day three: fruit platter, sunflower seeds & dirty laundry

Good afternoon, good afternoon.

I fell asleep on the sofa at the Green House again. Adam stayed up all night reading articles on his iMac in his new cave-office under the staircase. How can someone go without sleep and have energy the next day? Oh, what caffeine will do... Morning prayer at the Wesley went well today. Eryn, my neighbor, has been coming too.
After the prayer, Michael talked to me about the many Christian community living groups in urban neighborhoods throughout the U.S. He told me to consider taking an internship at such a place when I graduate. I am interested... Family Breakfast was at Robert's house. Eryn and I were late from talking with Michael after group liturgy. But no matter.
The three of us ate Robert's hardy oatmeal and Eryn's fruit platter of sliced apples, oranges and strawberries. I sliced two over-ripe bananas that I found on the counter. This breakfast, shared with two good friends and a cup of coffee, is an ideal start to any morning...
In Robert's front yard, the dogwood tree is pruned and blooming its delicate white blossoms. They smell soft and fresh like laundry detergent. The tree is a pretty thing to look at through the kitchen window while eating breakfast... Robert gave me a handful of sunflower seeds to scatter in a place that will not be mowed. He said they flourish in areas where the soil is poor, which is why one should not buy land that has sunflower on it, if planning to grow food or graze livestock...
And now I find myself back at the Green House, doing laundry and homework. Once my jeans dry, I am going across the street to campus to pay my Bursar bill (thanks Sheila!). I have much work to do. And I intend to be productive... I wonder where I will toss my seeds today. Jordonious

day one: the one hundred dollar bill

A woman at my church came up to me after the service and said she wanted to bless me. She put a folded up bill in my hand and told me to just take it — she was being obedient to the Holy Spirit. A little shocked, I thanked her, and without looking at it, put the bill in my back pocket. Then she treated me and a few other people to lunch at a local Chinese Buffet. To be sure, this woman is NOT rich. She works several jobs as a single mother to support her children two children. Her daughter is going through college and has a small child. All she kept saying was how exhausted she was from her week. And at the end of it all, she decides to give away her hard-earned money and take a few hungry kids, who aren't her own, out to lunch. What a Godly woman!... After lunch, I was given a ride back to my church downtown, as I had hopped in someone else' car (mine was almost out of gas). In the car, I checked my back pocket and discovered the bill my friend had given me. I had forgotten about it. When I pulled it out of my pocket and unfolded it, I saw it was a hundred dolar bill. I thought: OH MY GOSH. WHO GIVES AWAY A HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL???!!!!! The only time I ever receive a hundred dollar bill is once a year on my birthday — thank you, Grandpa. And so the Lord has blessed me. I mean, my friend worked hard all week (or at least for a couple of days) for that money, and she gave it to me.

Here is how I will spend the hundred dollar bill:

• $10 to The Green House ministry
• $10 gas for my car & a cup of espresso
• $70 to pay off my outstanding Bursar balance at Oklahoma State University

Is this money well spent? What would YOU have done with the hundred dollar bill?

peace,

Jordonious

day one: morning liturgy, the screwtape letters, oat digestive crackers and a hundred dollar bill

Good morning, good morning.

Monday, the beginning of a new week. A clean slate. A clean plate — & already it is full.

I am developing a productive morning routine. It starts like this:

• 7:30 a.m., wake & walk to The Wesley Foundation on Washington and University Ave. for group prayer.
• 7:45 a.m., begin prayer session in the prayer room. We are reading through the liturgy "Common Prayer."
• 8:30 a.m., make tea or coffee or both. Read a Psalm & something from the New Testament (currently Galatians or Ephesians).
• (9:00 a.m. GO TO CLASS ON TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS)
• 9:00 a.m., write for 30 minutes in sketchbook to get my brain thinking creatively.
• 9:30 a.m., read through a few sections of C. S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters."
• 10 a.m., plan day & begin writing blog post for "faith & fiction from a green house."
• 11 a.m., finish my writing and post to blog; eat breakfast if I haven't already; go about my day feeling production and with a purpose.

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FAITH:

Today the liturgy from "Common Prayer" talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. The passage described him as a "flawed hero."

I believe Dr. King was no more flawed than I am, or anyone else for that matter. The difference between us is that he was a public figure, so his person life — with all his mistakes & contradictions; all his humanness — was magnified in the media as everyone turned their eyes on him. There was little about himself that he could hide. It is the same way with anyone coming out of Hollywood.

Again, the difference between, say, Marilyn Monroe and Dr. King, is their purposes. Movie star sex symbol vs. baptist preacher and nation civil rights advocate. So news about who Ms. Monroe would be sleeping around with would only go to reinforce her purpose, and indeed the expectation, as a sex symbol. Not much is at stake for her. But news about who Dr. King is sleeping around with does hurt his purpose as a preacher, as a symbol of faith and devotion. Maybe this is a bad example...

When I hear all the scandalous news about like Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen (or anyone else of considerable fame who falls from grace in the media), it is so easy and automatic for me to be spiteful toward that person, to want to hate that person for their obvious and atrocious deeds. Especially when that is the main news story on the television, on the websites, on the radio, in the newspaper — look! listen! hear! what this North American god has done now...

But when I look at my life, with all my selfishness & shortcomings, what can I expect of others? Especially the rich and famous? Jesus said that it would be easier for a rich man to enter through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of heaven. All the more reason to be poor and content.

I am neither poor nor content. Praise God I am not famous!

Thank you Dr. King for being human, and acknowledging Christ as your savior — your hero.

peace,

Jordonious

— Lord, teach me to be humble today, to see the needs of the people around me, and to be willing to help how I can. Thank you for all the wealth you have given me, and for my health, and for a new day. All I have is yours. Be glorified in me today. Amen.

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