Archive for September, 2006

if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball

Published on September 27, 2006 in zoe/life. 0 Comments

according to meredith, all we want is more time.

all i want is to watch one show on the damned television without hearing one of my friends’ songs. tonight it was this guy. (and an extra special thank you to grey’s anatomy for playing that other song during every single promo spot ever available).

(i think these guys are fantastic, by the way, and you probably should buy their music if you haven’t.)

i don’t mean to be the jealous type; it’s just strange that you can be so close to something you think you want so badly and still not touch it.

do you know what i mean? it’s like i’m back in a group of kids at recess, waiting to be picked. i stand there and watch the person in front of me go. then the person to my left leaves. then my right. soon i have a moat of empty space surrounding me, and i’m starting to question the validity of my dodgeball prowess. actually, though, i’ve kind of been wondering all along, and now it’s like the emptiness is simply confirmation.

i know it’s not like i’ve run out of time. i’m still really young, in the larger scheme of things — if you’re into that kind of thing — and i also know that to judge one’s successfulness against others isn’t a wise life-strategy anyhow.

but some-time-s i just wonder where this story of mine is going.

Email This Post Email This Post +++ Print This Post Print This Post +++ Now that's del.icio.us.

taste that good down-home christian lovin’

Published on September 14, 2006 in ecclesia/church. 10 Comments

i just got my first inside taste of some good, down-home christian lovin’.

about six months ago i moved to a place i never thought i would (read: the desert) to do something i never thought i would (read: work in a church). i was hired to be the “music guy” so i put a band together when i arrived. we got a bass player to come fill in for a couple weeks, and he decided to stay. apparently we were nice or something.

last week said bass player quit. no warnings, no conversations, no problems, just leaving. no arrivals, just departures.

as the backstory comes to light, it turns out that my church has been identified as secretly conspiring with the emerging church, which was not acceptable to my string-plucking friend and his fam.

i simply was not prepared, that’s all. it came out of nowhere and i had no guards watching the gates. it hurt like hell, because not only was Bass Player my bass player, but he was one of my two closest friends here.

but now, sadly, as i type this, he still refuses to talk to me.

oh yes, now i remember why i said i’d never work for a church. it’s that good, down-home christian lovin’.

there have been conversations between him and other friends, though, and there’s a phrase that’s been thrown around a lot. that phrase is: “you need to respect my decision.”

it would seem to me that respect is borne out of understanding, and without that there can be no respect. when i think of other cultures, perhaps tribes that practice cannibalism or beating women or something i would consider horrific and repulsive, i cannot and will not respect them… unless it is somehow clearly explained to me WHY they are doing what they are doing. if the reasoning is sound, then i will be more than happy to recind my inner condemnation and probably even offer a heartfelt apology. even if i still don’t agree, i can at least then respect other paradigms.

but can there be respect without understanding? honestly, can there?

Email This Post Email This Post +++ Print This Post Print This Post +++ Now that's del.icio.us.