"unfortunately"

And while I'm at it (I'm in a ranting mood tonight)...I discovered a new pet peeve today. People who say "unfortunately" in friendly, casual situations. That word should be reserved for business situations, when you're politely relaying impersonal bad news. If you and I are friends, and we have plans to get coffee together, don't call me and say "Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it."

You sound like a salesman. It makes me feel distant from you and like your heart is detached from the conversation. It's right up there with "I regret to inform you" and "This is a mutually disadvantageous situation." Talk to me like a friend, not like a collections officer.

Thanks. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Sunset Negril

Anyone heard of Sunset Negril? Jamaican restaurant in The Continent on Busch Blvd? Don't go there.

Here's the scenario:

Local radio station is promoting this great deal: 1/2-priced (or less) restaurant gift certificates. Spend $15 or $25 on a gift certificate that's worth $50 at the restaurant.

Group of work friends decides to get a gang together for some cheap eats. Buys 3 gift certificates. Oh, one catch: they expire at the end of the month, so better plan immediately. Date is set: Monday, 8/28.

Monday comes...Whoops! Guess what? Sunset Negril is closed on Monday. Weird? Yes. Inconvenient? Yes. Catastrophe? No. Reschedule for Tuesday. Still have about 10 people on board.

Tuesday comes...We get to the restaurant and guess what? Sunset Negril has a sign taped to the door: Open Thursday thru Saturday.

Gift certificates expire Thursday. Guess we're rescheduling for Thursday--the next and last possible opportunity to use the gift certificates that we paid money for. Seeming less and less like a "great deal" every second.

Thursday comes...people have other plans (of course they do--it's the last minute AND the 2nd time we've rescheduled). Three of us are on board. One brings her roommate. How we're going to spend $150, we don't know, but darnit, we're going to have fun.

Oh, but it gets better.

We get to the restaurant...and guess what? They're only serving two items tonight: Jerk chicken and wings. Can we please have an extension on the expiration date? Sorry, the owner isn't here. You'll have to come back tomorrow and ask him. Okay, fine. We're going to use one of the gift certificates tonight. Load us up with jerk chicken and wings.

Waitress comes back...Sorry, wings won't be ready for another hour.

Are you joking? This must be a joke, right?

Long story short (I know, too late): The four of us stay, have jerk chicken, salad, and a couple drinks (which were NOT covered by the gift certificate, by the way). The owner (who suddenly "showed up") granted us a week extension on the remaining two gift certificates. Which still means we can only use them tomorrow, Saturday, or next Thursday (since, if you'll recall, they're not open Sunday through Thursday).

Sorry, but I'm not falling for any more "great deals" for awhile. Janky, non-helpful, and more-hassle-than-it's-worth. That's how I feel about Sunset Negril.

"I blow my nose at you...I fart in your general direction..."

Jury Duty

Got the notice in the mail today.

End of September.

Can't believe it.

I guess there's a first (and, I hope, last) time for everything.

auntie

Brian and Sam are expecting. My little brother’s going to be a dad.

Just tell me what to do!

As I was leaving work today, I encountered one of my pet peeves: an officer standing at the corner, looking at the cars. Why did this annoy me? Because his neon green vest and daily existence at this corner indicated a specific purpose--directing traffic. But he was not directing anything. He was watching.

I pulled up to the corner and looked at him, waiting for some...oh, I don't know...direction? Nothing. I eventually took matters into my own hands and pulled out when there was a break in traffic. After turning, I re-evaluated the situation and laughed to myself. Why did that annoy me? Because I am a direction-seeker. Some people resent being told what to do. I love it. It gives me a sense of structure, a sense of security. A sense of knowing-the-right-thing-to-do, so that when I do it, I don't have any doubts about whether or not I've done the right thing. This morning, I said something like this to my friend Heather. Something like, "I need structure. I need to know what's going on, what to do." Know what she said to me? "Yeah, but you're a legalist." She was smiling. Reluctantly, I had to smile too. Just another reminder of my silly tendency and my need to lighten up.

Structure is good. In general, it helps plans go more smoothly. Children need structure to feel safe. But I am not a child anymore. Real life is messy, and answers are often less than clear-cut. There is no rule book. Some call the Bible a rule book, I call it a principle book. Following God is more like following a person than following a printout from mapquest.

