Bloggety, Blog, Blog

I read several blogs today containing apologies for not blogging.  Where is the pressure coming from that one feels like they have to excuse themselves for their lack of blogging.  Enough of the guilt and shame from not blogging.  I'll blog when I have something to say, and even then it may not be very interesting.  You in blog world will probably still read it.  You may not comment either, leaving me little motivation to blog again.  We are more than our blogs!  So blog off!

Sin?

A customer left their USA Today at Scooter's today. In the Life section is an article about Americans' perceptions of sin. Only 81% of Americans who were polled thought that adultery was sin. A pastor (guess who if you'd like) thought that sin wasn't a word worth mentioning in his ginormous church, because people already know what they're doing wrong. I think this article definitely reflects a clear picture of how American culture views sin. It's worth reading, especially with the approach of Easter. How can Americans appreciate the weightiness and reality of Christ's suffering on the cross if they don't have a clear understanding of sin? Have I, being steeped in American culture, lost sight or reduced the significance of sin in my own life? Have I found ways of justifying my sin by simply not regarding it as sin? Unfortunately, yes. It's easier than taking a posture of humility and acknowledging that I have exulted myself, others, or something above the One True God and King, minimizing His sacrifice on my behalf. I hate humility, it makes me squirm. I don't like to admit I'm wrong, that I have wronged. I think Americans might just be creating a loophole to avoid the squirm into humility, and it just morphs into a false reality, blinding us from the truth. Oh, that we might take the posture of the prophet Jeremiah and cry out to God on behalf of our nation.

If you want to read the article, here's the link:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-03-19-sin_N.htm

motorcycles and spring

One of the odd things I like about the oncoming of Spring is the motorcyclists, whose joy is renewed as they go for a ride for no other reason than being on their bikes.  They do the biker wave to other bikers also out in the not so frigid weather.  It makes me happy, and motorcycles kinda scare me 'cause they go so fast.

progress regarding hope

I think about the concept of hope a lot.  I ask myself if it's okay to hope, if I am hopeful,  or what I'm hoping in or for.  A few months ago the idea of giving in to hope was too risky to embrace.  However, much has changed in my heart and in how I see myself.  I've flushed out a lot of crap regarding relationships, assumptions I place upon others to bear that frankly make the look pretty bad, shallow and heartless.  It's because I was afraid to hope.  I didn't want to feel pain or disappointment, so I killed all emotion, including hope.  I killed the good to avoid what may or may not have been bad.

We move about wanting so badly for people to like us.  In reality most actually do.  You have to be intentionally rude or cold to be unliked.  Unfortunately, I think it's more because we are self-consumed, we don't spend all that much time internally debriefing social exchanges and concluding how we feel about someone, unless we just met them.  We, instead, dwell upon ourselves, debriefing how someone might have felt about us. 

Here's what I now believe is true. People like me.  I am enjoyable and lovely.  God calls me his beloved.  He thinks so highly of me, and measures my worth by doing everything in His power to assure that I will have life and relationship with Him.  He had me in mind as his Son begged to have the cup of God's wrath taken away from him, and he didn't take it back.  He poured out His wrath upon his Son, for me.  

Am I liked?  Does it matter?  There is a God, and He is good, and he calls me beloved and his actions back it up.Can I live a life of hope?  Yup.  If my hope is in the right place.  Can I endure pain and disappointment?  I don't really want to, but in relationship to resting in the grace of God and never having to experience the wrath of God that I justly deserve, yeah.

A new wonderful obsession--The Dog Whisperer

This man is changing my world. I am the pack leader.