It’s another family gathering, or perhaps another Saturday breakfast after which there are no plans, no agenda, so your Father or an older relative decides to retell a story from the past. You are sitting there, initially unaware of the fact that it’s a story that has been told before, but once you hear about him breaking the glass …
The Foolishness of God
The title may be shocking but it’s a direct quote from the Bible. However, the quotation isn’t complete. The rest goes as follows, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1st Corinthians 1:25 NASB). What is this wisdom and strength that the apostle Paul is speaking of? The wisdom is …
A Cacophony of Androgyny
“Our greatest enemy is distinction! It is only when a person sees another as “other” that hatred and homophobia come about. Let us not bow down to the tyrannical two– that binary of backward upbringing. Our purpose is to be all one and the one to be all. Men and women, are both women and men. We worship the Baphomet, …
Sparks
Early on in my trip, I had the privilege of having breakfast with two young moms. They opened up to me about faith and their various struggles. It was still warm at the time, yet the morning had a pleasant crispness to it and the sky was clear and blue. Mila Rausch came over with her friend Karina to have …
Language and Laughter
Imagine you are eating breakfast. There are fresh-baked rolls, French salami, butter, honey, eggs from the chickens in the backyard, and a nice cup of coffee (from a Portland roaster, of course). You are taking in this wonderful sight, yet all you can think of saying to the person with whom you’re eating is “Meine lieblingsfrüstuck ist Spiegeleier mit Speck …
Drawing on My Cigarette
Drawing on My Cigarette Drawing on my cigarette — it’s the last one before I set it in the past, but the future beckons me to draw once more like all the times before and maybe more It’s time to quit, you see, yet as soon as I say “free” there appears that unseen law it compels, impels me— I …
Germany
I am going to Germany!!! Some of you already know this, but for the rest, here it is: I am temporarily leaving my sweet home, family and church family to live in Germany for three whole months. Going to Germany has been a dream of mine for a while now. Ever since I started learning German in High School, I’ve wanted …
Day One: Artem, Ali, Yelena
Having arrived to Moscow at about 5:00 PM, our group of six got split up into two groups of three, mine consisting of Mark Turkov, Alex Vavilin, and me. A family from РБЦ (Russian Bible Church) in Moscow graciously allowed us to stay at their flat while they’re on vacation. So the three of us were dropped off and left …
Two Poems
Here are two poems, one that is nearly ancient, Horizon (it’s of my first poems), and the other, I Wander this Wasteland, which is not so ancient but one that came from an ancient feeling I had inside one day. That feeling came from a vague reminiscence of the poem Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (if you haven’t read it, you must!). I …