get on up

well folks...i'm taking a break for a couple weeks from blogger. yes, for some of you that would be your normal rate of usage, but let's be honest. i'm textually active.

in the meantime...come see me!

it's pretty good...as i closed out my undergraduate experience, i was praying that i could meet and form relationships with more Jewish people. so, naturally He has me working at a church. i've always had a critical attitude toward church coffee shops for various reasons. and i've said several times that i would never want to own or manage a coffee shop after working  in several and seeing  what that entails.

that said, here i am. somehow. i probably needed a slice of humble pie, and i don't doubt that this will simply be another stretch of the adventure i'm on with Him. i'm ready for whatever it will look like! i'm thankful He is patient with me and keeps doing what He does with me even when i have a bad attitude. i'm also thankful for a new season and a new challenge.

hope to see y'all's (double apostrophe, yes) lovin' faces...let me pull you a shot or something and we can chat it up. this is not an advertisement; more like an invitation. i think.


Common Grounds 
at Evangel Church
1414 E. 103rd St. 
Kansas City, MO 64131


North (Back) Entrance
Hours: 7am-2pm (for now) M-F

waiting (cont'd)

dance around the point
like harmless intuition
and do unto thyself as thou
would unto thy neighbor

dry the flowers picked
from top the mountain
and water plants
on windowsill
He hears your silent prayers
and remembers vacant stares
as you gazed into unseen
distance just behind your
paperwork

He heals your many papercuts
and ices all your bruises

as you're waiting waiting waiting
for something to arrive

He meets you on the water
in the canyons and cafes
and speaks of things much better
than nasty paper ships
whose bottoms dissolve
and disintegrate
til all there is is pulp
on water tainted  by ink

trust Him as He works
and you lie still on the table
let consciousness slip pass
and spirit come to voice

let eager hearts meander
toward vacant school houses
and build something to talk about
in lofty days to come
where eager hands will read
and write and learn of better days
and feel the ridges of the Heart
Who felt and knew it all

Whose every sentence ending
marks earthquake's jagged line
on papers inked by needles
as we measure what was said

sit and wait and want
for April's green and laughter
and smell the crisp
December as you linger
in your sleep.

A Bloody Bridegroom

Exodus 4:24-26
CJB-At a lodging-place on the way, ADONAI met Moshe and would have killed him, had not Tzipporah taken a flintstone and cut off the foreskin of her son. She threw it at his feet, saying, "What a bloody bridegroom you are for me!" But then, God let Moshe be. She added, "A bloody bridegroom because of the circumcision!" 

NAS- Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she said, "You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me."So He let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood "-because of the circumcision. 


This small and often overlooked snippet of a story, wedged  between Moses/Moshe's commission at the burning bush and his return and reunification with his brother, Aharon, has been one that I've been throwing around in my mind for a while.I'm having a hard time understanding what actually happened here, yet the story captures me and takes me away in my imagination.


Why did the L-rd pursue Moshe to kill him? What did that look like? Did the L-rd appear to Moshe and chase Him? Or did Moshe become ill? And how did Tzipporah/Zipporah know the circumcision of her son was the problem? Or was it the solution of a different problem in that it provided  some sort of atonement for Moshe?


In Tikva Frymer-Kensey's book, Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of Their Stories, she discusses a lot of these questions. Note: questions- not a lot of definitive explanations for what was going on here. She mentions the significance of the use of the flint. This was long after metal was being used for weaponry, yet a traditional flint would have been used for rituals such as circumcision. Frymer-Kensey notes that although some translations (like NAS which I listed above) specify that she threw the foreskin at Moshe's feet, this isn't necessarily concrete as she could have thrown it at their son's feet, or even G-d's feet, as the antecedent of "his" is unclear. What is also unclear is to whom she was speaking when she proclaims, "you are a bridegroom of blood to me." Could have been Moshe, but also could have been the L-rd. Tzipporah's name means "bird", which is significant because birds are some of the most protective animals when it comes to their young. She also notes the continual weight that blood carries for atonement, which almost goes without saying. I'm glad she said it, though.

Lastly, I will say that Moshe was rescued or delivered by three women before he was called by G-d to be the deliverer of the Israelites. His birth mother, Yocheved, (with the assistance of Miriam, which actually makes four women), his foster mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moshe's wife, Tzipporah. This serves as a foreshadowing ("four"shadowing? nyuk nyuk) as well as a reminder to Moshe and all his readers to respect your women.

While we are on the subject of Israelites, I will leave you with this song, a component of the album I've been camping out on all week. Get it, Patty!

Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.

 

Hasta Luego, 76-731a

The following turn of events in the news brings interest to me (and sadness, I suppose). For my senior thesis I wrote about immigration policy and public opinion, comparing these nationally and locally. For my research I was able to study all of the Kansas session law relating to immigration. One law in particular caught my attention:

      76-731a.   Certain persons without lawful immigration status deemed residents for purpose of tuition and fees.  

