A Blessing

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort…
at easy answers, half –truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart

May God bless you with Anger…
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with Tears…
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness…
To believe that you can make a difference in their world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

(I think the vestments are tacky)

A Few Things to Know

Well, let me tell a few things now that I'm on this blog.

I came over here from Xanga because I've had some experience with it.  I'm the person in charge of the CHURCH blog.  CHURCH is a traditional, ecumenical, Eucharistic service in Troy, AL coordinated by the Troy Wesley Foundation.  Ideally, the sermons from CHURCH make their way to the CHURCH blog, but sometimes we have preachers who don't send me electronic copies of their stuff.  Sometimes the preacher's manuscript is in their own language.  I've had experience with blogger and know a number of people on it and read a lot of blogs on it.  I figured I could give it a try.  My main reason, though was that I really wanted to have a blogroll, which you can find on the left-hand navigation.  It will be in a state of flux as blogs come and go in their usage.  Another thing I think I'm going to like about this is that it autosaves drafts regularly, unlike Xanga.

Secondly, let me talk about the URL.  I wanted to be creative in making both the URL and title.  I asked people who were online for suggestions about what they both should be.  People online at the time were of no use in coming up with the title, although they helped with the about me.  I'll get to it in a minute, though.  One of the nicest people I 've ever known is Dr. Pat Walker.  He used to call my Xanga my "angora."  A lot of people at Troy Wesley were pretty active on Xanga fall of my freshman year, but most have since dropped off in their usage.  Anyway, Ashley said I should make this URL "angora."  That was taken, though, so I added 86, as that I was born in 1986.

Next, my title.  This is something that a good friend (Ricky Lee, as named in the subtitle) gave me when I was a freshman.  It's sort of stuck in my head.  Try as people might, I can be ever complex or ever surprising.  There are things about which I am very predictable.  There are a lot of them, actually, but at the same time one can't always assume that I'll follow a trend that I've had in the past.  My mom and brother can't get past my being a feminist and getting offended about racist jokes or remarks.  There are other things, too.  I am passionate about a lot of things but seek to be respectful of differences and try not to be hellbent on making everyone think/act/feel the same way I do...about a lot of things, but there are things that I get super aggressive about.  

If you want to know what will be on this blog, take a look at my Xanga: www.xanga.com/fifa_ref_hopeful.  This will basically be an extension of that.  This profile is far more complete, though, and it even has my up-to-date Amazon wishlist.  Check it out.  Also, this is a great "About Me" section for me.  I sought input from others and am pleased with the holes they told me I had in the original.  I think almost all comments on it have been added into it.  Read about me.

Abide in peace, and pray for me, a sinner.

Here I Am

Well, I finally gave in. It took a good, long while, but I just wanted to be able to do some things that I can't do over on Xanga (namely, blogroll). Look for posts often...or not often...