image of God

I met with a girlfriend of mine this evening, and as you might expect the topic of body image came up. As a good Christian, I replied, "Well, we have to remember that we are made in the image of God." My friend most wisely responded, "Yeah, I've heard that before...but what exactly does that mean?" 

Umm.....good question. I have no idea. You know those phrases that you're just used to saying, but then you realize you can't explain it? Thus was this conversation. 

I reflected more on it upon returning home. I recalled my church's current Bible Study on the Book of James. James uses an analogy that Christians who read Scriptures and do not do what it says is equivalent to a man looking in a mirror and forgetting what he looks like. (James 1:22-25) I hope I am not taking it a step further out of context, but how many of us look into the mirror and see ourselves, created in God's image, and then look away and forget that we are His? 

I also searched an online concordance for verses talking about the image of God. The Bible says that our body is "being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:9-11) I wonder if the "image of God" has less to do with the physical characteristics as the intrinsic qualities of a person. As we spend more and more time in our relationship with Christ, we will in turn reflect His image more.  It is at least something to chew on...

Our conversation made me think of a painting belonging to a friend of mine from college. She is a wonderful woman of God, and honestly I have been encouraged (and envious) of her passion and love of Jesus since I met her the first day of orientation. She is now a missionary (and mother!) in Japan with her husband, and I cannot help but know and rejoice that everyone she meets has seen the face of Christ in her reflection. This painting continues to encourage me to this day, reminding me of who I am in the Lord, my true image in Him. 

And if all this is true because itself is a reflection of the character of the Lord God Almighty, how could I not fall in love with Him? 

encourage each other

I'm reflecting on an interesting phenomenon in adulthood. There comes an age where we have the expectation that other adults around us should always know the "correct" thing to do. That we should not make mistakes, and if we do make mistakes, that is a sign of our ignorance or incapability. I find this strange. 

When a child is learning how to walk, the adults nearby are clapping, hooting, hollering with joy. If the child falls down, the adults gasp in horror. They sooth the child. They check for scraps or bruises. They cheer the child on to try again. Some may even have the child hold onto their fingers and walk with the child. This is a beautiful scenario. No one expects a child to immediately start walking without a hitch on the first try. And if you did voice that opinion, I assure you, you'd have every mother glaring at you with a glare only mothers can give. 

I feel like we lose this empathy and understanding with adults. When we see an adult take a new job, volunteer position, extra-curricular activity, do we assume that this person should just "walk" into the situation without fumbling or stumbling around a bit? Worse yet, do we wait for them to fall, and instead of gasping and giving them a helping hand, laugh to ourselves and then chatter about it with those around you? 

Brothers and sisters, I am speaking to myself as well. Let us come alongside those who are around us and ask how we can help. Show them the steps. Gasp when they fall. Check to see if they're hurt, and then help them to their feet to try again. Let us not engage in whispers of judgement, but instead shout encouragement loudly from the rooftops! 

Encourage one another as long as today is called "Today" so that your hearts do not become calloused. For as Maya Angelou said, "I did the best I could, and when I knew better, I did better."

the front porch project

ATTENTION ALL NEIGHBORS! It is time to stop living complacently in your house with air conditioning! Please use the front exit and sit on your porch! I see those empty porch swings, decaying from non-use as they swing like a man on a noose: once full of life, and now a dead ornament. Did we forget that Pittsburgh was the hometown of the greatest neighbor of all, Mr. Rodgers? 

Thus I have decided to found The Front Porch Project. From this day forth, I will try to spend at least one hour on my front porch, greeting friends and strangers alike. Porch gatherings shall ensue. Men, come smoke a pipe. Women, come gab while drinking water or lemonade. Let us break out of the four walls and windows of isolation, and swing freely on the porch swing of community! Life is so much more enjoyable when you are outdoors, with friends, and in the presence of the Creator in fellowship.  

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Won't you be mine? 

[this post dedicated to David who celebrated his first month in Pittsburgh and became our new neighbor over dinner last night]

vanities of vanities (leaving facebook).

It's hard to believe that my last blog post was nearly one year ago. Then again, facebook has a good way of distracting me from blogs. Why keep a blog when you can update every 5 minutes?

"Heading for the store; hope there's no traffic"
"Got some new shoes!! Totally great deal!"
"Using the bathroom."

Every year, I re-evaluate why I am on the social networking site. If the good reasons outweigh the questionable, then I stay on and try to sort the other stuff out. If the questionable outweighs the good, then I pull the plug. This is probably the my fourth time. Mark Zuckerburg should stop accepting my friend request with the number of times I've left his website.

Many people have asked why I'm leaving Facebook. They ask the same questions that some people ask when you leave a church. "Did something happen? Did someone hurt you? But we'll miss you!!" Honestly, it comes down to these two reasons: insecurity and un-intentionality.

1) I am an insecure person. When I see another musician succeeding, I become jealous. When I see a girl taking a camera photo of herself in her new dress, I want to post a picture of ME in a new dress. When I see brothers and sisters in Christ putting website after website of amazing causes and activist activities they've joined, I feel stupid and lazy. "Elise, that's not healthy." I know. That's why I'm leaving Facebook.

2) I've struggled for years to have intentional relationships. When I find myself looking on Facebook to substitute for a phone call or personal email, I know something is wrong. Facebook tells me I have 319 friends. We may not have spoken in two years but we're still "friends." In reality, I spy on 319 people daily. You don't know it, but I saw that you made that new recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Oh, and that new bikini that you bought 15 seconds ago looks really cute. Does anyone else feel awkward? 


Socrates said, "For a human being, the unexamined life is not worth living." I might go as far to say that the unexamined life means I am NOT living. Instead, I am caught in the drone and monotony of what I'm accustomed to doing, and have forgotten why I started in the first place.

So until the day I can in good conscience sign back on, I suppose we'll just have to call/text/email/snail-mail/visit each other. Yeah, I'll miss you too.