Existential Punk

"Why, God?", i SCREAM!

My high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, St. Ursula Academy, puts out a quarterly magazine  about what is happening in the life of the current students and faculty, along with updates on alumnae. So, like, i get to the end and read through the "In Memoriam" section, and to my utter shock and surprise is listed Coleen Tracey from the class of 1988. "Why, God?", i screamed! She was only 34 years old and had so much to offer this world.

I graduated in 1987 and was friends with Coleen. We even attended Xavier University together. She was a very vivacious and cool woman that introduced me to Guinnes Stout, Harp, and some great music. She became very active in her community, taking on all kinds of causes. She was really postmodern in her thinking and actions before the term became popular. She even helped me paint a sign we took to the 1987 U2 Joshua Tree Concert in Lexington,KY, with the political statement, "ENGLAND GET OUT of IRELAND!"

Then, somewhere along the way i 'found" Jesus and separated myself from my "un-Christian" friends because i thought this is what i was supposed to do and because the church was communicating this 'false" gospel to me. i lost some really cool people by reacting this ignorantly and foolishly. i have tried to find Coleen over the past several years to no avail. Then i find out this horrible news and i am still in shock. i have not been able to express any emotion over this - i feel in a daze about it - surreal-like. As i reflect and process, this is definitely something i regret from my Evangelical roots.

A sort of funny story i shared with Coleen was during the orientation program her first year at Xavier. We were at a dance and she dislocated her knee. In her pain she asked me to go and get her dad, who lived at the time in a house right by campus. i ran to get him and ended up interrupting an intimate moment between him and his wife! We met up with her at the emergency room and she screamed in utter pain as the doctor relocated her knee. when i shared with her what had happened to me, she laughed. Coleen had a beautiful spirit and a great sense of humor.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has a beautiful tribute to Coleen here.

God, i rarely understand your ways and why things happen in this world aside from the easy, pat answers people try to give, like, "We live in a fallen world." But i thank you for allowing me the chance to know Coleen and share a little bit of time with her on this earth. She truly enriched my life in the short time i spent with her. Please comfort her husband and the rest of her family and friends as they try and pick up the pieces.

Deep Throat has sex change?

For those of you that grew up during the Nixon era, BBC NEWS reports that the Watergate Source breaks cover. Mark Felt has finally owned up to to being the source that caused Nixon's scandal and subsequent resignation. As stated in the BBC NEWS article, "The name derived from a famous  pornographic film of the time."

i, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, i was born in 1969, and was too young to remember this story except through history class and movies. i actually love the perspective told in Andrew Fleming's 1999 cult film, Dick, which is a hilarious look at what "really" happened to Nixon.

Ain't history grand? Makes me wonder what will come out in 30 to 40 years about the Clinton and Dubya years!

How Movies Helped Save My Soul

i had the pleasure of spending some quality time with my new friend, Gareth Higgins, while at the Emergent Conference in Nashvegas. We met briefly a few times while i was living in N. Ireland, but this week is when our friendship got started. He is a really intelligent, cool, funny, and kind Northern Irish man who hails from Belfast. i am glad to count him as one of my friends! He has written a really interesting book, How Movies Helped Save My Soul, which i need to finish reading. What i have read is refreshing, insightful, and humorous.

Gareth's Bio:

"Gareth Higgins is a freelance writer and research consultant specializing in Northern Ireland affairs, religion, peacemaking, youth culture, social activism, film and post-modern culture. He has written widely on Northern Ireland in particular and is currently completing a book on the topic of religion and sectarianism. He is the co-chair of the zero28 Project, a post-sectarian peace building initiative, and a company member of ECONI, the Evangelical Contribution on Northern Ireland."

Weird & Hilarious!

When i did a Google Image search for "Jesus Is My Homeboy", this image came up in the midst of the search. This was weird and hilarious at the same time. What is the connection? Can anyone offer me answers? Was this "an attack of the enemy"? Am i going to be cursed because i placed this picture here in my blog? Oh, thank God for a little humor in the middle of the night!

