Saturday, May 30, 2009

Brotherly Love


This is a the final paper I wrote in my seminary class and I will present it on Thursday. It goes along with a paper I wrote earlier in the class. Basically the assignment was to pick 5 verses from Matthew and dwell on them for 8 weeks. The picture is of me and my brother, a person I admire and love very much.



Matthew 28:16-20

I have been putting off writing this paper because I could not find an angle to take it that had not been done. The one thing I found from the three commentaries and five versions I have read on this passage is that they are all very similar. It seems to just be given that Jesus is telling the disciples and us to go out and spread his word.

My question that I have been dwelling on is, what is that word. The obvious and what I have heard preached is that Jesus is the son of God, if you want salvation you must come through him, be Christian like the rest of us. But what if there is more here than has met the eye for the last 2000 years?

This is what I have been thinking…

It started when I wrote my paraphrase and tried to get inside the minds of the 11 who were there on that mountain. How had they felt? What had their thoughts been? And it went further when I was sitting in church last Sunday listening to the sermon. My pastor preached on the ascension in Acts 1:1-11. She talked about how the disciples watched Jesus ascend into heaven and just stood there starring up at where he’d been. She went on to say that she would have done the same thing. But is it what we should be doing.

If we stand and stare up to heaven, who is here to get things done? Who will do the work Jesus has asked us to do? She played a song by Johnny Cash called “No Earthly Good.” The main line is, “ But you're so heavenly minded and you're no earthly good”

It was a good sermon and got me to thinking about what we are to be doing here and now. But it wasn’t until a day latter when my brother, who was visiting and had been at church with me, commented on the sermon. He just briefly said how much he had enjoyed it and how he had never heard before a pastor say that we ought to be more focused on earth than heaven, or at least as much. He even confessed that he had gone to the pastor’s blog and reread the sermon.

That was the moment it finally hit me, and the moment I realized what the Spirit was saying in this text. For you see, my brother is gay, and has been very hurt by the christian faith. In fact, I was shocked he had even heard the sermon; I thought he had just been playing with his blackberry, and I had given up hope that he would ever see God as more than a ploy to damage those who are different than us, because lets face it, that happens all the time, in all religions.

What if we read this text again, but we wipe out everything we have ever heard about Jesus, Christianity, the disciples, and the kingdom of heaven. I encourage you to do that for just a minute. Try very hard to come at this as a total stranger to all things religious. Look at it as if you have never before heard of any of these people.

(NIV) Matthew 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing you in the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


I did, and here is what I heard. Eleven scared, confused and lonely people, they have been hurt by their very own. Their religion, their God, these things have turned out to be nothing they thought they were. Where was their happy ending? Where were the trumpets and victory that the scriptures promised? The faith they had devoted themselves to all their lives had killed their teacher, master, and friend.

Had a faith with so much promise really turned into an angry mob that would go to any length to silence some one who would challenge conventional thinking? Even if that someone was God himself? They had become no earthly good.

And then, there he is, their teacher. A man they had known, and yet not known at all. Coming back to them after being killed by the very faith he believed in. He was not a man or teacher in their eyes now, but he had become a God. Or, they were finally able to see him for what he had been all along. And does he tell them to go out and avenge his death? To right the wrong the world has done? To prove to everyone that they were right all along and that now, finally every one will know it and realize how sinful they are?

No, he tells them to go to all corners of the earth and make everyone a teacher, disciple, baptizing them in the Father, Son, and Spirit. And what happens when you baptize? You submerse, cover, and surround.

In this new light after letting the past go about what I’ve heard this means, I saw something new. I saw this through my gay brothers eyes, through the homeless eyes, through the eyes of the oppressed and battered, and I can never again unseen it.

I have dwelled in the word, and the spirit has shown me that I, along with the eleven, have been called to embrace ALL of the earth, all of God’s children. Submerse them in Jesus’ love, cover them in God’s grace, and surround them with the Spirits strength. In short, love the unlovable, comfort those who have been hurt, be what Jesus was, and do what Jesus did.

