a movie. Just go out the door and take a walk, even if it’s midnight, and walk until the sun rises. Do something odd, bizarre, and totally out of character because you’ve just undergone such a shock that you don’t know what to do.

Yeah, well I’m going for a walk.

(for those worried about my psychological state, don’t worry, I’ll be fine)

Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

seuss.gifToday is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. He’d be turning 95 if he were still alive today. Throughout my life I don’t think Dr. Seuss has really played any kind of big role at all. I don’t remember reading a ton of his books as a kid and I don’t think he had any profound impact on me. Although I do remember reading “If I Ran the Zoo” in kindergarten and I loved it. But a certain friend of mine who happens to be an Elementary Education major has opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss. The old doctor has said some amazingly profound things. The best part is that all of it is said in the wonderful language of children. It’s wacky rhymes and silly made up words that only kids could love. You don’t have to have a doctorate to understand it. So knowing that, I present a few quotes from the good doctor:

“Marvin K. Mooney! Don’t you know the time has come to go, Go, GO!” (Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now)

“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” (The Lorax)

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Horton Hears a Who)

“Left foot. Right foot. Feet, feet, feet. Oh how many, many feet you meet.” (The Foot Book)

He even provides some wise advice, “You must not hop on Pop.” (Hop on Pop)

“If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.” (?)

Unfortunately, that little sampling fails to even touch on the amazing world of Dr. Seuss. Do your self a favor and go find one of his books and read it. It won’t take you very long, and you won’t have to think very hard. Remember being a kid again, and gaze at the cool pictures (I heard an old man say “cool” today. I couldn’t help but smile.). If you can, I highly suggest you read a Seuss book to a child. But if a child can’t be found, your immediate friends will do.

“Adults are just obsolete children.” (Dr. Seuss)

Dealing with Death

How does a man remain so resilient in the face of death? I met him at the church I’ve been attending recently, and since I met him his mother has been battling cancer. She died a week ago Wednesday, on Ash Wednesday. He was back in church this week, and seemed to be doing surprisingly well, all things considered. He somehow looked fragile. He looked visibly shaken, and you could hear his voice wavering, but he was there. He looked like he could break down crying at any moment. This from a smiling Native American man in his thirties or forties who’s usually leading the church in songs with his guitar.

Him and a friend sang a song of thanksgiving today. It was a Native American song, and the lyrics were something along the lines of, “thank you God.” Hard to believe that a man could thank God after something like this. After the message he lead the circle (or “congregation,” for you conventional types) in a few songs about life and God breathing life into us. He talked about watching his mother breath her last breath, and knowing that she was now with her Maker.

The last time I saw Jim he handed me two cocoa seeds. This was a few weeks before his mother passed away. I can’t remember all of what he said, he always puts it so poetically, but he was marveling at how life is wrapped up in a such a tiny seed. The seeds still sit on my desk.

How can a man deal with such heartache? Jesus Christ. That’s the only answer I can possibly come up with, and I’m sure that Jim would agree with me.

A work-at-home dad wrestles with faith, social justice & story.