in the begining...

there was the blog...

ha ha. so, as libby c. said, this was inspired in part by julie and julia. and in part by me being a heathen! well, both of us really.

libby was raised in a very conservative household, myself slightly less so. although the connotations of "southern baptist theological seminary" raise the hankles on most now, when my parents went there it seems like it was a really chill place. a place wherein the main focus was that christ died for us. emphasis on ALL of us. gay, straight, promiscuous, alcoholics, puritans, vegan, gun-toting, quran-quoting, "jesus paid it all."

over the years it was easy to become really embarassed over my faith. after all, the people who represent it these days aren't cool people like JC and the disciples (though as libby points out, the disciples could kind of be dunderheads...), it's people like Jim Baker (ok, maybe that's a little dated), or people who blow up abortion clinics. so i spent the better part of the past 10 years slowly drifting from what i was told day ONE on this earth. jesus loves me. this i know. :)

a lot of that changed last november when i went to israel. baptists don't ascribe much meaning to relics, and since the locations of events like the crucifix and the last supper are in dispute, it was hard for me to get really excited about those places. but the place where i really felt the lord's presence was on the sea of galilee. (or lake galilee, it's not really a sea) it was one place where i knew, for certain, jesus had spent time on this earth. because of the very nature of water (which goes up to the sky and returns to earth, sound familiar?????) it was very easy to feel close to him in that space.

i'd be lying if i said i didn't feel kind of lame and a little intimidated to start this blog. it's public. people can find it. and even though i'm not about to get a jesus tattoo or whatever, it's kind of the first time i'm actually saying outloud what i know (or think i should know) in my heart.

for libby this is about finding relevance in scripture for her life. that is partly what this blog is about for me. but this is also about actually READING the bible, so that when people try to use it as a weapon against me or against those i love i can actually know what they are talking about. :)

it should also be stated from the outset that i wholeheartedly believe the bible is divinely inspired, but written by man. and speaking as a writer, and an editor, i know what it is like to take "creative license." hopefully throughout this journey i'll see more (through the bible and other books i encounter along the way) of what this means.

ok! i should probably work now, the editor next to me keeps giving me kind of dirty looks.

go team canada!