About That Strike

If you don't watch TV, I'm not impressed.

While some people honestly don' t desire to watch TV, other people will tell you with an air of pride that they don't have time for it. It's as if being too busy to watch TV is a prerequisite for being important.

Almost everybody knows about the recent Writer's Guild strike. Maybe you've even seen a picture of Eva Longoria serving the writers pizza (though I'd rather see a celebrity serving food to the hungry). As a result, many people have come out and said that they are glad for the strike because now people will do better things with their time.

Maybe it's just my broadcasting background, but I feel that just because I carve out an hour and a half a week to watch my two favorite television shows doesn't mean I'm wasting my time. And what about when I watch even more TV a week than that? Maybe I actually learn something from my HGTV real estate shows and specials on The History Channel.

Maybe I make time to watch TV because it's something I honestly enjoy. If I'm found shallow for watching a few programs, then oh well. Sure some people really do waste their time by watching numerous hours of television a day, but that doesn't mean that everyone who watches TV is giving in to laziness and gluttony. And maybe there is a lot of trash on TV, but that doesn't mean everyone who catches a show is watching that stuff. Besides, the strike isn't going to end the television viewing of over-zealous TV addicts. They're still going to catch the latest re-run or reality show.

So if you're looking to tell someone that you don't care about the writer's strike because you don't have time to watch TV, please don't brag to me.

Harnett County Thanksgiving

I never thought it could happen to me, and then it did: Thanksgiving in Erwin. Somewhere along the way of the last few years my relatives chose to leave the suburbs of D.C. for the pastures of Harnett County. Now my parents live in Lillington, my grandma in Angier, and my uncle's family in Erwin.

Life doesn't always make sense.

Last Thursday afternoon we pulled into the driveway of a quaint house on a quiet street. Could it be? Could Erwin actually look picturesque?

After dinner a few of us gathered on the front porch, while the rest watched football inside. We talked about my brother's upcoming wedding, the benefits of a simple life, and the way my Grandma can drive us crazy, even though we still love her.

As I gently swayed in my rocking chair, I thought about celebrities gathering around large banquet tables in extravagant houses. I felt like they were missing something.

Mom was right, I wouldn't be happy living in that neighborhood either. It was nice for a day, but the city beckons me come May. But I started to realize that Harnett County is more than tractors tying up traffic and redneck hunters shooting at fake deer. There are some interesting people here, and if I'm smart, I'll learn from them before my days in Harnett County are limited to the short visits home for more of these country holidays.

Christian Circles

I have always been critical of politics in the church. Maybe that's why I laughed when I saw the book, Roberts Rules of Orders for Dummies. There is a part of me that detests the rigid formality that often results in anger and splits. Yet, as I have been studying the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) in divinity school, I cannot help but be involved in church politics.

This weekend I took my youth to Fort Caswell, the BSCNC's retreat center at the beach, for a youth weekend. My cynicism came along too.

After all the judgement, crookedness, and political games in Southern Baptist Life, I found it hard to believe that BSCNC leaders were telling our youth to minister to and love those considered the lowest of the low by the world. It seems Convention leaders can't even love fellow Christians like that.

We preach one thing, and practice another when it comes to political strategies. The BSCNC is alientating itself from groups and schools because of its desire to take over. The BSCNC kicks churches out of its fellowship if there are two or more persons that report that a BSCNC-member church has homosexual members.

Focusing on the latter point, I believe homosexuality is a sin. I also believe stealing people's money is a sin, but Jesus welcomed a tax collector into his group of disciples anyway. This group was comprised of the twelve men Jesus was closest to during his three years of ministry leading up to his death and resurrection. The BSCNC can't even let a homosexual be a member of a church, but Jesus called a tax collector to be one of his closest friends. Both are what many have termed, "lifestyle sins."

Ok, I know, Jesus didn't call Matthew to continue in his dishonesty. My point is, he called him to be a disciple, a "member" of his closest group, while Matthew was still a tax collector. As Matthew was a part of this group, he learned how to be more like Jesus.

So why can't we follow the example of Jesus? Why can't homosexual Christians join the church as they are and become more like Jesus, just as the rest of us are striving to do? Some claim that homosexuality isn't a sin, but I believe it is, even if those struggling with that sin don't name it as such. Even so, I believe a homosexual can be a Christian because I believe we still struggle with sin after giving our lives to Christ. So why regulate what sins church members may and may not struggle with? Jesus clearly did not give us that example.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (NIV) Christ died for us while we were still sinners, so why can't we accept Christians into our church who are still struggling with sin? Aren't all of us struggling with sin anyway?

But then I discovered my own hypocrisy. In all my finger pointing at the convention, I am failing to heed the second greatest commandment: love others as I love myself. No, I don't agree with all the theology and tactics of the SBC and BSCNC, but to view them as enemies is clearly not biblical either. There are names that come to mind of people whom I get angry with. These very people are still my brothers in Christ. All the theological viewpoints in the world couldn't change that fact.

I think there are still some great members of the Convention and I think there are great leaders at Caswell. If my kids are growing in Christ as a result of the work of the BSCNC, I'd be an idiot to keep them from it.

So my question now is, what are those of us who are moderate Baptists doing to love our fundamentalist brothers and sisters? Because if all we do is point fingers and judge them, we're kicking Christians out of our circles too.

The Crab Feast

I have realized the Maryland equivalent of a pig pickin': the crab feast.

Behold the little wooden mallets we use to crack open the crab shell. After a successful entry, we begin to pick apart the body for meat, being sure to avoid the parts that will make us sick. We eagerly eat the tiny pieces of meat that are the rewards of our work.

We dissect our food to eat it. This is not much better than the southern-style pig pickin' (note: I have learned it is not a "pig picking").

I have composed a haiku:

Small, wooden mallet,
Help me dissect this large crab.
Is the work worth it?

Krasinski, is it?

In my writing class we have been assigned to write our obituaries. I figured it would be as if we died now and we would have to sum up our real lives.

But no.

We can make up our lives and die when we're old. We could say we'd achieved all our goals.

That led me to a fantastic conclusion: I can pick my spouse!

In my obituary I will die as Rebecca Lee Krasinski, wife of actor John Krasinski, who plays Jim on "The Office."

I called my friend Mark to tell him this exciting news. He thought that last name sounded like the Unabomber.

That's no good.

So he looked it up. He said, "John's last name is Krasisnki, the Unabomber's last name is Kaczynski." Sound alike, huh?

I just found it hilarious that we had to differentiate between my "husband" and the Unabomber.