Making Noises

We received the following in an email from our church’s vision team.  Our answers are below each question.

The Vision Team would welcome your perspectives on the following questions.

1.  What is most important to me about my congregation?

 

The close friendships we have made where we feel totally accepted and can be truly authentic.

2.  What do I worry most about when I think of my congregation?

 

In general:

 

We’d say that sometimes in faith communities there exists a reluctance for authenticity and honest discussion.  Such an atmosphere is not fostered, welcomed, or encouraged.  There also exists, in some faith communities, a shame based culture, as well as pressure to conform, “go with the flow,” don’t rock the boat, etc.

 

For example:  Christians, because of who we are in Christ, may labor under the mis-conception that we *should* never experience any form of mental illness etc. and if we do we berate ourselves for the same.

3.  If I could change one thing about my congregation at the drop of a hat, what would it be?

 

Legalism and the focus on sin, daily confession, keeping short accounts, etc.

 

From:  http://www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/:

 

“Under the covenant of law, one was not totally forgiven but must receive ongoing forgiveness in order to remain in a guilt free state. Yet at the cross, God poured out all His forgiveness toward those who are His. We don’t need to ask anymore! Paul described total forgiveness in Colossians 2:13-14.

The cross of Jesus was God’s final word about our sins. So let’s stop acting like it wasn’t by continuing to ask Him to do something He’s already done – forgive us.”

4.  What are opportunities and threats that face my congregation?

 

There exists an opportunity to become different than other churches.  A church that is inclusive, grace-based, and fostering an atmosphere of total authenticity.  Faith communities embracing total authenticity involve some measure of risk, uncomfortableness, etc. One would think that in a faith community more so than any other community (i.e. a “work” community) one could be free to be totally themselves, but this is not always the case [in our experience].

 

Threats include:  ignoring the opportunities for change, contentment with the “status quo”, making things more complicated than necessary such as outreach, missions, etc.

 

It will be interesting to see what may come out of this.  There was also a discussion group held last Saturday that we weren’t able to attend.  I believe the focus of the Vision Team is to find (negotiate, navigate)  a way forward for our church.

I’m becoming a huge fan of this cooking style, particularly when I’m time-strapped or energy-depleted.
Enjoy!

Each meal serves two and both are minimally prepared

First Meal

Salmon with a Maple Soy Glaze, Rice and Frozen Vegetables

Prepare rice – I use a rice cooker –
Fill bottom of rice cooker with water.
Add 1 cup rice and 1 cup water each to the basket that is placed inside the cooker. Stir. Plug it in and set the timer to 30 minutes.

Salmon:

4. frozen salmon fillets (no need to thaw first)*
2 T. each Soy Sauce and Maple Syrup
1 tsp. each ginger and garlic

Preheat oven to 450. Lay salmon fillets in a large casserole dish. Combine soy sauce, maple syrup and ginger and garlic in a small bowl. Pour over salmon. Bake in oven for approximately 18 minutes.

The rice and salmon dishes each provide four servings. Serve with steamed stir fry vegetables.

Meal Two

Reserve half the rice and two of the salmon fillets. Cut the salmon fillets up into small pieces, combine with the rice, and add some stir fry vegetables – place in a non-stick frying pan with some water, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are thawed and the rice and salmon are heated through.

*Thawed chicken breasts would also work; cook until no longer pink inside and the juices run clear.

Behind the lens

or holding a pen,

my pain disappears,

it seems to end.

 

The focus required

for both to take flight

robs my illness of power

it seems to take flight.

 

Such creative endeavors

I forget I’m not

the girl without illness

the girl who’s fraught.

 

A sick chick no more

as I walk through that door

‘cuz a creative i.d.

has a hold of me.

 

I’ll be participating in the 18th edition of “Patients For A Moment” http://duncancross.net/patients-for-a-moment/ a patient-centered blog carnival created by Duncan Cross – on February 24th.  Leslie at Getting Closer to Myself http://gettingclosertomyself.blogspot.com/2010/02/patients-for-moment-is-here-february.html is the blog host for this blog carnival.  If you wish to participate, click on the link above.
Leslie asks the following question:

What’s Illness Got To Do With It?

What is your relationship to illness? Is there a particular time when you wish illness wasn’t in the picture? Or is there a time when you find it’s easy to forget about illness?

My post, which will take the form of a poem, will attempt to answer those questions.

 

 

This is the new form of torture; a few bars of this song and I’d be ready to confess anything, just to make it stop.

My friend Julie Van Rosendaal, cookbook author, writer, chef, food blogger and intrepid traffic reporter [whom, astonishingly, I've never met in real life,but all that will change February 24th when I attend the Farm Table Dinner at Forage] has pulled off something incredible.  What an amazing woman!  Thank you Julie for being the hands and feet of Jesus, as the expression goes.

In just under three weeks she taken on a monumental task and has co-ordinated food bloggers from all over North America to contribute recipes for the Blog Aid Cookbook, convinced West Canadian Graphics and Blurb.com to donate their services, and sat with her friend Catherine countless hours to design, compile, and edit The Blog Aid Cookbook as a fundraising effort.  100% of the proceeds of this will go to support earthquake relief in Haiti.   $50 gets you a hardcover edition and $25 gets you a softcover edition.  With recipes from the likes of Michael Smith, Dana McCauley and Emily Richards and of course, Julie Van Rosendaal herself, this compendium will be a welcome addition to any foodie’s cookbook shelf, and make awesome gifts for the cooks in your life.  I personally can’t wait to try Snickers Bar Pie from Recipe Girl, and the Korean BBQ’d beef from Savory Sweet Life.   Huge rounds of applause to all who participated.

Matching Donations:
from http://blogaidforhaiti.blogspot.com/

The proceeds from book sales will go straight to Haitian relief via the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders, and get this: both West Canadian AND Blurb are matching the dollar amount of the proceeds raised, to TRIPLE those dollars going to Haiti. And of course until February 12th, the Canadian government will match that.

Ordering information: http://www.blurb.com/books/1172809

As of 10:00 a.m. this morning, with matching donations, almost $10,000 for Haiti has been raised from this! Good on ya!