The Christian Distinction

I was driving the other day, listening to music on the Christian radio station, and thinking about different religions and what makes Christianity distinctive. I realized I could sum up Christianity in two words: "love" and "life." If hard-pressed, I'd go with just "love." Sure there are lots of doctrines and teachings and such to learn, but the essence is love. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart... and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Out of love God gave us the promise of a Savior from the very beginning (Genesis 3:15). Out of love Jesus came and lived among us, suffered the worst at the hands of men, died, and rose again, bringing life to all who would follow Him. Out of love the Holy Spirit comforts us, leads us, and prays for us.

God loves us and gives us life. "Perfect love drives out fear... we love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:18-19). In Christ we lawbreakers no longer have to fear a holy and just God (because Jesus took our punishment upon Himself), but we respond to God in love, and that love becomes our motivating factor. Other religions may offer "salvation" based on their followers' efforts, good deeds, enlightened understanding... saving themselves by their bootstraps, if you will, based essentially on their own works. Man reaching up to God. The tower of Babel.

Christianity is God reaching down to man. God loves. God seeks and saves. He knows we can't reach Him so He comes to us. Grace alone. Faith alone. Amen.

About Chairs

Today we went to a moving sale and bought a big, ultra-comfy leather chair and footstool from a British couple who is preparing to move to Italy and therefore selling essentially everything they own. We got a great deal, and somehow managed to maneuver said furniture into our minivan, kids and all. I realized two things in the midst of this purchase.

First, it is not the best idea to buy new furniture for your new and larger home prior to moving in because there may not be room in your current smaller home to put it. We promptly deposited our new chair/footstool combo in the empty office space in Jon's office building, and now I cannot even enjoy my new chair (I think there will be some debate in our home over exactly whose chair it is)! Sadness! It reminded me of our cute rocking chair in the kitchen... which brings me to my second observation.

Jon and I are collectors of chairs. It's true. I don't know why. There are just so many cool chairs out there, and ok maybe they don't quite go with any of our other furniture or we're not sure where we'll put them, but for some reason we are compelled to buy unique chairs at estate/yard sales. Before today our most recent addition was a pretty little wooden rocking chair with newly upholstered cushions, and all the money from that estate sale went to help the local Humane Society shelter (where we got Lucy), which only sweetened the deal. Yes, the rocking chair sits in the kitchen because we bought it "for the new house", of course! In the past we've also gotten a beautiful gold upholstered occasional chair in a butterfly print, which actually needs to be redone. And my parents have even given us an old wooden chair they picked up at a flea market, thus enabling our addiction! Strange indeed. I wonder if there are chair collectors support groups out there...

A New House (with Commentary on Social Ills)

So we're buying a new house. Call us crazy - with the sky falling and all - but Jon and I are snatching up a good deal that will give us much-needed extra space and the coveted "better school district" - which reminds me of the young hooligans on a school bus whom I saw throwing wadded up paper at people on the street as we were stuck in traffic downtown this afternoon... a fine reflection of our stunning public school system and strong moral society. How rude! What is wrong with people that they can not recognize the value of other human beings and have some empathy for them? Maybe it was racially motivated?... I don't think so, but... the kids were black and the people on the street were white... except I forgot that blacks can't be racist. Surely they had previously been victimized themselves - maybe in a past life - and therefore could not be held responsible for their actions, or... whatever!

Anyway...It's exciting - four bedrooms (from our three), two-car garage (from no garage), roomy attic (from our pitiful crawl-space), fenced yard for the dogs and kids, convenient to babysitting :) . The only catch is that it's a foreclosure and needs some work prior to moving in... mainly flooring and painting, but it also has some window and roof issues along with various cosmetic needs. So now we have a project!

Visitors from Afar and Thoughts on Food

A couple of Norwegians recently came to town for a few days. Ingrid and Trygve are related to Jon's mom. They stayed with Jon's parents, who gave them the abridged tour of Savannah (in three days or less). Jon, Anna, Will, and I met up with the four relatives one evening for dinner at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, a fine sample of Lowcountry seafood. The restaurant, for those who don't know, is Paula Deen's (of Food Network fame) brother's place, and Paula has filmed her show (Paula's Party) there. Anyway... so we meet the Norwegian relatives, who were quite pleasant. I just love meeting people from other countries... with accents, different perspectives, different customs, searching for the right word in English... So the funny thing is here we are at this Southern seafood restaurant and Ingrid orders a salad and Trygve orders a hamburger. They live on an island in Norway and Trygve runs a big freight ship, so I'm guessing they eat seafood, but for some reason that's not what they ordered at Uncle Bubba's. And they ate everything with a fork and knife - chicken wings, hamburger, and all! Apparently there are no finger foods in Norway? I don't know.

It certainly gave them an air of sophistication, being all proper and tidy like that. And it made me wonder if there is a latitudinal connection relative to how involved people get with their food. Silly thought perhaps. But this couple lives way up north and they used utensils for all their eating. Americans use fingers for some foods and utensils for others. In Cameroon, West Africa, villagers ate everything with their fingers (and their foo foo) including sauces and such. Coincidence?

It also made me reflect again on how important food is to people, aside from being mere sustenance. Food is cultural. We identify with our food on a personal level. That's one reason why changing our diets can be so difficult... it is emotionally a part of who we are. I did not doubt our new friends' kindness or character for not having embraced the fine Southern cuisine to which we had brought them, or for not eating in the way that we do. But it did underscore our "differentness" and put these little ponderings in my head. Now I more fully understand why, when my colleagues and I went to stay in the village in Cameroon, we were instructed to eat whatever was given to us (as far as possible - I did manage to hide some fish I was given because my gag reflex would not let it pass!) and follow the local customs to avoid offending our hosts. Maybe one day I'll go to Norway and eat...

Nothing Much

Happy May, everyone! Can you believe it's May already? Just a couple short weeks left of school for Anna. Will is ready to start school... every morning when he and I drop off Anna at school, he says "Bye-bye, Mama" with a big grin. The kids start their morning by practicing writing their names, and Will sits at the table with Anna and colors on his paper. When he's done he knows to put his paper in Anna's cubby just like the big kids. Too cute. We've signed him up to start in the fall even though it's a year earlier than Anna started - we just think he's ready and would really enjoy it.

Lucy has recovered from her surgery and "big collar" and is back to her normal sweet self. She and Dixie are on diets and seem to be shaping up (we hope). Funny how easy it is to put a dog on a diet. We humans are much trickier.

So blah, blah, blah... not much to say, but it's been a while so I thought I should write something. I'll try to do better next time!