bunny stealin' cookie Friday, too....

had to add this one. I can't stand it! {-D

smilin' hippo Friday

Is this not cute?? Dare you not to grin. Double dog dare ya. Meimi Hartman took this pic...I found it on www.cuteoverload.com. Great place to grab a smile!

adventures of invisible woman....

okay, this is kind of funny, but a little pathetic......my right eye started hurting last night. It woke me up around 3 am. I noticed slight swelling. Went back to sleep and it was nearly swollen shut this morning. No itch, no redness....just pain and swelling. Here's the pathetic part: NO ONE HAS NOTICED!!!......except......the dog. She was sniffing around my head and eye this morning before our walk. Hmmmmmm.......maybe I'll shave my head....think they'd notice? update...it's a stye/staph infection...got some stuff...invisible woman sat in the doctor's office....the ONLY PATIENT in there.....and waited over an hour! {:-/ 'nother update....then, some "unknown caller" keeps calling me! Is it my invisible friend? :-D

Becky has some serious wordsmithing happening today. She comes up with the best images, too. Have a wonderful Monday, all.

June 22, 1987

19 years ago, today, he came into the world.
He's an artist, writer, historian, Eagle Scout, honor student, animal whisperer, true friend.
Happy Birthday, Kyle! We're so proud of you!

skiing on that slippery slope.........

The Bible is one of my favorite books. You might know that. However, I fall short of holding it up in the air as many a TV preacher would have me do, and recite, "This is mah Bahbal...Ah am what it says ah am....."
Why? Because the only way I can do that is to hold the original scriptures up and recite, "This is the Word. I don't know exactly what it says, but I'm pretty darn sure that I am what THESE scriptures say I am."
Yep. I think that there are many scripture translation errors. Many of you will scoff and tell me that the Bible has been translated by expert scholars throughout the years; they certainly know more than I could possibly know.
And, you'd be right.
However, in recent years, new papyri that are contemporary to NT times have been discovered, shedding new light on words already translated, and revealing the meanings of the high percentage of words that were merely guessed. And, we must remember, that most translations today are translations from translations, etc. Bart D. Ehrmann covers a lot of the scriptural translation history in some of his books, which are academic rather than theologic in nature. Ehrmann is a dean or professor emeritus or some such stuff of religious studies at a major university here in the States. I appreciate his scholarship, and his dissertations on the historical Jesus, despite the fact that I think he no longer believes in Jesus as the son of God; rather he sees him (as a real person that walked the earth) as an apocalyptic prophet. Anyway, many hands have made copies of the originals, which we don't have, and many errors have been borne because of human error, human intent, and such. Dr. Ann Nyland, a third generation scholar of ancient languages, Greek being one of them, has used these new discoveries to release new meanings into the scriptures....shedding light and making sense of some of the more difficult passages; some of which pertain to women in the Bible. Notice I said "some," Dr Nyland's intent is not to change scriptrure to meet particular needs. Some of the most astounding re-translations have nothing to do with women. Her translation, The Source, is gender accurate, rather than gender inclusive, the latter of which is hurled as a criticism of newer translations such as the NIV and the TNIV.

Given all that, the reason for this post is because of Jesus and Paul. So much going on these days about women's roles, God's views on homosexuality, rules and regulations about "church."
Most of the NT scriptures we read are written, or attributed to Paul, the father of Christianity. Were it not for Paul we would be seeing a much different Christianity, if one at all. Imagine taking all the books that are attibuted to Paul, out of the NT. I won't go into it here, but some of the books that you think are Paul's may not be. There also were 3 letters to the Corinthians, but I'm not going into that right now, either. So, anyway, we can both thank --and blame--Paul for Christianity today. I've been thinking about this for the last few days, and last night sat bolt upright to the words in my head saying, "Who do you follow? Jesus or Paul?"
Paul's message about Jesus might differ from Jesus' own message. Every time I broach this subject with some Christians, I get a stern reproach that I'm heading for that "slippery slope" that everyone likes to avoid. Well, too bad. This is my blog. I'm comfy enough with our Big Dad to broach this subject. But first, I'm going to pose the question to YOU. What differences, if any, do you see between Jesus, and Paul's teachings about who Jesus was and what the church should be?

