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Hello!

15 December 2008

Christmas soundtrack

There had to be a Christmas edition of this. I wonder if we ever really realize the depth of the words we're singing at Christmas....

1. "O Holy Night"

This is by far my favorite Christmas song because of lines like these:
* "A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
* "Fall on your knees, O hear the angels voices"
* "Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease..."

2. "Arbolito de Navidad"

"Arbolito, arbolito, campanitas te pondré. Quiero que seas bonito, que al recién nacido te voy a ofrecer. Iremos por el camino, caminito de Belén, iremos porque esta noche, ha nacido el niño rey." And it's catchy. I end up singing it all the time.

3. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/We Three Kings" by BNL featuring Sarah MacLachlan

And it's true: I love their version above all other ones. Sample lyrics: "Let nothing you dismay, for Jesus Christ our Saviour was born upon this day, to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray" and "Born a king on Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown Him again, king forever, ceasing never over us all to reign"

4. "Burrito sabanero"

Nothing too deep here, but it's so stinkin' catchy and I love it. "Con mi burrito sabanero voy camino de Belén, si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén"

5. "Angels We Have Heard On High"

"Angels we have heard on high, singing sweetly o'er the plains, and the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains..."

6. "What Child Is This?"

"This, this is Christ the King whom shepherds guard and angels sing. Haste, haste to bring Him praise..."

7. "Las Posadas"

So the story behind this song is that Joseph and Mary are looking for an inn.... I don't know why I love it as much as I do, but I do love it.

8. "Villancico Yaucano"

This is one of those uniquely Puerto Rican Christmas songs. The story is similar to "Little Drummer Boy" in that it's about poor folks coming to visit the Christ child without a whole lot to offer materially, but I like it just a little more than "Little Drummer Boy" - "Al Niño recién nacido todos le ofrecen un don yo como no tengo nada le ofrezco mi corazón."

9. "Little Drummer Boy"

I guess it's the story that I really like - bringing what you've got, and I kinda like what David Bowie does with it. I really don't think we think about the things we're singing at Christmas....

10. "No Hay Cama Pa' Tanta Gente" by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

Trust a Puerto Rican to make a song about kicking people out of your house after a rowdy Christmas party a holiday classic. Seriously. This song is hilarious! "¡Pa'fuera! ¡Pa' la calle!" Jajaja...

12 December 2008

sister

So I switched my email yesterday and sent out one of those obligatory "I have a new email address" mass emails that ended with "Change is good, right?"
To which my sister, that priceless little gem, replied:

"Change is wonderful! like getting married, joining the gym, and eating morningstar sausage patties..."

Whaaaaaaat?! Man, I miss that crazy kid....

11 December 2008

05 December 2008

More pics

More pics from M's wedding, shamelessly stolen from S.

With B.

Giving the toast

With S. So cute!

Again, with B.


And now for the ugly sweater party pics:






03 December 2008

Can't stop listening to it....

"The Great Conductor"
by Steven Delopoulos

So you dived beneath the tide
And you radio the sky
As you leave your desert land
And your fortune all behind

It’s a sequel never told
As you build it you can tell it
As the waves flush out the notes,
you built that temple just to sell it
The moon is sitting, speechless
As our castles slowly burning

Well, I bought a cup of coffee
when I asked her for her hand
She was checking me for Egypt,
she was shaking me for sand
But I've been resurrected years ago

So you listen to the sign
And you can’t believe the sound
Feels like blood is in the air like that lion’s close around
I can’t do it on my own you must be sober to reject him
Like a soldier with a Bible but no armor to protect him

If you listen to the saints
They’ll give you juice enough to fly
Now they found him in the catwalk
when he was knighted for the throne
And the crowd was throwing harmonies
To claim him as their own
As I close my eyes and vanished in the blessing

And oh, there’s a fire in the sky
Sit beside me on that last train
There’s a pinch before we’re through it
Close your eyes we’re almost to it

To the punch, the pain that popped our famous egos
out the window as we grew
And she opened up her eyes to see that
mansion full of glory
She was brand new….brand new, brand new, brand new

