One Thought Among Many

Today was my youngest sister, Hannah’s 13th birthday. Since October, she has been saying she is 13 and confusing the heck out of me, and so today, little miss thing is finally a teen. While I have been away experiencing the life of a poor college student, I have really missed hanging out with my younger siblings, running errands, dropping them off places and shopping with ultimate fashion advise. It’s amazing to me how much they look up to me and admire the way I dress, things I say etc. especially when I know first hand what a dork I am. It is a major blessing, and even a struggle, to be the first pancake.
So the girls, my mom, Kendra, Hannah, and I, rid ourselves of the boys and headed on down to the local zoo: The Arden Fair Mall. Yes, by that I mean it was crazy, but fun. We hit up all the sales and I began to feel like the week after Christmas is the perfect time to spend all the birthday money on the great sales. Hannah is so cute because she is a very petite girl, but really wants to wear women’s clothing, so see has a lot of space in her double zero pants. She’s so adorably innocent and I hope this can be preserved through the torments of jr. high and high school.
After standing so long, and trying to just let Hannah shop since it is her day, I grabbed a seat in the middle of PAC SUN and Kendra and I started a conversation about alcohol. We were discussing how there seems to be a multitude of Christians that will not touch any alcohol and find it a sin to do so. Well, let’s rewind a little. My friend is part of a worship band and they’re in playing at a gig and decide to go to a bar to get some foose-ball in. No one gets wasted, my boyfriend who’s almost 24, rarely drinks and had one of the older guys help him order a light ale. My sister (18) has had her fair share of party experiences and found this pretty funny. BUT, she really appreciated that the worship pastor and band went out, had a drink or two and were RESPONSIBLE. Finally, the sinners are mixing with the other sinners! For Kendra, it brings her closer to church knowing that there are people there who won’t judge her and who WANT to be out with the other sinners.

Now, this got my thoughts running. How can the band be above reproach, so that if some tight wad saw them there and judged them saying they were drunk? But didn’t Jesus go to parties? Didn’t Jesus turn water in to wine? So that’s where I’m at, searching through the gospels looking for this story, in the middle of PAC SUN. Some worker guy comes up to me and asks me what I’m reading. I say, “the Bible,” and he says “cool. I’m Mormon.” I’m thinking, Okay little Mormon boy, I’m ready for the shmoose, but he just stares at me. It was funny. Insert laugh here. Ha. Then I proceed to tell him what I’m looking up and what my questions are. He begins to persist that he thinks all alcohol is bad, and if you just want to have one drink, why don’t you just have one coke? I wanted so badly to ask if that was caffeine free coke, but I with held my sarcastic self in, hoping he’d see Jesus in me instead. He then proceeded to say that Jesus didn’t really turn the water into wine, just grape juice. Can you feel it? I’m about to burst. I really want to laugh. NO really, I’m about to erupt in laughter, but I kindly asked where he found that in the Bible. He said it doesn’t say it in there, but managed to add that our bodies are temples and we should treat them like accordingly. And change subject here. Last time I checked, a cinnamon roll, a Philly steak sandwich, cold stone, and pizza weren’t the greatest for my body. And that’s just what I ate today (hey, in my defense, it was Hannah’s birthday…:) Do I believe I’m sinning if I eat these things, mistreating my temple? But you see, that’s where the Mormons and the majority of Christians get side tracked. Satan loves our little tangents, arguments and judgmental calls because it side tracks from redemption, what Jesus Christ gave his life for. Is alcohol or cold stone really what separates us from righteousness? Or maybe, are these things just a catalyst to revealing the true state of our hearts???

The heart of a man: Mark 7:14-16

14And he called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him."[a]
Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear

Father,
May we all learn to hear. May your Holy Spirit whisper wisdom and discernment in applying love to those around us, so that we will tune our ears to YOUR standard of holiness. May we all look to each other as sinners who are in need of grace.

Not Another Christian?

After studying the worlds five major religions this last semester, I have come up with a simple reflection. In order to cement this journey as a learning experience, I'll just go ahead and give you an inside to my thoughts on this course. The teacher, while extremely educated, was all over the place and so I grabbed as much knowledge from his spewing as possible. As the course outlined, the class did require a lot of studying from the book and the opportunities to receive extra credit for attending a non- Christian worship center, both were helpful. Trivial to some, learning the intricacies of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam derived a general census that every human, seems to wonder what on earth is going on.
Each religion took specific attempt to outline the importance of sacred space and time, showing sincere reverence for their place of worship. A break in ordinary space lead to an opening for divine connection, a common thread throughout each religion. Learning about the rituals of each was a large task but consequently gave a variety of reasons for ideas such as reality, creation and the afterlife, etc. Each of these aspects of reality for the religions in the rituals like prayer, meditation, worship, and art, were symbols that would reveal what was of ultimate importance to each. Both Hinduism and Buddhism imply that it is up to the individual to make sacred choices that will lead them to a higher state of being. Judaism, Christianity and Islam pointed to a more external higher power that would ultimately bring freedom. From looking at all five of these religions, I donÂ’t have a desire to claim myself to any of these.


