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Whose God Do YOU Want in Schools??

I am not anti-god, but I don't want just anyone's version of God being pushed in secular schools! I know I may get some 'hatin'' here, but people!

Puh-leaze!

Here are some 'versions' of whose God COULD be forced on the already over-burdened schools...

Haggard:


Phelps:


MacArthur:


Hagee:

Greenville Weekend

The last time I spent a weekend in Greenville was in 2007. A promise to make it a yearly ritual was made, but life happens...

The last weekend in June, I returned to Greenville with the intent of fun and fellowship. I would like to say, "Mission Accomplished!"

We had dinner at Giovanni's Italian Restaurant. We shared a bottle of wine and a terrific meal.

Afterwards, we visited The Channel, where Katie was working. We didn't stick around long... well, because we are old and the music was LOUD! But if you like it loud and live, then you should check them out.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. I have to tell you that it was like sleeping in a velvet cloud. Those were the MOST comfortable beds I've ever slept in.

Friday evening, when I crawled in the bed, the whole thing just enveloped me and I floated off to sleep. The next morning, I pulled the pillow cases and covers off the pillows... I had to know what kind of pillows they were. Apparently, the bedding for Hilton Hotels is supplied through Hotel Down Pillows. I do believe this will be on my Christmas list!

Saturday, after a nice breakfast in the lobby, Cyndi and I took off to a movie. We decided to go see Away We Go. Maya Rudolph from SNL and Jon Krasinski from The Office play the main characters. They play wonderful roles. I mostly laughed through the whole movie, but there were a couple of serious scenes. I recommend the movie but it does have an "R" rating for a reason. So, be aware.

Afterwards, we had to do a little shopping because we having some friends over to our room for adult conversation! We stopped at Bloom's first. I am so jealous because we don't have one of these. I would call it a more upscale grocery store. They have a nice deli/bakery section. They even had Cheesecake Factory Cheesecakes. We picked up one for our party! They also have specialty and organic selections that you don't often find in a grocery store.

Then, we went to Total Wine & More for some adult beverages. We started out on the spirits side. Cyndi's inner artist was gawking at all the bottles and colors. I was just making sure we had a nice variety! Something for everyone, you know. No party is complete without Margarita's, so we got a bottle of ready-to-drink... No mixing required. We decided on Firefly Peach Tea (this ain't your grandma's tea, dears!) and we also got a bottle of Van Gogh's Chocolate Vodka to go with the Raspberry Lambic Framboise (beer that we picked up on the wine side). Oh my. This is the best stuff on earth.

We got to the room to unwind and tidy up a bit. Monique and Tina came bearing great conversation and wings!! And it was a wonderful conversation!! It is amazing when people just decide to be grown ups and discuss, without deciding that they have to convince someone that they are right! We talked about religion, politics and so many other things, so you can imagine the diversity of thoughts. It was great!

The next morning, we visited "The Church at Barnes & Noble". This is a group that just very organically started getting together on Sunday so that they could share in fellowship and conversation. The group is "Upstate Emergence". If you live in the Greenville/Spartanburg area, you should really check them out! The meet monthly but some how, this Sunday morning fellowship just sprang out of that. I think, next month, they are going to meet at Panera's, just because the number of people meeting has grown!! If you are interested in meeting them, be sure to check out there Meet Up page.

Oh, let me see if I can remember everyone who was there. Becky; she was quiet, but wicked smart. She's getting married soon, also! Exciting times! Alex; a new visitor... he just graduated from college. He is an artist. Alfred; the founder of "The Church at Barnes & Noble"... a funny guy but I sense a depth of sensitivity and compassion. Doug; another quiet person... he had an amazing way of keeping the conversation flowing... he has a real interest in people and their stories. Michelle; a seeker of truth and a questioner... she has a keen interest in the things of god and a serious bullshit detector!! Elaine; a wonderful and gracious woman of wisdom... she is currently doing some major research on gnosticism. I can't wait to hear more about that! Cherie; a beautiful soul... she had such an openess to her. Her sincerity and her love was so apparent! Jarrett; I didn't get to talk with him much. I hope he continues to explore this group and get to know them!

Around 1:00pm, those of us who were STILL talking decided to go to lunch. We went to Doc Chey's. This is not my first visit to Doc Chey's and I hope it will not be my last! I had the Thai Peanut Salad. It was so great! The only thing I would have changed would have been just a little more Cilantro! I should have just asked for more. The wait staff is so friendly and the atmosphere is very casual/urban!

And then, it was 3:30pm! I couldn't believe it... it was time to go home! So after a lot of hugs and good-bye's, I was back on the road to North Cackalacky!

So that was my trip. I had a great time.

Top 10... Why men should NOT be ordained!

Just another way to flip this coin...

#6 and #3 are my favorites:

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.

3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

Be sure to read the rest at Christian Feminism!

Grace vs Enabling

First... major qualifiers:

I am not a psychologist... I can barely spell it!
I am not a theologian... I think a lot of people would probably even marginally allow me the label of Christian.


So, there is quite a convo going on about the SC governor... but this is not my political blog, so I'm not going to deal with all the political ramification. I don't even necessarily want to talk specifically about Gov. Sanford. But what I do want to talk about is how people react to other's fallen natures... not how they SHOULD react or respond, but just how they ARE reacting and my response to those reactions.

This could be anyone. This could be you, me, our pastor, our mother... It could be any behavior; lying, cheating, addiction, abuse...

Grace is something that I am not good at. Grace, to me, is when someone creates an atmosphere of forgiveness and love when there is an offending party present. Grace is not necessarily an open door to complete restoration of relationship, but it may allow for limited fellowship. Boundaries may need to be drawn, but the boundaries are a preventative measure, not a punitive action.

