Discriminate

“Hey! Hey, man.”

I guess he’s calling me. So I get back out of my car and see the black man walking towards me in the apartment parking lot.

“Jimbo” he extends his hand.

“Joshua” we shake hands.

“Do you play guitar?”

“A little bit.”

“I don’t mean to sound racist or anything . . .”

I was unaware of the stereotype that black people have that young white males play guitar. John the Baptist at work, who happens to be of a darker skin tone, also assumed that I play guitar. But, maybe it’s not that I’m white, maybe I just look like a guitar player.

I was working next to someone from SAGU the other day. I gave a customer her change, $7.24. I told my coworker, “Her change was the same as my birthday, seven twenty-four!”

A couple of customers later a woman bought a six pack. Her total was $7.24. I told my coworker, “Wow, her beer cost the same as my birthday, seven twenty-four.”

He said something like, “Then you have an evil birthday.” His comment was based on the idea that beer is just plain bad.

We talked for a while and he held firm that he planned to never drink beer. But he said that he would probably have wine at his wedding… and dancing.

There is a stereotype in this subculture that beer drinkers are bad people.

Saturday, I mentioned to someone that I went to “church” that morning. He asked if I was Seventh day Adventist. I’m not.

In the A/G bylaws under “Legalism” they state that you shouldn’t add conditions to salvation, such as resting on the seventh day.

When people find out that I keep Sabbath and don’t eat pork they label me as “legalistic” (well, first they ask me if I’m Jewish) and they usually assume that I’m trying to earn my salvation by works. I'm not trying to earn my salvation. I'm trying to obey God.

Stereotypes and double standards. A/G bylaws state that you shouldn’t press your opinions concerning the seventh day onto others. But they also say that you should tithe the way they want you to tithe.

Why are wine and shrimp okay, but beer is bad?

I wonder if Jimbo is good at basketball. But he was kinda short so he’s probably more of a football player.

weekly

Been workin. John the Baptist tried starting theological debates with me. All the stuff he wants to argue about is so pointless. let's talk about something that has to do with our every day lives.

tonight i'm making dinner for joy and some friends. last week we had the mooy's over. i'm so grown up. ha. if you want me to make you dinner next week, email me, call me, or leave a comment.

Juneteenth

Joy doesn't want me to write about work. But all I've been doing lately is working and hanging out with her. So, with the exception of Joy, I don't have much to write about.

Juneteenth is coming up soon. I hadn't even heard of it until a couple semesters ago in MESA (Multi Ethnic Student Association). It's the celebration of when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the slaves in Galveston, Texas in 1865, two years late.

Listening.

There's this new guy at work. His name is Jacob. He's just a bagger for now. He is short and has grey curly hair and a moustache. He has a peculiar way of moving. He reminds me of my high school Bible teacher. He also has an accent and reminds me of Robin Williams in "Jacob the Liar". I asked him were he is from and he said Russia. I asked him his last name and he said that it is too long and confusing. But I asked him again and he said it and I was able to repeat it. He was impressed by my name saying skills. He's a cool little man.

Last night, when it was getting close to closing time, the manager turned off the air conditioning. It was deafeningly silent. I noticed that there wasn't music playing like there usually is. I heard the beeps of the registers. Crinkling of bags. Carts rolling. Quiet voices. It felt like the air was thin, not full of all the extra noise. I noticed the people in the store. I wondered for a moment how the world would feel without traffic, tv's, radios, and all the background noise that we filter out of our conscious minds. Maybe we've gotten so used to filtering that we also filter out people. Voices and faces flow in and out and they seem as meaningless to us as blowing air. "Maybe we crash into each other so that we can feel something."

Andy & Crash

The wheelchair guy came into work the other day. He actually called himself the wheelchair guy. When I asked him his name, he said it is Andy. He dropped off one load of groceries, then he went and got a few more things and came back. Alice helped at the very beginning, but then she left me to help him by myself. I think she's starting to trust me. I am getting better at my job. Andy is really a kind and funny guy. He asked me about school and life. He was the best customer I've had in a while. I hung his bags on the handles of his chair. I got to slide the pen between his stubby fingers so that he could sign the receipt for his credit card. I look forward to seeing him again.

