It's Friday the 13th, and something bad happened. . .

Today, I was going to go grocery shopping. I always put off stuff like that, forever. I hate going to the store. So, I took my sweet ol' time getting ready and eating breakfast and doing laundry all morning. I finally was ready to leave for the store at noon, and when I walked out on to my porch, my car was no where to be seen. I double checked all up and down the street. . . .and it was GONE. I had parked it last night at about 8 pm on the street, and sometime during the night, someone broke into it, hotwired the steering column, and drove it away.

Well, shit.

This is the second time this year that my car has been broken into, but it wasn't stolen the first time. I think I might need to buy a club for it this week.

I spent about two hours in the police precinct office this afternoon, and I actually had a really good time. You'd think (because my car is shit and it's Friday the 13th, of all days) that I would be super crabby, but I met some great people at the office. There were two older ladies and a guy who were from the community organizing committee, and we had a really good conversation, and they gave me some good advice about how to be smart about living in the city. Then I spent another hour chatting with Carla, the office manager, about volunteering in the city, working against crime, and how we both love working with handicapped people and such. I learned so much from them. And one of the ladies said to me (she actually used to be a Bethel prof; she's so tongue-in-cheek when she talks about it now), "Well, if anything, this teaches you to hold your possessions loosely." Amen to that.

The last time that my car was broken into, it was the day after I had come back from Mississippi, working with hurricane relief. I had spent a whole weekend, seeing the vast devastation of an entire town on the coast. Those people's possessions were nothing but crap after the hurricane. So, now I think that we should all constantly remember that there are MANY people, all throughout the world, who don't have anything. And we have SO much.

I shouldn't assume that having a car is a given thing in life; it's just as uncertain as the next thing. I chose to live in this neighborhood in Minneapolis, so I can't complain when my car is stolen. It will be fixed soon (as soon as I get it towed from the impound lot. . .I'm sitting here waiting for my dad to give me a ride), and I will have it back again. I take it for granted all the time that I have the freedom of a car. I have so damn much, so I have no reason to be upset. I should be grateful.

And it's a damn beautiful day as well. Friday the 13th and a stolen car can't get ME down. . . .

The Emergent Church

Here are two hilarious "reflections" on the emergent church:
"Why I am not emergent. . ."
"You might be emerging if. . ."

LOOKING EAST
Jackson Browne

Standing in the ocean with the sun burning low in the west
Like a fire in the cavernous darkness at the heart of the beast
With my beliefs and possessions, stopped at the frontier in my chest
At the edge of my country, my back to the sea, looking east

Where the search for the truth is conducted with a wink and a nod
And where power and position are equated with the grace of God
These times are famine for the soul while for the senses it's a feast
From the edge of my country, as far as you see, looking east

Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
Hunger in the mansion, hunger in the rented room
Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
And there's a God-sized hunger underneath the laughing and the rage
In the absence of light
And the deepening night
Where I wait for the sun
Looking east

How long have I left my mind to the powers that be?
How long will it take to find the higher power moving in me?
Power in the insect
Power in the sea
Power in the snow falling silently
Power in the blossom
Power in the stone
Power in the song being sung alone
Power in the wheat field
Power in the rain
Power in the sunlight and the hurricane
Power in the silence
Power in the flame
Power in the sound of the lover's name
The power of the sunrise and the power of a prayer released
On the edge of my country, I pray for the ones with the least

Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
Hunger in the banquet, hunger in the bride and groom
Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
And there's a God-sized hunger underneath the questions of the age
And an absence of light
In the deepening night
Where I wait for the sun
Looking east