tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86419286036285965152012-01-29T15:16:52.539-06:00Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.comBlogger851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-43422263674878071822012-01-27T12:53:00.000-06:002012-01-27T12:53:24.337-06:00

if some nice old lady tells you that "You're real stout! I used to pack that much, too!" she is really saying "You're real strong! I used to be able to carry that much, too!" Some other nice Kentuckyisms: "Tomorrow it'll pour the rain for sure" = It'll pour "Call me if you don't care" = Call me if you don't mind "You'uns" = South: "Ya'll," New England: "Everyone"

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-76784216329306175062012-01-26T17:05:00.000-06:002012-01-26T17:05:41.787-06:00

"Jim Scott is coming to do the plumbing inspection later this week," "Jim Scott, family runs that store on the edge of 89 and 2004? His brother-in-law was just by my place cleaning the gutters," "Yeah, his daddy and mine used to hunt together back in the day," "Mmmhmm, way-uhl, get that inspection done and I'll have Mac's dry-wallers come by later on then," "Mac's a great guy, married my

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-62442339624826930532012-01-24T19:51:00.000-06:002012-01-24T19:51:52.054-06:00

"in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and rest is your strength." quietness is my word for 2012. what is quietness? not silence because silence is a negative thing. you're silent when you have nothing to say or when there isn't any music on or when the lawnmower next door finally shuts off. silence is absence. quietness is presence. the presence of active waiting, active

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-41502136681392445682012-01-21T12:00:00.001-06:002012-01-21T12:02:18.805-06:00

"Switching denominations is anti-ecumenical" - Utopian Dreams If you really believe that denominations all point to Christ, and you switch denominations, then you are searching for something besides Christ. I flirted with a lot of different denominations last year, and fell in love, particularly, with the concepts behind Catholicism and Anglicanism. I spent a month in an Anglican monastery and

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-53398455923769026562012-01-21T11:54:00.001-06:002012-01-21T11:55:22.293-06:00

My New Years resolution was to blog three times a week. I've started late, but I want to keep it up this time. I've disconnected my blog from Facebook, so this is the last time I'll link from the FB. I'm changing my blog again - it was too stressful pulling work anecdotes out of thin air, and storytelling isn't really my favorite thing, either. So I'm just going to ramble, for my own sake, to

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-6155107533342978482011-12-15T17:53:00.000-06:002011-12-15T17:53:00.327-06:00

Monastery Reflections from my time there last April There's no entertainment here. So little things are delightful. While we stood silently behind our chairs before breakfast this morning, we saw rabbits outside on the hill. It was lovely! I could have watched for hours! And this happens every day - yesterday there was a sunset, the night before the moon was out. There's a tree, there's a bird

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-91330454513621470862011-12-14T21:17:00.000-06:002011-12-14T21:17:57.905-06:00

Monastery reflections from my time there last April  Prayer is five times a day. I only go to three. But I add up times, and it comes to the exact amount of church services that I've missed in the last full year of not attending church at all. God gets last laugh.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-49424229866599114162011-12-13T20:52:00.000-06:002011-12-13T20:52:06.602-06:00

Monastery reflections from my time there last April. What a charming little old kindly looking weathered priest, visiting for the weekend. He's simply lovely looking - round face, wrinkled eyes. But I think that I’m gotten too attached to silence. I’m irritated out of all reason when he laughs aloud to his lunch book - during our daily silent lunch (all meals are silent at the monastery - like

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-27898212408533901432011-12-12T19:31:00.000-06:002011-12-12T19:31:37.497-06:00

Monastery Reflections from last April It's hard not to get the giggles in services sometimes. Examples: - when the we pray to the "Adorable Holy Spirit." I know we're using the ancient sense of adorable. But... the image is stuck. I'm trapped with a cozy, cutesy third person of the Trinity. - the old monk struggles with his hearing aid and everyone just plunges on through the Eucharist with

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-36516482745344890502011-12-11T10:00:00.000-06:002011-12-11T10:00:00.259-06:00

The monks look so different outside of chapel. In services Brother P. is majestic, with a deep, strong, mighty voice inside a beat up and lame body. The lines of his body are sharp and defined. He looks and sounds regal. When he's in the role of priest at services, he's so intentional: hands lifted, bread up, never a smile, chants faster and with more purpose than the other monks. I bump into him

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-69719271166844308092011-12-10T10:00:00.001-06:002011-12-10T10:00:00.693-06:00

