It Takes a Table

I'm participating in a 10-month program in Co-Active Leadership this year.  The first component, a six-day program at a beautiful retreat center in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, ended last Sunday.  For major parts of those six days, our group had been sitting in chairs that looked lovely and fit the decor well, but did not make my lower back and hip joints happy at all.  I found a small end-table with a lower shelf that was a good height to prop my feet on, and life became more comfortable.

The table began to accumulate things.  I'd put my journal and pen on the shelf when I wasn't writing.  The person on my left would add hers.  The person on my right would set his coffee cup on it.  People began to cluster a bit. As we re-gathered after a break, one of the leaders remarked on the little village we were building.  I joked, "Well, you know how you always say 'It takes a village'? I say, 'It takes a table to build a village.'"

It takes a table to build a village.

You Have to Know So Many Things

"Don't let them ruin her." -- My kindergarten teacher, talking to my mom.

"It's so hard. You have to know so many things to be a good girl." -- A friend's three-year-old daughter, after he told her why it wasn't a good idea to throw books at people.  (She'd chucked her book at him after storytime, leaving him with a nice bruise or two on his forehead, but I digress.)

Pebbles with cowboy
boots.  What's not to
love?

This three-year-old has been the source of a huge number of wise, insightful, hilarious, and beyond-her-years quotations since she has been able to talk.  Her dad posts them regularly to the internet group which is the only context for our acquaintance.  I've followed her journey since before she was born.  Her parents are marvelous chroniclers, and there have been pictures and stories galore.  I feel as though I know her better than some of the children I've met in "meatspace."

Joy.  Just joy.

  What I've seen in her through all the photos and all the stories and all her amazing quotable quotes is an almost unadulterated joy.  There's a creative spirit in this child that won't quit.  There's a brain that's busy processing All the Things.  All the time. And you have to know so many of them to be a good girl.

I can't remember being three.  Or four.  Or five, really.

Risen Christ vs. Zombie Jesus

May 1, 2011 | Second Sunday of Easter Year A

1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

I'll be the first to confess that I have missed a fair number of popular culture memes. I try to stay on top of things, but I'm often pretty much behind the curve. So I was late, for example, on vampires. I read one of Anne Rice's books, but didn't really get the appeal. And I never got to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer until after the series was over. I fell in love with it and ended up buying it on DVD. And although some of my online friends were talking about zombies a couple of years ago, and sending pictures of the makeup and costumes they been putting together for zombie parties, I didn't get it.

Apparently, zombies have had a resurgence in popular culture in recent years. I'd seen hints. I'd seen a hint of it in a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A sort of "Mr. Darcy meets the undead" thing. Now if you are a fan of Jane Austin and zombies, it sounds like it's just the ticket. I didn't quite get the fullness of the zombie metaphor,  however, until last Sunday. Last Sunday, Easter, I was looking at my Facebook feed in the evening when I ran across a status update from a friend of mine who said "I have to admit, Easter kind of freaks me out. No offense, but the whole Zombie Jesus thing is really freaky to those of us on the outside. Just so you know. I sort of understand the idea, but, um, Zombie Jesus, you know?"