Tag Archives: the church

The Issue of Caring for our Neighbor

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Posted by kritzau on April 26, 2010 – 12:45 pm
Filed under A Beautiful Mess, Thoughts on life

As I listen to my washing machine that is about as old as I am rattle and shake, I too woke this morning a little rattled and shaken.  The past few weeks I have written a bit on self-care: How it makes you aware; it brings you to a deeper place within yourself and it makes you care.

You see, when you know you are loved, then you can’t help but love your neighbor. You know the shame you carry, your guilt, the dark parts of your soul and even with that you can still experience love.  However, there are people wandering around this morning that have a lot of love lost.  Instead of recognizing their own fear and shame they are trying to conquer it and run over others.

Over the weekend I heard about two stories that caused the unsettling feeling in my stomach. The first was about the state of Arizona.  The governor signed into law a terrible piece of legislation that shows the awful parts of history repeating itself. As Jim Wallis said, “It is now illegal to love your neighbor in the state of Arizona.” If you are with an undocumented person you can be arrested.  If you look “suspicious” you better have ID.  Are we one step away from armbands and painting on store windows?

Police resources will be spent on hunting down people who, for the lack of a broken system, have not had as easy of a path to citizenship as my great grandparents from England did last century. The Sheriffs even spoke out against this law because they don’t want to break apart families or raid sanctuary churches… what have we become? Yesterday at church someone shared that their uncle had already been pulled over twice.  Words like “watched,” “hunted,” and “scared” are being tossed around and this is not the new preview to Nightmare on Elm Street. It’s a real nightmare. Read More »

Ashes to Ashes: a perfectionist’s take on lent

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Posted by kritzau on February 18, 2010 – 5:50 am
Filed under A Beautiful Mess, Thoughts on life

ash_2As I sat in Ash Wednesday service this evening, it was brought to my attention that there were millions who did the same today.  It moved me to think of the human race all with ashes on their foreheads representing individual and communal lamentation.

I love traditions, especially ones that have been passed down over thousands of years. There is a rich legacy in this day around the world that should not be taken lightly. In the past few years, I have removed myself from the common lenten practices of giving something up, fasting, or taking something on.  For me it became a crutch to my addiction: I must do lent perfectly; if I miss a day or don’t do something right, I will fail and disappoint.

Don’t get me wrong, lent is about the discipline of showing up to a practice that is chosen with discernment and contemplation in the Spirit.  But the process that seeped through for me became more about my performance for God than opening myself up to God.

As I sat there tonight listening to the pastor talk about being open to God, I was moved to tears because I have been in a season of lament for a while. I want the darkness to be turned into light (the sooner the better).  Fortunately, I am not the keeper of light or time, so this has not happened yet, but I do feel like dawn is approaching.  That is the feeling of lent, as Tony Campolo famously says in his sermon (and book), “Sunday’s comin’!” But the night is darkest right before dawn.

I feel like the dawn of a new season is approaching in my own heart.  However, I am also acutely aware for others it is not.  Therefore, I hung my head tonight in solidarity with them, in the darkness, for yes, we all were and will be again…ash.

I will never be able to truly feel what another feels or experience the life of another, but in my life I know that I want to live. Even among the systems that bug the hell out of me and with the people who annoy and scare me — I want to live in the dark and the light.  I can no longer naively avoid either, just as I feel now I cannot avoid lent for fear of failing it.

For such a time as this, I have a lenten practice I am going to try out because God gave me an overwhelming sense of my heart being flooded tonight with gratitude.  I’m following the Spirit on this one, so I’m not sure if it is a 40 day thing or not, but at least for tonight it was an invitation of gratitude while sitting in the dark.  I’m not being specific about what I’m doing because the lenten action I am called to feels sacred in this moment — it is between me and the Spirit. As it should be. Maybe on Easter I will share it in communal celebration, but for right now, I wait for the dawn with a full heart.

White flags

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Posted by kritzau on January 23, 2010 – 6:47 pm
Filed under Thoughts on life

It has been a long, wet week in Southern California.  Rain is to L.A. what snow is to Seattle:  Life stops, people stay home, others forget how to drive, and even more of us gather at the windows to watch it fall.  It’s pretty funny when I stop to think about it.  In addition to the weather, my husband was traveling for work on the other side of the world (literally), the supreme court made a decision that my PMS decided to take all of my vengeance out on, and Focus on the Family is running a superbowl ad.  Jesus, please come soon…

After I read about Focus on the Family, I put a link on my facebook.  I wrote, “Seriously Focus on the Family? You couldn’t find another use for 3 million dollars?????” Which spurred on 30-something long comment chain on my wall.  Unbeknownst to me, a college friend of mine’s dad works in the marketing department at Focus on the Family and she had him write to me to set the record straight.  Fine. It’s not their money. Donors gave them the money to put an ad in the superbowl.  I still don’t think that’s a good reason, but I’m waving my flag.  I retreat.  In other news, the supreme court white-flaggave permission for companies to back political candidates.  How quickly we forget how LONG the election of 2008 was, and with this little juncture, it will make elections the most annoying, biased campaigns EVER.   But I’m waiving my white flag here too.

I came home last night and cried.  I’m tired, I miss my husband, and I’m not sure what is going on in the world.  People are hell bent on winning and nothing more.  So I lose.  This is not a world for the little guy or girl.  If you have the most money you win, plain and simple.  So I prayed. Outloud.  The kind intermingled with tears and snot.  In the end I chose to pick my battles.   Read More »

I stalk people (and another important announcement)

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Posted by admin on January 8, 2010 – 7:39 am
Filed under Anecdotes

I grew up before women in ministry were a popular trend. I’m not sure it’s taken off quite yet, but it is more “in” now than it was 15 years ago. Sure the pastors’ wives were around a bit. I even had coffee with them on occasion, but in terms of teaching, I was not formally taught by women in the church. When I left for college, other than my mother, I did not have a strong feminine mentoring presence in my life.

Halfway through college I discovered Anne Lamott. For maybe the first time in my life I learned what honesty was in the form of her short anecdotal stories. She was humorous, crass, vulnerable, and real. I gobbled up every book of hers on the market and over the past five years have been to every venue she has spoken at in Los Angeles County. Read More »