new poll!

well i thought about doing a poll that had nothing to do with new year's, since as a Christian i celebrated the new year with the first Sunday of advent (who's with me?!). but when i picked up my newest edition of Newsweek and remembered some of these, i had to share them with you. if you haven't seen any of them, check em out before you vote. i'm not gonna vote yet so i won't guide the results or anything, but there's really only one correct answer.

movie reviews

i've often thought that if i failed at everything else (which isn't out of the question yet) i could still make a living reviewing movies. i'm opinionated beyond belief, and i've seen most movies in existence - some many, many times. i've actually thought so much about this i've developed my own rating system. if someone rips this off i hope this blog holds up in court.

see it in the theater - the best level. the system is mostly based on how much money you have to spend, and since seeing a movie in the theater is like $20, this is about as good as it gets. the movie either has to be exceptional or it has to be a movie that really must be seen in the theater to be fully appreciated. this can be hard given the impressive home theaters so many people have.

rent it - the movie is definitely worth seeing, but don't spend all your money on it. it can be fully appreciated at home and if seen with the right setup might be just as good.

watch it on tv - i generally don't like watching movies on tv. they cut stuff out, and of course you have to deal with commercials. but for movies i don't care that much about - i don't really care. maybe it's unfair to judge a movie based on a lackluster presentation, but chances are i've seen it in all its glory and i'm saving you the disappointment and expense.

don't bother - sadly most movies will get this rating. blame my persona if you will, but given the number of movies that come out in a year it's just in the numbers that most of them will be junk. and it's pretty clear that we ran out of good ideas years ago and we're just regurgitating stuff onto the screen.

so with the system in mind, here are a few movies i've seen recently. "i am legend" - my family sees a movie for Christmas every year. last year my family listened to my older brother and ditched "the pursuit of happyness" to see "the good shepherd." it's a decision that will never be forgiven as long as we all live. "pursuit of happyness" - rent it/"good shepherd" - don't bother. so this year we gave him a shot at redemption and forced "i am legend" on him. well, it was worlds better than "good shepherd" if only because it wasted about one third less of my life. i'm thinking it would have been better overall if i'd been able to go in totally clean - i hate knowing anything about a movie i see. in this case i had heard too much. so if you want to see it like i would want to - stop reading now. i liked the setup of a cure for cancer that had horrible consequences, but the convenience of smith's character being immune was a bit much. his acting was for the most part quite good. he especially handled the madness of being all alone really well. the dog - i just wish they'd left all of that undone. the effects were pretty great, but i could have done without the movie being an extended Ford ad. the zombies were worlds more annoying than scary or anything else. all in all, "rent it" but watch it at your friend's house with the big plasma screen and bose surround sound.

"national treasure: book of secrets" - i took my youth group to see it when "fred claus" was eliminated. i still haven't seen the first movie, but i recently learned of a deep love one of my friends (cat) for the "national treasure" genre. i was at first horrified, but i guess i've come to understand her position. i mean, you know it's not gonna win any oscars, but it succeeds at its mission. it's entertaining and generally wholesome. you get to see some pretty cool places and learn some useful trivia. if you have at least a tenth grader's knowledge of american history this movie will make you feel pretty smart. like i knew about the plot to kill lincoln and the people involved and what the Resolute Desk was and a few other things i've forgotten. my main gripes involve disney's obsession with vindicating even the villian (which if the things i've heard about disney being a nazi sympathizer are true i guess shouldn't surprise me) and the fact that several beautiful people are in the movie and the only ones that kiss are jon voigt and the aged woman playing his ex-wife. i truly don't need or want to see that. so yeah, if you've got a family or a youth group or want to hang out with someone else's family - see it in the theater. if not, watch it on tv.