During the Eucharist we pass the peace. I am next to the ancient monk today, bent up double in his chair. I reach for his hand to shake it and he pulls me down, just beaming through all his wrinkles – then KISSES me, smack, smack, on each cheek.  “Christ is in our midst,” “He is and always will be.”  I hold on to how old and silky smooth and thin his cheek felt for the rest of Eucharist. Christ

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-41483135125931503652011-12-09T09:18:00.000-06:002011-12-09T09:18:16.550-06:00

I found all my writing from the monastery, and I'm going to post a few thoughts a day for the Christmas season to get these out. They're pretty short. Hopefully they give a taste of my time there. “You don’t mind the silent work?” Brother A inquires. I am still finding the silence really restful. “Good. The usual procedure, is to talk, only when necessary for work, and as briefly as possible.”

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-44652363766829180082011-12-05T19:42:00.000-06:002011-12-05T19:42:54.192-06:00

it's snowing, just a little bit, at the job site. when i'm sawing wood, i can't tell if it's sawdust or snowflakes that are blowing all around everywhere. it's freezing cold. i'm wearing seven layers (count them - long underwear, t-shirt, plaid cotton, plaid flannel, wooly sweater, plaid lined jacket, windbreaker) but it's so windy and so freeking damp that you just feel chilled all the time. --

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-68732663726532562462011-12-04T09:25:00.000-06:002011-12-04T09:25:33.132-06:00

nobody is in the coffee shop yet this morning. it smells delightfully like pine trees and coffee and weed. the guys behind the counter are swapping stories about finals preparation. the christmas music is slow and jazzy and i am cuddled up on a squishy leather couch pretending to write another Statement of Intent but really soaking in a warm bubble bath of smells and sounds and tastes. i love

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-44995401687278527302011-11-13T07:31:00.002-06:002011-11-13T07:31:09.157-06:00

they should have an AA equivalent for spiritual things. love, me dear you, they do, hon. we call it church. even more love, jesus

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-44285726741084607552011-11-10T15:40:00.000-06:002011-11-10T15:40:07.077-06:00

Why do some days seem so long and others so short? Today went by soooo slooooowly! We got a lot done, but it just seemed to really drag. T and I started to go all crazy at 3ish (highlight: T telling me "lean on her!" and then when I did... dropping me, and herself. Quote: "That wasn't leaning! That was your whole weight!") There was another day, too, that was even worse. We all wanted to eat

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-123153553780350462011-11-08T07:38:00.001-06:002011-11-08T07:39:24.481-06:00

We're building a new house! I'm super duper excited. This is what I wanted to do in Kentucky - learn to build houses. So here is how we lay a foundation in Kentucky. Monday: We ripped up the old foundation with a backhoe, then dug out the new one. I got to use the little thingy that checks if you're level, and use my thumb to tell Steve, on the backhoe, whether the hole should go deeper or stay

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-2756028659515155532011-11-05T11:47:00.000-05:002011-11-05T11:47:09.163-05:00

"how do you keep from being preachy?" - rolling stone"the key is not to contrive it - don't bring the same level of indignation to things you don't feel. as long as you keep it as honest as you can to your own feeling, then you hope it doesn't become a pure parlor trick" - jon stewart it's hard to be loving towards people when you are very concerned with your own identity. in particular when you

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-35589405827296010572011-11-03T16:03:00.008-05:002011-11-03T16:07:57.038-05:00

Sometimes it seems like the curtain between spiritual reality and physical reality gets pulled back a little bit, and you're allowed to dance in the sunbeams before it falters down again. Last Sunday, before church, Jesus found me at BC&T, while I downed soy chai tea lattes and read old journals. Ideas that I'd been mulling over for months suddenly connected to each other, too quickly for me to

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-60550012992346731082011-10-22T10:40:00.000-05:002011-10-22T10:40:36.222-05:00

I am going to die by dog. I know it. It might be while I'm going running down Sand Lick Road, and one of the crazed, bloodthirsty coon dogs breaks the chain off its doghouse and rips to me little bitty shreds. It might be from a deadly virus that I pick up cuddling participants' dogs while they wash my face with their disease infested tongues. It might be from careening off a cliff trying to

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-47965253222811235222011-10-15T12:40:00.000-05:002011-10-15T12:40:31.151-05:00

