Yes! This week, there was a protest at my city council by outside hate groups and a counter protest by local queer people and allies. I couldn't go, but my pastor did and not only spoke of the peace that comes from affirmation and welcome, but also volunteered our downtown church parking lot as a meeting space. It was awful that the need was there and scary that these hate groups are coming here and threatening our leaders, but it was so encouraging seeing the pushback. The pastors that speak up. The churches that welcome louder. The drag shows that go on in the dark by flashlight. The teens of all orientations and genders who stand together and walk out in civil disobedience when their school silences them. I try to get out of my despair with the longing and hope that we are not alone. We show up in whatever ways are physically and emotionally possible, online or standing in a crowd or flying to eat together at each other's homes. We wait but not passively and not abandoned.
God moved me to attend a counterprotest tomorrow with my pastor, members of city council and other folks at a drag queen story hour at a local restaurant tomorrow. The restaurant has experienced some trouble in recent days. Honestly I don't want to get shot tomorrow. There have been threats by a hate group 🙏 I pray for a peaceful protest and counterprotest. It took everything I had to say yes. Every bone in my body is screaming "what are you doing?!" But God can be relentless about these things and I decided to save God the trouble of finding a whale so I would change my mind. 🤣
I’m so grateful for you Jeff. When I get to read your beautiful words about your cooking trips and the way you love others by doing this cooking it makes me smile.
I want you to know how deeply sad it makes me feel that you and your husband amd so many others have suffered discrimination. You share all these recent events with I’m sure a dad heart and yet you give us hope too. The waiting as you say is not passive.
“ We live in a culture that doesn’t wait well. Perhaps that has something to do with the perceived passivity of waiting. “
Thank you for including me in your writing and helping me broaden my views of what it means to be Christian. I wish I could have you over to cook YOU a nice meal!
I like tying the concept of waiting and Advent. Psalm 146 is in this week's lectionary readings, describing how God works justice in the world. Do we just wait around passively hoping for justice to fall upon the earth like a house from Kansas?
Rather, while waiting for justice to take place, we reach out to those otherwise ignored, are hospitable, make time for others and look for opportunities to do so. In doing so, working out justice creates a taste of joy for all involved. It reminds us justice and joy are possible by one act at a time.
I often want some kind of global action to take place instead of looking for ways to serve in my own surroundings, my sphere of influence.
Thanks for your thoughts as they'll go into the mix for my sermon this week! All the best! Bill
It's so true that taking time to cook for someone is a sign of love for them. I know what it's like to prepare food in an unfamiliar kitchen. My boyfriend is from Finland, and I spent part of my summer there. Making lunch was an adventure. We were cooking together. I couldn't read any of the spice labels, and I kept having to ask Samuel, "Honey, what's this one?" It was hard not having my own measuring cups and spoons. I relied on my sense of smell..."ooooh! I found the cinnamon". The "kitchen dance" as you said wasn't quite the same, but we figured out new steps together. Note to self: improve my knowledge in Finnish food-related vocab. I've got lots of work to do, and within it all, there is love and adventure.
This week in Bible study, an older lady in our study was talking about how sad, hurt, and confused she is over her granddaughter "entering again" into the "gay lifestyle". Some parts of me wanted to confront her; it saddens me that she can't just accept her granddaughter as she is, but I stopped myself and began to think. She is worried about her granddaughter because she loves her and she doesn't know yet that it was never God's intention to condemn those in the LGBTQIA+ community. She doesn't understand that her granddaughter is not living in sin. She just hasn't been given or perhaps hasn't taken the freedom to think in a new way, and I have compassion for her because I remember being where she is. I remember experiencing sadness when I found out someone had "become gay". I remember being raised in a church where the line of thinking is that we love and accept all people...love as Christ loved, but there was also this sense of viewing Christians in the LGBTQIA+ community as having a lesser faith. It has been a long journey of learning, of opening my eyes, of realizing that God has created people in so many different and beautiful ways in terms of gender, sexuality, and all that makes us human.
After Bible study, I was thinking, "love connects us". It breaks my heart every time this lady talks about her granddaughter because I want to see her love her and accept her exactly how she is, but I cannot say that she does not love her now. I just pray for that love to deepen in the form of acceptance.
