Glory! Hallelujah! It's finally here!

Okay, so not everyone is going to get what I say herein, but for those of you who do, you can rejoice with me!

(1) First, and foremost, today is Reformation Sunday! By far my mostest favoritest church festival (besides the big C and E, of course). It is a HUGE reminder, I hope, to everyone that the Church (capital c) is not, nor has it EVER been, a stagnant institution incapable of even thinking about change. People, Interpretations, Translations, and MOST IMPORTANTLY: POLICIES, are relevant only until we can better understand what God is really trying to say in our lives. That is, we can say one thing in the Church, believe it whole-heartedly and without being hypocrites change our view and believe in the new one whole-heartedly. The Church is living in the Word, the Word is living in God, everything that lives, changes. CHANGE IS NOT--NOR HAS IT EVER BEEN--a bad thing!!!!!!!

(2) Okay, now that I have that off my chest. I went to UniLu today and they dedicated and fully used the new ELW. WOW! What a resource! I completley zoned out during the sermon (something about freedom through being bound to Christ, or something) because I was enthralled by the new resource. Of course, those of you who know me personally know how excited I am about this new book. Just another reminder that the Church is changing. And, contrary to the belief of some in the Church, God is there in the change and rejoices as much as we do when we can better serve God and worship the Wonderful One in Three!

(3) Also, I went to UniLu's blog online today because there was a note about it in the bulletin and one of the members wrote his own version of the 95 Theses (though he only wrote 10 himself). They are really quite engaging, and certainly got me thinking. Try 'em out for yourself!

Happiness for all of you...and remember:
our God is a MIGHTY FORTRESS!!!

jcm

A Little Helpful Philosophy

***I'm not going to lie, this particular entry is going to be a little religious, a little opinionated and therefore a little liberal, and a little loudmouthed. You are warned.***

There are time when you just want to bash people's heads together and say, "Why don't you see it...the rest of us do!" Of course, there are also times when you just want to bash people's heads together to hear the hollow coconut-like sound it will make.

I went to look into a church for future visitation as a campus ministry and they are a member of my national church (ELCA) but they are also a member of something called LCMC. I'm not sure if you heard of it, but it certainly made my blood boil. It very much reminded me of someone else's blog I had read recently about a very similar sort of "clash in philosophy" shall we call it? Here it is.

Of course, it also reminded me of a song I have on my iPod and play quite a bit. It is called If We Are the Body, and it is by Casting Crowns. I love it and definitely take it as my personal philosophy. It really plays into my "openly religious" attitudes.

Anyway, here it is...enjoy...

"It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

There is a way A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way"

I don't know, there are certain parts of it that are a little too definitive for my taste, but the general gist is good and I like it...just something to think about.

Happiness--and hopefully love and welcomeness, too--in whatever you do...

jcm

p.s. I know that this seems to be doing the same thing to others as I am complaining about them doing. But, I am one of those people who believes that there are certain situations in which prejudice towards a prejudiced person is the only way.

A Song in Praise of the Intersection

Here is a poem that I wrote for a class this week:

A Song in Praise of the Intersection

The Unity of One is the Unity of All
For we are similar you and I and he and she and it
Each joined to our ancestry, each joined to our kin, each joined to our species, each joined to our
beginning, and joined—inevitably—to our end.
Is that the same ancestry, the same kin, the same species, the same beginning, the same end
I know not.

Yet you and I and he and she and it we walk the same path
We traverse the same road
We travel the same journey
The journey to class to home to friends to family to market to restaurant to park
to an endless, infinite horizon of destinations.
None of us know where the other goes, none of us knows the other’s name, none of us knows anything about the other but that which is evident in the brief passage of time in which we live together,
In which we are connected, in which we are one, in which our paths intersect
In that moment what unites is great and what tears asunder not so great.
In that moment we are more similar that we are different.

Life is that moment, we are that moment, he she it is that moment.
The world, society, culture, family, kin, friends, religion, politics try to keep us in those other moments on the path when we are but distant points on the road, a goal, a speck on the horizon to meet before sundown.

This road, in these buildings, in these hallowed halls, in these offices, in these faces I see, in
these many faces I see, in these varied faces I see, in these richly diverse faces I see, is in
each of us.
Each of us knows our destination without knowing or caring the destination of others.
Each of us knows where our journey will lead us
Each of us wants to reach our goal whether or not the others reach theirs…

Yet what is this I see?
Two of you walk together, two of you are linked hand-in-hand with one another on the road.
This is what the world should be, life lived together, the unity in this moment will lead you
through life stronger and more determined than when walked alone.

