Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Varieties of Religious Experience
Yesterday I was doing what I usually do on a Saturday, spending a few hours at a cafe getting ahead of the week's schoolwork. Actually, in this case I was researching for my thesis instead of grading papers or other school stuff. The preacher of a local megachurch came in and sat down. At first I was a little flustered--it felt like a celebrity sighting. Then I thought about how wrong that is, to me: pastors shouldn't feel like celebrities to us. I took great comfort in knowing that if any of the pastors at the (non-mega) church I attend now had come in, they almost surely would have recognized me and probably come over to speak. Then I felt bewildered at how different people are. Clearly, the man I saw has touched many lives. His church is blessed and not just growing but booming, so for lots and lots of people, it doesn't matter that their pastor doesn't know them. But for me, that was a big part of why I stopped going to his church. Good preaching, cool music, but the dude couldn't pick me out of a lineup, and the people whose hands I shook during the one-minute greeting time were people I would never see again. That bothered me. And now I am blessed to be in a church where lots of people remember my name (even if I still can't keep theirs straight), where the preaching actually remains in my head after it's over, and where there are numerous low-pressure opportunities to serve or study outside services. And seeing that other preacher made me much more aware of it and grateful for it. So even if I hadn't gotten any work done at the cafe, it still would have been a good and productive Saturday.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Keep Calm and Carry On
That post title comes from a poster that was produced in Great Britain on the outbreak of World War II. They made a lot but didn't use many because it was reserved for times of extreme crisis (which makes you wonder what constitutes extreme crisis if not WWII in Britain, other than WWII on the continent). It is very simple, one word per line, centered, in sans-serif all-caps. Oh wait, I can link to it! http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/products/keep-calm-and-carry-on-poster. It comes in many colors, and I like it very well.
While we're linking, go ahead and bookmark http://www.goodsearch.com/. You can designate a charity, and it will give them a penny for every search you perform. For everyday use, there's no difference between it and Google. I bet I have given the Heifer Project at least a quarter this year.
I just started reading The Journey of Desire, which is bittersweet because it's the last John Eldredge book I haven't read (that I know of). He says, "Now, what if I told you that this is how it will always be, that this life as you now experience it will go on forever just as it is, without improvement of any kind? Your health will stay as it is; your finances will remain as they are, your relationships, your work, all of it.
"It is hell."
I had to stop thinking about it very quickly, because I would have quailed before the prospect. I realized that would indeed be hell. I mentioned the idea to my small group this evening, and a collective shudder went through the room. One of them even said, while shaking her head, "Living with that roommate forever!" It's partly because we're all young, mostly single, mostly not in our ideal jobs, and not "fulfilled" in the traditional sense of the word. But I bet most people feel that way. People who have the jobs they always wanted, the spouses they dreamed of as kids, the kids, the cars, the house. Not that that's what makes people. It's just what I snap to when I think of the future. I want to consider how we can shape our lives into something that we want to last forever, nail down the moments of bliss and stretch them out so that we never want to skip this chapter or even flip, God forbid, to the end. I'm only ten pages into The Journey of Desire, but I think it's going to be about doing just that: finding the moments you want to last, and making them do so. What a concept. And if the book goes in another direction, this idea is now a seed for me.
In Harris Teeter today, I sampled this Alouette spread, like a goat-cheese deal, with sun-dried tomato and basil in it. It was on sale for just over half of its normal price. I snatched that sucker up so fast, and now it's about to go on a homemade ciabatta-bread sandwich with pepperoni and salami. It's amazing what those goat-cheese people can do.
Advice columns used to be called agony columns.
Good night and good luck. Keep calm and carry on.
While we're linking, go ahead and bookmark http://www.goodsearch.com/. You can designate a charity, and it will give them a penny for every search you perform. For everyday use, there's no difference between it and Google. I bet I have given the Heifer Project at least a quarter this year.
I just started reading The Journey of Desire, which is bittersweet because it's the last John Eldredge book I haven't read (that I know of). He says, "Now, what if I told you that this is how it will always be, that this life as you now experience it will go on forever just as it is, without improvement of any kind? Your health will stay as it is; your finances will remain as they are, your relationships, your work, all of it.
"It is hell."
I had to stop thinking about it very quickly, because I would have quailed before the prospect. I realized that would indeed be hell. I mentioned the idea to my small group this evening, and a collective shudder went through the room. One of them even said, while shaking her head, "Living with that roommate forever!" It's partly because we're all young, mostly single, mostly not in our ideal jobs, and not "fulfilled" in the traditional sense of the word. But I bet most people feel that way. People who have the jobs they always wanted, the spouses they dreamed of as kids, the kids, the cars, the house. Not that that's what makes people. It's just what I snap to when I think of the future. I want to consider how we can shape our lives into something that we want to last forever, nail down the moments of bliss and stretch them out so that we never want to skip this chapter or even flip, God forbid, to the end. I'm only ten pages into The Journey of Desire, but I think it's going to be about doing just that: finding the moments you want to last, and making them do so. What a concept. And if the book goes in another direction, this idea is now a seed for me.
