Sir Abelard Thomas Nelson, Earl of Puppydom

As per Shannon’s instructions, I invite the world to meet my Abelard!

Sir Abelard…the best EVER

Playing rock band.

Just blogging to blog

I was informed that I haven’t blogged since procrastinating during finals week.  So here goes:

I tried writing a song last night.  I ended up with two half songs.  One is somewhat adult contemporary love mush blah blah blah.  i think it’s catchy though.  The other is emo. Very.  It has no music, and, with my luck will end up being words that don’t lend themselves easily to music.  Hopefully Adam can figure something out with it.  I was told he doesn’t want to be an original cover band forever.  Me either. I just don’t want to write the songs.  Also, we’re probably going to cover “Killing me softly” because it is freakin’ awesome!

I also am in the market for a desk.  Small, but not cheap.  Preferably legit wood with a dark stain.  suggestions?

And I’m breaking up with Chick-fil-a.  It’s step one on my path to better living.  It will not be easy.  I’ve also worked out 3 times this week.  Yea me!

That’s all.  More serious stuff next time.

Hope…Some Preliminary Thoughts

For my Liberation Theology class we read Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religionsby Rosemary Redford Ruether.  When we discussed it in class, I began to feel a little hopeless.  She spends alot of time discussing poverty and the damage done to the environment and war.  She talks about the symptoms but also about causes.  I’m only going to mention one of the many things she brings up in the book

The gap between rich and poor has steadily grown, with some 85 percent of the wealth of the world in the hands of some 20 percent of the world’s population, much of that concentrated in the top 1 percent, while the remaining 80 percent share out the remaining 15 percent and the poorest 20 percent, more than a billion people, live in deep misery on the brink of starvation.  In 1960 the richest 20 percent had thirty times the wealth of the poorest 20 percent; by 1995 this gap had grown to eighty-two times.  The 225 richest people in the world have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 50 percent of humanity or 2.5 billion people, while the richest three people have assets that exceed that of the forty-eight poorest nations.  This means, in terms of absolute levels of poverty, that in 1999 almost half of the worlds population was living on less than $2 a day, and more than 20 percent of the world, 1.2 billion people, on less than $1 a day, according to World Bank figures.

This disgusts me.  I’m fairly certain that the majority of this wealth is in Western hands (Europe and the United States), and probably white males.  That’s just my guess…I’ve done no research on that.  As we were discussing this and the way “free trade” works, which is basically becoming increasingly unregulated and causing poorer nations to become even poorer by exploiting the workforce, I become suddenly aware of how hopeless I felt. 

I’ve been trying to work this feeling out since Monday.  First, I realized that the world is getting worse, not better.  The whole idea of humans moving forward from hunter-gatherer societies to agrarian to urbanization to so-on-and-so-on is ridiculous.  I think it has taken us further from who we really are.  But that’s a little bit of an undeveloped thought on my part.

I then realized that in our world, money is God.  If nothing else from the teachings of Jesus challenges our way of living (and I would venture to say there are others), Matthew 6:24 should:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth.

This world chooses to serve money.  It has become the task-master of the way we “do business.”  But is this the way it should be for Christians?  I don’t think wealth is a safe thing for Christians.  I don’t think that we should take as “rights” our material things at the expense of another’s physical needs.  Some might argue that we “need” these things, like cars, for instance.  I will be the first to admit that living without a car is not an easy thing to do, but it’s not because I actually can’t live without a car.  It is because our society has structured itself in such a way that many of our wants appear to be needs.  And they do this without recognizing the actual needs of people all over the world.  We’ve become an inward looking nation, and i fear that we will always be until we collapse in upon ourselves and become the exploited, not the exploiter.

Moving on.

I then realized that hope cannot be a merely a feeling.  If it were I think it would be diluted down into a false optimism.  I think it is a sober assessment of this world and a conviction (perhaps there is a better word) that God will set this mess right in the end.  I don’t think it is laziness because it’s going to get fixed eventually, nor do I think it is ignorance of events and problems because they don’t matter if it’s all getting fixed.  I think it is that pure sorrow that comes from watching humanity be treated and act as less than human.  It is that sorrow that leads us to say “Jesus, come quickly.”

Skateboarding

First, I probably won’t blog everday once I actually have time to blog.  Right now, I’m avoiding homework.  Now…on to the actual post.

I have a skateboard.  I don’t use it anymore; in fact, I’m scared to even get on it.  I can’t bring myself to get rid of it though.  I thought about giving it to my sister’s kids, but the last skateboard they had she hosed down and ruined.  I can’t risk that.  I thought about selling it, but what if it goes to a bad home?  I thought about donating it to some charitable cause…same problem.  So i’m stuck with it because I have some strange emotional connection to a piece of wood on wheels.  I realized that this is becoming a spiritual issue when I awoke this morning – it had crept into my dreams!  I don’t remember all the details, but someone had my skateboard because my sister gave it away in a garage sale…she didn’t even make them pay!  I cried in my dream over a skateboard.  I have a problem.  Yes, this skateboard has many fond (and not so fond) memories associated with it.  Yes, I did spend money on said skateboard (and they are not cheap!).  And, yes, the trucks (wheels and all the hardware associated) of the board were a gift (so, perhaps, giving it away seems ungrateful???).  But really…I’m not that possessive, I’ve gotten rid of many other things that remind me of those same years in my life, and I don’t think the person that gave me the trucks cares anymore.

I guess I just don’t want my memories given away in a garage sale.  That’s probably the worst thing that could happen.

A Prayer

You have birthed me and given me new life
You have nurtured me and fed me
You dressed my wounds and wiped away my tears
You held me for no other reason than you adore my childish, autonomous ways
Oh Great God, You are Mother

You have provided for my needs
You have graciously given me my wants
You let my hands go so I could walk on my own
You love me for no other reason than you adore me as a toddler pretending to be a grown woman
Oh Great God, You are Father

You guide me in my search for truth
You allow me to get it wrong sometimes
You correct the mistakes that are too harmful to make
You love me for no other reason than I write my letters with a sloppy hand and a backward J
Oh Great God, You are Teacher

You are with me in the depths of the darkness
You are consumed with passion for me
You are constantly seeking to know me
You love me for no other reason than I am
Oh Great God, You are Lover

You love me for no other reason than I am
I am for no other reason than You are I am

What is it all about?

So I decide to start a blog.  I’m 25 now officially and I think that makes me a grown up.  Blogging seems like something grown-ups do.  We’ll see how this goes.  Chances are, if you are reading this, it’s months, possibly years, since I actually posted it.  You probably just found me and are looking through my archives to see what I have to say.  I suppose I will share what a quarter-century of life has taught me:

1. never wear matching shirt and pants, especially if it’s flower print.

2. mid to late 90s pop and alternative rock is the best.

3. Laziness equals weight gain.

4. War and hatred are overrated.

5. People resort to manipulation and “doomsday” prophecies when things don’t go thier way.

6. Traveling is well-worth the expense.

7. Not all that glitters is gold…sometimes it’s radioactivity.

8. Radioactive materials don’t glow.

9. Love people. Use things. don’t get that turned around.

10.  I’m the only person who thinks I’m right all the time.

11. You can see russia from some places in Alaska.

12. There are some people worth getting up at 6 am for.

13. No job is worth losing who you are.

14. Money is not God.  Don’t let it fool you. (oh yeah, I assume a lot in this blog…like God).

15. Hair will grow in strange places on your face.  Deal with it.

I guess that’s all I have for tonight.  Welcome to the synaptic misfire that is my life.  Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times.  If you are pregnant or have a heart condition, perhaps you should reconsider.  Enjoy the ride.