Yearnings - Irwin Kula

a book that gives me words.


words from rabbi kula:

*great wisdom traditions are born of this desire for answers, this urge to make sense out of chaos and discover what really matters in life.

*every answer to our important questions leads to a new important question.

*the search for truth is not about letting go; it's about going deeper. the goal is not reaching a single realization, but living the process of realizing again and again.

*when we both hold and question our truths we become life long learners rather than absolute knowers- as well as more interesting and much easier people to be with.

*when we think we've found the final truth we're a little less alive, a little less awake, and the world itself is diminished.

*relationships are a constant dialectic between faith and doubt.

*the more we allow our selves to unfold, the less likely we are to unravel.

*the ability to live with seeming contradictions and the ambivalence and tension these contradictions create is what gives rise to wisdom. the messes are the point.

I am only on chapter 2!

the bear turns 2...

I have noticed that the majority of my latest blogs have included thoughts about my niece Alexis. Maybe because it is almost impossible to turn from her beautiful innocence or maybe I am pondering my own 2 year old self. I experience such warmth when I am around her...she lights up the party and gives us something to talk about. So once again, I am blogging about Alexis. May these photos tell the story to how much joy this little girl brings into this world. I love you Alex bear :)

Booty God Booty by Jon Acuff

This article was shared last week in church...enjoy!

Booty, God, Booty.

I realized this while listening to my favorite radio station in Atlanta, V103, “The People’s Station.” It’s a hip hop station that plays mostly rap and R&B. The best thing about V103 is their morning show. Every day at 6:30AM when I’m driving to work, they have a segment called the “Inspirational Vitamin.” They read a Bible verse and play a gospel song or a clip by a minister from Atlanta. I honestly find it to be an uplifting experience overall. The thing I find most interesting, however, is how they wedge the Inspirational Vitamin into their normal programming. What often happens is that at 6:25AM, right before they transition to the spiritual segment of the show, they play some sort of booty song. Let’s say, “I’m N Luv Wit’ a Stripper.” Then they do the Bible verse at 6:30AM. And then they go right back to something like Lil’ Wayne “Lollipop” at 6:35AM. They essentially bookend the Inspirational Vitamin with booty, following a fairly simple formula: Booty, God, Booty.

It’s easy to laugh at how insincere that Inspirational Vitamin seems when it’s sandwiched between hardcore rap songs, but maybe God is listening to the broadcast of my week, and this is what he hears:

1. Saturday night, I’m out on the town. Doing my own thing. This is my time. God’s at home babysitting my stuff.

2. Sunday morning, back with God. We’re tight. We’re praying. We’re BFF. I might even be safely enrobed in the middle of a hedge of protection.

3. Monday, back at work in my office. God’s in the car in the parking lot, where I left my Bible.

It might not be as graphic or as neon, but the juxtaposition between who I am when I’m in “God mode” and who I am when I’m not is pretty substantial. Next time you transition between two parts of your day, ask yourself, “Did I just Booty, God, Booty?”

That’s my inspirational vitamin for today.

» “Booty, God, Booty – Remix” at Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff