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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

For Your Consideration

Do you know about the awesome band Mutemath?  If you don't you really need to check them out, they have a seriously cross geneational/demographic/creed/culture kind of sound.  If you do know them, I am sure that I don't have to urge you to listen to these two videos at all.  In fact you probably didn't read this far before you hit play.



Tuesday, April 27, 2010

it's not About Me, at least not entirely

I started this blog a couple of years ago because I would go to a Bible study, or read a book or a devotional, and have some kind of interesting thought or even a revelation about God, or faith, or living as a Christian. I would go home to my empty house and want to tell someone about it, but I lived alone.

Eventually the thought occurred to me to try to write those things out, and even to post them on a blog. But, I didn't really tell anyone about it. And while you're scratching your head, wondering how blogging to no one is different than talking to myself as I stand over the kitchen sink eating my dinner, I'll tell you that it is pretty much the same. And really different.

Writing these things out helped me solidify what would have otherwise been fleeting ideas and revelations. I've learned from the process; and I think that is evident in the writing to anyone who's daring enough to sift through this blog's history.

The point never was to make myself out to be an authority on Christianity. I am neither a dead English apologist, nor a perky blond Texan. This is just me, trying to figure a thing or two out; which may or may not be helpful or interesting to those who happen to wander onto this site.   While I think some of my older posts may have a tone that comes off like I know something that you need to know too, that was never my attitude nor perspective.  Hopefully my tone is more genuine these days.

What you can expect to see from here on out is more of the things that I learn, the things I discover, and the things that interest or even excite me. The occasional video, or image should be expected.  You may even see that the posts become more and more broad, and more loosely related to one another.  That's because I'm learning about God in a whole bunch of different ways, some of them more subtle than others.

What you can expect not to see here are posts about my knitting club, my love for cats or videos of my children.  Not that those things don't make great blogs, but none of them are applicable to my life.  So you may or may not get to know me better.  But I don't feel like that's the point of this blog, anyway.  It's why I never did the obligatory 'About Me' post, so common on blogger.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sacred Matters: Death

What can be more religiously appealing than the mystery of Death?




*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter. If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below. I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well. Check them out at @nickybarger, they're labeled with #tc500


**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

Monday, April 12, 2010

Sacred Matters: Sexuality


Truly universal, sex and sexuality is a facet of the human experience that all cultures have in common.

I think, personally, that there is so much more to God’s creation and design of the sex act than we commonly understand.  I think that we sense this at least to a degree because we take sexual transgression so seriously.  It is also hinted at by the anthropological truth that so many (ancient and even modern) religions have a sexual element to them. 

This religious drive is often expressed in language of fertility, but I think we understand that it is more significant than the mere propagation of the species. 

We can encounter an expression of the divine when engaged sexually, even if we are unwilling to admit a belief in the divine.



*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter. If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below. I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well. Check them out at @nickybarger, they're labeled with #tc500


**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

Sacred Matters: Medicine


Has modern medicine hit a new arrogance? Or has it always been like this?  We can look back at medicinal practices from a few hundred years ago or even those of only a few decades years ago and call them “medieval”. Leeching? Electroshock therapy? But then, some old practices get recycled and spruced up.  Leaching made a reappearance in the late 20th century; and electroshock? Yeah, it’s back too.

I admit, I am a devotee of modern medicine as much as the next person.  I carry Advil in my purse and backpack. If I break a bone, you bet I want to go to the hospital.  I don’t see a need to villainize it either. 

But at the same time, I can’t help but feel like there’s a little monster lurking at the boundaries of our love for modern medicine.  It has something to do with our eventual attempt to create our own immortality.  And if we can do that, we can declare ourselves to be gods.



*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter. If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below. I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well. Check them out at @nickybarger, they're labeled with #tc500


**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

Sacred Matters: celebrity

Celebrity worship is something that is so embedded in our culture, that I think we’ve become so desensitized to it, we engage in it without realizing it. Surely celebrity worship isn’t a new cultural phenomenon. I imagine there was some celebrity worship of Moses, before and after his death. And what about ancient emperor cults? Institutionalized (even legally mandated) celebrity worship.

