For reasons known primarily to the PCC crowd, I’ve been reading and studying about a lot of different anmials these days. Some might argue that all God’s creatures are beautiful. Well, I’m willing to say they are amazing but not beautiful. Just today I heard about the Scotoplane – aka the Sea Pig.
Honestly, if I were a pig – I’d be offended.
Two cultural icons passed into eternity yesterday. Farrah Fawcett – a sex symbol from the 1970s whose appeal impacted a generation. And Michael Jackson – the King of pop music.
The outcry of public grief has begun and will no doubt continue for a while. These celebrities were hugely popular. Once again we are reminded that death plays no favorites. Fame and fortune cannot rescue humanity from our mortality. Best to heed the ancient wisdom of The Teacher [Ecclesiastes] who doesn’t shy away from reality or offer shallow explainations to deep questions…
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”– before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
Remember him–before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
It’s that time again for Chicago’s famous cross-town baseball rivalry with the Cubs and Sox going at it. The morning of the series opener, our local newspaper had a front page article posing the question, “Does God care who wins the series?” The article has some interesting things to say and I’m not exactly sure where I stand on the issue theologically — however, with no World Series championship in over 100 years the answer seems somewhat obvious. 
Sorry B, thanks for tics…go Sox!
Last week, in Ystrad, Rhondda, south Wales, breakfast turned into a religious experience when Claire Allen, 36, spotted what she believes is the face of Jesus in a jar of Marmite. Claire was the first of her family to find the Savior on the underside of the lid as she was putting the yeast spread on her son’s toast. Claire’s husband Gareth, 37, said he could not believe his eyes. He admits, “When I first looked at it I wasn’t sure, but when I moved it away from me it started coming out. I thought Christ, yeah, she’s right – that’s the image of Jesus.” As far as Claire is concerned, “People might think I’m nuts, but I like to think it’s Jesus looking out for us.”
No offense to the Allens, but I’m not convinced this is any kind of miracle — I mean if this is the best God can do I’m most definitely disappointed. Neither am I convinced the image on the lid is Jesus, John Lennon or Rasputin. But I am increasingly convinced that people all over are looking for Jesus. Unfortunately, I don’t think he is showing up in jars of yeast spread, candy or cheese snacks [see kitkatking and cheesus below]. Jesus can and will, however, be found in the kind compassionate generous servitude of his church. I wonder how many of those looking for him see him there? Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
As our culture changes so does our language – especially jargon [technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a group]. I’m always keeping my eyes and ears open for new words. Heard any lately? These are some I’ve recently come across.
Fanboy: a superfan of a comic or film genre, as in: “He is a fanboy of all the original Batman comics.”
Gastric condom: An alternative to gastric bypass surgery in treating morbid obesity. The polymer sleeve is fed through the patient’s gullet and fixed below the stomach to prevent calorie absorption in the first 2 feet of small intestine.
Webinar: an online conference (web+seminar), as in “I am attending a webinar for bored bloggers willing to write on anything.”
Virtual Friday: the last day of work or school due to an extended weekend.
Equasy: Short for equine addiction syndrome, the clinical name for avid horsemanship.
Dark flow: An unexplained force drawing galaxy clusters toward a stretch of sky between the Vela and Centaurus constellations. As mysterious as dark energy and dark matter, dark flow may be the gravitational pull of other universes.
Virtual parent: An artificial intelligence that would converse with kids, mimicking military moms and dads who are off fighting. The US Defense Department is fielding proposals from software developers for a virtual parent able to respond tenderly when a child says, “I love you.”
Friendiligence: The amount of time it takes to maintain friend requests on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook. “I just don’t have time for all of this friendiligence!”
More recent words related to the political and financial scene include: change, bailout, maverick, and vetting
What is the real story? Who are we and why are we? Our world is filled with narratives that seek to explain it all. For me, the one that makes most sense can be summarized quite simply…
God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. [Genesis 1]
What is your story? I think the word’s of Brandi Carlile expresse it nicely – you and I were made by someone and for someone.
Our tendency as human beings is to make snap judgements of people based on outward appearances. It is such a sad reality. Every now and then the old saying gets proved…“you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Have you heard the Susan Boyle story?
Too bad we all can’t move past the superficial and try to see the gifts and potential of everyone we meet no matter how they appear on the outside. I guess that is just another one of our human limitations.
Fortunately, God doesn’t judge on externals. “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” [1 Samuel 16:7]
Disturbing yet emotively captivating is how I might describe the unique work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch [pronounced Moonk]. I spend some time with Margie at The Art Institute of Chicago yesterday staring at it.
There is a good chance Munch’s name is unfamiliar but perhaps his famous painting titled The Scream is recognizable.
As you might surmise from the above painting, Munch’s work is ….well, different. A good deal of what Munch painted is often connected to his emotional pain and instability. His convulsed and agonizing art flowed from the misery and conflicts of his day, and, even more significantly perhaps, his own unhappy life. As one contemporary critic asked, “Is it art or is it inanity?” Not a bad question when it comes to the guy who gave his paintings titles like, Scream, Melancholy, Jealousy, Anxiety and who said things like, “From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.”
Not all Munch’s work is weird. Actually, there are some exceptionally beautiful pieces in his collection. If you can get to see it – go.
Anxiety
Prayer of the Ox
Dear God, give me time.
Men are always so driven!
Make them understand that I can never hurry.
Give me time to eat.
Give me time to plod.
Give me time to sleep.
Give me time to think.
Taken from ‘Prayers from the Ark’ by Carmen de Gasztold. Written from the point of view of animals, her prayers / poems offer great insight about human nature.
Husband. Father. Senior Pastor of Parkview Community Church in Glen Ellyn, IL.
