Being Younger, Making Friends

Apparently I was more of an introvert when I was younger. If you know me now, that may seem quite surprising, but its true. I was not a very social kid, and sometimes I was actually quite mean...I have repented though! I wasn't one to be bullied, at least not in elementary school, and Jr. High too actually. I remember one time a boy tried to stick his hand down my dress, around 3rd grade, and without even blinking an eye I totally kneed him, you know, where it hurts boys! Ai! A little violent I know. :-/

Anyway, back to my point. I was a shy kid. I didn't like talking to people I did not already know (how I got to know them in them first place remains a mystery). Even with company my parents would have over our house, I had no interest in even saying hello. When my parents would direct me to greet the company, I remember being totally annoyed and saying, "I don't know who they are, why should I say hello?" I liked being left alone with my books and in my bedroom (the walls of which were completely covered with "stuff"; posters, drawings, magazine cutouts, buttons, plaques, you name it!). And if you see almost any one of my childhood pictures, I am never smiling. Not that I wasn't a happy kid, I was just a very serious one!

Despite all my shyness, I do remember making very particular friends. I remember that when it came to certain people, I was never shy about approaching them and trying to make friends with them. If there was a person who stood out as not fitting in or if there was someone who seemed be trying to hide into the background, it was as if I was on a mission! Of course at first it would be hard, thinking they may have no interest in being friends with me, and building the courage to talk to them in the first place. But eventually I would not be able to resist. The possibility, the potential of getting to know this mysterious person who no one else seemed to be engaging was just too exciting to resist! My curiosity was too great. The possible treasure this mysterious person could be was impossible for me to pass up!

People really are mysteries. We are each a mystery. It's just pretty trippy to think about. I think my curiosity about people has helped me to be able to connect with others across our differences. Maybe curiosity should be a virtue! hehe :-P

Mary Daly

Mary Daly saves women's lives - everyday.

I Just Discovered Amparo Ochoa

She is so awesome! Here is a song called "Woman"



And here is another one about loving even in times of war, "Para Amar en Tiempo de Guerra"

Reflection on Christmas Celebrations

I grew up in a household that went all out for Christmas - too many gifts under the tree and everything. As I grew up and had my own place to live, I almost did likewise. I didn't go all out on the gifts, but I went all out on the decorations and into creating a festive spirit in my house. The day after Thanksgiving I went out and got a tree; and from that day forward the Christmas carols played on till Christmas passed. I love it all. I still do.

But, more recently, and as I reflect more deeply on my own sense of Christianity, I just don't make such a big deal of Christmas anymore. At least not in any extra-ordinary way.

First of all, let's talk about family. I love my family. Ienjoy them and have a good relationship with them all year long. So making it seem as if on this day I need to be extra family focused does not make sense at all. I eat and drink and have fun with my family whenever we get the chance to be together (we're a little scattered geographically); we enjoy each other all year and I love it. So we don't need to pretend that this is an extra special family day just because it's Christmas. Furthermore, a lot of people don't enjoy their families and don't necessarily have a bunch of happy memories with them, (or don't have any family anymore at all), so making Christmas all about family can be a downer for a lot of people. Also, for some of us, our friends are our family, so let's be with our friends/family, let's be friends and family to each other, enjoying each other every chance we get - not just on Christmas or just because it's Christmas - but because it's a worthy way of life.

Gifts: Consumerism, unjust labor practices, environmental crisis and waste = un-christian. Enough said. If there are gifts to be given may they be given to help one another meet our needs and as they are needed - not in some mad craze to fulfilled consumeristic obligations. Yuck!

Food: I love food. I try to eat healthfully and responsibly and in a way that is worth practicing daily. Eating together should be a practice we have throughout the year. Sharing our food, being grateful, and celebrating that we have good food to eat is something we should do everyday, not just on Christmas. Sometimes these holidays are just an excuse to over-eat and be excessive - not a practice that seems very Christmas-y at all. So let the way we eat together at Christmas be a way that is worth practicing daily.

Basically, holidays seem to reflect the opposite of what they should be about, especially for Christians. I really get peeved that Christians do and act in extra-ordinary ways that they are not willing to practice daily throughout the year. And obviously I am not talking about the bad Christmas habits like shopping and consumerism. I am talking about the friends, family and sharing traditions that seem to surround Christmas, and only Christmas (or only Thanksgiving). When in reality we should be practicing our love for one another all year long; sharing of food; gifting one another to help meet our needs; and expressing gratitude for all the things we have and have to share. These should be part of a Christian's life daily! So don't just do it because it's Christmas.

Do it because it's a way of life worth practicing daily - or else don't fake it this one day.

The Pub Church

The church I'm a part of was in the news. I posted about it on the pub church blog...

Mary Daly is 80 Today

October 16, 2008

Mary Daly
is
80
Today

Hopelessness

Is the feeling you get that paralyzes you completely

spins your world into a whirlwind of meaninglessness

Nothing is real, no act worth its intent

because when it comes down to it
it all fails in the end.

Hopelessness is what happens
when that which you are surrounded by is more
negative in effect
when there is more that drains you
and not enough that feeds you.

