Interesting...

OK, compare the importance of religion in the various states of the U.S. (courtesy of Gallup Polls)



And how they voted. (courtesy of Wikipedia...)




Fascinating....

Undo...

UNDO!! UNDO!!!

Do-overs.
Mulligans.
Reboot.
Retry.
Correct.
Amend.
Fix.
Improve.
Clean up.
Try again.
De-bug.

We ask for them in golf matches.
We beg the umpire for a review.
We fix documents.
We persuade our computers to work. (maybe!)

We need UNDOs in life.
And more than once when I've realized I've let someone down or watched as someone is hurt... I've wished that we could just erase memories and conversations with an "undo" button, or something.

As part of the reflection process in my coursework, I'm asked to consider what I've succeeded at doing, where I need help, and where I need to make more minor, mid-course corrections.

So many UNDOs, so little time...

I know that there's really two steps to this process for me.

The first is that I be willing to try again.
For me, that's huge. If I'm hurt, or have been wounded by someone, I have trouble trusting it will turn out OK. Ever. But to gather courage in hand and try again, (and again and again and again... times seventy!) is all God asks.

The second is to forgive.
Forgive without expecting the other person will change, setting aside pride and anger and hurt to forgive the other person. That's harder. Because I personally want blame assigned or accepted. Or I want to, as they say, "chew 'em a new one."

Instead, God asks that I forgive and wisely choose my next course of action. It's not that I would automatically choose that same course of action, or the same relationships, or even the same job... but to leave things hanging out there, bleeding and oozing pain??? Or to stuff my disappointments, hide them, and not admit it hurts??? No, that's not what God asks.

Please note.... FORGIVENESS does not equal STUPID.
I can take steps of healing or steps of wounding. And as far as God helps me, I'd like it to be the former.

If I hang on to my anger, I become sarcastic. Or bitter. I retreat and I don't invest emotionally, because, who wants to hurt again? As an extrovert and a "feeling" person, sometimes I feel overexposed and vulnerable. I need to step back, assess, and own my part of the problem (which is always bigger than it first seemed! Funny how that works....) and not retreat. I need the opportunity to have a big "UNDO" in my life, in my heart, in my relationships.

Time and time again, God has been patient, faithful and accepting towards me. Not because I deserve it, but because I have a love relationship with God that is not based on performance, but on a God-sized sacrifice.

I just stumbled on to the band Rush of Fools and this song in particular has been running through my mind... it's called --- "UNDO"

Hear their message of honest confession and healing... It's yours, mine, ours for the taking.

Peace-
Deb

UNDO by Rush of Fools

Friday Five: HGTV edition

Will Smama of RevGalBlogPals writes:

As some of you may know I am in the midst of my first home purchase. It is a new-build and so some of the fun was picking out upgrades and major decor items to my taste rather than walking into a previously owned home that needed to be upgraded room by room (pink and teal tiles in the bathroom, anyone?). As much as decorating is not my thing, I did try to embrace the moment because just how many times do you get to have a do-over on kitchen cabinets/floors/countertops?

And so, my questions to you this fine Friday involve your home past, present or future...

1) If you could, what room in the place you are currently living would you redo first? My kitchen. We got rid of the avacado green dishwasher, refrigerator and double electric oven. Now I'd love to replace the builder's model plywood-coverered-in-contact-paper cabinets, and the stick-on floor tiles the previous owner installed to cover up the ugly linoleum flooring. (The tiles have now shifted, lost their "shine" and look perpetually dirty.)

2) What is the most hideous feature/color/decor item you have ever seen in a home? Puce pink tiles with olive green tile trim. In the bathroom. In case you didn't feel like heaving, the tiles helped.

3) What feature do you most covet? Do you have it? If not, is it within reach? A huge "owner's suite" bathroom with jacuzzi tub, shower, etc. And no, we don't have it. We could only expand our bathroom if we cantilevered an addition on the front of the house. That ain't happening. There is "space" to re-do the bathroom and add a few features like a double sink... but the $$$$$$$ make it definitely out of reach!

4) Your kitchen - love it or hate it? Why? Hate it. It's too small. It's a galley kitchen. And the process of doing the cabinets and floor give me a headache for the logistical planning that is involved...

5) Here is $10,000 and you HAVE to spend it on the place you are living now. What do you do? We do the roof and the front walk and driveway. Actually, that would not cover both of those jobs... but it would help...


BONUS: Why do you think there was such a surplus of ugly bathroom tile colors showcased in all homes built from the 1950's right through the early 80's?
At the end of the Cold War, it was discovered that alien life forms were creating the color pallettes for bathrooms in the US. The CIA willingly collaborated with this, hiding their operation in Roswell. Once Roswell was "outed" in the press, the manufacturing of these alternate life form colors ceased. And normalcy and beauty returned to the American Bathroom. Remember, you heard it here first!


Deb
who really REALLY would like to re-do her kitchen and bath, but will likely do the roof and probably the water heater... and then the front walk and driveway... and then pay for kids' college tuition... and then the car will need four new tires... etc.

Care to weigh in???

Here's the assignment...


