Nov
26
For many years I have thought about all that wasn’t recorded about Jesus’ life, especially the ‘missing years’ from age 12 to age 30 when he started preaching. Here is day 1 of my ‘Secret Jesus’ series in anticipation of Christmas coming up soon.
Jesus’ thumb
Jesus had to be trained as a carpenter, right? It was probably his father, Joseph, who did the training since chances are he himself was a carpenter. I know when my father and grandfather taught me how to work with wood they started with teaching me how to hammer. I hit my thumb plenty of times and I have no doubt Jesus did the same thing.
Two Types of Real
Some don’t believe Jesus was real but the evidence seems to point to that he was. However, there is more than one way to be real. One of the reasons Christianity is messed up is because of the dichotomy within the church. We insist Jesus was real but build a story about him that focuses again and again on how unreal he was.
Seeing as I am pretty earthbound man, I like thinking about who Jesus was on this earth, not his identity in some spiritual realm I don’t really connect with and sometimes am not even sure exists. If he wasn’t a real human; learning and growing, then how do we relate? What are we going to learn about how to be and do in our real world?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
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Jesus Trivia question
Did Jesus have a sister?
Come back tomorrow for the answer
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May
15
WOO HOO! I persuaded you to continue on our ‘How to Persuade’ series!
Imagine if Eve had better persuasive abilities. Perhaps she could have convinced the serpent that it should eat the apple, not Eve (by the way, do you think it was a male or female serpent?). Then what would have happened?
What’s up with the word ‘seem’ in this quote? Does it mean you can just fake listening? Can you just pretend to be open to persuasion or do you really need to be open to it?
I think it’s obvious that at least the author of the quote (Lord Chesterfield, not sure what he was Lord over though) thinks you can just appear to be open to it. The good think about appearing to be open to persuasion is that you eventually actually do become open to it. That is a good thing. It doesn’t mean you are going to fall for anything, or accept something blindly. It simply means you are willing to have a conversation with an open mind.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who does indeed usually think he is right.
Quote by Lord Chesterfield, who, it turns out, was Lord over the County of Nottingham way back in the 1600s. Alas, his Earldom became extinct when his descendent forgot to petition for a writ of summons to the House of Lords, died, and that was that.
Mar
26
It may be another week but it’s still the perfect day to continue my perfection series.
Do you know anyone who is perfect? See, proves my point. All perfect people are alone. And all who pretend to be perfect, they end up alone too. Maybe not physically alone, but emotionally and socially they quite likely will be. This will be especially true if they combine their perfection with judgment.
But wasn’t Jesus perfect? Personally I don’t think he was. I think he had imperfect reactions at times. For example, I think he was often annoyed and impatient with his followers (including his mother) instead of being understanding and patient. Realistically, I think he might have been grumpy and short with people if he was too hungry. He seems to have been harsh and a bit mean to whole groups of religious folks (the pharisees come to mind). He certainly was inconsiderate to his parents when he stayed behind in the temple when he should have been with them on the journey home. I think of Jesus as one who moved towards perfection much faster and with more courage than others (especially me) but I don’t think he was perfect.
Are you perfect? Or perhaps you just play a perfect person in real life? Either way you are probably much more alone than you wish to be. It’s not fun being #1 and alone. I bet you will find a lot of loving people ready to support and help you when you allow your honest, imperfect self to show through.
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman, who humbly submits that he has perfected the art of being imperfect.
Dec
23
Hello to all my Napkin Kin! Here is my final Christmas Card of 2011 (well, it’s really a napkin but it plays a card on the internet)
The final words at the end of each All Souls Unitarian Church service in Tulsa is this, “Go then – be blessed and be a blessing.” I always love hearing that because it puts in 8 words what life is all about. We aren’t told to deny ourselves – it’s ok to allow yourself to be blessed, whether by God, universe or human, via a Christmas present or a cosmic blessing. But we are also told that it is not a one way street. We are to be a blessing as well. We don’t have to change the world, we just need to give the gift we can give. It might be our presence, it might be a new car or it might be a drum solo like the little drummer boy gave. Whatever it is, you are capable of blessing someone.
I hope both for you this Christmas and holiday season.
Blessings,
Marty Coleman, The Napkin Dad