This reminds me of a story my friend, Pete Rollins, told. Satan was in heaven and Jesus was in hell. Would a person choose to spend eternity with Satan so they could get into heaven or would they go spend eternity in hell so they could be with Jesus? The point is, why do we follow Jesus? Is it a ticket into heaven? Fire insurance? Or is it because of the beauty of who he is to all creation? "Satan Loves You" and "Jesus Loves You" are mere words put together to form a phrase. The real meaning comes out of the intentionality of the phrase as applied to your life. "Jesus Loves You" has become a cliche phrase to our society. Yet, if one intentionally lives out a life as a Christ-follower, then one can demonstrate His love to people and embrace His love for him/herself, therefore, shedding cliches. i hope this makes some kinda sense. Sometimes my inner monologue fails to get articulated in intelligible language for others to grasp, especially during an insomniac moment! Cheers!

WWJT?

i will gladly admit it, i own one of these t-shirts! They're cool and fun! Over the past few years these shirts, along with "Mary Is My Homegirl", have been all the rage. What is this fascination all about, anyways? In consumeristic, western society, have we now moved on from the saying "JESUS SAVES" to "JESUS SELLS"? WWJT (What Would Jesus Think?)? These are deep, philosophical questions the Existential Punk ponders during her insomniac sessions! IS JESUS YOUR HOMEBOY and IS MARY YOUR HOMEGIRL? Hmmm!

Green Acres is the Place to Be. . .

Eddie Albert, most famous for his role on the 1960's sitcom, Green Acres, died Saturday at the ripe old age of 99 . I remember watching this show in reruns as a kid growing up in the '70's. He can also be seen in Audrey Hepburn's award-winning film, Roman Holiday. Many of our actors and actresses of the bygone eras are quickly fading away. It's so very sad.

The Two Sides of Moby

The May/June issue of Relevant Magazine has my favorite musician, Moby, gracing its cover. The interview was intriguing and insightful because Moby did not speak about his music, but opened up about his belief in Jesus and His teachings, his beefs with "Christians", and why he feels shut out by contemporary Christianity. i have had the opportunity to meet Moby and the compassion in his eyes and demeanor are so disarming and inviting. When i saw him recently in concert, he deferred to his fellow bandmates and gave them much credit. To me, he epitomizes a postmodern Christ-follower - authentic, honest about his shortcomings, compassionate to those on the fringe of society, loves and respects the teachings of Christ, and recognizes his humanity and frailty.

Some poignant quotes from the article:

" 'My understanding in what it means to be a Christian is to, in our own subjective way, recognize Christ as being God, and recognize our shortcomings and failings, and try and live according to the teachings of Christ as best we can. And what I find so strange is I look at the behavior of so many Christians, and I don't see any aspect of the teachings of Christ represented there. But [I remember] the quote about taking the log out of your own eye before you can ss the speck in someone else's eye, so I don't want to get in the position of judging other Christians. I fully admit that a lot of my actions and a lot of things that are still in my life are inconsistent with my beliefs as a Christian. I'm very secular.' "

"I ask Moby if he himself has ever steered someone toward the teachings of Christ. 'I hope so,' he says at first. Then he thinks about it, and his next answer appears truer to what might be called the overflow of his heart. '[But] I would never want to steer someone towards believing what I believe. If I belonged to a church, I would never want to steer someone towards my church. I would want someone to look at the Gospels and just read the Gospels and try and evaluate them with an open mind. I can't do anything more than that. I don't want to browbeat you; I don't want to say, "If you don't believe this, you're going to hell." That's not my place. That idea makes me very uncomfortable  - the idea of didactically trying to get someone to believe what I believe.' "

"As is the case with any other Christian, Moby's relationship with the world is, to use his own description, 'complicated.' But he does have advice for today's young generation of Jesus-lovers, and it comes out in a torrent of words that Moby seems to have stored up, waiting for open ears. It starts with Matthew 10:16, 'Be as wise as a snake and as innocent as a dove,' the DJ preaches humbly. 'Go into the world and protect yourself, and be innocent, and understand what the core of you really is. Christ didn't retreat from the world. Some people have to, but Christ threw Himself into the world. Christ hung out with some really sketchy people. That's one of those things that always fascinated me about Christ.' "

