One Voice

I know, I haven't blogged since like Christmas. But here I am! The last 3 months of my life have flown...I got involved in a musical called "One Voice" at church--here I am, I've only really been at the church since mid-May, and I was cast as a lead--the adulterous woman in John 8. It's amazing though, when you spend 3 months with a character, how much you learn about yourself and the character. This woman committed adultery, of course that's clear. But I've also heard people speculate that the Pharisees set her up. It doesn't matter if she was set up really I guess, because either way, she committed the sin. As I came onto the stage for my first entrance, I screamed and yelled and got thrown to the ground. This woman's dignity was completely stripped--they pulled her out in front of a huge crowd (who all knew about her and this guy anyway) and Jesus probably in her underwear. In the play, they made sure that I was without a headdress--which was basically required in these times for a respectable woman. She would have been completely humiliated, and then she realized exactly what they were going to do with her. These people didn't know that now that Jesus had arrived stoning people wasn't required anymore--he was going to take all the punishment for every sin in a matter of years. So, they raised these stones, ready to kill this woman for what she had done. (The Bible doesn't mention at all punishing the man in this situation). Playing this character, the next part was what hit me the most...Jesus calmly responds to their taunts that if they don't have sins, they can throw the first stones. Everyone realizes the own sin in their lives, and they walk away. Jesus remains with this woman, and shows her the compassion to talk to her (I can't imagine people often did that, knowing the woman that she was.), and encourages her to take this new life that has been given freshly to her, and sin no more.

I was convicted--Jesus knows every sin I've committed--the ones outwardly, as well as the thoughts that I can hide from everyone except God. A lot of the things I think about people, my attitude, or not trusting God--I deserve the punishment just like the woman did. We can separate ourselves from people like Bill Clinton or Elliot Spitzer, saying we've never done anything like that. We can cop a holier-than-thou attitude and metaphorically "stone" them in the media, by holding things like them against them for so long, and for scoffing them to our friends at the water cooler. But we are not without sin--we cannot throw the first stone. I felt compassion for men like this for the first time. I am not saying what people do is always right. But Jesus will always forgive them, and we are not to judge them. Jesus spent those torturous hours on the cross at Golgotha with His father's face turned away from him, completely alone--just so sinful, selfish, greedy, cruel people like you and I can be forgiven of sins. He took every sin ever to be committed on his shoulders that day just so that he can spend forever with you. He loves you and me, no matter what you've done. If you think it's too much to be forgiven, take heart--He's ready to forgive it as soon as you turn and put your trust in Him.

Sorry for the preachiness, but it is just on my mind so heavily today. "It is finished."--He's already done the work. You've got the easy decision.

Elementary School longings...

Well, I may actually sort of be making friends in this town. However, it seems, as usual, I am making acquaintances with the guys first. This doesn't really bother me, it's always been this way. The first friend I made when I moved to Virginia when I was 6 was a boy who put ketchup in his applesauce. He sat beside me at our little round table and had a rat-tail (oh, the early 90's). Sometimes, I long for those days in kindergarten, when making friends was easy--everyone is your best friend when you are six. You don't have pre-conceived notions of the world, you don't expect things out of people, and the 30 minutes you spent playing on the playground with this person was enough to convince you that they were the coolest person alive and that they needed to be your friend. We lose the simplicity of life. We feel the need to connect on a deeper level with people; we need to find people with which we have similarities--it is not good enough that they also like to play in the sandbox, or helped you when you fell off of the monkey bars. Thank you, my long lost friends--the rat-tailed boy who ate ketchup on everything, the girl who convinced me that Bloody Mary would appear if we shouted her name 3 times in the mirror, the girls who made me their captain of girls-chase-boys on the playground, and the boys that ran from us--for teaching me about not only the simplicity of friendship, but for giving me memories that will last a lifetime.

Carry me back to Old Virginny...

So I explained to my sister that I hadn't been blogging because work has been crazy since Christmas. And then...submissions stopped coming in and it majorly slowed down this afternoon. Of course, that's fine with me because I have been bombarded for like 2 weeks. A couple moments to myself at work is nice.

I have decided that I miss the fake-niceties in the South. Even when people were peeved with you at work, they didn't show it, they didn't give a hint of it at all. You felt good--like what you were doing was good and you were appreciated (whether that was the truth or not). I miss that. I can clearly tell when people aren't happy with me here in Philadelphia. As a girl raised in the "put on your happy face" and "oh, bless her heart" South, it's been one of the culture shocks that I have received. People are very up-front here, getting angry from waiting in line too long, huffing when they have to bring papers to your desk ALL THE WAY from the printer on the other side of the room... I attempt to manage my sweet "thank you" when my co-worker shuffles over here and smacks papers down on my desk. All she mutters is "uh huh!" sharply and walks away.

As the Southern Belle in PA, I have to ask, Pennsylvanians...Where's the love?? I miss my Virginia and our beloved State Motto, "Virginia is for Lovers." What is Pennsylvania for? Blaring horns, shouted curse words, and eating lunch at your desk so there is no forced interaction?