The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Boy, Tom Petty wasn't lying, was he? I don't know about you, but when I want something, I want it NOW!!! Sometimes it's something very superficial, like a new CD or some shoes. But sometimes it's something a little bit more . . . like a new job.

Oh, that's the worst kind of waiting! You pour over the local classifieds, Monster, Career Builder, CraigsList, and every other place under the proverbial sun to find that one job you're qualified for. You check your email and cell phone constantly hoping that some one out of the millions of places you've sent your resume to will contact you back. You wonder if you were destined to stay at your crummy McJob forever selling shoes to wannabe fashionistas. You think, "Where did I go wrong?"

But I got to thinking today how many people in the Bible had to wait. The Israelites spent, what, 400 years in slavery under Pharaoh? And when Moses said, "Let my people go," it's not like the Pharaoh instantly said, "Okay, fine by me." But eventually Moses led the Israelites to freedom, and Pharaoh was defeated.

There are others, too, but I won't get into them now (mostly because it's late and I need to get to bed). But the point I want to make is that even though waiting sucks, everything happens according to God's timing.

D-Bag of the Year: "Pastor" Steve Anderson

Normally I refrain from name calling, since it is a poor substitute for a real conversation. But I can not hold my tongue while idiots like "Pastor" Steve Anderson pray for President Obama's death.

Here's an excerpt of a recent "sermon" Anderson gave at an anti-Obama rally:

"... you're going to tell me that I'm supposed to pray for the socialist devil, murderer, infanticide, who wants to see young children and he wants to see babies killed through abortion and partial-birth abortion and all these different things -- you're gonna tell me I'm supposed to pray for God to give him a good lunch tomorrow while he's in Phoenix, Arizona?

Nope. I'm not gonna pray for his good. I'm going to pray that he dies and goes to hell."

Um, excuse me, but doesn't the Bible say something about praying for leaders (1 Timothy 2:2) and our enemies (Matthew 5:44)? True, I use the NIV Bible, which, according to your church's website is not the true word of God. But I've also read the King James version, and I'm pretty sure that says the same thing, albeit with fewer Old English words.

This the same guy who not too long ago said that, according to the Bible, gay people should be executed. Does this mean we have to go back to burning witches and stoning whores, too?

Congratulations, Pastor Steve Anderson, for winning the title of D-Bag of the Year.

Working Like a Dog? Really?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Beatles fan. Whenever some one at school made fun of me for liking "old people music," I would say, "Obviously you've never heard of the White Album." I even have sort of a Beatles hairdo. To me, the Beatles will always be the greatest band in history, end of story.

Having said all that, some of their songs have some pretty goofy lyrics!

Take "A Hard Day's Night," for example:

It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog.
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log.

My dog lays around the house all day licking himself, so I'm not sure how that's considered "working." Also, logs don't really sleep; they just lay around until some one throws them into a fire place. So I think John got his similes mixed up on that one!

Then there's "Love Me Do," which doesn't have many lyrics:

Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please love me do.

I mean, it's supposed to be a simple pop song, but would it have killed John and Paul to come up with a few more words?

Even some of their later stuff had some weird lyrics. Take "Because" for example:

Because the world is round, it turns me on.
Because the wind is high, it blows my mind.
Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry.

It's a beautiful song, but does anyone know just what in the world they're talking about?

Of course it is a bit silly to over-analyze Beatles lyrics. That's why John wrote "I am the Walrus," just to confuse everyone. So it's best to just sit back, listen to the music, turn off your mind, relax, and float down stream.

I'm Not Dead

Yes, it's been almost a week since I last wrote in here. But don't worry, everything's cool. Just been busy writing an article, which hopefully I'll be posting either today or tomorrow.

Carry on!

A Church Divided

Recently during its Churchwide Assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted a statement on human sexuality that includes an endorsement of “chaste, monogamous and lifelong" same-sex relationships. While many more conservative Lutherans are disappointed by this decision, John Piper took an extra step and said that the tornado that hit Minneapolis around the same time of the Assembly was "a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin."