What similarities do we share today with the world back then? Are we so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good? Our we worshiping tradition over God? Dwelling in the word is an amazing thing, it can allow us to let go of preconceptions and see in God’s word what God needs us to see. This can be a fresh light, a new way of coming closer to being the people we are called to be.

I think of my brother and others like him. They have been hurt by the very book, and people that have been called by God to baptize them. Jesus did not say, “Change them to be like you when you baptize them”. Or “If you try hard enough you can make a gay person straight, the homeless man on the corner wealthy, or even a sinner to repent.” He simply asks us to embrace them, and surround them in God, Himself, and The Spirit.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Cousins By A Nose


Two of the cousins had a sleep over tonight, and as I watched them watching "Open Season 2" I noticed that they all have the very same nose. A cute little button nose!





From left to right we have an 8, 4, 6, and 6 year old. The 2 in the middle are my kids' cousins and they live just 2blocks away. Fun for all of them. Two older ones are missing here, and they have the same nose too! Round pinchable cheeks also the same!

Life Lessons


Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on
by Regina Brett *columnist

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Animal Quote Monday




Scientists announced today that they have discovered a cure for apathy. However, they claim no one has shown the slightest interest in it. -George Carlin
...is it me, or does he have an extra foot?...

Night Shots




The yard is starting to come along now so I was playing around with some night shots of my favorite spots...

Some of my Shasta Daisies... they look awesome with the night back ground!












My Bleeding Heart just got done blooming, and the Hostas are not quite up yet...














This is our second spring in this house so all our plants are still young... even so, they are coming along well. By next year I'll have twice as many Lilly pads by this time.

The water is mirky because I was digging around in the rocks.
















This is brand new this year. Look how little the Water Iris is... just a sprig.
















Too dark to see the purple Salvia in bloom... I'll have to get a shot in the day, but I'll wait till the annuals bloom!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Planting Day




I look forward to planting day ALL year! It is the day I get to put all of these (see left) into the ground, and can be reasonably certain they won't die of frost.

This day usually happens between April 30th and May 12th. When all the snow is gone off the giant mountain to our North, I know I can plant my annuals.

I buy these guys in March when they are cheap (well cheaper), baby them, keep them in a warm covered garage, fertilize them, and when the snow is off the peak... IT'S TIME!!!





This year I had over 100 plants to get in the ground, but it is so fun for me to be digging in the dirt in my bare feet! Plus, this gives me a jump on my summer tan every year!



Planting day is an all day event that the whole family does.


Banjo is fascinated by our coi pond, and always has been. She like to put her feet in it and watch the fish nibble them.
Right now the pond looks kind of sad, but when the plants get going, and the algae will die back it will be beautiful!




The dogs are not real big on planting day because it means we close the gate to the garden area. No more dirt to dig in. Can't you see the frown on Dolly's face? She is either sad about the garden, or that I'm taking her picture after giving her that stupid hair cut.
When the flowers start to bloom I'll post the pics. It's beautiful!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Animal Quote Monday


"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer." -Albert Camus

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Bird Cam

This is really cool! There is a building downtown where I live that is always home to a Peregrine Falcon couple. This year they set up a live cam to watch the nest. The babies are due to hatch any time now, and it's fun to get to glimpse nature at work. It is super windy here today, and you can see it on the cam. I'm wasting a lot of time on it!

http://www2.fiberpipe.net/falconcam/live.asp

You Go Grandma!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Animal Quote Monday


Sarcasm: The bodies natural defense against stupid.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A Cinco De Mayo Recipe


I never use recipes. I make them. And here is a favorite for Cinco de Mayo.


Skinned chicken breast (I do 4 at a time) in a shallow baking dish. Cover the chicken with sour cream and leave some extra in the pan around the breasts. Pic your favorite salsa and add a few spoon fulls to the top of each breast. Add a can of chick peas all around the chicken in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the whole thing with shredded cheese (Mexican blend) especially the breasts. Then just bake it. It is very yummy, and VERY fast!