A poem to share

This poem works for me. Perhaps having two daughters makes me more open to the feminist undertones. I like the idea of a God who is less strict and opressive - more understanding of my humanity.

God Says Yes To Me


by Kaylin Haught


I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic

and she said yes

I asked her if it was okay to be short

and she said it sure is

I asked her if I could wear nail polish

or not wear nail polish

and she said honey

she calls me that sometimes

she said you can do just exactly

what you want to

Thanks God I said

And is it even okay if I don't paragraph

my letters

Sweetcakes God said

who knows where she picked that up

what I'm telling you is

Yes Yes Yes



"God Says Yes To Me" by Kaylin Haught, from The Palm of Your Hand. © Tilbury House Publishers, 1995.

Prove it to me

Someone asked an interesting question last Fri morning. What if somehow we had absolute proof that the bible was just another book? That many of the stories were fabrications? That the miracles professed in the old and new testament never happened? Would such a revelation change the way we live? Would we suddenly turn to a life of sin - lie, cheat, steal, abuse drugs, murder? The conclusion was that most people are basically good. We are in many ways wired to live decent law abiding lives.
Another interesting question - what if we discovered proof without a shadow of doubt that the bible was true? What effect would that have on the way we lived? I'll admit, without such undeniable evidence, there have been times in my Christian journey when I have been skeptical. For example, I struggle when it comes to the miracles of the old and new testament. I sometimes wonder what my life might be like if i had scientific evidence that these miracles did happen. I convince myself that if i learned of evidence to the the absolute truth to some of these fundamental stories of the Christian faith, it would result in drastic change to the way i live my life. However, i have to wonder - would such a revelation really have that much effect on me? I'd argue that man is an incredibly forgetful species.
Lets be honest, when our eulogy is read, we all want something more than "he was the best salesman/engineer in the company" or "he attained more billable hours than anyone." Then why do I spend so much time chasing these types of worldly goals? It takes tremendous faith to align myself with a more eternal agenda.

Genesis: January 7 & 14, 2011

We talked about some decisions we’ve recently made; then Jumped to Genesis 13:1-13
An Old Testament man with an impressive resume’: Abraham- a man remembered throughout the Bible for his amazing Faith. Abraham had flocks, herds and servants by the hundreds. Lot’s father died while he was still young, that’s when Abraham started looking after him. Lot evidently had a fair amount of business acumen as well; he accumulated quite a fortune on his own.
Ultimately God told Abraham to move. Without question Abraham packed his bags and started out, and took Lot along with him. A huge moving party ensued, and naturally some conflict arose, between the employees of Lot and Abraham not between the two. A separation was required. Remember Abraham was the leader, but he gave Lot first choice of grazing lands. Lot chose the land near Sodom.
Abraham was facing a defining moment decision. We talked about Lot’s choice and about being selfish or myopic in decision making, as well as making quick decisions.
What was Lot looking at when he made his decision? We talked about attractive decisions on the “surface”. We pondered the question, “What if Lot chose the other path? Would things have turned out differently?”
What is the lesson here? Where are we pitching our tents? We remembered that –“nothing good happens after midnight”. Generally speaking, deciding on paths that allow or enable us to make poor choices.
We engaged in a robust discussion regarding Gods decision to destroy Sodom, and our thoughts regarding how/why that occurred. We questioned, we challenged, and ultimately decided that questions as well as differing opinions are okay and even healthy in our review of controversial bible passages.
We read Genesis 13:18 and discussed how to make wise choices. We reviewed our decision making process and how prayer primarily only occurs (for the majority of us anyway) when we’re facing difficult or big decisions.
And we talked about the parallels between Golden Coral and Sodom from a dieter’s temptation standpoint.
Finally, we read Genesis 19 : 1-29.
Initially, Lot only moved toward Sodom. Now he’s right in the middle of it. Sodom is now in Lot.
Finally we talked about the evolution of events from our reading. And how those events transpired from a seemingly easy, apparently benign decision and how it turned into full blown “run for your life” event.