Volf and Bonhoeffer on Tuesday Morning

"Is the scandal of the cross good enough reason to give up on it? Let me respond by noting that there is no genuinely Christian way around the scandal. In the final analysis, the only available options are either to reject the cross and with it the core of the Christian faith or to take up one's cross, follow the Crucified - and be scandalized ever anew by the challenge. As the Gospel of Mark reports, the first disciples followed and were scandalized (14:26ff.). Yet they continued to tell the story of the cross, including the account of how they abandoned the Crucified. Why? Because precisely in the scandal, they have discovered a promise. In serving and giving themselves for others (Mark 10:45), in lamenting and protesting before the dark face of God (15:34), they found themselves in the company of the Crucified. In his empty tomb they saw the proof that the cry of desperation will turn into a song of joy and that the face of God will eventually 'shine' upon a redeemed world."

Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation



"...Whether we really have found God's peace will be shown by how we deal with the suffering that will come upon us. There are many Christians who do indeed kneel before the cross of Jesus Christ, and yet reject and struggle against every tribulation in their own lives. They beleive they love the cross of Christ, and yet they hate the cross in their own lives. And so in truth they hate the cross of Jesus Christ as well, and in truth despise that cross and try by any means possible to escape it. Those who acknowledge that they view suffering and tribulation in their own lives only as something hostile and evil can see from this very fact that they have not at all found peace with God. They have basically merely sought peace with the world, believing possibly that by means of the cross of Jesus Christ they might best come to terms with themselves and with all their questions, and thus find inner peace of the soul. They have used the cross, but not loved it. They have sought peace for their own sake. But when tribulation comes, that peace quickly flees them. It was not peace with God, for they hated the tribulation God sends."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sermon on Romans 5:1-5, March 9, 1938, Gross Schloenwitz, Collective Pastorate

What Kind of Day is She Having?

Growing up in my house, it was not uncommon for my sisters and I to ask each other what kind of mood our mother was in that day. My mom had some pretty intense mood swings and it really sucked to be caught off guard when my mom was having a bad day. My younger sisters remember this less than us "older kids". I'm pretty sure the hysterectomy and consequent hormone therapy evened out my mother's mood swings making my younger sisters' adolescence a tiny bit smoother than mine.

Being the oldest of five I had a huge sense of needing to be sure that everything was done to ensure that we did not anger my mother any further when she was having a bad day. This was not easy. I was of course living under the delusion that I could "fix" my mother's mood - make it all better. As I reflect on those time I feel sad for my 12 year old self doing anything and everything to try to flip the switch that would make my mom the happy version of herself.

My thirty-something self is all too familiar with the reality of the good and the bad days. I have only recently emerged from a string of bad days. A few weeks ago, as I was taking a walk, I remember thinking to myself, "Maybe, I'm just not a happy person." I wonder if that's how my mother felt on her bad days, too.

Some recent events have transpired in the last few days that I am sure I could not have delt with if I were still in that string of bad days. When I think about this I am amazed and deeply curious. I'm amazed that God's grace is so practical sometimes. Through my ability to deal with these recent events I have been able to bless and honor my husband, something I have not been doing very well lately. All of this makes me deeply curious about what God is up to in our lives. This could just be a gracefilled time designed to reinforce and bless our marriage OR it could be a little more than that.

A few years ago I was talking with a friend of mine and we were both feeling that life was getting significantly harder. The hard times were really hard, but we surmised that the good times were better than ever and that the two were probably linked.

I should probably see a counselor about my string of "bad days", but I'm sure my mom would join me in saying, "Thank you, Jesus!" for the good ones.

Not That It Matters....

but I haven't forgotten about my blogging.

So, for all five of you that read this blog I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things soon.

My baby is not sleeping well right now and that takes a toll on a mama's brain and her priorities. I'm pretty sure he has 4 teeth that he's cutting right now.

Ms. Inappropriate

Sometimes I get excited. And when I get excited I have a tendency to say things that are a little inappropriate. Sounds like a puppy doesn't it? Maybe that's a pretty accurate comparison.

In the last week I've made some comments to my parents that, upon reflection, were really terrible. I made my mom and my mother-in-law a 30 minute video of their grandson doing miscellaneous things that a 9 month old does. It is a solid 30 minutes of just the baby. So when I was on the phone with my dad I said, "I call it granny porn. It's for their baby addiction." WHY?! Why would I ever suggest that their love for their grandchild is comparable to a sex addict's need for pornography. YUCK!

