Greenblade - creation - faith - justice

Via Media: Judaism, Flan, Coffee and The Beautiful Compromise

In Girl Meets God (a stupid book, with one significant theme, as noted here) Lauren Winner writes about --among other things-- being raised a reform Jew and then converting to Orthodox Judaism during her college years. Her reasons for converting are noteworthy and profound; though she writes with fondness of her adolescence in her reformed temple, she seeks a greater, more absolute faith. She decides that if she is going to embrace Judaism, she must do it with everything that she's got. She delves into the Torah's myriad rules for living and adheres to them, wearing a wig and a prayer shawl, walking to Temple on the sabbath, structuring her life within the rigid confines of utmost orthodoxy. She falls in love with the rich traditions and adopts them fully. After several years of absolute devotion, however, she begins to feel a powerful calling towards Christianity. Having created a philosophy of belief that does not allow for any flexibility, she ... MORE

Via Media: The Sound of One Egg Cracking

The other day, while making an organic, low-sugar, as-local-as-possible carrot cake, I cracked the second of four eggs. Instead of the normal hollow *crack* followed by white and yolk falling into the bowl, the egg made a hollow *thunk* and let out a burst of small gray feathers.

The egg had a chicken in it.

It was all I could do to stop from screeching, dropping the thing, and running out of the room.

I took a deep breath. I reminded myself that I was brave. I tried to focus on the fact that the chicken was clearly dead before I cracked its shell, briefly alleviating my "I killed it!" guilt. But I couldn't help but be aware that I --who don't eat meat-- would have gladly eaten the thing that that chicken was before it became meat.

I was ... MORE

Via Media: Jesus Issues

I'm having Jesus issues.

As my peers in the church echo joyously "Alleluia! Christ is Risen!" I find myself mumbling along, and missing the human, pre-Easter, Christ. That guy made sense to me: He was a political radical, a sometimes-popular dissenter, a protesting member of the counterculture. I could envision him along with his band of dedicated followers, tromping about and shaking things up. I could understand why so many folks followed him, and I could also see why so many were skeptical. I empathized when the lessons that he tried to teach fell on deaf ears, and I marveled at his patience as --time and time again-- his disciples bunged up his message.

I wasn't the only one who got the pre-resurrection Jesus: the Lansing girls figured that the Palm Sunday Jesus was the 1st century equivalent of a rock star, the palms an early version of posters reading I LOVE ... MORE

POSTED 04/25/07, 04:39 AM EST BY LIZ RICHARDS | COMMENT