On my own spiritual pilgrimage, to claim myself a Christian in most settings does not give anything but a negative aroma to the world that I live in. Therefore, I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and believe that God breathed the holy Bible and that is what I am to live my life by. Never will I be able to say that to the majority of American Christians, to follow the two greatest commandments is to love the Lord and to Love others more than I do myself. American culture has made this journey, to love, one paved in melancholy commitment. It is no wonder that around the world, people are confused on what it is to be a follower of Christ, wanting to "eliminate every form of desire." If I never passionately wanted anything Buddha, of course I would have to be reincarnated multiple times. Therefore, on this journey I will passionately go, seeking ultimate satisfaction in serving my God. I am finding through this course that Hinduism is right, there ought to be no quote on quote "missionaries." In following Christ, every person of faith can be a catalyst to making God's name known throughout the nations. This is why I humbly aspire to live out the two greatest commandments, whether in America or another country, alongside other people who are just in need of grace as myself. It is my firm belief that the Son Of God did not die on the cross so that one day people would see followers of him as stagnant people. On this path, the Jews will continue to be apart of my culture and heritage, but I branch off with Jesus. The rituals of this religion and emphasis on the story and laws of the Bible are fascinating, but I will include the story that Christ is the Son of God. Comparing the five pillars to the Islamic faith, they come up short of what following the teachings of Christ. Even though followers of Islam believe He is a great prophet, I cannot reflect that they actually understand the applications of his teachings. If not for the purpose of comparing one belief to another, this class is a prime example of what it is like to hit the tip of the iceberg and wonder what the water is hiding. I look forward to my further journey of experiencing the world’s religions because in these I find a relationship, with a living God, to be more acceptable.

The reality of today

If there was every a time of the year that brought so many mixed emotions, I'd say Christmas is it.
You have moms and dads frantically running around trying to find gifts that will somehow show their children that their love can be tangible seen. Babies giggling at dancing snowmen and ringing bells. Parents feeling the dread of never having enough, tears run down their faces at 2am when wrapping the little gifts of love. Poor college students, thinking what can I make? Do I know how to make anything other than $2 go a long way at Wendy's? There are those run-ins at the grocery store, the dreaded kind. No make-up on, that just woke-up look, written in the dark circles under your eyes. And then you run into someone that you would have liked to impress, to let them know that you are really not a slob. Smile, you tell yourself, and look for the nearest exit while nodding yes. After spending long amounts of time picking out that absolutely expensive and enormously special gift, the one your most excited about giving, something distorts the perfect picture of that moment: it didn't arrive. Technology, yeah it's great, but the post??
Your at church and singing those hymns that the worship leader insists are more than just songs, melodies of worship that implore the coming of this child to save the world, not judge it. You think that all those kids should have to memorize the latter half of John 3:16. Yet you keep that thought and abscond to wonder if you know this in your own life. When I live my life, so I really live so that others maybe saved, not judged?? A few rows behind you sits one mom and her daughter who can't believe the divorced dad sits on the other side of church, twiddling thumbs and holding the sorrow in so that when will that pastor is done, there can be a quick escape from the pain of a broken home.
There's those visits for some with family. Some people actually get to complain about the little idiosyncrasies of the uncles and aunts, grandma's and grandpas. They used to be odd things, yet suddenly you miss those crazies. The music brings back all the more memories. Even though all the Christmas songs remind you of your mom who died weeks before your 9th Christmas, those tears just can't stay in and penetrate your every effort to keep them away. It hurts. For some, there is no extended family, but still love in the memories of those who have passed.
I begin to wonder, after feeling all of these things for others and myself, that in these positions there has got to be some reason for all this extra festiveness. What makes all of this worth while; is there any value to the happy sorrows? Immediately I must persist, that yes, celebration of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, is messy, yet real. His task to love through human hands was the only way. The unbelievable and awkward pain is worth it. Creativity with what I the "cards I've been dealt" is good. There is a real sense of what is valuable, deeply defined each year by the new ways that I realize that God has provided more than what I have asked for. It is hard but brings us closer to crying on the shoulders of a Father who knows best.
Dear Father,
May you find hearts willing to be comforted. May those who are lost, find their way home to a father waiting for their return. May I understand what it is like to have no control of your plans, not disparaged, but comforted in this. God, may I just have one dance on your feet? Can I just follow your lead, and like I did when I was a little girl dancing with glowing eyes, look to your lead?