every valley

so i know i've been talking politics and issues on this here blog of mine.
maybe it's a tired subject that i need to put to bed.
but- these things have been on my mind a lot lately.

they have been on my mind b/c it seems
i've been confronted with how wacked out our country is.
don't get me wrong-

i'm glad i'm a u.s. citizen.
i'm grateful i suppose that i was born w/ white skin.
into a middle class family.
with access to a primary care doc
and not just the emergency room.
i'm grateful that police don't profile me
or that employers level correction or worse relieve me from a job b/c i have a foriegn accent.

i mean- sure- we have laws to protect 'outsiders'.
we have some level of senstivity to not proverbially kick the weak to the curb.

but it doesn't work.
and i'm wondering what i can do about it.

then i came across this entry. granted, it was written specifically about women's role in society and the church in particular. i have really latched onto the ideas he outlines and wondered how they might apply more broadly. might it be beneficial to surrender my priveledge/power to abide- in the truest sense of the word- with those that are marginalized? we see it modeled in Jesus' life. i want to pray that God would show me how to do this- and that i would have the cahoonas to do it.

what are your thoughts on this?

and don't write me hate mail asking if i'm proposing that you feel guilty for being born into priveledge.

"symbolically i am the old-guard - i am a western, white, educated, middle-class, male and as such part of my calling is to surrender my "power" (as best as i am able and aware), to hear and really listen to the stories of the "other," and to choose "us," by stepping into relationship."

"the way of Christ is to leave the center and step into the margin. By moving into the margin the marginalized no longer are . . . how do we shape the ethos of a community . . . by our presence."

these quotes are taken from a post by dwight friessen- some guy i've never met. on occassion- i read his blog.

chewable vitamin
"3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
~ isaiah 40.3-5

this is aidan's passport photo for ghana
(or an attempt thereof)
as my brother put it,
'is this kid excited to goto africa or what?'

today's chewable vitamin
"when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
~ harriet beecher stowe

jim wallis article
this is an article that i enjoyed very much.
it is written by jim wallis who is the editor of a magizine
that i devour regularly called sojorners.
he is also the author of a book i am reading called,
'god's politics: how the right gets in wrong, and the left doesn't get it'

this article was written in response to an event called justice sunday.

"During the 2004 election campaign, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson virtually said Christians could only vote for George W. Bush. Many of you, along with other Christians and people of faith, responded with letters to the editor, newspaper ads, and even bumper stickers reminding America that "God is not a Republican...or a Democrat." Then the Republican National Committee circulated lists of "duties" to local churches, which included turning over their congregational membership lists. The RNC also sent postcards to voters in some states with images of a Bible being banned and a man putting a wedding ring on another man - warning that this was what "liberal" politicians planned to do.

Now the Religious Right is saying that supporting the president's judicial nominations is a test of orthodoxy. This is a dramatic new and serious breach in the relationship between faith and politics.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Prison Fellowship's Chuck Colson, and Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler are hosting "Justice Sunday," a telecast this weekend from a mega-church in Louisville, Kentucky. Their message is that those who don't support President Bush's judicial nominees are hostile to "people of faith."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to join them by video to get political support for his effort to end the Senate practice known as the filibuster, which is designed to delay a vote on controversial issues in order to protect strong minorities from being overrun by majorities. The Republican leader's appearance at this event endorses the Religious Right's claim that the Democratic filibuster of a small number of very conservative judges is "a filibuster against people of faith."

Despite the fact that Democrats oppose these judges for their views on a variety of subjects, conservative leaders have singled out abortion and gay marriage as their chief concerns and only want judges who support their agenda. Despite the fact that many Democrats who oppose some of President Bush's nominees are themselves people of faith, Republicans and their religious supporters are questioning the faith and religious integrity of their opponents.

That is an escalation of the religious/political war. And the two together sound like assertions of a Republican theocracy. Behind these activities lies a fundamental assumption by Republican operatives and their conservative religious allies that they own religion in America. They demand that religious people vote only their way. They claim that "values voters" in America belong to them, and they disrespect the faith of those who disagree with their agenda. There are better words for this than just "politically divisive" or "morally irresponsible." For these are not merely political offenses, they are religious ones. And for offenses such as these, theological terms are better - terms such as idolatry and blasphemy.

