Why G-d?

Why do I write "G-d"?

I found an article that explains it much more eloquently than I've been able to yet.

Read it here.

Month of Thankfulness Day 1

I'm so glad I saw my cousin starting this, or else I would have forgotten that I wanted to.  I attempted to do it last moth, and failed, but, now I'm bringing it on.

The challenge? Note 1,000 things for which you are thankful in a month.

The help?  If this is hard for you to do on your own, I've got a list to follow.  All you have to do is write it out according to the category given, as provided by the website called A Holy Experience.  They have a "Joy Dare" for each month.  Their backlogs can be found here.

The start?  I will begin now.  Will you?

3 Gifts Eaten

When I first saw this thankfulness assignment, I didn't think it would be that cool of one.  I didn't think it would live up to the name of the challenge and fill me with joy... I mean, it's just food.  Turns out, I was very, very wrong.  This day is looking up!

1. I'm thankful that I've always had enough food to eat.  I've even had enough food to be picky.  I've always had so much food that I've been able to look at a full cupboard of food and yell, "Mom!  There's nothing to eat!"  I've had enough food that I knew I was hypoglycemic (those without food never can realize that's what it is).  I've had enough food that I think that going 2 hours past my normal meal time is what it means to be "SO HUNGRY!"  I have been blessed.
2. I'm thankful for all of the Thanksgiving dinners I've gotten to eat with my family.  This month is especially hard for me, as I, once again, will not be with them, but I've had 21 other Thanksgivings with them, and that is a wonderful, beautiful blessing.



Okay, so it's not officially Thanksgiving dinner in this picture, but it was at our Thanksgiving reunion (1999).

3. I'm thankful for the food that I've eaten that's come from friends when I've needed their friendships most.  Like the time my friend Mark and I were both suffering from crazy sinuses, but he picked me up, and we both went out in our pajamas to Kroger, and we bought cookie dough, ice cream, and chocolate.  The cashier looked at us with a knowing smile that actually looked like she had absolutely no idea about the truth of the situation, but it made for a wonderful memory.  Or the time that I had swine flu, and I posted on Facebook about how I really wanted a Cherry Limeade from Sonic, and my friend Markus got one and dropped it off with my RA for me.  And then there's the time that my boss knew the kind of hours I was keeping my junior and senior years in college and would make me lunches almost every day, having them ready by 10:30am, for me to run in, grab them, and fly out again, never once letting me pay for them.  Yes, food has definitely been good to me in showing me how loved I am.

"Blessed are You L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe… Who brings forth bread from the earth… Who creates various kinds of sustenance… Who creates the fruit of the vine… of the tree… of the earth… by Whose word all things came to be.” (Jewish blessing over food)

PS.  I know it's November 2 here, but I'll deal with that somehow.  Maybe I'll just go by East Coast standards, or I'll double up or something...

추석 Traveling: Sofia, Bulgaria

So, I'm back from my travels for now, and I come bearing pictures.  Posting them has been slow going, as I've been sick and unbelievably busy.  I've got piles of things I don't want to do, and I'm forgetting to do the things I want to do, but that all gets shoved aside, as I come home from work and all but collapse into bed that very moment.  Still, I'm trying to knock out at least one heavy-weighing thing a day.  As you can tell, today, I'm trying to get caught up on the blog.  I have in mind to write about my trip in four separate posts.

Sofia and her poor wardrobe choices.  Call me uncultured, but I still feel that the way women are portrayed in art has little to nothing to do with celebrating the beauty of the female form and everything to do with the way it makes the artist feel to make it as such.

An absolutely beautiful old church. 

A mosque in the foreground with a vast synagogue in the background.  Apparently, Bulgaria originally sided with Nazi Germany in World War II, because Hitler promised them a good deal of land, but, when he came calling for the Jews, the Bulgarian leader said that they were still needed to do labor in the country.  He continued in this habit until Bulgaria switched and sided with the Allies, thus saving all the Jews within Bulgarian borders.

A Russian Orthodox church, with an unpictured Catholic church near it.  These two buildings and the aforementioned two were all quite close to each other.  Bulgaria apparently prides itself on the fact that these four are "within a stone's throw of each other, but never has a stone been thrown between them."

