9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.
8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do ministerial tasks.
7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation.
6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. Their conduct at football and basketball games demonstrates this.
5. Some men are handsome, and this will distract women worshipers.
4. Pastors need to nurture their congregations. But this is not a traditional male role. Throughout history, women have been recognized as not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more fervently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.
3. Men are prone to violence. No really masculine man wants to settle disputes except by fighting about them. Thus they would be poor role models as well as dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.
2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take.
1. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep sidewalks, repair the church roof, and perhaps even lead the song service on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the church.
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Two of my favorite women have started blogging. Announcing my beautiful sister, Fawntane. And, my friend Keila. Not only are both of these ladies amazing mothers, they are creative, authentic, funny and have similar tastes in wordpress themes! Enjoy!
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My sister took her cute babies to have their birthday pictures made. Landon turns 3 mid-May, and the twins turn 2 at the end of May. By some miracle we made it through the entire photo shoot without any tears. I had thought for sure one of the babies, the photographer, myself….or all of us would have started crying. Here are a couple of my favorite shots.
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What do you do when nothing in your life seems to fit you? That’s how I’ve felt most of today. It’s like every piece of my life - relationships, job, hobbies, dreams - feel like jeans that are a size too small. Tight, uncomfortable and causing me to feel horrible about myself because they don’t fit.
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Over the past year I’ve attended a few too many ceremonies and memorials, most of which I have thought were a waste of time and didn’t come close to capturing Jarrett’s spirit and life. But, this week I had the privilege of attending a ceremony that I enjoyed. It was attended by people who played important roles in Jarrett’s life & mine.
The video below contains the most beautiful speech I’ve heard about Jarrett, given by his advisor/teacher, Marc Edwards. Following the speech, Craig Whittaker sang the song he wrote in honor of Jarrett.
The Bridge Builder
By Will Allen Dromgoole
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you a bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
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Thursday & Friday were bad days for me. It was nearly impossible for me to get through work and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed. Friday after work I finally got to have some time to try to cheer myself up. It started with a friend bringing me some cannoli and ended with me curled up in bed watching tv. After going to NBC’s website to watch the latest episode of The Office, which was hilarious, I wanted to watch more tv. So, I browsed around and found Lipstick Jungle. I watched almost the entire first season and quickly felt much better. I’m sure that it was having the chance to escape my own world for a little while that brought me out of my funk. Or maybe it was getting to know the show’s 3 main characters, who are successful women living life in NYC, and getting to watch them encourage each other that cured my bad mood. Or, it could have been the beautiful clothes and jewelry the characters wore that perked me up.
I’m sure it had nothing to do with him:
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I feel like I haven’t had a normal heartbeat in days, nor a complete, sane thought. I can’t focus on my work (shhh…please don’t tell my boss), I’m exhausted all the time and every morning I wake up with a headache. Nothing seems to bring me the clarity and peace I need to get through the day, not even a beautiful sunny afternoon that should make me appreciate life.
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I have decided to build raised beds for my vegetable garden this summer. I want to build the beds using wine bottles. Please drink lots of wine and save your bottles for me. If you need help emptying the wine bottles, just call me.
Love,
Alicia
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Last night was my Birthday Potluck. I can’t remember a time when I’ve heard a group of people sing Happy Birthday so loud, and having a group of friends serenade me has never meant as much as it did last night.
I don’t know where to start when trying to describe how I’ve felt over the past week. Simply, I’ve missed Jarrett a lot. For nearly twenty years we celebrated our birthdays together. It was really hard to not be able to do that this year. But, my amazing friends made me feel very loved (and not alone) this week. Last night was the perfect birthday celebration because of the people I got to spend it with - people who bedazzle with me, make me star-shaped tie-dye cupcakes and want to be part of my life, even when things are painful.
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Earlier this week I was wasting time by playing on the internet and came across Hope Revolution, a project that was started in NYC to spread encouraging thoughts. Essentially, people are creating notes with positive, hopeful words or phrases on them and then hiding the notes for others to discover and be encouraged. I was instantly inspired by this project, so I invited my friend Alisha over and we spent the evening making Hope Cards, which we will soon place all over Richmond.
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I came upon this post on Maternal Spark today and thought her words on the creative life were so right on, that as a friend, I had to share them with you (in my own words).
1. Write it down!
This is also a lesson I have learned from my MIL, who always has a notebook or index cards in her purse. She is always ready to record what has inspired her. Also, for those of us addicted to our cellphones - I often save notes on my phone.
2. Let it go.
There are always other things that you “should” be doing when you sit down to actually get started on that creative project you’ve been dreaming about. I never realize how dirty my house is until I sit down at my computer with an essay/blog post in mind. Each day we are faced with choices, what we decide shapes our day and ultimately who we are. I want to make decisions that shape my creative spirit, more than I need to have a clean house.
3. Take time out.
For yourself. It can be a nap, a drive, a walk….or an Artist’s date.
4. Avoid brain suckers.
TV. TMZ. It is an unfair trade to us. In return for mind-numbing junk that clutters and confuses our creative spirit, we trade our value time.
5. Get organized/prepared.
My favorite creative times are when I’m able to prepare some - clean off my space, get a cup of water & some tea, fire up the laptop and kick Dan out of the house.
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