Hopelessness is a result of ones environment
a toxic environment,
for which there is not enough that is good and life-giving
to outweigh the mess.

Hopelessness is a loss of balance
between that which makes you
smile and sing and dance,
and that which makes you doubt, fear and cry.

And once in its paralyzing grip,
what will it take to find meaning again?

Fun with Wordle

This was just a fun thing to do: On the Wordle site, you can create a "word cloud" that is generated from a text one provides, in this case my blog. The sizes of the words correspond to their frequency

Use this link below to see ours in their gallery - cool huh? :-)

      title="Wordle: Solidaridad Blog">    src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/228070/Solidaridad_Blog"
    style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Thanks http://wordle.net/ for your creativity!

The Table

I understand the idea of coming around the table - you know, communion, eucharist, etc.

For Disciples (the denomination of which I am a part), unity around the table is central to our identity as a church. And for Disciples, The Table is an open table where are all welcome, a place where we can come together in unity with all our diversity. The open table is fun-da-mental for Disciples. But I have some objections that I was reminded of again today...

Today in our school's chapel service the preacher made the case that the table is necessarily the starting place for safety and reconciliation; That there is no safety possible (from a Christian perspective) except that it start at the table.

Sounds good right? I mean, one of the things that attracted me to the Disciples in the first place was their open table and their weekly sharing of communion. So what objections could I possibly have?

For many people, the table is precisely the place which is not safe.
For many people, the table is the place from which they have been systematically excluded.
For many people, the table is "presided over" by those who hurt them, judge them, exclude them.
For many people, the table it not the place of safety but danger.

Are we aware of that?! As Christians do we recognize that reality, name it, and repent of our contribution to and participation in it?

Like all places, the table is a place that has power, and Christians have abused that power, used it for harm.

I do think that the table could be a place for us all to gather around and from which we can participate with Spirit in a new divine reality, where safety and reconciliation can be possible. But we must not romanticize the table and forget how it too has been a place where we haved harmed and hurt one another.

The Table, too is corruptable.
And for some, it is not a place where they can come.
For some it is not a place of possibility, but a place of trauma and danger.

Let those of us who invite people to join us at the table make sure we recognize the ways in which we have wronged people at that very table. Let us not be afraid to name it and denounce it. And maybe, just maybe, it could slowly become a place of possibility, of reconciliation, and the starting point of a new divine reality with those whom we have wronged.

Am I crazy?

Friend: Am I crazy for wanting to go to a region of conflict?
Me: You have interests that cause you to want to be there.
Friend: Yeah, I am interested in the rights of women in areas of severe conflict. But am I crazy to want to go and be there?
Me: Look, I have an interest in not having people make Christianity ugly, so I hang around Christians, some people think that's crazy; hell, sometimes I think that's crazy! But it's my interest, so there you have me, crazy or not.
Friend: I see your point.

The Pub Church

So I have not been able to blog here very much lately - sad! I was able to blog lots about Queer Incarnation (you all may not have known, but I was blogging on the topic as part of a class assignment!), and that was really cool. But now that school has started back up and now that I am trying to be better about planning ahead for The Pub Church, I haven't had the time and space to blog here; though I am working more on The Pub Church blog.

Soooo, if you all would like to read reflections from pub church, feel free to visit that blog: http://thepubchurch.blogspot.com/ :-)

This is how bad Christians suck...

It's no secret that I am a Christian who "proceeds with caution," as I point out at the end of my profile blurb. And I do so for good reasons.

At pub church yesterday our conversation turned to emerging churches and the growing number of house churches among young twenty and thirty-somethings. Some of the young families in these house-churches are also networking among themselves in order to home school their kids. We commented that there seems to be a growing trend away from the mega-churches and toward the smaller house churches; smaller and more insular, as they even plan to educate their kids at home.

One person at The Pub Church, said, "Well, if that's what Christians are moving toward then it's fine by me!"

Why would this be fine, and even better, you ask?

Because if Christians are in their own little insular world, well, perhaps they might just leave the rest of the world alone; maybe this way they'll keep their damage to themselves!

It's true. Christians hurt the world. Christians hurt other people and they(we) do so precisely with their "Christianity." The (sad) reality is that for many, many people Christians are simply people whose preferred weapon against others is their "Christianity;" they are a violent and judgmental people who use their religion to put others down, to think themselves superior. And this is a reality based on many people's direct negative experiences with "Christians."*

So... if Christians want to have house churches, network among themselves, and home school their kids, then, halleluha! The hope being that maybe this way they'll cause other people less damage!

It's a sad truth. But that's how bad Christians suck. We do. And we have been poor witnesses to the actual good news from which Christianity began.

As someone who still experiences good news in Christianity, I do so while also being aware that Christianity is and has been hurtful to so many. Thus, I continue to proceed with caution...


* A recent book UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity presents research on people's negative perceptions (based on experiences) with Christians and the church. The motivation of the book itself is still ugly (how to better strategize in bringing "outsiders" to Christ), but the research is valuable - if Christians would take the time to listen to it, self-reflect, and work on their own "Christ"-like-ness!