church

So, I had a pretty cool church service this week (link to church website). It was really church SERVICE. Instead of normal liturgical church stuff, we had breakfast all together and then went out and did stuff -- helping people, picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms, giving out free coffee. And it was beautiful and profound to be able to worship God by picking up trash.
One moment that won't get out of my head is this one: we went to Veterans park after cleaning up one trail to help another cleanup group. They were getting trash out of this creek and we went down there to help them. At this point Brandon's gloves had been getting rather goopy, so he threw them out and didn't have any, but I did, and he had a rake so we were working together trying to get stuff within reach so I could grab it without falling into the cold muddy water. A few bottles were almost close enough for me to get them, but not quite, so Brandon had to hold onto me as I leaned in to pick them up and put them in our trash bag. And this is stuck in my head and I think it has something to do with what the church is all about. Helping each other out by doing things we can't do alone, working together with what we have, and holding each other up.

notes on the Peter Fish

I mostly wanted to point to this Calvin News article about the conclusion of the Peter Fish campaign, which the WAs had something to do with. I didn't do much except a little bit of publicity and helping with counting 'em up. That was a weird but cool event, by the way. The counting up of the peter fish. You can read my incomplete WAblog entry about it (other WAs that read this *coughkentcough* could help me add to the existing entry....) I was pretty impressed with the generosity of Calvin. And the large amount of change in one room at one time. I don't think I've ever handled several hundred dollars in quarters before.

solipsism

The word of the moment is solipsism. An appropriate word to introduce on a blog, since blogging is possibly the most solipsistic of writing forums. My continued posting in more than one blog, then, would indicate something about my solipsistic nature. At least I'm honest about it.

As another note, we should really have more classic children's books in our lives. I read this passage from The Velveteen Rabbit at Jazz Vespers last night, and it makes me so happy, I'm going to post it here:

"What is Real?” asked the rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
“I suppose you are Real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
“The Boy’s Uncle made me Real,” he said. “That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
The rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.

the michigan accent pronunciation guide

the michigan accent pronunciation guide

this website cracks me up. Kathryn (my evil twin) (not actually related to me) showed it to me a few days ago. And I read it and was amused. And now I am posting it on my blog as the first semi-profound thing to post, for the amusement of my future readers. Michigan accents. We have them. Who knew? When I move far far away, I hope people don't make fun of me too much because of my silly Michigan accent.

being a traitor

So Kent is using blogger now and I got jealous, so now I have one too. I don't want to ditch my xanga, so maybe this will be the blog that's actually interesting, and my xanga will be the blog that's about my life. Because Kent was just talking about that and it made me want to. Kent is a big influence on me today.

So, erm, bloggifying. More and more blogifying. (which spelling do you prefer? I can't decide.) if you want to read more Bethany blog, and have no life or lots of time on your hands, check out www.xanga.com/bethaniqua or www.calvin.edu/faith/service/worship_apprentices/wablog04-05