This kind of talk is usually reserved for fundamentalists who claim that gays and abortion were responsible for both 9/11 and Katrina. However, I think there might be a hint of truth to Piper's comment. I don't think that the storm was caused by the ELCA's decision, but if you look at this photo of the damage done to Central Lutheran's steeple, you have to admit that it is quite a coincidence:



Now please don't think that I'm suggesting that God's poured his wrath upon Central Lutheran as punishment for accepting homosexuality. That's not at all what I'm saying. But I am suggesting that this could be a warning for the Lutheran Church not to be divided against itself. Maybe God is saying, "Don't tear yourself apart over this issue."

Last night I found this video from Brian McLaren about "the pain of dealing with this issue." I think it's a great message for not just the Lutheran Church, but for the entire Body of Christ.

What Would Aslan Think?

A while ago I came across this book of C.S. Lewis quotes called Words to Live By, and I thought to myself, "Where have I seen that cover before?"



And then it hit me . . .



Now since the apple stem is pointed in opposite ways, there probably won't be any legal action. But if you're going to slap together a bunch of passages from various C. S. Lewis books, at least design a cover that's not a rip-off of a very famous book cover!

What is Community?

Yesterday 20-Something Bloggers (20SB for short) had a vlog day where members made short videos about a specific topic. Yesterday's topic was about 20SB and where they felt it was going. I watched a few videos, and one thing they mention is how it's become so tight-knit. One person said her 20SB friends helped her through a difficult year, and another said how he got to travel across America to hang out with cool people he met through 20SB. Even though I'm no longer a member of that particular community (yes, I am a blogger in my twenties, but I'm not on that website anymore), I do admire how tight-knit the group has become. But because that tight-knit group always included the same faces, I assumed that it was just one big popularity contest. But maybe I was just jealous that my blog wasn't as popular as some of the others. Either way, blogging wasn't fun anymore for me, so I start all over again, and that meant leaving 20SB.

I mention all that because lately I've been wondering what community actually is. I've been a loner for all my life, so I never understood what it meant to share your life with other people. Is it just a neighborhood? Is it any group of like-minded people? Do you have to agree about certain things? Do you have to physically live close to each other, or can you live on opposite sides of country? With social networking sites, you can make friends with some one who lives 100 miles away. But if you never get to see them in person, does it still count?

Me, I think I have more online friends than real life friends. I'm not very good at going out and meeting people, so I look for blogs that I like, leave comments, and hope that they'll notice me and be my friend. Yet, since I never see them in person, technically I'm still alone.

What do you think? What does community mean to you?

Talking

With all the town hall meetings erupting into near chaos, it looks as if we can't have a civil discussion about health care reform. Well, if you are on my Facebook friends list you might have witnessed something rare and beautiful: a real dialogue.

It started when I posted a link to FactCheck.org's "Seven Falsehoods About Health Care". Since I'm still on the fence about the health care issue, I just post links to interesting blogs and articles I find about the subject. Anyway, shortly after I posted the link, two of my friends posted comments. One of them, Matt, believed that health care is a privilege and not a right, and my other friend, Mike, believes in the opposite. But surprisingly it went smoothly. They may not have agreed with each other, but they didn't demonize each other or call each other names. They even got to joking around; when Matt said he was a creationist, Mike said, "So now do I demonize you, or talk about your mamma?" But it was nice to see two people from opposite sides of the political spectrum talk to one another with mutual respect.

As my friend Debbie pointed out, "The cable news networks would each kill for what just went down here."

Anger is an Energy

What am I doing here at church? If the pastor knew about all the crap that's going on with me, he'll excommunicate me*.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like a hypocrite for showing your face in a church? I felt like that this morning, but after a while I realized that I was right where I needed to be.

I don't want to get into too much detail, but let me just say that I've been having lots of anger issues lately. I feel like the slightest thing will set me off in a rage. And then when I'm angry, I do stupid things. Very very very very very stupid things!

This weekend I realized that it's time to finally control my anger, and apparently God agrees. This morning while going through my Google Reader I came across this post on Cyberbrethern about what St. Ambrose says about anger:

Our speech must not proceed not from evil passions, but from good motives; for here it is that the devil is especially on the watch to catch us.

