Jurgen Moltmann and the end

I'm working on my Systematic Theology final and reading some work by Jurgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope. I really like it, here's a snippet:

“The Christian hope is directed towards a novum ultimum, towards a new creation of all things by the God of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It thereby opens a future outlook that embraces all things, including also death, and into this it can and must also take the limited hopes of a renewal of life, stimulating them, relativizing them, and giving them direction.” (Moltmann, p. 33-34)

pretty beautiful and a nice balance to reading stuff like this (which is from another book for same essay):

"Posttribulationism, like pretribulationism, is primarily a subdivision of premillennialism. Technically all nonpremillennialists are posttribulationists. Few nonpremillinnialists, however, concern themselves with the idea of a tribulation. Thus we may safely limit our treatment of posttribulationism to posttribulationists of premillinnial variety."

When coming across the second section at 10:30pm after working on a paper for hours it is entirely possible that I uttered "s&it" and laughed at the same time. In fact, that is exactly what happened. Then I made another cup of tea. I certainly won't use that quote in my essay, but I have taken some time to parse it out and it is not so crazy as it first reads. But, I won't leave you with that one, here is another from Moltmann:

“Finally, the believing hope will itself provide inexhaustible resources for the creative, inventive imagination of love.” (Moltmann, p. 34)

Wish I would have read that before sending out my Christmas cards. That's all... short blog post as I must return to this essay.

Danny Macaskill - Industrial Revolutions

Apparently, the UK, Danny Macaskill a "household name" according to my friend Jim. However, his cycling trick skills were new to me and I am really enjoying using this video as a study break during finals week. The beauty in the connection between rider in bike is what keeps me cycling. As if my bike where as part of me as my foot or arm. I can't do tricks like Mr. Macaskill is able, but I certainly love the way this video presents the playful interdependence between a bike and its rider... it is a video of what it feels like for me to be sailing down through the streets of Berkeley- a little bit of bliss in this world... Poetry in motion.

It was also great to discover the musician featured in this video. Ben Howard, also new to me, is the music you hear in the background of Macaskill's magic. His album, Every Kingdom, has been the soundtrack to the essay writing marathon that is my life this week. Check him out. If you live in Europe, you might be able to catch a show. If you live in the states, you can listen to him on spotify for free. :) If you live anywhere else... well... there is always his myspace page, I like "The Wolves" (which is what is on the video) and "Old Pine" best thus far.

Laughter came from every brick

During Clinical Pastoral Education last summer (my internship as a hospital chaplain) I spent a good deal of time reading poems and practicing yoga. As I had mentioned in a previous post, Advent seems to be filled with poetry for me, and I have frequently turned to one of my favorite recently acquired collections of poetry edited by Daniel Landinsky called Love Poems from God (which I purchased at my yoga studio.) I have frequently turned to its pages for words from Rumi, St Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila to fill my spare moments. It is really easy this time of year to surrender to the stress of finals and the end of the semester... to focus on making plans instead of living out the plan that God set in place for me... let me tell you, so much easier to focus on the doing than the being. Poetry helps keep me in check remember to enjoy the passing moments even if they are filled with essays, research, sleepless nights... they can also be filled with nights out to dinner with friends, making Christmas cards, singing carols, bike rides in the winter sunshine and moments of peace... I've found that moments of peace arrive in the most surprising places.

LAUGHTER CAME FROM EVERY BRICK

by: St Teresa of Avila

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life,

"Enjoy Me."

What a burden I thought I was to carry -
a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, "I know a song,
would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street
and from every pore
in the sky.