Mending a Mucky Monday

I usually love Mondays, but for some reason I am anxious today.
My stomach is railing against everything I eat. We celebrated Father's Day at Olive Garden yesterday. I can't eat pasta, so I picked the chicken marsala because I'm sick of salads; no tomatoes, and I assume, no wheat. Had to pick out the bell peppers. Potatoes are usually okay. Ugh anyway. Food is just no fun anymore.
Then, Gracie has a UTI; just picked up antibiotics. Nothing to worry about with most dogs, but she has kidney issues, frequent bladder infections, and it always makes me nervous when she is ill.
Then, a friend of mine has kind of disappeared, and I don't know if he's okay...and I'm worried about him.
I'm overdue for some icky medical tests.
Then, I'm trying to track down a client for the $800 she still owes me; so far no luck.
Then, Discover calls me and hasn't received my payment. On my CELL phone. You never think about how reliable the U.S. postal system is until something goes wrong. He wants to know EXACTLY when I sent it....well, gee, dude...I'm on the highway talking to you when I shouldn't be...let me just look that up for ya...please ignore any crashing of metal sounds, ok?....

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....
I'm going to go over GOOD stuff....
I ranted and raved to God and He answered me amazingly. A blogpal ministered to me and sent me 2 books on healing and a healing scriptures CD. Isn't that cool? I am reading the books, and getting a LOT out of them...the CD is very cool to go to sleep to; and I think that I AM healing! :-) Thanks, friend!
We got rain yesterday. It's only 95 now.
My hubby is doing well.
I have the best kids.
I found some great clothes on sale. (I HATE to shop, and I never find good deals!)
I have lots of work right now.
I'm going to apply for substitute teaching a couple of days a week.
Gracie is perky despite her UTI...(can you tell I love this dog??)
My brother, after procrastinating, contracted for maid service (with my insistence that HE handle this) so my family doesn't have to clean for him. Trust me, he can afford this....
'K.....feeling better! :-) ***Especially now....my surrogate son, R, was just in a car accident but he is OKAY!!

Baby!

Dave and Kriss in Scotland have a new grandson, William! I think Will looks a bit like Granddad! Congratulations!


When God made you
there was silence
in heaven
for five minutes.
Then God said:
"How come I never
thought of that before?"

~Ralph Wright O.S.B :-)

BeAttitudes

Christine has something to say that I've thought about for awhile. She says it very nicely, too! Check out her June 9 post: "Darling Buds of May" on the brain, I guess.."

Community....

I have been thinking about community, and was planning on blogging about it today. It's Sunday morning, and we've traded "church" long ago for something else. It may be breakfast with friends, lately it's been the dog park with some regulars. We grabbed a cuppa and took my brother to watch his dogniece play with her dogbuds. Brother is disabled with cerebellar atrophy and has ataxia problems. Dogs just migrate to him, and they are very gentle....even Gracie stays low so as not to knock him over. They just have a sense about him. Wouldn't that be nice if humans did? I think he enjoyed the morning. We did. We enjoy that group of dogs and their humans.

Redefining community.....I believe that this is what is happening with re-emerging Christians today. We're gathering in homes, online, by phone...whatever. In fact, I had left a comment on Judy's (BruceD's wonderful wife) blog. She had an entry there about a gathering. It sounded great. She responded to me with such a sweet email. I'd love to gather with that bunch! I love the bunches that I gather with, too. Such varied groups...some "typical" Christians, mostly "un-typical" Christians, praise God. Sometimes we sing, we eat, we pray, we minister. We laugh. A lot. We let the Spirit lead our discussions. Really good stuff happens. We don't just meet on Sunday, in fact, that's not the usual time we meet.

I think church is okay...it's working for a lot of people. It's just that when one day defines faith, then things go wonky. Faith needs to be played out everyday, with everyday dealings. My challenge to anyone reading this is, regardless of whether you go to church or not, to call, email, or meet with at least 2 different people a day and just ask them how they are. I know a lot of you already do this, but...
How's that problem they were dealing with? How are their kids doing? Grandkids? Parents?
Do this for a week with no other intent than to really check with them for THEIR sake, not yours. Call someone you haven't talked with for a long time. Or, even strike up a conversation with a complete stranger....bet they'll tell you something about themselves.
Then, at the end of the week, see the blessings unfold...for them and for you. Community will take on a whole new meaning. Church will become a fluid entity, flowing sweetly....moving among crowds like He did....with walls tumbling down.

