a new look at the ol' apostle

OK, by show of hands, how many of you think the apostle Paul is a jerk?



I'll admit that before reading The First Paul (by Marcus Borg and John Crossan), my hand would have been flying pretty high. Because I couldn't help but associate Paul with quotes such as: "Women should be silent in the churches... If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home." ~and~ "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling..."

Borg and Crossan explain why they are able to view Paul in a positive light (even though they don't agree with everything he ever wrote). For one thing, not all of the letters attributed to Paul were actually written by him. Mainstream New Testament scholarship has concluded that of the 13 letters attributed to Paul, only 7 are considered to be "genuine" (written by Paul himself). Later letters were written by others in the early church to "deradicalize" Paul's message of true equality to make it fit Roman social norms regarding patriarchy and slavery. (That's where those quotes I find offensive came from!)

The authors present Paul as a "Jewish Christ mystic" who lived with a deep sense of "one-ness" with God. Putting Paul in the proper historical context, he believed in peace through justice, an alternative to Rome's program of peace through victory (military victory which presumes violence). Quoting from the book: Paul's view of "justice means distributive and not retributive justice (punishment). There will only be peace on earth, Paul claims, when all members of God's world-home receive a fair and equitable share of its bounty, when all members of God's family have enough. Do not confuse, he might have added, peace with lull."


The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon --that's the complete title!-- is an excellent book. Marcus Borg never disappoints me. I highly recommend you pick up a copy (or Kindle it)!

Friday Five: A Bug's Life

Sophia writes (and I'm shortening this a bit):

As I was walking the beach today, I was surprised and delighted to find it swarming with ladybugs... This got me thinking about spiritual insect trivia: Did you know that medieval mystics and theologians esteemed the bee for its dedicated work and transformation of ordinary ingredients into sweetness? That Spider Woman is an important creator Goddess to many Native American tribes?... In that spirit, this week's Friday Five is a magical mystery tour through God's garden of creepy crawlies!

1. Ladybugs or ladybirds? Pillbugs or roly-polys? Jesus bugs or water skeeters? Any other interesting regional or familial name variations?

We generally call bugs by their genus/species names. Instead of saying, "Look at that dinosaur grasshopper!", we say, "Look at that tropidolophus formosus!"

(OK, that was meant to disguise the fact that I've got nuthin' for this first question!)

2. Stomp on spiders, carry them outside, or peacefully co-exist?

I've done all three, but probably my favorite is burial at sea (i.e. flushing them down the toilet)

3. Favorite insect?

It's got to be Atom Ant, cartoon superhero created by Hanna-Barbera way back when! He was fast, strong, and cute!



4. Least favorite?

Mosquitos!
(To borrow lyrics from Edwin Starr: What are they good for? Absolutely nothin'! Say it again, y'all...)

5. Got any good bug stories to share?

The only thing I can think of was when, as a kid, I was goofy enough to fall for my brother's trick: "Open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise". The surprise was a box elder bug!

Bonus question: share a poem, song, quotation, etc. about insects.

Here's The Termite by Ogden Nash:

Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good.
And that is why your cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.

postcard post #2!

Here's another old postcard I like. It's the Bird Eye view of Eldred, Minn. I usually think of a bird's-eye view as something being seen from above, but apparently this little bird was on the ground getting a panoramic view of the bustling metropolis of Eldred.



The postmark is January 1909. (That's cool because my grandmother would just have turned 3 years old then!)

Here's J.L.'s note to her brother in Tacoma: (I'm assuming J.L. is female.)



I am in Eldred today. I am well.

Yeah, short and sweet! (What else do you really need?!)

appearances of the divine

A couple of days ago I read a story about how an outline of the Virgin Mary appeared on a food griddle at a restaurant on the California/Mexico border. The faithful and the curious are flocking to see it. (You can read more here.)



As I recall, the Virgin Mary has previously appeared on a grilled cheese sandwich and on a pizza pan.

I must admit that I personally don't really see the Virgin Mary on the griddle (or grilled cheese or pizza pan) without using my imagination to some degree. Not like the appearance of Presbygal in my breakfast this morning. That was straightforward.

anticipating the goody bag

The local newspaper had an article in the Sunday edition entitled: Bike to Work Week gains traction in Cowlitz County. The article details how a small group of local bike commuters organized the campaign to coincide with a national one that happens every May. Our Bike to Work Week will take place next week, and the organizers are hoping to promote exercise, raise awareness of motorists, and show respect for the environment. (Full story here.)

The article encouraged people who want to participate to register on the "Cowlitz on the Move" website. Since I'm bike commuting 2 days a week anyway, I went ahead and registered -- which puts me in line for prizes such as a gift certificate to a sporting goods store. WooHoo!

(As an aside... The people interviewed in the article bike commute between 2 and 4½ miles each way. I googled my route and found I've been doing 5⅓ miles each way, so I felt a little less wussy about only biking to work every other day.)

Another WooHoo is that next Monday from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. they are handing out free coffee, fruit, and (here's the best part!) Goody Bags at the hospital. As luck would have it, I go right by the hospital on my way to work. I usually roll by there around 7:30 a.m. Even though they usually contain junky stuff, I love Goody Bags (I think because they remind me of trick-or-treating as a kid), so you can bet I'll be stopping by!

Stay tuned next week to find out the contents of my Goody Bag...

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The picture of the "Marble look-alike" riding a bike is from here.
(But I added on the bag!)

garden '09

Yesterday afternoon Hubby and I planted our little garden. I had gone to the local farmer's market in the morning and picked up some starter plants: tomatoes, cauliflower, peas, potatoes, and onions. Plus we've got rhubarb from last year. Hmm... That's kind of a weird assortment now that I think about it.

In any event, we had a bluebird that was very happy we were working in the garden because we brought up some earthworms for him to eat. (Click to enlarge)



And here's Marble mentally calculating if he has enough time to make it from the side of the house to the garden before the bird flies off:


(Marble decided, "Nah.")

Happy May Day!

(click to enlarge)

On May Day I always think of Stevie O., my next door neighbor when I was growing up in the Dakotas. On May Days during the elementary school years, Stevie and I would leave baskets at each other's houses, ring the doorbell, and run like hell.



Being a tomboy I could usually outrun him. Although neither of us was really interested in actually catching or being caught. We were definitely just in the 'pals' category. We attended school together from kindergarten until my family moved in the middle of my junior year in high school. Along with the other neighborhood kids, we played kick the can and baseball during the summer and went ice skating and sledding during the winter. (Speaking of winter, Stevie was an absolute genius architect of snow forts.)

I've lost track of ol' Stevie over the years. Last I heard he was a Baptist minister -- I'm sure he would be a good one. If he ever surfaces via facebook or something, I think I'd be tempted to leave him a 'virtual' May Day basket! (Although a good hunk of the fun would be gone if you can't run like hell...)

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class picture from the '67 Ace yearbook; sketch from here