i was pretty excited about seeing "charlie wilson's war." i like tom hanks and philip seymour hoffman - julia roberts i can tolerate. i generally love anything aaron sorkin touches. well, it was good and moments of it were pretty great, but again, i think i went in knowing too much. i didn't even know a lot about the real charlie wilson - but i know plenty about the cold war. put those things together and there weren't really any surprises. everyone did a fine job - but special mention goes to hoffman and julia roberts' dogs. rent it - but mainly because the funniest parts wouldn't make it on tv.

by way of a preview - i'm declaring "the dark knight" to be amazing based solely on the trailer. i can't believe i'm writing this, but by the few seconds i've seen heath ledger looks incredible as the joker. come soon june.

i have a comment for everything

so this person i know named casey commented on my last post about how i should discuss the winner of the recent Christmas movie poll. i don't really know how to take this. i'm second only to God in making casey who she is today. when i first met her i thought, "this girl...this is not my kinda girl." but now she's totally amazing, and i rightfully take most of the credit. the thing is, i've shaped her so much, i can't even tell who she really is anymore. so when she mentioned me commenting on the poll, i don't know if she was being sarcastic or that she expected me to do that - like the time she elbowed me at an ash wednesday service when i saw a pregnant woman nearing the front of the line because she could tell what i was thinking before it happened. anyway, it doesn't really matter. i was always planning on commenting, and so here it is.

i gotta say i'm not all that surprised Christmas Vacation won. it's rich on so many levels. i think maybe the greatest thing about it is it seems that every time i watch it i catch something new - or there are things other people point out to me. only like a year or so ago my friend jana pointed out to me that in one part randy quaid (eddie) is wearing a green dickie (sp?) under a white sweater. i had never seen that, and i lost it when it happened. then there are those little things that i never stop laughing at - like when his hands are all sappy and his wife's hair sticks to one hand and the lamp the other. or when eddie (i think) touches the windmill and all the blades fall off. it has really timeless lines: "can't see the line can you russ?" "that's pretty low mister. if i had a rubber hose i would beat..." "well why is the carpet all wet todd?! i don't know margot!!!" there's such animosity between practically every character in the movie. to me that rings true during the holidays. pretty much all the national lampoon movies before and after sucked - but for one great moment, they got it all right.

so i guess that's it. i'll be thinking about a new poll. and you, keep doing what you do.

bloglift

i've added a couple things to the blog today. the first is a link to other blogs i find insightful or witty or appropriate. i'm hoping it will grow as i find new ones or think of ones i've forgotten. the second is a poll. i really like polls, and i saw there was the new option to have one, so i went for it. polls are fun. i like voting for stuff - especially when the stuff you vote for doesn't have the ability to lie the country you live in into an endless war and rape the environment for oil. wow, sorry. that was heavy. i'm just talking about polls. i flatter myself to think enough people actually check my blog that the voting will be significant. but perhaps now that i have a poll untold masses will flock here. after all, everyone wants democracy. in conclusion, i like polls (and good blogs), and i hope you do too.

p.s. in this poll you can vote for your favorite two!

what luck

drat, i was really hoping to get one more post in while it was still november. maybe i'll be less lazy next year. this post is just to recount a horrible phenomenon that has plagued me lately.

i don't know anyone who writes checks anymore, except maybe to pay a bill or two that you can't access online. so it's safe to say that in my universe checks are all but extinct. well, in the past week i've been stuck in line behind four separate people writing checks. they do this with all the speed of cold syrup. one lady had to produce her driver's license twice. it's really just awful for everyone involved. so if you are one of these people, get a debit card for everyone's sake. i'm sure your bank offers free cards with your account. they aren't hard to use - not nearly as much trouble as writing a check. you won't even have to ask anyone for the date. that can be your gift to humanity this year.

a tale of two cities

i used to kinda stick up for my hometown. when everyone else in high school was hellbent on getting out as fast as they could, i maturely observed that most places were no better or worse than most other places as people everywhere are pretty much the same. so i stayed and went to college in my hometown. it helped that they threw money at me. by the time i finished college i was very thankful for my education in a specialized degree, but i too was ready to get the hey outta dodge. i felt as though everything around me was getting smaller. the city seemed content to backslide rather than progress. the path of least resistance seemed the programme de jour. now when i return i all but suffocate.