Redefining Community....I'm about to grab a cuppa and take Grace to the dog park to play with her dog buds....I'm just reminding myself to think about what Sunday morning is, what community is, and the redefinition of both in the eyes of re-emerging Christians. More later. What do you think? Feel free to take the words right outta my mouth!

Saturday mumblings.....

Isn't it weird that people built houses because they wanted to get away from the elements, then they put windows in because they wanted to bing in the elements, then they put glass, drapes and blinds up to close off the elements?

Why do we mow down the things we call 'weeds' and plant grass so it will grow and then we mow it because it grows? Then we feed it so it will grow so that we can mow it again. Why don't we just let the stuff grow that wants to grow? I'm working on that, if you see my yard.

Isn't it funny that anti-Christians rant about how we're hypocrites and we reject and hate people...yet they reject and hate us?

I noticed that my dog leaps outside into the sunshine and greets the day with unfettered enthusiasm. My cat leaps outside, then catches herself, not wanting to appear enthusiastic. I think I'm my cat.

I don't think I like that word, "Christian" anymore. It's just too...labeling. Most of us are just different than the textbook "Christian." Whatever that is. Did I just label? ;-) What did Jesus' followers call themselves? Anyone know (and I know you're out there) when the word "Christian" was coined?

He just wants our love, and to love us.
We're supposed to love others.
That's what it boils down to, doesn't it?
Just that. Jesus lived a life of interruptions. He hung out with the "worst" of society...prostitutes, criminals, those with questionable professions, the sick, the poor. Whatever.
He was a man who cared about "nobodies."
When I once told someone that I had heard God's voice, she scoffed and said, "Why would God talk to YOU?!"
All I could say was,
"Why wouldn't He?"
He befriended everyone. The truth of the Gospels, if you read about and learn about the historic Jesus...not the one portrayed in pictures that look like the god Apollo....is a truly remarkable man. He never spoke against any kind of person; never. You can twist scripture all you want. The only ones speaking out about anyone were other men. Not Jesus.
And that's why He is unbelievably real to me. In a time when there were constraints on certain members of society, He hung out with them all. And it was recorded! That in itself is a miracle. They could mistranslate all they wanted and the truth still came out!
Little church classes teach us about His love...why doesn't anyone really LISTEN? In one breath we're told that Jesus loves everyone, in the next there are stipulations and conditions to that love. We know which is the Truth.

Temper Tantrums....

No matter how hard we pound our little chubby fists, that darn big Goddy just doesn't do things our way. Why is that?
If He loves us so much, why is all this bad stuff around, why do people hurt and suffer and die? Why aren't our prayers answered...and RIGHT NOW?? dammit!
I'm reading Yancy, The Jesus I Never Knew. He covers some of this stuff. The answer to that question is, well, God allows this stuff to happen because He is a God of Free Will. We have the choice to do good, to love in this world. Some people do, some people don't. Illness happens, death happens, evil happens...it's part of life.
Then, He doesn't seem to answer our prayers.
What about that?
Well, some folks think He's teaching us to wait. Some folks say He answers, just not the way we want.
Doesn't all this seem like a big, fat fake-out-cop-out-non-answer sometimes? An omnipotent God would BE HERE, right? He would flex His muscles and show us what's what and who's who in the universe. None of this guessing stuff....
Are You there, Lord?
Can Ya hear me, Lord?
Hellloooooo?
There are some out there that say that because there is no scientific proof of the existence of God, that He is not there. In fact, some medical and religious people did a study to see if prayer or non-prayer for heart patients, would make any difference. Turns out, that the results were "undetermined." They couldn't tell if it made any difference or not. (Sorry I don't have the link. I'll dig it up if you want it.) Some "scientific" minds felt that this was proof positive that prayer is useless.
Well, I think we're defining God in our own image with these conclusions. Is God like a marionette on strings for us if He is all powerful? Is He looking down on this study thinking, "Geez...guess I better hop to and do what they ask." Don't think so...
So, anyway. What's my point...what's my point....
It's just that God wants us to worship Him, love Him. But He's not going to force us. That wouldn't be a loving God, that would be a tyrant.....and instead He sent His Son, who, when tempted in the Desert by Satan, refused to buckle and perform. And here we sit, often playing the part of the enemy by expecting everything we want dropped down on us at our whim....not at His discretion. Countries with dictators and communism have discovered that you can't legislate love, caring, or sharing. Just doesn't work. It has to come from inside, from a deep, knowing place that recognizes what is good and right behavior. It has to come from a place that recognizes a God who is not a tyrant or a dictator, but a loving creator who only wants our true love...and to love Him for what He does...and doesn't do. That's the way He loves us, isn't it?
I know I'm preaching to the choir. I just thought I was supposed to say that....

