Turtle Power: Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

Last month a woman in suburban Burbank made headlines by claiming that an image of the Virgin Mary appears on the underside of her pet turtle.

While I'll let you judge this turtle for yourself, for me this brings back fond memories of other "miraculous" sightings...

Also last month, workers in a chocolate factor found a column of chocolate drippings in the shape of Mary...

Do you remember the image of Mary on the Fullerton Ave. underpass of the Kennedy last year?

Then there was the grilled cheese Mary sold on eBay for $28,000...

And the Mother Teresa cinnamon bun, aka the "Nun Bun"...

And the Jesus fish stick...

And the Jesus that appeared on the side of a Presbyterian church (yes, a Presbyterian church) in Bradenton, Florida after a pressure washing ...

And countless Jesus tortillas over the years...

You can't make this stuff up!

Now, whether or not these are hoaxes, strange coincidences, or the power of an omnipresent God breaking into the mundane corners of creation, I don't know. What I do know is that these things happen all the time and that some people really believe in them. It gives them hope and inspires faith.

But what is faith? Is it finding "proof" of God's existence in philosophy, well-crafted arguments, the wonders of creation, or a fish stick?

God is here; I have no doubt about that. But oftentimes, I think we look for God in all the wrong places.

Where do you see God in your life?

Healthy Body Image

A CNN article titled "Skinny Models Banned from Catwalk" reports that a top-level fashion show in Madrid has turned away significantly underweight models, a first in the fashion industry. The move comes after years of protests that girls and young women develop eating disorders as a result of efforts to emulate the super thin models that frequent catwalks and advertisements. As you would expect, many in the fashion industry aren't taking kindly to the ban and feel that they are being used as scapegoats for eating disorders.

I think a move away from unhealthily thin models and actresses is a good thing. A Spanish official hit the nail on the head when she said that "Fashion is a mirror and many teenagers imitate what they see on the catwalk."

It's about time that someone takes responsibility for the body images that our culture promotes. Now, who will take responsibility for the boys and young men who abuse their bodies with steroids and excessive weight training?

What do you think?

Five Years Later

Like many people, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 will always be a singular moment of my life. I remember exactly where I was and how I felt. The only previous event that held this kind of time-stopping significance for me was when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in January of 1986.

I was in third grade for that first disaster, in graduate school for the second. The kids that are seniors in high school now were in seventh grade for 9/11 and this year’s sixth graders were in first grade. Do you remember where you were and how you felt when you found out about the attacks?

9/11 was also a defining moment of my career as a pastor and a theologian. It was the beginning of my second year of pastoral ministry. The church I was serving at the time hosted a community candle light vigil on that evening. It was a moving service that provided much needed comfort in the immediate wake of the tragedy.

Several member of our youth group were in attendance that evening and we spent some time talking with them, processing the unthinkable events that had just happened. We had a youth retreat the following weekend in Saugatuck. We began with a somber time of candle lit prayer, and I admit that I was glad to be away from the city for a few days.

Two days after the attacks I began an adult Bible class that surveyed the entire Bible. Immediately I was faced with jarring questions: What does the Bible have to say about a disaster like this? Where is God in all of this?

These questions have continued to shape my studies and my ministry over the past five years. Where is God in our lives—during the good times and the bad? Does the Bible have anything relevant to say about our lives today? While I am convinced that God is always present in our lives and that the Bible does in fact continue to be a valuable resource for life today, figuring out all of the details is not always easy.

But I believe that it is a worthy endeavor to wrestle with those details in every aspect of our lives. This is something that I want to bring to our time together in Fourth Church Youth. Let’s look at our lives and the world around us and ask where God is. Let’s take those dusty old Bibles off our shelves and think about what those ancient words might have to say to us today. We might be surprised at what we find.

These are some of the thoughts that yesterday’s 9/11 commemorations inspired in me. What memories, reflections, or thoughts do you have about that day five years ago?