Jeff, thank you for sharing your truth and kind words. May we all love a little more and a little more deeply as we wait.
Thank you for your message and your sermon at the church about Waiting. I appreciate your realism and your just being you - even though I don’t know you! I am also a glass half empty kinda gal …and slowly over the course of my almost 60 years I am realizing that there should be room for the sadness and the bittersweet - the processing….especially amidst the unreality & hypocrisy I seem to see all around me in my background of conservative Christian faith. I am searching and I am also waiting in this period for where I belong and where to go to feel like I belong :) Thank you for your message
“We’re often inclined to perceive ‘ ‘disorientation’ as a bad thing. I don’t think it always is. Discomfort can be a gift, especially for those of us who have forgotten why we do what we do. Inconvenience can be a teacher, particularly for those of us who struggle with patience.” Wow!! That hit me as I’ve been feeling so disoriented going into Christmas. It’s the second Christmas since my son passed away….and it almost seems harder this year. Stranger. More permanent I feel as though I’m walking in someone else’s life….yet I know it’s mine. Disoriented.
And yes, as I take these steps and observe Advent, I’m realizing the gift of discomfort. The opening of senses that intentional awareness brings. The soul calming grace of peaceful exhale brought by recognizing and sitting in the massive hole that my son has left and letting Jesus be Immanuel “with” me in the wreckage.
Thank you Jeff for putting words to what I’ve been experiencing these past weeks.
Your comments on Advent moves me. The night after the Moore county terrorism we had a group of college students at our house, one who lives in Moore county. They shared the hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community is thick, and people live in fear of being outted.
Hated by people waiting patiently for the arrival of the baby Jesus, love incarnate. Hated by those singing "Joy to the world".
Thank you for continuing to be a voice of love and courage and Christ.
Jeff, first I’m sorry that you and all members of the LGBTQIA+ community have to live in fear and in need of salvation. I don’t understand the hate, and yet I love your refusal to succumb to hate but instead focus on embodied love. I think that’s what I love most about your writing - always a challenge to shift the focus away from the labels and norms and toward Jesus and love, despite how counterintuitive that may seem. You’ve taught me so much.
You have me thinking about cooking tools and what I may want to stash in my suitcase this Christmas. My daughter moved to Texas over 2 years ago, and my son and his family moved there 9 months ago. I’m heading there for Christmas and they want me to cook all the things that our family has eaten over the years as our traditional Christmas breakfast and dinner. So, I’ll be cooking in a kitchen foreign to me, and I’m asking myself what might make it more comfortable to cook in? Thanks for the idea!!
I’m embarrassed to admit that I buy frozen brown and jasmine rice from Trader Joe’s, but I will happily explore rice cookers as I eat quite a bit of rice and perhaps that will make it less of a challenge to cook it properly. I don’t like gooey, sticky rice, so the frozen just seems easier. We shall see!
Thank you again for taking the time to tell us what’s on your mind. Praying the right people are in the room on Sunday at Crosspointe. Be well.
I was talking with a Chinese-Malaysian friend over the weekend, and I asked her if she knew how to cook rice on the stove. She just laughed. Rice cookers make it so easy. My family favors Zojirushi ones, which are basically foolproof.
I loved the reference to Chelsea Banning's story, especially seeing the responses from successful authors who had similar experiences.
I had two "book signing" parties at sci-fi conventions, so the turnout was pretty good, if only because folks were there for the party. But my first self-published book lost money, so I definitely feel for Ms. Banning. My goal is to make some money, any amount of money, on my next book.
The thing about Psalm 13 (and so many other psalms) is that they end in praise and trust. I don't know if the psalmist was speaking himself into belief or whether it was a spiritual discipline of sorts—maybe both. But that model consistently reminds me of the movement of the psalms and how they can help form us and our habits.
I have a 10-cup, but almost nobody (including me) needs one that big. The 5-cup is more than enough for most families, and if you are cooking just for one or two people, the 3-cup is adequate.