We should bring our religious convictions about all moral issues to the public square - such as the uplifting of the poor, the protection of the environment, the ethics of war, or the tragic number of abortions in America - without attacking the sincerity of other people's faith, or demanding that we should win because we are religious. We must make moral arguments and mobilize effective movements for social change that can powerfully persuade our fellow citizens, religious or not, on what is best for the common good.

What I hear, from one end of this country to the other, is how tired we are of ideological religion and how hungry we are for prophetic faith. Join me in sending a message to Senator Frist that we are people of faith, and these Religious Right leaders do not speak for us. "

today's chewable vitamin
"no one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
~ eleanor roosevelt

i got this photo from the economist b/c i'm linking to the article.
please don't sue me.

well my peeps
i have a couple of completely contextualist and random things to cover today.

for starters-
my brother's church plant has a new website and logo.
you can see it here. i'm really proud of him.

also, my niece had her adenoids taken out. so now i know where adenoids are... which for those of you unfamiliar like myself- they are in your nose. who knew?

i think this article and its title ("if only the adults would behave like the children") is fabulous.
i posted the photo above that was included in the article b/c i like it.

the michael bolton watch
(i actually mean john bolton- but i like to amuse myself)

the economist weighs in.

and for all you who are not stick to your guns rebuplicans-
you may like to read this article.
(by the way- i'm not going to link to the times as much-
although that is the news source i read most often
(b/c they become dumb links after a couple of day))
the article talks about colin powell's reservations on bolton's nomination.

today's chewable vitamin
"the matter is quite simple. the Bible is very easy to understand. but we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. we pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. "
~ soren kierkegaard

a prayer for the catholic church

well Lord Jesus, we got a new pope.
thanks for how you love your church.
i pray today for the new pope-
anoint his role in the direction and work of the catholic church.
give him wisdom on how to repent where the church has fallen short-
and grace to call the church to the important work of your Kingdom.
i pray that he would be an instrument of revival within the catholic church.
bless him lord- even though it's not cardinal arinze.

amen.

today's chewable vitamin

"pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. the challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery."
~ pope john paul ii

randomly...
here are a couple of things rolling around in the ole' noggin today.

there's black smoke at the vatican today.
this means no pope has been agreed upon.
i'm hoping that cardinal arinze will be the next pope.

i've found a minor ocd pattern of mine.
if anyone close to me (proximity wise) gets sick;
i immediately want to cut my nails off
b/c i'm convinced my nail beds hide germs.
and yes- i know there's medicine for that...

i slept three hours friday night.
i kept myself up fretting about what i convinced
myself to be a blood clot in my leg.
the dull pain has since subsided.
and yes- i know there's medicine for that too.

i found this link and i find interesting but it also makes me sad.

this is an article that i liked today. it's about forgiveness.

we met friends in the park sunday.
i came home smelling like spring's perfume.
grass and prespiration. i loved it!

i had my first negative expereince at the temple of chipoltle.
i had really fatty barbacoa and it made me want to barf.
it was all slimy and hard to chew and i couldn't spit it out.

and...
if your wondering about our weekend-
it was wholy unproductive.
i never even tried to put my aspirations
for spring cleaning into place.

today's chewable vitamin

i heard a thousand blended notes
while in a grove I sate reclined,
in that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
bring sad thoughts to the mind.

to her fair works did nature link
the human soul that through me ran;
and much it grieved my heart to think
what Man has made of Man.

through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
the periwinkle trail'd its wreaths;
and 'tis my faith that every flower
enjoys the air it breathes.

the birds around me hopp'd and play'd,
their thoughts i cannot measure,—
but the least motion which they made
it seem'd a thrill of pleasure.

the budding twigs spread out their fan
to catch the breezy air;
and i must think, do all i can,
that there was pleasure there.

if this belief from heaven be sent,
if such be nature's holy plan,
have i not reason to lament

what Man has made of Man?
~ william wordsworth

another foreign policy post

sorry.

