Wondering Thoughts

Lent in Motion

Beads. Redbuds. Ashen foreheads.
Brightly Shining. Coming early. Reminding mortals.
Exuberant glee turns to forty days of somber reflection.

What's Your Choice of TP?

Ok, I'm still having trouble with the idea of recycled toilet paper.  There are just too many images in my mind to overcome.  I keep thinking that the paper is recycled toilet paper, imagining how that process takes place.  Reading the article below in the NY Times this morning is moving (pun intended) piece of news that shows what our need for obsession and demands for pampering costs the environment.  Reading the hard data on the resources that go into the finest of TP reminds me that one roll of paper is a big deal.

As a college student out on my own and purchasing my own TP, I learned not to buy the cheap sandpaper-like roll and decided it was necessary to splurge my meager budget to get the very finest.  There are obviously choices in between and, as a follower of Jesus, this is but one more area in which I can be faithful and exhibiting good stewardship in what I purchase and how I live in this world.  

And, all of this is, yes, TMI.

Here are some comments from the article and the link to the source at the bottom.

Americans like their toilet tissue soft: exotic confections that are silken, thick and hot-air-fluffed.

. . . But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada. Although toilet tissue can be made at similar cost from recycled material, it is the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, and most large manufacturers rely on them.

Mr. Whipple Left It Out - Soft Is Rough on Forests - NYTimes.com.

Explaining Lent

I led our Middle School's chapel today and set out to explain Ash Wednesday to a this crowd fresh off the Mardi Gras floats and parades from the last month.  A lot of them are Baptist, some of them are Methodist, Catholic and Presbyterian, many of them are non-attenders.  I know the Baptists are pretty clueless about it, since I am one and know that its not a part of our heritage and tradition, though I think that's changing.  But the non-Baptist students seemed pretty unaware about the ashes and lent as well.  It was refreshing to try and explain this new church season we are moving into today, even providing those who wanted to participate with the imposition of ashes. I, of course, walked away wondering if I communicated with them at all, as is always the case when teaching Middle schoolers.  Below is an article by Michael Helms from Trinity Baptist Church in Moultrie, GA.  He does a great job of explaining lent to the liturgically-challenged.

This journey begins today, Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of Lent, the season of preparation for Easter. Ash Wednesday is a day when we remember our mortality, our finiteness. Our time on this earth is brief. The Psalmist says, "Men and women don't live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here" (Psalms 103:15).

Explaining Lent to Non-Liturgical Christians on EthicsDaily.com.

Krewe of Highland Parade

Confederate Flags galore

I had to pick up some things from The store today and once again drove into mardi gras parade territory. I counted at least 5 flags flying from parade goers' parties (and they didn't look like the local historical society studying the war and how it ended) and then saw this guy selling them. There is obviously still a market for them. While checking out at the register, several employees were discussing the presence of the flags. Three of them were black and expressed their views about the offensive symbolism it gives and the white employee said he couldn't understand why it is offensive to them. Wow.

Thoughts From a "Non-Churchgoer"

Jason Matlack saw this on the Times' Link 222 blog and sent me the link.  DPierson doesn't like church and goes only out of a promise he made to his grandmom and mom after moving here to Shreveport. So, he attend a church once/month.  After visiting around, he posted on what he has experienced thus far.  I was glad to see our claim to fame and proud of our people:

Friendliest people: Everyone was friendly at every church I went to, and I cannot stress that enough. Y’all are some friendly people, as they say. But only at First Baptist Shreveport did I feel like Zac Effron at the Teen Choice Awards. People were coming up to me left and right saying hello and introducing themselves and asking all about me. I felt like I was at a job interview for the friendliest company on Earth.

My daughter wishes the Zac Effron was actually a member here.  Read the rest of his thoughts here:

ShreveportTimes | Shreveport LINK222 | The Times.

At Hauerwas Lecture tonight

Topic: War and America

Ideas for Lent

The Haenni family is all-American. We work hard, and we love to buy things. Who could imagine our response when our 5-year old daughter asked us what we were giving up for Lent?

Track your lent this year via

Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.

  

Excited To See Hauerwas Coming To Town

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas will give a lecture on "Why Did Jesus Have to Die?" during Centenary College's third annual Christian Leadership Center Fundraising Dinner on Sunday . . .

Theologian to lecture at Centenary fundraiser | ShreveportTimes | The Times.

For all the details of lectures and events, visit the Centenary site here.

Ethicsdaily has a new look

Ethicsdaily.com has a new, fresh look. Yet another reason to go there daily.