Yes! This week, there was a protest at my city council by outside hate groups and a counter protest by local queer people and allies. I couldn't go, but my pastor did and not only spoke of the peace that comes from affirmation and welcome, but also volunteered our downtown church parking lot as a meeting space. It was awful that the need was there and scary that these hate groups are coming here and threatening our leaders, but it was so encouraging seeing the pushback. The pastors that speak up. The churches that welcome louder. The drag shows that go on in the dark by flashlight. The teens of all orientations and genders who stand together and walk out in civil disobedience when their school silences them. I try to get out of my despair with the longing and hope that we are not alone. We show up in whatever ways are physically and emotionally possible, online or standing in a crowd or flying to eat together at each other's homes. We wait but not passively and not abandoned.
God moved me to attend a counterprotest tomorrow with my pastor, members of city council and other folks at a drag queen story hour at a local restaurant tomorrow. The restaurant has experienced some trouble in recent days. Honestly I don't want to get shot tomorrow. There have been threats by a hate group 🙏 I pray for a peaceful protest and counterprotest. It took everything I had to say yes. Every bone in my body is screaming "what are you doing?!" But God can be relentless about these things and I decided to save God the trouble of finding a whale so I would change my mind. 🤣
Armed protesters at a storytime is just wrong, on so many levels, and so sad it makes me weep.
I’m so grateful for you Jeff. When I get to read your beautiful words about your cooking trips and the way you love others by doing this cooking it makes me smile.
I want you to know how deeply sad it makes me feel that you and your husband amd so many others have suffered discrimination. You share all these recent events with I’m sure a dad heart and yet you give us hope too. The waiting as you say is not passive.
“ We live in a culture that doesn’t wait well. Perhaps that has something to do with the perceived passivity of waiting. “
Thank you for including me in your writing and helping me broaden my views of what it means to be Christian. I wish I could have you over to cook YOU a nice meal!
I like tying the concept of waiting and Advent. Psalm 146 is in this week's lectionary readings, describing how God works justice in the world. Do we just wait around passively hoping for justice to fall upon the earth like a house from Kansas?
Rather, while waiting for justice to take place, we reach out to those otherwise ignored, are hospitable, make time for others and look for opportunities to do so. In doing so, working out justice creates a taste of joy for all involved. It reminds us justice and joy are possible by one act at a time.
I often want some kind of global action to take place instead of looking for ways to serve in my own surroundings, my sphere of influence.
Thanks for your thoughts as they'll go into the mix for my sermon this week! All the best! Bill
It's so true that taking time to cook for someone is a sign of love for them. I know what it's like to prepare food in an unfamiliar kitchen. My boyfriend is from Finland, and I spent part of my summer there. Making lunch was an adventure. We were cooking together. I couldn't read any of the spice labels, and I kept having to ask Samuel, "Honey, what's this one?" It was hard not having my own measuring cups and spoons. I relied on my sense of smell..."ooooh! I found the cinnamon". The "kitchen dance" as you said wasn't quite the same, but we figured out new steps together. Note to self: improve my knowledge in Finnish food-related vocab. I've got lots of work to do, and within it all, there is love and adventure.
This week in Bible study, an older lady in our study was talking about how sad, hurt, and confused she is over her granddaughter "entering again" into the "gay lifestyle". Some parts of me wanted to confront her; it saddens me that she can't just accept her granddaughter as she is, but I stopped myself and began to think. She is worried about her granddaughter because she loves her and she doesn't know yet that it was never God's intention to condemn those in the LGBTQIA+ community. She doesn't understand that her granddaughter is not living in sin. She just hasn't been given or perhaps hasn't taken the freedom to think in a new way, and I have compassion for her because I remember being where she is. I remember experiencing sadness when I found out someone had "become gay". I remember being raised in a church where the line of thinking is that we love and accept all people...love as Christ loved, but there was also this sense of viewing Christians in the LGBTQIA+ community as having a lesser faith. It has been a long journey of learning, of opening my eyes, of realizing that God has created people in so many different and beautiful ways in terms of gender, sexuality, and all that makes us human.
After Bible study, I was thinking, "love connects us". It breaks my heart every time this lady talks about her granddaughter because I want to see her love her and accept her exactly how she is, but I cannot say that she does not love her now. I just pray for that love to deepen in the form of acceptance.
Jeff, thank you for sharing your truth and kind words. May we all love a little more and a little more deeply as we wait.
I would like a Jeff cooking date, and we will teach each other how to cook rice.
Thank you so much Jeff for helping me improve my cooking skills.
