An interesting difference has occurred to me. I used to pray, God your will be done in my life. More recently I have begun to pray, God I surrender to you completely. I think both of these prayers express a heartfelt desire to submit to God's will but the later is a more powerful acceptance of one's subjugation to God.

To anyone who doubts their is an all powerful truly good God, I offer this piece of evidence:

Spaghetti Squash

I rest my case.

Ok, I heard a sermon that interpreted the passage in the bible about the meek inheriting the earth to mean essentially, the meek will get the earth and the strong will get heaven. This sermon struck me as so antithetical to Jesus' message that I wanted to scream.

The story that comes to mind is the story of Lazarus. In this story, a beggar named Lazarus dies on the doorstep of a powerful and rich man. When the rich man gets to heaven, Lazarus is with god, and he is burned for eternity.

Today I handled an eel and kissed a stingray. I was also given a hicky by a different ray.

The eel was blind in one eye. It was smooth and soft. It didn't mind being touched. It actually seemed to enjoy it a bit. It reminded me of the story of Timothy Treadwell told in Grizzly Man. It also reminded me of God. I could feel and see some different window into God's love in the dancing and winding of that Eel. I could also see the temptation to personify animals and even to personify God.

Ok, at the risk of making a fool of myself I am going to venture back into trying to unwind this emerging church thing.

Norming Without Conforming
When I first started attending church (a long time before becoming a Christian) I can distinctly remember asking myself "What is going on with these people?" As I traveled from church to church, I was struck by how each church had a set of beliefs that were expected of all of the members. It was as if everyone had to be doctrinally the same or else. There were many times where I felt that questions were not welcome.

I was struck by a passage in Brian McLaren's book "The Story We Find Ourselves In" where sin is described as a personalized computer virus. I found this definition very compelling. I have always resisted definitions of sin that rely on some set of rules on how God wants us to live.

Nothing is as good for treating a case of huberis as the flu. There is no pride left in a person who is vomitting.
I know, it is a deep thought, but it is true.

I have been working up a missive on what exactly the emergent church is. Last night, in our small group, I floated a few trial balloons, and they felt "right" so I kept going. Then at some point I recall finishing a sentence and everyone was shaking their heads. I don't really even know where I went wrong but there are several things I take away from the experience:

I used to have a problem with heaven and hell. I couldn't really imagine that the God that Jesus spoke of would allow his beloved children to suffer for eternity. I seemed antithetical to God's nature. As a matter of fact, I couldn't really even conceive of heaven.

Sense of Humor - The church needs one. What do we call a person who can't laugh at themselves? Shouldn't the same be said of any church that can't laugh at itself? I mean yes God is serious stuff, and don't get me wrong faith is an important issue, but if we can't laugh at ourselves, others, and the basic comedy that God built into the universe, then we are missing a key part of God's creation.