I was throwing the ball for Gracie in the backyard...and from where I was standing, I kept getting closer and closer to a little garden angel. I thought, "I'd better change the direction that I'm throwing, or I'll break that little angel." Well, I didn't heed my own advice and, sure enough, knocked her wing right off. Just like words. We know we're going in the wrong direction sometimes with what we're saying, but we won't stop....and someone gets hurt. I can mend the little angel's wing, but it will never be quite the same again.

Clipped Wings...

We walk our journey
yet we want to fly....
so we sprout delicate, ethereal wings.
Tentative, like a caterpillar just out of
a cocoon, we flex and stretch.

Joyous abandonment!
We spread our wings
in the sunshine,
their newness dries and then
shines in the rays of
Light.
But, sooner than later a
cutting tongue armed with
sharp words
slices through a fragile
wing.
No muscular strength has
the power of those sounds.
Those words.

Broken wings.
Severed bliss.
Grounded joy.
Copyright 2006 Karen

Jesus in Walmart....

I had to run to Walmart the other night. I'm not fond of the place..it's the size of a football field, and I was tired, but it was the closest.
The nature of the area that I live in has changed. There was a big hoo hah going on when they wanted to put in this Walmart . Seems that some of the folks in the area resented having a Walmart in the area because of the "people" it draws.
There seems, however, to be a good quantity of Beemers, Benz's, and Jags in the parking lot.
Seems they got over their concerns.
Halfway through shopping, I realized that I had not heard one English word during my shopping.
I looked around. I was the only Caucasian person there. ( I am not "Anglo," but that's another post) There were Asians, Hispanics, Arabs, Indians....and me.It didn't used to be like that. I was fascinated...then kind of hacked off at one Hispanic bunch because the kids were running amok. Screaming, running, giggling, they were, and I kept ending up in the same aisle as these 2 women and their rowdy children.
They all looked tired...every single person that was there. They looked like they had worked so hard all day, then had to go to the store. The 2 women were just too tired to reign their kids in...but I wished they would.
Of course, I ended up in the check out line with the rowdy family. The check out lady was the only other Caucasian woman there...she was tall like me, probably in her 60's or older. Large woman, strikingly lovely. White hair, crystal blue eyes. She didn't look tired in the least.
She treated the rowdy family like they were royalty, complimenting the kids when they were helpful to their moms. Speaking gently to the moms.
Her attitude and her manner with them completely deflated my irritation at the lack of discipline going on there.
When I got up to check out, she looked at my haul and said," Looks like you haven't been to the store in some time!" I explained, "I have tall, hungry teenagers." She nodded knowingly. We started talking. She came from a large family, and she was the shortest one in the bunch, at 5'11. She was WAC, served in 'Nam; was in the contingency that lined the streets when JFK's funeral procession went by; related women in war stories as she was checking out my stuff; I think she said she had a lung removed about 20 some years ago. Never married, had the chance twice, tho. Worked in NY City as a graphic artist; wore Chanel suits because back then, you dressed up for work.
I told her she was great to talk to, and would like to know more. She said come by for a cuppa some time.
I think I will.
She served our country a long time and has had a feisty, adventurous life.
Now she works at Walmart, and I thought...gee that's kind of a crappy way to wind up your life.
I don't think she thought that way. She walks the walk. She treats everyone as if they were the most important thing to her, at that moment, at that time.
She likes the kind of "people" that Walmart draws.
Her name is Katherine, and she made my day.