Thin~Spaces

What Can We Do?

I must admit that I'm finding it hard to assemble my thoughts these days.  With the rising death toll from the Asian Tsunami, the emergent conversation seems somewhat pale by comparison.  After all, we talk a good game, but what do we really accomplish?

When you consider that death, destruction, and mayhem that this event has caused, it makes our discussions of church form, function, style and shape seem trite. After all, the only way to reach society and the world is to actually get out there and do it. The means we use are only secondary to the task at hand.

It takes events like the recent Tsunami to show the folly in the multiplication of words. After all, words multiply but our actions speak louder than any weblog can. I keep asking myself, "What can I do to help these unfortunate victims in Asia?"

This tragedy makes my personal concerns look very small and insignificant. While it is true that both my wife and I are unemployed, we have a roof over our head, food in our stomach, and all of our loved ones are safe. This tragedy puts all of my troubles in perspective. When it comes down to what really matters in life, there can be no denying God's presence in our lives.

Like many of you, i feel helpless amidst the magnitude of the suffering we see in the news. There are many great help agencies on the web. With the Internet it is very easy to locate charities like the Red Cross (via Amazon), World Vision, and other national organizations that provide assistance when the unthinkable happens. CNN has a great list of organizations here. You can even go to local disaster relief organizations and provide manpower and other resources to become part of caring for your fellow man.

I'm quite overwhelmed at the scope of this tragedy. It's truly beyond my experience. I plan on doing whatever I can to help those who are on the other side of the world from me. Please consider taking a break from your Blogging activities and joining me in making a donation or volunteering your time to help alleviate the suffering of others.

Rather than re-inventing the wheel, may I suggest you visit the The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog for more resources.

I know this post may sound kind of preachy, but honestly, this is all I can think about these days.

A Prayer For The Tsunami Victims

O Eternal God, save your people and bless your kingdom.
Grant the families of those who have died in the recent Tsunami your peace.
Gather scattered families together by your spirit, most holy God.
Reunite them in joy and protect them from illness in the coming weeks.

We remember that life is a fleeting gift that can be snatched away in an instant.
Help us to trust in You as you are our strength and protector.
May we never take the gift of life for granted as we toil on this Earth.
Grant us your provision and deliverance in times of crisis.

Remember, O Lord, that we are weak vessels of clay that rely on you for our lives.
As we consider the loss of life in the Asian Tsunami, my we be vehicles of your restoration.
Guide and direct our resources to hurting people who bear your image in this disaster area.
Release your Spirit over the land(s) to bring healing, restoration and health once more.

Protect the innocent children from the after affects of this calamity.
Slow the spread of disease and death by your mighty hand Most Gracious Father.
Reveal your hand through the aid that is delivered to the hurting.
Care for the fatherless, the widow, the orphan and those who are alone.

Dearest Father, the needs are so great!
Stir your people to action on behalf of those whose lives have been destroyed in this disaster.
We commit the multitude of dead into your care, grant them rest.
Bring your peace to these hurting people in the months, weeks, and years to come.

~AMEN~

Great Idea: Asian tsunami crisis

The disaster in Asia has been foremost in my prayers recently. There just are not words enough to  express the scope of this event. The death toll makes 9-11 look like a bump in the road. The images on the news are horrifying.

Messy Christian posted a virtual prayer room on her website. i think it is a great idea! There is as excerpt below.
 

Virtual prayer room: Asian tsunami crisis

Thought it was apt to create a virtual prayer room of sorts on my blogs. In the comments section you can:

   1. post your prayers
   2. post pictures (using outside links. Please limit the size of your pictures to at most 200pixels)
   3. post what you think we should pray about. (I shall put it up here.)

Please post all this related to the Asian tsunami disaster only.

Check out the Virtual prayer room: Asian tsunami crisis.