Alex and Vera drinking from the hot springs water that was fixed into fountains.  It was supposed to cure you of diseases, however, I know that Alex and I at least got a cold after drinking it, I'm not sure about Vera.  I think I'd say that it seems rather counter-productive, unless it's a "You've got to get worse to get better" mentality.

Two beautiful shots of Alexander Nevsky, yet another Cathedral in Sofia.  It rekindled my deep-rooted desire to find a way to spend the night or nights inside one of these grand old Cathedrals, although, I'm not sure I could hold my own against the other squatters, and I'm sure the darkest dark that would come with night would frighten me to death.  Nonetheless, I think, as would Miss Anne of Green Gables, that it would be terribly romantic and an adventure worth having.

In spite of the ghastly way I chose to treat my feet while walking around that day, I think it was a wonderful adventure. Jet lag screamed at me from about noon on, which was interesting, since noon in Bulgaria is only 6pm in Korea, but I suppose my midnight departure contributed.  In spite of all that, my biggest regret may have been leaving behind a beautiful violin with a carved scroll that I found in a market.  It was in atrocious condition, having been used instead of paper for someone to track numbers, with cracks around the end peg, so I knew there would be a heart-stopping cost to refurbish it, but I fell in love with it.  Sadly, the woman was asking a bit too much for it, compared to the repair costs, and I couldn't justify it at this juncture in life.  I would have haggled, but she seems entirely non-haggle friendly.  Perhaps it was my clear non-Bulgarian-ness, or because she didn't know that I would have happily gone and withdrawn the money from my bank account if a number came up that seemed more reasonable.  My biggest hangup was that I didn't feel confident in my appraisal abilities.  Perhaps I should study up on that, so that this won't happen again.

Look for more posts about my trip soon!

And you?

I'm sure you remember the riots in Cairo in the beginning of 2011.  I certainly do.  I followed that story like a hawk, keeping the TV turned to the news at all times.  I was sure someone was going to roll out the artillery and massacre them all when they were confined to the square, and I wasn't the only one who thought that.  It seemed like everyone thought that.  In spite of the great potential for death, the protestors did not set aside their religion.  In February, there is a major Muslim holiday called Milad Un Nabi (birthday Of The Prophet Muhammad), and when that holiday came 'round, plenty of people were still in midst of their protest, so the question arose - what would happen?  Would the government strike back while they were in their observant prayers?  Would the muslims succumb to fear and not observe it?  Would they disperse?

I think the solution shocked the whole world.  The Egyptian Christian community came together, a mere fortnight after a Muslim radical's suicide bombing took the lives of 23 Christians, to provide a human barrier between the Muslim worshipers and the military on the other side of them.

I found this photo attached to this article.

Today hase no significant ties to this event.  I just happened upon this photograph, which made me think about it all.  I began thinking of how many people would be against this idea - Christians protecting Muslims - but I cannot stand with anyone who says that it's wrong, because I believe that this is what we were put on this earth to do: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  Moreover, we are called to love, unconditionally, uninhibitedly.  Don't believe me?  Let me prove it:

Find more translations here.

Please note, that in that day, Samaritans and Jews had nothing to do with each other.  The were enemies, and, yet, it was the Samaritan who was willing to protect this Jew as he returned from the very cause of their controversy (Don't know what that is?  Read up on it here).  Let me remind you of Jesus' instructions concerning the Samaritan: "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37).


So I ask you: Are you willing to take the plunge and protect those who may very well be seeking to destroy you?

Just a little food for thought today.

Pesach 5772

Clearly, I'm catching up on my posts today. I have today off work, as it's election day, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. Many of you have been asking how my Seder turned out, and I thought I'd share the whole story.
I went to a Fat Tuesday dinner at the International Church on KNU's campus.  I went up to their head pastor, Josh Broward, meaning to thank him for the event, and, instead, said, "Hi, I'm Jewish.  Would you be interested in having a Passover Seder at your church?".  I knew from the get-go that this was a G-d thing.  I think that's probably why I didn't stress as much about it.  Yes, there was stress, but not nearly as much as I expected.  In fact, during the all-nighter the night before, there was no stress at all, just exhaustion.  In the end, roughly 2 dozen people showed up, so I had a bit too much food, as I was planning for 40 (thus my Passover recipes that have been using it up).  However, they all seemed very interested and blessed by the event.