It gets better. I was chatting with my mother and I mentioned how I left the house without the baby for a good 5 hours on Saturday. She was impressed and so I continued to tell her that when I got home the baby wanted to nurse as a way to stake his claim on me. He wasn't really hungry or thirsty he just wanted to acknowledge me as his mama. In the phone conversation with my mother I likened it to a dog peeing on a fire hydrant as a way to mark his territory. Hmmm...again I have to ask myself...WHY?! Why would I make a sweet and beautiful thing so gross?

Participating in the blog-o-sphere can be a challenge for me due to what I'd like to call a "misplaced" filter. I read some one's post and I get excited. I'm so eager to participate that my fingers have a life of their own and what I write can sometimes be a little inappropriate. So, to any of you out there who have encountered my excited and possibly inappropriate explosions on your blogs...I apologize and thank you for the grace you extended to me. I'm working on thinking more before I hit the "post comment" button.

Feeding our Neighbors - Urban Farming

Everyone is saying buying local is the way to go. I was watching a new show on the Sundance channel called Big Ideas for a Small Planet and the episode I watched was called "Eat". Which partly fueled my imagination for this blog topic. It's a hot topic and it should be. I have a romantic notion of inner city gardens that feed the community around it. Maybe they are roof top gardens, maybe it's a series of small gardens that feed the family that lives there.



Neighborhood gardens or p-patches as they are sometimes called are all over the city of Seattle and I know of a few in Portland, OR , as well.



I don't hear allot about these gardens helping to feed others, but according to the City of Seattle the p-patches here donate to neighborhood food banks.



Also, who exactly is working in these gardens. With most inner city households all the adults are working in order to pay the bills - maybe even multiple jobs. I'm just thinking out-loud here about the feasibility of getting local residents involved in maintaining gardens in the parts of town that need the resources the most. But it looks like it's happening on a small scale right now.

Some interesting links around this subject:

• Canadian work on the topic of community gardens.
• Business week article addressing local vs organic products.
• Soil Association buy local support.
• Interesting article about efforts in Lansing, MI to bring more food options to the inner city.
• Sierra Club article about folks bringing fresh foods to the inner city, through community gardens and the promotion of farmers markets in South Central LA with products grown and harvested by African Americans.
• L.A. community garden information.

So far some things I've found that I find really exciting:

• People's Grocery
• Food Security Organization
• Mo' Better Food

Feeding our Neighbors

In the not so distant past a few of my favorite bloggers have written about issues of hunger and nutrition thanks mostly to Hunger Awareness Week. Being the practical person that I am and really wanting to help I'm on a mission to learn about what kind of things are being done and how those of us who feel called can get involved.

I know there are really cool things happening in the city right now. Folks are trying to bring quality fresh food to places were it's hard to find OR too expensive - I also know that it's still a small movement. My prayer is that somehow I'll help expand the movement and be educated enough to get involved in a very personal way.

So, I'm going to use my blog to track and share what I find. Maybe you'll find some of this interesting. AND I could certainly use help with links to information and suggestions for topics to investigate

Here's my first find. A web side called The Natural Foods Merchandiser has an article about some of the work going on in Oakland, CA (as well as mention of work in some other places around the US).

Read more about People's Grocery here.

Here's Pacific Cost Farmer's Market Association web site.

And I know allot of folks really dislike HMOs but I'm constantly amazed at what Kaiser is doing in preventative medicine. Hearing about the farmers market opportunities they are providing at some of their northern California medical offices is very exciting.

It does seem that the whole package includes availability, affordability, and education - much of which People's Grocery is involved with. You can't FORCE people to eat well. But it's such a shame that it's hardest for those who have the greatest need.

Too Good To Keep To Myself

"...I will not return to a universe

of objects that don't know each other,

as if islands were not the lost children

of one great continent..."

Lisel Meuller, monet refuses the operation





"I don't think much suprises him: this is how we make important changes - barely, poorly, slowly. And still he raises his fist in triumph."

Anne Lamott, Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith



"Even as we improve as teachers and as students, the children continue to have raging impulse-control problems; they very thing that made them spontaneous and immediate could also make them mean. One day, a mouthy eight-year-old said something insulting about my dreadlocks. Rather than hit him over the head with the Wiffle Ball bat, which was my first impulse. I sat beside him and said, 'It's only been in the last ten years that I learned how beautiful my hair and I are, so please don't say critical things about me. It hurts my feelings.'

He gaped at me and said,'You're freaking me out, Octopus Head.' "

Anne Lamott, Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith