My family commemorates things with food. Christmas is no different. We spend all afternoon preparing a meal fancy enough for Prince William and big enough to feed the whole block. This year's menu featured shrimp, scallops, crab legs, fresh fettucini with an asian ginger sauce, a salad with pears, avocado, and gorgonzola cheese, grilled pineapple and asparagus, and grilled chicken and venison sausage (for the non-seafood lovers). There was more on the menu, but it was cut once we realized only six people would be eating! Once everyone was served, we held our glasses in the air and toasted to good family, friends, and food.
The meal was delicious to say the least. I ended up sitting at the table for an extra half hour, too full to move. There was one thing that I realized that night when I was reflecting back on a seemingly uneventful Christmas day. Our Christmas dinner is a lot like eternal life. Stick with me for a minute...
As I said, my family centers on food. I fully believe that the majority of my parents extra spending money gets put towards food. Other things are sacrificed so we can eat well. My parents are also endowed with the gift of hospitality. You put together a love of food and the gift of hospitality and you get many, many wonderful dinner parties.
Growing up, my dad refused to give myself and my older brother crab legs. He didn't want us to develop a taste for expensive food. Makes sense. You don't want to spend tons of money to satisfy a child's taste buds.
Ten years later, my little brother came along. My parents were slightly more established in their careers and ate much fancier things. My little brother grew up with my parents making him try crab legs, shrimp, filet mignon, you name it.
As we sat down for Christmas dinner last night, my little brother licked his lips, put his hands together and said, "My favorite meal!" He has tasted and he knows how much he loves crab. The kid can even distinguish between different kinds of crab.
My older brother, on the other hand, hated his meal. He hasn't lived with us in almost 7 years. He doesn't go out to eat like we do. He doesn't have fancy dinner parties. His palate is not accustomed to expensive food like my younger brother. He left the table having barely eaten, while the rest of us were stuffed to the brim.
How is this like eternal life? I think it's about goodness. There is a passage in Scripture that speaks about the inability for people who don't believe to understand and appreciate Christ the same way believers do. If you haven't tasted crab legs, you probably will not like them at first. My little brother still remember the first time my parents made him try them. He was disgusted. Oh how far he has come! I am a Christian. I have experienced the presence and love of God. It is good. I desire it. I deeply appreciate times when God meets me and pours out his love. For those who don't believe, this concept is lost. One day, I want to sit around a table with my family toasting to the goodness of God, not just the goodness of food.
20.12.11
Christmas Prayer
I needed to read this during this Christmas season. May it bless you and challenge you as much as it did me.
I think about my family, my relatives, the neighbors, people with whom we will spend this day. Dear Jesus, as I look at their faces and remember their stories, there are feelings of gratitude and some fear and anxiety. Thank you for these loved ones and please forgive me for the ways I have been less than accepting and loving. Please heal the wounds, division and conflicts that stand between us and help me to remember how dearly you love them. I only want to remember that you have come to save us all.Amen.
4.12.11
Occupy
"The seed of revolution is repression." Woodrow Wilson
I may be late in digging my teeth into the "Occupy" movement, but I have finally had time to do some reading up on the whole thing. There are plenty of times when people get upset about something, they strike, and then it gets resolved (Thank you Wisconsin for the exemplary example). I don't think this movement is one that will end that easily or that quickly. The basic premise is this: 1% of the population owns and controls virtually everything. The rest of the 99% of us, screwed. We have no say. Yes, we vote, but in reality, the politicians we vote for are just pawns being moved my the corporations we don't see. It doesn't actually matter who is sitting in the chair. The larger question is: Who is pumping the money? I realize that this may be showing my somewhat negative feelings towards our country, but I think we can all admit that there is a problem.