Here are some pictures from the night that my friend Taylor took for me:

Pastor Josh, opening us in prayer.

Raising the first glass for its blessing

The table

We did a hand-washing where we washed each other's hands,
in memory of how Christ washed his disciples' feet.

Everyone got involved.

Emma played the role of the youngest child.  Her parents told me how excited she was and how she wanted to get dressed up to fit the part.  They explained how Jewish girls in Israel today wear pretty much the same clothes as they do in Korea.  I gave her my scarf to cover her hair, to help her out a bit.  I had been debating whether or not I would cover mine, but seeing her smile made my choice for me.

Observing the piercings and stripes of the Matzah; Yeshua HaMashiach is our  Afikomen!

Passover Oatmeal (Vegan-friendly)

I'm an oatmeal fan.  It makes me very happy.  So, today, I opted to eat some, but Passover style!

It's so easy to make a serving that I'm not even going to use an ingredients list.

Crumble one piece of Manischewitz Matzos.
1. Add whatever fruit and nuts you'd like.  I added strawberries to mine.
2. Pour in some almond milk (or normal milk, I just like almond milk).  You only need 1/4 c at most.  Al you want to do is get everything soggy.
3. Mash the soggy matzos a bit, to get it the consistency of oatmeal.
4. Microwave it for about two minutes.
5. Add some brown sugar to sweeten it... maybe a tablespoon or two.

Wham bam.  Delicious breakfast.  (Of course, you do need to eat it rather quickly, but you can do it!  I have faith in you!)  Leave your feedback below.

Passover Nachos

Due to my inability to stay awake last night, I did not get to post this recipe, BUT, if any of you still haven't eaten, I would highly recommend it.  In case you haven't noticed, my cooking tends to have a Mexican flair to it, and you can thank my lovely friend Alex and her Mamí for that.  Their food is so good that I tried making some of it one day, and I've been hooked ever since.  So, today, I'll bring Passover (Leftovers) Nachos.  It was incredibly easy and a good way to reclaim my tupperware from the fridge.  I ate this whole thing, because I'm generally calorie-deprived on school days, but, for people who eat correctly, I'd recommend serving this as a side, or a two-person meal with a side-salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of  Manischewitz Matzos, crushed to nacho-size
• 2 or 3 Passover Burger patties, crumbled
• 1/2-3/4 c Curry Rice (as found attached to the Passover Burgers recipe as a side dish option)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green jalapeño, chopped
• Several stalks of parsley, chopped (I'm still recovering from that Seder, but if you're not, cilantro is amazing on food like this.)
• Extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, to taste (I like a lot.)
• Salsa (or, in my case, leftover corn salad)

Procedure

1. Lay out your matzos on a plate.  You may want to salt them a little.  It's up to you.  I didn't.
2. Add everything on top, except potentially the Salsa (that one's your call and really depends on whether you prefer warm salsa or not).
3. Microwave it for about 5 minutes, stopping to stir.  This gets pretty thick, so the stirring is important to get everything heated.
4. Enjoy!

Before the cheese layer is added.  Doesn't it look lovely, even like that?

From the first bite of this, I knew it was heaven.  The Matzos do get a little soggy, and really can't replace tortilla chips, but, hey - what can you do?  They do, however present an interesting base flavor that makes it all taste somewhat like a casserole.  I like it a lot, but don't expect a fully nacho feel. :)

As always, please leave your feedback!

Passover Pancakes with Homemade Strawberry Syurp (Vegan and Dairy-Free Options)

Today, while browsing the Lotte Mart (grocery store/Wal-Mart equivalent), I was struck with the desire for pancakes, and, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that I mastered it.  Now, for the pleasure of your (and let's be honest, your kids') taste buds, I present Passover Pancakes (loosely based on this recipe):

Ingredients:

• 1/2-3/4 c Matzo meal (I made my own by putting 3 pieces of Manischewitz Matzos through a food processer.)
• a dash of salt
• 3 medium eggs (Leave this out if you're vegan.)
• 100 grams of cream cheese (Leave this out if you're vegan or have a dairy allergy.)



