Our Apartment is So Cute!

So, tonight, instead of going out, Roomie and I decided to continue to beautify our apartment. We planted some pansies into a upcycled postal service box, I made a yarn wreath (my first attempt!) for our front door, and Rooms hung a new picture above our TV. Here are some pictures to highlight the experience. The rest will be on facebook/tumblr.

 Punching holes in the bottom so that it can drain.

 Oh no! Out of potting soil!

 Emergency trip to Lowe's for more potting soil/rocks for the bottom of the planter.

 Yeah! Got some soil/rocks!

 Arg....these rocks are SO heavy!

 Rocks in ze bottom

 I set you free extra soil that spilled on the balcony!

 Puttin' in some pansies!

 Water 'em in.

 Super cute planter!!!

 Rooms putting nails into the wall.

 Look at the super cute picture I picked out!

 Ain't it pretty?

 New over the TV area!

My yarn wreath!!!!!!!!!!

Guess who's on tumblr?

Oh, that would be me! I will probably still blog from here, but I am currently posting a quote-a-day on my tumblr. I am also sharing sweet stuff that I find. So......check it out!

What Wondrous Love Is This?

Earth Day Reflection on Light

This is a part of the Earth Day Prayer Service that my fellow Campus Ministry interns and I planned and celebrate today. The excerpt is from a Maori creation myth and the reflection was written by me.

In the Maori creation myth we hear...

"Soon, and yet not soon, for the time was vast, the Sky and Earth began to yield. Their longing was strong to keep embracing each other forever but their children's longing for growth was stronger. Rangi and Papa began to surrender their embrace through Tane's strength.


By this separation of Rangi and Papa the world of light, of existence, came into being. All of the creatures that were born of their parents love, were free now to move and grow...


They celebrated this first day of light and felt the joy of breathing and moving and having room to stretch out and grow and to feel themselves.


And we too now celebrate this returning of the light."


In this creation myth from the Maori people of New Zealand, we see the freedom that comes from light. Before the light, the children on Rangi and Papa are cramped and stifled. They long to live in the light. They force their parents to separate, breaking apart the tight bond between earth and sky. They are now free. They can stretch and breathe and move. They celebrate the light.

Imagine being in a place that is completely dark. How do you feel? Do you feel like the children of Rangi and Papa? Do you feel frightened, alone, and subdued by the darkness? What happens when a light enters the darkness? Those feelings of seclusion and restraint dissipate. You feel free to bend, move, grow, and live.

Just as the Maori celebrate the return of the light at the Winter Solstice, we too take time today to celebrate the light. Just as a plant cannot grow in the darkness, we too cannot prosper without light. We celebrate the chance to live our lives in the light, not in the darkness. We celebrate the comfort of a candle, the joy of a bonfire, the warmth of a hearth. We bless and honor the gift of the Earth called light.

Loving

by: P. Jacob

Blessed are the poor
...not the penniless,
but those whose hearts are free.

Blessed are those who mourn
...not those who whisper,
but those who raise their voices.

Blessed are the meek
...not the soft,
but those who are patient and tolerant.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice
...not those tho whine,
but those who struggle.

Blessed are the merciful
..not those who forget,
but those who forgive.

Blessed are the pure of heart
...not those who act like angels,
but those who life is transparent.

Blessed are the peacemakers
...not those who shun conflict,
but those who face it squarely.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice
...not because they suffer,
but because they love.

Reflection on St. Peter

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Students/2010-2011%20Reflections/s041911.html

This is a reflection that I wrote today about the daily readings. It is about St. Peter and Jesus' love for him and for us. Enjoy.

Loser Letters

I just finished this great book called Loser Letters. Is it almost like Stephen Colbert and The Onion had a baby. The letters are written by a Christianity to Atheism convert telling the head Atheist hanchos about the flaws in atheism. Here is the passage that made me think the most. I haven't really realized that my generation is truly disposable. This is the excerpt. I like the book. I recommend it!