So you start with kicking pebbles
as you learn to fight in silence
And you orchestrate His presence
as you crucify the man
There’s a wand in your command,
as you became
The Great Conductor

So it’s fire turned to gold, you can catch it in the steam
As you slowly disappear in that crucifixion dream
You’re hanging in the balance of that heavenly perfection
While you’re having a conversation
Nonchalantly in suspension

And you notice something’s different
as you’re hanging in the sky
Well I got up from my knees
but I was dizzy from the trance
I was speaking like the angels,
I was raptured in the dance
Moving mountains with a glance

We must leave our earthly beds
And pray for those who strike us
In His house there are no weapons
Heal the sick and raise the dead

Raise the ballroom where we danced
until the broken sun surprised us from our doom
And we promised on our knees
to return the devil’s keys
We were in bloom
I do, I do, I do

So you start with kicking pebbles
as you learn to fight in silence
And you orchestrate his presence
as you crucify the man
There’s a wand in your command
As you expand



This is the song I've got on repeat these days. I won't say that I totally understand it, but there are pieces of it, lines that have made me really take notice as I listen to it again and again. For example:
  1. "She was checking me for Egypt, she was shaking me for sand But I've been resurrected years ago"
  2. "And you notice something’s different as you’re hanging in the sky Well I got up from my knees but I was dizzy from the trance I was speaking like the angels, I was raptured in the dance Moving mountains with a glance"
  3. "Raise the ballroom where we danced until the broken sun surprised us from our doom"

And of course, that chorus is pretty stinkin' amazing.

There's a lot there about resurrection, about being made new right here and now while we're still on earth, about the perfection of God in acting in ways that make no sense.... There's more to it that I'm sure I haven't even begun to touch on, but, man, do I love this song!

30 November 2008

Wedding pics

So one of my favorite girls got married this weekend. A few wedding pics - hopefully there will be more to come:






24 November 2008

Current soundtrack

1. "Lost" by Anouk

Yeah, the video's a little creepy, but the song is brill. "My hands longing to touch you, but I can barely breathe, Starry eyes that make me melt, right in front of me..." Love it! I can't get enough of this song these days.

2. "Another Day" (or anything) by Steven Delopoulos

This man is pretty genius. First there's the brilliance of his guitar playing, then there's the depth of the lyrics. I'm not usually a fan of Christian music (am I a bad Christian for saying that?) - at least not 90% of what they play on the radio - but this is good stuff. L.P. once said something about how rare it is that Story (capital S) and Truth (capital T) coincide, but his music is one of those rare examples, I think.

3. "If You're Out There" by John Legend

I can't make a list without Mr. Legend; y'all know this. "The future started yesterday and we're already late..." It's a little on the cheesy side, I know, but it's still the kind of song that gets to me. There's a hope in the song, a call to action. Good stuff.

4. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds Five

I love, love, love this song. "And in a white sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize, and I know that I am...the luckiest." Mmmm...

5. "teachme" by Musiq Soulchild

Even though the title irks the grammar nerd in me, I'm a fan. "Teach me how to love, show me the way to surrender my heart...how I can get my emotions involved." I kind of love those lines....

6. "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon

This video has both that song and "You Can Call Me Al" - another favorite. Maybe it's because I miss my Stinky, but everyday I realize how much I love this song. Plus, those lyrics! I mean: "I'm going to stand guard like a postcard of a golden retriever", who can't imagine that?!

7. "What a Good Boy" by Barenaked Ladies

"I go to school, I write exams; If I pass, if I fail, if I drop out, does anyone give a damn? And if they do, they'll soon forget, cuz it won't take much for me to show my life ain't over yet." Love those lines....

8. "Hay amores" by Shakira

First, I'm happy to see Shaki with darker hair - still blonde, but a natural shade of blonde. (I'm still a fan of the crazy haired Shaki of the 90s.) Second, I love the old school bolero flavor of this song. "There are loves that are resistant to damage, like the wine that gets better as it ages, so grow my feelings for you." Again, translations don't do it justice.

