LEVIATHON!!!!!

So, friends, you might be asking yourself: could there be any halloween costume better than leviathon, the seven-headed sea monster of the Hebrew Bible?

Answer: no.

the flipside cafe

I'm sitting in "The Flipside Cafe" which is the cafe portion of the
Boise Co-op, haven of hippies. Although I had vegan choices on the
menu, I'm having vegetarian pancakes with non-vegetarian sausage. Did
you know David is a vegetarian now?

On the wall to my right is a piece of art incorporating pictures of
Guatemala, and on my left is a series of portraits of Guatemalans and
landscapes. My waitress is wairing a vintage dress and reminds me of
Linden. They have wireless internet and I'm in between Quaker meeting
and picking my mom up from the airport (she was visiting my aunt in
Seattle).

I opened up my laptop to read a friend's sermon, after just meditating on
and talking to David and Beth about the concept of spending next year
in Nicaragua. I'm in such a different environment than I was when I
made the decision to go. I see going there in a different light
because of my different environment. I guess there feels like a big
disconnect between my life right now, living in a huge house in the
suburbs, and a third world country. There didn't seem like as much of
a breach in Oberlin, where I was on a tight budget and lived among
many people who had relationships with Latin American countries or
people from those countries.

So, coming here after feeling disconnected, confused, and lonely for
weeks, I just got this rush of goodness coming over me, of God's presence tangible with fulfilled promises. The pictures
of Central America, the connections with faith communities at Meeting
and reading the sermon, and hippie food-- I guess I just felt at
home.

I'm praying about how to prepare for Nicaragua. According to Emma, I should get vaccinated, pack a change of clothes, and get ready to be surprised.

MethodAmish

As some of you might know, Beth's at Mennonite Central Committee Orientation, getting ready to go spend three years working in Guatemala City. Here's an email I got from her:

Hi David,

Here is the story of a song:

So, before I went to Oberlin, I did not know the song that goes, "B-b-b bubblin' (snap, snap, snap)", etc. I'm pretty sure I learned it from you and maybe Rachael. So, here at MCC orientation we do a morning devotional every other day. There are a number of people that do music, and we got together last night to pick songs. We decided that I would teach the Bubblin' Over song as part of our singing this morning. So, I did, and it was cool.

Then, this evening, we went to an Amish home to have dinner. Our group, being 40 people, was split up between two different Amish homes. At the home I was at, we ate dinner, the family sang for us, and then we sang Amazing Grace together. After we got back, I found out that at the other house, they ate dinner, the family sang, and then my friend Beth (who is going to Nicaragua with her husband) taught Bubblin' Over to the Amish family and the whole group sang it together. The Amish family really liked it. Beth had learned it from me this morning. So, indirectly, you helped to teach an Amish family that song. That makes me happy:)

Love, Beth


[insert joke about blogs and the Amish here.]

crapostolic succession

Today I was feeling sad about empire. So I made this. You can buy a t-shirt of it at cafepress.com/somefolks. I don't think I'm going to, but I suppose it would be a good way to proclaim your simultaneous church geekiness and radical politics.

love,
david

praxis

a) They tell me that the university of chicago has t-shirts that say "that's all very well in practice, but how does it work in theory?" (Funny, and one of the reasons I don't go to U of C.)

b) So, Walter Wink, in The Powers that Be, describes how Jesus advises a subversive method that uses humor and cleverness to dismantle evil forces. It's pretty cool in theory (see his discussion of turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, etc.) So, does it work in practice?

Yes.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/10/05/peace_prankster_mark.html

I'm in.

David

slow...

I came home from seeing David today and already have to gear up for the quick part of my work week. I don't know yet when my next day off is, but I do know that I'm working 8-12 hour days the next 3 days. So I was feeling glum. I decided to watch veggie tales while quilting.

So that was fun, and I am cutting fabric. It's nice to cut because I get to look at it all, it's beautiful fabric, but one of my spiritual gifts is not painstakingly lining up corners with an eye for detail and precise measurement. And it's slow.

But I was cheering up by hearing about Little Joe, a cowboy who is cheated over and over but, through a knack for dreams, organizational skills, and faith in God, ends up reconciling with his eleven brothers and being reunited with his father and saving the whole countryside from famine. But he had to go through tough times, when he doubted whether God was going to follow through on the dream promise.

And I had the thought: I will love having this fabric all cut into shapes so that I can lay them out and do the fun part, designing the quilt pattern. I will get to use the triangles and squares like a brush and paint, and paint out my vision, the vision I've been working on for months. But I have to do this part in order to have that part.

And, waitressing does not use too too many of my spiritual gifts. But, waitressing is allowing me to get to know Luke, live with my family, experience the place they are having their lives in, and it is also allowing me to finance travel within Latin America next year.

In the meantime, I should be the author of myself as Sue Monk Kidd encourages, finding my own power and "author" ity within myself as I embrace my creative and spiritual core and embody that spirituality. And in the meantime, I should watch for the ways God is being faithful to me in this lifestyle that I am not comfortable in. Emails from friends, friendly gestures from Idahoans, biking to work, sun on the mountains, etc.

Dear God, please be with me through the next three days.
Amen.

world communion sunday

Rachael was in town for the last week. It was lovely.

On Sunday we went to Grace Baptist Church, where I've been attending. It was World Communion Sunday, and one of the ways they celebrated was to have a variety of breads and beverages for communion. You could come up and pick a piece from one of four breads and dip it in water, grape juice, or soy milk.

I broke off a piece of an orange, crispy tortilla type bread. After I dipped it in grape juice, I ate it. It was really spicy, and I thought, as I went back to my seat, "Boy, that communion had a little kick to it!"

Then I thought, "Maybe communion should always have a little kick to it."

Oh, and check this out:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/10/04/church_where_you_can.html


Keep your eyes out for the ent wives,
David