Mrs. Mary J was my absolutist favorite participant. We were at her house working for about three weeks, and while we were there we blew insulation into her roof, replaced a huge picture window in her living room, and built an 8x10 porch with a roof for the back door. It was my favorite kind of work - fast-paced, interesting, pretty easy to figure out but sometimes pretty challenging to implement 

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-34780931729847149452011-10-13T16:32:00.000-05:002011-10-13T16:32:41.571-05:00

Here's what it looks like to write an essay for graduate school: Google: "How to write a personal statement" "Yale statistics" "Yale GRE scores" "Notre Dame GRE scores" open word document. read 11 pages of drafting. cut. paste. read opening paragraph. read it again. Google: "catchy opening statements graduate school" "gradcafe.com MDiv personal statement" "Boston College admissions" "Boston

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-8476799967110172392011-10-10T12:22:00.000-05:002011-10-10T12:22:37.290-05:00

so i went to get contacts this morning, and they're all adjusted to my astigmatism, which means that everything is weird. driving was a little wonky. i kept blinking really slowly and moving my head baaaack and fooooward. Things just seemed off. things got weirder at the used bookstore, because i spent a lot of time thinking that i was in the large print, large bound section, and trying to find

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-36436537136564409332011-10-03T17:56:00.000-05:002011-10-03T17:56:33.875-05:00

April 2011. The last week of Lent before Holy Week begins.A monastery in the South of England. I've been here for a week and will be here for three more. Today John cornered me after chapel. “Are you doin’ all right?” I’m not so great at UK accents, but he’s either from Northern England or Scottland (later I’m confirmed that yes, he is from the north of England). “Because ah I keep seein’ you

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-6959492150186758712011-09-28T16:56:00.000-05:002011-09-28T16:56:51.549-05:00

Kentucky road are like New England roads except younger and more confused. I feel like New England roads are curvy in a much more peaceful, old sort of way. I guess that I get the vibe that NH curves make sense.   They seem more gracious to the average driver. Kentucky curves never made it out of adolescence. They just JERK and LEAP and go BACKFORTHBACKBACKFORTH like they just can't. make. up.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-86830643577550505442011-09-23T13:18:00.001-05:002011-09-23T13:18:22.726-05:00

I found a winter coat that I really wanted a few weekends ago. It was a beautiful dark green wool coat, and it fit perfectly. When I tried it on, I felt like Audrey Hepburn, and I should have moved to New York and worn cute vintage heels and had a real job doing something that required showering before work instead of after work, and wearing purple eye shadow, and also getting a paycheck.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-83549677937384136712011-09-20T16:41:00.002-05:002011-09-20T16:58:08.288-05:00

I cut my knee last week at work, and Mrs. Mary J, our participant, loaded me up with sympathy, bandaids, and some Appalachian advice to stop the bleeding: recite Ezekiel 16:6. Some Wikipedia background on this: Bloodstopping refers to an American folk practice once common in the Ozarks and the Appalachians, Canadian lumbercamps and the northern woods of the United States. It was believed that

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-15366047072802017802011-09-18T08:59:00.001-05:002011-09-18T09:05:35.073-05:00

Mrs. Mary J needed insulation blown into her roof last week. Something happened while I was standing there on the ladder, peering into the attic, holding up the plastic tube, while my co-volunteer shoving insulation into the air blower on the ground and Steve bumped around in the roof, blowing lint and whatever else they make this dirty, gray, blowing insulation with. Something funny was going

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-21554249293315233682011-09-16T13:48:00.000-05:002011-09-16T13:48:51.017-05:00

Two months ago a vegan moved into my community house. A panic attack hit the house (most particularly, hit our gourmet chef in residence, who was halfway through making his sauted apple/pork loin dinner). Discussion ensued! (what exactly does she mean by "no animal byproducts"? Forget animal byproducts - what's a byproduct???) Questions surfaced! ("so can she eat eggs?") And I decided to go on a

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-81806733314817766302011-09-14T19:08:00.000-05:002011-09-14T19:08:37.420-05:00

I got behind in posting some of these, so the next batch of posts are a bit old. It rained today in Kentucky. I've been here since May, and today was the first "Rainy Day" we've had. Apparently it takes a hurricane's sideswipe [Lee's]  to get some all out rainy days. It does rains here, but usually loud and demanding and short cloudbursts - "GET OFF THE ROOF, SHE'S ROLLING IN!" - that take you