After a night of prayer, He
changed my life when
He sang,

"Enjoy Me."

modern Psalms in surprising places.

when I don't have words that can express my emotions, frustration, joy, praise, there is... as my classmates and I use to joke... a Psalm for that. It is one of that aspect of the psalms that I love the most. One of the categories for Pslams found in the Hebrew Bible are those for Lament. You can choose from your garden variety or group wailing if you really want to have a proper bemoaning of life... and let's face it: sometimes it feel GREAT to just let it all out. What I like about the Psalms? It is one of the parts of the Bible that remind me that I don't have to be happy all the time; that God wants all my emotions... all of ME... and not just when I am hippy skippy happy healed. Being a Christian certainly does not guarantee a happy ride through life, but I do embrace the comfort offered in Christ's presence and Christian community that I don't have to go through it alone.

A few weeks ago I went to a pretty terrible lecture on hymnody where there seemed to be a chorus of "where are the poets?" "where are the poets?" "Who will put the words of this generation to music that we can use for worship?" etc etc. I really wanted to stand up and say, look around you! Turn on the radio, read a book. Poets are everywhere. You know where you are less likely to find them? In a place that dictates what worship with God needs to look like. I am not against liturgy, the opposite, actually... I love liturgy so much that I believe it needs to be allowed to grow and breath and become part of the worshiping community in a real and authentic way, reflecting tradition and the people gathered.

After all.. God is everywhere and that means in you and in me... so perhaps we should be looking for songs and psalms that can give us words to talk about how we are experiencing God in the world and with each other right now. maybe turn on the radio? **


**also acknowledging that there are lots of crap songs on the radio and lots of commercials as well... etc etc... but hey, sometimes i feel like those crap songs do a better job at meeting me where I am... even when I am kind of angry. One of those songs would be, Jenny Owens Young: "F%^k Was I" I like the female vocals and the cello juxtaposed with the harshness of the lyrics; gives the song a kind of fullness, if you ask me (and you kind of implicitly did because you are reading my blog.)

Advent.

I've been thinking a lot about Advent lately. I've grown a new appreciation for Advent as a church season. I might even say that I have come to love it. This season of waiting that precedes Christmas where we anticipate the coming of Christ; the word manifest. It is a season of hope. Hope that no matter how gray and dark things may seem to be... the trees bare, cold wind, the sky a bit overcast and perhaps you feel alone this holiday season, perhaps you are alone. Then the holidays that are meant to be a joyful time to be with those that we love, are sad for those of us that have lost...and I would reckon that would describe more people than you know. Please don't mistake this for some exposing of emo bs, and I am not saying you need to believe what I do, beleive what you want and read another blog... but, for me, Advent...the coupling of love and sadness is beautiful... it is breathtaking and it is hope and sadness together. Because as soon as we anticipate Christ's birth, we know that death is around the corner, as it is for each one of us.

No wonder I seem to want to read poetry all through advent... poetry reminds me that there is a living word right now. In the words of poems, in you. in me and in the hope that after winter, there is the coming spring... there is new life. So I start off this Advent (a bit late, I know) with a poem from one of my favorites, Mary Oliver:

Spring

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her –
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Happy Birthday Dad! The Brunch!

Last Weekend was the birthday celebration of one of my favorite fellas in the world: my dad. :) We surprised him for his 60th birthday weekend by flying me home so we could all be together. It is weekends like this, with my family, that make me remember everything good in the world. Above is the picture of the restaurant where we went to have the most delicious, posh, elaborate brunch in town: Salty's... with its view of Seattle dining here is certainly a treat for everyone.

While we waited for our seats, we enjoyed the scones, hot chocolate, and coffee they had in the waiting area. I love this picture of Kelly, Bea, and Dad. That little face enjoying the scone with a great big bow? How adorable, right?

Mom and Dad at the end of our meal. As you can see, the sun did come out and with the great big windows around the restaurant it was bright light and lovely!

Above: The Parents
Below: The Siblings(/Children?)

One thing I love about my brother is that he gets his money's worth at a buffet. Salty's is all you can eat, but not in the typical all you can eat way... in the "oh my goodness they have oysters on the half shell, blackened salmon, two kinds of eggs Benedict, all kinds of carvery meat, a pasta bar, omelet bar, etc" and that is not even mentioning the desserts! Needless to say, we all ate our fill, it is just that Erik has the magical ability to eat more of his fill than anyone I know... impressive! Makes up for me being a vegetarian at an all you can eat buffet. :)

"Did somebody say Bacon?"

Beatrice helped dad open his cards. What a great meal; what a great family. Happy Birthday Dad!

Oh Broccoli, you're so saucey.

I was gifted a Costco size bag of broccoli florets last Friday and have spent the subsequent week working out ways to eat them and glean all that broccoli goodness. However, as someone who is not a fan of the cheddar broccoli combo nor a fan of quiche (especially quiche with broccoli! yikes.) there are a limited amount of recipes that tempted me. I very much enjoy our friend, broccoli on its own merits, but wanted to mix it up and see what sauteing could do to one of my favorite vegetables.

I started yesterday with making a peanut sauce. It was pretty tasty and easy to prepare. Those packets and jars in the store are so expensive and I was able to make this with all ingredients I had to hand... with a few modifications which I will note below:

Broccoli in Peanut Sauce

The Sauce

• 1/2 cup unprocessed peanut butter (I used almond butter)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tamari (I used soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

The Saute

• 1 (1 lb) bunch fresh broccoli
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced (yay! ( love garlic!)
• 1 lb tofu, cut into small cubes (I omitted this and it was delicious)
• 3 dashes salt
• 2 cups thinly-sliced onions
• 1 cup coarsely-chopped raw peanuts (or almonds)
• 2 -3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the peanut butter and hot water until uniform in consistency.
2. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
3. Cut off the bottom half-inch of the broccoli stems and dice them into bite sized slices; it works well to cut the stalks diagonally into thin slices and coarsely chop the flowerettes.
4. Set aside.
5. Begin heating the large skillet. When it is hot add 1 tbsp of the oil.
6. Add half the garlic and salt lightly
7. Sauté over medium heat for 1 minute, then add the tofu chunks (if using)
   
8. Turn the heat up a little, and stir-fry the tofu for 5-8 minutes.
9. Transfer it, including whatever liquid it might have expressed, to the saucepanful of peanut sauce.
10. Mix together gently.
11. Add the remaining garlic to the now empty pan.
12. Add the onions, and some black pepper and sauté, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until the onions are soft.
13. On another burner, begin heating the peanut-tofu sauce on a low heat. It shouldn't actually cook-it only needs to be warmed through. Add the broccoli and the chopped peanuts (or slivered almonds) to the skillet.
14. Add 2-3 tbsp tamari (soy sauce) and stir-fry over medium-high heat until the broccoli is bright green and just tender.
15. Pour the heated peanut sauce over the sauté.
16. Toss everything gently until everything is coated with everything else.
17. Serve over long-grained white or brown rice (basmati is good).

So that is the fancy way of doing it with lots of directions. I just kind of put it all in the pan, sauteed and added the sauce and simmered. Either way... delicious!

Alright, but the real winner for the evening was the Broccolli in Garlic Sauce... was very nice. I would have taken a picture, but we ate it too quickly.

Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• approx 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1 can of chick peas or whatever beans you have around.
  
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger powder (a little fresh ginger finely diced made a good addition)
  
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

In a large skillet (or whatever pan you have. I only have one... so that is what I use and it still turns out well) sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions turn clear, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the chickpeas, ginger, cayenne and broccoli to the pan and continue to cook until broccoli is done, another 6-8 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the corn starch, soy sauce and water, then add this mixture to the broccoli and chickpeas. Cook until sauce thickens, then remove from heat. At this point I added a little freshly chopped basil I had in the garden, about 1/4 cup. It was a good addition.

I served this over brown rice and it goes beautifully together. Though, I imagine over noodles or quinoa it would also be a treat.

Now that I (and you!) know how to make these sauces I believe they will go with many seasonal vegetables. They are cheap, cheerful and easy to make in less than 20 minutes (except for waiting for rice to cook.) A dinner time win!