The Year of the Bear

Three of the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5), those are. Why am I writing about them? Well, I shot my mouth off on Twitter and said: "Oh, I have a blog! You should, you know, read what I wrote a few months ago!" I also said somewhere else that this is my website -- which will bring a lot of the same thing: people showing up expecting stuff. So, I wanted to take a moment, and reiterate what my hope is for this blog: this is a place for writers and people who are alive to find Love, Joy, and Patience. And hopefully all the others, too.

"I can't write five words but that I change seven." Dorothy Parker. The theme of this day is editing, revising, rewriting...but what caught my eye the most was Amy Peters' comment on perhaps why people dislike editing so much. She said: "Perhaps, they flash back to childhood days when having to rewrite a paper at school was taken as bad news. ...As Parker describes it rewriting and editing is an opportunity to improve and express your ideas." [Emphasis mine.]

Amy Peters is trying to get me all political, now. And I'm not going to do it. Well, maybe a little bit. For some, freedom means minimum government regulation; people are basically good until given power and authority, which then corrupts. For others, freedom means minimum societal regulation; a person is basically good, and democratic government brings out the best ideas - but society is corrupt and oppressive, hindering the individual from achieving their dreams. That's the political aspect. Jesus Christ says the natural man is corrupt and oppressive, and only through the renewing of our minds and reliance on God do we find freedom.

A couple weeks ago – it might have been one, time is funny when you’re planning a wedding – a friend and I were talking about whether or not it was a sin not to take care of your body. Apparently it was a disagreement he and his wife had early on in their marriage (since resolved). We talked about pros and cons for a bit, and I offered this solution: At the end of the day, we can all be better stewards of what we have.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run that you may obtain it…But I discipline my body and keep it under control.” 1 Corinthians 9:24, 26 “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 So what does running and mountain biking have to do with Christ? Directly? Nothing. As far as I know, Jesus never ran or rode a mountain bike. Indirectly? Everything.