Bloggy Linky Goodness
I never said consistency was my thing – it’s not. But missing Bloggy Linky Goodness last week wasn’t really my fault. The internet was out. Cuz, as I’ve mentioned a time or two, money’s tight and choices must be made. So we ate mediterranean style green beans* and did without the internet. I didn’t even check my email for 4 days straight! I don’t think that’s ever happened before in the history of the whole internet. Sometimes being piss-poor (well, ok – house poor) has its upsides. It was a good break. And eating is always better than internet, believe it or not. At any rate, I’m back. For at least another month by which time my husband’s long promised raise or settlement from his back-injury might have arrived. And life will be easier again. Maybe.
So, this week’s Bloggy Linky Goodness is a little lite because, as I mentioned, I didn’t have an internet connection for a week. But, the links I have are extra good. Which is a totally fair and awesome trade-off if ya ask me. So here goes!
Six Surprising Ways That Jesus Changed the World – John Ortberg Back when I attended Willow Creek Community Church, John Ortberg was my favorite teacher by far. He has this very funny joke he tells about Norwegian girls and chest hair that I can never remember correctly, but just thinking about it still makes me laugh. And he was meaty – he dug into the bible and had challenging and enlightening things to say about it. I have several “ah-ha” moments that were significant to me which came out of hearing him teach. Which is all to say that I really like John Ortberg and was happy to see this piece he wrote about how Jesus changed the world. We Christians need to do a better job of recognizing and proclaiming this fact, imo.
How to Really Live – Ann Voskamp I have good news! I found the “pause” button to stop the music on Ann’s site. Unfortunately, it seems to be the last thing to load on the site which is why I’ve never seen it before. But it’s right up at the top between the post title and date. Anywho, I’m linking to this post because Ann shares the incredible story of Maximillian Kolbe. He was a Christian interred in Auschwitz. And he did something that no one else ever did. You’ll have to go read the post to get the whole story, but grab a hanky first.
Are the Culture Wars Real? A Case for Heresy – Christian Piatt Love it. I really do think that the church is on the edge of something really big. And something really good. All those people who are fretting about the decline of the church and losing the youth and all that jazz make me want to laugh and say, “oh ye of little faith.” Christian makes his case for heretics and new birth here.
God Is. And Maybe That’s All – Chrystal St. Marie Lewis A beautiful meditation on God as “I Am”. I don’t know what else to say about it go read it. (It’s short – it won’t take long!)
Abel Was a Creative – Drew Downs Drew takes another look at the story of Cain and Abel and comes up with some surprising and remarkable conclusions. He even makes a very credible argument that this story foretells the enmity that often exists between those who value tradition and those who are driven to try new things. Very good, interesting stuff.
And finally, something you might want to set aside some time to read. This past weekend, I caught an interview of French geologist, Christian and spiritual thinker Xavier le Pinchon with Krista Tippett on On Being (formerly Speaking of Faith). The broadcast was excellent and is well worth downloading and listening to if you do that sort of thing. When I got back online, one of the first things I did was download his essay Ecce Homo (“Behold Humanity”). It’s really long. (You can download it as a pdf file for your reader.) But it’s amazing. So worth reading. In it, le Pinchon examines the vital role that vulnerability and weakness have played in the emergence of humanity. He goes through evolution and geology and the Axil Age prophets and philosophers and the commitment of husband and wife through aging along the way. As I said, it’s long, but you will be very glad that you took the time to read it.
So there’s this week’s bloggy linky goodness. Now before I sign off, I have a small favor to ask of y’all. This past month, I passed 2200 email subscribers to my blog. Which is pretty darn good for a housewife . But just over 100 of y’all have “Liked” my facebook page. Which is frankly, a little pathetic (for me – not you!). So, if you do facebook, could ya take just a minute to like The Upside Down World. I promise not to annoy you. And I’d love to interact more with my readers which facebook is really great for. So, please? Would ya do it just for me?
*Mediterranean green beans – I just discovered these and we’ve been gorging ourselves on them. Here’s the recipe:
Put 2 lbs trimmed, fresh green beans, 1 large diced onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt and 2/3 C water in a pot. Cook, covered over medium heat for 1 hour. Add a drained can of diced tomatoes or 2 fresh diced tomatoes. Cook for another 15 minutes. You truly won’t believe how good they are.