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.

Photos Are Updated!

Hello, dear ones!

Are you hungry for more visual stimulus?  I've embedded a new zombie slide show under the Zombilicious Photos tab at the top of this blog.  The photos are hosted by Photobucket, and you can view my profile here if you wish.  I'm slowly but surely getting my pictures edited and posted from delicious summertime activities.

Enjoy!

Pride & the Apocalypse: Are Zombies Better than the Living?

"Night Life" - Photo by Matt Wynne

When I am in school from September through halfway into June, homework sometimes (fairly often, actually) takes over my night life.  This leaves very little time for television.  When shows that we're intrigued with are on, they're usually recorded and saved for later.  The summer is "later" for me, and my husband and I are catching up on the AMC series The Walking Dead.  We're taking it one episode at a time and allowing each one to percolate a bit and fuel our evening banter and creativity. 

Reanimation or Rejuvenation: Calling the Salt of the World

Hello, dear ones!

I have returned from my vacation, though the discernment continues.  Thank you much for your prayers!  Now on to today's post.
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One of the radio shows now turned podcast that my husband and I enjoy on a regular basis can certainly get a little strange.  The visual aids for one of their recent shows includes a couple of videos from YouTube of headless animals' cells being activated by salty solutions.  In the first video, a headless squid dances in the sushi bowl after soy sauce is poured over the legs.  Most of the squid is still in tact, but it is missing the head of the central nervous system.  In the second video, the lower half of a frog still moves and the muscles twitch when salt is sprinkled on it.  It was a fascinating (and rather disgusting) thing to observe.

When my husband suggested that I create a post about zombie animals, I didn't know what I would write about, but very quickly I thought about Jesus' observation that we are the salt of the world.  Is this what He meant?  Are we simply called to be sprinkled in order to keep the muscles of creation animated until He returns?  Is pouring  ourselves into a disconnected congregational reality the best use of our saltiness?

Engaging the Hands, Heart and Brain

Dear ones,

This week through the end of July I am prayerfully journeying through a discernment vacation.  I appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I engage my senses, my heart and my mind in conversation with the Spirit of God.  Today's post will be brief, and may be the only one for the next week, but I shall return with focus and intensity following my time away.

"Crashing Waves" - Photo by Trista Wynne

Over the past weekend, my soul-sister and I traveled to the Washington coast where we spent several days and evenings reconnecting with the realm of the eternal.  Sometimes we all need to simply stop, and to allow the Spirit to whisper.  Sometimes She sings a gorgeous melody.  At other times, we hear nothing at all, but we know the Presence of God is near.

Re-telling the Wheat & Weeds Suburban Zombie Style

Photo by Trista Wynne

On Sunday we looked at the overarching theme of good and evil in a variety of terms.  In the zombie world, we decided that life and death (or more specifically, living-dead) are the terms we're most likely to use.  Speaking of the living-dead is a poignant way of looking at our in-between (and neither) existence. 

In Jesus' day, agricultural existence, and therefore, language, was the norm.  Sunday's gospel lesson came from Matthew 13 where Jesus tells a parable about the Kingdom of God using imagery of wheat and weeds.   I suspect that if He was speaking for today's suburban areas, He might have told a parable based in science or art.  Today, I'd like to relay the parable of the wheat and the weeds in suburban-zombie-friendly language.  Since Jesus was fairly flexible in telling Kingdom parables with either male or female characters (see the parable of the lost coin and that of the lost son in Luke 15, for examples) I'll have a female character represent God here.

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What Am I? -- Wheat & Weeds Zombie Style

"Jell-o Brains"
Photo by Trista Wynne

It's a question that every zombie asks themselves as they become self-aware.  What am I?  Am I living or am I dead?  The answer is neither and both.  It's a strange identity to have, that of living-dead.

This, however, is exactly what Martin Luther means when he says we are both saint and sinner.  Long before him, the apostle Paul talked about the two parts of himself that battle one another.  Flesh and spirit are the terms Paul used.

No matter whether we use terms of flesh and spirit, saint and sinner, wheat and weeds, or living and dead, we are all referring to the same phenomenon.  At the church we attended this morning, we looked at the parable of the wheat and the weeds.  In this parable, Jesus talks about the harvest fruit growing up right alongside of the weeds in His garden.  The wheat was sown by the Lord and the weeds were sown by the adversary, and both are growing together until the day of the Great Harvest.

If we think that we are only wheat, we're likely reading the parable wrongly.  If we think we are only a weed, the same is also true.  At the present time, we are both, and we are neither, just like a zombie.  The day will come when all of the parts of us that resemble weeds will be blown away like chaff in the wind.  All that remains will shine like the sun and we will be a glorious sight for our Lord and God.

We look forward to that day because we know that all things will be made new and there will be no more suffering, death, tears or war.  We will not have the desires to trample or maul one another in order to reach the top of the mountain.  We won't bite and claw one another to feed an insatiable appetite.  Peace, justice and mercy will abound.  Until that day comes, dear ones, we simply wrestle with the fact that both life and death abide within us.  We do not wrestle alone.  Our Lord is working with us, and those who have fought this fight before us are encouraging us along the way.

Be strong, dear ones, and know that the Spirit is breathing new life into you even as you read this.  The day of the Lord will be very good, and that day is coming quickly.  May God bless you and hold us all close as do what we can to become signs of life in a living-dead world.

Amen.