Deepak Chopra vs. Mark Driscoll... and... go.

A few weeks ago, Nightline aired a debate on the existence of Satan. The panel consisted of Annie Lobert, Mark Driscoll, Deepak Chopra, and "Bishop" Carlton Pearson. Lobert and Pearson both advocate a feelings-oriented view on God and Satan, which produces little more than some unusual one-liners, but Driscoll and Chopra, who both concentrate on a more logical, facts-based argument, make for some interesting television. Watch these two short clips in which they really go at it. Some juicy quotes:

Driscoll: "Do you really think that people got together and said, 'Let's create a religion in which there's only one way to Heaven, we're all sinners, and hell's hot and forever's a long time,' and actually voted on that and that's what we ended up with. Were it invented, I think we would end up with something totally different, like salvation by eating chicken wings and napping. That's what I would've voted for."

Chopra: "I don't need the devil because I don't have the guilt and shame that you people have."
Driscoll: "I don't have guilt and shame; I used to, and then being forgiven lifts it. And then I don't need to rejoice in myself. I get the joy of thanking Someone rather than being proud.

Driscoll: "But you talk about love and compassion and unity and demean people by saying they're primitive."
Chopra: "You are putting all your faith in that book which was written 5,000 years ago.
Driscoll: "I put my faith in the man that this book tells the story of.

It's very easy for a Christian to lose a debate not through his words but through his attitudes. If a Christian succumbs to pride or sinful judging, he has lost the debate, even if he presents the most closely reasoned, logical argument, because he's shown us that Christianity doesn't work. It doesn't do what it claims to do. Usually, that's what happens. Debates tend to squeeze the heart and drain out all of the nasty stuff until it drips all over the other side.

In this case, it's Chopra who's dripping sin and Driscoll who's dripping love and humility. He admits that, given the choice, he'd create a religion of laziness and indulgence. He affirms that he loves and wants good for Chopra, Pearson, and the woman in the audience who disagrees with him (see part 8). THIS, truly, is a victory for Christianity. Not only is it true, it WORKS! (And not just to make us feel good, but to make us holy.) God be praised!

I highly recommend watching the whole video (all 10 parts!-- start at the beginning). It gets better once the audience starts asking questions.

Domestic Endeavors

First of all, please pray for this family. They've been through a lot in the last 24 hours, and their sweet little son has been through a lot in his very short life. Pray that it isn't cut shorter.

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Well, "tomorrow" didn't come as soon as I had planned . . . but I finally have a few moments to take some pictures and update you all on my work-less week. First, in my feeble attempt to live as the farmgirl I really am (even in suburbia), I planted a whole re-purposed egg carton's worth of seeds.

There's tomatoes, chives, basil, sage, and parsley-- everything that's cheaper to grow than buy, that I can use in bulk, and that I can put in a reasonable-sized container, as our neighborhood doesn't allow actual gardens. :-( The tomatoes are clearly coming up; they're about 2 1/2 inches tall right now!

This one gives a better view of the emerging sprouts. Along with the tomatoes, I've also got a bit of basil that you can just see poking out of the soil and a tiny little parsley sprout that you'll just have to take my word for, as my camera wouldn't focus on something that close-up. Also, I planted an old packet of wildflower seeds, just for fun, as I didn't really think they would sprout. They now look like this:

I'm not sure what I'll do with them, as I know I'm allowed to plant them straight into the ground, as they're not edible, but I don't know if I should, as I don't know which flowers they are. Maybe I'll decide once they show me their identities.

I think that's enough domestic-ness for today. More house projects later!

Way Better than Canned

This week has been the week of domesticity. My nannying family is on vacation, so I have had absolutely nothing I have to do and nowhere I have to be. That is entirely too much freedom for me, so I've made myself an impossible to-do list, with the understanding that I didn't have to get it all done, but I did have to try. This has kept me fairly busy and made me feel like Suzy Homemaker. I've organized whole rooms, cleaned out closets, bought paint (on clearance! Thanks InDeeds!), shopped the clearance racks, and . . . drumroll please . . . made this:

. . . which doesn't look nearly as delicious in this picture as it was in real life. Homemade chicken soup. Is there anything more comforting? Or labor-intensive? :-P

Actually, my mom's chicken soup recipe is pretty easy (step 1: put chicken in large pot of water. Cook for 3 hours.). It does take all day, though, and a good bit of vegetable chopping and chicken-pulling-apart. But it's so worth it . . . on so many levels, as not only is soup comforting, it's also cheap. I crunched the numbers for you:

1 "bowling ball" chicken @ $.99/pound = approx. $5.50
1 bag celery = $2
1 bag carrots = $2
1 box noodles (leftover lasagna noodles from the progressive dinner) = $1.50 (a serious splurge)
2 onions = $.98
TOTAL Cost = approx. $12 . . . for 3 dinners and 5 lunches.

AND I know exactly what's in this soup . . . no hydrolyzed soy or MSG here.

More on my domestic endeavors tomorrow. :-)

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Catnip!