My delicious almond milk

• 1/2ish c leftover Charoset put through a food processor (I know, I can't believe I had leftovers either!  If you didn't, applesauce with cinnamon added at home should be fine... pass on the cinnamon stuff in the store - too much sugar)
• 1/2ish c almond milk (Tonight was my first experience in making my own, and let me tell you... this stuff deserves a standing ovation.)
• 1.5 t vanilla (I use imitation.)
• cinnamon to taste (I'm incredibly heavy-handed with this.)
• Optional: Add fruit or nuts

Procedure

1. Turn on THIS playlist.  This is crucial.  Your food won't taste as good if you're not in a good mood. :)
2. Mix all the ingredients, dry ingredients first, of course.  Just go in the order I put them on the ingredients list, stirring constantly. It should look like this when you're done:

3. Cook on a lightly greased frying pan, flipping only once.  They'll look just like normal pancakes:

4.  Serve warm, with strawberry syrup on top, and eggs on the side (and maybe some turkey bacon/sausage, if you're not of the vegetarian inclination): Throw several heaping handfulls of fresh, rinsed, de-stemmed strawberries in a food processor, along with whatever Charoset (cinnamon apple sauce) is leftover from your cooking process (~1/4 c).  Heat it on a stove, adding brown sugar to taste.

No, it's not tomato sauce; it only looks like it.

Happy eating!  As always, let me know if you try it out.

Passover Burgers (Vegan Option)

Tonight's Passover dinner was based entirely on my friend Tera the Awkward Chef's legendary black bean burgers.  I modified the recipe a bit to fit my kitchen stock, and off we went.  Watch the video below for Tera's recipe.

Yeilds: 7-9 burgers

Ingredients (that I used):

• 1 can of kidney beans
• Seasonings at your own discretion (I opted for my favorite - Italian seasoning - and chili powder)
• 1/3 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green jalepeño pepper, diced (leave the seeds in this time)
• 5-6 parsley stems, diced (I'm using up all of my leftovers from my Seder).
• 2 pieces of Manischewitz Matzos
• Red pepper paste
• Tomato juice

Procedure

1. Mash the beans in a large bowl.  This takes a while, so you may want to put on a TV show while you're doing it.
2. Slowly add your spices, vegetables, and herbs.  Stir well.
3. Instead of bread crumbs (as Tera prescribes), crush up the Matzo (I just used a knife to crunch it up), and mix it into the beans.
4. Add the red pepper paste and tomato juice to even out the consistency, until it is ever so slightly sticky.
5. Heat some oil on the stove.  Like Tera says, you want a high smoke point oil, so I used soy bean oil.
6. Add your patties when the oil is hot enough to make them sizzle on impact.  Try to only flip them once.  As there is no egg in this mixture, they don't hold together quite as well.  A little char is definitely okay.

7. Serve warm.  I, not being vegan, opted to add some pepper jack cheese and ketchup to mine.  Buns aren't kosher for Passover, so I opted to eat it just like that, but I contemplated serving it on a piece of Matzo.  Let me know if you try it that way.

As a side, I made a Curry Rice Pilaf (as adapted from this recipe), which turned out pretty well, but I think my oil was too hot.  If I made it again, I'd do it before the burgers and just reheat it if necessary.  It's pretty simple:

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 1c white rice
• 1.5c water
• Curry powder, ginger powder, Italian seasoning (I, unfortunately, rarely measure.  I put enough of these things in that I could no longer see the rice below them.
• 1/3 yellow onion, diced
• 1/3c slivered almonds

Procedure:

1. Put the rice, water, spices, and half of your onion into a rice cooker and turn it on (yes, I'm lazy, but it works).  Stir occasionally to get the spices worked all the way through it.
2. Sautee the other half of the onion and the almonds.
3. When the rice cooker is done, mix the sautee in.

Tada!  Easy-breezy, and delicious.  Enjoy!

This dinner was just as happy to see me as I was to see it.

Let me know if you try this out, along with what you think of it!

Passover Pizza

Tonight marked the beginning of Passover, and I've had this lovely idea percolating around in my head all day for some Passover Pizza.  So, I called up my friend Taylor, and we decided to experiment based on this idea.  The result was this:

Our delicious Passover Pizza.