i went to nyc to see my brother over thanksgiving. i expected the pace to be daunting, especially since i was on holiday. instead the rhythm of the city was infectious. i soon realized the tremendous asset great cities possess that my hometown severely lacks: options. i'm not at all talking about a great plethora of chain restaurants from which to choose - my hometown has that in abundance. a place needs options of cultures, of opinions, of beauty to enjoy. i guess you can live anywhere, but i think there are only certain places that live in you. new york is one of those places. i also felt it when i lived in chicago. i wonder if it's possible without a huge city.

the last straw with my hometown came when i was leaving after my thanksgiving visit. i was on my way out of town when i noticed one of the staples of the city (and my childhood) was gone. growing up village inn had been the greatest restaurant. the place was a classic in so many ways. it had bad lighting, but it only made the table candles that much better. the brick walls were home to countless names and memories. when deciding where the family should eat, the mention of village inn always met with total agreement. but a few years ago, things changed. it was remodeled in a way that robbed it of its charm. decent lighting came in, and with it horrific paint over the bricks and dorky logos for the local schools. the sign out front went from being original to being anything but, and slowly but surely, that's what happened to the place - just another option among harmless competitors. the pizza was more or less the same, but the place wasn't. and now, it's totally gone - not torn down, that might be somewhat palatable. but of course my hometown wouldn't do anything so gracious. instead it's been wood paneled and turned into the old hickory steakhouse. just what the city ordered.

thanks Luke

i'm pretty glad the Diatessaron didn't catch on. it was an early attempt to smooth out the differences in the four canonical Gospels into one seamless "super Gospel" (my phrase). as much as not having to address the disagreements between the Gospels (and yes my literalist friends, there are disagreements) might make my job and life easier, i really am thankful we have the four different accounts. it's tough to think about what we would lose - especially based on certain criteria. for instance, if we went with the so-called multiple attestation criteria, those stories that appear most frequently between the four should stay. if we did this, what would the Christmas story look like? it doesn't appear at all in Mark or John, and the version in Matthew is quite brief - sparing the tricky details about why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem in the first place. only in Luke's Gospel do we read the details about Mary and Joseph laying the baby Jesus in a food trough "because there was no place for them in the inn." Luke is proclaiming Jesus to be the son of God and the savior of the whole world, so such beginnings would be pretty convenient to leave out - unless Luke was also trying to tell us something else.

i think he was as Luke reiterates throughout his Gospel God's love for the poor, outcast, and abandoned. i think he included these details to show us from beginning to end a world that made no room for the very people who bless us beyond measure. i couldn't help but remember this story the last few days. there's a gentleman who comes regularly to the community soup kitchen. last week, the trailer he was living in was burned down. now he has no place to live. it was only by trying to help him find some temporary housing that i learned my community has no homeless shelter which is inexcusable on so many levels, especially considering the new multi-million dollar addition to the local jail. (i wonder why the jail needs so much space?)

thankfully members in one of my churches agreed to let him stay in our fellowship hall until we can find him permanent housing. i've been asked several times why the larger churches in town don't do such a thing regularly as there is no shelter. officially, i don't know that they don't because i only spoke with three, and i didn't ask if they could put him up in their fellowship halls. but this is something it makes sense for churches to do. this man spent a few nights sleeping under a bridge when almost every church on the street he slept under could have taken him in.

maybe if Luke hadn't included that little phrase about having no room for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus it wouldn't be such a big deal to keep people out of our churches or houses. but i think God had a purpose for the very words Luke used. we can't say we don't know any better. that phrase should remind all who read it not to turn anyone away, because there's no way to know who you're making sleep in a barn or under a bridge. at the very least, it's a child of God. but it could very well be God's only begotten Son.

