Wednesday, September 25, 2002

I'm Back



OK, I'm back. I have nothing to say except that I will blog again someday...

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

A Blog About Blogging



Good Reasons to Blog: To communicate with friends, to encourage others, to creatively vent pain and frustration, to express worship, to share new ideas, to save money on long distance bills...



Bad Reasons to Blog: To brag, to manipulate others, to fit in, to be popular,to be clever, to be smart, to be a smartass, to feel loved, to create a false more likeable self.



I need to work on my reasons for blogging. I'm fasting from my blog until I can feel clean about it again. Thanks for reading my thoughts. I hope to be back in a week or two...



Love you all.



Joe

Saturday, September 07, 2002

The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Rohr and Ebert



I read this book this week upon the recomendation of my friend Steve Thomason. As a general rule, I oppose all self-help books, but this one is different. The truths within are based on our theological narrative and a strong understanding of man's depravity and need for grace. It is the best book that I have read in 18 months.



Here is a taste:



"Our whole universe has to be rearranged truthfully before individual teachings can be heard correctly. What we have done for centuries in the West is give people new moral and doctrinal teaching without rearranging their mythic worldview. It does not work. It leads nowhere new-or nowhere truly old for that matter. It creates legalists, ritualists, minimalists and literalists, who always kill the spirit of a thing...the Enneagram...subverts our unconscience and truly "mythical" worldview so that God can get in. That was the precise function of most of Jesus' parables.



The subversive rearrangement of reality is called "conversion" and biblically has nothing to do with joining a denomination or accepting a new religious set of practices. I am personally convinced that this transfigured universe is the only thing that Jesus meant by "the Truth." This is the only Truth big enough to "set you free," which any little doctrinal or moral certitudes about anything cannot do."

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

Movie of the Year



Go see My Big Fat Greek Wedding. This movie is a breath of cinematic fresh air during an "Attack of the XXX Spider-Clones" summer. Greek Wedding is the kind of movie that I would want to be in (not that any directors or casting agents are asking...) It's the interesting story of ordinary and ordinary looking people...