Well, if you read this in a feed reader, please click on over to the new home for my blog:
Yes, original, I know.
But I promise it’s worth the click and the RSS (re)subscription.
I’ll update the Facebook Notes feed to redirect to the new blog home.
Thanks for reading.
capture the sun
When it is wretchedly hot out, I find that my mind slides back into the death throes of winter. I close my eyes and remember the still silence that comes with a snow covered neighborhood. I think of the crisp whooshing sound of wind slipping past the house, and I remember the feel of cold, cold air as I breathe in.
When it is wretchedly cold, I remember the feel of the sun, of how the world looks bright and illuminated from a June or July afternoon. I think of how walking in the evening still means that I feel the intensity of slanted rays upon my arms and legs. I think about the sounds of birds (so many birds!) or the sound of an intense summer downpour. I remember the surrrrr of the leaves on the trees with wind rustling through them.
This summer, I plan on turning my face to the sun and soaking in the warmth.
Warning: United Methodist-y post ahead…
“Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions,” so says Lovett Weems. And that is exactly what a group of folks who love the UMC are trying to do…develop the right list of questions. Andrew Conard, a provisional elder in the Kansas West Conference who is currently serving in the Kansas East Conference, is spearheading a project to identify what the 6 best questions are for various groups within the United Methodist Church. Those groups are anyone from church members, to Bishops, to General Boards. No one is excluded (a sign of true Methodist spirit, eh?).
As of 5 p.m. CST on the day of the launch of this project, 53 people have submitted 286 questions and cast 1,577 votes. Not too shabby for day 1. If you have an interest in the future of the United Methodist Church, you can have a voice in shaping this conversation. Go to the website and add a question. Or vote for some of the questions that have already been submitted. The future is being shaped by what we do today. These questions could have an impact on that.
Want to hear from Andrew about this vision? Check out his blog here.
I look forward to reading your questions…
…I said to myself, you have studied theology for more than eleven years.
For whom have you done your theology?
Why did you want to do theology?
You always thought you studied theology in order to empower the oppressed people in your country. But face it! Have you really paid attention to the culture and history of the poor in the development of your theology? Have you been willing to learn from them? With whom have you spent most of the time in order to formulate your theology – the poor or the intellectuals in academia?
You have tried so hard, consciously and unconsciously, to prove yourself, your intelligence, to the dominant theological groups using the very language of those groups.
From Struggle to be the Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women’s Theology, by Chung Hyun Kyung, 1990, page 4.
Remember why you were called to study these things. There is great worth in the discipline of study, of learning from others, of formulating arguments. But do not let your studies become disconnected from your service to the world. Remember why you study these things. And make sure you are studying for the right reasons. Are you trying to learn, or trying to impress someone? Are you sending your energy in the wrong direction?
The Plinky prompt: “What’s the last dream you remember having?” I actually told a friend about it in a conversation – it was a transition period in the dream. Something with the same vibe as graduation or moving. This transition period affected me somewhat, but it really affected a different group of people that I interacted with.
I remember a bedroom, empty, with blue walls and white trim. It was raining outside, and everyone had on wet shoes. In the bedroom was a puppy in the mud, with rain pouring kind of through the roof on the little guy. He was sweet and muddy…poor thing. A brown puppy, kind of like a chocolate lab or a Great Dane. The next room had a white puppy with a couple of brown spots, also in the same soggy predicament. Poor things!
So I picked them up and took care of them, both in the sense of getting them warmed up immediately and in the sense of taking them with me and giving them a home.
Full disclosure: I had strawberry ice cream before bed that night.
And a dream I had two nights ago? All I remember is that I had a partner, and we were talking to someone and something unexpected happened. And I distinctly remember saying, “Wow. Let’s make this a teaching moment.”
Goodness. I am an educational dork.
My faith, my call, my work – all wrapped up in each other. My job does not define my vocation, but a deacon is called to be and to do. All persons of faith are supposed to live their faith.
Not just “live out” their faith. Not turn their faith into a podium to shout from. Not to blog self-righteously about how The Church Needs Redefined™ and act like their words grace the eyes of those who read and then they shall believe. Not to allow a disconnect between the “living out” of one’s faith…and who one is as a person.
I appreciate when people who blog state clearly that their blog has a purpose – like, to present a worldview or promote a change, a redefinition of our faith traditions. But shoot, kids – when you write like your words have never, ever been written before, when you explain New and Exciting Ideas™ that no one else could *ever* have come up with before…without having the humility to at least Google the darn concept…
Or when you present yourself in one way, perfect and flawless, and then bristle when someone confronts you about the reality…because that person knows who you really are.
…I’m not too impressed.
