The Week of 3/5/2006

Witty one liner: Why is it when you talk to God you’re a saint, but when you hear God talking to you you’re crazy?

Quote of the week: None written down

Offbeat oddity (courtesy of the planner): An elephant will extract its own infected tooth using tree branches and sharp rocks as tools.

Planner quote: “All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

The witty one liner this week is a really interesting question to me because it brings up the random delineations society makes between sane and insane, and saintly and evil. If you think about it, the line between talking to an invisible entity and having an invisible entity talk to you is actually quite fine. What is even more hilarious is the fact that the church encourages you to “hear” God and “listen” to Him. How can you do that without being thought insane by a secular country? I have never heard God talk to me, and I don’t think I am anyone He would want to talk to, but ruminate for a bit on the tension in that “gift.” I mean even way back when saints were burned at the stake and killed all over the place because they said they could hear God. In the here and now you are more likely to be put in a facility and drugged out of your mind for the rest of your life.

Again, no quote from sixteen year old Michelle so here is one from twenty-six year old Michelle:

“…when we love somebody, we put their wellbeing at the top of a list and we want to feed them well. We want to nurture them. We want to teach them. We want to bring beauty into their lives. We want to make them comfortable and safe and healthy.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer

I heard this on a podcast that a friend of mine recommended and it really resonated with me.

As for that offbeat oddity….I am crying right now. I hate dentistry and people messing around with my teeth. Just the sound of drills on my teeth makes me cringe and want to sob.

And huzzah! Tolkein! I had no idea that was his quote.