not hyperbole

wow, i've done a really great job of writing regularly on here. it's encouraging that i post fewer writings each month. so i guess this one will knock out my november quota. but at least i'm coming back strong, because i have a story that may be the most preposterous thing i've ever dealt with.

a few weeks ago i went to get my driver's license transferred from tennessee to alabama. i think i've voiced my disgust for having to do things like this when we supposedly live in a country of "united states." oh was my temper not prepared for what was to follow!

so my number gets called, and thankfully i don't have to retake some test of knowledge i've totally forgotten and never been called upon to use while driving. i just show this nice lady my old license, take a vision test, and start filling out the paperwork for the new one. i have to show her my birth certificate, and that's when she says to me, "so you realize you don't have a middle name." "what?!" she continues, "yeah on your birth certificate, it doesn't have your full middle name, just your middle initial. so in the eyes of the state, your middle name is 'b'." i insist, "but the 'b' stands for my middle name which is brent." she counters, "well we can't put that on anything, and officially that's not your name. now, you can of course get your name legally changed to be 'brent' but for now it isn't." fuming, i respond, "so i would have to get my name changed to be what my name already is?!" "yes."

well i'm pretty much beside myself at this point. what's especially interesting is that my social security card has my full middle name. i wonder where they got it from. so i called my mom to yell at her about giving me a middle letter instead of a name, and she insists that she put my full name on the paperwork. she later found the paperwork, and sure enough, she did her part.

so now the prevailing theory points the blame at a lazy typist somewhere in the tennessee government who couldn't be bothered to type four more letters that would have made all the difference in the world to me. thanks to this person, my new nemesis, my middle name will legally just be "b."

let's start a list

a few weeks ago i watched the documentary maxed out. the film examines this nation's attitude toward credit and debt as well as specific aspects of this industry. it was marvelously made and, at times, quite unsettling. especially troubling was the information presented on the tactics of credit card companies and debt collectors (who thrive hand in hand) who prey on vulnerable people, some of which have basically no chance of ever escaping debt (short of death). but the most tragic story in the film was shared by two mothers. each had children who went to college and were offered credit cards during campus orientation events. the students got cards and began charging. they quickly amassed considerable debts. the interest set in, and they saw no way to pay off their debt. they viewed death as the only way out, and they took it. they each committed suicide.

now certainly you might think these stories extreme, and perhaps they are. but they are not uncommon, and they expose severe problems with this nation's attitude toward credit cards. we live in a society in which one practically must have a credit card. without one, there's no way to establish credit. without credit, there's no way to buy a home, and to buy a car or any other significant purchase (even basic utilities) costs more. they are a necessity now. of course, just because one must have a card it doesn't follow that this person will get into trouble with debt. but, it's considerably easier than you might think. you could be a very responsible person who always pays your balance on time. but accidents happen. what if you're in a car wreck with someone who has no insurance, and you miss work for several weeks. if you hadn't been able to save lots of money before the wreck and you have no wealthy family to fall back on, what might happen?

credit cards are a necessary evil it seems. but i think we can do a lot to curb some of the damage they do. at the very least, they should be far less accessible - especially to people who clearly have not established any kind of ability to make payments on them. they should never be offered on college campuses, and leaders at universities should fight to keep them away and educate students about the real risks involved in having credit cards.

i've all but given up hope on the government passing laws that are beneficial to us, but here's one i've thought up: how about a registry for people who don't want to receive credit card offers? i receive probably ten a week. i never ask for them. i don't want them, and i immediately rip them up and throw them away. such a system serves no good purpose. if people want a credit card, they can very easily apply for one. but sending applications or statements of pre-approval only wastes tons of paper and exposes people to identity thieves (another dire problem you'd think we'd want to end). this practice doesn't help us at all; it only helps the companies. but why care about them when they don't care a thing about you? oh wait, i forgot, they do care about your money.

