Category Archives: Ryan’s mind

My Movie

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I’ve decided I’m going to write a movie. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, the idea came to me in the shower this morning and I just can’t seem to shake it. When something hits your brain this hard you know its from God or from somewhere else. Ok, picture this, it’s a sci fi futuristic thriller where you can never exactly tell what’s a dream and what’s reality. So are you ready for the name and the tag line?

nightscape

-NightScape-

Sometimes you can’t really tell the difference between a nightmare and reality. And when your nightmare becomes reality it really scares you like a really bad nightmare. Welcome to NightScape.

Musicals, Old People, Eggs, Etc.

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I’m not feeling particularly motivated. I want to write a blog, I need to write a blog, but I’ve got little to say right now. Here are some things I just tried to write about:

  1. Why I belong in a musical
  2. My new conviction that I need to find more old people to listen to
  3. Easter stuff
  4. The things we found while cleaning up the Easter egg hunt field: dirty bra, glass pipe, possum skull, condom wrappers, lots of glass from Smirnoff bottles, and remnants of Easter egg hunts from years ago.
  5. I’m reading the Count of Monte Cristo for the first time and it’s rocking my world. I really like it.
  6. I need a good Blog reader widget for my sidebar! I’ve tried a couple and they all look bad, don’t work well, or have some inherent issues. Any ideas?

Have a wonderful night.

peace.

Birthright and Catholicism

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If you are not familiar with Birthright, you need to be. I have strong feelings about abortion. I think it is terribly destructive to kill unborn children, I think it destroys the people who do it and I think it is unhealthy for a culture to accept it. But I also have strong feelings about people who oppose abortion at every point but do very little to support women who are in the scary position of a unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. It’s that whole grace and mercy thing right?
So the great thing about Birthright is that they know what they are not. They are not a group that fights politically to stop abortion. They are not a group that pickets abortion clinics.They are not a group that scares women away from abortions. It’s just not what they do. They support women, they walk alongside women, and they work within the context of relationship.

So I’m on the board of Vancouvers Birthright chapter and last night we had a board training meeting. As expected it was enjoyable and fun. What was amusing to me, however, was that I was the loan protestant there. Every other board member is an active practising Catholic. It’s amusing to me because there were times in my life where I was being taught that Catholics were the Antichrist spoken of in the Bible. I remember specific lessons from teachers showing how the false teaching from the Catholic church has brought condemnation to millions. Don’t get me wrong, I do not agree with much of their theology, nor do I try to defend some of the things they’ve done in the past. But here I was working beside all these “God forsaken” Catholics praying for the Spirit of God to send women into Birthright so that they can find love and support.

It was amusing to me at least.

The Difference Between Good and Best

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I won’t attempt to give a template for figuring out this blog titles dilemma, but I do have some reflections concerning that idea. I get so tired of how people have politicized some of the discussi0n between good and best. It’s not just relegated to politics though…well…let me just attempt to explain.

Conservatives say that global warming is a myth. Many conservatives (and I thought it pretty funny…but for reasons different than them) planned to “stick it to the liberals” by leaving all their lights on and racking up the electricity bills on earth days while many more liberal folks were shutting off their lights by 8:30 or so. I find this incredibly odd. I wish I was more up to date on some of the politics concerning endangered species, oil drilling, protecting old growth forests, etc. because my guess is that I’d have more to say concerning some of that, but as it is I’d come off most ignorant of the facts. Anyway, concerning conserving electricity, why has this become a political issue? Conservatives (and undoubtedly Christians) should be all for conserving energy, it’s just smart. It’s best. It’s not mandatory, it’s not obligatory, it’s best. It’s best not to waste. Duh. I know it’s blasphemy in our American culture, but it’s best not to be wasteful. Being wasteful is foolish. Do you have the freedom to be wasteful? Of course! But you’re choosing to settle for less than best. And it shouldn’t even matter if global warming is a hoax or not should it? Screw global warming! If there were no such thing as global warming, if Al had never made his smug video, shouldn’t we still be concerned with how we treat our environment? Isn’t our environment a gift from God? When I give my children a toy and I notice that they are not taking care of it, that they are destroying it, in my mind I have two options. Take away the toy before they ruin it or be very cautious about what toy I give them next (knowing that it will probably get destroyed). So lets depoliticize all of this and just start taking care of what God has given us. Let’s not disrespect the creator by destroying his creation. Anyway, I think or hope that this point was made without laboring too much. I don’t want to bore you because I really think that this next idea is where its at…

Many people worry when pastors or churches talk about green living, sustainability, simplicity, etc. And for good reason. They worry that pastors and churches are teaching something that is not gospel (that is, not the life saving, hope giving message that you’re loved by Jesus), that they are adding something into the simple message of Jesus that does not belong. This is a very valid point to make because I think that often Christians do get caught up in some of this stuff and forget that Jesus didn’t die so that we could recycle. But here is my strong belief, I think that there is and should be a place for churches, Christians, and ministers to talk about sustainable living, simplicity, and frugality within the context of following Jesus. As Christians we have the gift challenging each other and the world around us to always pursue what is best. To pursue that which embodies beauty. To pursue that which embraces truth, wholeness, and perfection. Jesus talked about some of this and tended to use the word Kingdom. The kingdom of God t is Christs transforming presence among us in real and tangible ways. His presence frees us to always choose what is best for our lives even when it isn’t easy or fun. But the most important distinction that must be made is that we are freed to make these choices not required. The danger comes when Christians, churches, or pastors teach that you must take care of the environment to be a Christ follower, or you must live sustainably, or you must cloth diaper, or you must…fill in the blank to really be the type of person that Jesus likes. This is called heresy. What if we viewed it like this: God has given us the gift of being able to make new choices, of being able to make better choices. And the blessing associate with that gift is not a better place in heaven, a better standing in his church, or more jewels on your ruby encrusted crown in heaven. The blessing is more similar to the “blessing” Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5 where he says

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall possess the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

The word “blessed” that Jesus uses isn’t someting that is bestowed on his audience, rather it is a state of blessedness. Catch the difference? The reward is found in the blessed state itself. It’s blessed to mourn because when you mourn you’re able to really experience comfort. It’s blessed to be a person who desires justice or rightness because if you’re someone who pursues it, you will find it.

Ok, wait, I’m cutting myself off right now ’cause I’ve already typed on way too long and I could go so much longer.

peace.

Limb Stepping

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This is scary but I’m doing it anyway. If you’ll notice I’ve got a new widget on the side of my blog that lists my most commented on blog posts in history. You’ll then notice that the top one has 107 comments. Back then there were more people I knew blogging. Back then there were more people commenting. These days comments are few and far between.

What’s that? What’s that I hear? Is that a challenge?

You’re on. You’re on like applesauce.

Lets see if we can break the odds, lets see if we can break 107. Is that possible? I realize I’m asking a lot. But the challenge has been made. I realize I’m asking us all to sacrifice. So lets make it easy, here are some suggestions, some ways that I think we can make it happen and also a few rules:

  • Just give a shout out- Tell me you’re there if you’ve never commented before
  • One idea is to follow suit of a status update from facebook and start a story by writing one line that the next commenter then adds to
  • Don’t comment 107 times in a row please, that would cheapen it a little bit
  • Share the love and invite a friend or two to help me reach this goal
  • Say whatever you want and just have fun with it…I know I will.

Oh, and one last thing…if I don’t get my comments I will be humiliated in front of all my friends.