I secretly hope some deep-thinkers respond to this. You know who you are.

Much like Abbey, I'm a fan of air quotes. They convey just the right tone of sarcasm for the blogosphere. That being said, I am not being one bit sarcastic here: I am not sure what to make of the Emergent church, or the new "Christians". I am reading a book by one of their proponents (Tony Jones), and it both fascinates and alarms me.

Allow me to demonstrate:
"The emergent way of interacting with the multifarious resource of 'culture' is not monolithic either. There's no one-size-fits-all method for parsing out the good from the bad. Instead, it's an art of looking for the intersections between theology and other disciplines, looking for truth WHEREVER ONE CAN FIND IT. In other words, CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY DOES NOT HAVE THE SOLE CLAIM TO TRUTH; what Christian theology can do is find truth elsewhere and then translate that truth into idioms given to us by the biblical narrative." (emphasis mine)

Initial reaction? WHISKEY. TANGO. FOXTROT. Did he just say that Jesus is NOT the only way? Because that's what I'm hearing.

He also talks about how emergents embrace "deconstruction" (gag...as an English major, I despise this movement/writing style) which unpacks every little unspoken detail of a text/conversation/whatever. Basically, you analyze it to death, or keep asking questions until you forget what you were discussing in the first place.

Now, don't get me wrong...I completely agree that church should be about community and sincere love, but is ethereal, nebulous theological discussion-into-oblivion really going to solve our problems? Perhaps this way of thinking is more alarming to me because it ALMOST hits the mark. Not quite, but almost.

Also, I don't care for his tone. He's very smug (while talking about how humble emergents are). Those of you who've interacted with me know that I like to joke about all things "postmodern", but this guy is over the top. He flaunts his postmodernity. What does that entail? Oh, things like tolerance, mistrust of authority/convention, and constant questioning. He goes on and on about how emergents don't claim to have the answers; they're not trying to push anything on anyone. But the whole tone of his book is full of condescension for the "old way", which includes...oh everyone who isn't emergent: Roman Catholics, mainline protestants and evangelicals.

Even his wording is postmodern (can you imagine a religious ((or any)) writer using the word "parsing" 10 years ago?). And now no one can ever take this post seriously, because I used double-parentheses. :)

Well, besides my judgmental comments above, I don't really have any conclusions (as I have not yet finished the book), but I hope you will read it and share your thoughts.

On a lighter note: when you leave the pre-packaged cole slaw in the fridge for too long, the dressing turns purple. Then, it reminds you of the wax fruit mantra: "fun to look at, not to eat!"

Who invented wax fruit anyway?

I have once again stooped to this: blogging when I shouldn't. BUT, in my defense, there really is nothing else to do. So there you have it...that's my disclaimer. Moving on...

GUESS. WHAT. I have an apartment. :D
It is messy, couchless, and undecorated at the moment, but it is mine. And I love it.
It's the perfect size for me, and I LOVE having my own kitchen! Maybe someday I'll even make real food there. :)
Also, I cannot believe how generous my friends are. Seriously, thanks, all of you.

I went to the pool after work yesterday and decided that growing up at an apartment complex with a pool would have been pretty much the coolest thing. Except then there would have been six of us living in an aparmtent, and that would have been very NOT cool (sharing a bathroom = do not want). WHICH is another thing I love about my new place: a huge bathroom with no boy's underwear on the floor. Not that I'm bitter. ;)

But yeah, my place is glorious. And now Radio Paradise is playing "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", which I almost used for this post's title. Haha, who thinks God doesn't have a sense of humor?

Yesterday, as I was walking through the grass on my way back from the pool, I thought about how much I love being outside. I need to make an effort to do that more often. Be outside, that is...not think.

Another great aspect of my new place is the "free" wireless. Maybe now I can get back to posting regularly. But don't count on it.

Let's see What else...nothing that I can tell you on the world wide interweb, but keep your ears peeled. ;)