not funny

i've been told for most of my life that i have a good sense of humor. usually it comes across sarcastically as perhaps this blog demonstrates. i make fun of a lot of things and point out the absurd. but i have always been a fan of comedy. i love hearing jokes and ridiculous stories that make me laugh. i've listened to all kinds of comics and been exposed to humor of every stripe.

i read a blurb in my newsweek tonight about kathy griffin winning an emmy. during her acceptance speech she dismissed the customary thanking of a higher power and declared "suck it, Jesus." i can only see this as a transparent stunt from an attention starved person to get some publicity. well, unfortunately it worked.

she's been denounced by several Christian groups including one from good ole pigeon forge, tn. at the same time, "atheist groups" have rallied to her support, or perhaps the support of free speech. i don't think the speech itself is really that big of a deal. i mean, if it offends you then i guess it is a big deal - but i don't care about what she said very much, and i doubt God cares either.

consider the state of the world right now. millions are dying needlessly from disease, war, and poverty. most churches seem to care more about internal matters (helping themselves) than the many crises in the world (helping others). so imagine God seeing what a mess we've all made of creation. then someone walks up to God and says, "oh, by the way, in this acceptance speech for an award that means nothing a woman said 'suck it, Jesus.'" i feel like God would be really angry that 10 seconds of His life was wasted getting that report. God truly doesn't need us to defend Him. i think it would help so much more if we actually worried about the image of God we portrayed with our lives and the choices we make.

i honestly feel pity for kathy griffin. she's had a sad comedic career and what appears to be a sad life. she craves attention so much she'll say anything. it reminds me of girls i knew in high school and college that would do anything just so some guy (usually a creepy one) would notice them. perhaps the worst thing of all is that she's just not funny. i know some things are relative, and saying this or that isn't funny is such an opinion - but this is a judgment from a great deal of experience about what is or isn't funny. she's not. in none of her work have i ever so much as chuckled. the episode of seinfeld she appeared in was an hilarious episode with a great premise, but it was great in spite of her performance. so i guess to paraphrase jerry from another episode, she doesn't offend me as a Christian, just as someone with a sense of humor.

jail time

so one of my churches has a few people who visit the local jail every week. i started going my first week here, and i've only missed one or two tuesdays. i think it's vital work for a church to be doing, but i'm often confronted by so many different emotions. it saddens me that there just doesn't seem to be much energy at all in keeping people out of jail or keeping them from returning. the issue of race always slaps me in the face also. it's always a challenge to go and then a challenge to leave and expect things to be any better next week.

but last week, something quite amazing happened. there are other ladies from a larger church who rotate coming each week. there's usually some form of devotion time as well. one of the ladies last week opened her heart and confessed her own family's struggles. she mentioned a grandson in prison and another one in drug rehab. tears came to her eyes as she shared about the pain it caused her family and about the pain it caused her to see so many people hurt themselves and others through abusing drugs and committing crimes. it truly was powerful and, i believe, the work of God. because if you just saw this woman and these inmates in person or on paper you would think they shared nothing and could never even speak to one another in anything other than a superficial way. but they are deeply connected through a shared pain - though admittedly from different vantage points. i'm thankful she did that; she shared her deepest emotions and feelings rather than shaking a finger. rather than saying "be more like me," she said, "i'm more like you than you might realize."

this week a guy i met in jail mailed me a letter. he wants some help with stuff, wants me to contact some people for him. i had kinda decided to institute a policy (i'm really good with policies) that i wouldn't get involved like this. i decided i'd tell him i can't help with any "favors" while people are in jail, because i already serve three churches and if word got out that i helped him i'd have to help all 399 of his fellow inmates. but i also would tell him that i'm happy to help in any way i can once he gets out. he's free to visit one of my churches or write me and set up a meeting. i've written the reply letter, but haven't printed or mailed it yet. it smacks of something i don't want to be. part of me feels that i should do everything i can to help people in and out of jail, and he probably needs my help now more than ever. i've never liked the "i'm too busy" excuse. so i'm unsure what to do or say. what do you think? have you faced issues like this? how much is enough and where is the line between helping and enabling or developing a savior complex?