" 'One of my other favorite quotes is, "Those who are sick are in need of a doctor." And the sad thing is we're all sick. It's part and parcel of the human condition, and it's especially part and parcel of living in the United States in the 21st century. We're all sick. We're all deeply unhappy, disconnected, unwell people. We need each other, and we need God. And if God made the universe and if God made us and if God made the world, it just makes sense to invite God into our lives and ask Him, "You made me - what should I be doing?" '

Whether you are a Relevant Magazine fan or not, i HIGHLY recommend you buy this issue and read the article in its entirety, as it is well worth the moola! In addition to the above quotes from the article, there are more diamonds in the ruff to be found! Moby ROCKS and is my hero! What a 21st Century Role Model for me! Thanks, Moby!

Exclusivity in the flesh

From Relevant Magazine's Daily Slices:

"Creighton Lovelace, a Southern Baptist pastor in North Carolina has apologized for posting a sign that read "The Koran needs to be flushed," after an outcry from leaders in the Muslim-American community. He said he was unaware that the Qur'an was so highly valued and "that devoted Muslims view it more highly than many in the U.S. view the Bible" ... 05-27-05 - 8:22 am


People like Creighton Lovelace are the kind of Christians that polarize and turn people off to Christianity. At least he came to his senses and apologized, but does he live in a fucking bubble to not know the Qur'an is highly valued by Muslims? So much for a space of inclusivity! This man needs to be loved too, but that does not mean we cannot be flabbergasted by his ignorance.

God, help us!

Exclusivity or Inclusivity

Thoughts flipping through my mind over the past several months regarding word usage and relatability to people who are not within the "family" to understand were brought home to me while in a bar in Nashville one night during the emergent conference. i started talking to three women from Canada who were sitting at the next table over. Others in my group began conversing with them as well. They were in Nashville to help one of them find a place to live since she recently found a job there. As the conversation progressed, one of them asked what we were doing in Nashville once she found out we weren't locals. When she found out we were at a church conference, let alone an "emergent" church conference, she scoffed and shut down in some ways. A glazed look in her eyes to be more accurate. i then proceeded to say we were looking at spirituality and church in new ways. i told her that at some point the church had gone wrong and we were a group of people trying new things. She then looked a little less puzzled. i find that what we are calling "emerging generations" are not what they are calling themselves. This terminology is foreign to them.

"Emerging Church" is another term foreign to those outside the "fold". i know that those who find ourselves in the emergent conversation have needed language to help us define more of what we are about, but to what extent are we creating our own Christian subculture and our own "Christian-ese" that have no context with our culture? To those on the outside, i.e. Modern, evangelical Christians, post-Christians, Pre-Christians, those of other beliefs, etc., our emerging conversation is a secret code, unintelligible, exclusive in some ways.

How can we bridge this gap? When i tell people i am applying for a D. Min program, to most people i say it relates to spirituality, theology, and postmodernism rather than Emerging Church Leadership. Those outside the realm of emerging church relate better to this and are less likely to have their eyes glaze over. i feel that this is problematic in trying to relate to others who are not within the fold of this conversation. i feel we need to find more inclusive language. Inclusivity is what the emerging conversation is about, so let's not box ourselves in by taking on exclusive language

God, what are we to do? Please help us because we are at your mercy!

G-d Rocks!

Thank you, G-D, for still seeking me out when i deny you, when i reject you, when i shut you out, whether through my actions, thoughts, attitudes, and/or words. You are TRULY amazing! Gratefully, Adele

REJECTION

i was rejected,
i was rejected,
i was rejected,

screamed my soul.

out of my pain,
out of my pain,
out of my pain,

i reject you,
my soul screams at you.

I seek you,
I seek you,
I seek you,
whispers your small, still voice.

written on March 26, 2005 by Adele Sakler