Nutrition for the Soul... from an SDA Kitchen No Less

Back in August I posted a rather sad review of the junk (self-interested, superficial, escapist, etc.) food served up from many pulpits week after week. Well, its easy to deconstruct what doesn't nourish, particularly if it no longer tastes like anything to you. The more difficult part is to begin to reconstruct something that's better. (I think the whole local, organic, sustainable foods movement serves as an instructive metaphor.)

A friend of mine, Ryan Bell, is (in my humble opinion) reconstructing a thing of beauty. I encourage you to check him out. His ministry is missional, it's contextual, it's prophetic. I'm really diggin' his fall series on Jesus' Journey to Jerusalem (beginning 3 Sept), taken from the New Testament gospel of Mark; it's real kingdom-come stuff. And should you visit his blog, pay attention to the types of things he's involved in.


Who Would've Thunk It?

I have a confession to make. I have started doing something that I never thought I would. It's nothing 'bad'... really. Although I have recently been tempted to take up a pipe after driving a friend's car full of the fragrance of cured pipe-weed (I love that smell). No, nothing 'bad'. I've just become a contributing writer for a decidedly SDA blog.

Now if you are not SDA or haven't known me very long, you may not get exactly how ironic this is. But rest assured, it is.

The good thing is that no one is expecting me to write on exclusively SDA themes, which is a good thing. I don't think I would know how. As I shared with the moderator, Marcel, who invited me:

I don't usually write about being Adventist and don''t have an authentic Adventist sensibility about much of anything anymore. As I went back to read what I had written that might have ever caught your attention, I marveled at how all themes spiritual seemed to come together in my blogging at that particular moment in August. I imagine my contribution to Re-inventing the Wheel (clever name btw) might be so sparse as to not warrant posting. Not to mention the fact that I struggle to maintain any type of vibrant connection with a local Adventist congregation these days. I would be afraid that my comments on a blog for Adventists by Adventists might not be sufficiently grounded in daily Adventist struggles.

He said that was exactly why he was inviting me to join. So my first post was about Poker (an Adventist no-no) as a springboard toward a better metaphor for life. Check it out.

(The above picture, by the way, use to hang in my grandfather's basement. It's strange how the oddest things can bring back the fondest memories :-)

A Reason to Give Thanks

It hasn't been easy getting use to the way my arm now looks and feels. The most unexpected difference is that while in hiding the hair on my arm has seemed to double in length and quantity--go figure. As a result my arm is now hyper-sensitive. Most difficult to come to grips with is the permenant discoloration I will likely carry with me for the rest of my life. No one ever wants to see his body look this way. And then there's my body's refusal to respond in the way I want it to. I've blinked back tears on occasion.

Even at the age of 18 months, Leslie and my middle child, Kari, already has the gift of empathy. Throughout my forearm immobilization she would routinely walk up to me rubbing her arm; then she would touch my cast and smile the gloom away. Well, today she comes up rubbing her arm and smiling; then begins carressing my damaged wing. I can't put into words how healing it was to feel the courage of her touch. I pray that will remain her gift to the world. We need it.

Thank you, Kari Shell.


Happy Birthday, Jaya!!!

Leslie and my oldest, Jaya, turned 4 today. Wow. Where does the time go?


I'm Free! I'm Free!

I have been without the use of my right arm for 10 weeks. When my arm was casted 30 Oct, I was given an order to have it removed in 4 weeks. Well, when I showed up at the orthopedic clinic Monday morning, 20 Oct, 4 weeks later I was told that my appointment was scheduled for 27 Oct. I asked the nurse if there were any way to work me in since I was already there. She said it would be 4-5 hours. I kindly thanked her and said I would see her next Monday. Then came home to do what a brotha had to do ;-).



The bolt cutters were taking too long.







Not quite what I expected. I can only move my wrist about 20 degrees either direction and can't rotate my forearm at all really. The OT where I've been working says that it may take a year to get it all back :-(. Still it's good to get started.

Life Across the Tracks

When I submitted audio to the Emergent Village podcast, which aired one of my stories a few weeks ago, I included 3 recordings: 1 story and 2 interviews (so hopefully there will be at least one more of these).

Troy Bronsink and I have been slowly birthing an idea for a radio show. Our hopes are to promote the reconciliation of at least 2 rifts: soul to folk and church to culture. We believe there is much to be celebrated on each other's side of the tracks (I live in West End; he lives in Capital View--literally on the opposite side of the tracks) and that to share life like this shows forth God's kingdom. Here is one fledgling attempt to step into God's dreams for the future. It's an interview with a fabulous folk duo, Ryan & Holly Sharp, out of San Francisco, collectively known as The Cobalt Season.