Posts tagged ‘Five’
Five for Friday… (More) Lenten haiku
Two years ago, I wrote some haiku for the Year C Lenten lectionary passages. I thought that I’d try again this year with the scriptures for Year B.
Week 1 (Mark 1.9-15)
He’s hearing voices
And living with wild beasts
And we call him ‘Lord’.
Week 2 (Mark 8.31-38)
I’ll have to forgive
Peter for thinking that death
was sub-optimal.
Week 3 (John 2.13-22)
Money-changers would
limit access to the ‘haves’,
But God loves the poor.
Week 4 (John 3.14-21)
Strange ambulance snake?
A sanitized reminder
of amazing love.
Week 5 (John 12.20-36)
Was the Greek request
Lost somewhere in translation?
Game of telephone
Ok – dear readers… it’s your turn. Do you have some Lenten haiku for one of these passages? Or would you like to pour your creative juices into something for Week 6? (It’s the Palm Sunday passage from Mark 11.)
Five for Friday… belated Halloween things
I’m a bit late for Halloween, but now I have an excuse for a “Five for Friday”. Without further ado, here are five Halloween tidbits.
1) Our Jack O’ Lantern!
This guy got a nasty cold at just the wrong time. Scary.
2) A memory of Halloweens gone by…
When I was young, Dad and I rigged up lights and a sound system in the bushes outside our front door. When trick-or-treaters would venture up the walk toward our house, we’d flash the lights and make spooky noises. It was always gratifying when they turned around and ran off.
3) This year’s costumes
Here are three of us before we went trick-or-treating this year:
Oldest Daughter was a cat; Youngest Daughter was a fairy (you can’t see her wings); and I was a mad scientist (I actually performed acid-base reactions). Middle Daughter (on the steps in the background) was a blue jay.
4) Favorite candy
If you really want to give me a treat, get me a bar of Organic Panama Extra Dark Chocolate. Fair trade, 80% cocoa, 100% yumminess.
5) A hilarious clip from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”
“I got a rock.”
Five for Friday… Secular songs that relate to faith
So here’s the deal… I used to listen to CCM music* all the time. Between my first and second years in college, I had a pretty profound, faith-changing experience. As a result, I became more passionate about Jesus, and also more conservative. I got rid of much of my “worldly” music, and listened almost exclusively to CCM: Petra, Steven Curtis Chapman, Rich Mullins**, Susan Ashton… you get the idea. Over time, I’ve remained passionate about Jesus, but I began to find much of the “acceptable” Christian music to be theologically shallow and musically thin. I stopped listening to Christian radio, because of the hit and miss quality of the songs. And I started noticing when the so-called “secular” music world produced songs that related to my faith.
* “CCM”, if you don’t know the acronym, is Contemporary Christian Music. So technically, I should say “CCM” and not “CCM music”. Glad we got that out of the way.
** I still like Rich Mullins, but he’s the exception rather than the rule. And unfortunately, the world lost a good person a few years ago when he died.
And that brings us to today’s “Five for Friday”. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to something that Bono wrote and said to Ordinary Spouse, “Why can’t the ‘Christian musicians’ write songs like this?” So today, I’ve chosen five secular songs that reflect or challenge my faith.
There’s a catch. I could choose music by U2 or Carrie Newcomer – musicians that clearly don’t draw distinctions between faith and life – but that would be too easy. So these five come from others. Enjoy!
1) The Heart of the Matter by Don Henley
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I’d figured out
I have to learn again—
I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
But everything changes and my friends seem to scatter
But I think it’s about… forgiveness…
Yep – forgiveness. Reconciliation. That’s basically what Jesus came to teach us: how to be reconciled to God and to each other.
2) Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie
Song lyrics don’t get any more powerful or challenging than this:
Love’s such an old-fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night…
3) Jubilee by Mary Chapin Carpenter
A song about receiving grace (in the language of the Old Testament).
4) Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins
Every time I hear this, I think Matthew 25.
5) One of Us by Joan Osborne
The scandal of the incarnation:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us?
Just a stranger on the bus
trying to make his way home.
Five for Friday… Peanut butter and ???
(PB&J by Evan-Amos)
This Five for Friday is inspired by the comments left by Ordinary Mother and Naomi on my poll earlier this week. They were clearly not identifying with the peanut butter and jelly thing. So in their honor, I present my five favorite sandwiches with peanut butter. As an added bonus, you can weigh in on your favorites, too! (I can sense the excitement building.)
1) Marmalade - Pure yum.
2) Bananas - I think my mom tried to expand my horizons with this, once upon a time. It worked.
3) Honey - If it includes the honeycomb, all the better.
4) Nutella - Almost too rich to eat.
5) Apple butter - Sam Beachy’s, please.