why "God bless america" is problematic

so i apparently have to get a new driver's license and license plate since i live in alabama. i think this is pretty stupid. i mean what is the point of having "united states" if they aren't united concerning things like licenses? it's a total hassle to change when you move, and it serves no useful purpose other than supplying jobs for people who might not ordinarily have jobs. yet, i will render to caesar what is caesar's.

but i was at city hall the other day trying to turn in the paper work (i waited for half an hour to be told i didn't have the right stuff), and i saw the new alabama license plate with the "God bless america" slogan and the american flag backdrop. i'll leave off issues of church and state in this post, but i would like to speak to the problems with this slogan which are myriad. for the most part, i'm going to assume that i'm writing to a Christian audience because it seems Christians are usually advocating for this sort of stuff to be more in the mainstream.

first, who are we to be telling God what to do? we are the creature, not the creator. we have messed it all up. look at our lives and the amount of stuff on a daily basis we screw up. do we really think we have any business giving orders to God. maybe we should read the last few chapters of Job a few more times. now i have heard people talk about how "God bless america" is a prayer - but it sure sounds like an order, a command to me - and i don't think we're in any position to make it.

second, it doesn't seem to me that nations are things God should bless or even really care about. God loves and blesses created things like plants and animals (humans belonging to the latter category). but nations are entities we (humans) made up just like time zones and couches. why should God bless the things we make up - so that one time zone will have the perfect balance of light and quality tv programming? it just doesn't make sense. of course, it does make sense for God to bless the things God created (which it seems has already happened in their being created and receiving life). so i think what people are really saying is "God bless americans," and again, that's a problem because why americans and not everyone (see bumper sticker that says "God bless everyone, no exceptions")?

finally, let's assume i'm wrong about everything i've written. let's assume that God loves americans more than other people - that God doesn't really care for belarussians or botswanans all that much. and let's assume that we have all the things we have not because we murdered the native americans who were living here before us and stole their land and kept wealth to ourselves rather than distributing it justly, but because God blessed us with the things we have. here's the rub: haven't we been blessed enough? if we really believe that all the stuff we have came from God, shouldn't we have an ounce of compassion and say "thank you" instead of "gimme some more!"? shouldn't we recognize the people truly impoverished and starving - most of them children - and ask God to bless them and be willing to bless them in ways we can?

there is nothing Christian about a life of abundance and prosperity. Christians are called to a life of simplicity and possibly suffering. we are called to gratitude whatever our lot in life. but we are certainly called to the realization that we have been richly blessed because we have life and a shot at eternal life that we do not deserve at all. that should be enough. stop asking for more.

foodstuffs update

in a previous post i complained about my favorite foodstuffs being located in geographically disadvantageous places. i particularly mentioned cheerwine and my favorite flavor of powerade being unavailable to me here in alabama. in the past week an amazing thing has happened. i have discovered both my powerade AND cheerwine are in the new auburn kroger. maybe God truly loves me. maybe everything will work out for my food enjoyment. maybe soon there will be a dunkin' donuts nearby. whooo hoooo

peru update

i've received some very good news from peru. the pastor we worked with, whose church was in chincha alta, and his family are safe. so far we have not heard from him that any of his church members have lost lives though many have lost everything else. i still haven't received word about my godson david and his family - they lived right on the coast. the campamento we worked on received some damage; we don't know the extent yet. still it sounds hopeful that so many people seem to have escaped death.

tragedies always seem to bring people together, but i have been amazed at some of my friends and some total strangers who have come together through a mass e-mail and started coordinating aid to our brothers and sisters in peru. everyone has been sharing information and plans to help. we each wait eagerly to hear the next word of news someone has received from a contact. i am hoping some of us will be able to coordinate a trip down to peru to help in any way we can. i'm certain quite a bit of money will be sent, and that is a blessing. but to me there's something about being present with people during times of disaster. we show those hurting that they are not alone and that they matter greatly to us. we show that what unites us is greater than what divides us. my good friend andrew noted the coordinated effort through e-mail and called it the work of the Holy Spirit. i think he's absolutely right. i've never believed God causes disasters, but i do believe God causes the outpouring of love that follows.

