spring break food tour

My old roomie + husband came to visit Easter weekend and I stuffed them silly with NYC's finest! Well...ok, not NYC's finest, but definitely NYC's tourist hit list. I think we were all sick of standing in line near the end. I was also thinking how gear-girl out West probably goes mountain biking or rock-climbing on the weekends and here on the weekends, we stand in line for an hour and a half waiting to get a table. But there were some mighty yummy moments had by all. A small sampling:

Momofuku Ramen














Pommes Frites Belgian Fries





















2nd Avenue Deli Pastrami
















Lombardi's


























And if you're going to have pastrami at 2nd Avenue Deli, you might as well have it with matzoh ball soup! Finally my favorite little treat--the only chichi thing on the menu, French macaroons on the way to the Met!

Being OK with Different

Peter and John Running to the Tomb— Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921), Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Mary Magdalene is distraught at the sight of the empty tomb. She rushes to tell Peter and John. They all head to the site--scared and confused. John lingers at the entrance, taking it all in. Peter bursts into the tomb boldly, but doesn't understand. Mary is crying. (John 20)

I love how differently they all behave because it reminds me that my kind of different isn't better than anyone else's kind of different.

John lingers in the entrance--and then believes.
Peter bursts in--but goes home to think.
Only Mary, heartbroken Mary stays there desperately thinking she must rescue the corpse somehow.

I love how Jesus takes the lead with all of them--loving each in the way that they need.

He calls Mary by name. He makes sure Peter knows that they're OK--2 denials before the rooster crows and all. He deigns to show Thomas the holes in his hands and side.

God help me not to be so disdainful of people who have different politics, different priorities, different ways of honoring you!

Friday

Rembrandt, Ich Habe Euch Ein Beispiel Gegeben, 1655 ("I Gave You an Example.")

Stanley Spencer, The Last Supper, 1920 ©the estate of Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham


Eduardo Castrillo, The Redemption, Marikina Loyola National Park, Philippines, 1974



Ben Willikens, 1976–79, Deutsches Architektur-Museum, Frankfurt am Main

For more: The Last Supper

gender roles: clearing up the confusion

There is a lot of confusion out there about what the Bible says about women. Among other things. But today let's just talk women.

And as usual, self-appointed expert church types have a long history of muddying the waters further--with disastrous results.

I went to a wonderful talk yesterday on gender roles by Kathy Keller. I can't hope to do a good job of summarizing it and won't even get into the hardest stuff (you can get the MP3 at redeemer.com), but allow me to share a few points I found helpful:

1. On the word "Helper"
When God says in Genesis 2:18 "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him"--the word for helper there is really "ezer" which is someone who provides aid out of strength that the other one lacks.

To Tim and Kathy, this means that God intended for Eve to initiate (that troublesome word!), advise, lead and minister out of her STRENGTHS.

2. The Church can set the Model for Equality
The Holy Spirit fell on both men and women at Pentecost, which overturned (or should have) centuries of abuse of power, sexism and patriarchal "crap" amongst believers (to quote Kathy). From this point on, men and women are doing equally important work --though different--in the church (I can't get into the "different" part, I won't do it justice).

3. Be Careful Editing God's Language
Some people believe it's important to change Biblical language so it's gender neutral i.e. "children of God" instead of "sons of God". But--we should always be careful when editing the word of God to make it fit our cultural moment. We are all called "sons" yes, which could be construed as unfair but we are also all called "sheep", and Christ's "bride."

4. Jesus Sets the Ultimate Example
Whether we (by we, I mostly mean, "I") like it or not, the Bible does teach that women should take a subordinate role in church and marriage. However, if we kept in mind that Jesus voluntarily takes on the subordinate role--and it was his GLORY, maybe that can help us think of it differently. If it was not unjust for Jesus (who was and is EQUAL to the Father) to voluntarily and temporarily submit himself to the Father, can it be unjust for women to do the same?

I know this is long, but two other quick points:

Reportage vs. Commandment
Many people get tripped up by stuff they read (often in the Old Testament)--all the men taking multiple wives for example. We should by no means read this to mean God condones or approves or COMMANDS this. It's simply being reported to us. Those Old Testament people--like us--made BIG mistakes.

Don't Assume
We tend to breeze right by parts of the Bible we don't like to read, let alone try and obey the stuff in there. We may be tempted to think some stuff is "cultural", and only written for the that particular moment in time so it doesn't apply to us. But actually, we should really be careful of assuming our culture is an accurate judge of all other cultures, and is somehow superior. We have to find some way to obey the hard verses, and not just stick with the ones we like.

Finally, I left there with a better understanding that men and women's roles are a gift from God, not something to be embarrassed about or revolt against. Men and women are not interchangeable in God's kingdom.

sad mac

I dropped my iBook.
Twice.
Yes I know it's a dinosaur (G4), but it's still good, so why add to the heaps of technological detritus by buying a new one?

Two days ago it started ticking.
Like A BOMB.

Genius Bar Guy says,

"It's not hopeless."
"$700 to repair."
"$1099 for a new Macbook! And we'll even copy your files over for free!"

I may be reading too much of this Stuff White People Like
which annoys me because so many people are into it, but I do really really hope there are some good recycling options for laptops (does anyone know)?

There's gotta be a good business plan in here somewhere: salvaging valuable stuff from the heaps of technological detritus and using the empty shells for...something beautiful?

Dear Husband

Dear Husband Who is About to Go to Tanzania,

Numbers are hard to make sense of, but here are some:

Population 38.3 million
Life Expectancy 46 years
Infant Mortality Rate 76 / 1,000
Literacy Rate 69%
Access to Safe Water 62%
Average Annual Income US$340
Number of AIDS orphans 1 million

What can you do in 3 weeks?

Tell us here, what you see, how to pray.

Show each patient you have the privilege to work with, all the kindness you can, and treat them with the very best skills you can.

In fact, show each and every person you have the privilege to meet, all the kindness and respect you can.

Get out of that cush expat housing as often as you can, and explore a little.

Soak up the sight of Kilimanjaro and commend God for His breathtaking work!

Be thankful for whatever food you are given to eat--especially when it's not what you're used to. I wasn't good at this last time.

3 weeks might not seem like much, but neither does a cup of cold water!

Matthew 10:42
"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Tool Time

You might already have a copy of the book.
You might already have attended one of the amazingly powerful Q & A Session for the doubters, the skeptics and atheists.
You might already have gotten CDs and MP3s from me because I love sharing such GREAT tools.

If not, you should first check out the site The Reason for God, and then the book. And then maybe some of the recordings. I'd be happy to send you some. Just ask me!

In the past 2 years, Tim Keller's articulate, authoritative talks have really helped us to understand that it takes just as much faith to NOT believe in God, as to believe. That everyone, but everyone worships some kind of god--whether it is God or not. They just might call it career advancement, well-adjusted children, a comfortable life--what have you. And that Christianity is the ONE faith where it's not about a prophet telling you how YOU can find God, but a loving God come down to find you.

He's also helped us see that Christians can and should not only stay, but fluorish in and love the cities where they live ("seek the prosperity of the city...because if it prospers, you too will prosper"...). But that's another story for another day.

For now--we're emboldened to--to pay attention! To look for opportunities to share this magnificent hope we have, and thoughtfully engage the people that God has put into our lives at this time.