this is entirely personal, so i’m not representing christianity at large or—oh for goodness’ sake, just say what i want to say:

i get uncomfortable/upset with people who claim to have all the answers about how to live and how to “make it” to happiness/fulfillment in a very specific way because i think we should be acknowledging and embracing diversity as beautiful and healthy and holy. i mean, look at nature: biodiversity is CRUCIAL for survival and our food sources are getting totally screwed up because it all comes from a very genetically narrow (not to mention artificially modified) base that becomes less and less nutritious and fortifying with every crop rotation and breeding season. similarly, we become more and more divided from each other and from ourselves every time we put up a wall because we can’t love “the other.” THERE IS NO OTHER! we are all the body and the cancer and disease comes from dualistic, exclusive mindsets, not from parts of the body.

(besides Tumblr, because that’s a given)

• “Caring For Your Introvert” article (again)
• INFJ TypeLogic profile
• INTJ TypeLogic profile
• Postcrossing
• fascinating article on the differences between Eastern Orthodox and Western Orthodox (Roman Catholic and Protestant) translations of the Bible, specifically the of Hebrew words for “Sheol,” “Heaven,” “grave,” “pit,” “fires of gehennom,” etc. all mistranslated to “Hell/hellfire” in all Western translations since the Great Schism in 1054. Eastern Orthodoxy understands “Heaven” and “Hell” as spiritual states of mind within an individual, while Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity understands “Heaven” and “Hell” to be physical places outside of the earthly realm Which has has a hell of a lot of implications (see what I did there?) for how mainstream Western Christianity operates and has never made sense to me because if Christians truly believe that God is the entirety of existence and that we are saved by grace and love, how could there be a “hell” that is void of Him and why would He put his beloved there? And now I’m connecting that with all stuff I learned and read and talked about in my agrarian philosophy class last year about dualism and the Enlightenment Period and how we are spiritually sick in our division from Creation and any real connection to God… to be elaborated on later… maybe.
  
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good grief

You’re right… But just be glad you live in a country where you will not be shot or thrown in prison for stating that. America has had its problems. Its to bad you were not in charge in those times so that you could have done the right thing.

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- Dennis Covington, Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia

This paragraph reached out and slapped me in the face, and I’m not sure how I should react.

1. you have time to find a job you love
2. get out of debt and stay out of debt
3. don’t rush dating and marriage
4. give your best to friends and family
5. get some counseling
6. seek out a mentor
7. be a part of a church
8. find a rhythm for spiritual disciplines
9. volunteer
10. feed yourself and the people you love
11. don’t get stuck

poppylife:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort 
about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression,
and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for
justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer
from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that
you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able,
with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you
and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

AMEN.

(via hajna)

In which I use my Agrarian Philosophy final paper as an outlet for my frustration with Western Christian theology and our broken relationship to the land, but end up spouting cheesy generalizations and not feeling any nearer a holistic solution. (And, in all fairness, how on earth is one meant to tackle this subject with a ten-page limit?)

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This is something I have known I should do wanted to do for awhile, but this is what made me finally decide to try it.  Clarification: I do not believe that the world will end on Saturday.  I do not believe that even if it were possible to know when Judgement Day will be (it’s not), that God would be happy with people halting their lives prematurely.  There will be some sad and disappointed people on Sunday, but I will not be one of them.  One of their billboards is on my way to work, and it has made me examine my priorities and think about what I would be doing differently if I really did believe my time on earth was coming to an end.

So, in celebration of living life to the fullest each and every day, I will be taking the hours usually wasted online and use them to read beautiful books, spend time with lovely and interesting people (and probably cook for them), reacquaint my vocal chords with something a bit more challenging than radio lyrics (heheh… heh), do something creative, anything that does not require staring at a screen.  I need to be more actively present in my own life in order to be actively present in the lives of those around me.  If I am still here on Sunday, then so will e-mail, Tumblr, Facebook, iTunes, Netflix…

Not to be morbid now, but if you are at all musical and/or artistic, watch this: Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, Movements 7 and 8 set to painting.  Breathtaking.  And then look up the circumstances surrounding the composer when it was written. 

papayapie:

I don’t care if native americans choose to pray to mother earth, that’s their choice.

But being a Christian is MY CHOICE.

If I go to a CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

I EXPECT

that there will be no prayer to anyone except

JESUS CHRIST.

We are taught that the Bible is the Truth. We are encouraged to…

I think you may have somehow missed a crucial piece of information that was stated directly after the prayer: the Creation is not worshiped, but we absolutely give thanks for it as a life-sustaining force.  “Mother Earth/Nature” is a beautiful metaphor for the nurturing, life-giving world God has provided for us.  By misinterpreting the prayer as supporting and promoting nature worship on a Christian campus, you have missed the point of the chapel and possibly of the entire theological conference.  This is unfortunate, because the theology of the land is a fascinating and very relevant theme, both in the current global economy and in the Christian faith.  Like it or not, we are part of this world, and the Western mistreatment and exploitation of the land is our collective sin, because it causes starvation and disease throughout the world.

This is in no way meant to single out or persecute a particular student who obviously feels very strongly about their faith and thinks that they are doing the right thing. The above post is re-blogged because I feel it represents the initial knee-jerk reaction of a lot of students who have never looked at our land and environment through this particular theological lens.  The statement from the spiritual life and religion departments regarding the confusion about yesterday’s message is very well explained and supported by Scripture, so I do not feel that more needs to be said about it. 

I strongly recommend participating in the remainder of the conference tomorrow, and taking the Agrarian Philosophy class from Corey Beals next time it is offered.  The least it will do is stretch your worldview and add another dimension to your faith.  I am so thankful to be at a university that presents us with a variety of ways of exploring and finding truth and knowledge in a safe, nurturing environment.  Blessings to you as you continue to grow and search, Mya.

Ron Mock, Ways of Finding Truth

If our actions only affected ourselves, the moral value of truth would be relatively modest, confined to the moral duty not to harm ourselves. But we do not live in isolation. All of our actions affect others, too. Thus, having accurate descriptive knowledge about the world around us is a moral duty for practical reasons. Ignorance does not undo the effects of what we do to others … What we don’t know CAN hurt us, but even more likely, it can hurt others.

Guess what I’m doing at 1:30 in the morning??? Yep, you guessed it: writing a paper titled “Ways of knowing truth and decision making, and how it pertains to the future of the American Dream.” In 5 pages or less.  Due at 4:40 p.m.  Shoot me right now.

I love my liberal arts college, I love my liberal arts college, I love my liberal arts college…