chewable vitamin
"i don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. i don't want to sell anything bought or processed... or buy anything sold or processed... or process anything sold, bought or processed... or repair anything sold, bought or processed. you know, as a career, I don't want to do that." ~ lloyd dobler (from say anything)

something very good has happened.

julian daniel kay has arrived.

i got to meet him yesterday. he’s a chunk of love at 8 lbs 8 ounces.

i have many feelings that surround his arrival. the predominate one is an immense amount of pride i feel on behalf of his beloved mother chelsea. she carries herself with love void of reserve or self preservation that somehow exudes a dignity and grace that inspires me. it is the Lord. i can only pray i am half the wife and mother she is becoming!

chels labored like a champ and got a great gift in return. such is life. i got the chance to be with her during the first three hours of her relatively short labor. it's the best thing i've been a part of for a while.

best of craig's list

i laughed aloud!

stevie

stevie

on a lighter note...

i thought i'd post a pic of one of the more under-rated mucisians in recent history- stevie wonder.

i'll yell it from the hill tops...

I LOVE STEVIE WONDER!

i needed a break from all this other stuff rumbling in the ole' noggin. if i need a break- for sure- you need a break from it too.

later dudes.

"should christians look to politicians to advance the Kingdom of God?"
taken from previous post

nope.
it doesn't work.

is there a role for government in caring the poor, addressing cycles of poverty, not letting outright discrimination to go unchecked?
yes (my example would be the new deal- anne would disagree).

are those items (listed in previous sentence part of advancing of the Kingdom of God)?
yes.

ultimatley, the believer should not bank on the government changing society or caring for the forgotten. the Church is the main modality for the Kingdom of God to be advanced.

the decline of evangelicalism's impact on america is directly proportionate with the lack of care extended to the poor. **

++++++
last installment/next post:

"i think every american christian should live in a developing country for some length of time. i think the anarchists in nyc should too."
++++++



**for more on this discussion see "a heart for the city" by john fuder. in particular, the chapter "a case for holistic urban ministry: the City, evangelicals, and the social gospel." which highlights glen kehrein work and expereince with circle urban ministries. [thanks to my brother matt for bringing this to mind].

"i think it is important for Christians to be part of the political process. the Church could easily hamstring ourselves when we put it at odds with the advancement of the Kingdom. when times arise when Christians are asked to compromise on the central issues of Gospel life- then we part ways and don't shame those that choose not to." taken from previous post

this is an excerpt from an email I exchanged earlier this month with mark palmer. he’s an intergral part of the landing place. he’s a gem from a far. meaning- what I know- I like. here’s what he wrote…

“when Jesus came, he came announcing that the Kingdom of God had come. HisKingdom was not just a spiritual Kingdom, it was a real and physicalKingdom, with its own set of politics, and its own way of life (i.e theSermon on the Mount). Jesus also announced, thru his teachings and hisactions, that he was the King of this new Kingdom. Again, he didn't meanthat he was just a "spiritual" king of "heaven". He was a real King. TheApostles and his first followers understood it this way; that's why theywere consistently arrested and executed, not because they were believing ina different "religion" (that really would have been no problem to thepowers). They were arrested and killed because they were announcing thatthey followed a different King who ruled a different Kingdom than the onethat Caesar ruled. When the first Christians announced that "Jesus isLord", it also meant that "Caesar is not"…

the reason that I don't vote is because I cannot involve myself in a systemthat is built upon the antithesis of Jesus' system (use of force/violence,rule from above/power from position, marginalization of the lowly, etc.) Ialso cannot cast a vote for a leader who leads a kingdom that is other thanthe Kingdom of God…. I simply can't have split allegiance.”

this argument really makes sense to me. i follow it logically. i am not comfortable with it though… now granted- my comfort level is not necessarily an indicator or baramator of what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of God. the bottom line is; i don’t know that it is split allegiance to particpipate in the political process.