Dangit. I love mapquest.

Another short quote from Derek Webb. Song's called "New Law." Tone is tongue-in-cheek.

"Don't teach me about politics and government, just tell me who to vote for
Don't teach me about truth and beauty, just label my music
Don't teach me how to live like a free man, just give me a new law
I don't want to know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law..."

Lover

I’ve been reading and reflecting a lot on Philippians 2:5–11 lately. Here’s how it reads in the NLT:

Christ’s Humility and Exaltation Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This passage has always been for me a startling picture of God’s love. The transcendent God of heaven coming down to us--not down to the suburbs, but down to the ghetto. Born in a dirty barn. Executed like the worst of criminals. He gave up a pretty plush pad in heaven for that. Not because he had to, but because he chose to. Because he loved us. Loved you. Because he wanted to set us free.

Then, this morning I heard this song by Derek Webb. It expresses a lot of what I feel about this passage in Philippians. It describes God, in the person of Christ, as a Lover. Passionate in his pursuit of his beloved--pursuing her, and pursuing the very best for her. That beloved is us. It's you. Do you know Jesus this way? I don't, at least not much of the time.

The 4th and 5th verses are my favorites. The 4th because it paints the degrading humiliation of Christ's death in a way that is embarrassingly, poignantly real to me. And in the midst of it all, that he was thinking about defending and rescuing me...it's almost too much to take. And the 5th verse describes God's grace in words that anyone can understand. It's like a party where he buys all the rounds and none of your history matters anymore. That's grace.

Anyway, I audio-posted the song below this one. Probably not exactly legal, and the sound quality's not the greatest, but you'll get the gist. If they shut me down soon, you'll know why :). Here are they lyrics:

Lover

words and music by derek webb

Like a man comes to an altar, I came into this town
With the world upon my shoulders and promises passed down
And I went into the water and my Father, He was pleased
I built it and I’ll tear it down so you will be set free

But I found thieves and salesmen living in my Father’s house
I know how they got in here and I know how to get ‘em out
I’m turning this place over from floor to balcony
And then just like these doves and sheep you will be set free

I’ve always been a lover from before I drew a breath
Some things I loved easy and some I loved to death
Because love’s no politician, it listens carefully
Of those who come I can’t lose one, so you will be set free

But go on and take my picture, go on and make me up
I’ll still be your defender, you’ll be my missing son
And I’ll send out an army just to bring you back to me
Because regardless of your brother’s lies you will be set free

I am my beloved’s and my beloved’s mine
So you bring all your history and I’ll bring the bread and wine
And we’ll have us a party where all the drinks are on me
Then as surely as the rising sun you will be set free

This cracks me up

How do you know who your real friends are? They're the ones who will get out of the A/C into the blazing heat to scrape a foreign substance off your tire (or hold the camera to capture it on film--Shannon). The jury's still out on whether it was elephant poop (my vote) or a tar-covered sock (Libby). Either way, kudos to Libby and Teresa, and Shannon the photographer.

Maintaining...

...in a positive sense.

I thought this was profound. Sounds like Josh just stole it from Oswald Chambers (one of my favorite old dead guys), but still.

It hit me--what am I prioritizing? What really matters?

"A pair of what? Pair of ducks?"

So I was thinking today. Well, I've been thinking a lot lately, mostly about guidelines and schedules, but this evening I was thinking some deep, non-work-related thoughts, trying to wrap my brain around some stuff that I've known for awhile but just today struck me in a new way.

Spiritual truths are often paradoxical, full of apparent contradictions. Not that spiritual truth is inherently non-understandable, standing contrary to reason or logic--I don't believe this at all--but rather, that it can often make us pause and scratch our heads. Quote I read today: "Paradoxical statements arrest our attention because of their apparent contradiction, and motivate us to resolve the contradiction by learning and reflection (i.e....questioning our own presuppositions)." This is the difference between a biblical paradox and a Buddhist "what's the sound of one hand clapping" kind of paradox. One is a means to freeing yourself from rational thought, the other presupposes rationality and an absolute truth at the end of the head-scratching road.