In Harris Teeter today, I sampled this Alouette spread, like a goat-cheese deal, with sun-dried tomato and basil in it. It was on sale for just over half of its normal price. I snatched that sucker up so fast, and now it's about to go on a homemade ciabatta-bread sandwich with pepperoni and salami. It's amazing what those goat-cheese people can do.
Advice columns used to be called agony columns.
Good night and good luck. Keep calm and carry on.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Welcome to the Future
I don't believe people should wait for the new year or for anything else to make resolutions, to reflect on their lives and decide what needs to change and how to change it. But it is a convenient time to do so, and I do always find myself thinking about it considerably more during the turn of the year. I think 2009 will be a wonderful year, just like every year in that way. I am going to try not buying books, clothes, DVDs, or CDs, with a few exceptions (like I can buy books for classes, and I can buy new pajamas because I think I'm going to need some soon). This isn't a money-saving choice so much as a simplification choice: I looked around last month and realized I'm pretty much set. I have everything material I need for now, so I'm not going to keep accumulating things. I also plan to have a solid first draft of my thesis by this time next year, and I'm going to eat every day and sleep every night.
In the realm of things I'm going to try that aren't necessarily resolutions, I'm going to make some leek soup, and if I like it, I may do a leek-soup fast one day a week. And/or eat only fruit one day a week. The soup comes from French Women Don't Get Fat, and the fruit comes from Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James (or one of its companion volumes). These are health and simplicity choices but may also help with finances, because I think food is one of my greatest expenditures. I do buy the cheapest brands of things I buy, but because I'm committed to some restrictions and qualities, I often can only go so cheap. This isn't a problem--actually it is, in that less tampered-with foods should be less expensive but for some reason the sketchy non-natural things cost more--I mean it isn't a problem that I spend so much on food because it's at the root of the quality of my life. Anyway. That's one experiment I'm making this year.
This evening, as it was my birthday, I planned to go to Coldstone but got so comfortable on the couch, and it was cold outside, and it's rather far away, yada yada, I ended up inventing something sweet to meet that desire. I let some frozen raspberries thaw in the blender while I watched the Monk marathon, then put six non-measured spoonfuls of plain yogurt, 2 spoonfuls of sugar, and one (all of these are heaping) of cocoa. Blended away, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I'll definitely be going back to that. It's quite healthy, too, compared to ice cream.
For Christmas, I got the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I feel like an evangelist here. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but now that I'm on my third batch of dough, I'm a raving convert. It's like having a secret key that makes it infinitely easier. I'm now playing with loaf shapes while getting the basic dough down-pat. Next, I'll check out some different doughs--wheat, etc. That alone makes 2009 a promising year.
In the realm of things I'm going to try that aren't necessarily resolutions, I'm going to make some leek soup, and if I like it, I may do a leek-soup fast one day a week. And/or eat only fruit one day a week. The soup comes from French Women Don't Get Fat, and the fruit comes from Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James (or one of its companion volumes). These are health and simplicity choices but may also help with finances, because I think food is one of my greatest expenditures. I do buy the cheapest brands of things I buy, but because I'm committed to some restrictions and qualities, I often can only go so cheap. This isn't a problem--actually it is, in that less tampered-with foods should be less expensive but for some reason the sketchy non-natural things cost more--I mean it isn't a problem that I spend so much on food because it's at the root of the quality of my life. Anyway. That's one experiment I'm making this year.
This evening, as it was my birthday, I planned to go to Coldstone but got so comfortable on the couch, and it was cold outside, and it's rather far away, yada yada, I ended up inventing something sweet to meet that desire. I let some frozen raspberries thaw in the blender while I watched the Monk marathon, then put six non-measured spoonfuls of plain yogurt, 2 spoonfuls of sugar, and one (all of these are heaping) of cocoa. Blended away, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I'll definitely be going back to that. It's quite healthy, too, compared to ice cream.
For Christmas, I got the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I feel like an evangelist here. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but now that I'm on my third batch of dough, I'm a raving convert. It's like having a secret key that makes it infinitely easier. I'm now playing with loaf shapes while getting the basic dough down-pat. Next, I'll check out some different doughs--wheat, etc. That alone makes 2009 a promising year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)