three fun ways to totally wear oneself out in a weekend

whew. thank goodness for sunday nights. this one finds me a little battered an sore, but not for lack of fun getting there.

on friday, i took my bike to the city on the metra (semi-illegally: the taste of chicago started this weekend and the trains aren't supposed to let on bikes to make room for all the people) to participate in my favorite chicago activity: chicago's critical mass. free, fun, outdoors, community-supported exploring. (for those of you new here, check out a little video i made documenting last may 2008's ride.) we biked for about three hours at a slow but steady 10-15mph pace. we went up and around that town! i met up with some old friends and made new ones, and ended up on lake michigan's beach trying to photograph friends as they jumped in the water. i didn't realize how sore i was until i got back on my bike to get home. ouch. i wasn't up all night with sore legs, which has definitely happened before.

on saturday, i set up a birthday party for my roomie alyssa. i've never been in charge of a party before, so there was a lot of self-confidence boosting, and proof that God will always keep me humble about the plans I make: we planned an outdoor-patio-evening turned into it-rained-so-let's-move-to-the-basement. everyone had a great time and the rain let up enough for late-night sparklers.

my improv friends take part in something we call "free love," which is an opportunity for players of all development levels––workshoppers to alumni–– to come together and just play. this summer, free love happens on sundays after lunchtime. we meet not far from my house and i usually just walk. today i decided to take the longboard i inherited when i helped move a friend out at the end of the year. while i've putzed around on it enough to be comfortable, today was the first time i tried to use it to actually get somewhere. today that somewhere just happened to be down a slightly moderate hill. on my way down this hill, i encountered a phenomenon known as "speed wobble," in which the rider of a steerable object (such as a longboard) over-corrects a small steering flaw which makes the rider over-correct that flaw until the rider is wobbling back and forth until she finally loses control. i encountered an early stage of the wobble and tried to bail, but i was going too fast and my feet couldn't keep up with the velocity of my body. CRASH. i hit the pavement and somehow skidded to a halt near some improvisers i was trying to "look cool" in front of. hah. my friend kevin ran to pick up my board after seeing me get up while everyone double checked to see if i was okay. i don't know how i got out of it with so few scrapes and bumps, as my ankles got the worst of the scrapes (honestly, who scrapes their ankles when they fall?, and my right wrist, hip, and shoulder are a little sore. i was up and walking almost instantly after falling.

point of interest: i'm not sure if i have a really great adrenaline system in my body (and my big brother chemist can tell me that falling doesn't have much to do with adrenaline), or if it's growing up with boys, or sheer mental stubbornness that lets me get up pretty quickly when i fall. i just do. today's little spill made me think of when i tried to jump a curb while on a bike ride last year. i didn't make it, and ended up landing pretty hard on my side (and the sweetest bruise developed on the inside of my arm a few days later), i got up very quickly and as soon as i had my bearings i was back on my bike, peddling with everybody else. i don't know. i just find it curious.

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could folks be in prayer for me this week? i have a second interview at a chiropractor in wheaton for an office assistant/marketing position, and i would love to get it. i imagine that competition is pretty steep, and i seem to be in the midst of a confidence slump. so. prayers around 9:30 am on tuesday would be great.
also! congrats to my biggest bro and sis-in-law on the purchase of their first house! i hope i get to help paint a wall sometime.

much love to all: may God remind you of his faithfulness as He reminds me to be humble.

"the economy" in light of Jubilee

i recently participated in a Bible study covering Ruth and the idea of a kinsman redeemer. the crux of the study connects the ruth-boaz relationship with humanity-Jesus, but not without a stop over in Leviticus 25 to talk about Jubilee.

this is the part where i need to tell you (again) that i am neither a proper theologian nor anything that would make my perspecitve more than just an opinion. considering it said, let's move forward.

Jubilee is, for the uninformed, an Old Testament festival based on sabbatical observances. put it simply, every fiftieth year the whole economic world would turn upside down: any land you've bought must be returned to the original owners or their heirs, and every person who's had to rent himself out as an indentured servant must be released. things you've bought and had use for are now to be given back. o'course, the Bible makes sure that you don't cheat your brother: when it's close to Jubilee-time things get a little cheaper like a going-out-of-business sale.

the theological reasons for this practice are debated, as all things theological are, but it's generally accepted that the land was important to the Israelites because God gave it to them. i'm sure it also was a reminder that they are more like tenants on the land, because God is the one who really owns it. personally, i think of it as a lesson that economics are designed to wax and wane and adjust, but God and His authority do not. i also love that Jubilee comes once every fifty years. now, i'm admittedly not yet 22, an adolescent at the time of millennium, a moment in time prepackaged for looking simultaneously backwards and forwards. i'm pretty sure that i can't fully comprehend 50 years.

i still think there's value in this fifty-year-switcheroo. in fifty years, the provisions that once made the way for businesses to flourish are now ruts and crutches needed to limp along. institutions are clearly not paying attention to history to think themselves immortal: the world changes so quickly in our age. it should only make sense that at some point God, like a game of boggle, picks up the whole game and shakes.

i'm not saying that the tough times we're going through was a direct act of God, nor am i saying that i really get what has caused "the economy" to be the way it is. i am amazed at the Lord for laying down such specific rules about what happens during Jubilee and how it can be planned for and expected: i'm sure that if modern citizens planned on chaos every fifty years or so, we'd be in a much better place right now.

all that is to say: the only thing eternal is the Lord. not your bank, not your insurance, not your president, or even your democracy. when things go awry, blow your horn. dance. laugh. shout hymns at stoplights (or whatever outlet you so choose).

The Lord reigns. It is Jubilee.