Feeling Dry?

Grace and peace to you, dear ones!

At several points this year, while clambering to and from various gatherings and trying to push myself through the final quarters in my seminary career, I have found myself feeling a little dry, (I wrote a little earlier in the summer about this very thing) and wondering where our Beloved was.  I felt as though I was in the midst of a terrible storm of thunder and lightning but was lacking the refreshing, cooling downpour of grace upon my thirsty soul.  As one born and raised in the pacific-northwest where rains are quite abundant, this is saying something!

On account of my geographical location, I don't often identify with the imagery of desert sands and arid places; the landscape surrounding me is usually quite lush and green.  However, during certain points in my life, and particularly poignantly in the last few months of seminary, I have had very strong sensations of being unceasingly thirsty, dry and in a time of waiting for our Beloved to come and take some powerful action.  In these times, this vision of Ezekiel is particularly profound:

"Feeling Dry" - Photo by Trista Wynne

Reaching for Freedom

Watching the sun settling on the horizon this evening, gathered with friends, family, neighbors and community members, we give thanks for the tremendous freedoms we have in this country.  What are you thankful for today?  I'm several days into a thirty-day celebration of praise and thanksgiving, using Twitter to offer prayers and observations of joy in honor of my thirtieth birthday which just past last Saturday.  I invite you to join me, and to offer your own #30DaysofPraise during the month of July.

"Reaching for Freedom"
Red, White & Dead
Zombie Walk, Seattle, 2011
Photo by Trista Wynne

Often around Thanksgiving, and sometimes around Christmas, we pause to take stock of what we have and to offer thanks to our Creator.  But for the rest of the year we seem to take our friends, families, food, clothing, freedom and even our very bodies for granted.  Dear ones, our founding fathers and mothers who fought and strove and prayed and sacrificed so that we might be free from tyrannical government, slave-labor and oppressive taxes did not give of themselves just so that we could be comfortable. 

We as a nation, and each of us as individuals, are called to reach and to work for the freedom, justice, equality and fair treatment of all people everywhere.  And we still have much work to do on our own soil, in our own homes, in our own churches and in our own workplaces.  We cannot simply say that inequalities, injustice, oppression, slavery, abuse and neglect only happen in other places.

The zombie virus is alive and spreading, dear ones.  Everything that our founding mothers and fathers worked so hard to obliterate has seeped into our very bones.  We still fight against it every day, even in our own bodies, minds and spirits.

A Zombie's Advent Cry for the Day of the Lord

As we begin the season of Advent, where our hearts, minds and spirits are preparing for the dawning of Christmas day, the day of the Lord's physical entrance into the earth, we look around and see what has become of the world into which Jesus came.  Longfellow's-poem-now-turned-song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" echoes in my heart.

Zombies Brewing

"The Taste of Blood & Brew"
Photo by Trista

My husband and I just finished watching Beer Wars -- a documentary about the beer industry and what it takes for independent brewers to get any traction.  What a wretched business!

Don't get me wrong; I very much enjoy beer.  I support the small companies in our area and buy niche' products when I can.  My irritation comes from the knowledge that the beer giants do everything they can to eliminate their competitors.  What is worse, though, is that Americans buy into their marketing campaigns. 

Even worse than mindless consumption is the devouring of our politicians' brains by this (and the other two) corporate giants.  By taking their money, our senators and house representatives pledge to support these beer companies' interests, and they all work together to keep the small, delicious companies out of our reach.  There is a question posed at the end of the movie.  Will we have access to the beers that we like, or will we allow the corporate giants to tell the government what we should be able to drink?

I think that we have this question in many arenas, not just in the brewing world.  It boils down to whether we buy into the marketing campaign or whether we choose to employ our brains.  Every dollar that we spend sends some message to someone.