So... what up, blog readers? I am so very inconsistent in blogging, occasionally I decide to forego xanga altogether. We have Facebook now, so what's the point, right? But I just read something about discipline and writing as a form of spiritual discipline. Sure, I am not going to write out my heart and soul everytime I blog, but I think it's a good outlet for thoughts. I tend to better express myself in writing anyway... at least I used to! I hardly even journal anymore. Eh...It's hard to believe that I used to blog AND journal everyday. Gone are those days.

Anyway! The main reason I decided to "blog now" was to quickly type out something I read this morning. It is from a daily devotional I picked up at church. The editor, Stephen Bryant, wrote the following:

I like Tilden Edward's simple description of prayer: "Authentic prayer is opening to God's gracious presence with all that we are, with what Scripture summarizes as our whole heart, soul, and mind" (Matt. 22:37). The quality of our prayer, then, depends on the qualtiy - the honesty and constancy - of our presence to God. After all, the problem that prayer addresses is not God's absence from us but our absence from God. The good news of God's grace is Emmanuel: "God with us"! And yet, we are elsewhere. We fall asleep, spiritually speaking; we forget our connectedness to God; we bcome lost in our sense of separateness and self-sufficiency.

I identified with this, especially since the topic/concept of "honesty" has been resounding my brain and life lately. I am learning more and more about being honest - with myself and with God, especially. The biggest struggle for me (and maybe many of us humans) is being honest with others. I pray OFTEN that I will have the strength to respond in honesty AND tenderness. For me, there is a point in a friendship where I can be honest (bluntly so), but to the detriment of the relationship. I need to learn how to lovingly be honest. SIGH! Yeah. May it be so!

(This photo was taken on a walk in Capitol Hill in Seattle with my cell phone.)

Real quick (or as quick as I can type in the next 6 mins): My last week was busy with good things. I got to spend time with all kinds of different people every evening after work last week. I love variety! Don't you? I met some new and interesting people and got to re-connect with people I hadn't seen/talked to in awhile. (Work was fairly productive, too.) I have a couple photos I intended to post... maybe next time?

I thought I should update about my hunt for a church. Back at the end of December I had made a resolution to commit to finding a church to call my home. And God has led me to the perfect place! The pastor and his wife are new as of February (and about my age - the majority of the congregation is generally older). I loved this place immediately with it's orange carpet and homemade pillows on every pew. His messages are outstanding - always causing me to think differently about passages of scripture I've read thousands of times. The people are excited about the newness they've been invited into (their last pastor was with them for 25 years) and are getting prepared to engage in the purpose God has for them. I am truly glad to have found this church.

Sidenote: I've read a couple books recently that I want to recommend to all of you. Both works of non-fiction that have really given me perspective.

Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean

A Deadly Misunderstanding by Mark Siljander

Okay! Nothing very entertaining in this post - just a basic update. I know everyone is leaving xanga, but not me. No sirree. I don't have the patience to learn a whole new blogging deal. Facebook is ridiculous enough. Peace!

I was just reading about the war in the DRC, which is really about mineral resources. I mean, it's said to be funded by the sale of coltan (which makes it possible for you and I to have a cell phone), and the disputes are about land rights. Seems a bit unethical of us cell phone users. It's really hard to escape buying products that have some past, some unethical something about it.

Soon, I hope to embark on the reading of a book called The Age of the Warrior: Selected Essays by Robert Fisk. Maybe he addresses my current pondering: I wonder how many wars waging right now are essentially wrought because of money? I guess most everything boils down to whether a group decides they have rights to something or other (resources, land, etc) and that's why people start wars. What do you think?