Ponder anew what the Almighty can do....

So, today's sermon at church was all about love. And after all of the devastation in Haiti, I got to thinking about the phenomenal amounts of love our country has shown to them. I also got to thinking about some of the remarks some of my "fellow brothers and sisters" in Christ have said about all of the aforementioned devastation.

"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another," Robertson said.

In my minimal research, I found a website that discusses the history of France and Haiti. According to this website, there was tension between France and the French Colony of Saint Dominigue (which is present day Haiti) due to slavery. The slaves made pacts with Britain and Spain and, eventually, there was a threat of British and Spanish invasions, so France abolished slavery and the former slaves continued the revolt until they could finally declare themselves independent in 1804. Now, I know I may not be blessed with the spiritual gift of reading between the lines, but this doesn't sound too different from any of the other revolts that have occurred in any of the other hundreds of countries around the world, and I certainly don't see any mention of pact-making with the devil. I would also like to throw in that, although many websites do confirm that voodoo is a large part of worship in Haiti, 85% of the country is Roman Catholic.

I would also like to throw out there the fact that my God is not a vengeful God. I do not believe that God would do this to "get back" at the people of Haiti because they worship in an alternative way. Just the same way God did not cause Hurricane Katrina to go through New Orleans's French Quarter because of all the promiscuity that goes on there (because, after all, the French Quarter was almost untouched). I am not saying that God did not cause the earthquake or hurricane to happen, but I do not believe God caused them to happen out of shear vengeance. I do not believe that God is punishing those afflicted for things they have done because, if that is the case, I should not be sitting here typing this blog post. I just get so frustrated when people blame God for things they themselves cannot control. What kind of love does that show?

I pray that God lays a hand of healing and of peace on the people of Haiti. A hand that only the God of justice and love can lay - because the Haitians are my brothers and sisters too. I will love them through their anguish just as I will love those, who make comments like that above, through their ignorance.

growing up is hard to do...

"I shall never grow up; make believe is much too fun." -Eisley

If only...I begin my student teaching on Thursday which is kind of scary. Reality has yet to set in though - regardless of the fact that I spent 7 hours training today and the fact that I've been in email correspondence with my "cooperating teacher" as the educational field calls it. I feel like it was yesterday that I was the high schooler giving my student teacher a hard time...and I do not feel prepared to face all of those "me's" (you know the smart ass cynics who think they're way better than anyone...) that I'm sure to encounter.

Anyway, I was driving back up to school yesterday listening to one of the old caedmon's call cds and was reminded how much I love them! If you don't know of them, check them out. There's one song in which they paraphrase John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [RSV]):

For You so loved the unlovable,

that You gave the ineffable.

That who so believes the unbelievable,

will gain the unattainable.

Even though I am a linguistic nerd and thoroughly enjoy depth and critical thinking when it comes to texts, I think the reason I like this so much is because it is so simple. We are unloveable. Jesus is ineffable. Eternal life, without the ineffable, is unattainable. Incredible. Just because God loved us. Ineffable (according to my handy dandy built-in dictionary on my computer) is defined as "too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words". Wow. Did you know that in Webster's Dictionary, there are over 315,000 words...and not one of them can describe what God did for us. Incredible. I think there comes a point that even the most scholarly among us have no words, and at that moment we must "be still and know" that God is God. Be still. Just shut up with our powerful words (all 315,000+ of them)...and know that God is God. Sometimes that's hard. Especially for me.

I think this semester of student teaching will be great for me. I'm looking forward to the many lessons I will learn. I've been told about domestic violence...and drug use...but I've never seen it up front. Part of me hopes I do this semester. I need to experience different aspects of life that I haven't considered. I'm ready and willing to accept the challenge. Here we go...

New Year, New Post

I say "new year, new post" as if that's the reason I haven't written. Truth is, I just have slacked off. I know all you avid followers are disappointed, and I'm sorry. (ha!)

I'm starting a book that was recommended to me by Tony Spencer, a great mentor of mine. It's called "Jessie". He recommended it in response to my desire to live a life inspired and I'm very excited to see how it is.

My sister had a blog while she was in college and she experienced a lot of the same things I'm going through. This text that she made up really resounds with me:

I want to know you, Lord.
I want to know relief.
I want to know You love me.
Help my unbelief.

I don't think God wants us to be miserable. He doesn't want us to constantly doubt him, but I do think he wants us to doubt. How can we be absolutely sure of a God we didn't once doubt. My problem is that I gotten so caught up in doubting, that I even doubt in believing. It's a great frustration.

For today, this is all. I will try to be more attentive to my postings.