Comments, Finally

By dint of switching comment templates, and with sage advice (thanks, Karl!) I believe I finally have the comments working properly. [Insert doxology here.]

Mea Culpa

Today, I offended a friend. That it was electronically and not in person does not ameliorate the action. He innocently expressed an opinion that, for whatever reason, on this particular day, touched a sore spot. My response was inappropriate: a tongue in cheek jab intended as humor, instead created the very disharmony I was trying to avoid. I've apologized, of course, but I never should have gone there in the first place.

I can be such an idiot.

Tolerance?

Jeff and Laura have some thoughts to share about the virtue of tolerance, and how it is practiced, or not. If I've done this right, you should be able to click and check them out. (My blog education continues...)

There's a distinction we need to make here that often gets lost: the difference between "tolerance" and "acceptance." Acceptance generally indicates approval. I like what you do, I agree with what you say. Tolerance, by definition, assumes disagreement. We are not going to be of the same mind on an issue, but we are committing to work together and love one another in the face of that.

That's the struggle of Christian witness: acknowledgement of sin as unacceptable in Christian life, while treating with tolerance and love all of those (including yours truly) who continue to sin, and to cling to sinful behavior.

Is it my place to say, "You're a sinner, and not welcome here?" No. My place is to follow Jesus, who ate with sinners, and loved them-- and me, and you-- to the point of torturous death, even while He did not pussyfoot around the problem of evil. To speak out in love about both the unacceptablilty of sin and the guaranteed acceptability, through God's unmerited grace, of the sinner, is a daunting challenge.

Dear Lord be with me, because only through You is this remotely possible.

Committment

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering,
let me be employed for you
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessèd God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen

(taken from The Methodist Church Covenant service, and read by the assembly at the Archbishop of Canterbury's enthronement.)

You Lose Some, You Win some

First, the bad news: Turns out softball tryouts were only three days, not all week. The team rosters were posted this afternoon, and Carolyn's name wasn't on it-- a bad session in the batting cages did her in. Obviously, she's bummed-- angry at herself, mostly, because she didn't do as well as she knows she can. In the same breath, she's talking about tryouts next year, and planning to try out for the all-star team in league ball this summer.

Now the good news: her world geography class held a debate about changing the school mascot (currently, the Indians). Carolyn was on the side in favor of the change, and apparently argued the case successfully enough that her opponent found himself in small, inarticulate pieces on the classroom floor. In fact, so thorough was she that her teacher cautioned her; said she'd never get a date that way (no, I'm not kidding). Carolyn's response? She told him that any guy who can't handle more than one-syllable words, she's not interested in, anyway.

Thank you, Jesus, for strength in body and in mind.

I'm proud of my daughter.

The Liturgy of Writing

One good thing about having to get up and out early: it gives me almost 2 uninterrupted hours of writing time, without having to say "later, honey" to someone I love. As a result, I just finished an 8-page report on baptismal substances and symbols for my Liturgy class (Insert Doxology Here).

Writing is the area in which I find I exert the most effort. Reading is time-consuming, but not impossible; I read pretty fast, so most of the time I keep up with it. But I'm a slow writer, and choosy about words and structure. At first, I think: "2000 words? How will I come up with that much?" Then I find myself doing a switch: "How in the world will I keep this under 2000 words?" In either case, it seems to take forever to develop a coherent argument.

My bishop makes the point that, for clergy, words are part of the stock in trade; prayers and sermons will be occupying a goodly portion of my time in ministry, so I'd better get used to producing them in quantity. He's right, of course-- but brothers and sisters, it's hard work.

"Up and At 'Em, Atom Ant"

I was up at a most unreasonable hour this morning, on transport duty. Our daughter Carolyn is trying out for her high school's softball team, which means she has to be at school by 4:30 am every day this week. Carolyn is not even remotely a morning person, and the fact that she is voluntarily setting her alarm and schlepping herself and her equipment out to the car before the crack of dawn is testimony to what sheer force of will can accomplish. I hope she does well.

I came back and got some reading done, got son Kyle moving and on the bus, then spent the last hour beginning to figure out how this weblog business works. Hunted down a comments blurb (didn't know that was a separate thing), and got that installed and working. HTML stuff is making my eyes cross. It's been a lot of years since I did coding of any sort (FORTRAN, Basic, Pascal-- am I dating myself?), and it wasn't my favorite thing then. Thank God for copy and paste.

I am appalled at the time I've spent dinking around with this blog. Goes to show you the lengths to which a student will go in the effort to feel productive while avoiding any actual work. All right, enough-- back to baptismal liturgies I go.

True Confessions

OK, get it out of your system. All the chortling, all the "I told you so's," all the smug grins and arch comments. I admit it-- I have become addicted to this insidious form of online coffee klatsch. What started out as a blogging requirement for one seminary class, performed under duress, has become a daily staple. One classmate's theological navel gazing led me down the garden path to others, and I was hooked; so here I am. Try to keep your words sweet, for you may have to eat them. Words to live by.