continue to pray for the people of peru, and please give as you are able.

in times like these

i know we're not supposed to worry about anything, but we're supposed to pray about everything. but for the past few days i've worried and i've prayed. while i was in college i did mission work in Peru. i went there twice - only for two weeks at a time, but it truly changed my life. it taught me more about what it means to live in a Christian community where your primary identity is baptism rather than skin color, language, or birthplace than i had ever learned before or since. being in Peru taught me about a staggering faithfulness - one not linked to possessions in any way. the people i came to know and love there didn't think the way i thought - that if things were going well God loved me, but if things were going bad, God must be mad at me for something. they knew without a doubt God loved them and everything from God is good. and now i struggle as i think some of them, maybe all of them could be dead.

we did most of our work in tambo de mora which is right on the coast. judging by what i've seen, i'm guessing tambo de mora was as close to the epicenter as possible. we went to chincha alta almost everyday. it was the closest big city. we went and ate there. we used the internet in computer cafes. we watched soccer with hundreds of people in the plaza de armas. i haven't seen the plaza on cnn yet - i'm wondering what still exists.

we went to ica and pisco as well. chincha, ica, and pisco all have buildings that could be destroyed. tambo de mora didn't have much that could be destroyed. i'm praying that because the homes there were so modest, maybe there was little damage and death. i've come to terms with the reality that the campamento we help build is probably no more. it's unreal to think that something which took one hundred years to build can be destroyed in seconds.

i pray most for the people. for pastor pedro and his church. for all the people we worked with and worshipped with. i pray especially for my godson david tantachuco burgos and his family - for his mother soledad and his sisters lisbeth and lizette. i don't lift them up in prayer nearly enough. often i think i've failed as a padrino. i pray for the chance to know they are safe and see them again.

God have mercy. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

the only way i can get a photo on here

here's a picture of me and my dog nineveh. she just got a new fence today, so we're gonna go out and play as soon as it's not 100 degrees.

where's my slurpee?

i haven't lived in that many places, but i've lived in enough places to get mad that different places have different things. well, i guess it works both ways. like a place doesn't have good bbq, but it has a soft drink i like that other places don't have. i guess i just wish this country weren't so huge and then maybe we could have everything everywhere. but for now, here's a few words about favorite foodstuffs that seem to exist only in certain places.

i guess maybe the one that has come to be the biggest issue for me is bbq. i grew up an hour from memphis, and i truly feel that the tomato based sweet sauced pulled pork is the only way to go. so living in north carolina for a few years was tough because the bbq there was like the stuff you get when you clean out a pencil sharpener. it was dry and chopped and gross.

on the other hand, north carolina had cheerwine which is an amazing soft drink that seems to exist only there and in parts of east tennessee. it's hard for me to go long without that sweet nectar.

then there's stuff at the grocery store. this really should be everywhere, but it's not and that's so weird. frankenberry is my favorite cereal, but i couldn't get it in north carolina. they have it here in alabama. but they don't have my favorite kind of powerade. i don't know the name - i think it's "arctic" something. it's kinda white/clearish. pretty much the only certain place for that has been my hometown of jackson, tn.

jackson also has a dunkin donuts which is by far superior to krispy kreme. but they don't have 7-elevens there, so i can't get slurpees. chicago has both in abundance, and so often i really think i want to live there. but for now, chick-fil-a doesn't exist in the windy city, and i just don't think i could live there long without my favorite fast food.

perhaps someday the free trade of food will be limitless, but for now i'll keep traveling in search of my foodstuffs nirvana.

too comfortable to care?