Final Paper: submit 3000-4000 word research paper, with the following features:

a) on one of the following doctrines: the Trinity, the incarnation, the fall, total depravity, an aspect of the atonement—propitiation, expiation, substitution, ransom, etc.—original sin or some other related doctrine—approved by your professor.

b) include separate sections on your theological method, biblical perspectives and historical development.

c) identify what difference, if any, a renewal or pneumatological approach makes for this doctrine.

d) reflect on how Christian beliefs make a difference for Christian practices & vice versa.

e) discuss other related issues, raise critical questions, respond creatively and constructively to disputed matters.

SOOOO....

I'm all ears...

What would be a good topic? One that's not just seminary bs?? I am tired of papers that pluck gnat's eyebrows, if you catch my drift. It would be nice to take a contemporary issue relating to one of these themes and at least enjoy the research. (Is that a dream?)

One caveat is that this prof assigned us Grudem's Systematic Theology as a textbook (blarg) so I can't throw my feminism too pointedly in his face. Though I can certainly do some arguments which raise a feminist point of view.

Since Henry has decided the discussion of this whole project is far to soporific, I await your collective wisdom.

Deb

A random click...

I don't even remembered how I found the blog Everyday Liturgy... But I am delighted! It's actually a companion blog to an on-line journal.

As I start my day, slowing down before I rev up, trying to meet up with God and then tackle my daunting exegesis assignment, it was just great to 'rest' a while in the writings. After my recent post on Communion, I appreciated the journal edition on the Eucharist, especially Tim's reflection as a "Post Conservative."

Just a few quick random thoughts... click on over!
Peace...
Deb

sez it all

more animals

Sunday worship...

We sang this at worship during the Chrysalis team meeting recently... Then we sang it this morning at church... double bonus! I really love this song!

Completely and utterly amazing...

It's just one of the greatest things I get to do...

This morning we had a team meeting for the Chrysalis team that I'm serving on for a February weekend. It's not my first team since I've been on Emmaus teams, but it is the first time I've been a Spiritual Director (or SD for short) and my first Chrysalis team.

Teaming and weekends usually involve celebrating Communion together. While we are welcome to have youth or adults serve it to the rest of the team, as an SD it's a special privilege to be able to offer them the bread or the cup, to lead the communion meditation, and speak the words of institution and administration. I pray I never get over the blessing I have to be able to do this simple act; women for centuries have been denied a place of officiating at the Communion table.

Many times as I look in the eyes of my friends, either on team or other places where we gather, I see the same joy, the same amazing wonder in my own heart. They seem to be lost in the wonder of the same inner "conversation" with God...

...for me, Lord?
yes. for you.

...in spite of all I've done?
because of Whose you are.

...will I ever be able to express it in words?
it's OK if you don't -- I love you.

Most of the time, the church where I'm a staff member does a less intimate Communion experience by passing the trays of juice and bread. It's not "wrong" -- it's just different and it fits the setting where we are, and the people we minister to each week. So when I have the opportunity to share in this simple celebration with others, I appreciate it all the more.

This morning, the joy and intimate Presence of Jesus was so very near... there's just nothing like it.

Thanks, God, for letting me be a part of it...

deb

Friday Five: Cabin Fever edition

Singing Owl from RevGals writes:

Here in snow country we are settled in to what is a very long stretch of potentially boring days. The holidays are over. It is a very long time till we will get outside on a regular basis. The snow that seemed so beautiful at first is now dirty and the snow banks are piling up. Our vehicles are all the same shade of brownish grey, but if we go to the car wash our doors will freeze shut. People get grumpy. Of course, not everyone lives in a cold climate, but even in warmer places the days till springtime can get long. Help! Please give us five suggestions for combating cabin fever and staying cheerful in our monochromatic world?

"Snow piling up." I'm trying to picture it. sigh... that's not a problem we have in the mid-Atlantic region. However, the brown-ness and grey-ness of winter days do get to me. Here's some things I do:

1. I have "full-spectrum" bulbs in my desk lamp and in my kitchen. I need to feel like it is day time. The blinds and curtains are OPEN before the sun is up so that I can feel like I'm not swathed in a tomb.

2. I cut forsythia from the bushes out back and "force" them to bloom early inside.

3. Music. Lots of it. Upbeat.

4. TV stays off. I know, LOST just started up again (don't tell me what's happened -- I haven't had time to watch!) and 24 is cooking another plot. But if I am stuck behind the torpor tube, it doesn't help. We tend to do big group projects like jigsaw puzzles.

5. Feed the birds and squirrels. I love to watch them. There's activity, life and the occasional laugh. We have a "Yankee Flipper" bird feeder and it's good for many laughs and squirrel launchings. We also have a birdbath "heater" to keep the birds around. It's amazing how many birds we will have just because our birdbath is open for business.

Celebrating the growing light... Spring will arrive in 2 months. Or so they say!

Deb

Say it isn't so!

I enjoyed the John Williams' arrangement of the tune Simple Gifts. Despite the snarky reviews in the Washington Post, it was lovely, uplifting and joyous as befit the occasion. So imagine my surprise when I read this morning that the "performance" at the inauguration was TAPED!

Yes it was.

They played (physically played) their instruments. But they were not amplified for the broadcast because the cold temperatures would have made their instruments go out of tune. I wondered how they managed to play "live" and in tune. And I still shudder at having priceless instruments out in the cold, dry air. I was told that they had space heaters to keep their instruments in tune. Uh huh.

Now we know.

But even taped, it was glorious. And, FYI, it's not on iTunes yet. I'm waiting.

Deb