I want one of these in my life

Thanks Erin!

Sally Thomas on Hallowmas

While I am not Catholic and do not revere the saints of past ages or pray for the dead as Roman Catholics do, Sally Thomas's reflections at First Things on the three day pageant of Halloween, All Saint's Day, and All Souls resonate with me very much as a story teller and a story receiver. Donald Miller writes of the stories that we write with our lives, and those are shaped by the stories that we listen to, and read, and tell--and re-enact. N.D. Wilson writes of the necessity of darkness in our stories and artwork, as well as light. And while I don't think that God needed us--or wanted us--to sin in order to tell his story, the fact remains that we DID sin. The world in which we live has darkness and sin and death and shadow. It is what we know and understand and in order to tell ourselves the story of redemption--of rescue from the darkness--one must necessarily start with the darkness. Maybe Halloween, from a Christian point of view, isn't such a bad place to do that.

Tim Keller, again

“Identity is a complex set of layers, for we are many things. Our occupation, ethnic identity, etc., are part of who we are. But we assign different values to these components and thus Christian maturing is a process in which the most fundamental layer of our identity becomes our self-understanding as a new creature in Christ along with all our privileges in him.

- Timothy Keller “Gospel Christianity” Course 3 (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 141.

HT: Of First Importance

the logical consequence . . .

Given that we already nearly have an obesity tax, given the tax-funded universal health care system that the Obama administration wants to saddle us with, is the criminalization of my own failure to take care of my body according to the government's specifications really that far-fetched?

Since it's showing up in my daily comic crawl, I'm saying . . . no.

some useful perspective

somewhere between "it could always be worse and "why did God give me this job . . ."

I especially like this in the context of this strip's huge arsenal of "bad weather" gags.

Lindsay's Festive Egg Squares

1 lb. cooked sausage, well drained (chicken or meatless works fine, as well as normal "country" sausage)

2 bunches green onion, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, diced

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozarella

1 1/4 cups baking mix

12 eggs

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup milk

Spray 9 x 13 pan. Layer tomatoes, onion, sausage and cheese. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, oregano and baking mix until no lumps. Pour over the sausage and veggies. Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

Sara's notes: I've never gotten "to the no lumps" stage. Mine always has small lumps--that's fine. Baking mix is NOT the same as Bisquick--but it should be right next to it in the baking aisle. I learned with this recipe that there is a specific product "baking mix." Lindsay recommends the buttermilk variety, but I use plain and it works out. I've always had to bake mine 40-45 minutes to keep it from being soupy in the middle.

the story is . . .

Three year old, drawing on her drawing pad, and Uncle Will

UW: What are you drawing?

3YO: a bridge

UW: don't forget the water

3YO: here it is

UW: where are the fishies in the water?

3YO: they're on land and they all died

UW: oh

3YO: actually, they're looking for their mommies. Their mommies all got eaten. By a shark.

it's all in the narrative . . .