The bridge collapse in Minnesota was certainly a tragedy on many levels. In such times of disaster the conversation quickly shifts to the source of the event and the focus of blame for the event. I don’t have cable, and I haven’t checked the web today to see if any further evidence has come forward to help us learn what “caused” the collapse. But I heard quite soon after the event that the bridge did not really have let’s say a clean bill of health in its structural integrity. Actually, I heard this on the radio while driving, and the voice informed me that thousands of other bridges were as structurally deficient or more than the one that collapsed. The voice then told me, “You might be driving on one of these bridges right now!” As luck would have it, I wasn’t driving on a bridge at all – thank God.

It’s always dicey to speculate whether or not this or any disaster could have been avoided. But, if the bridge truly was not up to code, and if there are many other bridges that could suffer the same fate at any moment, shouldn’t the government be spending money on these repairs rather than funding an endless war in Iraq? Did the debacle of the levees in New Orleans teach us nothing? I guess the outrage over the scores of people who died unnecessarily when Katrina came through wasn’t enough to teach anyone who holds the purse strings a lesson. Perhaps the outrage wasn’t expressed by the right “kind” of people – the “kind” of people our elected officials listen to and are concerned about. Maybe this disaster in Minnesota will bring about enough outrage to do something different. Maybe the message will reach our leaders that funding death and destruction is not something we are willing to do anymore. The price is simply too high.

But what are we doing about it? I’m continually saddened at the lack of political action in our Church. I don’t want to return to the days of Constantine or even the days during the nineteenth century when the Methodist Church was all but a state church. I’m not asking for Church and State to collapse into the same thing. I’m simply begging the pastors and members of our Church to live our beliefs in a way that can no longer be ignored. Do we not want an end to this war – to all wars? If so, why aren’t we ending it? If we put all we have into such an effort, I believe it would take no time at all.

We’re comfortable. We want others to think for us and run things so we can play golf and go nice places to eat. I’m just as bad as anyone else – except I don’t play golf. But seriously, things have gone way down the toilet and I’m sick of whistling a happy tune. When we prayed the Prayer of Confession before celebrating Holy Communion yesterday, I became ill at the truthfulness of it all. I have drowned out the cry of the needy with my iPod for far too long. If we believe what we say we believe, we must start living these beliefs in ways that shake up the world. We can do that, or we can wonder how things would be different if we weren’t too comfortable to care.

making things harder

during my last year in seminary i started visiting the local jail because jesus told us to do things like that from time to time. i won't romanticize it; it was difficult on many levels. many times i felt like i had nothing in common and nothing to say to the men i visited. what did i know of the kind of life they experienced? what could i from my place of privilege say to them?

so instead of trying to talk i just listened most of the time and apologized a lot of the time. i apologized for a corrupt system and a flawed society that no doubt contributed to their imprisonment at some level; after all, no one is born wanting to be incarcerated. the advocate in me wanted to know everything about them and go to court with them to make sure they at least got a fair trial (something the constitution guarantees but governments often find ways of obfuscating). but currently i'm starting to wonder if anything could possibly be called fair and just from the perspective of someone in jail.

when they point out to me that lewis "scooter" libby was found guilty and never served a day in jail because his sentence was commuted by the president, how can i, how can anyone think things are fair?

i suppose it reinforces the point that our faith is not in human structures like the court system or the oval office, and that ultimately God will judge justly even as humans are incapable of it. but such continued hypocrisy and blatant disregard for what is just and right from a president who claims to be a Christian (and a United Methodist at that) makes everything - but especially being in ministry with those in prison - harder.

catching up

well i started a blog a couple weeks ago through 7 villages, and it's been alright but is sometimes a little less than i'd hoped for concerning options. so i'm going to start by posting my first two posts from that site. this will become my main site, but i'll still post most things there. i love creating more work for myself. i guess for those first two posts to make sense it might be helpful to explain that i'm a united methodist pastor. so it's not like i assume everyone reading my posts is a united methodist - but for the most part that's the case on 7 villages. hope this clears most things up.