It turned out well enough that I would like to share the recipe with you so you can try it this week.  I did not, however, measure, so please bear in mind that all measurements are estimates.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of Manischewitz Matzos (I used the plain kind, but I'm eager to try out the whole wheat sometime.)
• cream cheese
• 1c Prego tomato sauce
• 1c Pace picante sauce
• Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 can of corn (My Ashkenazi Jewish friends can feel free to omit this ingredient)
• 1/3 yellow onion, diced
• 5-6 stems of parsley - shred the leaves, dice the stems
• 1/4-1/3 c cut up mushrooms (I used enoki)
• 2 jalepeños (I used one red and one green) with most of their seeds removed and diced.  (Normal bell peppers would be fine if you're not into spice)
• shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

Procedure:

1. Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.
2. Cover matzos with cream cheese.
3. Spoon desired amount of sauce into the middle of each matzo, then sprinkle Italian seasoning across them to taste.
4. Add the toppings evenly across each matzo, then cover with cheese (generally, you need more than you think).
5. Bake at about 375°F for 5-10 minutes or until the matzos are browning and the cheese is melted.  Everything is already cooked, you just need to get everything warm.  (I'm cooking in a convection oven, so my timings could be slightly different than yours.)

And voila!  Deliciousness.  This is one the kids are sure to enjoy.  I'd recommend serving it with a Romaine, strawberries, and feta salad and a side of quinoa (mixed with spinach wilts, cranberries, walnuts, and feta - if you're not a vegetarian, some baked chicken is good in this too).

Enjoy!

Re: Shiva

In one of the most interesting twists of this week,

Parker King is NOT dead.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have him alive, but I'm upset that he chose to fake his own death.  That was incredibly insensitive and rude.

In an effort to increase views on his music video and win a contest, Parker led the world to believe he had overdosed on heroin.

That being said, I'm going to repost some of the things I wrote that I would like to continue to display for the world, because they're important to me:

I have, unfortunately, experienced death enough in my life to know that sitting Shiva is one of my most cherished traditions within the Jewish faith.  Although he has not yet been buried, I began my Shiva for Parker King tonight.  That is the awful part about living so far away - things like funerals for high school friends must be missed. 

This is an old picture of Parker, from when we had Ancient and Medieval History together.

If we all are honest with ourselves, the reason why people saying "You're not guaranteed your next breath" is so cliche is because we all already know it.  The people about whom the general They like to say "They think they're invincible!" are just the people who don't care. 

What we DON'T stop to think about is that the person sitting next to us isn't guaranteed their next breath either.

*** 

I don't care what kind of research you think you've done.  Anything you put into your body is a big deal, especially the things that change your body chemistry, whether it's chocolate, ibuprofen, or heroin.  These things are not to be taken lightly.  I'm sure this soapbox won't surprise anyone, as I've always been picky about taking drugs, and as a result can get as high as a kite from 600 mg of ibuprofen.  You may laugh at that, but it's my point entirely.  While plenty of people throw back 2, 3, 4 ibuprofen, even mixing it with maybe Excedrin to take on their headaches, one is enough to make me lightheaded.  These things are a big deal, because we build up a tolerance for them.   

Eventually, whatever you're doing to deal with your issues isn't going to be enough.  You're going to need more or something even stronger.  Before you know it, what started out as something you did to relax can take over your life. 

Drugs do not mess around.  Maybe you look at them as playing by the "shoot to incapacitate" rule, but let me correct that assumption: They take no prisoners, heroin especially.  Look at it - just quitting alone can kill you.  That is not something you can deal with, and it's certainly not something you can escape from on your own.  Don't touch it. 

If you're currently tied up in drugs (addiction or none), I would strongly recommend starting to open the lines of communication with people who care about you.  Start this before it is too late.  If talking to those people just isn't on there radar, The Hopeline is an anonymous outlet to a group of people whose sole purpose is to listen to you and try to help you find to the strength to continue seeking help.  They're a wonderful group of people. 

Heroin is not your friend.
Don't leave the people who care about you in favor of it.

