Trying to follow

I should have read Traveling Mercies a while ago, it’s been on my reading list, I just never got around to it. Anyways, my wife has been a reading machine, and I had recently recommended Lamott, which she devoured in less then a week. She enjoyed it so I figured I should read it next.
Lamott is a great author. I want to write like her. Some things I noticed that she does is she gives very specific allusions. She’ll randomly reference specific characters in movies or she’ll give vivid word pictures. For example:

I’m unclear about the fine line between good parenting and being overly protective. I get stumped by the easy test questions - like whether I should let Sam ride his two-wheeler for several blocks without me when I secretly want to run alongside him like a golden retriever. He wants to walk to a friend’s house; I want him to stay inside and draw while I sit on the front porch with a shotgun across my lap like Granny Clampett.

Unfortunately, we have no front porch
-p.81

Or this priceless gem…

“…such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them because they would make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish.”

I tried to write a little using her style, but I don’t think my mind is at the creatively imaginative stage Lamott’s is at. She’s also very raw in her honest. I think that might disturb people at times, but it’s only disturbing in that she’s willing to share her secrets in a way others of us are not.
Traveling Mercies is more or less a random collection of essays, I don’t think there is any terribly defined theme running through, but each one is unique and adorable in its own right. Definitely recommend you pick it up.

Here are a few more quotes I enjoyed:

Again and again I tell God I need help, and God says, “Well isn’t that fabulous? Because I need help too. So you go get that old woman over there some water, and I’ll figure out what we’re going to do about your stuff.”

..Grace thought it had been just fine. “It was what it was,” she shrugged. But I knew it hadn’t gone well - even her husband said it had been a disaster. And my fear of failure has been lifelong and deep. If you are what you do - and I think my parents may have accidentally given me this idea - and you do poorly, what then? It’s over; you’re wiped out. All those prophecies you heard in the dark have come true, and people can see the real you, see what a schmendrick you are, what a fraud. -p.142

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part III (part II and part I)

It is likely that our churches have already given us opportunity to “love our neighbor as our self” through a number of service activities for the area. Maybe you’ve helped out at the soup kitchen, donated clothing, sand carols, delivered thanksgiving baskets. When did we as Americans remove the idea that our neighbors our those who live next door to us? Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic that we have understood that that verse means those in need in our city and community and those neighbors we have never meet half way around the world. But what happened to the neighbor next door? Many in America have never met their neighbor, and that is uncalled for.
Is it that we are too scared to face those who are daily in our lives with the truth of our message? Or maybe the truth is we don’t believe it as strongly as we ought. Maybe it’s that it hasn’t changed our lives to the degree that it ought. Let me suggest something: If you have truly experienced the saving grace of Christ, and have tasted the “full” life that Jesus came to bring, you will desire to share it with everyone that you meet. This doesn’t mean you go around talking about Jesus to every person on the street, but your life, your actions, your lifestyle and your words embody that Christ is all to you. Will your neighbor see that Christ is all to you when you have everything they do (maybe more) and you say Jesus is what makes you happy? Maybe. But what if you lived with so much less of the stuff that society says is the pleasures of life, and yet joy emanated off of you? This is and should be a point of struggle for a lot of people. Do not move from this point. Is Christ really the most satisfying thing in your life? If you knew the cure for Cancer would you share it with everyone you could? You have the cure for the emptiness of which every person suffers, and it is Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe that, or if you don’t really feel the truth of that, then maybe you haven’t experienced Christ to the fullness that you need to.

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part II (and part I)

It’s one of the biggest atrocities of the church that we do not give even close to the ten percent that we as believers should be giving—At LEAST. I would submit that most Christians in America could give 20% of their income without seriously suffering in their day to day life. If you equate suffering with not being able to buy a new car every few years, or any other material possession which you have no real dire need of then maybe there is a slight potential one must suffer.
Do you have any idea what the church could do with the money if each Christian gave 10%? Even assuming ¾ of the people who go to church are not bonified Christians, if the last ¼ all gave 10% the resources would be amazing. We could fund hundreds of missionaries overseas; we could give resources of all kinds to the persecuted church; we could feed and educate hundreds of children in needy countries. But there are so many facets to this, so many.
If we gave to the point that we need to choose a standard or quality of living that was below, noticeably below the people who we might be living around (assuming you haven’t had to sell your middle-class suburban home), what message might that send to your neighbors? Might they “see your good deeds and worship your father in heaven?” What if some of the money you tithed went to giving to the needs of those in your neighborhood? What if you tithed 10% of your time (If there is a resource of capital we budget nearly as much as we do our money its probably our time) to the specific task of tangibly “loving your neighbor as your self?” There are 168 hours in a week, that leaves approximately 17 hours to serve your neighbor. Even if we didn’t count sleep time (8 hours a nights) that would still be 11 hours a week to serve your neighbor, by baking a cake for their birthday, writing cards, shoveling driveways, mowing lawns, babysitting, or maybe just talking. We often talk of the mission field as those countries and tribes far away that have never heard the gospel. We forget that Jesus said we will be His witness first “in Jerusalem,” that is, our home, our city, our community.

This week I’ve got a video you need to go and watch that isn’t embeddable, it’s a music video to Radiohead’s All I Need.
Go Now. (ht. Keane)

Here is a user created video to the same song with a different topic

Immigrants (ht. Jamie)

What did you think of that one?

This is another one from the archives, I wrote it five years ago at Wheaton College, after the Class Films…

I’m taking a contextualization class at Wheaton College, in it we learn about other cultures and how to contextualize the gospel. It’s a great class and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve learned. Basically it’s taught me to look at my culture and say, “how are we not contextualizing the gospel into our culture?” It causes you to look at a lot of things.

Take bridesmaids for example. Did you know that originally the reason for bridesmaids was a pagan belief that they came before the bride to ward off any evil eye that someone might have toward the bride. Weird! But, now it’s a regular part of nearly all Christian marriages. Shall we toss it out as pagan, or is it so a part of our Christian heritage and carries none of the meaning it once did for us? Now take prostitution, is it possible to have a Christian brothel? Obviously not, because it goes against so many basic Christian values. Have we effectively contextualized music? The arts? And so many other things? These are the questions you ask in trying to contextualize. So join me in this case study.

A Christian College host a large event for the students modeled after the Academy awards. Four student films were produced, one for each class, and the event consisted of viewing the films and then giving awards accordingly. The evening started with students arriving quite early at the doors of Edman Chapel. A red carpet was laid out at the central doors, where a limo pulled up and those involved in each film where escorted into the theater. There was much cheering, but the focus was on excitement for friends, rather then the glitz and glamor and focus on who is wearing what that is such the focus of the Academy Awards. The doors opened and students rushed in for seats to view the four films which where all of excellent quality.
After the films a pair of people where introduced to come and announce the winner of best supporting actress. After the introduction three people walked on to the stage. The pair that was introduced stepped up to the microphone and dialogged a bit before announcing the winner. The third person, a female, stood silently in the back holding the Academy Award style trophy. She presented it to the winning actress and then escorted her off the stage. Again, a pair was introduced, three people walked on stage, the pair spoke and the third, a female again, stood silently in the back holding the trophy. She presented it to the winner and escorted him off stage. All evening I watched this happen. Near the end of the ceremonies there where some thank yous and congratulations to those who had helped make the evening come together. Never once did any of the females with the trophies speak, never once were their names mentioned. The only recognition they got was some banter teasingly saying they where stealing a boyfriends attention.

Did our attempt to do a Christian Academy Awards miss something? Is displaying females without a name or a voice, and only recognizing what they look like, Christian? I think we can agree that it is missing something, or it is flawed.