14. If any one takes heed to this, he will be mild, gentle, modest. For in guarding his mouth, and restraining his tongue, and in not speaking before examining, pondering, and weighing his words— as to whether this should be said, that should be answered, or whether it be a suitable time for this remark— he certainly is practicing modesty, gentleness, patience. So he will not burst out into speech through displeasure or anger, nor give sign of any passion in his words, nor proclaim that the flames of lust are burning in his language, or that the incentives of wrath are present in what he says. Let him act thus for fear that his words, which ought to grace his inner life, should at the last plainly show and prove that there is some vice in his morals.

Yeah, I've always had trouble with the whole "think before you speak" thing.

Then this morning at church the sermon was on Ephesians 5:1-20, where Paul talks about being imitators of God. And it got me to thinking about how, exactly, I have been living my life as a reflection of Christ. The answer, not much. I love to say "Love thy neighbor," but I'm not very good at actually doing it. I use my words not to build up others, but to tear people down.

So I think it's time to really get serious about learning how to express my anger in better and healthier ways, before something really bad happens.


*Actually, I don't think Lutherans practice excommunication. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Help a Friend Out

Here is a message from my friend Mary, who needs some help with her book:

Hello Friends -

Well today I purchased my very own copyright and ISBN#/Barcode for my book. It's official! My laptop broke on me a while back so the design was halted, but now I'm back in action and hope to be done with the design by the end of the month. Now all I need is you. I know I've been saying this for over a year now, but this time I mean it, I'm almost done!

It's time to get this thing published and in order to do that I need this book to be chalk full of music. That's where you come in. You can write about your own personal experience with music, short stories, long life stories, write about an influence, write about yourself, write about a song that moves you, write about a band that changed your life, write about a guitar, write a top 10 list of anything to do with music, write about a great show you went to, write about your musician grandfather...you get the idea.

This book is about real people and what music did for them. If you know someone who you know was changed because of music, lifted up, inspired, set free...let them know, I don't just want musicians, I want lovers of music as well.

If this is the first time you're hearing of this: I'm writing a book about food & music, I have the food part covered, I just need music. Check out myspace.com/allyouneedisfood. You can also see pictures there of food I've made to prove to you that this is real. :) There are also sample pages inthe pictures section where you can read some of the contributions I've already received. If you are reading this it's because I want you to be a part of this.

Got it? Now do it! Please :) The more voices in this book the more diverse it will be and diversity is BEAUTIFUL and true.

I hate to put the pressure on but it's really now or never. It scares me to give a deadline because I don't want to send you running, but I do really need your submissions by the end of the month.

If you have any questions let me know - oh also - if you are local and you don't know what to write or aren't comfortable writing I have a friend and she has a recorder and she can get you talking and all you need to do is just that, talk..then all I need to do is transcribe it.

If you've already given me something you can either disregard this email or better yet pass it on to friends you know who might be interested in contributing. This is also your chance to double-check what you've given me to make sure you want it in print forever.

For those of you in bands who have loyal fans: I would love it if you'd post a myspace bulletin, forward this email etc.. (you can copy this email if you want) asking if any of them have stories about music to tell. The more the better.

I hope to hear from all of you soon!

-Mary!

WTF???

Remember a few days ago when I said we need to have civil discussions again? Well apparently some people didn't get the memo. On Huffington Post today I found this video of a man apparently tearing up a poster of Rosa Parks at a town hall meeting.



*blinks* I'm speechless.

Fearing the End

Three years ago I was convinced that the world was coming to an end. Earlier that year I read that, according to The Bible Code, the world would end in a nuclear war in 2006. At first I laughed it off; after all, every time some book predicts the end of the world it never happens. But anxiety has this weird way of making the most far-out idea seem reasonable. It didn't help that Iran started enriching uranium, and North Korea was getting ready to test a nuclear weapon either.

So I spent the entire summer paralyzed by fear. I would get so scared that I'd throw up. Nothing could calm me down or make me happy. Why bother? We were all going to die anyway. What's so great about life when we can't control what's going to happen? Finally I got sick of feeling miserable and got help. I started taking Effexor, and saw a psychologist. Together we worked on challenging my negative thoughts. One way I challenged my thoughts was memorizing Bible passages like Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future." Eventually 2006 came and went, I realized the Bible Code was crap, and I wrote an article for Relevant (no longer online) about the whole ordeal.

That's not to say that I no longer get anxiety attacks, or worry about the end of the world anymore. This past Sunday when Amy and I saw Julie and Julia, we saw a trailer for the upcoming 2012. At first I thought, "You don't need Roger Ebert to know this movie's going to suck!" But a few minutes later I thought, "What if it's true?"