Chanukah 5772

Well... I finally get to post about CHANUKAH!  If Chanukah was a person, I would fall in love with it.  But, as my friends at Blimey Cow pointed out, I should be more conservative about my usage of the word "love," so, we'll just say that I really like Chanukah.  As I explained to my friends, Chanukah is a holiday about eating fried food, swapping chocolate, and spinning tops - if you can't find something in there to like, I can't qualify you as a person, so you should stop reading now (just kidding).  But my point is that it's really fun.  (For the REAL meaning of Chanukah, click here... I mean here... oh, sorry, I mean the title.)

Anyway, I threw a party, as is quickly becoming my Korea-tradition, and we had an excellent time.  This is how it went down:

1. My family and I made potato latkes and apple latkes, then I went out and bought some 호떡 (Don't get confused, they have nothing to do with rice cakes.) and 붕어빵 (which are usually shaped like fish when you buy them on the street, but that requires a special waffle iron, so don't sweat it).  We ate all these yummy yummy foods until we were stuffed... mostly because I was cooking for an expected 12-15 people, and 9 showed up.  Oops.


2. I gave a short lesson/presentation on the history and traditions of Chanukah, then lit my menorahs and gave everyone a line of tea-light candles so they could sort of make their own, too.  My dad had the brilliant idea of grabbind cups to raise up the shamash, so the menorahs could be kosher.

3. We then broke into two groups and played some excellent games of Dreidel.  It was better than usual, and I think this had something to do with it:

Yeah... We play by our own rules.  How very American of us.  Ah well... the vast majority of us are Waygooks, so I'm not complaining.  Although, how my head teacher fits into that mix, I may never know.

Hope your holidays were good!

(PS.  The next post is one I've been especially looking forward to posting, so be excited!)

<3

Advent, Week 2: Love

As always, click the title of this post for a (almost always) relevant video to tie everything together.

(As adapted from the Book of Common Prayer):

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) 

O Come, All Ye Faithful

The Confession:

Let us confess our sins against G-d and our neighbor:

Most merciful G-d, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in you will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen. 

Almighty G-d, have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our L-rd Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

The Psalter (sung):
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen.  Amen.


Psalm 85
Love Came Down at Christmas
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Verses 1, 3, 4, 5)
Isaiah 40:1-11

2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8

Candle Lighting: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (verses 3 and 1)

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of G-d appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.


A Message from Katie Davis, Founder and Executive Director of Amazima Ministries

I want to preface this portion.  This is not a "sermon" per se.  However, Katie Davis is a living example of what it means to have Christ-like love.  Personally, I place her on equal footing with Ghandi and Mother Teresa.  At age 18, Katie went on a missions trip to Uganda.  She now lives there full time as the official adopted mother of fourteen beautiful girls, fostering others as they come along.  Simply hearing this message from Katie changed how I view my life.  I hope that it will do the same for you.






Prayers
The L-rd be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.


The L-rd's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power,
and the glory, forever.
Amen.


Prayers of the People
Each person may voice a prayer aloud, ending with “This is my prayer.”
We will respond:
“L-rd, hear our prayer.”


Response: They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

 

The Advent Prayer:

Merciful God, who didst send thy messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, in God, Now and Forever. Amen.

The Closing Prayer:
Almighty G-d, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: fulfill now, O L-rd, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.


Blessing:
May the G-d of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This blog is quickly turning into my notes on G-d.

But I see nothing wrong with that, especially since there's nothing going on in Korea that you'd really want to hear about at the moment.  There are some big plans coming up, but nothing right now!

The following was emailed to me, along with my weekly candle-lighting reminder:

The Hebrew month of Kislev is a great time to celebrate the light you have to give. This month hosts the shortest days of the year, and therefore the darkest. But we also have the upcoming holiday of Chanukah—a festival that says "Light will conquer." How will you light your inner flame this month? You have a unique goodness that is worth celebrating...and there has never been a better time!

Interesting thought, isn't it?  Right now, I'm getting up and out the door before the sun is awake, and I'm getting back home after it's asleep.  My vitamin D is lacking, and I'm feeling it.  These few sentences couldn't be more fitting.

But Light will conquer.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12

<3

Advent, Week 1: Hope

As always, click the title of this post for a (almost always) relevant video to tie everything together.