Notes: This statute came as a result of a federal statute that requires all children to be educated, even if they are undocumented immigrants. Here it states that if an undocumented immigrant meets certain requirements such as three years in a Kansas high school and applying for citizenship after becoming eligible, they will be considered a Kansas resident for the purpose of tuition and fees for postsecondary education.
            It was not written into law until 2004. Following this, Kristen Day sued Kathleen Sebelius, the Kansas governor, in Day v. Sebelius in 2005. The constitutionality was challenged of allowing undocumenteds to pay in-state tuition. Hispanic interest groups intervened in the case and the plaintiff lost, upholding the statute.

In fact, this law made me feel pretty proud of Kansas.

Recently, a bill went to the Kansas legislature to repeal this law.

Foes aim to repeal in-state tuition for illegal immigrants’ kids - KansasCity.com
You can read the full article above, but I found the following section noteworthy:
"Andrea Pardo-Spalding moved with her parents from Mexico to Kansas City, Kan., when she was 15. She paid in-state tuition at Kansas State University thanks to the law. She came to Tuesday’s hearing to thank lawmakers for passing the law and to urge them to keep it on the books.
“I have big plans for the future,” she said. “That’s what this country and this state have taught me. I want them (lawmakers) to know we’re not criminals. We’re the people who make America.”
Now 24, Pardo-Spalding is a legal resident who hopes to become a citizen in a year. Asked what she’d be doing if she hadn’t gone to K-State, she smiled. “I’d be waiting tables,” she said."


Unfortunately,

Final approval for bill repealing tuition for illegal immigrants - KansasCity.com

Sorry, Andrea.

I know there are many differing opinions on this topic, so if you're out there opining, bring it on.

Common Grounds

Coming to a nearby place near you...

Common Grounds: your arabica supplier since March 2011 (or whenever we get our permit)!

Shenanigans Are What He Does

I won't say that Banksy is a hero of mine. But, I will say that he fascinates me. Maybe it's my affinity for adventure and suspense. Maybe it's my evil inclination toward rebellion. Banksy, to me, is the Robin Hood of artists. He is a skilled graffiti artist who not only has something to say but says (paints) it skillfully. I feel that he very effectively delivers a pointed criticism of Western society through his renegade art.

Needless to say, I excitedly anticipated the release of his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Although I expected the film to be solely about him, in reality in turned out to be a documentary mostly centered around an eccentric, obsessive French cameraman, "Mr. Brainwash," who tries to make a documentary about Banksy and other street artists. Mr. Brainwash, having gotten on the inside circuit, then decides to put together his own plagiaristic street-style art exhibit (he pays other artists to create and then tweaks their work and calls it his own). Oddly enough, his exhibit's buzz snowballs into an underground craze, mostly because he convinces Banksy to give him a blurb for the sake of advertisment. Thousands of Los Angelans show up and his exhibit is a huge success, to the surprise of all the contributing artists.

There has been debate about whether or not the entire documentary is a hoax, that Mr. Brainwash was an actor and that the whole thing was staged. This is a viable possibility considering Banksy's sketchy personae. Conveniently, his identity remains concealed throughout the production and release of the film. And it's a pretty far-fetched story. Yet, it's hard to tell because the mystique of the street art scene makes it seem believable.

Either way, Exit Through the Gift Shop has been nominated for an Oscar, and there are a lot of questions surrounding the nomination. Will he show up? Will it win? Will he accept the award? Will he reveal his identity on live television?

There has recently been an appearance of a new piece by Banksy, popularly titled "The Crayola Shooter," a piece we can assume to be taking a stance against the conscription of child soldiers (see the picture to the right). This has caused stipulation as to whether this new mural is Banksy's way of pandering to the academy.

The academy awards have (somewhat embarrassingly) caught my attention from an early age (mostly because I like to see all the pretty ladies in pretty dresses). The media has been playing up the event for the past few months, yet Banksy's nomination is the sole reason I have interest in tuning in this year.

But alas, my Sunday nights are booked....anybody got Tivo?

speedily, in our days

ADONAI, I have heard the report about you. ADONAI, I am awed by your deeds. Bring your work to life in our own age, make it known in our own time; but in anger, remember compassion. 

Habakkuk 3:2

Patience and Expectation

The mother of expectation is patience.  The French author Simone Weil writes in her notebooks: "Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life."  Without patience our expectation degenerates into wishful thinking.  Patience comes from the word "patior" which means to suffer.  The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: "I tell you...you will be weeping and wailing...and you will be sorrowful."  But he calls these pains birth pains.  And so, what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems to be an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone.  Jesus changes our history from a random series of sad incidents and accidents into a constant opportunity for a change of heart.  To wait patiently therefore means to allow our weeping and wailing to become the purifying preparation by which we are made ready to receive the joy which is promised to us.

from Out of Solitude by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Ruined

ruined

i am undone

i have tasted of You

and now hunger for more

there is nowhere else to escape now

no lesser pleasure

to quench my burning desire

i am ravished by the feel of your nearness

no other flavor compares with what i've tasted

there is now only one thing to seek for satisfaction

i am undone

i am ruined for anything else

this is how you draw me to Yourself.

Question for Discussion:

G-d is Father to the Fatherless...what of the motherless? If G-d is not man (though chooses to reveal Himself as Father, King and Bridegroom), what is the proper way to look to the mothering, nurturing characteristics of G-d? Those who have had improper fathering look to the L-rd for inner healing in the area of fathering...what is the proper way for those who need inner healing because of poor or absent mothering?