Christmas is over

I'm probably the only person in the emergent conversation who has not read "A Generous Orthodoxy" yet. Well that is about to change. I received a copy of it for Christmas! W'hoo!

I apologize for the lack of intellectual content over the Christmas season. It always feels like everyone jams 6 months of socializing into a two week period. We are no exception as we have been socializing nearly every night. That does not allow much time for thinking, writing and assimilating new books.

With the Christmas holiday almost over I will have time to read, write and process the second part of my post on God and language and give my blog some serious attention.

Merry Christmas!

I've just finished my traditional Christmas morning breakfast of a cinnamon roll and coffee. While eating I could not help reflecting on the many blessings that God has bestowed on my wife and I this year. I'll forgo the long list of things God has done, as I'm sure you have lists of your own.

My posts have been rather sparse in the last week as Cheryl and I have been visiting with old friends and making new ones. Our calendar has been full as the Christmas season always brings out the social nature in people. We open up our homes, invite people over, and celebrate the goodness of life.

It is this attitude of goodwill and brotherhood that I appreciate most at Christmas time. At this time of year we come closer to embodying the teaching in 1 John more than any other time of year. Unfortunately, we do not sustain this attitude and lapse back into our petty self-absorption in the New Year.

My Favorite Chipmunk Christmas Song.

The other night Cheryl and I were driving home from visiting a friend in Seattle and I heard Bob Rivers - "Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire" for the first time.  I'm a Nat King Cole fan and I think that this twisted rendition of a Christmas classic is now my favorite chipmunk song. Listen to it here.

Thanks Scott for the link.

Where Has Santa Gone?

Have a very merry outsourced holiday!

Just Kidding! Have a Merry Christmas !!!

PSA - Gmail Invites

I know that most of you probably already have a Gmail account these days as all my friends do. As of today, I have 5 Gmail invites to give away. If you do not have Gmail and want an invite, just comment by the 15th of January. First come, first serve.

Merry Christmas!

Empty Christmas

I think this is a great article. i post it not as a bash or rant on the American Christmas Season but rather as a devotional thought for Advent. i'm going to re-read it as i found it to be a very thought provoking article.

"Christmas makes me nervous. The Infinite who came in a feeding trough is not the kind of God I want. He is too powerless for my liking. Such a God is an embarrassment, not just to the Herods of this world, but to all who are enamored with themselves and their own potency. I don’t want this God. I have an inn to offer, decorated for Christmas, not a stinking stall.

God exists in weakness and comes to those who reach up to him with empty hands. He is neither useful nor helpful. He came and still comes, not to solve our problems or answer our questions or fulfill our needs or bless our endeavors, but to expose our problems, to question our answers, to be our need, and to point us to his kingdom. In Christ, God enters time and space to turn our world upside down and inside out. “Valleys are made high, mountains are laid low.” We are left bewildered, undone."

Read more of Have an Empty Christmas by Charles Moore.

The Christmas Gospel

i just discovered a tool for Firefox that allows me to post from a website by highlighting the text and using a left clicking on "Just Blog It." i was over at the bruderhof daily dig and decided to give it a try. The only editing i did was to change the color of the text to fit my posting protocols.

Link from: The Bruderhof Community.

"For many years I was so disgusted by the commercialization that Christmas has endured, so sickened by the terror of consumption, the pressures of buying, giving, and eating, that I did not want even to think of Luke 2. The violent context in which we live had blocked the light of the text, which seemed to me hopelessly instrumentalized for lies. The baby in the manger was embarrassing, like rich almond candy.

The escape of the yuppies – to run away and have a few beautiful days without fuss – was not available to me for family reasons. Instead we attempted to work in the context, to locate the stable in a homeless shelter in Cologne-Mulheim and to find the shepherds again among marginalized youths and vagabonds. They told the story in their way and thereby contributed to our liberation. The text itself remained a piece from the museum. That changed at the end of the seventies, when I learned something historically that had not occurred to me in study and exegesis."