9. "Hoy te permito odiar" by Tercer Cielo

Speaking of things that don't translate well.... The part when they say "Odio el mismo lugar" gets me EVERYTIME! I can't even begin to translate this one well.... It's about not selling God short, basically, about trusting Him enough to push us beyond our human limitations.

10. "Turn Your Lights Down Low" by Lauryn Hill and Bob Marley (ah, technology)

To echo Kanye: "I wish her heart still was in rhymin'" This song is just good stuff: chill, not boring, summery.... I do miss summer. Hahaha.

19 November 2008

Things I'm thankful for

In no particular order:
1. Field trips
2. Meeting some interesting people - interesting in a good way.
3. People who challenge me to think in different ways/about different things.
4. That sweet, sweet boy. :)
5. Hablar español.
6. Provision.
7. Family.
8. All those people who love me, in spite of me.
9. Soup.
10. My car, because even though it's a little finnicky, it gets me where I need to go. Most of the time. ;)

17 November 2008

Blue toothin'

Because phone convos aren't the only things that distract the average driver.

15 November 2008

Self censorship

I'm really struggling these days. Wednesday I totally fell apart. Class left me feeling emotionally exhausted, even though it was pretty stinkin' wonderful, and I pretty much dissolved into tears right after it. Combine that with a lot of thinking on Tuesday about my grandparents getting older and the loss of my grandfather over ten years ago, some family related stress, and the fact that I had to share my testimony in ProSem on Thursday. It was all too much and I fell apart Wednesday.
To be honest, I feel better since Thursday, but at the same time I kind of feel guilty for feeling better because of the family related stress mentioned above.
So I'm struggling. I had to really think about everything that has happened in my life to bring me here to Eastern as I was preparing for giving my testimony. There were a lot of good things and a lot of bad. As I look back, I see how God really worked all the terrible things for good, and I'm glad for them. I wouldn't go back and change a single thing. There's that verse in John where Jesus says something like "This illness won't kill him, it's so that God can be glorified through it." Obviously, I'm paraphrasing it, but the point is, I can see that in so many of the crappy situations that have come my way. They didn't kill me, they have been opportunities for God to be glorified. Which is not to say that they didn't suck at the time - having my wallet stolen in Costa Rica was pretty awful - but I can see now how God moved through those situations. (That particular situation forced me to realize that I couldn't keep "playing church".) God grows us through the good and the bad. He reveals Himself to us as individuals and as a body in those moments.
The thing is, when these situations involve others, what I see as a time of growth and of the greatness of God can be perceived quite differently by the others involved. And here is my dilemma. There has been great freedom and healing in me because I have been able to own my crap - I've talked about my sins and (some) of my struggles and have also talked about the grace and mercy of God in these areas, His salvific powers.... It's a good thing to share some of that, to know that you're not alone, to be a testimony of God's fullness and healing, and to let others around you know that they aren't alone either.
There have been some issues that I've never really talked about, though. Things that I'm too afraid to mention because I don't want others to think negatively about people I love and care for. The point is, I might have mentioned one of those things here recently. It was mentioned in passing, and was really not the point of the entry, but I feel like it brought up a lot of hurt for someone else. That was not my intention. I know that God has really healed the pain I carried around for a long, long time. I know that I have forgiven. Forgiving doesn't erase the past, but it does shape the future; it means that I've decided it's not my place to judge or retaliate; there's no need for judgment or retaliation. I am the chief of sinners, and I have been forgiven; that's the example I wish to follow.
All of this to say: I took down the last entry. Because, while it was therapeutic for me to write, I don't want it to hurt anyone I sincerely love. And since it did, I apologize.

11 November 2008

The Bible or the Bard?

Someone needs to read the Bible in English....











The Bible or The Bard?



Score: 70% (7 out of 10)

07 November 2008

Dance overload

I <3 this show and Youtube for letting me enjoy it.

Twitch and Kherrington's contemporary routine


Twitch and Katee's contemporary routine

That Mia Michaels! Unbelievable!

Joshua and Katee's lyrical routine


Twitch and Kherrington's Viennese waltz


Finally, Will and Courtney's hip hop routine

05 November 2008

Things I wish people knew

  • The opposite of "democracy" is NOT "communism", the opposite of "democracy" is "dictatorship"; the opposite of "communism" is "capitalism".
    The first pair describe political systems, the second pair refer to economic models.

