3.15.2006

holy of holies

"one secret of life is that the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. another secret is that laughter is carbonated holiness" - anne lamott

3.13.2006

stop me if you've heard this one...

i had a dream about blogging last week, and since the good Lord likes to speak to me in my dreams, maybe He (or She) is trying to tell me something.

in an attempt to keep yup, here is a brief list of what has gone on in my life since i last bloggered... (this list is non-conclusive)

* we celebrated christmas, along with the rest of the judeo-christian world. it involved eating a lot of pork, cross country skiing, sleeping, and watching 'the family stone' with a heavy controversial conversation following, in light of which i have learned that maybe the Lord is going to use the conservative people in my life to teach me how to love conservative people.

* my great aunt julia died.

* while we're on the topic of great aunts, i met a great aunt i never knew i had, on an impulsive drive to arkansas in february (yes, i am certifiable) for a family reunion of sorts. my mother and her two sisters (june and miriam) were both at this reunion as well. i have learned that i come from a very, very, very long line of highly flammable women. i do mean this as a compliment. my great aunt ulma (who i met for the first time on this trip) is in her eighties, and is still raising beef cattle on her 200 acre farm. she still goes out into the fields in the dead of winter to break up the frozen river so that the cows can hydrate. i tell ya... i come from hearty stock. so i hope you all like me, 'cause if i inherited any of that DNA, i'm gonna be around for a while.

* i signed up to run the susan b. kommen 5k on mothers day.

* i got the new david crowder band cd, and there are no words for me to describe how much i love this musical weaving. i seriously think that the stuff of david crowder is exactly what we need right now... some intelligent artists who find creative ways to convey truth in culturally relevant mediums. here's a sampling of why i think this album is complete genius. one of the tracks on the album is a recording of an interview that crowder apparently had with some sort of 'dj' (i hold the term dj very loosely here, because the dj on this track is mediocre in his knowledge of radio or music or the human condition for that matter...) the dj askes crowder why they chose the image of an atom for the album cover art. this conversation follows:

crowder: "the atom is a symbol. you see that and you think 'atom'. it shows electrons moving in an elliptical path around a nucleus and all, and we know that's not how an atom works, or looks even for that matter... so that's why it's appropriate for the cover..."

dj: "right, um... (sniff)... ok, yeah... ok. i'm not really seeing the connection..."

crowder: "well, what we mean to say is that the elements of worship are inadequate, very much like the atom depiction, but this is what we have, you know, it helps us carry the idea..."

dj: "(silence)... (sniff)... um, ok. uh..."

the interview only gets better from there. and the entire cd is beautiful. please get it. it's called 'a collision'. let me know what you think.

* i've been in the belly of planning open doors good friday service for this year. and i am overcome. not just with the work load, but with the holy weight of this, trying to tell the story of what Jesus did for us on the cross. and who am i? i am soul intermingled in hopeless skin, redeemed in the shadow of the cross. and so i must let the cross change me as i research, and wonder and wait...

* i'm going to florida with my mom and her dog lily, to visit my aunt june who lives in ft myers. it seems a little nuts to take a week off, just as we are on the crest of the wave of easter. but maybe some sun, citrus, and family will be just the thing my spirit needs right now.