I don’t do what I do because I want to be noticed, because I want to hide behind a mantle of self-righteousness and make people say, “Wow, she’s holy and special and brilliant and intimidating.” I do what I do because I am called, and that call wasn’t my idea. I’m just a normal person doing normal things, in response to the grace and call of Jesus Christ. I do what I do because I was formed in a certain way, with a (somewhat) orderly mind that does its best work in certain contexts. I don’t do things to be all bright and shiny and sparkly…I’m not irreverent for shock value – it’s just who I am.
I am also a horribly flawed human being. We all are. I won’t pretend to be anything else.
So. Next time you read a post (commercial, personal, “viral” or otherwise) consider the motive. Is it simple sharing? Or is there a self-righteous motivation behind it that’s a bit more intense than the usual self-righteous tendencies we all tend to harbor?
Full disclosure: this post was not caused by a specific incident, post, or anything that you would be aware of. So don’t play guessing games. 
Just wanted to share. This topic has been on my mind for a while, and I felt it deserved a post.
Now back to my regularly scheduled posting: memes, fluff, reflections and whatnot.
So I’m on the treadmill today (it was folded up in the corner for a couple of weeks and then travel, Lakeside and oh, I dunno, LIFE GOT IN THE WAY OF WORKING OUT) and it’s facing my bookcase down in the living room (yes, classy, I know. A formal living room with a computer and a treadmill. Yeah, admit it – you’re jealous of my sweet decorated crib). I’m walking with the iPod, watching The Daily Show and I put the iPod down to look at my books.
Man, I have some sweet books. I love reading. See, most of my preaching and worship prep-type books are upstairs, and my textbook-y books are in my office at the school. So I am on the treadmill, looking at my fiction books. On the shelf I see Arthur C. Clarke (“My god, it’s full of stars!”), Isaac Asimov (Robots and Empire, the Foundation series), Julian May (the Saga of Pliocene Exile was just astonishing), Brian Jacques (the Redwall series rocked my socks off years ago), Frank Herbert’s Dune series, the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy (all five books, of course), Kushiel’s Dart, Tales of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, some Heinlein, War of the Worlds, 1984, Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass trilogy, The Last Unicorn…
Goodness, I am a nerd.
Last summer, I read the entire Harry Potter series. Well, I think I read the first two books in the winter (probably stayed up entirely too late and stumbled into the office with visions of wands and spells in my head – a wand would coordinate well with a clergy robe, don’t you think?) and then I plowed through the last books around Independence Day. The summer before, I reread the Robots and Foundation Asimov series. This summer? Who knows.
It’s the world building, the alternate universes that I love the most. I want to get lost in a new universe, think about how it works, see the characters moving amid a different world, be surprised and fascinated by how the author creates this new (or very similar) world.
What books or series (or alternate universes) hold your mind in thrall when you think back?
So I am in the Fountain Inn internet cafe – wifi, a live feed of the annual conference proceedings – happy as can be.
It’s really fun to post with the #wocumc hash tag and to have an ongoing conversation with @WestOhioUMC (and I don’t know the person behind the official Twitter account.) It’s too much fun to find other people using the hash tag and connecting with them online.
And we’re all posting photos in real time – this is intoxicating. It’s a special layer on top of the in person connecting – virtual connections!
Also, I’m Facebook chatting with a student on the Korea/Japan cross cultural trip – most everyone is healthy. And following a student on Twitter on the Israel/Palestine trip and hearing about their shenanigans (mostly healthy, too). The Arizona/New Mexico students left last week….
Wow, this is a social media-y type of post. I must be happy about connecting.
This morning, I posted a Tweet:
april casperson is talking about clergy couples/pastors and spouses and church assumptions.
The chatter on Facebook commenced! Someone requested to continue the conversation. So, this post can serve as a springboard:
Let the discussion…commence!
I may not write astonishingly brilliant posts in my blog.
I may employ clunky grammar occasionally a lot.
I post memes and fluff pretty regularly.
But.
I like my blog. I blog for myself. I blog because I like to practice writing. I blog to share with family and friends and colleagues across the nation. i blog to journal (yes, I’m aware that this blog is public, and forever, tyvm) and to have a neat record of the previous years. It’s fun. Good, clean (usually) fun. However, I am coming to realize that I would like more functionality within this blog. I’d like to post music, embed videos, and generally share tidbits of media goodness. I’d like to install Google Friend Connect. In order to do these things, I need to upgrade to a blog hosting service, and move to WordPress.org.
I don’t want to spend more than a couple of bucks a month. I also don’t want anything too complicated. I’ve looked at the Lifehacker posts on how to choose a web host. I’m now looking for your suggestions. Who do you use? Do you like it? How much do you spend a month? Please share.
april’s facebook posted Facebook items
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