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-81305233291040199082011-09-02T18:38:00.004-05:002011-09-03T14:41:22.111-05:00

For the first time today, I loved Kentucky. I was up on the roof, 95 degrees out, wearing my cutoff t-shirt and a 10pb tool belt. Sweat was beading up and rolling into my eyes, and I could feel my arms getting a sunburn. I'm crawling around on all fours, holding an electric drill in one hand and a fistful of screws in the other, dropping twice as many screws as I get into the roof. My fingers

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-21522815685736984452011-08-24T21:30:00.002-05:002011-09-03T14:37:51.804-05:00

A discarded article I wrote up for a CAP publication. It was a little too negative towards the group people for 'em. I thought I'd share it here. I had a lot of expectations coming to the Christian Appalachian Project. They were all good, hopeful expectations that propelled me with lots of joy and excitement down to Kentucky. I expected that I would learn how to do useful things like install

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-45910241087856283672011-08-20T06:12:00.000-05:002011-09-03T10:48:06.428-05:00

I found the first half of this poem saved from 2008. I wrote the second verse this morning. My manna dries up overnight - I collect it relentlessly, stuffing worn canvas bags until my back and hands and legs are raw from the desert sun. And then in my tent, I finally rest and let the flaky bread melt on my thirsty tongue. And I sleep satisfied. The sun rises over cold sand and my empty

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-62256533924261718262010-08-27T16:01:00.002-05:002011-09-03T10:28:39.296-05:00

Angry and disillusioned with evangelism. I'm particularly frustrated with evangelism to our friends. The people that we love the most are the people that we objectify as salvation targets. And even more frustrated with the fear that arises in a religious community when someone starts to "question". Oh God! She's reading Dawkins! He's taking a class on quantum theory! He's experimenting with drugs

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-47876236739012487932009-08-11T14:55:00.004-05:002011-09-03T14:54:29.272-05:00

I want to be responsible with my money, and I want to live only within my means. I also want my "means" to be not "what I can afford" but to give as more than I can afford and live under those means. I don't want to be so tied to buying things and having things. I'm afraid of wrapping myself up in life's junk, when so many people don't have anything at all, and so many ministries need resources,

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-13382399067136162882009-08-09T06:08:00.001-05:002011-09-03T10:32:47.486-05:00

More thoughts of work and sanctification. When I work ten hours instead of six hours, the difference isn't working the actual four hours more, it's thinking about working the extra four hours. It's not hard to work from noon to four, but at nine there is a huge difference in my mind between staying for three more hours, and staying for seven more hours. I guess that this is what makes Chinese

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-69688916249704824182009-08-07T17:49:00.005-05:002011-09-03T14:45:38.926-05:00

I feel like I spend a lot of time praying that God will "use" me. I am always asking that I will be a light at my work, in my classes, and in my friendships, and praying that God will make me useful for His kingdom. It's easy for me to ask to be a helping hand or a word of encouragment when my friends are struggling. In classes, I want to show my professors that Christians not only think well,

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-1005130238924574572009-06-27T06:04:00.003-05:002009-06-27T06:08:21.611-05:00

Life is full of things that we "have to do." Not just working, but brushing our teeth, washing dishes, taking showers, going food shopping, and sleeping. When I get out of work in the afternoon, I'm not any more "free" than I was when I was being paid to serve people coffee. I still "have" to do a lot of things. Life is just one "have to do" after another. But to do all of the "have to dos"

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-74695482121140819632009-05-11T16:36:00.004-05:002011-09-03T14:14:21.707-05:00

"SECULAR MEDIA FOCUSES ON THOSE WHO TRY BUT FAIL" "So Mel Gibson's getting flack for having an affair — something that never happens in Hollywood, but newsworthy because he's hardcore Catholic. Meanwhile, Carrie Prejean continues to be crucified — she's a Christian who posed topless to get work. And of course, there's Bristol Palin — unwed with a baby, talking abstinence." This is a clip from an

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-16236921508724951002009-05-06T10:30:00.007-05:002011-09-03T14:09:32.953-05:00

Thinking about love again. Been trying to do the "love your enemy" thing.  Loving people that are difficult to love. Loving people that don't love you back. Loving people that hurt you, or loving people that are bottomless pits of love, or loving people that you'd rather just bash into the ground. My love doesn't change them. They don't notice my love, or they don't care, or they try to use it