Last night I saw "Crash." Sandra Bullock has a small role in it. She plays a snobby rich person (kind of like a lot of the women who shop at Central Market). I went by myself. It was the first rated R movie I've seen in a long time. And it was definitely rated R. I enjoyed the movie though. It was what I expected. It's a movie about racism. I saw it at a theater that is usually full of black people, but I think that all five of us watching Crash were white. A day in L.A. There's no big plot. It's a bunch of small intersecting stories. We follow people of various skin tones and nations of origin as they interact with people of different races. There's no good guy or bad guy. Everyone's a little good and a little bad. Prejudices are justified and ripped down. Before I saw the movie I expected it to be (for those of you from SAGU) a "Paul Alexander movie" and I still think it is. And it's such an intense movie. I'm still shaking. Seeing "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" tonight will be a welcome change of pace.

I'm more excited about Micah's graduation than I was about mine

Last night Joy and I went to a banquet for the seniors. Micah got a bunch of cool awards. The art teacher really likes him so he got a whole bag of art stuff. If you've been to his site you can tell he's a good artist. This morning I went to his graduation rehersal, since I'm going to be handing his diploma to him tonight. It's all so exciting.

I really like Real Live Preacher. Check out this article.

Road Trip

Joy and I drove through the night and came to this wonderful town in Colorado. We made it in 13 hours. Then we took some nice naps. Looks like we're gonna be pretty busy with all my little brother's graduation stuff. I'll post when I can. I'm so tired.

The Past Few Days

At work, many people have been coming back after taking a leave of absence. One such person is “John the Baptist.” I have heard a lot about him from other people. They say that he is very dogmatic, if you don’t believe the same as him, then you’re wrong. They say that he is condescending. I haven’t had a lot of interaction with him, but I don’t think he’s that bad. People said he tries to start theological arguments with people, but he hasn’t started any with me though I almost wish he would. I would rather not hear what other people have to say about John. I want to get to know him myself. What I do know about him is that he attends a small christian college, the name of which I do not remember. He tries really hard to push the products that we are supposed to be pushing. “We have these cookies on sale for 99 cents. You should buy at least one.” He is a preacher, not a pastor. He made a big deal about it when I was in the service office. He’s taking Hebrew. When he mentioned that, my manager told him that I know Hebrew. I hadn’t told the manager that, I figured Ben must have told him, but he said he was just saying that and didn’t actually know that I knew Hebrew (did you follow that?). So anyways, John asked me if I knew what my name means in Hebrew. I told him it means “the LORD saves.” He asked me the same question several times in various ways, I tried to give him the answer he wanted giving him the answers Yehoshua, Yeshua, Yaweh saves, Jehovah saves. Then he asked me what my name is in Greek. (He doesn’t know that I also know some Greek). And I finally figured out what he was wanting me to say, and I decided to make it difficult. I said Iesous. Then he said, “Now say it in English.” Then I said, “Joshua” (hehe) pause... “or Jesus.” There ya go. He just wanted to hear me say that Joshua is the same as Jesus.

The other night I got an extra roommate. Jacob is from Kansas/Oklahoma. He’s interning at a Spanish radio station down here. Ben’s been out of town for two weeks. It’s kind of nice having someone else in the apartment, especially at night. Jacob’s cool. We went driving the other night so that he could find his way to church and work. We took a detour through Dallas. And he was just flabbergasted at the big ole buildings. He was like a little country boy in the big city (I guess he pretty much actually was).

Last night I saw Lemminy Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was one of those that I kind of liked but kind of didn’t. It was sort of what I expected. I like the style, but the story could have been better. It seems like they tried to pack too much in, but left a lot out. Okay, enough of my critique of a little kid’s movie.

Wednesday night I leave for Colorado for my li’l brother’s graduation!