But there’s a new way that this ancient behavior has functioned in the modern world. Before, legends were passed, monuments and statues were erected and the mythos of the celebrity was more ethereal, intangible and perhaps even more epic. But now, in the modern world, it’s more personal. And for the modern mind, personal is what counts. The introduction of radio, film, television, podcasts and other technological advances have brought the celebrities we wish to worship into our presence in a more personal way. People now speak of having connections with the famous people they adore. They feel that they can relate to this person or that person. They also feel more entitled to judge them as well.

And our modern celebrity worship is also more sneaky. I can enter into the online fan-page-temple of my favorite pop-culture icon in the privacy of my own home. And only my internet browser’s history is the wiser. I can lie to you about my idols, and so I can lie to myself too.

*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter. If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below. I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well. Check them out at @nickybarger, they're labeled with #tc500

**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

Friday, April 9, 2010

Sacred Matters: Film


Have you ever stopped to consider the impact of the films you watch on your life?  

 Our religious instincts are irrevocably connected to our methods of storytelling.  Film and movies (for those of you who make the distinction) are a significant part of how our cultural identity has been—and is being—formed.  We delight in being entertained, and we go to the movie theatre for the experience, and for many that experience includes little food rituals. 

We recognize this when we say that this movie or that one really needs to be seen on the “big screen” because we understand that something is lost when we view these stories on the small screen at home.  Some movies strike us as impactful enough to warrant our time, money, spatial presence and even our discussion. 
Yes we take our movie experiences very seriously.   

Don’t believe me?  Talk really loud through the next film you go to, and see how long it takes for someone to ask you to stop.


*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter.  If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below.  I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well.  Check them out at @nickybarger,  they're labeled with #tc500

**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

Thursday, April 8, 2010

41 blessings in one day

1. I woke up on time (yes, on a day like today, undoubtedly a blessing)
2. I managed to get to my 8 am class on time
3. before I got to class, I actually had time to grab a cup of coffee.
4. and before that, I managed to eat a decent breakfast (this will be even more important in a moment)
5.  I had finished my scholarship application the night before, and was able to head right out to the post office
6. made it to the post office in time to send scholarship materials via priority mail instead of express mail, at a savings of ten dollars
7. because of some very lovely friends, I had my bicycle here in Pasadena, which was a nice alternative to driving my car around town all day wasting gas that I can't afford to buy.
8. had first dental check up in over two years (thanks to my new handy-dandy dental coverage) and have no "problem spots" or cavities
9. I have dental insurance for the first time in years, and because of this, I did not have to pay for my e-xrays or check up.
10.  the bike ride on to my next stop, the DMV, had light traffic, and was mostly downhill.  Yay for coasting.

11. I made it to the DMV to get a shiny new California drivers license just a few minutes before a ton of people, and ended up in a long line, instead of a LONG LONG horrible long line.
12.  Happened to be in line with a lovely lady for about two hours who was very nice, had great stories about her family, and was a pleasant waiting companion.
13.  got inside into the air-conditioned shade of the DMV in under an hour and a half (again, you might not think that this is a blessing, but people behind me in line waited longer than that)
14.  once I got my number inside the DMV to wait my turn, I was told that I should expect another hour and a half wait until my number was called.  It was less than half that time.
15.  the creepy guy who sat next to me in the waiting room, who kept talking to me, was called in first
16.  the nice looking biker setting behind me gave me the "do you want me to take care of the creepy guy?" nod.
17.  I didn't have to tell him yes
19.  every DMV employee I dealt with was actually very nice (well, except one, but she only took my picture, so she hardly counts) despite the fact that the place was crazy busy.
20.  One of those very nice employees yelled at creepy man when he tried to make a pass.  

