Lent, not borrowed...

Well, its Lenten season.

I've been thinking for a couple of weeks about giving up something for 40 days. I don't really get the point of just 40 days, so I couldn't really come up with anything to give up. Its a tradition and it has its merits, but nothing really struck a chord with me.

Then I smoked last night.

I don't smoke often. A couple of kretek cloves every now and then. A cigar, perhaps once a year or so. But lately I've noticed that my allergies and sinuses hate me the day after I've smoked. Like this morning.

So here's the idea: give it up for 40 days, give it up permanently.

I'm not saying I won't have my annual cigar. But the Djarum Blacks, those slow burning sticks of joy, need to be set aside.

Its a little sad. Like choosing to leave behind a good friend. Someone who brings a smile to your face and good scent to the air. I know its for the better, though, and I know the wife will be happy.

To quote Sheffield: "I'll let you know how it goes."

Louis CK: Comedian and Truth-teller

Start a revolution...

Love your neighbor.

"Love is the movement.
Love is a revolution.
This is redemption.
We don't have to slow back down."
-Jon Foreman

Its simple math...

Glamour shots...

Before





After

Facebook is the new crack.

And here's the bad news.

I'm not surprised. I guess Facebook is attempting a world takeover.

I think Google would win in that war, though.

We all have our days...

Sometimes, you're Oh Dae-Su.

Sometimes, you're the octopus.

It happens.

Truth?

Focus on the Family is right below Reformed doctrine on the list of things I'm not fond of, but right above licorice.

Since their attempt to pray for rain to overpower the Democratic National Convention failed, they've been pushing this new "Truth" project.

(On a side note, isn't it hilarious that they wanted people to pray for rain to drown out Obama's DNC acceptance speech but bad weather pretty much cancelled the Republican National Convention in the northeast? Brittany pointed that out a while back. I laughed and laughed and laughed and...)

Anyway, if you watch the trailer on their website, it starts out okay. Then you listen to what that Del guy is really saying towards the end. Then you read through their FAQ section. (PS-check out their definition of "postmodern." I didn't know whether to be outraged or to start giggling.) Then you see this about all the wrong things.

Listen, I know everyone's got an opinion. But this kinda thing is what gives everyone else such a bad impression of Christianity. It just reinforces the idea that all Christians are intolerant. We're scared of the rest of the world. We hole up in our churches and small groups and talk about believing the right things and not doing this and not doing that and defining words to fit our agendas and we teach our kids that the outside world is evil...

This is why so many people see churches as fortresses--as this place where Christians all hide together to protect themselves. And I really can't see it as being something that God wants for humanity.

Jesus prayed for his followers to be in the world, but not of it. So many people try so hard to not be "of this world" that they aren't even IN this world. They are disengaged. Followers of Jesus should be at the forefront of creativity and culture and music and art and social justice and sustainable living and caring for the planet. Don't get me wrong, some are. But when people strive so hard to maintain this fundamental/conservative evangelical mindset, they fail to see that they are missing out on the beauty of life. They miss out on so much joy and so much fun and so much wonder... all because they are scared to question, scared to doubt, scared to try something new, scared to experience, scared to engage those around them...

I hope the Christian faith isn't so intellectually weak that everyone feels like we have to have national campaigns to brainwash people into a very narrow-minded belief system. I'm not an "I'm okay, you're okay" kinda guy. I just believe in a God who is bigger than my doubts and questions and fears. I believe in a God who is restoring his creation. I believe in a God who loves all humanity and provides a better way.

In the words of my friend Joneo: "You can't put God in a box."

I was standing at the urinal...

I was peeing, of course, on one of those little, round, pink urinal cakes. And I was caught in the midst of intense struggle.

How lucky I am to be peeing in a bathroom with a urinal with a urinal cake in it. I'm not peeing in the same water I drink. I am peeing in a bathroom with indoor plumbing that takes that pee water away to a waste treatment plant that purifies it all before recirculating it. On top of that, I'm peeing on something we buy with the church budget to make the smell of my own piss not bother me. I'm peeing on an aromatic urinal cake.

Then I walked back to my office and sat down at my desk. I hate this freaking laptop that I use here. Its slow--really slow. I think there might be something wrong with the hand-crank on it that you use to start it up.

How lucky I am to have a laptop to blog and write emails and network on facebook and read political posts online.

I struggle with all of this... intensely.

I struggle.

I hate--HATE--saying that I'm grateful for being so blessed.

I hate that word lately: blessed.

Why am I so blessed? Why are we so blessed? Why do billions of people have to drink their own pee water because they don't have a sewer system or water treatment facility or a clean water well? Why do billions of people live in such extreme poverty? Why do 50,000+ people die every day from lack of food and water. Why am I so blessed?

To hell with "blessed." To hell with it...

I'm so angry today.

At myself.

At you.

At the world.

At humanity.

At God.

I don't get it all. So many unanswered questions leave a gaping hole in my heart. I don't even know how to pray anymore. Because I don't want to thank God for how blessed I am in light of the suffering of so many. Because I don't want to say I'm grateful that I have the life I have at the expense of others.

All this because of a urinal cake.

I hope someone understands...

The Proverbial Middle Finger

You gotta read this.

Pushing buttons of the world's tech elite... Bill Gates Style.

Just goes to show you that someone from Microsoft can piss people off without the blue screen of death.

I love his antics...

Love them.