Catch Up

I was going to post friday, but Blogger was down for the 45 minutes that I was on the net that day.

I've been listening to early Beatles. Great stuff.

Sunday my fellow torah people and I celebrated Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks/ Aka Pentecost). We had fajitas and stuff. It was fun times. So on Shavuot, Jews commemorate the giving of the Torah. As believers in Messiah, we rejoice in the Torah as well as in the great things LORD did by his spirit after Messiah's resurrection. Shavuot has all kinds of meaning for the past and the future, but I'm not going to go into that right now, but Shavuot is the completion of what was begun at Passover. The two feasts are linked in many ways. Passover is celebrates our freedom from slavery to the world. Shavuot celebrates our freedom in slavery to LORD.

You know about the manifestations in Acts 2. Exodus 20:18 says the people saw the thunderings and lightning and trumpet and smoke. Nearly everywhere else the word for thunderings is translated as voices. Nearly everywhere else the word for lightnings is translated as torches. The Rabbis have a teaching (that goes back who knows how long) that "voices" plural means that God spoke in the 70 languages (tongues) of the 70 nations of the world. 70 is just the number they use, but the point is that they taught that God gave the Torah in every single language, so we can assume that the Torah is for everybody. Because of the word "torches" and the fact that the verse says the people saw voices, the Rabbis say that God's voice broke into sparks or tongues of fire that rested on the head of each person at Mt. Sinai. I just think it's interesting how the rabbis' description of the first shavuot and the apostles' experience at the first shavuot after messiah's ascension parallel.

Onto a different subject. My car got broken into on sunday night. When I left for work monday morning I found that a little window on the back door had been broken out and my stuff was thrown around, but nothing was taken. this morning i saw that my door lock had been messed with a big rectangle's knocked out. But I'm OK. It'll be alright.

A Whole New World (not really)

I'm in my new apartment. I have been for a few days now. I found this really cool library surrounded by a nice big park about 10 minutes from the apartment. It almost feels like home. So I'm at the library. My next big feat will be to check out the laundry room at the apartment complex.

Graduation on Friday went well. It was surprizingly exciting walking accross the stage and getting my diploma. I was a zombie through the whole day because I was on Benedryl so that I wouldn't sneeze through the entire ceremony. Some of my family came down to see me graduate. We all had dinner at my apartment afterwards. The ceremony was just at the wrong time. If we had eaten before, it would have been lunch. By the time we ate it was 9 pm.

I went grocery shopping this week. I spent way too much money. I'm the only one in the apartment for a while since Ben is back home with his family for the week.

Unpacking is crazy. I have so much junk.

Moving Day

I got the key to my apartment this morning and started moving in. I have my very own bathroom. After days of wetness the sun came out this afternoon. I went to mapquest today and found libraries and stores in the area around my apartment. I don't know what my internet connection is going to be. But I will blog somehow, for all 3 of you who sometimes read this. Tomorrow, my family comes down, and tomorrow evening I walk accross the stage and graduate. Fun times. Write ya later.

Did You Check Aisle 14?

Today a Dallas police officer walked in the store and asked me, "Where do you keep your shoplifters?"

"Excuse me?"

"Where do you keep your shoplifters?"

I directed him to the office of the managers and he eventually made his way upstairs where there were two forty-something women who had been caught shoplifting.

On a different note, I decided that I really like Jones Soda. From the creative labels to the great tasting flavors, I just really like it. And it just so happens that, like so many cool things, Jones is based in Seattle, WA.

Packing

Now listening to Philmore "In My Boat"


Last night and this morning I've been packing. Ben and I should be able to move in to our new place on Thursday. So I've got boxes, bags and junk. I found a paycheck from the achievement center last night, so that's cool.

I went to today, and it turns out that today is national teacher's day. cool. Have I mentioned that I want to be a teacher?

And I'm having serious deja vu right now. what's up with that?

I don't have any more schoolwork. I graduate friday evening.