  • "It's" means "it is", "its" is a possesive pronoun meaning that something belongs to "it". It's a mouse. That's its tail.

  • I know this is not the first time I've mentioned this here, but it bears repeating: an apostrophe DOES NOT make anything plural, for the love of all things holy! Stop telling me to "buy book's" or whatever. Buy book's what?! What belongs to this book that I must buy?!


That's the end of my rant for today.

¡Sí se puede!

Yes, we can. Yes, we did. People showed up, people voted, and Barack Obama is our president-elect. I watched election coverage and waited for the results. They trickled in, and just when I thought it couldn't possibly be that easy, it turned out that they called the race. Who knew? The polls were pretty much on point. I sat on that couch next to B., wondering which states had tipped the balance, watching the crowd in Grant Park cry and cheer, and I just shook. I shook because I knew I was watching something so much greater than me, greater than B., greater than Barack Obama himself. This is another step in that march towards a more perfect union, towards equality and justice in this nation. This is part of the history of this nation - a point on the broken road - and a step towards the future. It's taken me a while to put my thoughts in order. I mean, of course, I'm thrilled that Obama won because I voted for him, but this goes beyond that.
I feel like I'm standing on the verge of this swell of public participation, like there is this lovely hope visible on the horizon, like I'm part of this unbelievable mobilization to make this nation MY nation. Does that make sense? I'm a part of this. Besides my $25 contribution to the campaign, my attendance at a rally, my Obama t-shirts, and my vote; I am now expected to participate in this change. It's an invitation that resonates with me as I'm studying community development; I mean, this is what I want to do. I want to participate and I want to invite others to do the same. Barack Obama makes me feel like I can do just that - like it's my patriotic duty to do so. This is my nation, my government: by the people, for the people....

And then there's the obvious: this issue of race, of knocking down this barrier, of making me believe that this country can really begin to heal the deepest wounds of race and ethnicity.... This is the idealist in me talking, I'm sure. I don't by any means believe that this proves that race is no longer an issue. I'm too smart and too brown to believe such foolishness; this will not change overnight with Barack Obama, but there's something visionary about it. This is the nation taking the steps necessary in a post-civil rights movement era - an era characterized by a change in demographics. Power is not going to be centralized soley in the hands of the old money, WASP establishment. The outsider has found his way into the White House. It's the kind of thing that brings hope to a fellow outsider.

This is a beautiful thing, the verge of something greater.



Four years ago, a coworker told me that at church they prayed for candidate that they were supporting and also prayed for the opposing candidate. Today, post-election, I remember that story and I pray:

I pray for Barack Obama and his beautiful family. I pray that he will have the grace and humility to create relationships and partnerships that will benefit the nation and the world at large; I pray that he will have the wisdom and discernment to make sound decisions; I pray that he will have the strength and courage to stand by his convictions. I pray that God will keep him and his family safe.

I pray for John McCain. I pray that he will continue to be a man known for working across party lines; that he will continue to be gracious; that he would have the foresight and the vision to keep working for change in Washington. He is a good man, too.

I pray for Bush. I pray for wisdom in these final months of presidency. It struck me today that he can't possibly feel very good about himself in light of record low approval ratings, so I pray for him....

04 November 2008


Today's the day!

Go Barack the vote!

Or vote.

Whatever....

03 November 2008

Do it.


Tomorrow's the big day. I mentioned Barack Obama here in early March of 2007, which pretty much makes this the longest campaign EVER. That's about a year and a half ago! But this is the last day of that longest political season, and to be quite honest I'm ready for it to get there.
I already cast my absentee ballot, and I know countless others who have done the same. For the rest of you, go out and vote! Y'all know where my sympathies lie, but the important thing is to actually make it to your polling place and vote. Whatever your politics, whatever your issues, take your stand. It does matter; the last few races have been a testament to what a few thousand votes can do.
When I think about all that people have suffered in this country so that they could vote, it makes me feel like voting is not just my privilege, but my responsibility. As a woman, I have to recognize the long battle of the suffragettes who marched and were often arrested to have their voices heard. As a woman of color, I have to look at the struggles of African Americans who were disenfranchised first by slavery and then by Jim Crow laws that prevented them from exercising their legal rights. Theirs was a double struggle, and we should honor that as fellow minorities, by voting. Finally, as a Latina, I feel like it is important for me to vote because so many of my people cannot vote because of immigration issues or citizenship issues (not exactly the same thing). I vote for the millions who came before me who could not. I vote for the millions around me now who still cannot.

Besides, I'm ready for change. ¡Sí se puede!


Here, Ben and I demonstrate a little Democrat/Republican tension; though this is not our actual situation, I would like to say that I still talk to staunch Republicans on a daily basis, and they're not all bad people. ;) There's hope for bipartisan conversation!



Represent! Gotta give it to Obama's marketing team - Puerto Ricans love ANYTHING with our island and our flag on it. I begged for this shirt, folks. That is dedication!

02 November 2008

Oh, that Sarah Palin!

Seriously? This woman? The Republicans couldn't find a better candidate for VP for the oldest freakin' presidential candidate EVER?!



Oh, but she's funny, in a not on purpose kind of way.

01 November 2008

Um, hilarious.



And the original - a classic - is also hilarious.

30 October 2008

Ungodly Hubris....

We were talking in class yesterday about the role of the prophet and decided that prophets, both in the Bible and in the present day (MLK, Jr. was mentioned) are men and women who challenge the status quo, confront God's people with His truth and their shortcomings, and provide a greater vision. There's an identification with the plight of the poor and oppressed - a partaking in that pain - heart break on behalf of the people. There's a challenge to hold ungodly rulers and systems accountable to a just and righteous God.

So that was yesterday; Tuesday, our Urban Politics prof read us this article from USA Today which I feel touches on the prophetic elements outlined above.

This is not your typical "God-bless-America-and-the-Republican-Party" Christianity people show on tv (I hate that depiction...). It's a more biblically-based faith. One that points out the flaws of the nation and the church. There were many points that resonated with me, but I'll highlight a few:
Pop taught me that true patriotism is not a contest to see who can fly the biggest flag. True patriotism exists where citizens love their country enough to hold it accountable. That means working to make certain that the president we have elected and the government we have created live up to the words of our creeds and the dreams of our poets and prophets.

That kind of patriotism is at the heart of authentic biblical faith. The great prophets of the Bible were considered unpatriotic by many of their day.


I love this. I love it because I do love this nation; I've travelled a bit - mostly in the developing world - and can honestly say, though I love the socialist tendencies of Europe, this is truly a country with the potential to be great. This country gave my family and so many of my friends the opportunities we didn't have available in our own countries. (Not that I'm not passionate about the beauty of Puerto Rico, just that I know I have more opportunities here.) This is one of the greatest countries to be a woman, in spite of the glaring inequalities and failures. It's a country that acknowledges the handicapped, racial and ethnic minorities, and sexual minorities. Not that things are perfect, just that we are light years ahead of other countries.
That said, I can criticize the obvious failures and the half-ass job we've done on many issues because of my love for this country. I believe it can be more and it can be better, and that is why I am not okay with the current mediocrity and all out fracas. That is patriotism: to ask that my government make this the best country it can be, and not the one that will appease the greatest numbers. Shake things up; change the nation.

Which brings me to point number two: We are not the greatest nation on earth, but we'd sure like to think that we are.
Part of our challenge stems from the fact that we Americans have an overabundance of self-confidence. So much, in fact, that management guru Marshall Goldsmith reports that 70% of the 50,000 people he has surveyed rank themselves in the top 10% of their peer group. Among doctors, pilots and investment bankers, the number is even higher. Once when Goldsmith told a group of doctors that his "extensive research" had revealed that exactly half of all MDs graduated in the bottom half of their med-school class, two in the audience insisted that this was impossible.

I suspect we read the Bible much the same way. We don't identify with the Egyptians, Babylonians or the multitude of Israelites who worshipped the golden calf. We identify with Abraham and Moses the good guys. Likewise, in the New Testament, we don't identify with the scribes and the Pharisees. And we certainly don't identify with those hated Romans. We identify with Peter, James and John. But like Marshall Goldsmith's overweening physicians, we might be fooling ourselves. Look beneath the surface, and much of what's plaguing the world is what's plaguing us.


I hate when I'm traveling and I run into the proverbial "Ugly American". He's the guy at McDonald's in freakin' Germany where the food is so unbelievably good that McDonald's should be classified as a crime against gastronomy. He's the guy who tries to pay for everything in dollars and doesn't understand why people (a) won't take his money and (b) don't speak English like they should. These are the people that tell the locals that George W. Bush is a wonderful diplomat and that they don't understand why the international community can't back the United States. They don't know why "they hate us".
They hate us because we (as a nation) are greedy and arrogant and, worst of all, ignorant of our greed and arrogance.

The church, sadly, does the same thing. I blame the media for part of this, because they do tend to focus on the crazy fringes of the faith, but I've been around in this aspect as well. There are some ignorant church folks out there. Anyway, here's the thing: we're always preaching against the Pharisees and the Egyptians while we turn away those who don't conform to our rules and exploit the most vulnerable people both here and overseas. We are a self-righteous and often insular body.


For the past few months, I've really been identifying with the Pharisees; I've been identifying with all the failures of the prophets and the disciples (not as much with their successes, but maybe someday). I've been seeing my own brokenness and limitations in some very real ways. It's good; I mean, it sucks, but it's good for me.

I think it's a good thing on grander scales: the church and the nation. It's time to start looking at those broken places and recognizing that we. Need. Help.

We can no longer be those smug, self-righteous folks who have it all together; the wars and the economic crisis should be making that clear. We need to start reaching out, asking for forgiveness in our flawed foreign and domestic policies, and moving towards something better, no matter who wins the election.

29 October 2008

Phillies!

The Phillies won!
Which means two things:
1. B. really DOES turn around the fate of sports teams in cities in which he lives. ;)

2. Parade! Whoot whoot!

27 October 2008

Boston in the fall

Pics from the recent trip to Boston/Lynn, MA. Good times, good times....

There was fun with hats:










There were street performers:








There were historical sights, 294 steps, sweet views, and some stretching:










There were things couples do:

















Oh, and this:

26 October 2008

Insiders/Outsiders and the Beauty of Grace

Ephesians 2 (The Message)
He Tore Down the Wall
It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

But don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways had no idea of any of this, didn't know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.


That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

It came up twice today: once at church, once as I was reading. The thing is, it came up in the most inclusive church I've ever visited in my life - inclusive to the point of discomfort. I like that; it's a rare find.

There's so much beauty in the passage: the beauty of my inadequacy, the beauty of God's grace and redemption in Christ, the beauty of walls being broken and a single unit of faith being formed from that. Love it....

24 October 2008

"Think of this face"

Thank you, Sarah Palin. Ever since you came into my life, SNL has been funny again. Of course, that's all I can really say about that.


PS You want to kick some of that $150000 my way? Not for clothes, just that I've got some bills to pay.... Thanks.

23 October 2008

22 October 2008

Advance apologies

* This is much longer and more rambling than I'd originally anticipated. I didn't reread it or edit it; it's "as is". Mostly, it's a look at myself; me trying to process everything I've been thinking about both in and out of class. I'm not trying to offend or polarize - just thinking "aloud", if you will. *