Here we go (As adapted from the Book of Common Prayer):

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

The Confession:

Let us confess our sins against G-d and our neighbor:

Most merciful G-d, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in you will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen. 

Almighty G-d, have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our L-rd Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

The Psalter (sung):
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen.  Amen.


Psalm 80
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Isaiah 64:1-9 

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 

Mark 13:33-37

Candle Lighting: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (verse 1)

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of G-d appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.


A Sermon from Fusion Fellowship Church

A Most Bealtiful Ugliness from Fusion Fellowship Church on Vimeo.


Prayers
The L-rd be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.


The L-rd's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power,
and the glory, forever.
Amen.


Prayers of the People
Each person may voice a prayer aloud, ending with “This is my prayer.”
We will respond:
“L-rd, hear our prayer.”

The Advent Prayer:

Almighty G-d, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, on G-d, now and forever. Amen.


The Closing Prayer:
Almighty G-d, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: fulfill now, O L-rd, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.


Blessing:
May the G-d of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent

Okay, I have decided in a very after-the-fact choice to start a weekly Advent series.

This is a surprisingly little-celebrated holiday.  "What's the point?", I often asked as a child.  "Jesus has already come; why celebrate a holiday, waiting for Him to come?"

Aside from the fact that we are waiting for His return, I've noticed something about what Satan has done to this time of year... He has conveniently made it the busiest, most stressful time of year for everyone:

Finals, 

pageants, 

parties, 

shopping, 

cleaning,

cooking, 

rehearsals, 

projects, 

extra church services...

The Jewish people have a tradition of welcoming the Sabbath every week with the lighting of candles, singing of songs, saying of prayers, and eating of food.  We call this the Shabbat dinner, and, just in case you had any doubts left about it, it's just like in Fiddler on the Roof:

It occurred to me Advent is a time that the Christians can come incredibly close to having this tradition of peace reinstated into their religion, for, during Shabbat, we leave our worries in the week; we step away from all Satan has heaped onto us.

I would like to encourage you and your family to take at least one night a week to celebrate Advent.  Many families would do things with Advent Calendars, but we never did (at least not that I remember... I'm sure my mom will be on here soon, correcting me... go ahead, Mom).  Rather, we would traditionally would open by singing O Come, All Ye Faithful and lighting the candles, followed by prayer and then the family's requests for various songs.  To this day, I cannot hear the song without smelling the smoke of a freshly lit candle.  Traditions are good.  Traditions help families and faiths stay strong.  I'd encourage you to start some traditions of your own.

That being said, I'm getting to the part of this post that you will find reoccurring in this series... sorry the introduction took so long (In fact, I'm going to make a new post for that).  Here in Korea, we've started our own Advent celebrations, and I wanted to share some with you, as a guide in case you still are running short on activities for your family.  Unfortunately, this means that you will not get our materials in time for a Sunday celebration, as we are celebrating on Mondays, but hey... I'm sure G-d won't mind.

Oh... still confused?  Click the title of this post.

<3

Controversy in what matters most

It seems like I'm always struggling with one writer in the Bible or another.  For a loooooooong time, it was Paul.  In fact, I spent a lot of time in which I refused to read him, harbored bitterness and angry toward him (I know... totally not a waste of time... yeah right), held him responsible for the misinterpretations of his writings, and so on.  It was ridiculous, to be sure, but I do maintain what I think to be the most important part of that long-time exercise in disbelief:  You should not quote Paul (or any Epistle for that matter) without also quoting Jesus (and I would prefer Torah and a prophet... wisdom literature for a bonus point) in agreement with him.  Paul is far too easily misrepresented, because much of Christendom has forgotten the context in which it was written.  Like Kierkegaard, I think this is a most heinous loss, and while it will not separate anyone from Christ, it will separate their minds from His.  People miss out on so many true meanings and liberations in His words by ignoring the context into which they were spoken.  Additionally they (like I) miss the agreements between Paul and Christ without first knowing intimately that context.


My suggestion?  Find an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and soak up what he says.  But you don't need to take my word for it.  Ask this guy about the benefits.  (Incidentally, he's the one who was able to start me on the road to reconciliation with Paul.)