I know I shouldn't worry about it. As one person pointed out to me, I could die in a car crash today, so it's no use worrying about the apocalypse. But I'm scared that I won't have enough time to do all the things I want to do: get married, have children, write a book or two.

But as the Bible says, we're all like a mist that appears for a short while, and then disappears. I just wish I could stop fretting about when I'll disappear.

Lessons Learned from Julie Powell

Yesterday my fiancee Amy and I saw Julie and Julia. It was a good movie, and both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams were great. But for me personally, I would like to have seen less Julie and more Julia.

While the film portrays Julia Child as a woman driven by her love of food, Julie Powell came off as being egotistical and self-absorbed. I've neither read the book, nor read the original Julie/Julia Project blog, but the movie made it seem like Powell was only interested in finding some way to scream to the world, "Hey, I'm important! I exist! I'm more than just a government worker!" As her blog gains popularity, her obsession with fame and attention take a toll her her marriage. Everything turns out alright in the end of course*, but the movie does bring up some good points about the downside of blogging.

As many of you know, I recently deleted my blog of two years, "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side," because it was driving me crazy. I started out blogging because I wanted to share stories about my life and thoughts about God. I hoped people would read it, but as time progressed I became obsessed with popularity and fame. I wanted to be one of the big name bloggers, like Andrew Sullivan and Arianna Huffington. Or at least popular with the 20-Something Bloggers crowd. But when that didn't happen and I saw more and more terrible writers become huge blogging stars, I broke down. Blogging was no longer fun, so I basically decided to tear it all down and start all over again.

So I can't really bash Powell that much, because even though I've never had a successful blog, I know how addictive fame can be.


*Okay, maybe not totally happily ever after. According to her Wikipedia page, Powell's next book is about how she had an affair shortly after her first book was released.

Can't We All Get Along?

If you've been watching the news, you'll know that there's a lot of political tension right now. Town hall meetings have erupted into heated shouting matches, and anti-Obama protesters are comparing our current President to Hitler. While I can understand both sides (I, however, will not state my own opinions about health care or government spending, because I honestly don't know what I believe!), I'm deeply disturbed by how vicious these protests are getting. It makes me think of the immortal words of King.

No, not Martin Luther King. I'm talking about Rodney King: "Can't we all get along?"

What happened to having a civil discussion, or agreeing to disagree? Why do we still have this "red state/ blue state" mentality? When did we become the Divided States of America? Can't we find some sort of balance?

I wrote an article for Relevant Magazine about what I call the Battle of Words. In the article I talked about how heated (and mostly pointless) debates tear apart the Body of Christ.

Excerpt:

Are we really teaching and correcting one another, or are we just tearing each other apart? The Bible says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). I don’t know about you, but to me arguing and name-calling are not very helpful.

All of us come from different backgrounds and experiences. What if we took the time to hear each other’s stories to see where we all come from? To really serve someone, you have to put yourself in their proverbial shoes. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, “To the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so as to win those under the law” (9:20). We don’t have to agree with each other, but we can definitely understand each other better. The more we get to know each other, the better we can serve one another.

I wonder what would happen of all of us Americans took the time to sit down and listen to one another. Can we? What do you think?

Bottoms Up!

A couple of days ago Brett McCracken wrote a very interesting blog post about Christianity and drinking. Some churches believe that the Bible permits moderate drinking, while others advocate totally abstaining. As McCracken points out, "It is true that alcohol can easily lead us to situations of sin. It doesn’t take much to go from alcohol consumption being a neutral activity to it becoming a vice. The vast number of alcoholics in the world can attest to this." However, technically anything done in excess is harmful, even if that the thing in and of itself is not evil. "There is a thing called self-control," McCracken concludes. "It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. Christians have it. It’s a virtue that God gives us so that we can enjoy good things without enjoying them too much. It’s the ability to know when things have gone too far, and the ability to stop at that point. It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit. And so is a pint of Guinness." (Amen on that last part!)

Of course for many people, self-control means totally abstaining. Blogger La Shawn Barber left a comment on McCracken's blog saying that, because she is a recovering alcoholic, she is incapable of having just one drink.