I was trying to upload Boston pics this morning, to no avail. Blogger really needs a better system for uploading pictures - just saying.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, and one of them is how far the church is from the teachings of Jesus. This is something I've thought a lot about since I started reading the Bible for myself when I was in high school, but it's been compounded in the past five years, and this semester has me wondering about this all over again. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that I'm an accurate picture of who and what Jesus is, just that I'm feeling really convicted by my inaccurate depiction of Him. Does that make sense?
I hate the "Christian" dichotomization of the spiritual and the mundane - there's a spirituality in the mundane, and an everydayness to the spiritual. There is no distinction, as far as I can tell between Jesus's spiritual, social, and physical healing. He repaired relationships, repaired people's sense of self-worth, went first to the untouchable and undesireables - and He preached salvation to them as He met their needs. Needs so deep they didn't even realize in some cases that they had them. I don't do this often enough, and neither does the church.
I was reading the Bible the other day and it struck me that Jesus looked out on the people and that His heart BROKE for them. Not just that it ached, but that it broke for them. My heart doesn't break that easily. It's one thing to say that I feel sorry for people - that keeps me on the moral/social high ground - I am somehow better than those people. But for my hear to break, there has to be a participation: the pain must become mine. That pain was Jesus's pain, and His heart and body broke for it. I don't allow myself to participate much.
In class today, we were talking about how the church would reject Jesus if He were to come today, Pharisees and Saducees that we are. We're so indoctrinated in "church culture", in the moral issues, in pro-life, anti-gay, creationism arguments; in buildings, in "ministries", in music. We've fallen away from the unbelievably inclusive revolutionary nature of the founder of our faith.
The truth is that if Jesus were here today, He'd be on the corners with the drug dealers and the addicts. He'd be talking to strippers, to homosexuals, to the mentally ill, to the immigrants, to the forgotten children in poor schools. He'd be embracing everyone the church has so neatly excluded - everyone I've excluded.
I was reading about the Kingdom of God being a whole new game in the middle of the old ballpark. It takes a special kind of crazy and a special kind of bravery to take the church to that level. Shoot, it takes all of that to get one person out there, playing tag in the middle of a play-off game. The book was talking about the church doing this in the middle of broader American culture, but I've been thinking about it in terms of people doing this in the middle of general church culture. I had this thought in class today, this phrase that popped into my head as we were talking about God's intentions for community and society as a whole as laid out in the book of Deuteronomy: "the unreached church". I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I wrote it in the margin of my notes.
There's a church that's complacent with the current systems: with exclusion, with injustice; with comfort, and riches, and big buildings. There's a church that's okay with saying that God is on the side of a particular political party, and that His will magically lines up with our own (that's rarely - if ever - the case, but that's a story for another blog).... Yes, that church exists, and it's huge, but there's another Church. It's a Church that wants its heart to be broken when Christ's heart is broken, a Church that can't be okay with injustice and oppression, a Church that won't use God to justify all kinds of ugliness. This Church, these people, must change the church.
I'm in school with all these amazing Christians - the kind you will never see on tv - who want to see this amazing Kingdom being played out, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Whenever two or more are gathered He is there; when we agree in prayer, there is power. This is revolutionary to me lately. I keep seeing myself as this tiny puzzle piece.
Have you ever done one of those gazillion-piece puzzles? The kind with the tiny, tiny pieces? Each piece looks like a whole lot of nothing. Sure, there are pretty colors, but you can't really make out the picture based on any one piece. So you start putting them together, and you have clusters spread out on the table: pieces of a tree over here, some river over there, a cloud in the sky... It's not quite finished, but these little groups of pieces are starting to make sense. And then you put them all together and it's amazing. This is how God works. He sees this great big picture, and all the little pieces of it. We have to start linking up with other little pieces to make this picture of a world where debts are forgiven and the alien is welcomed and the poor are provided for.
That's the good part, this linking up of the Church. Even so, it will not be easy. There will be a church to contend with and all of those outside who just won't understand. And that's okay. I mean, yo no soy monedita de oro para caerle bien a todo el mundo. These revolutionary words of Christ, the structure that God set up for His people won't make sense in the light of American individualism and the American dream (Turning the other cheek?! Cancelling debts?! Providing for the poor?!). The important thing is to stand with the Church and say that things are not okay as they are. And if makes people uncomfortable, that's kind of the point. I mean, it's making me very uncomfortable; I'm feelin' pretty convicted and challenged myself.