21.  I managed to actually get some reading for class done while I waited in various lines today
22.  Although it did not occour to me that I should be spending that waiting time reading the California driver's handbook in case they have some crazy laws I don't know about, I still passed.  And yes, there were questions about crazy California laws that I didn't know about.
23.  I realized near the end of my DMV experience that I had not eaten since 7 am, and was gratefully only mildly hungry.
24.  SOMEHOW I was patient through the entire process.
25.  the cute elderly couple I got to watch go through the process of getting ID cards together.  They were easily 500 years old, each, and still twitterpated.
26.  my bizarre temporary paper license that I can send a copy of to Idaho, and will end my woes with the Idaho State Jury Commissioner.
27.  Somehow, I managed to get through the whole DMV process before they closed at 5, thereby avoiding the need for a return trip.
28.  Upon returning to where I had left my bike locked up, it was still there, with nothing missing, and was not boiling hot.
29.  the target store that was close to the DMV:  by now my body was mad at me for not having food or more water (I'd had my water bottle with me, but I'd long since finished it off) so I could go in for more airconditioning, a snack and some water
30.  target carries baskets that will attach to the handle bars of your bike (and man, my backpack was at least 20 pounds.  seriously.)

31.   The security guard at target went out into the parking lot with me and attached the basket to my bike for me since I did not have the necessary tools.
32.  In the TEN MILES that I rode today on my bike (well, it's a ton for me.  don't judge) there were no scary incidents with any other solid objects, moving, stationary, or otherwise.
33. as I pathetically continued to peddle myself home, way too exhausted, sunburnt and dehydrated, somehow I made it home to a big piture of water, and a nice, long, cold shower.
34.  I didn't have to heat up a dinner, I don't think my body would have accepted it.
35.  I was able to stay home once I got home.  I don't think I could have gone out again.
36.  the aloe that I keep in the fridge
37.  the light ice cream that was in the freezer. 
38.  the last of my stock of lactaid that was enough for me to eat that ice cream.
39.  I have lovey friends who would care enough to let me tell them about my crazy day in a list of 38 things that turned out to be blessings.
40.  I can recognize that God blessed me in at least 39 ways today, and I wonder how many more that I didn't notice.

I think some of the circumstances I encountered today could have given me a really bad mood, and then today would have been the worst.  Instead, I kept looking for something lovely, for ways that things went right instead of wrong. 

41.  God blessed me with the perspective today that enabled me to see a busy, stressful day as an adventure full of blessings.  There's no way my human self would have seen it that way if He hadn't of  helped me to.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian? Scorecard: A Stuff Christians Like Guest Post

58. They swear during one of their interviews but it’s a safe Christian swear when used in the right context and they were talking about "hell."= + 2 points 

To add up your score with over a 130 other ideas on this scorecard, visit stuffchristianslike.net.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Cake or Death?

Today we were given an assignment in my theology and culture class; or rather, an existing assignment was altered.  Instead of journaling our thoughts about class, we are to do an act of kindness and then write about it.  I think I might stand on the corner and dance with a sign that says "Cake or Death?".  We can call it the tract for the more visually stimulated emerging generation.

Well, it's a start anyway. 

Or perhaps, I can find something to do that can have more impact than a tract; visual or otherwise.

What are your questions?

Questions can be valuable.  They can prompt us to be thoughtful and deliberate and can stir us up where we are stagnant.  They get our minds going.  They can wake us up.
 
Here are some of mine:

What is the value of anger?  Why do we feel compelled to come to the aid of God as if he were crippled in some way? When is turning around giving up, and when does it mean that you're trying harder? What is judgment? What does God love about the state of humanity RIGHT NOW?  Why do we feel threatened by the choices we have? Why do we like to call our possessions "blessings"? Why do we feel threatened by those who differ/disagree with us? Why do we have a need to abolish questions within our faith? When does the value of the question supersede the value of the answer?

What are yours?

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Quote of the Day

"The world is, to a degree at least, the way we imagine it.  When we think it to be godless and soulless, it becomes for us, precisely that.  And then we ourselves are made over into the image of godless and soulless selves."
The Powers that Be, Walter Wink