Honorable mentions: Marshmallow kreme. (I think it has to be spelled like that.) Also, these can’t make the list, since they aren’t sandwiches. However, I really like peanut butter with celery and (get ready for this one) peanut butter and mustard on ham.
By the way – the earlier poll raises an interesting question. Why do people seem to spread peanut butter first? Of the responses so far, nine people spread peanut butter first. Three people spread either peanut butter or jelly. But no one always spreads jelly first.
What’s up with that? If you’re going to use one knife, couldn’t you clean the jelly off of the knife more easily than the peanut butter? And yet, I’m guilty of being a “peanut butter first” person myself. And so, we contaminate the jelly jar with bits of peanut butter.
Ok – rant done.
So – how do you eat your peanut butter sandwiches?
Five for Friday… uses for cheese
(With apologies to my family members who are lactose intolerant.)
I’m afraid that this won’t be an overly exciting “Five for Friday” because my experience with food isn’t overly broad. Mostly, it’s just a chance for my father and me to think fondly of our shared sense of taste, while being separated by 600 miles. So here are my favorite uses for cheese (apart from simply eating it straight).
- Fresh mozzarella salad - Mix fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Voila!
- Pizza - I’m thinking fondly of white pizza (ricotta and mozzarella) on the east coast and goat cheese pizza on the west coast.
- French onion soup - More Gruyère, please.
- Ravioli. Or lasagna. I don’t care which.
- Blue cheese burgers.
And just missing the cut: Asiago bread, quesadillas and Greek salads with Feta.
Also – I reserve the right to modify my list. I’m sure I forgot something.
And while we’re at it, here are my five favorite cheeses to eat straight:
- Swiss
- Smoked cheddar
- Gjetost
- Cheese curds (from the Kalona Cheese House!)
- Fresh mozzarella
With pepper jack missing the cut because Monterey Jack isn’t quite so special without the hot peppers.
Five for Friday… Favorite Lights
I’m always looking for ideas for these posts. On Tuesday at supper, Oldest Daughter suggested this topic. Then she was upset when I wouldn’t tell her my five right away. So for OD, here are this week’s five:
(Image by Ronald C. Yochum Jr.)
1) Pittsburgh at night - I have a vivid memory of “Wow!” from a number of years ago: emerging from one of the tunnels on the south bank of the Mon (the Fort Pitt tunnel, maybe?) and seeing the lights across the river. Beautiful city.
2) Synchrotron radiation - Normally, one doesn’t get to see this. At the APS, there are hutches made from lead to protect you from X-rays. But at lower energy facilities, the light might be in the UV/Visible/IR region. In that case, all you need is an appropriate window to provide shielding. Which is how I could safely view the visible light at NSLS VUV ring.
(Image by Joshua Strang)
3) The aurora borealis - While in college, I got to see a gorgeous red display while on a hay ride at Merry Lea. Some people thought the world was ending – not unlike this week.
4) Burning magnesium - You know the bright white fireworks? That’s magnesium. I got to light some magnesium on fire in 11th grade chemistry class.
5) The absence of light - Well, not quite. But I like being outside at night, far away from the sodium vapor lamps of the city. Three good memories:
- Canoeing in the Boundary Waters, sitting on a lake at night
- Watching a satellite traverse the night sky at Sunset Hill at Laurelville
- Sitting on a front porch in Kalona, Iowa, with my wife’s uncle and appreciating the Milky Way
Five for Friday… Childish jokes with hymns
It’s been too long since I’ve done a “Five for Friday”. My mom is probably impatient!
If you happen to be offended by childish (not child-like!) humor, you should probably skip this one. Why? Because today I’m listing five ways the children (probably junior-high age) make jokes out of hymns! Of course, the problem with this humor is that once it gets stuck in your mind, it will never get out. So if you are easily offended or wish to keep a sense of innocence with some of these hymns, you should just move along now.
For the rest of you…
1) Name associations
We start out harmlessly enough. Sometimes you hear people’s names in the hymns. Of course, this could happen frequently if you know people with biblical names. But it can happen at other times, too. Perhaps you know someone named “Andy”…
Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me,
Andy tells me I am his own.
In college, I had a professor whose first name was ‘Merritt’. The last line in “Come thou long-expected Jesus” (HWB 178)* was never quite the same:
By thine all-sufficient Merritt,
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
2) Word changes
There is a bomb in Gilead…
(HWB 627)
Yikes! Of course, you can redeem that word change if you consider the following line:
There is a bomb in Gilead
To make the wounded whole…
Sort of a “swords-to-plowshares” effect, huh?