I was talking today to my roommate about institutionalized racism affecting education in low-income areas. I have my student seminar tomorrow, and I'm going to be talking about poverty and education. Here's the thing: it's impossible to talk about poverty in this country without also mentioning race and ethnicity. It's a fact that the levels of poverty among people of color are higher than they are among Whites. There are real historical reasons for that based largely on slavery and other exploitative systems (*cough* immigration and economic policies *cough*). It's so much safer to just refer to "the poor", though, without acknowledging that the poor tend to be black and brown. It's the way things are right now. I was vacillating - wondering whether I should take it there during my presentation - and I talked to her about it briefly. It made her uncomfortable, I could tell; as if she didn't want to think that the system that had worked so well for her (and to some extent, for me), could possibly be anything but empowering to all. Ah, America, land of opportunity and equality.... It occured to me as I was talking that if I'm afraid to bring it up because it'll make folks uncomfortable, it probably needs to be addressed. I don't think Jesus's heart aches when he sees these institutions, I think it breaks; that means that mine should and that the hearts of my classmates probably should break as well. That's something I'll be praying about as I'm preparing my presentation and actually presenting it. If y'all would pray, too, I'd appreciate it.

Oh, and if you're the praying types, I'd also urge you to sit down with a Bible and take a look at Deuteronomy and Matthew. If possible, pick up a different translation so that you're not just rereading the words you already know - sometimes that alone can give you that shift in perspective. I hope they challenge you as much as they challenge me.

13 October 2008

Quiz-o-rama!

This is becoming my Monday night ritual....



Your 80s Hunk Is



Kirk Cameron


And just so I can say I'm at least partially on task, let's check out some urban quizzes....



American Cities That Best Fit You:



70% Washington, DC



60% Los Angeles



55% Atlanta



50% Boston



50% Chicago






You Belong in London



A little old fashioned, and a little modern.

A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.

A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything.

No wonder you and London will get along so well.

11 October 2008

We survived!

There are no pictures to show for it, since I forgot my camera, but the weekend with the parents went well. They loved B. just like I knew they would. We ate lots of good Hispanic food, did some shopping (I got my dress for M. and J.'s wedding), and just hung out with the family and some of our good family friends. Good times, good times.....

09 October 2008

Things I'm workin' on or workin' out

1. Resting in God.
2. Not focusing on the obvious brokenness of systems, and instead looking at what is doable on a small scale.
3. Remembering that this mess isn't mine to fix.
4. Trusting God to work out the details.
5. Balancing school, relationships, time with God, and "me time".
6. Facing all those unfinished areas of my life; coming back in contact with my own selfishness and materialism and stupidity.
7. Realizing that those are the areas where God really works.
8. (Re)learning to be less guarded, that vulnerability takes strength, that it is not weak to show emotion. Such a hard one for me.

You know, among other things....

Also, I may have run over a squirrel the other day on my way to school. He was ambivalent about which curb to run to, and I was coming around a curve a bit too quickly. There was a car in the other lane coming towards me and swerving was not an option. Poor little, ambivalent squirrel. He's been in my head since it happened....

07 October 2008

Random

I wish my eyes worked better than they do. As I write, I'm squinting at the screen and soon I will be squinting at my books, still fighting this headache that has come on because I. Can't. See.

Ugh, my eyes!

Hold up, pass me my glasses....

06 October 2008

Another study break

Internet quizzes know all. Especially if they only require that you click one button.




What Your Little Black Dress Says About You



You are elegant, classy, and sophisticated.

You know how to turn heads when you enter a room... and then keep people interested with your witty banter.



Your style is classic, tailored, and flawless. You don't fall for silly fashion trends.



If you were a shoe, you would be: Classic black pumps

Parents

B. and I just had round 1 of Meeting the Parents, preceded by rounds 1 and 2 of Meeting Friends.

In a reversal of tradition, his parents were first. I was nervous because I have never had to meet parents before; I've usually dated guys whose families I already knew. Thankfully, all went well and we had a good time hanging out in the city and exploring.

A few pics:

All of us at the Japanese house and garden in Fairmount Park


He looks so hot in this pic.... B. in the bathroom at the Japanese house, obviously too tall for the stool.


Modeling my sexy paper slippers


The Magic Garden on South Street - If you're in Philly, check it out, the place is unbelievable!


B. and I reflected on the ceiling in the basement of the Magic Garden


Bonus: Butterfly at the Horticultural Center in Fairmount Park


Next weekend: Round 2 of Meeting the Parents; easier for me, more nerve wracking for B....