this argument also makes me think about my parents and people that are older in their faith. i hope that this is received in the spirit in which it’s said- but i think older people who have logged time in the Lord and lived through history and life have an ability to live out nuances and ‘gray’ that is more difficult to settle on as a young (er) person. i don’t mean to discount the process and evolution involved in settling on convictions and deciding what is truly important to us as individuals or a group. i experience this in my own life it is more difficult for me to live and walk in the grays of life than it is for me to walk or talk in the black or white of life. i want things clear. when life is hard, I want a solution. and the more clear the solution the more I like it.

i don’t have an exhaustive theological framework to rebut the argument mark outlined. i do know that the bible doesn’t “clearly” address voting. i know that there is value placed on issues of discernment and dependence (walking out the gray areas).

i am simply very cautious when I sense things that throw the baby out with the bathwater. which is how this argument strikes me.

this potion that closed mark’s email was so encouraging to read:

“i am not apolitical; i strive to follow the politics of Jesus. indnon-participation is not the answer...if I'm not going to involve myself inthe politics of the kingdom of the world, then I better get out there andinvolve myself in the politics of the Kingdom of God (practical love ofenemy, peacemaking, care for the poor and marginalized).”

my hero

my hero
Originally uploaded by liadanslyre.

just testing.
thought that mama teresa would be appropriate given what i'm thinking about lately.

she's albanian you know.

albanian's rule!

a light hearted post for now...

well. i haven’t gotten to post more of my thoughts on peace, politics and justice. we’ve been staying away from our apartment and it changes my schedule and computer usage. it is a welcomed change of pace. perhaps i will be able to this weekend. no worries.

things i love about fall…

:: mums
:: ohio state football.
:: sweaters
:: the leaves turning colors.
:: school supplies.
:: sharp pencils.
:: the smell of newly sharpened pencils.
:: leave piles that you can walk through to hear the crumple of leaves.
:: good sales on dumb stuff that I don’t have the money to buy.
:: the first snow.
:: the first five minutes of raking leaves.
:: the smell of pumpkins when you’re carving them.
:: hearing the grandview band practice in dusk.
:: drinking hot cider on the stoop.
:: all things fire.
:: snuggling.
:: breaking out the down comforter.

chewable vitamin
"each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope...build(ing) a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
~ robert f. kennedy

“peace is not simply the absence of conflict but the presence of justice.”
~ maureen sullivan

for our purposes here- i will take credit for this quote to appear intelligent and wise (but i didn’t really say it- i can’t find the reference).

i think we way undersell what peace even is...
(see previous post for blog post map for this week)

here’s my working definition of peace. please feel free to expand it for me…

one of the more compelling lectures I remember from vli was hearing steve robbins talk about what shalom is…

shalom is the Hebrew worked for peace right?

steve’s thesis was that peace in american Christianity is simplistic and narrow and outlined the symetic understanding of peace. he talked about how often peace is reduced to a byproduct of salvation (i.e. peace with God through Christ rom. 5.1) which that is gravy right there in my mind. he went on to coin a term “Gospel shalom”. he talked about it in terms that made me long for a paradigm shift in outreach efforts that are common in evangelicalism.

he delineated how Gospel shalom was about wholeness that extends to a persons physical being as well as their spiritual being. Gospel shalom is working to reverse the curse- praying for our physical bodies to be restored and healed; working to alleviate the shame of those who suffer, working to free our present day captives in the literal and figurative sense etc.

shalom is not a warm gushy feeling that we experience when we know Jesus. it is less of an adjective and more of a verb (yes, it’s used as an adjective- but work with me here). i don’t think it comes at the exclusion of force or intervention.

does the bible give us a precedence that peace comes at the exclusion of intervention- even if it the intervention may include force? well- i don’t know the exhaustive answer to this question. but there’s plenty of scripture that is descriptive that includes the use of force and describes wars and stuff. but in my opinion that’s not too much help.

there is also- scripture that is prescriptive and describes the means by which we know peace. the linchpin of redemptive history was the violent death and forceful intervention of Jesus on the cross. we are not saved through a blood drive. there is no sterility clean peaceful way to describe the crucifixion account. the blood that is so often in the same sentence as peace did not come our way through the pacifism of God (1 Pet. 1.2, Eph. 2.14-15, Colossians 1.20). our only hope for peace (adjective or verb) is through the cross of Jesus.

am i looking to fight? am i suggesting that we should look to be violent? i sure hope not- although i do have a disposition that likes some spice every once in a while…

please let me know what you think about this working definition.

