Happy Haiku Friday!

i hate the feeling

tears swell in my periphery

want to watch the office?

random thoughts...

i think that when his term is over, president bush should forego the traditional 'presidential library' in order to build the "george W. bush center for kids that don't speak good."

i am very thankful for my homechurch, sinners and saints, as well as city on a hill, the ministry collective to which we belong. why is it, then, that i often wonder what it would be like to be the pastor of a traditional congregation? is this desire merely a reflection of my training and a general unwillingness to do the hard work of innovative ministry, or does it run deeper?

although they've taken five out of their last six, i refuse to get too excited about the cardinals. a run differential of 31 just ain't going to cut it. the upside of this is that the reds, who have a minuscule run differential of 2, are about to go up in flames.

don miller's new book, which is tentatively titled Searching for God Knows What:
Reflections on the Gospel of Jesus , and releases on October 14 is fantastic. i would like to thank the good folks at Thomas Nelson for allowing an underling such as myself to read the pre-publication copy.

within the first thirty minutes of my visit with the Bennett family, i noticed two intriguing books among the many on their shelves. the first was my long lost copy of graham greene's The Power and the Glory. Greene has the remarkable ability to explain the tension between sin and sanctity that dwells within us all. Indeed, if his cowardly, corrupt 'whisky priest' can be a sacrament to his people, we too can be a sacrament to our communities. now that i think about it, the 'whisky priest' reminds me a lot of Godric, one of buechner's most inspiring protagonists. since buechner has lauded "the power and the glory" on a number of occasions, i doubt this resemblance is circumstantial.

the second book i noticed was don miller's Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance. i was floored by miller's second work, Blue Like Jazz, so i have been looking to purchase this title for some time. unfortunately, it is currently out-of-print and no one wants to let go of their copy for less than $45. so, i was delighted by the opportunity to steal my friend's copy (which i subsequently did:). anyway, to make a short story long, while consuming miller's work, i was intrigued by the following passage in which he describes the character of Paul, his friend and traveling companion:

"Paul is better than me in this way. He can appreciate the person inside the persona. To Him, people are more important than ideas. He does not laugh at jokes that deprecate others. He is a true, empathetic, kind of character."

Paul is better than me in this way as well. i have no tolerance for many people's personas. i am quick to bash on punks who lack the ethos, goths who externalize that which should be internal and christians who speak in cliche. if i think someone's persona is something less than genuine, i will probably inform them of the apparent distance between their appearance and reality and will probably reject them. of course, for a christian who believes that each individual was fashioned in as well as reflects the image of God, this is indeed vile. so this is a sin i must confess...i have rejected many people's personas and so have denied their value as a person. for this i am truly sorry. i doubt many of those i have rejected are or would listen to anything i have to say, but if you are listening, jaimie, logan, steve, eric, paul, todd, brandon and kelley, i beg your forgiveness.

may God grant me the grace to set aside personas, so that i can walk with all sorts of people as we seek to become new persons in Christ Jesus.