because some things just piss me off

there's a lot of stink everywhere on the whole immigration issue. and i understand the need to deal with it... we've had an outdated and confusing system for a long time now.

my gripe is not with those who want to deal with the issue. issues get ugly, as everything has at least two sides if not more. and i'm not denying that border security is important. helps keep out those pesky canadians.

my gripe is with those who would defend their position against illegal imigrants with what is basically, though it's certainly not called this anymore, the "divine right".

when our country was founded on its supposed christian beliefs, there were many who were uncomfortable with the fact that it was being founded on genocide and slavery. these wavering folk were brought back to the fold by the concept of divine right. at it simplest root, it means that god gave america to christians, where we can fulfill the original commandment of filling the earth and multiplying... of having dominion over the earth. and have the nifty benefit of lots of ocean surrounding our new eden, which helps with those pesky religious wars.

i find it ironic that a country that was founded by those fleeing persecution now makes it really damned difficult to immigrate here, especially if you're fleeing persecution. i think somewhere along the way we forgot (i'm using the general "we" now, claim it or discard it at will) that we aren't being persecuted. that we do live in the land of opportunity, whether you're an oppressed minority or not. is it utopia? hardly. but most of the true freedoms we have we’re entirely ignorant of, since we don’t live somewhere that represses them. i’m pretty happy to live somewhere i don’t fear gential mutilation and my husband doesn’t have to fight in a war to remain a citizen and my son isn’t being pressured to be a suicide bomber. and the worst thing that may happen if i read a bible in public is that someone might make fun of my puritan beliefs…

the other thing i find ironic is that the christian conservative movement has somehow found a way to make this all about them, and the ever impending loss of their freedom of speech. i understand people are breaking the law. i'm not arguing that we don’t need a solution for the issue of illegal immigration. but like it or not, while morality from the standpoint of christianity is black and white (except for the gray areas open to interpretation) the implementation of a workable solution for a problem that affects the whole damn secular country, and even surrounding areas, is not going to be easy to come by. part of my ancestors immigrated illegally and possibly owned slaves. another other part walked the trail of tears. which part has a right to be here?

and who was it that said we should rejoice if we are persecuted for the sake of christ? not that i’m saying i really see too many instances that the extreme right trumpets as examples of religious persecution as being that at all. but if it were happening, shouldn’t we be throwing parties or something? hell, i think that would be a good indicator that we’re doing something right. maybe even becoming a little like the jesus we claim to represent.

so pick your side of the issue. and do it honestly. but if you are a believer in Yeshua, then you have given up your life that you might live. so stop bellyaching everytime you might be losing a right in america (it’s not the kingdom of god) and take care of the poor, the widows, and the orphans. and if you are ever persecuted, call me, and i’ll buy you a beer.

what i thought

i thought i had lost my way.
i understood myself as a fool
not realizing my failure was to see
only through my own eyes
and hear only the words i chose
to hear.

but i'm standing here right now
knowing that what was once found
was almost broken
seeing that you, who comforted me
as i fled the insane things that
haunted me, could think
to take your life.

how silly of me
to not have seen
how selfish of me
to think i understood
and how pointless of me
to wish i saw sooner.

i would take your choice
everyone's choices
away, if i thought it would
make us safe.

but the one i follow
chose a different way
he chose to make us free.

free to live, or to die
or to live everyday we have
blind

i would have done it differently
but then love could not be
a reality, for what is love
if it is what i was made to be?

i'm glad you failed.

dragon: unknown

"here lies the brave.
if you should dare face
this beast, be aware
that he will not be slayed.
he saw the true nature of
my heart, and then before
ripping it out to taste his
truth i wrote this in my own
hand, so you would know
that you have been given lies."
from the tomb marked as
"unlucky". date not known.

dragon, 2

i considered his laughter as a personal assault. my master had assured me that i was ready to face the dragon, and to be mocked by my own quest was insulting. i must admit i was not prepared to hear him speak, much less laugh. i was vaguely aware that the fact i had assumed i would be dealing with a dumb animal was evidence that i had missed something my master tried to teach me.

adding to the natural terror one feels when standing next to a monstrous, sentitent beast that is mocking you, i could see myself in his scales. that was disconcerting. for when his chameleon nature blended him into the horizon and the waters, i could only see a distorted version of myself.

it was beggining to be difficult to comprehend my surroundings. the dragon bent its long neck down until i could feel the warm stench of his breath on my face. he looked me right in the eyes, and at this moment he was not the ever changing reflective shape of before. he was standing there, in his awesome form, and i realized that if my master had slayed these beasts i did not know my master at all, for i had thought he was a simple man.

the dragon spoke again.

"you see, small one, i do not fear you. you call yourself a dragon-slayer. so how many dragons have you slayed?"

for a moment i considered embellishing my story.

"well, you were to be my first," i responded, trying to drum up more confidence that i actually felt.

his eyes squinted as he stared deep into me. he spread out his wings, making himself larger than before, and now i knew that escape was not an option. he would rise into the air and snatch me with his teeth at the end of that long neck and i would be gone before i had time to say a prayer.

"and therein lies proof to the humor of your claim. i was to be your first kill, and now even you put that purpose in the past tense. what did you do to anger your master enough that he would betray you to me?'

and then i realized that i, humble-dragon slayer that i was, had no chance of defeating the beast, and that my hands could no more pierce his scales than my "courage" could intimidate him. i stood there, and felt in that moment that this dragon knew me far better than my master, who had abandoned me to the beast.

i was no dragon-slayer. only a child who wanted to believe in a fantasy. so i took the name i was given and bravely set upon my quest and now, if there was a Maker, i had a decent chance at meeting him.

"you know," said the dragon, "i really almost pity you. do you know how many dragon-slayers i have eaten?"

bragging rights

justin has been playing around with his camera for awhile now, but i think he's actually turning into a photographer. i had to show him off.