Weirdest OT Laws

When an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. -Exodus 21:28

You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk -Exodus 23:19b

All winged insects that walk up on all fours are detestable to you. But amond the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet. Leviticus 11:20-21
"The law is unclear whether it is legal to eat the bug if you first pull off the legs."

No person among you shall eat blood. -Leviticus 17:12
Kris Madsen, what will you do with your 'mooing' rare steaks?

You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together. -Deuteronomy 22:11 Remember, "Polyester came along after Bible times."

Adapted from The Lutheran Handbook

Grandma and TV

I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and looked down the hall into Grandma’s room.

Me: Grandma, the crazy President is on.
Grandma: Yeah, I know, I turned Friends on.

How cool is it that my grandma hates Bush as much as I do and that she’s watching Friends without my influence.
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Again, I walked past Grandma’s room.

Me: What are you watching with that smirk on your face
Grandma: Sex and the City. She just gave him a new pair of underwear because he’s touching himself down there.

Now she's watching Sex and the City (my aunt was an extra for a while which got her hooked on the series). What's next?

Suicide

Tonight at 10:13, I received a call from a number that I didn’t recognize. I was sitting in the Black Cloister at Trinity Lutheran Seminary where I had just finished watching a movie for my Bible and Film course. When I answered the voice on the other end said, “Hi this is Eric.” I couldn’t place him, but soon I realized that it was Eric, Melodi’s husband. I was excited when I finally figured out who this mystery voice was. Then I heard news that changed everything, “this morning Melodi’s dad committed suicide.” I talked for 5 minutes gathering what little information I could think to get – without getting too personal. I’m sure he’s told it a million times already and is numb and raw. After the conversation I was left with the instructions to tell 4 seminary friends as well as our LVC community. How do I do that? How do I communicate this news? What is a suicide? It’s a manner of killing yourself, but that’s so cold and doesn’t begin to touch the emotions surrounding the tragedy. I got to my car and sobbed a few minutes before getting on the road. After being emotionally raw from CPE how is Melodi coping? Where did her dad think God was when he was in need? It’s times like these that I cling to Romans 8, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Anything else in all creation – including suicide, that is not chosen, but happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.

What must it be like for Melodi’s mom to go to bed tonight? They’re living in the house that he lived in. He’s everywhere but not really. What could I have done differently, is being asked. I pray for Melodi and her family, for healing and comfort that only God can accomplish.

120 Ounces

www.ComFest.com Today I went to Comfest, the largest non-commercial gathering in the U.S. and connected with a side of me I’ve been neglecting. The guiding principles...
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Statement of Principles

We think that people ought to work for the collective good of all people rather than for personal gain. We support cooperation and collective activity rather than competition and individual profit.

The basic necessities of life are a right and not a privilege. People have the collective right to control the conditions of their lives.

People should strive to conduct their lives in harmony with the environment.

We recognize that there are primary attitudes which divide and oppress people. These attitudes are usually shown by prejudice against people on the basis of age, class, ability, income, race, sex, and sexual preference/ orientation.

We seek to eliminate these attitudes.
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The spirit of the festivities were in line with these principles. I spent the day walking around art booths, listening to local music, being around people of tolerance and gentleness as well as eating and drinking the best Columbus has to offer (beer and brats!).

Now that I am home I am filled with the need to reconnect in different ways. Tomorrow I am planning to go to my home church for early service at Bethel Lutheran in Grove City and then heading to St. John’s in Columbus. St. John’s is where I was baptized. I cannot remember ever being there. Somehow, I feel a need to go and see this area of Columbus that is often forgotten. It is not downtown, but it is far from suburban. I am interested to go and worship not only to worship with whom I can worship with, but also to feel my emotions to the place in which was so climatic for me over 22 years ago. I was baptized in a Lutheran church, but my parents were not Lutheran. How odd.

Mamaw

“When God seems far away,” these words were written beside Psalm 139 in my great grandmother, Mamaw’s, bible. Tonight God seems far away. I am alone in Ohio - Grandma is in West Virginia so I am sleeping in her ultra-comfy bed. I found Mamaw’s bible on the table beside the bed and found two things of interest. One being Psalm 139, which I really needed to read right now. Being ‘home’ has lead to many travels on memory lane. It seems that the past few years I have been away, but never fully. My history is wrapped up in the people and memories I am finding daily. Tonight, it happens to be Mamaw.

The second find worth noting is a newspaper clipping. I found it in Leviticus 21-23 of her King James Giant Print Bible. Mamaw was a life long Church of God member so I can’t imagine how the literal word of God would be interpreted after reading the article below. The letter to the editor appeared in the Columbus Dispatch August 19, 2003, a few months before her death.
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Many Bible Passages Inappropriate Today by Rick Elkhatib

I respond to all who have written in favor of sodomy laws based on Bible passages. After reading these letters, I decided to read the Book of Leviticus, and now I wholeheartedly agree. However, we should take it a few steps further.