3) Bodily functions
Uh-oh. Now we’re getting crude. I’ll let you use your imagination to figure out what happened here:
Wind [that] makes all winds that blow -
Gusts that bend the saplings low…(HWB 31)
And here is a combination word change and bodily function, from “Come, come ye saints” (HWB 425). We begin with:
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell…
And go to:
Do this, and joy your farts will smell…
4) Jokes with hymn titles
I’m not sure where I first heard this. Try appending “under the bed sheets” to hymn titles…
Sometimes a light surprises (HWB 603)
There is a place of quiet rest (HWB 5)
Here, O Lord, your servants gather (HWB 7)
Hymns for gathering seem to provide many possibilities here.
5) Toil
This is actually the inspiration for this whole blog entry. Ordinary Spouse said that when she was young, she associated the word ‘toil’ with ‘toilet’. Then songs like “Amazing Grace” (HWB 143) take on new meaning:
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come…
Now, take the image that has just formed in your mind and juxtapose that with the beginning of the final verse:
When we’ve been there ten thousand years…
Well – I’m sure that this has been an edifying time for all. What memories of childhood hymn changes would you like to share?
* References are to hymns in “Hymnal: A Worship Book” (HWB), a hymnal frequently used in Mennonite congregations.
Five for Friday… Spiritual and non-spiritual thoughts from a labyrinth
My family is at Laurelville this weekend for the semi-annual Association meeting. The activities really don’t start until this evening, but we drove yesterday to be here for an extra day. My parents are also here now, and my in-laws will arrive this evening, so it’s a mini family reunion.
This morning all of us took a walk to Sunset Hill. While we were there, everyone walked the labyrinth – each according to their own personality. What follows are some spiritual and non-spiritual thoughts from our time there. I’ll let you decide which are which, but consider carefully before you decide. The answer may not be readily apparent…
1) “Whoa! I didn’t expect to go in that direction.”
2) “It’s ok if you jump across the lines. Mommy told me.”
3) “This is a lot longer than I thought.”
4) “This isn’t a maze. There is only one path.”
5) “Daddy is the winner!”
(Photo from the Laurelville website.)
Five for Friday… Interstate roads
Wait! On what basis are you choosing these interstate roads? What criteria are you using?
Why… my own, of course!
(image from Wikipedia)
1) I-80 – I’ve spent the last nineteen years of my life traveling along I-80: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (on the way to New York). I’ve even been on the other end of I-80 in California, while doing graduate research.
2) I-68 – This is the road that I traveled to go from home to both of my grandparents’ houses as a child. Back then, it was US 40/48. Now, it’s been promoted.
3) I-76 – I met, dated, proposed to, and married Ordinary Spouse at Laurelville, which borders on I-76. In fact, the proposal occurred late one evening within sight of the turnpike with cars streaming by. (I think it was a bit more romantic than that sounds, however.) Did I mention that Laurelville is my favorite place in the world? Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. Multiple times.
4) I-4 – Duh. Walt Disney Word.
Now, what? I could choose I-94 for my years in Ann Arbor; I-79 for trips to my parents’ place these days, as well as past trips to see Grandma; I-35 for travel toward the boundary waters; I-90 for the Indiana and Ohio toll roads; I-70 for the Pennsylvania toll road (no, wait – I got two flat tires on I-70 in Ohio); I-75 or I-95 for various trips; or… well, you get the idea. Instead, I’ll pick…
5) I-55 – ’cause that’s where I live now.
Five for Friday… Herbs and spices
We’re going to make this week’s “Five for Friday” short, mostly because I don’t have the appropriate vocabulary to describe herb and spice flavors. I just know what I like. In traditional “Five for Friday” fashion, my actual list will contain more than five items. And we start out the excess with…
Herbs that would have made the list had they not already been listed on another “Five for Friday” list – Coriander (as cilantro) and rosemary were listed in my “favorite plants” list in September 2009, so I’ll exclude them from the five here. Otherwise, I would have needed to make room for them.
1) Odd Spice – Ha, ha! Right away with item #1, I’ve already got more than five: cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and clove. Those are the six spices that I mix together to put on my oatmeal. Collectively, I call them ‘odd spice’. And I get to count them as one.
2) Caraway – I love this in bread. And soup. And I just realized that this will become a theme.
3) Dill – Ditto: bread and soup. Also, mix it with yogurt for a nice dip.
4) Tarragon – Soup again. Or maybe mixed with some olive oil (and drizzled on bread!).
5) Kampot pepper – My brother- and sister-in-law will correct me if I get this wrong. This is a variety of black pepper from Cambodia to which they’ve introduced me. It’s tastier (and also slightly spicier) than your average black pepper. It’s great in every situation where you’d use black pepper – including soup! (And I manage to find a use for black pepper at most of my dinner meals.)
Hmm… it would seem that my culinary lesson for the day is that some foods are designed to be carriers for other flavors, rather than their own. I don’t know that I’ve thought about that much before.