what do william mcnamara and paul wolfawitz
have in common?
(aside from their involvement in the department of defense...)

both got appointments to the world bank presidency.

it is largely believed that mcnamara got pushed out of the johnson whitehouse cabinet into this post to neutralize his voice of descent to the vietnam war (which evolved over time). i bet there are other takes on why he got pushed out. i wonder if there is more to the story on wolfawitz's appointment.

and by the way- i'm worried.

i'm worried that this john bolton character is bad news.
i think he is really bad news.
thankfully- his confirmation hearing is not just sliding by-
but instead is meeting some challenges.

see- i like the UN.
i grew up in a house where president kennedy was adored
and president truman was as well.

now please don't leave me hate mail comments
about how awful the UN is...
(anne and marcia)
i know that they are lame sometimes.
ok- a lot of the times.

but i think in principle it is an important body in today's world.
in practice they have failed terribly in different generous.
but on the whole they serve to give our world some checks and balances

call me crazy-
but i think it's important to have someone
represent our country to the united nations
who actually believes in the potential of the UN
and doesn't think of it as something that we need to get rid of
so we can do whatever the hell we want.

+++

here is a leading reason i would like cable. this is my favorite nyt editorialist's documentary. it's called 'does europe hate us?'

+++

here is something good about american foreign policy i read recently.

+++

?????????????
day of truth
?????????????

oh
and incase you didn't know-
today is the day to let all the gay people in your life
know that you think their sexual practices are wrong.

this is discouraging stuff for me to read.
in part b/c i think it totally misses the boat on what the Gospel is...
and in part b/c i think that it is dangerous
to 'fight for our right' to be heard and to practice the first amendment.

but most of all it seems irrelevant
b/c i don't know that anyone is listening.
and in my mind this day does nothing to cause anyone
to want to listen.

today's chewable vitamin
"when we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope"
~ nowen

this is my nephew john nolan sullivan.
he goes by jack and he plays tee ball.
he's the shorter one.
click here to read my brother's commentary on this photo.

my morning dream

dancing at the gas station

i pulled the fox into gas station.
i walked in and heard a familuar tune.
i went to the line to wait in front of the crack dispenser.
i had to wait my turn.
i tapped my foot. i enjoyed the music.
as i listened to the music; i got my crackaccino.

then- it happened.
phil collins transported me into another world.
and i danced.
infact- i danced my ass off.
at the gas station.

latino carpet layers packed into their van
and watched and laughed in amusement.

i didn't care.
it was phil collins afterall.

today's chewable vitamin
"it is in the ordinary duties and labors of life that the christian can and should develop his spiritual union with God."
~ merton

i suppose
the last week or more could be described as a bit difficult and stressful- but all in all there is so much for me to be grateful and grounded in...

here are some of them:

today's gratitude list

flip flops.
the perennials in my yard that are getting ready to bloom.
my family- especially my husband.
for the health of my family.
that if we’re sick we can goto the doctor.
that i’m free from the burden of judgment
(both the to delve the judgment out and to receive it)
for spell checker
oil paint that is mixed well but still bleeds and swirls.
my work environment.
our affordable apartment.
starbucks
forgiveness
hope and vision
our church.
that i can pray whenever i what.
that all the black people in america don’t just get up and leave.
that i can connect w/ the Lord.
my sobriety.
that my dreams have so drastically changed from when I was 18.
mercy and grace.
the smell of rain in the air- minus any remnant of wet dog
(I don’t like that smell).
that my parents didn’t give up on me when i was in my fullblown asshole stage.
bono
candles
that the Lord can change me.
judy niemie.
that i can read.
that i am getting better at saying i was wrong more quickly.
how i live in a country where they plant flowers along the side of the highway.
that we have highways.
the process of kneading clay.
that my life is really pretty good in the grand scheme of things.
learning to laugh at myself.
my emotions are not necessarily an indicator of reality.
i’m getting better at not saying everything that comes to my mind.
really good bass lines
it's friday!

today's chewable vitamin
little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
~ washington irving