Monday, May 21, 2007

Couch Surfing

I had lunch with Howell the other day and we began talking of travel. The one thing I dislike about travel is hotels, they feel impersonal and as if I am really a turist not able to fully immerse myself in the culture. This website may change that. Couch surfing, simply genius. You sign up, get verified through a check and balance system and begin to restore your faith in humanity. Seriously, how great! You can catch a plane to Peru and you have 358 "friends" allowing you to crash on the couch (FREE!!) and willing to take you to a pub to meet their friends. You immerse yourself with your guests, do some dishes, save some cash and not look like a total fool with a fanny pack and glassed over eyes with fear. I am totally down for this, once I am in my own place consider me "surfed."

Saturday, May 12, 2007

photo de (soon to be) Mrs. Blankenship


Try to Blend In
Originally uploaded by Joshua Blankenship.

So, there once (still is) this boy named Joshua who moved out to TX to be with this girl (Mandy.) He takes pretty pictures, you should check out his stuff. Once he gets married he claims there will be a store to buy some stuff. Me, color me skeptical, but if it happens it will be radicalness personified. This photo is one example of the stuff he shoots.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Imagini

Thanks Emery!
This is really cool, it is is like a visual DNA. There are really amazing pictures also, mine really sums me up.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

N.T. Wright

I was surfing the net and reading up on blogs that I love. Came across this quote on Jonathan Dodsons blog by N. T. Wright, enjoy, be convicted.

The point of of following Jesus isn't simply so that we can be sure of going to a better place than this after we die. Our future beyond death is enormously important, but the future of the Christian hope is such that it plays back into the present life. We’re called, here and now, to be instruments of God’s new creation, the world-put-to-rights which has already been launched in Jesus and of which Jesus’ followers are supposed to be not simply beneficiaries but also agents.

N.T. Wright, Simply Christian

-hey, can anyone summarize for me what the deal is with Piper and N.T and the "new" Pauline epistles? I have just heard mumblings of it down in the Noog.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Brother Ron Fender BSG

This is a letter written by "our monk" Brother Ron Fender BSG (brotherhood of St. Gregory.) I post this on the Internet because it is so true, my co-workers are incredible. I have never worked at a workplace before where they actively shun gossip. I am most blessed.

"TO MY CO-WORKERS-
This morning, as I sat in our staff meeting, I looked at the faces of my co-workers gathered around the table. We are, in all honesty, an eclectic rag-a-muffin bunch of people. We get tired and frazzled and sometimes, truly overwhelmed. We see things that most people pray never to see. We deal with things that most people choose to ignore. We try our best everyday to love the unlovable and to bring hope to the hopeless. Not everyone has the capacity to do this work and I believe we recognize a kindred fire in one another. I further believe that this is the Light of Christ. I see a bumper sticker around town that says: Reality Bites. I take this to mean that reality is very un-cool, man. I second that emotion. We live in some really crazy times and there are people bleeding and dying every day. The globe is warming, the war is raging and the homeless...well, don't get me started. But, as the summer bears down on us, and reality rears its ugly, sunburned head, I find comfort in the amazing people who come here day after day, each one committed to doing whatever they can to make someone's life a little better. The staff members here at the Community Kitchen will never be famous, or wealthy. But, when I come to work every day, I am in the blessed company of saints. Why do I call them saints? Because they are cheerful when it would be easier to be miserable, patient when they want to scream, and they come here everyday when it would be so much more pleasant somewhere, anywhere else. Our reality is hard, but it does not bite."

I really love my job, despite, or perhaps because of how hard it is. Please be praying as I prepare to move that God would raise up the perfect job for me. Please pray for the transition, for my co-workers, for a replacement and for all the small things to make leaving easier. These people have made more of an impact on me than they could ever know, they have changed my life. They are now my family, I love them.