*remember:*
“if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
~ rom 12.18

so please play nice with one another if you decide to utilize comments for interaction.

+++
next post (i think):
"i think it is important for christians to be part of the politcal process. the Church could easily hamstring ourselves when we put it at odds with the advancement of the Kingdom. when times arise when christians are asked to compromise on the central issues of Gospel life- then we part ways and don't shame those that choose not to."
+++

peacemaking

well. sometimes i know where a post is going prior to posting it. this is not the case this evening.

i should first say, i don't really know much about the topic and honestly have only given it thought since 9/11. i had a close mennonite friend at my previous work who told me about all the great things that the mennonite central committee does around the world. as i read more about anabaptist views i was intrigued, confused, and a bit frustrated. this is definitely new territory for me.

recently,i read matt's post. he's a guy i met- who probably doesn't remember meeting me from landing place. those folks at landing place have lots of active bloggers and i always like reading them b/c i find them thoughtful. they have mennonite roots too. like i said- i love me the mennonites.

here are a couple of things i got on my mind:

• i think that working for peace does not necessarily mean you have to be a complete pacifist.
• i think those protestors during the republican national convention were funny.
• i think we way undersell what peace even is...
• i would be interested in reading about some famous christian pacifist. it is hard for me to believe that people who love something wouldn't be willing to fight for it if it were endangered.
• i think it is important for christians to be part of the politcal process. the Church could easily hamstring ourselves when we put it at odds with the advancement of the Kingdom. when times arise when christians are asked to compromise on the central issues of Gospel life- then we part ways and don't shame those that choose not to.
• i think every american christian should live in a developing country for some length of time. i think the anarchists in nyc should too.
• should christians look to politicians to advance the Kingdom of God?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
at this point- i've realized that this will be way too long of a post.
instead, i'll post by topic over the next week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

but i do just want to say something about those protestors.

ok- so am i actually suppose to be be persuaded by this? we were at my mom's and we had cspan on. so we're watching it and i saw one of the protestors pee pee! now, i'm sorry- am i supposed to take you seriously?

for as much hatred of the current administration was brewing in nyc last week; you would've thought the anarchist's were the war mongers. here we got people breathing hate and protesting an administration of war mongering in the context of security measures, blockades, tear gas, police dogs- for the protestors. the news was predicting violent clashes.

it seems nearsighted at best- or disingenuine at worse to protest a war because you want peace and do so using violent, threatening or illegal means.

ok. that's it for now.

participatory

i'm thinking about what it means to be a peacemaker in today's society.
what do you think it means and why?

tell me.
yes... YOU.
don't go.
i need your help.
pleeeeze.


this... is what got me thinking about it (this dude's post from sunday)

i love me the day off

chewable vitamin
"...sometimes when we have no feeling of peace or of God's presence He is more truly present to us than He has ever been before."
~ mack daddy merton (thomas merton)

my week
well it's been a pretty eventful week in the okonkwo household.

for starters...
:: i left one job
:: i started another job
:: we were separated for the first night of our marriage
:: i am learning how much more i prefer microsoft money over quicken
:: charles still cannot get his mind around why men are traditionally not included in showers (baby showers)
:: i went out with people from work on thursday night

it's been a pretty good week.
sorry i got nothing deep to share...
no profundity to expound.
i think i'm on an emotional vacation lately.
i kinda like it. actually, it's great.
i don't mean i'm numb- i mean i'm just good.
it is kinda weird though.

that's it for now.
i'm looking forward to the long weekend.
hope yours is wonderful.
peace out.

chewable vitamin
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

o, Divine Master, grant that i may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
~ st. francis