Lent 2012

We are not giving up anything this year but taking up the Bible and prayer.

The Help wants to read from Psalms everyday. For Lent I will actually remind him. Of course, I can see some logistical problems with taking this on. The Help doesn't think too far out in the future, so I'll need to ask him how he wants to handle those times of the week when the readings won't work.
For myself I will take up one more prayer a day. My days have 4 prayers (3 prayers before meals and our night prayers), 5 would be best. I'm on auto-mode in the morning for any thoughtful prayers in the AM.

I used to listen to a (catholic?) podcast of prayers and I can't remember the name of it. It was something with pray or prayer in the title. I do remember they all ended with "In the name of the father, and the son and the holy spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now..."

Anyway, as a couple we are taking on Lent and trying to make this year about growing closer to G-d and less about losing weight.

State vs Church

I can't believe the Roman Catholic Church in America didn't see this coming. Or too blind to think that governments can be confused with social non-profits. No the state is amoral. The same taxes that fund food programs is the same taxes that fund bullets, bombs, secret prisons and black ops.
I hope that not only the RC in the USA gets it,, I hope the Pope gets it too, and remember that we are not to put our faith in princes and principalities.

The Help and I joked that we'd like to raise our future children Baptist (worked out well for me), where they'd go to Black Baptist churches where there are black Jesuses. However the Black Baptist church has mistaken our President as a Black Jesus. Who is he? Not Jesus, just the democratically elected prince of a very large, very powerful principality.

Church Art

Jesus painting 1, a photo by In Shaw on Flickr.

A few years ago I helped my aunt photograph an event at a Baptist church basement with the ugliest black Jesus I have ever set eyes on.
For a funeral I attended another black Baptist church. I noticed in the sanctuary and in the basement several art pieces by the same artist. Much better than ugly Jesus mural. As you can see above the artist uses contemporary Afr.Amer. faces and hair styles to portray 1st century jews. He does faces quite well. Hands, not so much. The Help (my husband) remarked in this painting the artist tried to show the waves of water.
This was some of the best, non mass made, African American religious art that I've seen inside a black chruch. The best was in a college Catholic Church (more Latino than anything), in the vestible of the St. Augustine Catholic church in Gainesville, FL. The piece was of St. Augustine, though dark skinned had northern African features.
Anyway it is good when churches are a place to experience the arts, besides music.

Weird dream stuff, probably about work

Without getting detailed, I had a dream last night and I think it was about a problem I have a work. My conclusion is that I should take on the theology of a bumper sticker, to let go and let G-d.

The dream I was the best man (person) of a crafty-diy lesbian wedding at a British Anglican Church. The couple was busy being giddy and I, was not too thrilled with my position, but I had a job and I was going to do it. I had to make a decision about whether or not to buy a bottle of wine for twenty pounds (that's how I know I was in Britian, though no one had an English accent) or forty, knowing that I'd have to eat the cost. And there were other issues in order to get the whole thing going that the couple were too busy to answer. But I had a job and I do care about doing a good job.

Same thing at work. There is a project about something I did't care about and whenever it is done I'll forget all about. However the organization and cataloguing, I thought I found a good solution to, but my boss doesn't like it and thinks it looks too complicated. I think the other system proposed creates more complication down the road. My idea isn't getting much traction with the decision makers, so after tomorrow I'm letting go of my idea. Take it, reject it, whatever I'm done giving any emotional and mental energy to something I honestly don't care about. But I care about doing a good job. And I'll just do as directed, once direction comes forth.

Until then I'm going to do self-directed projects on stuff I do give a d@mned about.

Psalms for 2012

In 2012 we are going to try to do more reading of psalms like it was done in the house that the Help left before joining me here in DC. After dinner the head of the house would read a chapter from the book of Psalms, if enough household (family and boarders) members were around. So far in 2011 we've been haphazard. When we do read, it is two readings. One from the New King James, read by the Help, and me following with a 'dramatic reading' of the same chapter from the Message.
To any who read this may the Lord bless and keep you in 2012 and beyond.

Christmas- Advent and humbug

The decor is all the Help's work.

But I did chose the color of the ribbon he used.
Help: Don't we have any red ribbon?
Me: Purple and pink are perfectly fine advent colors.
Help: Should I go out and buy some red ribbon?
Me: No. It's Advent dammit, use the purple and pink. When we hit Christmas season you can put up all the red you want. Besides the red ribbon I have isn't for the outdoors.

Commerically the Christmas season started sometime in October. That's when I started seeing x-mas crap in Home Depot and some stores. Prior to Thanksgiving, I'd scream at the TV when a commerical for "holiday" shopping came up, "Not even Halloween/Thanksgiving yet!" Now that we are in the commercial Christmas season, my nod has been to online stores. Spiritually, it's Advent. What do I do during Advent? I dunno. It didn't really stick that well when I was an Episcopalian, and as a Catholic, I sort of acknowledge the season, with the two colors that dominate my ribbon collection. And sing Christmas songs....

MST3K for the Christian Movies

This weekend the Help and I snuggled up with some Netflix movies that have been sitting on top of the DVD player, one being a film, No Greater Love. It's one of those Christian faith-based, faith inspired movies with seriously uneven acting and poor character development. This is one of three point five Christian films we've seen in the past year. Two I had seen before but wanted to share with my new husband. Being home, I and sometimes we, like to loudly add our own commentary to the films, regardless if they are big budget Hollywood, mid budget Bollywood, or I'm not sure what the heck your budget was movies. Christian movies, that strongly wish to spread the gospel about our lord and savior, get the same critical treatment.
What really bugged us for No Greater Love were the male Christians. When the main character, an agnostic man trying to get his long lost now-Christian wife back, was arguing with the pastor of her church, the pastor kept smiling. It just seemed weird. The old friend of the main character, who attended the same church as the long lost wife and the pastor, had this goofy look on his face most of the time. Except for one scene where the guy bothered acting. We know the look was to show how happy and wonderful it was having Christ in his life, but really, REALLY? Don't get me started on the character development of the women in these films. One word, doormat.
The exception to the woman as doormat was in Faith Like Potatoes. Slightly uneven acting there too, but let's say the non-actor types weren't pushed 10 miles before their abilities as the American Christian films were. Faith Like Potatoes, is based on a real life South African white farmer, who comes to Christ after failing on one farm and starting up another. His wife expresses her fears and doubts and just doesn't let things just happen to her.
Third film starred Kirk Cameron, in Fireproof. Acting talent ranged from good (Cameron), to regional theater not bad, to answered the announcement at church for parts in the production. I'm sorry poor acting bugs me and is distracting. The story is good and the development for Mr. Cameron's character was good and showed beliveable transformation, but everyone else, a little flat.
The .5 movie in the bunch we watched this year was a short film, produced by some church out west about the story of Hosea. I can't remember the name of the film but it stars a woman, who used to be in the adult film industry before she found Christ. Loosely based on the Bible about the prophet Hosea, it is about a preacher who marries a former stripper. Seriously uneven acting, but unlike the other films the main actor isn't the best actor.
Maybe it is a rule somewhere that religious movie productions must have uneven acting. I once came across a Hindi movie/ tv show (in hindi without English subtitles) and immediately could tell it was a religious themed production as it seemed they grabbed Sanj from the back of the temple to play the monkey god.
The best Christian movies that I can think of off the top of my head is the Lord of the Ring trilogy, followed by the eight film series of Harry Potter.