But anyway. That was not my deep thought. (If you follow the link, you'll see that I stole that one from Gary DeLashmutt) That was the disclaimer to my deep thought. For those of you still reading, that is.

My deep thought was about one spiritual paradox in particular. The Bible describes God as being both transcendent and immanent. In other words, God is described as being objectively holy, separate, surpassing knowledge, "above and independent of the material universe" (thank you, dictionary.com)...while, at the same time, being subjectively near, within, and personally involved with people. It says that both things are true of God, and have always been true of him. That's hard for me to wrap my mind around. It seems that most of us tend to lean toward one of these attributes or the other (and probably flip-flop back and forth between them). I can relate.

Sometimes, God seems transcendent, but not immanent. This makes him seem cold, distant, indifferent, and disinterested. Sure, maybe he's big and powerful, but he's probably not very nice. Any interaction I might have with this kind of God would be mainly to appease, but ultimately I'd probably want to avoid him. Like the scowling, impossible-to-please father of the rich kid in [insert movie title here]. Stay out of his way.

But then, at other times, God seems immanent but not transcendent. This makes him seem warm, friendly, and casual. This image is more like the cool older brother who you love to hang out with because he's so fun and laid-back and lets you get away with stuff that your mom would never approve of. He's personable and fun to be with, but he's not really very god-like. My interactions with him would probably be like most of my interactions with friends--genuinely enjoyable, but also limited. I don't hestitate to share personal things or needs with those I'm close to, but I'm also not surprised if they don't have the ability to fix my problem. I don't expect my friends to be all-powerful, I just want them to listen and care. Sometimes I have the same expectations of God.

But the thing that totally blows my mind is that the Bible describes God as both. Both. Seriously, think about that for a minute. What would that kind of God be like? What would my interactions with that kind of God look like? What would that kind of God ultimately want from me?

Big questions. I certainly don't have the answers all figured out, but I've seen this paradox fleshed out in one place--the life of Jesus. He was unarguably immanent--he hung out with all kinds of people and got down into the commonplace, dirty-knees reality of human existence. He touched people, welcomed them, and they were irresistibly drawn to him. The majority of people think of Jesus this way and wouldn't deny that he was good and lived a life that demonstrated that he cared about people and about their needs.

But if your view of Jesus stops there, it stops short of the biblical account of who he was and what his purpose was. Jesus attracted a lot of people, but he also royally pissed a lot of people off. Why? Partly because of his claim to be God. He also challenged the bad theology of the current religious people who had rewritten the Old Testament laws to justify their oppression of people and their own self-indulgence. But anyway, the point is that Jesus polarized people's thinking and made outrageous claims that ultimately caused them accuse him of blasphemy and kill him. Seriously, read the book of John--what you'll find is not exactly the sheep-petting, doe-eyed Jesus that most of us remember from Sunday school. Jesus didn't claim that his purpose was to come and teach people how to live good lives and be nice to each other--he claimed that his purpose was to die to pay the penalty for human sin and rebellion against God, to stand in our place and take the punishment we deserved but could never pay ourselves. This is a glimpse of God's transcendence--he unapologetically recognized our sin, the broken, helpless state we were in, and he boldly stepped in as the only one perfect enough to solve the problem.

Anyway, enough rambling. In the process of thinking about this paradox of love and justice, humanity and deity, nearness and separateness, I ended up with a question. Who in the world would imagine a God like this? If God is (as many people say) a fabrication, an imaginary deity who exists only in the minds of people who created him out of their desire to feel important and create a sense of purpose for their lives...if this is true, who would have come up with a God like this? A God whose ways run so contradictory to our own "default" way of operating? A God who is perfectly transcendent, self-existent and perfect, and yet chooses to come down to my level...meet me where I am, speak to the need inside that hurts the most? A God whose standard is perfection (transcendence), and yet let his heart break for us in our inability to meet it and chose instead to come down from heaven, become a man, ultimately to suffer and die just so that we could have a way to come back into a relationship with him (immanence)?

If I were to fabricate a god for myself, I don't think he would look like this. This is way too outside of my frame of reference. My hand-crafted god would probably end up looking a lot more like me.