What is that?
Five, six, eight, fifteen of you are walking together…
Talking, laughing, screaming, gesturing, moaning, sighing, breathing, living together.
Surely this is the meaning of life!
That we traverse together, life the great mysterious road on which we are distant, separate,
different things to one another…

NO! Life is meant to be lived with each of us knowing, caring, breathing, living, dying, with
those who know us, each of us knowing and caring each other.

Is your life hard you girl who walks alone?
I feel your pain, I care, I reach out to you, and ask your name, and feel your presence in my life, I
acknowledge your presence, I am what I say others should be, are you there with me?
Surely life is more meaningful when it is shared.

Yet there you are men in suits and women in skirts who are too busy to speak to one another
even though you seem to be connected in some way.
You travel in your herd through life not caring who else is out there as long as you reach your
destination
This is not what life is…there is no connectedness of life in your being, there is no connection
with those who travel the road with you.

The unity of you, lonely, solitary ones is the same unity I feel with all
For I realize that you and I and he and she and it are all the same
The similarities are too many to bear without knowing that the differences mean nothing.

Walk the same path
Oh, you and I and he and she and it, walk the same path
Traverse the same road
Travel the same journey
The journey to class to home to friends to family to market to restaurant to park
to an endless, infinite horizon of destinations.
It matters not where the other goes,
None of us knows the other’s name, none of us knows anything about the other but that which is
evident in the brief passage of time in which we live together,
In which we are connected, in which we are one, in which our paths intersect
In that moment what unites is great and what tears asunder not so great.
In that moment we are more similar that we are different.

In that moment is life.

-JCM

Another song/poem I love...

Okay, so apparently this is by Billy Nielson Chapman (or something like that) but I heard it on "Matter of the Heart," sung by Patti LuPone...

All alone I didn't like the feeling
All alone I sat and cried
All alone I had to find some meaning
In the center of the pain I felt inside

All alone I came into this world
All alone I will someday die
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby
Sand and water, and a million years gone by

I will see you in the light of a thousand suns
I will hear you in the sound of the waves
I will know you when I come, as we all will come
Through the doors beyond the grave

All alone I heal this heart of sorrow
All alone I raise this child
Flesh and bone, he's just
Bursting towards tomorrow
And his laughter fills my world and wears your smile

I will see you in the light of a thousand suns
I will hear you in the sound of the waves
I will know you when I come, as we all will come
Through the doors beyond the grave

All alone I came into this world
All alone I will someday die
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby
Sand and water and a million years gone by

.....mysteriously powerful, no?

Freakin' Phenomenal

So last night I realized how much fun my friends are. And how valuable they are to me.

Last night we went to see Flogging Molly in concert. I was not really a "fan" per se before hand. However, after the first song got us whirled up in a mosh and a friend got the ca-ca scared out of her, it was phenomenal! I spent the rest of the concert playing her bodyguard and dodging puking moshers. But it was on the way back as the five of us stumbled--deaf, aching, and (some of us) almost dead--that I realized that only with these people could I do something like this (almost die, that is) and come out of it wanting more!

Anyway, just thought I share my lesson on the importance, value, and necessity of friends.

A Poem...

Written during a long class of Ancient Greek:

I sit and stare at yon buildings
And cannot help but realize
My future may lie in one such building.

The cars, the trains, each one carries someone to a destination unknown to me;
but know to them?
I fear I will finish as they, though I may be more a sheep--led to my future, of blessing or
slaughter, by any such conductor.

How fearful can the future be,
But am I more afraid of living today?
Life is for the living
of today--
Tho I take not advantage of it.

Why live I like a hermit, thus,
In seclusion scared of things to come;
Scared more of lives that are of now
And paralyzed by daring challenges.

The hardest part of living is stepping out the door,
But getting out of bed can be far worse,
For ideas of a life unlived--or worse lived wrong,
Can petrify more than amber through the years,
hardened by cold shoulders,
icy stares,
and days of misunderstanding...

You Are Pop Art

When it comes to art, you're definitely not a snob.You can appreciate the mainstream aspects of culture, even if you need to twist them a bit to make them your own.Whether you're into comics, retro pinups, or bold colors, you embrace what's eye catching and simple.As far as most other art goes, you consider it a little too elitist and high brow for your tastes!

What Art Movement Are You?

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 10% Conservative, 90% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

You Are 76% Gentleman

You are definitely a gentleman. You're very considerate and you have excellent manners.Occasionally, you slip and do something foolish... but usually no one notices!

Are You A Gentleman?

"With All Your Heart" or Wisdom from The 10th Kingdom

"If you live every day with all your heart, you really can live happily ever after."