I thought I had something to write about, but this will do.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

May is Older Americans Month. I wanted to write something about the elderly last week because of a verse in the torah portion. But I'll write that later.

Read this Real Live Preacher article about children and worship. I especially like the part about Natalie.

It was refreshing to read that article tonight. It expresses part of what I dreamed about this morning at the Oaks where the "worship time" is a big production, and it is easy for people's focus to be on the performers on the stage, and where everyone doesn't know everyone.

Just so you know, I really do want to be more loving and less judging, and more worshipful and less critical.

random cuz i'm half asleep

i turned in my practicum stuff yesterday. it wasn't the greatest quality, but whatever. i'm done. i slept 1.5 hrs tuesday night. joy bought me a dr. pepper to help me stay up all night. she's so sweet. i slept all last night, but i still feel really tired. so i'm gonna take an hour and a half nap after i post this. then it's off to work.

i thought wasabi peas were great. but tuesday i discovered wasabi soynuts! rock on!

i still need to get an apartment. i dont want to be homeless after i graduate.

i'm finding leviticus 19 very interesting. i hypothesize and theorize that it is composed of sections separated by the phrase "I am the LORD." and each section has a theme, even if the commands seem unrelated. i.e. the first section - Respect mom and dad, and observe God's sabbaths. They may seem unrelated, but i think they're related.

Today is the fifth day of the week. the day that God made the birds and fishes.

coming soon: Hebrew lessons!

simmer

I've been so allergyish for I don't know how long now. Sneezing and snot and Benadryl are just a part of my life nowadays. I'm going to be working on my practicum files for the next few days, because I've been procrastinating like crazy. So I'm a little stressed. And I need to get an apartment, so I'm pretty stressed. But soon I will be a form of free. Blog ya later.

Pope, Passover, Pentecost

Yesterday, the German Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, was elected to be the new pope. He will be known as Pope Benedict XVI. He will be "formally installed" as pope on Sunday, April 24.

That just happens to be the same day that Orthodox Jews will be celebrating Passover (a month late).

Today is the 25th day of the omer count which means we're halfway to "Pentecost" (Hebrew: "Shavuot" The Feast of Weeks). Traditionally, at Shavuot, Jews celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. As believers in Jesus we also celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit at Jerusalem. Just as Passover contains parallels between the exodus and crucifixion, so at Shavuot we see parallels between the giving of the Torah and of the Holy Spirit. I'll write more about those parallels as we get closer to Pentecost. For now have quick read of Exodus 19 and Acts 2.

This Week In Leviticus

Time
This week's Torah portion starts with a reminder of Aaron's sons that died. Aaron is then warned that he must not go into the sanctuary any time he feels like it. This gives more weight to the possibility that Nadab and Abihu were killed for going in at the wrong time.

There is such a thing as holy time. When God declares something about a day, his declaration is true. Our timing ought to line up with God's timing.

The tenth day of the seventh month is Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement. That day is unique/holy to God. The priests might want to do a good thing, but if they did it at the wrong time it was trouble.

The seventh day of each week is also holy time. Working is a good thing. But not on the Sabbath. God said so.

Misunderstanding
I've heard it taught that the High Priest had bells on the bottom of his robe and when he went into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur they would tie a rope around his foot and if the bells stopped ringing they knew he was dead and would pull him out.

Not true. The High Priest's ephod did have bells along the hem. But the one day that he would remove that ephod was on Yom Kippur. When he went into the Holy of Holies, he wore a plain linen tunic, the standard dress for any priest.

Read Leviticus 16:4,24. Have you heard the rope and bells story before?

Acts 15
This week's torah portion contains the source of the prohibitions in Acts 15.

Lev. 17:1-9 says that sacrifices needed to be brought to the Tabernacle (later the Temple) so that they wouldn't be eating sacrifices to false gods/idols.

Lev. 17:10-14 prohibits eating blood.

Lev. 17:15 prohibits eating animals found dead or killed by another animal (aka strangled, since predators attack the neck).