We decided a long time ago that we were not going to subject our kittens to the feline equivalent of a controlled substance (i.e. catnip). We just didn't want to go down that road, getting them addicted to something that altered their personalities.

But the kittens, it seems, had other ideas. In the last few days, we have had all the windows open to take advantage of the beautiful, spring-like weather. To our kittens, the fresh air wafting in has had all the appeal and effects of catnip.

Lemme make this point another way . . .

With the windows closed:






With the windows open:





They stand by the door like this for hours, inhaling deeply and sniffing in every direction, their ears and tails twitching as if they could pounce at any moment.


Ahhhh, fresh air. The catnip of the catnip-deprived.

mall shopping

Lessons learned on a solo trip to Christiana Mall today:

1. If at all possible, go to the mall in the middle of the morning on a weekday. The staff is way more attentive and cheerful. The stores are also not staffed by angsty teenagers. Speaking of angsty teenagers, there are very few of those roaming the mall at this time slot as well, which is always a plus.

2. If you wander into a store in which you are genuinely interested but can't afford anything at the moment, don't reject the overtures of the staff, especially if said store franchised within the last 5 years and moved to the mall in the last 2 months. They will give you FREE stuff. I now have an entire tub of natural, handmade facewash just because I let the lady talk. Retail value: $12.95.

3. Mall drivers are THE WORST. Enough said.

4. Upon entering a store, if you are not looking for an extremely specific season-sensitive item, proceed directly to the back. Having worked in a mall store, I can tell you that the merchandise on the sale racks at the back of the store is usually only a few weeks old but carries way more than a few weeks' worth of discount. $10 Ann Taylor sweater, anyone?

5. Ducking into Teavana for the sole purpose of picking up a free sip or two of tea is really awkward when you're the only customer in the store, making the staff to customer ratio 2 to 1. Pretend to browse really expensive teapots to diffuse the awkwardness, although, if you do this, you run the risk of being tempted by the seriously discounted gorgeous teacups in the back. Remind yourself that you DO NOT need another teacup, and deal with the awkward glances from the staff as you exit.

6. If an attractive-in-a-euro-metrosexual-kind-of-way man at a hand cream kiosk approaches you and says, "Ma'am, can I ask you a question?", say no. Smile while you do it, but say no. Firmly. Then duck into the store you were heading for, which happens to be right across from the kiosk, and listen as his kiosk partner berates him in Italian for getting rejected. Stride quickly and purposefully towards the back of the store. (See lesson number 4.)

It was a productive, rather educational morning.

Aidan's Cold

You're all going to have to use your imagination to fill in the cracks in this post. Some experiences just don't translate well into print, but I'll do my best.

Aidan has been feeling a bit under the weather lately. Adrian and I are convinced that we gave him our colds, which were miserable enough for us, let alone for a 3 year-old. As with any small child (or any of us, truth be told), Aidan's health dictates his emotions, which consisted yesterday of fear, sadness, and dissatisfaction.

Zach, Aidan, and I were sitting at the dinner table last night. Sitting upright by himself on a chair and trying to eat was a bit much for Aidan, so, after 5 or 10 minutes, he started complaining that he was cold and wanted to go lie down. But the fun conversation that Zach and I were having was too much for him to abandon completely, so he took his blankie and lay down on the living room floor near the dining room, in a spot where he could still hear us. At a pause in the conversation, he started whining for his mommy, so I let him come sit on my lap. Once he was settled, Zach said, "My friend from school knows one of our church songs." I asked him which one, and he began singing exuberantly, pumping his little fist in the air: "Oh no, you never let go, through the calm and through the storm...". Rather than correct him for this breach of manners, I decided to join in, and together we sang the rest of the song. Then Aidan joined in. He didn't know any of the words, so his singing sounded something like, "Oh no, da da da da da...", but he definitely caught the song's meaning, smiling broadly when I changed the last phrase to "Lord, you never let go of Aidan".

We could debate the validity of that last statement for the rest of our lives, or we could have faith that God holds Aidan and Zach in the very palms of His hands and will save them one day. I'll choose the latter. All I know is that there was something lovely about watching a sick little boy, who had spent the better part of the last 3 days whining, begin to grasp the fact that God is taking care of him. He sang and listened to that song as if it had to be true, as if it was the most logical thing in the world, with no feasible alternative. Oh, that we could all grasp this lesson with such childlike faith. Oh, that I could.

Baby Kitten, Meet Baby Emma

Sometimes, we treat our kittens like babies. We know they're not, but they're just so darn cute, sometimes we can't resist.

Well, our babies got quite a shock on Sunday when a real baby invaded their house.

Mustang, meet Emma.

They were very curious about her, to the point of trying to jump in the car seat with her, which we of course had to nip in the bud. Then, she started crying, and both kittens mysteriously disappeared upstairs, only returning once she was asleep. We laid her on the couch for a minute or two, and they examined her with the most puzzled looks on their faces.

Get used to it, boys. In a couple of years, one of those is going to live here.