to reevaluate

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

--Mahatma Gandhi

My eternal frustration is Christians who do not look like Christ.
(Myself included.)



Things to be reevaluated:
(or: How does Jesus feel about...?)

1. privilege and power
2. redistribution of wealth
3. gender roles and feminism
4. the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized
5. the oppressed in our midst
   
6. apathy
7. our pathetic justifications to avoid the challenge of thought and change

I have my opinions. I'd love to know yours.

okay.

"Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no whenever you don't want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you're doing here. Believe in kissing."

-Eve Ensler

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

Zora Neale Hurston

monday musings

the answer, it turns out, is no
no dogs allowed

the answer, it turns out, is also yes
far more often than not

.......................................................

i am never quite satisfied
and that scares me to no end
i will always have a second piece of chocolate cake
the search for my soul mate continues (forever?)


.........................................................

listen to: don't you worry 'bout a thing, john legend

read: the sabbath, abraham joshua heschel

watch: the namesake


......................................................

today is my best friend's birthday
she is absolutely wonderful and i don't know what i would do if she didn't exist
my life would be less than it is today without her in it

happy birthday jenniferro!

The Sabbath

"To set apart one day a week for freedom,
a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction,
a day for being with ourselves,
a day of detachment from the vulgar,
of independence of external obligations,
a day on which we stop worshiping the idols of technical civilization,
a day on which we use no money,
a day of armistice in the economic struggle with our men and the forces of nature--
is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for man's progress than the Sabbath?"

--Abraham Joshua Heschel
**From The Sabbath

pdq oh-so-sloppy joes

there are few things better than community dinner nights
especially when those dinner nights include vegan sloppy joes
especially when those vegan sloppy joes taste better than the original!
(i'm not just saying that)



oh-so-sloppy joes
serves 4

ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (12-ounce) package frozen vegetarian burger crumbles
also called "vegetarian ground meat" and can be found at trader joes)
1 (4-ounce) can diced mild green chiles, drained
3/4 cup tomato ketchup
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sandwich buns

directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the burger crumbles and chiles. Stir in the ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 10 minutes.

Spoon the sloppy joe mixture onto the buns.
Accompany with plenty of napkins and good conversation :)

**p.s. if you are a cooking connoisseur,
i highly recommend this cookbook:
(it has yet to disappoint!)
Quick-Fix Vegetarian, by Robin Robertson,
can be found at your local bookstore, or by clicking here :)

"Why would you want to marry me for anyhow?"

"So I can kiss you anytime I want"

--Sweet Home Alabama

mark 15:27

i have been living with an image of God's glory that is completely unsatisfying

i don't like the image of His glory coming with thunder and lightening
i don't like imagining Jesus hovering above the earth with clouds rolling in, robes blindingly bright, sword in hand
i have been tainted by misused power and authority, street preachers and bedazzled christian tee-shirts trying to make a point

even when i acknowledge the beauty of the sun setting on the beach behind my house
or stand in awe under the shade of hundred-foot trees creating a canopy above me
or if i watch streams of water trickle down cliffs and river beds and into crashing waves
and give credit and praise to the God of creation,
i am unsatisfied

but, there is a story of God's glory that i adore and i've missed it until now

James and John ask Jesus to sit on his right and his left, in his glory
Jesus says: if you drink the cup that i drink, there you will sit
but it is not for Him to decide
and in a hauntingly beautiful parallel,
Jesus hangs crucified with a robber on his right, and a robber on his left
all drinking the cup of crucifixion
a moment that looks absolutely unglorious
humiliating, shameful and filled with pain
and in that moment, Jesus is glorified

i am satisfied with Jesus showing his glory in a way that makes sense to humanity
that he is glorified by his presence among human suffering,
among human reality and human experience

this is a God i can know and adore
even in his brilliance and might
among the wonder of creation
we are not forgotten

how to: spring break

in honor of the worst cold that i have ever had and a day of nothingness (finally!!):

{how to enjoy your first day of spring break}



1. hide your backpack in the corner of your room
{pretend that homework doesn't exist}

2. don't go into the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom
{pretend that cleaning doesn't exist}

3. put on your most comfortable pajamas
{no need to even be on the scale of professional this week}

4. use your week-long horrible cold as an excuse to curl up on the couch with a blanket, popcorn and that movie you've watched 100 times but still love
{guilty pleasure: because i said so}

5. fall asleep while reading a book for fun (multi-tasking...)
{try: everything is illuminated, the dancer from khiva, faith beyond despair [thank you miss alice lyons]}

6. enjoy, and repeat as often as necessary :)

amen.

"Do not be intimidated by the gap between ideal and reality.
You have God's promise that the abyss will be overcome.
You must develop the infinite wisdom to know that it can be done,
the infinite love to want to do it,
and the infinite patience to persist until it is done."

--Rabbi Irving Greenberg