Example: If my friend steals from me and I find out and she admits her wrong, then I could show grace by not continually harping to her about how she took something that didn't belong and then go on to tell all our mutual friends about this offense, but I probably won't ask her to hold my purse while I go to the potty... you know? And if it happens again, I may decide I don't want to spend time with her.

Enabling is something different. Enabling is saying nothing. Enabling is pretending it is not happening. Enabling is not dealing with the problem. Enabling is a symptom of my own fallen nature. Maybe I'm afraid that I will be called judgemental or that she will accuse me of being stingy or thinking I'm better than she is. Maybe I allow misdirected guilt to strangle-hold me. But whatever it is, this relationship is not healthy and my behavior is not helping my 'friend'. It is only encouraging her and allowing her to get worse. And it is making me worse, too.

I have friends who are truly gracious. Their responses are well-thought out and measured. When I read their responses, it causes a reaction in me to want to be better. But I also have friends who confuse grace with something else. It seems they give every excuse in the book for not calling bad behavior 'bad behavior'. I'm not saying that we should use others poor decisions as an opportunity to beat up on that particular individual, but should we just turn our head and say, "Oh, grace, grace..."? That has always frustrated me.

Am I wanting to be the judge, jury and executioner of wrong doing? I'll admit. I have a Pharisaical nature that wants to do this sometimes. I do try to reign that in. But I do want to be allowed the same amount of room to vent my frustration and examine issues, not just to be invasive into individual privacy, but so that I can examine my own heart...

Such as: Am I apt to just disappear and fly off somewhere while everyone thinks I'm hiking locally?? Uh... sure! I could see myself doing that! I'll be honest with you! I have a fallen nature! I am prone to do some of the most irrational things! And if I thought I could get away with it, without hurting and disappointing a whole bunch of people, I may have behaved improperly on more than one occasion. But that IS the point, isn't it.

Our actions do not occur in a vacuum. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction... simple physics, right?? I know what I am capable of. I know what my darkest darkness wants. But I am no island. My disappearance would not affect a whole nation or even a county. But it would affect several children, it would deeply damage a beautiful and highly desirable friendship, it would destroy the esteem and trust of a dear man... and that does not even begin to name the pain that would occur elsewhere. I would not want to create that type of damage or pain. Is there ANYTHING in this world that is worth destroying all that??

Governor Sanford, in his lapse of judgement or in his moment of 'sparking' must have thought that the benefit outweighed the risk. While we, the nation and the world, watch the decline of a man's career and family, we can blame the political system and just dismiss the whole thing. We can accuse the media of hype, turn of the tv and ignore it. But this is not one man and one family. This is me. This is you! This is allowing ourselves to have lapses in judgement. This is creating a greener pasture in our fantasy. This is having a devil-may-care attitude towards behavior that we think will never be found out.

I'm not a gracious person. I'm trying, but I'm not there. So, I'm going to do some blog-analysis of the situation. I think this guy is so deep in denial that he hasn't even emotionally detached from this extra-marital relationship. And Mrs. Sanford, from what I have read of her statements, seems like a very intelligent woman. But this is a crushing blow. She may allow the PR people to keep this neat and tidy until Gov. Sanford's term is up. But mark my word... she is a woman scorned. I doubt that she will take revenge, but I don't see her standing by her man for long. She is proud, strong and smart. And I think she will see how disingenuous this facade is and she will kick him to the curb... and I imagine Gov. Sanford will probably be back in Argentina with his 'mistress', but once a mistress becomes a Mrs., he will see more clearly what makes that pasture green! It is full of bull shit. And most of it will be his!

The Natural Predator

... aka The Intruder.

I started to call this the Uninvited Intruder, but that is not quite true. Now I don't say that we send out an engraved invitation, but what we don't do is keep our guard up. We allow ourselves to be naive or ignorant.

Who or what is this predator?

...both within and without, there is a force which will act in opposition to the instincts of the natural Self, and that malignant force is what it is. Though we might have mercy upon it, our first actions must be to recognize it, to protect ourselves from its devastations, and ultimately to deprive it of its murderous energy.

All creatures must learn that there exist predators. Without this knowing, a woman will be unable to negotiate safely within her own forest without being devoured. To understand the predator is to become a mature animal who is not vulnerable out of naivete, inexperience, or foolishness.

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.

I understood this the minute I read it. I marked it, continued reading, backed up and read it again and then decided I needed to blog it!

I went through a period of my life when I allowed certain things, actions, voices, whatever, to invade my life. Some of these things came during a time of vulnerability and offered comfort. Some offered salt in the wound. But all were gifts of the Predator/Invader. As I got more and more attached, these 'gifts' began sucking me dry. My thoughts were bizarre! My life became muted.

I had to look at the path I was on, but I had to take off the lenses that had clouded my vision. I could see the destruction and the pain that the path led to... I knew it all along, but I had put on blinders just to avoid seeing it. I wasn't really going down that path anyway... I was just lingering near it... I had fooled myself.

When I woke up from that mesmerizing force, I realized what I had to do. Now, all this time later, I think I am mature enough to not get caught again by this Intruder. But it is always there, lurking.

Through some "error in judgement", I allowed my intuition to be overruled. "It isn't that dangerous," I told myself. "Why am I being so silly?" And on I went, telling myself emotional lies and dreaming fantastical dreams that were really delusional nightmares!

Again, I awaken to reality. I am here. It is good. The past is past. The future is not for me to see. It is what it is!

Real Truth

The real truth is that God is too great to be lost in the smallness of any single sliver of life. Truth is One, yes, but truth is many at the same time.

The greatest danger of them all may be in buying into too small a part of the truth.

~~from Welcome to the Wisdom of the World by Joan Chittister (Eerdmans)