Shock and Awe

Being home during the day has given me plenty of opportunity to be shocked by things in the media. This isn't including the sparks between Star Jones and the View. It does, however include Martha Stewart. I was toggling between The View and Martha's show when I hit the "Ask Martha" - you know, when studio audience members can ask her questions and glean pearls of wisdom. Now if it were me, I'd ask her how it felt to be a scapegoat sacrificed to get the media's focus off of more powerful men. But it wasn’t me, so someone asked her what her least favorite household chore was. Cleaning gunk out of the oven? Getting rid of nasty soap scum? Organically killing garden slugs by hand? No, it was delegating jobs to others! What the heck?!? She would rather clean the grease bunnies from under the fridge herself instead of kicking back and playing Dance Dance Revolution? She is either a big fat liar or a maniacal control freak. Either way she has a serious problem and needs to come over to my house and learn how to relax a bit. (Or if she has an uncontrollable need to clean my house, I will willingly delegate any job she is compelled to do.)


The other shock I has this week was more of a personal revalation. I was listening to NPR on Sunday, experiencing a driveway moment, when I discovered some hardness in my heart. The piece was on an amazing support orginization for released sex offenders that has radically reduced recidivism (70% lower repeat offences). In Ontario a group of Mennonites have taken seriously God's command to love the unlovable. Their motto is restorative justice, and they truly live out the Christian belief of unconditional love and forgiveness—tempered with foreboding. In the Gospels Jesus shocked and offended people of the church by hanging out with the untouchables of the day - hookers and organized criminals. Sex offenders are untouchables in my mind. My heart says these people have destroyed the lives of innocents at such a deep level that nothing less than castration and separation from society is what should happen to them. But these Mennonnites are living out God's word and helping there to be fewer victims as well as reaching out to people who need God. They do this by instead of pushing the men away from society; they hook them up with an accountability group that will monitor where he is as well as how he is doing so he refrains from situations where he may be tempted. Please check out this web cite to read about this Courageous Community: Circles of Support and Accountability


On a lighter note, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the movie Cars. I am in love with Mater the Tow Truck - as in Tow-Mater. Grab a kid and enjoy a fun afternoon with Pixar.

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!