Thank you for your message and your sermon at the church about Waiting. I appreciate your realism and your just being you - even though I don’t know you! I am also a glass half empty kinda gal …and slowly over the course of my almost 60 years I am realizing that there should be room for the sadness and the bittersweet - the processing….especially amidst the unreality & hypocrisy I seem to see all around me in my background of conservative Christian faith. I am searching and I am also waiting in this period for where I belong and where to go to feel like I belong :) Thank you for your message
“We’re often inclined to perceive ‘ ‘disorientation’ as a bad thing. I don’t think it always is. Discomfort can be a gift, especially for those of us who have forgotten why we do what we do. Inconvenience can be a teacher, particularly for those of us who struggle with patience.” Wow!! That hit me as I’ve been feeling so disoriented going into Christmas. It’s the second Christmas since my son passed away….and it almost seems harder this year. Stranger. More permanent I feel as though I’m walking in someone else’s life….yet I know it’s mine. Disoriented.
And yes, as I take these steps and observe Advent, I’m realizing the gift of discomfort. The opening of senses that intentional awareness brings. The soul calming grace of peaceful exhale brought by recognizing and sitting in the massive hole that my son has left and letting Jesus be Immanuel “with” me in the wreckage.
Thank you Jeff for putting words to what I’ve been experiencing these past weeks.
Your comments on Advent moves me. The night after the Moore county terrorism we had a group of college students at our house, one who lives in Moore county. They shared the hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community is thick, and people live in fear of being outted.
Hated by people waiting patiently for the arrival of the baby Jesus, love incarnate. Hated by those singing "Joy to the world".
Thank you for continuing to be a voice of love and courage and Christ.
And for coming to Cary 😁
Jeff, first I’m sorry that you and all members of the LGBTQIA+ community have to live in fear and in need of salvation. I don’t understand the hate, and yet I love your refusal to succumb to hate but instead focus on embodied love. I think that’s what I love most about your writing - always a challenge to shift the focus away from the labels and norms and toward Jesus and love, despite how counterintuitive that may seem. You’ve taught me so much.
You have me thinking about cooking tools and what I may want to stash in my suitcase this Christmas. My daughter moved to Texas over 2 years ago, and my son and his family moved there 9 months ago. I’m heading there for Christmas and they want me to cook all the things that our family has eaten over the years as our traditional Christmas breakfast and dinner. So, I’ll be cooking in a kitchen foreign to me, and I’m asking myself what might make it more comfortable to cook in? Thanks for the idea!!
I’m embarrassed to admit that I buy frozen brown and jasmine rice from Trader Joe’s, but I will happily explore rice cookers as I eat quite a bit of rice and perhaps that will make it less of a challenge to cook it properly. I don’t like gooey, sticky rice, so the frozen just seems easier. We shall see!
Thank you again for taking the time to tell us what’s on your mind. Praying the right people are in the room on Sunday at Crosspointe. Be well.
I was talking with a Chinese-Malaysian friend over the weekend, and I asked her if she knew how to cook rice on the stove. She just laughed. Rice cookers make it so easy. My family favors Zojirushi ones, which are basically foolproof.
Do you mind telling me what model you have? There are so many on their website.
This is the one I have: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/product/nstsc
I loved the reference to Chelsea Banning's story, especially seeing the responses from successful authors who had similar experiences.
I had two "book signing" parties at sci-fi conventions, so the turnout was pretty good, if only because folks were there for the party. But my first self-published book lost money, so I definitely feel for Ms. Banning. My goal is to make some money, any amount of money, on my next book.
I refuse to cook rice in anything but my rice cooker!
I've been stuck on Psalm 13 for over a year. "How long?" I'm feeling it this Advent.
The thing about Psalm 13 (and so many other psalms) is that they end in praise and trust. I don't know if the psalmist was speaking himself into belief or whether it was a spiritual discipline of sorts—maybe both. But that model consistently reminds me of the movement of the psalms and how they can help form us and our habits.
OK...So I'm one of those people who does not have a rice cooker YET. The Zojirushi rice cooker comes in three sizes. What size do you use?
I have a 10-cup, but almost nobody (including me) needs one that big. The 5-cup is more than enough for most families, and if you are cooking just for one or two people, the 3-cup is adequate.
Jeff, thank you.