Welcome to my web log! (blog) I hope that these entries will give you a glimpse into my world and the spirit I bring to my ministry. I write new entries every week, so check out the archives and check in again soon. Looking forward to beginning ministry with UUCFM in the fall!

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My thoughts are traveling across the globe to the natural disasters that have occurred in Myanmar (Burma) and now in China.  I was speaking to my maternal grandmother, who was very upset to hear about those presently suffering in China.

How can the Lord let such things happen? she asked.

My grandmother has been Episcopalian for roughly thirty years.  Before, she was a Methodist.  The reason for the switch is never directly answered, but it seems to have had less to do with theology and more about family politics.  At any rate, she has been a practicing Christian all of her life.  She says prayers at her bedside every night.  No longer able to kneel, she says them in her little twin bed as she lays herself down to sleep.

In her devotion, she still questions her god.  Why would her god do or even allow such awful things to happen?  I told her that some people don’t believe that god is all-powerful and all-knowing but some believe that god suffers with us in these times of shock and difficulty.  The Buddhists simply acknowledge that life is suffering- not in that martyred kind of way, but in a pragmatic way.  Yep, life is hard… as well as offering us moments of the sublime.

In mujerista theology, one of the main tenets of this liberation-based thought is that la vida es la lucha.  Life is the struggle.  But acknowledging the struggle of life does not mean that life is awful.  We can celebrate life and take charge of our own lives as much as we can.

In my grandmother’s theology, heaven is where there is no more suffering.  For me, the end of suffering is when I will no longer have the sense of being an “I.”  I am uncertain as to when this could happen.  Perhaps upon death, or perhaps after some moments of reconciliation with a greater reality I would lose my I-consciousness.  As it stands as pure speculation, I might only extend my heart to those who are suffering in this world here and now, asking that we all be free from suffering and at peace.  I might do even better to go beyond contemplation, get off my zafu pillowed duff, and embody these sentiments in the world.  Life may be suffering, but it can also be an active prayer.

And on a completely unrelated note, I have another couple pictures to share of the most recent renegade punk knitting installations I have seen.  It seems some love and appreciation has been extended to the bike racks at the Logan Square Blue Line stop.  Enjoy!