Recent Discovery

I'm not really sure if any one else is plagued by the problem of the smelly sponge. It's really a quite unfortunate reality - my entire house can be clean and YET that smell persists. I get a whiff of it every time I walk by the kitchen sink. So yesterday, after walking into the house and getting that smell, I decided to suspend my studies and research how to get rid of that invidious smell working through my week old sponge. According to my google findings, you can actually microwave your damp sponge for 30 seconds and - poof - the smell is gone. If you add a little lemon juice, all the better.

So, there you go. No theological implications to this one. But I'll keep thinking about it and get back to you. Maybe something about the sponge's renewal as a form of baptismal.... no. terrible idea. Alright, back to real life. This time without a smelly sponge.

An Insomniac's Prayer

So it has become official. I'm a sporadic insomniac, which I realize means that I have serious issues to process through. That being said, when I do have trouble sleeping at 4am, I tend to surf the internet. Last night / this morning, I came across a video of the reality of starvation in Zimbabwe. As many of you know, I have several friends living in Zimbabwe right now, one of whom may be the most selfless and courageous man that I've ever met. So the situation has become all the more real to me.

Please watch the video. And, if you aren't already, please start praying for these people. They need a miracle. We, as one family in Christ, need a miracle.

"Wait for the Lord. Be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord." - Ps. 27:14

where are you, God?

Bad news from a friend whose heart is broken, who has never felt heartache like she does now, the reality of the worsening situation in Zimbabwe and being unable to get a hold of Robert or Tabani, the last several days I've been acutely aware of the fragility of life and the way in which we truly have been created out of nothingness. In light of the injustice and the pain, I can't help but confront God, perhaps a bit too boldly, with the question, "Where are you, God? Where are you when 80 percent of the people in Zim are living below the poverty line and when corruption may cause 5 million people to die of starvation? Where are you when young boys are being kidnapped from their families and forced to kill? Where are you?"

I've been asking this question of God for several days. And, as I woke up this morning, God responded. It wasn't an answer of overwhelming force, but a gentle and persistent presence that said, "I'm right here." And I knew that I was wrong. My question was undergirded by an implicit answer. "Where are you, God?," I asked. My answer - "Not here." But God reminded me today that, yes, we are creatures, created out of nothingness and, thus, absolutely unstable. Yes, to look out into the chaos is terrifying. But we were never meant to look out into that nothingness alone and, though we often times don't realize it, God is standing with us as we peer into the nothingness. God keeps us from falling back into the nothingness from which we came.

The chaos of life is absolutely real. But God's constant presence is also real. Where is God when the child is dying of starvation? God is there. God is with the child. God is holding her. God is crying.