I, too, believe that alcohol in moderation isn't a bad thing. When Lutherans take communion, we use real wine. Jesus Himself drank wine. Some say that it was watered-down wine, but if the Pharisees accused Him of being a drunk, then I'm pretty sure He was drinking the real stuff! Of course, as Barber pointed out, if you are unable to drink moderately, then you shouldn't drink at all.

Sometimes I think about totally abstaining. After having just one glass of wine, or one beer, something inside me immediately wants another. Sometimes I manage to stick with just one drink, but other times I just want get bombed. [It doesn't take much to get me blitzed, either. Thanks to my anti-depressants, I'm messed up after just two drinks.] I mean, it's rare that I drink, so I'm far from having a real problem. But considering my history of self-destructive behavior, I'm wondering if I should stop it now before it becomes a problem.

So what do you think about drinking? Are you for total abstinence, or moderate drinking?

The Other Carradine Brother

A few months ago the world lost actor David Carardine. But today I would like to pay tribute to another Carradine brother, one who has been an icon to many. A man who has faced adversity, only to come out on top.

Of course I'm taking about Robert Carradine.



At first it didn't seem like the stakes were high for Rob and Anthony Edwards (yes, the guy from "ER") in Revenge of the Nerds. The jocks treated them like crap, the girls ditched them, and the college dean all but ignored them. But with wit, determination, and a pill that gets rid of all the alcohol out of your body, the nerds came out on top. And it taught us an important lesson: everyone is a nerd. Well, except if you're a meatheaded jock.

Plus, he got to hang with both Minnie Mouse and Suzanne Somers in Totally Minnie. Come on, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!



Ah, the good ol' days!

Unfortunately, after the decline of the Revenge of the Nerds franchise died down, we didn't see much of Robert, except as Lizzie McGuire's father on the Disney Channel (Rob's got a thing with Disney for some reason). But I'd like to see the return of the old Robert I've grown to know and love. Think of it: Revenge of the Nerds--The Next Generation. Robert and Anthony could be grown ups and have little nerds of their own, and when the kids get picked on in school the elder nerds will share their secrets to the newer generation of revenge-hungry nerds. Come on Hollywood, make this nerd happy!

Tinted Windows

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this new supergroup Tinted Windows. You have Taylor Hanson (yes, one of the "MMMBop" kids), Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne (yes, the "Stacy's Mom" band), James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins, and Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick. Two legends + two of the biggest wussies in music = something I wasn't sure about. But then the other day I was flipping through channels when I came this clip of the band playing at SXSW:



And that's when I said, "Hey, this is pretty good!"

I like to pride myself in being Mr. Cooler-Than-Thou-Indie-Hipster-Snob. But in reality, I have a soft spot for the old power-pop bands, like The Raspberries and Badfinger. Sometimes you just need something fun to sing along to in the car with the windows rolled down. And that's what the Tinted Windows remind me of.

Are they as great as Big Star? No, but they're not as bad as I thought.

We Got To Get Ourselves Back To The Garden

Since I was born in 1983, I can only speculate what the 1960s were like. So much happened in just those ten years: JFK, the Beatles, the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, Vietnam, drugs, Woodstock, etc. Some people say it was a time of unity and political revolution. Others say it was pure hedonism. Maybe both views are right in a way, but like I said, I wasn't there so I can't say for certain.

As I write this I am watching the documentary of Woodstock, and one thing that stands out to me is the great sense of community among the audience members. Think about it: millions of people all gathered together for three days, and there were no fights or arrests. Everyone willingly shared what they had. Every one was on the same level. True, the majority of the audience was stoned, but I don't think that was the main reason. I say that because even the army and many of the neighbors pitched in to make sure everyone in the audience was taken care of. The army flew in doctors and nurses for people who needed medical attention, and people donated food. Was it a perfect community? No. There were a couple of deaths (one of a heroin overdose, and another got run over by a truck), and there was the big rain storm. But as Max Yasger said to the crowd, "You've proven to the world that half a million kids . . . can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music."

So maybe Woodstock symbolized what the '60s tried to accomplish: a greater sense of community, harmony, and peace. Even if it did just last for three days.

How Long Can I Keep A Fireball In My Mouth?

This is what happens when I have nothing to do.