My baby skin

I begin many sentences with “It is interesting”. So here is another. It is interesting how most of the time it is easy for me to think that in order to experience a great life or life greatly. I must have certain conditions met. I get tricked into thinking that if I’m not healthy, well fed, have a comfortable place to live, and I’m living with purpose, then I won’t experience life as a great thing. But occasionally I understand that this isn’t true. Sometimes when I’m sick or in an undesirable place financially or emotionally I have a break in the clouds. For a time I see life as great, and I praise God. I am full of joy. At these times I have a lense into the idea that my life is not as dependent on my environment and the like as it seems. Maybe the skin on my common experience sloughs off and the fresh sensitive tenderness of my new life is exposed to unending life.

I think that an over emphasis on only physical needs forgets that it is not position that makes life great but it is God in one’s perspective.

Difficult

I was thinking about something that is hard or difficult. For example I was over hearing a professor speak with a student. I didn't hear what was being said. But the professor had a posture of sureness and confidence. I was remembering times when I was being taught. The teacher was encouraging me towards one particular thing. I had the perspective that "this is so hard." It seems that it wasn't nessasarily hard because it was more advanced or more complicated. But it seemed hard because it was far from me. Maybe what is easy to me is very hard to another, because what I find natural is very far from that person.

Re post

This is an old post that I like. I wanted to repost it.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008

hi

Hi
This is a letter to myself.
Dear Braden-boo
Remember that you are bankrupt. What I mean by that is that all that you have comes from God. So don’t get all weird like you don’t want to fully submit in your heart, to God, thinking that you are going to loose what you have. Look God alone gives contentment, happiness, peace and joy. So if you don’t submit who knows what kind of perversion of God’s gift you’ll create by clinging to what was good, but was good only for a time. Let go, have some faith, go where He takes you, to that amazing place, chill relax, chillax. Free your mind and the rest will follow, be color blind don’t be so shallow, oh wait that’s en vogue.
Bye b

Lament

I have heard that complaining can be distinguished from lamenting by the fact that the lament has an element of hope.

In a book that discussed Christian art, I was reading a critique that many art expressions deemed Christian a lack a realistic, or relevant acknowledgment of sin. I see a version of this critique in popular Christian music. I don’t hear songs that have the kind of lamenting over sin and its footprint that I read in books like Jeremiah for example. I personally don’t have the cultural niche for lamenting. When something awful happens I just want to get over it and feel comfortable again. I feel (whether self-imposed or not) pressure to have a consistent happiness. It might be captured by the expression, “I’m a Christian, I can be broken or anguished. Shouldn’t I have joy knowing that I’m saved?”

I want to say a thought about the pressure to be happy. It seems that I and those around me don’t have a cultural frame work to experience each others trouble. If someone approaches another with a phrase of complete despair, it is awkward and uncomfortable. I, speaking for myself, want to avoid it.

I feel pressure to think that if someone is suffering or lamenting there must be something wrong with that person. When perhaps in reality they are acting very appropriately in their context.

Maybe a place start digging the foundation for a right lament is in art things.

For the entrepreneur

I was thinking about a neat idea for a restaurant. It would be called The Sauce, with the tag line "It is all in the sauce." Each plate would come with five or so sauces and a few things that go well with these sauces. The thing I like about sauces is that a selection of ordinary ingredients can present a unique dining experience with an appropriate sauce. Also sauces can be made to have uncommon flavors.

Oh

I was visiting a church in my wife’s home town. At this church I heard a gentleman speak. He talked about the ancient cultural context of the Samaritans. It was noted that we don’t have the same notion about this people group as the first century readers did. We name things “The Good Samaritan”. That might be for us naming something the good taliban member, the speaker said. That is interesting. He could play an amazing alto saxophone.

Songs

One characteristic that I think should be found in church worship songs is truth recall-ability. What I mean by this is truth in song form can be recalled easily. Worship songs that contain biblical truths, stated clearly can be really encouraging in one’s day to day life. I know someone who told of being in a lightening storm at heigh altitudes. He told of how he recalled a song with the lyrics, “When I can’t see you I know you’re here.” This song bolstered him with belief. I like that.

I enjoyed a church that I attended in NYC. Their music was varied. There were some hip songs and some truth filled songs.