Why we don't have nice things....

This morning, my friend Melissa was searching for her phone everywhere in the office. She walked by me with the remark, "See, this is why we don't have nice things."
We both chuckled, and I thought about how many hundreds of times I heard that from my mom and grandmother because of how I treated the many fine things they had bought over the years.

At staff chapel this morning, the pastor walked us through a reading of Genesis 2:6-3:1.

2:6 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

2:7 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

2:8 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

2:9 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

3:1 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

At first I was reflecting on the beauty of creation and that God called it good. I thought, "What an honor it is to be the keepers of this creation." He gave us dominion over all the plants and seed and trees and fruit and of all living creatures!

Suddenly, the statement from earlier that morning hit me. How poorly humanity has treated God's creation - which he has placed in our care.

Sure, it's a bummer that I cut my moms couch with a knife when I was 7. It was sad that I broke my grandmothers lead crystal vase and lost the ruby ring my mom gave me for graduation. We'll get over that.

But it is staggering to think about how we - the very children of God - have defaced, vandalized and abused the beauty He entrusted to us.

Will creation get over that? Will we?

Awareness

I like to think I am a pretty intuitive and sensitive person. But sometimes I guess I am unaware of how what I say flippantly, affects others (negatively).
On Facebook:
I think it is a joke that people try to sum up their entire religious views in a one-liner on their profile.
In response to this I jokingly wrote: Jesus loves you, I'm just his favorite.

Recently I friended someone on FB and they confirmed me.
38 minutes later, they deleted me and wrote me a note about how offensive it was for me to write that.
To this person, who is non-religious, it was self-absorbed and narcissitic (BTW there is a history there).

On the one hand, I think the (un)friend misunderstood the intent of my religious views. I was trying to make a statement that people should not take themselves so seriously. Also, I think I am funny.

The way it was taken, though, is what I am intriqued by this evening.

I'm not trying to make it more than it is, and I am not beating myself up. But it did make me sit up and think. I want to have better filters. I want to be aware of my words and actions, knowing that there are people out there who have differing views. I want to be salt and light in this world, not cause others to stumble.

NEW CITY!

New City begins tonight!
New City is the service that Creighton is starting at Central UMC.
5pm Worship
6pm Meal
7pm Spiritual Formation classes

Come check it out!

ER!

Poor little Whitby!

She cut her foot on a piece of glass in the garage yesterday. Yikes!

Guilt overcomes me as I think about the fact that there are shards of glass on the garage floor.

We (me, Canon, Whit and Cosmo) waited 5 hours to see a doc. Then two hours later - we headed home. Talk about quality time with the kids.

She's doing fine now - - children are so resilient.

Texas Independence Day Party: All Are Invited!

Our heart is to share the love of Texas to those here in Kansas.
Come one, come all!

Friday, Feb. 27th
7pm
Our house: 13009 Knox St.
Overland Park TX 66213