Lev. 18 defines sexual immorality

Acts 15:20 "Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood."

Enter the Teachings of Man.

Modern day teachers have said that in Romans and Corinthians Paul tells the believers that it's okay to eat food sacrificed to idols. Why would he contradict himself? They use 1 Corinthians 8 to say that it's okay to eat food sacrificed to idols, but in 1 Corinthians 10 Paul explained that idols are linked to demons and we should have nothing to do with demons.

Modern day teachers say it's okay to eat bloody meat. And they would probably say there's nothing immoral about eating roadkill. Where is the Biblical support?

What is sexually immoral? Lev. 18 includes incest, adultery, sex with a woman in her period, homosexuality, and bestiality. How were the Gentiles to know all this unless they studied torah? Their culture approved of all kind of perverted sex.

What is the transition from OT to NT? Do we obey everything from the Old unless it is rejected in the New? Or do we ignore everything from the Old unless it is re-commanded in the New?

The prohibition on sex with a woman in her period is not rejected in the New Testament, yet many Christians think that it's okay.

The prohibition on bestiality is not repeated in the New Testament, yet few Christians would say that it's okay.

It shouldn't be surprising that the term "Homosexual Christian" is becoming more accepted.

Without the foundation of the Torah, the structures of morality in modern day Christianity are built on sand. What a person feels or thinks becomes more important than what the Bible says. Are you building your life on the Spoken, Written and Living Word of God or on the words of men?

I Think His Name Is Andrew

Today at Central Market I checked out a man in a wheelchair. I check out a lot of people in wheelchairs, but this guy had very limited mobility.

He rolled up behind me and said, "Excuse me, sir. Could I leave these behind here with you?" He had a lap full of bags of vegetables and a bag of fish and ice. I answered sure at the same time as Alice, one of the leads. (We call the managers "leads"). We both unloaded the food from his lap into a basket. Alice (who is an interesting, even myserious, person herself) said that he's a really cool guy and she explained to me that he would pay with a credit card and he didn't have to sign the receipt.

He picked up a few more things and came back. Alice came right back to make sure that everything was handled right. He must have been feeling good because he wanted to sign the receipt. He told Alice how to slide the pen in between the appropriate fingers. He scribbled on the line and said with a smile, "It's close enough for governmental paperwork."

As Alice was putting his credit card back I saw that he has a tube over his shoulder so that he can drink water. Alice loaded the bags onto the handles on his wheelchair. She double bagged them because she knows that he takes the bus and she didn't want the bags to break.

As we helped the man I remembered a Real Live Preacher story. I read it when I got home. Click here to read it. It's slightly graphic, so read only if you're brave. Also you may want to read this story about Real Live Preacher and his wheelchair friends.

I think I wrote more tonight about Alice than about the man in the wheelchair. I think she likes to feel special and important. But then, don't we all. She's kinda mean sometimes. I think she just really wants stuff to be done right. She has moments when she's really nice. I think she's a very nice kind person deep down, but she has a very tough exterior.

Anyways, I'm going to stop writing now. Take a look at those stories, and have a nice day.

Caffeine, Beer, and It's Still MY Birthday

In French this morning, my eyes were closed through most of the class. The last time I felt as tired as today was after an overnighter. I don't know why I was so tired. I got plenty of sleep last night. I bet it was because I didn't have coffee this morning. I was dead tired until I had a Coke at work. I am a caffeine addict.

So at work, after I woke up, I carded a guy buying beer. There on the license 07-24-1983, MY Birthday. It was Zack again!! He remembered me, too. He collects beer bottles. At Central Market we have beer imported from all over the world. He said he almost has one of each of our bottles, so he will have to look elsewhere. He said something like that he's probably been an alcoholic since he was 17.

I wonder if it was when I was 17 that I became a caffeine addict. My first or second year of college I almost completely abstained from caffeine. But in the last year or two, I've gone back. I'm wondering if I should again face the tiredness and headaches of withdrawl.

What do you think about the statement, "Everyone's addicted to something." So true or no true?