First, I propose that Congress make slavery legal. Leviticus 25:44 clearly states that people may buy slaves, and Exodus 21:7 allows selling daughters into slavery. If the same book that says homosexuality is an abomination suggests that slavery is OK, then it must be true. I also propose that all women must wear clearly visible armbands during menstruation. This way, people can avoid contact with them or anything they touch, as in Leviticus 15:19-24.

Because Exodus states that working on the Sabbath is a sin punishable by death, every state should reserve one day each week to follow through with this punishment. On the Sabbath, all hospitals and police stations will be closed.

But what am I doing preaching Christianity? I wear contacts, and my hair is thinning – Leviticus 21:20 clearly states that no one with a defect in sight or any blemish or deformity may approach the altar of God.
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This evening a good friend urged me to read an article by Walter Bouman an emeritus professor of theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He is preparing to die. He is preparing to live. This was appropriately published on what would have been Mamaw’s 94th birthday.

The Constantly Changing Wernicke’s

How is it that last night I was crying because my grandma has decided that at 89, she is too old to travel from Ohio to South Dakota and tonight the realities of my 13-year-old cousin’s brain tumor make me cry? As I began writing, 100 Years by 5 for Fighting came through the Media Player. Will Bryee make it to 22? What quality of life will she find after treatment? I began googling ‘pediatric brain tumor’ and found mixed results. I wanted to read that all children are cured, but this is not so. Googling something like ‘pediatric brain tumor’ makes it real. I believe for my generation when something is important you google it to get fast, possibly helpful answers. I googled her condition! Will she have her 100 years to live? I return to questions of death and suffering and God. It is easy to know ultimately what will happen to this faithful youth, but what about now? What about her earthly needs? What is prayer? If enough people say the correct prayers, will God respond in a manner of healing? What about the child in Africa dying of AIDS? Is that one forgotten if prayers are not uttered on their behalf? Tonight I had dinner with the Bradley’s and Mel was getting ready to go to a Cocaine Anonymous meeting with a parishioner from Bethel. This woman is getting ready to celebrate her first year of sobriety after 8 years of using, praise the Lord! Was it God? If it was then where is God in Bryee’s life? Is it all random? Is there a purpose to everything? Is there a purpose to anything? How is Bryee’s tumor praising God or making God known? It’s times like this when I know that God is steadfast and unchanging. Does that make this easier or harder? Right now, I can’t tell.

How long is a year?

While talking on the long drive Sunday the radio played a few songs and ask which year they came out ’92’, ‘93’ or ‘94’. Aaron and I discussed what happened for us those years and then continued the drive. Today when I clicked on the Lutheran Volunteer Corps homepage I was reminded of last year as my house’s commissioning photo popped up. Last year at this time, I was living in Milwaukee getting into my summer of running youth programs for 40-100. I knew I was Luther bound, but I also thought that I would be pursuing my Masters of Social Work at Augsburg College. My step-bro, Jack, just got custody of his 3-year-old daughter Katelynn. My grandparents announced their divorce in July. In August, I make it to Ohio for the first time in over 6 months before trekking to St. Paul. Once in St. Paul school took over my life. In November, I realize my Greek tutor would make an awesome boyfriend. Also I November, I made the drive from Minnesota to Georgia to protest the School of the Americas and my grandparents divorce was final. Christmas was fun as 6/7 households in my family lost power due to the ice storm. In January, grandpa remarried while grandma and I were at Daytona Beach, FL. February Aaron ask me to marry him and we made plans to meet each others families before it could be ‘official.’ Over Easter, he traveled to Ohio with me and the next weekend I made it to South Dakota for the first time in my life. April 6th we heard back from his pastor that yes, August 6th works as a wedding date in Aberdeen, SD. May I moved back to Ohio with Aaron’s help. We were home in time for me to keep my three-year-old promise to Chad (my lil bro) to go to the midnight opening showing of Star Wars III at the coolest theater in Columbus. The next Sunday Aaron and I became Katelynn’s Godparents. That day Aaron flew to SD and I left for another beach trip, this time with Mom and Phyllis as well as grandma and I. Now I’ve landed in a Burger King in Sioux Falls, SD visiting Aaron. Whew (in the word of Grandma).

SD Travels

When my plane landed, we were a little early. I got off and walked the 20 feet from the plane to baggage claim and there was no Aaron! I started to check to make sure that I had indeed landed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Then I looked out the door and there he was. Yeah, I had made it! There is nothing better than an airport reunion – okay, there is, but it was pretty darn nice.

