Paul is a bit deeper

Paul is a bit deeper than most would like to think.
i have been following this Writer since the early 80's his name is Paul Hewson. I ran across some things the other day in a current book i am reading Re: God and I wanted to capture it... paint it...be transformed by it...internalize it... and let it become intimate .....

Paul is speaking to a friend who does not believe in God. telling him about how Crazy God is for us, and the converstaions below are what came.

"The Christmas Story" ( setting: Dublin's St. Patricks Cathedral, Christmas Eve. explaining this to his friend)
.....the idea that God, if there is a force of love and logic in the Universe, that It ( God) would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That It would seek to explain itself and describe Itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, without honor, in shit and straw... a child...unknowable love... unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. Love needs to find a form... intimacy needs to be whispered. Essence has to manifest itself. It's inevitable, love has to become an action or somthing concrete. It would have to happen. there must be an incarnation.... love must be made flesh!

What is God?
.... Well, I think i know WHAT God is... God is Love. and as much as i respond in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting IN that love... that's where things get complicated is when I try to live this love.... now that is not so easy.

God of the Old....
There is nothing Hippy about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes a divisive love, bit love it is. I accpt the Old Testement as more an action movie.....The Children of God are running amok, wayward.maybe that's why they are so relatable. But the way we would see it. those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum... is that the God of the Old Testamant is like the journey from a stern father to friend. When you are a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in one to one relationship for as, in the Old Testamentit was more of worship and awe a vertical relationship. the New Testament, on the other hand we look across Jesus who looks familure, horizontal. This combination is what makes the Cross.

Elvis has left the Building
.....Religion can be the enemy of God. it's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building....a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing Discipleship.

Looking for company
Its a mind - blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company. A real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the differnce between Grace and Karma......... the center of all religions is the idea of Karma, you know what you put out comes back to you...along comes this idea of Grace.... to upend all that " as you reap so will you sow stuff.. Grace defies reason and logic.. Love interrupts, the consequnce of your actions. which in my case is very good indeed cause I have done alot of stupid stuff.
Th point of death of Chirst is that Christ took on the sins of the world so that what we put out did not come back to us. and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. that's the point. it should keep us humbled.. its not our own good works that get us through the gate of Heaven.

for those of you not aware...
Paul Hewson is the lead singer and Writer for the band U2, you may know him as Bono.

your thoughts on this would be wonderous.
sorry for the dry spell... ive been summering away.....

For The Love of All Things HOLY!

I have decided to take a much needed vacation.... o.k. Rob has decided we, as a stinking family, will be taking a vacation this year. Very Last minute and get the h*%$ outta Dodge.
Right now Rob and I are on a count down to 3 more sleeps and we are gone.... mud puddle 1 and 2 ( the kids) are not excited about having to spend a week cooped up in a hotel room sharing 200 square feet of the same air... ( no one fart please) over looking the Oregon coast sea shore from our balcony. did i mention the kitchenette? or the heated pool? and hot tub? did i mention paying through the nose? ( summer ya know).

My thoughts... and i do have some... believe me. I am not EVEN being tongue and cheek.... Rob and I are going on Frickin' Vacation.... the kids can go to Grandma's sulk, poke eachothers eye out with a stick and hate being a teen ager while they pop zits in the mirror for all i care. because I for one, am not looking foreward to playing the " Can't we all just get along game" I am looking foreward to throwing some yummies in a crock pot... turning it on... go sit on the beach, take a hike, see amovie, go have vacation ummm uhhhhh you know.... and ENJOY my time on the Beach with the man i Married . For the love of all things Holy! ....

Needless to say... i will be gone for a while... and i am taking my paints with me... cause i fully intend on painting while i am there, oh and that book i keep putting down till i have some more time.... its coming with me too... and how about the sun tan lotion,,,, yup... that too.
so until i get back... my blog will have to wait a few days. :O)

kiss you on the eyelids,,, and for the love of all things holy.... please get along while we are away. :O)

Wonder of Wonders

Good Day to you!
this picture of little girls , reading at their small, one room school house near the place i grew up, tugged at my heart. i just had to share it.

I have some deep kindreds... family really, more than friends now... who are Dutch, thier son is getting married at the end of this month, so Family and Folks from Holland and all over are streaming in, to the home of our friends on the hill with a few acres...there are kids running around, chickens clucking at all the ruckus, tents.... huge tents going up and cots being used all over thier "many acre back yard" the fire pit is aglow on cool evenings. Coffee and wine being shared around the fire while long gangly legs of growing children and grandchildren dangle from laps of aunts, uncles, friends and family, as each of us listen to the stories being shared.

The smells are terrific, the scent on top of the childrens heads are that musky outdoor playing hard in the sun, wrestling in the feilds, watching butterflies perch on flowers kinda scent.. the aroma of children and adventure. Of long hot summers, and of treasures found in the trees and under rocks.

I have been allowed to share the growing up times of this Family, as they have shared the same with mine. we have watched thier children play sports, go to camp, go to high school, graduations, birthdays, proms... and meet thier, to be spouses... i have watched the faces of the parents of these children shine in utter amazement and wonder of each of thier 4 children... and, i have seen their eyes twist with pain and concern... i have gained a trust and a place in thier home.. in thier family.. and am ever grateful.

This week as more family comes in from Holland, and abroad i cant help but feel a certain homecoming.... and i am waiting for the fireside chat with thier..... my family over a glass of wine and laughter.

Cheers to the family... that has adopted me (and my family) and visa versa... i wonder if "Omah" ( grandma) will knit a new pair of slippers for the kids and I ,during her visit. we love our "Ohma Schloffas". I love my Dutch Kindreds.