sans top...

i happened to take a quick road trip the big town of amarillo yesterday...just to see some family and enjoy a drive in the jeep- 103 degrees, hot and very, very windy...

so on my return tonight, i saw the thunder clouds building in the east...i haven't seen a drop of rain in months...so- i decided to stay sans top, and head on to fallstown...

i must say, most drivers probably tallied me in the idiot catagory, because the lightening was fierce...but, i drove on, knowing it would be a good experience...and it was...i had a minor epiphany about what it must feel like to know there is a threat and wonder if the threat might actually hit you...i tried to imagine all the war torn peoples who live in extreme difficulties minute by minute...i am tired of hearing of nothing but war...i want it to stop...right now...and i prayed that if there was anyone who was feeling what i was feeling, but at a much more intense level, they might be delivered tonight and see the stars again with no looming danger...

i know that bombs and whatnot are not encroaching on every person tonight...the danger lies in different areas...divorce, disease, depression, poverty, domination...it's truly overwhelming...God let the stars shine as well for them...from a little simpleton in fallstown usa...

huh?

It's clear enough: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
End of discussion, end of debate
July 27, 2006

There has been much ado about naming the Trinity. The answer is simple enough that even theology professors ought to get it. If we believe that Jesus is fully human and fully divine, which is a tenet of the Christian faith, then, he ought to have the answer in addressing the Almighty. As I recall my Scripture, Jesus exclusively addresses God as "Father." That settles that portion of the Trinity question. Jesus was, in his incarnation, male. That settles the "Son" portion. In Acts 2:4 it clearly states "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit ..." That settles the "Holy Spirit" portion. It's clear enough, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. End of discussion, end of debate. The defense rests.

Mike Jensen
Overland Park, Kan.


[wow...this was pulled from my humorous read of the layman online...it's likened unto the "it was settled at the councils" quote...is this as painful for you as it is for me?]

calling all chefs...

if you can move, are hard-working, and are good in the kitchen, boy do i have an opportunity for you...











well, i have exhausted all resources save one...the land of blog...these are pictures of a lodge outside of dubois, wyoming and they are in need of some good kitchen help....

the job is hard work- sometimes it's an all day ordeal- but the rewards are great...

you will live on site and be employed for the rest of the season, which ends on labor day... i think...

anyway, they really need a pastry chef...cooking in a higher altitude is a little tricky, but the executive chef is a good teacher...:) if you are interested, check out the website...www.brookslake.com... really, it is an excellent opportunity...if seasonal work is your thing and you love to hike, fly-high fish, just be in the midst of beauty...this place is for you...

this is not an official advertisment...i'm trying to help a sister out...

sad...

this is what is killing my friend...

schoo....ls out...for...summer

well, it didn't look quite like this...but there is no way i could share with you the debauchery that was born in the midst of celebration...

i am signing off from austin for about six weeks...going to the fallstown to do a little pastoral work...run on my favorite trail...hike in the oldest mountain range in the united states...sit at the pub with friends...

this year has truly kicked ass...love to all...

wind of change...

so, i guess the old policy has expired...especially since it is possible that north korea now has this poster with bush's photo in the center...it's always better to rethink the strategy when you consider the golden rule...you know, do unto others as you would have them do to you...jeez, i'm relieved...

good news sunday...

this is the first work of the famous michelangelo...being sunday and all, i spent equal time watching the famous 'osteen' and then calming my brain with ideas of the great people of the world...

"one should not become an artist because he can, but because he must...it is only for those who would be miserable without it..."

i find this to be fascinating...it seems that there are many parallels with the artist and the pastor...it's tedious, and challenging...it involves hours of nonstop preparation...the art of preaching, care, counseling....not to mention the love of humanity and what we owe due to our receiving...

in a day and age where there is much waxing and waning of convictions, i find it interesting that this quote reflects the atmosphere in which the great artist found himself...after lorenzo medici died, michelangelo found himself at the church and the library that existed there...the books and the art...this is what the priest of the church said to him..."we are a school...we have no censors here at santo spirito...there are no forbidden books...we insist that our students remain free to think, inquire, doubt...we do not fear that catholicism will suffer from our liberality...our religion is strengthened as the minds of our students grow mature..."

lately the conversation has revolved around our society having to have the black and white answer readily available...there is no time to think, inquire, doubt...these things reflect a dubious nature...answers wrapped up in the box has been given to us in the scriptures...

i will confess, as i read the blessed words handed down through the ages, there are many times i end up with more questions than answers...i have never found what jesus said to be easy and quick in the answer genre...mr. o this morning said that "we can use negativity to thwart the work of god in our life..." he used jeremiah as a reference and told of how jeremiah told god he couldn't do what god had asked...clearly, he didn't consider the myriad of texts within the same book that reveals many people who were never given the chance to thwart...they were chosen to have hardened hearts and then there were those whose blatent life of wrongness was used despite the situation...

where is the pulpit that allows the wrestling to occur? where is the voice that doesn't hand down a pat formula for how to love or serve? where is the gathering in which the honesty of who we are, truly, is reflected in and within the walls in which the gathered come?

i know i am not alone in this quandry...at least i believe it to not be...these past few weeks have been powerful in formation...i know there are close friends of mine who doubt everything because of painful experiences...but i find good news today in this quote by the priest...

is it truly a sign of maturity when we don't have the answers ready and waiting? or is the maturity in place when we ADMIT we don't have the concise, absolute answer? maybe there is no real maturity...maybe there is...

it's that time again...

everyone has a favorite book...mine, as most of you know, is irving stones' "the agony and the ecstasy"...for the last five years, i have made it an annual event to engage in the lengthy story of the life of michelangelo...stone portrays such vivid things with his articulate vocabulary and i am not even 30 pages in and i wanted to present the world with a chance to swim in this thought:

"the most perfect guide is nature...continue without fail to draw something every day"

the passion with which michelangelo lives his life- from an early age on to his later years- is something that resonates within me...if what stone writes is even remotely close to the truth, for some time now, michelangelo has been my idol...



if i were oprah, i would first comment on the sage's beautiful legs- as would michelangelo- and then add it to the summer reading list...it's a keeper for sure...