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-81051798720447048002009-05-03T15:01:00.000-05:002011-09-03T15:08:38.649-05:00

Adapted from a reflection paper for my Nietzsche and Secularization class. Good stuff in that class. No one wants to talk about Jesus! This includes, to differing extents: Nietzsche, Taylor, my Christian friends, my Buddhist friends, my atheist friends, my favorite Christian rock band growing up, and... me. It’s always about God. Or maybe about “Jesus as Teacher.” Jesus as God is either

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-82620579127208958172009-04-30T14:24:00.001-05:002011-09-03T14:59:44.816-05:00

I am caught in an Enlightenment puzzle of predestination. Charles Taylor, Catholic theologian, sums up the paradox of Christianity and sin nature: it is “why, in spite of knowing we are born to the highest, we sometimes not only inexplicably choose against it, but even feel that we cannot do otherwise. The symmetrical mystery is that God can act to overcome this incapacity – the doctrine of

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-11094341304771313312009-04-03T14:16:00.000-05:002011-09-03T14:17:46.858-05:00

I always used to ask, "is this it?" in a horrified, unbelieving tone - getting up, going to work, getting paid, buying what you need, going to church, making friends, shopping for clothes and on and on and on. I read Mara, Daughter of the Nile too many times and honestly could not believe that life would ever be anything other than an epic adventure story where not only does the girl save the day

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-68923064040290912052009-03-26T10:26:00.000-05:002011-09-02T20:34:26.726-05:00

"Kierkegaard is widely considered to be the father of existentialism, and within Fear and Trembling we see him propounding a 'philosophy of existence', self-conscious thinking about human existence itself. He writes not dialectically, but personal, novelistically, and using pseudonyms..." im tired. i cant believe its raining on my deerfield fair party. that kid looks like jess from gilmore girls

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-83064620674050465792009-02-02T08:17:00.001-06:002011-09-02T20:23:02.307-05:00

It's so hard to plan for anything when the factors keep changing. Which is the point, I guess. There is no magic equation for "being good" or "doing good"  because no matter how well you plan, or no matter how many variables you factor in, everything can change in a second. I can't plan a "righteous day" out and make a roadmap of how I'll respond to every situation because I just can't possibly

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-40229526978964527552008-11-28T22:30:00.000-06:002011-09-03T14:22:33.162-05:00

But I tell you who hear me:Love your enemies,do good to those who hate you,bless those who curse you,pray for those who mistreat you.If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.Do to others as you would have them do

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-20975445292790639542008-11-27T20:59:00.007-06:002011-09-03T14:20:39.865-05:00

I only have three days left of this blog challenge and I have absolutely nothing to say. Well, I have lots to say. I shan't say it all. Half of it's repetitive.  I don't usually think about "new things", I just dwell on the old things in different ways for weeks and weeks until somehow it starts to make sense to me, or starts to actually affect my life. There is nothing new under the sun. Or in

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-28908499343558508982008-11-26T20:46:00.004-06:002008-11-26T20:47:26.863-06:00

Isn't it interesting that we either spend our life cultivating goodness or badness? There is no in between. Either we're getting better or worse - there's really no such thing as moral stagnation.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-22112753710849145752008-11-25T21:46:00.006-06:002008-11-25T22:20:04.465-06:00

All your friends will laugh at you if you switch majors... again.The reason that I left Humanities was because smart people made fun of me and looked down on me because humanities isn't a "real" major.You're only quitting the major because you're lazy and don't want to work hard or think hard.I only switched into philosophy because I was looking for an "identity" as a philosophy major, not

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-31030503657012742252008-11-24T08:36:00.002-06:002008-11-24T08:39:37.064-06:00

Courtesy of Dr. Seuss.You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?How much can you lose? How much can you win?And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?Or go around back and sneak

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-78631075230049706102008-11-19T19:29:00.007-06:002008-11-19T19:59:17.995-06:00

Freedom is responsibility.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-86540617768628813492008-11-18T14:14:00.003-06:002008-11-18T14:19:23.023-06:00

Isn't it weird that what we call "us" and our "personality" is so dependant on sufficient sleep, proper vitamins, lots of sunlight, exercise, and a perfect deluge of other factors?Or is it weird that we only like to call "us" what we are, all other factors being perfect? ("This isn't really me - I didn't get enough sleep last night... I'm not usually ___, it's just winter.... Sorry I'm so cranky,