The Painted Peter

Will you turn back my praise if I falter again?
Spoken words flow less freely than ink in a pen.

If I don't raise my voice then will you stand ashamed,
would that you never had called me by name?

If preaching in cities is putting out fires,
the smoldering mess melts into the mire.

This painted Peter sinks into the sea
and my heavy faith sinks low inside me.

And then surely washes up onto the shore
Breakfast of fish, thrice softly implore

Hungry sheep to feed.

Keith Green

I didn't realize there was already a song titled "Your Love Broke Through," the same title as the poem I posted a while ago. It's a Keith Green song. It's not my favorite song of his , but it's worth noting that I sort of plagiarized



My dad used to play Keith Green in the car when he drove us, my brothers and I, to school in the mornings. In my late elementary and high school years I was embarrassed of the kinds of music my dad played in his car (80's-90's CCM) and would turn down his stereo when we pulled up to the school. My brothers and I loved to make fun of Keith Green and his dramatic singing (and hair). But, the other day, my brothers and I were dancing around at my folks' house and ended up putting on some Keith Green (I have no idea how or why that happened). We were getting nostalgic about the days of the ride to school with dad listening to Keith Green. And I was struck by the intensity of his love and passion for the L-rd that comes through in his songs. He sings from a heart that has been forgiven much and therefore loves much. Truly inspired. My heart is moved by his music.

Oh, and not surprisingly, yet I was surprised to find out that Keith and his wife were Messianic Jews! Same old story of a guy who was Jewish and ended up getting into drugs, east Asian mysticism and free love and came to know Jesus in the 70's. He seems to have identified as a Christian.

So yes, I love Keith Green. His piano playing reminds me of Ben Folds and I'm a big fan of piano rock. I love his white man fro, his simple and catchy melodies, his extremely overt and simple lyrics, his sing-songy way of performing, and his essence.What's not to love?

waiting

winter's sullen smile
casts frowns upon my brow
winter's waiting calms me
into dreams of windows open

winter's sheets are thin and sharp
they caress like needles

winter comes without a warning
following our special days
of cups of lemonade
and oils of gladness
it makes us hide inside
beneath our paper blankets
where we write our dreams away

we listen closely to the sound
of clacking shoes on hardwood
floors of sanctuaries and courthouses
and places where women walk
when they are not relaxed

we breathe in peace when we see
the wind blow fondly from the south
and feel our insides of dust
and ribs from which we were made

we taste our hunger
and open our mouths
like new hatchlings
blind and waiting

waiting waiting
waiting waiting

for something to arrive

Brother Yun Pt. 2 (It's a Miracle!)

Today I was shoveling the snow in the at my grandparents house. This is the first year that it has been my job to do the shoveling because the person who usually does it had surgery. I was excited for the challenge, though, and my grandparents very graciously asked me to do it.

I only had thin gloves on and about 1/3 of the way through the job my fingers were so cold they were hurting pretty bad. I started to grumble on the inside and feel sorry for myself, finding reasons to justify my inward complaints (my fingers hurt really bad, I don't have good enough gloves, my brothers should've volunteered to do this ((yes, very un-feminist of me)), why does G-d make winter so cold, etc.).

I was reminded of Brother Yun and all that he endured without complaining, constantly singing praises to the L-rd throughout all his circumstances. The one time he complained to G-d (which was actually a night that he had to spend out in the cold) he immediately repented of his complaint. Thinking about  this, I felt convicted about my bad attitude in circumstances that paled in comparison to Brother Yun's experiences, ones that He endured with praise in his heart. I began to sing worship songs as I shoveled the snow.

To my surprise, as I was singing I noticed that my fingers were literally beginning to warm! Seriously. I was so blown away by this! I was filled with joy and continued to worship as I shoveled the snow. My fingers remained warm for the rest of the job as did my joy remain as well.

Thank you L-rd for doing a little miracle that brought the lesson home. It was a good reminder of the "prison to praise" message. Please help me remember this in the future when my challenge isn't as simple as shoveling snow.

Philippians 2:14
"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" 

 P.S.- The more I journey into the L-rd, the cheesier and more cliche I talk. I have always hated "Christianese"....yet there are concepts and experiences I talk about now for which I know only one "nomenclature." It's natural for me to talk about my walk in a churchy way because I learned it from a young age, but I don't like it. Thoughts? Suggestions?... Threats? Bribes?

Brother Yun

I am getting wrecked by the testimony of Brother Yun's life in The Heavenly Man.

"We are absolutely nothing. We have nothing to be proud about. We have no abilities and nothing to offer God. The fact that he chooses to use us is only due to His grace. It has nothing to do with us. If God should choose to raise up others for his purpose and never use us again we would have nothing to complain about."
-Brother Yun to his wife, Deling

His words and his story so far so convict me of my own sin of fear and pride.I have not followed in the footsteps of Christ's suffering. I have suffered because of the consequences of my own sin. Father, make me worthy to be your witness like Brother Yun.