Have any of You ever seen one of the rallies in Washington, D.C., on the anniversary of our favorite Bright decision ever, Roe v. Wade? (I’m guessing not!) I have. I went several times with my Dull friends, back before I met Lobo and stopped talking to Loser. And I’m here to tell You that unfortunately for us guys who want to protect the so-called right to abortion at all costs, those pro-life rallies on the Mall every January are nothing like the rallies that the pro-abortion people stage.  You know those other rallies, I’m sure—the ones full of grim ladies well past aborting age, marching with coat hangers as their emblems, yelling about their “right” to end the pregnancies they’ll never have.

            No, the pro-lifers and their rallies are a different world altogether. There are children, families, and teenagers everywhere. There are kids playing Frisbee. Kids holding hands. Kids horsing around and shoving each other. Kids with earrings and tattoos. Kids with rosaries. Kids wearing T-shirts that read, “I’m adopted and thanks, Mom, for having me.” Kids, kids, kids, kids, kids—are You getting the horrible drift here? It’s more like a rave or rock concert than an ordinary political event—I mean it would be, only the kids are a lot more healthy-looking and there aren’t any drugs, of course.

            I cannot emphasize enough how seriously bad I is for us Atheists that the face of the pro-life movement is a youthful face. And what do You think pulls all those kids into the pro-life scene? I know You will say indoctrination; but at the rick of annoying everybody all over again, I have to say as a former Christian that You’re wrong. Those kids are in the movement for the same reason that the civil-rights marchers—who are their rock stars—also took to the streets: because they’re totally convinced that in taking a stand against abortion, they’re doing something good for the world.

            Why is that? Don’t You ever wonder?

            I have, and I think the answer has to do with something we Atheists—and plenty of our Secular allies too—just don’t get yet. It’s this: living around the fact of abortion on demand has changed some people, and the closer they get to the ground, as it were, the more seriously they take it.

            I mean, face it! If You’re over fifty, there’s not much chance that anyone would have aborted You. But nowadays it’s different. It’s like anyone who’s even born now, in the Age of Choice, either requires explanation or feels like there’s a reason for it. It’s changed the existential experience of the very question, Why am I here?

            I’m not saying this bizarre state of affairs is altogether bad for our godlessness. Some kids, today as ever, do turn effortlessly towards Atheism’s chief transmitter belts among the young, i.e., nihilism and melancholy. In fact, some do it easier than ever. The fact that their generation is the fist truly disposable one—even disposed-of one—puts extra pressure on all of today’s kids to find a meaning in life. Some just can’t. That’s what Goth is for. And a lot of their music. And Norplant. And, of course, drugs.

            But other kids, including many of the more serious kids, get pulled instead by those same questions toward Loser. When those kids look at those pictures the rallies, they don’t see what nonbeliever see—a mistake of Nature “fixed” somehow by violent human intervention. No they see something else—what their baby sister looked like four years ago on the sonogram, what they themselves were not very long ago. They see themselves. They see their friends. They see their siblings. And all this propels them away from us, and toward the people who tell them this thing is wrong—people concentrated for one reason or another on Loser’s side.

            So many of us Brights just don’t get this part of the struggle! I’m not blaming anybody in particular here. I think it’s one more generational thing. As in my first Letter, where I tried to explain what You all are missing about the Sexual Revolution—like it unhappy consequences for lost of people—I’m trying here to explain something similar. Most young Dulls do not think abortion in an issue; they think it is the issue that proves their Christian morality to be superior. I cannot emphasize this point enough: millions of them are Dulls just because of abortion on demand. They believe—as that hideously erudite enemy of ours Hadley Arkes wrote—that abortion is “the central moral issue of our day, the issue from which everything else radiates.”

Time for Lent

As Lent approaches this year (okay it will be here in an hour), I am thinking a lot about the death and resurrection of Christ. What do we really mean when we say Christ died for our sins? What do we mean when we say he saved us from death? Did Christ HAVE to die? If not, why did he die?

These are the questions that I am wondering, that I want to delve deeper into. If you have suggested for things for me to read on these, let me know.