living the life

Mothers Day + 24

My friend Renee — who, God knows, is acquainted with grief on Mothers Day — posted an ancient poem from Hesiod:

Gaia, the beautiful, rose up,
Broad blossomed, she that is the steadfast base
Of all things. And fair Gaia first bore
The starry Heaven, equal to herself,
To cover her on all sides and to be
A home forever for the blessed Gods.

This, Renee accompanied with verse of her own, including the lines:

i’ve always loved pictures of the earth taken from space.
not just the half-slivered ones, but the full globe,
blue and white and luminescent amidst the blackness.

All of which reminded me, a motherless son in these years, of this from the eighth chapter of the letter to the Romans:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Yes. Waiting. Still.

can i get a napkin please | food court musical

going straight | the kingdom of God is like...

The kingdom of God is like a person who watched and waited for someone going against the flow...and surrendered to the dance.

a story without love | Hugh McLeod

Advent | Christmas + people who claim to know something about God

Without the Nativity, we become a sort of lecture series and coffee club, with not very good coffee and sort of aimless lectures.

— Garrison Keillor, Salon, 12.05.07

things worth waiting for

This is a metaphor (among many, I suppose) for my spiritual experience, courtesy of the good folks at... well, you'll see.

Onslaught | talk to your daughter . . .

Supply Side Jesus

If I'm not the last to see this, I suppose you are. Cringe. Enjoy. Share.

things are (still) not as they seem

I posted here on alleged photo retouching of the lovely — but not lovely enough — Faith Hill.

Now, courtesy of Moby, more insight into what it takes to be picture perfect (click on the portfolio, select a beautiful person and move your cursor on and off the photo to see the cleanup.

I had a zit on my nose the day I took my senior portrait in high school. I was glad they painted it out. Maybe that's the same thing.

I have a propensity to talk and write as if things were better than they are . . . maybe that's the same thing too.

Sunday Morning | Emerging Grace

Emerging Grace writes:

I didn't recognize my views in the posters that were made (elsewhere) concerning emerging church terms. So I decided to make my own posters that represent my simple understanding of emerging/missional terminology.

I hope these are encouraging to you

They are.

Here is one of my favorites . . .



The rest of Grace's images are here.

Thanks to Susan for introducing me to Grace.

when Faith is not enough

Jezebel posts what they claim is the photo of Faith Hill that formed the basis for the July cover of RedBook.

Here is the list of alleged changes to the photo, including the observation, "It turns out Faith Hill looks sort of like your mom."

Meanwhile in Iraq . . .

futbol in America | David Beckham

New York Times, 07.14.07

Yaconelli lives

Mark Oestreicher just uncovered this 2003 video celebrating the remarkable passion of our friend Mike Yaconelli.

my generation | The Zimmers

Quoting Steve Jobs quoting The Beatles at last week's Wall Street Journal D-5 Conference:

Steve: You know, when Bill [Gates] and I first met each other and worked together in the early days, generally, we were both the youngest guys in the room, right? Individually or together. I’m about six months older than he is, but roughly the same age. And now when we’re working at our respective companies, I don’t know about you, but I’m the oldest guy in the room most of the time. And that’s why I love being here. … And, you know, I think of most things in life as either a Bob Dylan or a Beatles song, but there’s that one line in that one Beatles song, “you and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.” And that’s clearly true here.

[That may come across as cheesy here in print, but honestly it wasn’t. It was pretty touching. Watch the video and you’ll see Jobs emotional and, if only for a very brief moment, vulnerable. — John Paczkowski]

Garrison Keillor | Don Imus is Vulgar. So What?

It's Spring and there's an awful war going on and we are confronted on every hand by truth and beauty and all the worst and all the best of what people mean when we speak of being human. And, its title notwithstanding, Garrison Keillor's May 16, 2007 column is so good it makes my heart hurt.