My friend Clint the Therapist told me that anger is a surface emotion.  He said that anger is like an iceberg; you can see 10% of it, but the real causes of what you see are below the surface.  I began my Lenten journey through the prophets yesterday.  Their God is very angry.

I’m accustomed to this kind of God.  He is drawn as a figure so holy it’s as if he has no choice but to demonstrate his wrath.  Fear is his method for inspiring worship and faithfulness, because he knows what you did, and you better make things right between you and him before the sun sets, lest you die in your sleep and receive the punishment you deserve. Jonathan Edwards still plays well.  “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” in many ways, is the sermon upon which American Christianity was founded.

God is holy.

I am not.

I get that.  It makes sense.  Perhaps he is wrathful with a purpose.  Okay, that fits into most theological frameworks.  But what if anger is a surface emotion for God too? Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first season of Lent that my family and I have been outside of a religious community of some sort.  It is weird.  I don’t like it, and we intend to rectify this situation in the next month.  So I began Lent without ashes.  Without community.  Solo Lenten practices are next to worthless, but I’ll attempt to redeem them by being extra pious and diligent.

Welcome to my Street Corner:

click picture for more spiritual cartoons/diagrams, http://pithlessthoughts.blogspot.com

My family and I are being, what I can only describe as – reconstructed or re-created, I thought I’d spend this Lenten season observing an unusual portion of the scriptures involving a similar subject: the prophets.  Technically, I am a member of a group of Christian artists, though I missed the first meeting this past week to chew on chunks of phlegm from the comforts of my own couch.  The reading for the meeting I missed was based on Israel’s exile and subsequent return.  Read the rest of this entry »

we could meet up on 82

about a mile east of the turn;

atop the hill,

say, 6 o’clock.

there is a spot i know, where,

aside from too much traffic,

dusk happens violently over a cornfield glen.

without regard for erie’s clouds,

the prism divides clumps of earth,

violets the drifts of snow.

you could take some pictures.

really, you should.

i’ll bring some paints and two auspicious hats,

so the passersby think us official.

BRING A COAT.

the noreaster protects the view

from people like us who, on occasion,

meet up on 82 around 6 p.m.

to attempt vain imitations.

Have a great weekend.  Do something worth doing again.

Two phrases come to mind this morning: “Fear not” and “He had compassion on them.” The former are words commonly attributed to Jesus in the gospels, the latter phrase is applied to his movements.

I’m not quite certain if the removal of fear leads to compassion or if the addition of compassion removes fear.  This much I do know: when one is motivated by fear, the potential for empathy disappears.  And if you have not love…

People understand fear as a motivator.  Compassion, on the other hand, is routinely misinterpreted.  If you want to be understood in the shallowest sense, Read the rest of this entry »

A public service message for wives:

After 13 years of marriage, my wife began doing something of which I had only heard dark rumors.  I have no idea why she waited 13 years to pull out this handy little maneuver.  When it appeared in our living room I understood what my friends have been complaining about their whole married lives.  It goes like this: “You wanna talk?”

No worthwhile conversation has ever resulted from asking your husband, “You wanna talk?”

“But…” I hear you already interjecting.  Read the rest of this entry »

Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you
Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friends.  – U2 – Cedars of Lebanon

When I read the gospels I am perplexed by Jesus’ choice of friends, but more so by the way he speaks of and treats his enemies.  His idyllic teachings about the Kingdom of God are hard to swallow, harder still to live.  What do you do with these ideals?

Love your enemies.

Bless those who curse you.

Do good to those that hate you.

Pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.

Some of you commented last week on this subject.  Personally, I’ve spent a good deal of time wondering if my views and beliefs are rooted in unachievable ideals, but I always come back to one thought…

If I choose right actions, the responses to those actions are beyond my control.  It would seem the matter of Jesus’ concern is the condition of me, versus the condition of others, over which I have no jurisdiction.

I don’t know…  But I think we’ll dedicate Ream of Paper to exploring the subject this week.

Grace.

BTW – please be patient with my post times this week.  I am doing some framing, building a website and working on my start-up business.