Wednesday and Thursday were a bit of a blur. Friday we set off for the Black Hills, a 6-hour trip (5 had I driven the whole way – but a girl needs her beauty rest). We stayed in Hill City, which is less than 20 minutes from Mt. Rushmore and Outlaw Ranch (the camp Aaron worked at during college). Friday night we went karaoke-ing with a group from Outlaw including Audra, Aaron’s lil sistah. It was tons o’ fun! Saturday we did the Mt. Rushmore thing. It was bigger than I had expected. We’re such dorks, we forgot the camera in Sioux Falls and never stopped to get one. I used my phone as much as possible for photos, but there are so many things I missed (like the Bad Lands, the most beautiful part of the country I've seen, other than West Virginia of course). That night we went to the Inn for dinner. The doors open at 4 and seating begins at 5. Our group of 20 were seated right away. The waitress came and ask our drink orders, whether we wanted a 6 or 9 ounce steak and how we wanted it cooked. We started with a literal ¼ head of lettuce with ranch on it. Then came the meal of filet minion, baked potato and bread. For dessert you have choices – we landed with tiramisu. Afterwards we invited the staff to swim at the pool at our hotel. We had over 10 counselors and support staff swimming and hot tubing! Sunday we did the church thing in a town called Custer. The church was on a hill and used natural lighting and had the windows open during worship. I believe it was the most welcoming church I have ever been to! The sermon was one that I couldn’t figure out. I didn’t really hear law or gospel. Umm, problem! On the way back I was trying to call my step-dad. I left a few messages telling him to call on Aaron’s phone, the number that I called him from. Well, he didn’t have it, and had to call Aaron’s parents. He talked with his mom. When I saw her last night she said that he had a really southern accent. I was shocked! I thought that my mom and grandma did, but never him! She said she can’t wait for them to come to SD for the wedding just so she can talk with them and hear the accent. Apparently, the southerners don’t make it to SD much.

That’s my trip so far. It’s so nice to be in the same place as Aaron again;) The wedding is so close, yet so far.

Too early to be morning, too late to be night

It's 5:09am (EST) and I'm sitting at Port Columbus International Airport getting ready for my journey to Sioux Falls, SD. Amen to the genius who decided to make the entire airport free wi-fi! As I sit at the gate (not a single restaurant is open this early) writing, I turn on my Media Player and At Last is the first some to shuffle through. That's how I feel - after 3 1/2 weeks apart today is here 'at last.' I'm off with a whopping two hours of sleep behind me!

Minestrone - LVC Style

This has to be my fav. soup to cook and eat. I've made it twice for family gatherings and it was the most loved course of the meal!
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2T. olive oil
1 lg. carrot, diced
1 lg. celery stalk, thickly sliced
1 med. onion, diced
1 sm. garlic clove, cut in half
1/4 lb. green beans, cut in 1 inch
6c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 sm. head cabbage, shredded (3c)
1 med. zucchini, diced
1(8oz.) can tomatoes
2 vegetable-flavor bouillon cubes or env.
1/4c. elbow macaroni
1/2 (10oz) bag spinach shredded
2 cans beans drained
grated parmesan

Over medium-high heat, in hot olive oil, cook carrot,
celery, onion, garlic and green beans until lightly
browned, about 15 mins., stirring occasionally.
Discard garlic, Add water, salt oregano cabbage,
zucchini, tomatoes with their liquid and bouillon.
Bring to a boil, stirring to break up tomatoes.
Reduce heat to low, Cover and simmer 25 mins. or until
vegetables are tender. Stir in macaroni, spinach and
beans. Cook 10 mins. or until macaroni is very
tender and soup is slightly thickened. Pass cheese to
sprinkle over each serving.

a Bathtub

Tonight I realized that when Aaron and I move into our apartment we'll have a bathtub! For some, this is insignificant, but for others, it is a lifeboat. Before the past two years, bad days always ended in a long hot soak with bath oil, candles, music or a book and a glass of wine. After that regiment, any problem would melt away enough for sleep to find me. Coming in late August, I will have a place with a bathtub! In two months from today, I'll have a husband. Well, off to the tub...

Gazpacho-the Ultimate Summer Dinner

Serving Size: 8

Ingredients

3 cups tomatoes, red ripe, seeded and diced
2 cups red bell pepper, diced medium
2 cups red onions, diced medium
1/2 cup celery, diced medium
2 cups cucumber, diced medium
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups organic vegetable juice
pinch cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin

Method
Mix diced tomato, peppers, red onions, celery and cucumber together in a
medium bowl. Divide the mixture in half and separate in two bowls.

Add garlic to one of the bowls and empty into blender. Add vinegar to the
blender and puree until smooth.

Add the vegetable juice, cayenne and cumin to the blender. Blend.

Add the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables.

Refrigerate overnight - serve cold. Garnish with lemon and cilantro.