My aunt is a prime example. A few years ago she got a brain tumor because a company was dumping toxic chemicals into a local lake. Dozens of tumors began breaking out in their county. She got her tumor removed successfully and has been in perpetual debt because of it. She still struggles physically from the after-effects. She was in a large lawsuit against the company along with the others effected. The case was temporarily postponed. They company continues to put off the trial. As they do, those suing have to continue to pay their lawyers. The outcome is clear: the prosecutors will run out of money eventually and the case will be dismissed. Justice? Not one bit.
The same aunt has made numerous payments toward her mortgage. These payments have somehow been lost by the band holding it. Her home has neared foreclosure numerous times because these payments have not been recorded. Illegal foreclosures are common. Nothing is being done.
When I look at pictures and watch videos of the movement I cannot help but think of Across the Universe. There is a scene in the film when they walk down a street with signs, chanting funny things. I digress...
I don't think I will ever be one of those people who quit their job to 'fight for the cause.' I'm not moving to Wall Street. I do, however, support their cause. I am proud to live in a country with people who do not want to sit around while injustice rules. I am thankful that people are choosing to exercise their Constitutional rights. Pushing them to their limits will reveal the extent to which we actually hold these rights. I believe that the police, the government, the corporations, will fight back, exposing the true state of our country. The system is corrupt. We don't need another law. We need democracy. A true democracy, not a puppet one.
What if your mother developed cancer from drinking the water from her sink? Your little brother? What if your family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills while the company just paid the trial off, leaving you bankrupt? You would probably feel a little bit angry. It has been hard to watch my own family members experience the aftereffects of corporate greed.
Get informed. Read up on what is going on in the world. Please. Believe that you can have a voice. http://occupychi.org/about-us
I may be late in digging my teeth into the "Occupy" movement, but I have finally had time to do some reading up on the whole thing. There are plenty of times when people get upset about something, they strike, and then it gets resolved (Thank you Wisconsin for the exemplary example). I don't think this movement is one that will end that easily or that quickly. The basic premise is this: 1% of the population owns and controls virtually everything. The rest of the 99% of us, screwed. We have no say. Yes, we vote, but in reality, the politicians we vote for are just pawns being moved my the corporations we don't see. It doesn't actually matter who is sitting in the chair. The larger question is: Who is pumping the money? I realize that this may be showing my somewhat negative feelings towards our country, but I think we can all admit that there is a problem.
My aunt is a prime example. A few years ago she got a brain tumor because a company was dumping toxic chemicals into a local lake. Dozens of tumors began breaking out in their county. She got her tumor removed successfully and has been in perpetual debt because of it. She still struggles physically from the after-effects. She was in a large lawsuit against the company along with the others effected. The case was temporarily postponed. They company continues to put off the trial. As they do, those suing have to continue to pay their lawyers. The outcome is clear: the prosecutors will run out of money eventually and the case will be dismissed. Justice? Not one bit.
The same aunt has made numerous payments toward her mortgage. These payments have somehow been lost by the band holding it. Her home has neared foreclosure numerous times because these payments have not been recorded. Illegal foreclosures are common. Nothing is being done.
When I look at pictures and watch videos of the movement I cannot help but think of Across the Universe. There is a scene in the film when they walk down a street with signs, chanting funny things. I digress...
I don't think I will ever be one of those people who quit their job to 'fight for the cause.' I'm not moving to Wall Street. I do, however, support their cause. I am proud to live in a country with people who do not want to sit around while injustice rules. I am thankful that people are choosing to exercise their Constitutional rights. Pushing them to their limits will reveal the extent to which we actually hold these rights. I believe that the police, the government, the corporations, will fight back, exposing the true state of our country. The system is corrupt. We don't need another law. We need democracy. A true democracy, not a puppet one.
What if your mother developed cancer from drinking the water from her sink? Your little brother? What if your family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills while the company just paid the trial off, leaving you bankrupt? You would probably feel a little bit angry. It has been hard to watch my own family members experience the aftereffects of corporate greed.
Get informed. Read up on what is going on in the world. Please. Believe that you can have a voice. http://occupychi.org/about-us
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