From: Christian Bloggers
To: ejangel@windstormcreative.com
Cc: Christian Bloggers
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 5:08 AM
Subject: Invitation to Join Christian Bloggers
Dear blog author:
We recently came across your site, ejangel.blogspot.com, while searching for fellow Christian bloggers.
A small group of us have started a new site called Christian Bloggers. Our prayer and intent is to bring Christians closer together, and make a positive contribution to the Internet community. While many of us have different "theologies," we all share one true savior.
Would you be interested in joining Christian Bloggers? Please take a few minutes to have a look at what we are trying to do, and if you are interested, there is a sign up page to get the ball rolling. We would greatly appreciate your support in this endeavor.
May God Bless you and your blogging efforts. We look forward to hearing from you.
Craig Cantin
Christian Bloggers
info@christian-bloggers.com
www.chritian-bloggers.com
Okay. I admit it. I almost deleted this message. The truth of the matter is, I thought it was spam at first glance... and at second glance.
I *want* to believe the best about people. I *want* to accept first and doubt only after cause. But, to be honest, in this day and age, that can be hard sometimes. A lot of times. I was about to delete the message as spam when I gave it another chance and a quick read. I found myself frowning and squinting my eyes. Hm. Christian, huh? What *kind* of Christian? I surfed on over to their website.
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the site itself that really grabbed me. They’re new and their mission is admirable, but the thing that grabbed me were the ads. I know. Strange, right? Who really pays attention to those little text banners at the top of a webpage? Ads are just a necessary evil, right? But the three ads at the top of the site that night amazed me. One was for Christian outreach to teens. The other two were for GLBT Christian groups. Now the site is not a teen site or a GLBT site, but when they wrote in their email to me that they bring all "theologies” together, it obviously wasn’t lip service.
Once again, I find myself shaking my fist at mankind (and bowing my head for answers) over the corruption of God and Christianity as a whole by hate-mongering, hypocritical fanatics. Their God is not my God. I’m not even entirely certain that their God exists.
Admittedly, in terms of religion, I’m not much one for “hey, whatever works for you is cool.” I think there are a lot of spiritual paths that are hugely, massively detrimental to the mental health of the practitioners and, in some cases, even to the lives of nonbelievers, I’m pretty much all for deconstruction and recruitment. However, if someone tells me they’re down with turn the other cheek, righteous anger, impassioned path, and the ten commandants, I can abide.
That leaves a *lot* open. Wide open for individuals to talk *directly* to God. To ask him their own hard questions. To search themselves, with His guidance, for what is right for them, the world, their children.
And I’m not just talking about some great websites where GLBT Christians can feel at home. I have never brought questions of my own sexuality to God. I’m cool with my sexuality. But I have brought *my* hard questions to God. My hard questions might be someone else’s givens. Things that might seem petty to someone else. In the way that I think it’s ridiculous that if two women fall in love and stay together to raise a family in a safe, positive, monogamous relationship they’re going to hell.
I think about God quite a bit during these times. But I suppose my blog keeps turning to things Divine because of the season. My father will be in Armenia through New Year’s helping build homes in the town where my parents grew up. Usually, my family goes together to celebrate Christmas but my parents were concerned about travel safety. They went back and forth between who would go to help and who would stay. My mother, in particular, was torn. She waits all year to visit, I think. But in the end, through some reasoning that wasn’t shared with me, Dad went and Mom is stuck with me :)
Having the family split during this normally family-focused time has me thoughtful. It makes me wonder why loved ones so often wind up far part. It makes me wonder why the world is so big. Does God look down and say, “Why do my people scatter?” Or does He smile and say, “I made them such a big world. It certainly took them long enough to invent the telephone and the Internet so they could finally keep in touch!”
E.J.
