FOR TODAY September 20, 2015

Outside my window… dark and down to 87F right now from a high of 102F earlier. I hate southern California heat!

I am thinking… about my plans to go gluten-free for a month once I can get some meal plans together. I’ve been resisting it because all of my bloodwork has come back showing that I do not have celiac disease and that I am not gluten-intolerant; but it’s the one thing I haven’t cut out of my diet so I’m willing to try it. (I’m also not one to jump on the fad diet train so I have very intentionally not pursued it until now.)

I am thankful… that Daniel heads back to school tomorrow. 100F temperatures mean we’re stuck inside and he was acting out because he was booooooooooored!

In the kitchen… ramen and roast beef. A throw-together thing.

I am wearing… charcoal v-neck and navy/white striped pj bottoms.

I am going… to do some Core tomorrow morning. Everything last week has thrown me off of my routine.

I am wondering… how to explain my position regarding Planned Parenthood to my friends on both sides of the issue because OMG TEH DRAMA!!!!!!

I am reading… I finished The Alpine Xanadu by Mary Daheim and have shelved The Complete Father Brown Mysteries by Chesterton in favor of Post Traumatic Church Syndrome by Reba Riley which was loaned to me by a woman in my Bible Study who has emotional scars from her Conservative Baptist upbringing.

I am hoping… the weather cools down significantly soon and that we get all of the forcasted rain — California needs it BADLY!

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Wednesday morning and choir practice on Wednesday night.

I am hearing… the A/C.

A Daniel story for today… he went to church this morning wearing his “Grandpa Jim” hat which is a copy of a hat that he tried to “appropriate” from my dad when we were in San Jose last month.

Around the house… quiet. Loving it.

A favorite quote for today… This is a long one:

As I heard Bernie Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment something occurred to me. As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for the poor. Bernie Sanders is gospel for the poor. And Jesus said “I have come to bring gospel” – good news – “to the poor.”

And lightning hit my heart at that moment. And I realized that we are evangelical Christians. We believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who would attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout. We absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.

I listened to Bernie Sanders as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them dignity, as he said he wanted to care for the sick children and mothers and fathers who do not have health care, as he said he wanted to decrease the amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons, as he said he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless. And I remembered the words of Jesus who warned his disciples that there will be judgement, and on that day he will look to his friends, and he will say “Blessed are you for you cared for me, for I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was in prison and you came to visit me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter.” And his disciples said, “When did we do any of those things for you?” And he said, “If you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me.”

Those words echoed in my heart as I listened to that crazy, hoarse-voiced, wild-haired Jew standing in front of the religous leaders of the Evangelical Movement, calling us to account, as a Jew once did before, telling us that he intends to care for the least of these, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick, to set the prisoners free.
— An evangelical pastor responding to Bernie Sanders’ speech at Liberty University

One of my favorite things… praying Compline at night.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Bible study on Wednesday, helping to count money for the Pride Stride at Daniel’s school on Thursday morning, and maybe helping to fold bulletins on Friday.

A peek into my day… André Rieu conducting the Johann Strauss Orchestra playing “I Will Follow Him”. I love watching him play and conduct because his face is so expressive and you can tell that he loves what he is doing.

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