This is a line from the TV (nbc) miniseries that was on in 1999/2000ish, entitled "The 10th Kingdom." I'll spare you a review--though it is a good one. But a brief synopsis is that Virginia and her father are chased through a magic mirror portal in Central Park into the land of the Nine Kingdoms which are ruled by the fairy tale princesses, and where all the fairy tales (and some nursery rhymes crept in too) come to life. There are several struggles as this situation plays itself out--Virginia and Tony need to get out and the only person with a working "traveling mirror" is the evil queen, who also happens to be Virginia's mother who walked out on the two a very long time ago...oh yeah, Virginia is like 25.

Anyway, her final analysis of it all comes when she and "Wolf" with whom she fell in love and is having a baby return to Central park is the above quote.

I was always very skeptical of "Happily Ever After." I'm not sure--even now--that it exists. But I think that it is true (I have been noticing lately) that if you live each day with all your heart, at least every day will have a happily ever after ending.

There are rocky times, I'm realizing, and I'm sure you'll hear about; but for the most part, come what may, if you live passionately in whatever you do, life will be quite fulfilling.

That is, at least that's how I--an idealistic college sophomore--see it.

Inspiration...

Here's where I get most of mine...

"I will be truthful.
I will suffer no injustice.
I will be free from fear.
I will not use force.
I will be of good will to all men."
mahatma gandhi

"Dear and beloved stranger,
Please eat this food with us that we may all be nourished.
Please share this walk with us that we may all know nature's peace.
Please rest in this warm house that we may come to know each other.
Please sleep under these soft blankets that we may all know safety.
Please pray this prayer that all our names of Godmay guide us on."
christina baldwin

"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Wellspring of all that is.
You are the sea on which we float,
You are the wind that fills our sails,
You are the storm that buffets us,
You are the calm that brings us peace.
Open our ears to hear Your word,
Open our eyes to see Your beauty,
Open our hearts to be warmed by Your love.
Free us from our lonely prisons of fear and selfishness,
And make us over, day by day, into bearers of Your peace."
richard rosenberg

"You and I are One
All of You and Us are One
All The Souls are One Soul
All The Lights are One Light."
the messenger of unity

"Blessed Be."
celtic blessing

"It is not so important to love all men today as it is that each day you learn to love one more human being."
urantia book - 1098:03

"Life is short and we have not too much time
for gladdening the hearts of those
who are traveling the dark way with us.
Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind."
henri-frederic amiel

"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."
omar khayyam

"All Shall Be Well,
And All Shall Be Well,
And All Manner of Thing Shall Be Well."
julian of norwich

I don't know, hopefully you get something out of it all, too.

Happiness for all yous...

Explanation

Okay, so I feel like I should explain my self-description. I called myself a few things that only have meaning for me, really:

(1) an introverted extrovert. so i am probably one of the shyest people you will ever meet...until i get to know you. that is, i am all but mute in situations where i know no-one, where i am intimidated, or where i am uncomfortable. however, once i get comfortable the problem becomes shutting me up. i used to act in high school. i loved it. but i practically cried before my auditions. there is just something intimidating about walking up to someone you barely know and 'exposing' yourself to them without any buffer.

(2) an openly religious individual. i am fairly religious. i am christian by birth. however, since i have now spent one and a quarter years in college, i am starting to find myself adopting certain philosophies about life that are not necessarily 'christian.' i mean, i'm not turning a 180, just a bit of a skew on my view of life, of belief, of religion. this is for many reasons but there are two that i know of for sure: (a) i have had a fairly bumpy ride in my faith-life and have serious questions about many policies of the "CHURCH" (scary and powerful insitution with some very confused and powerful people); (b) i have so many friends who have never really believed in anything but are more 'christianly' than quite a few of the christians i know.

i don't know. i am kind of an oxymoron myself. everything about me leads to a certain mystery that i don't necessarily regret.

but whatever...i've talked (or typed) your ear (or eyes) off long enough...

happiness for yous...

Blog Origins

Okay, just so everyone knows why I'm "Not Yet Listening:"

"Refuse to fall down.
If you cannot refuse to fall down, refuse to stay down.
If you cannot refuse to stay down lift your heart toward heaven
and like a hungry begger ask that it be filled,
And it will be filled.
You may be pushed down.
You may be kept from rising.
But no one can keep you from lifting your heart toward heaven--only you.
It is in the middle of misery that so much becomes clear.
The one who says nothing good came of this
Is NOT YET LISTENING."

_Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I don't know, I find it inspirational...and quite frankly, lately, by the poet's standards, I'm not listening. It's probably something I should work on.