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-45910715979897253472008-11-17T20:07:00.003-06:002008-11-17T20:20:04.187-06:00

I get home from school. Had a longish day. Some good, some nasty, some lazy, some whatever. I left school frustrated, feeling very overwhelmed for my campus and the church and feeling so useless and sinful but wanting to do something, to be part of God's movement, to serve Him in a big way right here on campus but seeing no way, no place to do it. I prayed for open doors, to see what He wants, to

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-318194044765948022008-11-16T17:28:00.005-06:002008-11-16T21:34:45.453-06:00

Tonight I had the most meaningful experience that I've had all month.I washed the dishes.It felt real and right and yes it's silly because some people have to wash the dishes three times a day and chores are normal and it's like when duchesses used to have little gardens to play in so that they could pretend to be the laity for an hour because it was so "quaint." Well, it wasn't really that. It

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-47497669695531760192008-11-15T19:23:00.006-06:002008-11-15T19:41:40.427-06:00

Jesus, I don't understand.You call me away from small and weak and silly things to love big and beautiful things.But I don't have a taste for your things yet.I like Oreos and Arbor Mist and McDonald's.You're offering me gourmet - European chocolate, $100 dollar wine, caviar - but Jesus -I don't really like it that much.I know it's better.It just tastes nasty.So how am I supposed to survive in the

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-49058458445715273132008-11-14T20:54:00.000-06:002008-11-14T20:54:36.194-06:00

A + B = CTurn L on Route 16, second house on RLaundry washed and folded.Completed papers due on my desk at the beginning of class."Welcome to the 4000fter club"complete, finish, end, finale, wrap up, destination, goal, final, conclusion, purpose meaning reasonEverything I do is so that I can be done. Everything I do is so that I will win. So that I will have accomplished something. Everything is

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-47652537682129218452008-11-12T16:34:00.004-06:002008-11-12T19:10:44.048-06:00

You know the passage where Christ meets the "rich young ruler"? What we remember is that Christ tells him to give up everything that he had. What we forget is that at first, when the rich young ruler asked how to get into heaven, Christ didn't even mention money or lifestyle. He just told him to follow the commandments - and only after the man said that he already followed all the commandments

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-3227832191958669842008-11-10T20:51:00.003-06:002008-11-10T21:02:19.021-06:00

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-45398004751476126852008-11-09T21:27:00.002-06:002008-11-09T21:47:14.582-06:00

It's very dangerous to surround yourself with people that agree with you. You usually end up thinking about how wonderful you and your ideas are after an evening with like minded folk. I scratch your back, you scratch mine - we can all sit in a nice circle and think nice thoughts about how clever we all are, and how much fun it is to be us and to be thinking such wise thoughts.Come to think of it

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-48604813595935368742008-11-08T19:49:00.004-06:002008-11-08T20:03:31.522-06:00

I'm overtired. I have a headache. I have homework. My alarm is set for 6:30AM.And I have to write a blog post?!?Well, I made it for a whole week. That's got to count for something.All right, the clock is set for five minutes: here is what I am thinking about for the next five minutes.Isn't modern culture funny? We drive up, tell someone what we want to eat, they make it, and one minute and

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-65261192443957930392008-11-07T13:27:00.004-06:002008-11-07T13:39:24.613-06:00

If I start writing nowWhen I'm not really restedIt could upset my thinkingWhich is no good at all.I'll get a fresh start tomorrowAnd it's not due till WednesdaySo I'll have all of TuesdayUnless something should happen.Why does this always happen,I should be outside playingGetting fresh air and sunshine,I work best under pressure,And there'll be lots of pressureIf I wait till tomorrowI should

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-37473952387124787012008-11-06T14:10:00.003-06:002008-11-06T16:43:20.929-06:00

The Snape-mobile is a death trap for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.First, there is the assortment of squirrels and chipmunks. They barely count. Darned things are suicidal. Way to stop in the middle of the road and then turn around to dive under my wheel. Clever, little creeps. Now I'm stuck with the guilt of your little act of hari-kari.And then there was the mouse. In all

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-1720390884467139622008-11-05T14:30:00.006-06:002008-11-05T14:38:59.749-06:00

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" -Matthew 25:21If I get one more answer to a complaint, worry, or question, I'll go crazy. Time to admit that my questions are just a smokescreen for my own reluctance to get up and start obeying. If I pretend that

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-27203250307298109082008-11-05T14:11:00.003-06:002008-11-05T14:16:06.964-06:00

