if i were the president of a book club...

this is a book praise moment.

i want everyone to read what i've been reading (unrealistic, i know). it may be of no interest to some... but it will be valuable to you if: a. you are troubled by the bloody images of jesus in the bible featured in the book of revelations. b. you have heard of or read the left behind book series and find them odd...c. you are concerned with the situation in the middle east and tired of christians blindly supporting israel rather than supporting peace. d. you believe in peace and think Jesus may be a pretty cool peaceful guy but just cannot reconcile what you have heard about "armageddon"...

please have the great pleasure of reading:

the rapture exposed by barbara r. rossing (her ph.d is from harvard and she is a new testament prof. at lutheren school of theology in chicago)

here is a sample from a chapter that addresses the dangers of the dispensationalist concept of the rapture.... (her arguement is against dispensationalist end times theology that is explained here)

"the answer (for dispensationalists) is the escapist rapture of saints from the earth up to heaven. From high above the earth dispensationalists plan to watch the whole grand spectacle of earth's final war and destruction. The rapture means that they will escape having to suffer any violence, yet will be able to view it all as it unfolds.. 'we will be watching from the balconies of heaven,' boasts ted hagee. Another believer writes, 'thank God, I will get a view of the Battle of Armageddon from the granstand seats of the heavens'... this voyeuristic desire for an aerial view of the end of the world while escaping it's torments is what dispensationalism is all about... simply put, we cannot afford to accept their version of the story. The violent ending they desire is not the Bible's vision for our world."

make love not war.

cali day 3

its about 11.00 pm. shannon and keegan should be getting here soon and im excited. they are probably going to be dead tired, so i better get unexcited real quick.

today we walked all around downtown LA, which has same mad community art that i appreciated. then we drove west to santa monica. what an amazing place. it felt weird to be on santa monica boulevard because i kept hearing that sheryl crow song (that i dont like) in my head... "and the sun comes up over santa monica boulevard...".

anywho, it was freeing to finally be at the ocean. i cant get enough. wathcing the sunset while riding the ferris wheel on the pier made me appreciate the beach/mountain combo more than ever.

also--- today we visited our lady, queen of angels roman catholic cathedral today and it was amazing. their is intelligent design and purposed creativity in every detail of that massage place. it was very post-modern by some measures, but also held ever so tightly to tradition. i took some sweet photos there.

***did you know that i said hi to the cardinal for LA today?

March 10, 2007

i dont know what time it is right now.... daylight savings went down last night and i dont know if the clock on the computer in front of me is right or if the clock on my cell phone is right... madness. unacceptable madness.

ever heard of red rock canyon? me neither. until yesterday. my aunt and uncle woke me up around 10 am to an already packed camper top toyota tundra (you know, with neccesities such as a compass, bonoculars, cheese, fruit and beef jerky, sunscreen, camera, and lots of water). *********it is important to note that my aunt and uncle are serious hikers/nature enthusiasts not to mention they are lay geologists.

we drove 2-3 hours from their home in sylmar/san fernando to the mojave desert (where my father grew up on edwards airforce base), across the san andreas fault, up 4,500 feet to the sierra mountain range and the other range whos name i cant recall. it was really hot. wearing sweatpants really turned out to be a gross decision.

we hiked around, took lots of photos, but most importantly (in my mind) was the few hours that i was on OHV only paths in the four wheel drive capable truck driving on the craziest sand i've ever laid eyes (or tires) on. my aunt and uncle trust me so much. I'd never been to the desert, or drivin in 4wd (or gone off roading at all for that matter)- yet they handed over the keys and let me plow over rocks, bushes and people (yea right). anyways- it was a blast. my throat is still really dry from all the dust though.

normally, im not a fan of the desert. and my first love is still the ocean. but yeserday, i saw the most beautiful ancient lakebeds, sediment formation, shifting techtonic plates and pastel colored earth i've ever seen.

getting lost in the high desert with nothing man made for 10s of miles is challenging to the mind.

**sidenote: i can now officially say i have been to the mine in the high desert where they used to get all the white powerdy stuff that our moms cleaned the bathroom with. its called the dutch cleanser mine.

March 9, 2007

so there i was... passenger seat of my aunt and uncles fully loaded hybrid car, gliding down the slopes of Mt.Wilson in Angeles National Park with the engine off (hyrbids are amazing) listening to the weirdest world/new age music i have ever heard. thinking to myself: wow. i cant believe how loud and clear this sound system shows off each strange synth and percussion noise world/new age music has to offer.

... about 20 minutes prior to the descent ....

there i was... standing outside at a look out point on mt.wilson. peering sort of awkwardly down at LA. about 10 miles prior the signs read: no cars beyond this point without chains on tires... ICE! we didn't have chains. and we didnt need them. though there were small patches of snow still... and large rocks in the middle of the narrow road.

getting out of the car in the pitch dark, surrounded by wild life.. i felt so known. like thousands of eyes were watching me and deciding whether or not i was there to disturb or to be peacful. the eyes i imagined: mountain lions... bears... snakes.

i dont know what it is about feeling so vulnerable - be it physically or emotionally- that scares the sam hell out of me. but something in my being was so impatient: danielle, get back in the car... this is scary. animals could attack at any moment. crazy hitch hiking murderers could up here. and i said to myself: well sure i feel retardedly anxious... but im going to stay out here and look out at LA. so get over it. and everytime we drove to another look out point and got out of the car... i felt the same anxiety. but when i peed in the dark of the mountain woods... i thought: look, im peeing up here. im connecting to nature.. or desercrating it.. whatever..

this must mean everythings ok.

did you know that if you live somewhere humid (like dallas) that when you come to LA you will wake up with the worst dry throat imaginable?