7.11.02

What clique to you belong to?
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you are you; you dont belong to any particular group; you have friends in many different cliques; you are not afraid to be/act yourself. You are practical and rare. I salute you.

got this from ian's page.

wow.

a picture is worth a thousand words.

big band news brewing. more later.
posted by Aaron Brown on 10:11:51 AM

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6.11.02

"A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse." - Mark 5:24b-26

here we find a woman with a prolonged health problem. she had been bleeding for 12 years, and she has spent all that she had on worldly solutions to the problem. she went to medical professionals and yet suffered more. imagine how she felt...spending all that money and time, only to grow worse at the hands of those who are supposed to heal her.

"When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." - Mark 5:27-29

the scene i picture in my head: this woman is sitting in her home, its walls bare from having sold all that she owns to pay for her medical bills. her friends shows up and says "Jesus of Nazareth is coming!" hope floods her soul. she has heard of this Jesus. He has healed many, and she knows He can do the same for her. she watches as the crowd gathers, and looks for the best way to get close to Him. she pushes and bumps her way to be near, all the while thinking, "all i need to do is touch his shirt, and then i'll be healed." her hand reaches through the first hole she can find. her hand brushes his cloak, and she can feel the Power running through her body, closing the wound.

"At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my clothes?' 'You see the people crowding against you,' his disciples answered, 'and yet you can ask, "Who touched me?" ' " - Mark 5:30, 31

Jesus feels the Power leave Him. "wait..." he says, stopping suddenly, eyes scanning the crowd. "someone has touched my shirt. who was it?" his disciples are stunned. "don't you see all these people? how in the world can you possibly single out one person that touched you?"

"But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.' " - Mark 5:32-34

"no, someone did touch my shirt. i felt it..." the woman hears Jesus ask this question. fearing His retribution, she falls to her knees and tearfully confesses. she tells Him everything, from the beginning of the bleeding, to paying all that she had looking for worldly healing, to her final solution of touching His shirt. the whole truth. she waits, expecting a rebuke. Jesus bends down on one knee and grasps her hand gently but firmly. with a small smile and gentle eyes he says softly, "it's ok, little one." (how long has it been since anyone has looked at her like this and spoken so tenderly?) "your faith has healed you. go in peace and be free."

how are you bleeding? we're all crippled; some of us are just better at hiding it.

but to limit this story to just that is missing the point. this woman could have walked away, never admitting to anyone what she had done. Jesus would've known, but is He really the type that would chse her down and force her to confess? i don't think so. He posed a question, and she answered. not only that, but she answered completely. she told the story of all that she had been through, beginning to end. she opened up a jar of personal hurt and private anguish that had been growing for twelve years. that is over half of my lifetime. and she was afraid. afraid that he would tell her that she was wrong to do what she did, and that she should be ashamed. pouring out your life sotry and your very soul like that leaves you naked and vunerable, open to the slightest harsh word. but what did Jesus do? He blessed her. He made her feel better than she has ever felt. with a few words, He eased the suffering of twelve long and painful years. she came for phyisical healing, and left with much more than she ever dreamed.

how often do we bring to God these temporal hurts and discomforts, and then just leave when they are fixed? why do we not stay and hear what God has to say to us? are we afraid of being rebuked, or are we afraid of the wild and passionate love we would find instead?

Peace of conscience, peace with God
We obtain through Jesus' blood
Jesus' blood speaks solid rest
We believe and we are blest

"All her debts were cast on me
and she must and shall go free"
-- Derek Webb, She Must And Shall Go Free

shabbat shalom, all.
posted by Aaron Brown on 12:02:07 AM

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4.11.02

so why is it modern parents have this thing about making up names for their kids? recently, i was in a starbucks, and i overheard the following:

mom 1: (introducing her 4 yr old daughter to a group of other moms) ...and this is Joyanna.
mom 2: (bending down to little girl) well, hi Joanna
mom 1: (very tersely) not Joanna...Joyanna...

...as if it was a difficult mistake to make. i may be reading into this just a little too much, but this is my theory: mom had some kind of need to feel special and validated. not that any of the rest of us are any different. we all walk around looking for ways to fill the hole we're all born with. we just fill it with the wrong stuff. exclusive clubs, status vehicles, the need to go out every night of the week...making up names for our kids. anyway, everyone that meets this child will inevitably mess up her name and call her Joanna. she'll grow up with a complex. i mean, who wouldn't have a complex when no one can pronounce your name right? it used to be a thing of honor to be named after someone in your family, or a historical figure. but that trend has passed, i guess.

oh well.

you know what name i really like? audrey. if i ever have a daughter, i want to name her audrey. why? cause the name itself is very pretty. and audrey hepburn was gorgeous.

you've seen breakfast at tiffany's, right?

i'm sayin.
posted by Aaron Brown on 7:11:37 PM

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christian music is the only genre defined solely on it's lyrical content; a shaky definition, at best. only when you look in the "christian" section of your local music retailer do find cd's divided acording to musical style. there's christian rock, christian pop, and even (my favorite contradiction-in-terms) christian world music. the only thing keeping these records segregated from their more "mainstream" companions is what they say in the liner notes. why isn't duncan sheik labeled as "buddhist pop"? why are the beastie boys not labeled "buddhist rap"? why is live not termed "buddhist rock"? (not that i'm picking on buddhists, those were just the examples that immediately sprang to mind.) but then, what is it that exactly makes a song (or more specifically, a songs lyrics) "christian" or "un-christian"? the stones' "gimmie shelter" is a song that has very deep and profound spiritual meaning and depth to me (oh, if i don't get some shelter/i think i'm gonna fade away/war, children/it's just a shot away). yet, no one would ever mistake mick & keef for men of the cloth. creedence clearwater revival's "fortunate son" is another one. i personally disagree with many christians who rank God and country on the same plane. in the last year, we've seen an awful lot of patriotic flag-waving, and not all of it has been a good thing. what if shadrach, meshach, and abendigo had done the same? "c'mon guys, all ya gotta do is bow down when the trumpets sound...it's your civic duty...it's a matter of national pride..." yes, it is a matter of national pride, but pride in any fom is still the chief of sins.

but i digress...

and i'm late for work.

quote of the week: "why does everyone always think it's personal!?!?" - grosse pointe blank
posted by Aaron Brown on 11:45:49 AM

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