I think that sometimes I sin just because I'm bored. I do things I don't really want to do, I act in ways I didn't mean to, I give up on battles that should be easy... because otherwise... it's just... life as usual. Doing the right thing every day isn't hard... but its sameness is draining.True confessions of a self-proclaimed drama queen - whenever there's no battle and no emotional rush life

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-64201040475995856472008-11-04T14:16:00.006-06:002008-11-04T15:17:55.706-06:00

I just really want to stop trying so frikken hard. I'm sick of trying to look good, and trying to say the right things, and trying to get good grades, and trying to make the right people like me, and trying to write wise words, and trying to Be Someone and trying to Do Something Important, and trying to impress my best friend, and trying to have everyone see the Me that I've never seen but

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-34364042233341622782008-11-03T11:39:00.002-06:002008-11-03T11:54:06.820-06:00

Major lesson to Christians - you never, ever, ever know your audience.Make a comment about the right and good Christian conservative views - the kid in the front row is just starting to check out Christianity, and he's voting for Obama.Talk casually to a group of "close friends" about the violent, abhorrent murder of babies that women commit every day - one of them might have had an

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-73210848613944850612008-11-01T14:04:00.002-05:002008-11-01T14:06:57.384-05:00

So it's National Novel Writing Month.I'm not writing a novel.But I am going to try and post one blog post a day for the month of November... just for the heck of it. We'll see how interesting a blog post written under duress can be, but no matter how innane they get, I am going to do one a day this month. We'll see...

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-20589654617232040452008-10-30T11:11:00.005-05:002008-10-30T16:13:35.706-05:00

Dear God,What is the point of my life?Love, LauraDear Laura,Love, God.Dear God,I wish that you'd answer my question.Love, Laura

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-4442602086941005702008-10-29T15:48:00.006-05:002008-10-30T16:31:23.647-05:00

I always sort of wondered what Pip meant in Lord of the Rings when he goes, "the closer you are to danger, the further you are from harm." What does that even mean?So last week, we finished studying Judaism in my History of World Religions class. We learned a lot about the "Talmud" and "oral Torah", or the sets of interpretations and rules created to help people "implement the Torah into their

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-75056867321550072512008-10-26T19:35:00.006-05:002008-10-26T20:25:59.640-05:00

"Free from what? As if that mattered to Zarathustra!But your eyes should tell me brightly: free for what?"- Thus Spake Zarathustra, NietzscheThe plain fact is that the planet does not need more ‘successful’ people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, story-tellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-25421948805797130432008-10-22T14:31:00.000-05:002011-09-03T14:32:34.707-05:00

I hate balance! I hate happy mediums and grey areas and moderation. If something is bad it should go. If something is good it should stay. Money and friendships and school and food and music and movies - can't we always just employ the Jesus admonition and cut off that darned right hand and throw it away? Sometimes, sure, God tell us to completely throw away something bad. I love doing that.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-4910169117864537432008-10-22T10:00:00.009-05:002008-10-30T11:32:36.126-05:00

Swing dancing is a ridiculous thing. Unplanned, unculcated, unrehearsed, unintelligible. The lead is completely in control. His job is to dance and take the follow with him. The follow? We try to look as nice as possible in a state of confusion, instability, spontaneity, and terror. At any second the lead could pull a move that we don't know, or twirl us into another dancer, or lose the beat, or

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-5734096994122569652008-10-21T20:40:00.014-05:002008-10-30T16:38:13.913-05:00

We are made for God, and for Him, alone; He cannot therefore take it ill that we forsake all, even ourselves, to find our all in Him. In God we shall see more clearly what we lack than we could in ourselves by all our introspection; which in reality is but the remnant, unexpelled, of self-love, which, under the guise of zeal for our own perfection, keeps our gaze down on self instead of raised to

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-23499386918183148612008-10-10T16:38:00.000-05:002008-10-30T16:44:22.509-05:00

Funny thing. Every year or so I got this verse stuck in my head: "...and he shall give you the desire of your heart." I always forget the beginning. I always try and guess and remember what the claus is - what exactly do I have to do to get these desires?!? - but in the end have to look it up. The wierdest part is, I look it up, am puzzled, can't believe that that's really the verse, am confused,

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-77348742544608808622008-10-09T20:24:00.001-05:002011-09-03T14:28:09.797-05:00

Manipulation is a funny, funny thing. I never used to think about it until... I'd catch myself doing it. Excuse me?!?! That's what mean girls do. That's what wicked witches and ugly stepsisters and jealous rejected lovers do. Not nice people. It's weird to think about because it's never talked about. It's a deceptive thing and a lying thing, and that seems to be one of the biggest taboos in

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-90009476243711897972008-10-06T06:30:00.002-05:002008-10-06T21:35:00.406-05:00

Saying that God is a crutch for the weak is like saying that food is a crutch for the hungry or that relationships are a crutch for the lonely.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-40241507384696997792008-10-05T14:45:00.000-05:002008-10-05T14:38:06.237-05:00

a letter i sent to a friend about our strange reluctance to read the bible. hope she doesn't mind me sharing.you're asking yourself why you aren’t reading your bible. isn’t it strange that that is your question? the question assumes that it’s normal to read your bible. it assumes spending time with god is a natural phenomenon. it’s like gravity – it’s normal, and any time it does happen it

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-32286121783216815112008-09-14T20:45:00.005-05:002008-09-15T06:20:23.141-05:00

GOD IS FINALLY GOING TO FIGURE OUT THAT I'M NEVER GOING TO BE FIXED AND WHEN HE FIGURES THAT OUT HE'LL LEAVE.Worst fear right there. I'm afraid that if I keep rebelling and if transformation keeps taking so long because I'm either lazy or immature... then I'll stop making forward progress at all, and He'll leave. He'll quit. If I don't keep my butt moving towards some kind of "goodness" than

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-24988242639591601422008-09-12T11:25:00.000-05:002008-09-12T20:28:37.392-05:00

There's interesting paradox that has really bothered me over the last year or so. Whenever temptation is particularly strong, and I am particularly "weak," and temptation seems to be pulling out all its big guns on me, I'm much more able to withstand it and come out strong on the other end. But whenever temptation isn't particularly strong, or even particularly tempting, more of a vague, floating

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-59930997637864451402008-09-07T20:00:00.000-05:002008-09-07T17:10:46.719-05:00

Pride goes before the fall - but not as an arbitrary judgment, like "If you eat that cookie I shall send you to your room!" It's logically connected, like "if you eat that cookie you will consume more calories and, if you continue to eat cookies, you will gain weight." Gaining weight isn't the punishment of eating cookies, it's just the logical conclusion.Falling is the logical conclusion of

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-48820949109699243722008-09-06T16:00:00.000-05:002008-09-07T16:27:23.788-05:00

So many beautiful clothes! So many beautiful people! Classy, earthy, indie type women who all look confident and beautiful, wandering around campus and downtown, and it just makes me want to hire a wardrobe consultant so that I, too, can be classy, earthy, and indie. My mother says I never used to be this vain. The truth is, I was, but I was confident that I was beautiful, so the vanity never

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-79537744497800506432008-09-05T16:00:00.000-05:002008-09-07T17:50:04.621-05:00

When you do something incredibly sinful and selfish, and then after all the necessary repentance and horrible consequences you see something wonderful happen because of that sin... it makes you doubt things, like if the predestination thing means that God makes us sin or God doesn't stop us from sinning because something Ultimately Good will happen. This is particularly hard when you've committed

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-80385105084038425742008-09-04T16:28:00.000-05:002008-09-07T17:09:27.900-05:00

Long post today.My favorite part in The Silver Chair (and there aren't many) is when the children and Puddleglum are captured underground, and the witch is busily placing a spell on them with the help of her magical lute and fire. She's convincing them that the only world is the world they're in now, the Underworld, and anything else they think is real from above ground was invented from smaller,

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-49395460877332730752008-08-31T23:00:00.000-05:002008-09-07T16:03:50.596-05:00

Hoarding things - memories, moments of beauty, fun times, powerful Bible studies - is just trying to make every moment last because you doubt that they will be provided again. It's about fear, and it's about lack of trust.

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8641928603628596515.post-33057997424805970932008-08-25T11:00:00.000-05:002008-08-26T12:05:48.487-05:00

This car shopping fiasco is really started to get to me. I knew that it would be hard to trust God this summer, but I had no idea how horribly monotonous and exhausting the trusting would become. One week after another, getting excited, being disappointed, second guessing God, second guessing myself, and then starting back at the beginning. Getting back on craigslist.com the day after another car

Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16052838111929341337noreply@blogger.com0