So, since it’s Friday and since I can’t think of a real post, I wanted to let you in on a secret…

Cara and I have superpowers.

It’s true, though maybe super is the wrong word, perhaps uber-human or ever-so-slightly-heightened-powers.

I have the uncanny ability to smell everything.  I can identify ingredients, perfumes, trace amounts of Heinz ketchup… all when I walk in a room. It’s like there’s 1.5 of the cast members from CSI Miami in my nose. (preferably not this guy)   However, the few times that this talent is useful, telling people what I won’t eat, finding drugs, don’t make up for the infinite number of times it is debilitating.  Pickles and vinegar are my kryptonite, I get visibly ill if someone pops open a package of vienna sausages within 50ft of me, I can’t walk down that aisle in the grocery store with the fireplace logs… and, yeah, if you ate garlic today, wait, I already know.

Cara possesses the super ability to differentiate between various sounds.  She can’t hear a pin drop or a child stuck in a burning building but she could tell you if an actor had a voice over.  If she were mechanically inclined I would promise you she could tell the difference between a 1977 Charger and a 1972 Chevelle… Photographic memory but without the photographs, Phonographic memory.  Sadly though, because her memory is not as superhuman as her differentiating skills everything ends up sounding only vaguely familiar…

Essentially together we can combine our powers and get…

Captain Planet!

Sadly, no.

More like Val Kilmer in “At First Sight,”  by combining my superpower with Cara’s you get, a blind man.

Sylar, eat your heart out.

A little break from serious conversation…

These days I’m much more into these toys

But there’s still a sweet spot in my heart for my favorite classics.

Legos, Star Wars, GI Joe, He-Man…

When I was little these were my world.  It was about the individual characters and their adventures.  Different figures had different abilities and you always had clear cut favorites. There were also the “ultimate” toys in each of these categories.  Lego had it’s monorails and castles, He-Man had his own castles as well.  Star Wars had the Death Star and the Millennium Falcon.  GI Joe had that  incredibly cool hovercraft that was half the size of a kitchen table.

Each of those sets would enable entirely new scenarios for the rest of the toys.  Now you could siege the castle, invade the death star, stage a train robbery…  All too often I think we lean towards the materialistic when we talk about toys, and there’s something to be said there; But I also remember how much this stuff enabled my creativity.  What followed was generally a mash-up of some kid between the various characters.  Some how GI Joe and Darth Vader would find themselves in a showdown at He-Man’s castle and it would seem natural?

What about you, what were your favorites?

As a Christian one of things I hate the most is how the term vanity is thrown around

Should there be focus on how we look?

I would say of course, but…

Historically Christianity has placed one’s appearance on the chopping block.  Your piety, your obvious lack of concern in how you look was a direct reflection of how deeply rooted you are in the teachings of Christ.  There is an affinity to shun designer clothing and even judge those at your church who might indulge in the occasional pair of Sevens or Diesel jeans. Worship leaders and youth pastors are normally given the most leeway in these areas, as they can “use” their clothing as ministry “tools.”  (see the link to goatees in my previous post)

I can’t help but think that all of that is simply another stumbling block.

By focusing so hard on “what not to do” we entirely miss the point.

One of the things I love about the picture of Ingrid Bergman I’ve put here is the dichotomy between the subjects.  The women in the background, choosing to live a modest lifestyle are seemingly judging Bergman for her choice to embrace something else, rules make her the outsider. We apply this line of thinking too often, to money, to music, to food… I could go on. However, in doing so we let these dos and don’t s consume us and life simply becomes rules and consequences.

And we like it.

Because it’s always easier to live by rules, things that other people have laid out for us with set boundaries and consequences than it is to actually think about our choices.  It’s much easier to have rules than to have purpose.  I feel this line of thinking also leads to a thought of abandoning expression.  By doing away with expression, as the women above have done, I feel we lose a fundamental biblical truth, that Christ died, for me.  It takes away the personal aspect of my faith.  I’m here to celebrate God’s mercy and forgiveness in my own life because it can be true in the lives of others, but it won’t look the same.  There’s no cookie-cutter that God applies to our lives, transforming us into every other Christian.

It’s easier to think of appearance in terms of style.

Style is not about trends or cool and uncool, style’s chief concern is describing who we are.  Cowboys have a style that is entirely different than that of Bankers, but both have their nuances.  Uniforms are another tool we use to explain ourselves to each other.  Uniforms describe people, but we are not defined by our uniforms…well, unless we wish to be.  With our appearance we are given an extension to express ourselves.  It is in fact a culmination of our past and decisions.  Our identity is ultimately in Christ but I see no problem in celebrating our uniqueness as a part of creation.  I also believe God values beauty and this is testament to creation. I consider a studied appearance a celebration of that creation.

Perhaps I’ve gotten a bit artistic here, what are your thoughts?