But, believe it or not, this posting isn't about Paul and me.  It's actually about John and me.  John, John, John... So many people have a hard time with you, and so did I... until G-d spoke clarity into my mind.  Ironically enough, my name comes from the name John, routing through their Hebrew equivalents.  The coolest part is found in their meanings, which deal with Grace.  Don't believe me on the connection front?  Fine... you shouldn't just take my word for it, anyway: John.  Anne.  And, just in case you wanted another eerie connection: Saul.

So yes, lately, I've been having problems with John.  But, instead of letting that fester this time around, I immediately began seeking out those wiser than myself.  I prayed, I read, I talked... but it wasn't until I finished John and started again that G-d spoke into all of it.  I had to prove my faithfulness on the subject.  I had to show my commitment to truly seeking Him and not discounting what He has given me as a witness to Himself (scripture, in case you missed it).  This is what he gave me:

November 6, 2011

This is John's testimony.  Every testimony will be affected by a person's opinion and circumstance.  John very probably wrote this after the Temple was destroyed, and it was clear that Jesus woud not be coming back to "establish" His Kingdom in their lifetimes.  Therefore, John is probably writing with the mission of reassuring people of Christ's deification - that He is, in fact, G-d, and the fact that He wasn't doing things the way everyone wanted or expected (still) was not reason to discount Him.  (Hebrews was most likely written around this same time as well.)  John starts this illustration at the beginning of the world and goes up through Christ's time on Earth.

He's writing many years after all the events happened, so it's likely that he did not write in perfect chronological order or with perfect quotes from the people in the stories (especially since that was perfectly acceptable in the day), but he does write, capturing who Jesus IS.  He urges us to fully understand Jesus' situation as a deity and, consequentially, writes a very different Gospel from that of the Synoptic writers, who focus on the incredible revolution that Jesus brought.

And yes, you will hear John's emotions come out at times (especially in reference to Judas or the Pharisees), but it is important to remember the setting and who John was:  John is referred to as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."  That is, of course, his own testimony, but the writers of the other Gospels also acknowledge that Peter, James, and John were considerably closer to Jesus than were the rest.  That being said, John would reasonably feel rather more passionately about the people to whom he assigned responsibility for Jesus' death.

John writes with a very interesting perspective.  I would encourage you not to dwell on the differences in format, but to drink in what a member of Jesus' most inner circle has to say about Him.

And really, that's all I have to say about that.

What do YOU have to say about that?  I'd love to hear from you!

<3

Sukkot 5772

Here are some pictures from Sukkot... we did not make a Sukkah :(, but we did celebrate involving our Sukkah-like porch, good friends, and good food.

We lit my Shabbat candles to celebrate Havdalah, along with several smaller prayer candles, which we allowed to hold our worries for us while we celebrated (and we allowed G-d to blow them out, too!).

After learning about Havdalah and Sukkot, we listened to Rabbi Ken's Gospel in the Stars message.  It's very interesting and informative.  We greatly enjoyed listening to it.

We even had an Ushpizin wander in.  G-d works in mysterious ways. :)

Our beautiful prayer candles... we lit one for the Ushpizin too.  He doesn't need to hold on to his worries.

We doused the candles with some grape juice, as per tradition.  I loved the idea of starting the next Shabbat with the reminder that it's Jesus' blood that brings us our Sabbath peace... it just didn't occur to me that the grape-juiced wicks would be hard to light.  But after some cleaning, they worked just fine.

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe
shehecheyanu v'kiyimanu v'higi'anu laz'man hazeh. (Amein)
who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season (Amen) 

Lots of love to you!

Yom Kippur 5772

Click the title of this post if you don't know what Yom Kippur is.  If you do, then read on.

This year, I got to celebrate Yom Kippur with some of my fellow Waygooks in Korea (I got to do this for Rosh Hashana too... I just didn't take any pictures of that).  It was a small crowd, but it was very nice... very relaxing.  As I told my friend Adam, I think this was the best thing that I've done since coming to South Korea.  I've really needed it.  We just sat there, stared at candles, talked, laughed, and enjoyed not being required to do anything else.

As believers in Christ as Messiah, we decided to celebrate the Atonement that He has already given us, rather than the somber day of fasting that most Jews observe.  I'm glad we made that choice.  We have enough stress on us as it is.

Okay.  That's enough words... let's look at some pictures: