Otto’s Motto
“Me? I’m just a lawn mower, you can tell by the way I walk.” (I just love saying that. I hope there are some other Genesis fans out there.) But aside from mowing lawns I am a middle aged over-grown man with two partially grown children and a wife that keeps growing on me. We have two ingrown cats and a dog named Sarge that looks just like a cat. (Actually he is a cat, too, but don’t tell him.)
I’ve spent my life cooking and most recently I’ve been cooking with children. Mmh-mmh. Delicious! No, not like that! I work in a special education high school where I teach culinary arts and also work as a cafeteria lady. (But the head cafeteria lady, thank you very much!)
I am a man of little faith though I feel like I am pretty tight with God and Jesus seems to take up a lot of my time. But I’m not too crazy about “religion” and have little patience for the orthodoxies and dogmas that other people try to lay on me (or even less for those who try to ram them down my throat). Lately I’ve become a bit bored with church, both little c and big C varieties. I hope that changes. The funny thing is that the farther I get from religion, the stronger my faith seems to be. Go figure.
Anyway, I think it’s often fun and illuminating to go tipping at sacred cows. Care to join me?
In “The Message”, Eugene Peterson puts Proverbs 27:17 like this:
You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.
My name’s Otto and that’s my motto.
I am comforted that you chose to pay respect to the family. All to often our discomfort outweight the loving response we want to make.
There continues to be the debate about what Jesus looked like. I’ve always thought that is the one area Christians are unwilling to explore. It would shatter much of the church’s tradition and put many religious publishers out of business.
Jeanette Vaughn
It would shatter the church’s tradition and put religious publishers out of business? How’s that?
Thanks Jeanette. I think you meant to leave this on another posting (Black Jesus) so I pasted it over there.
Yes indeed, we definitely see eye to eye on many issues. I look forward to catching up on some of your blog entries and kicking ideas back and forth!
Hi Christian,
I noticed you have my old blog (journaling dikhotomia) in your blogroll. If you want to exchange links I can now be found at http://www.journalingfaith.wordpress.com! Hope to see you there!! (and here)
Hey Christian,
Thanks for your comment on my post about Christian fiction. I like your blog and have started subscribing to it. I’m also going to add it to my blogroll, if that’s okay with you.
Cheers, Nathan.
http://nathanhobby.wordpress.com
Thanks, Nathan. I enjoyed your sight. Welcome aboard.
I like the sharp iron analogy. thanks.
Thank You for adding my site to your blogroll…now I feel included
Poetman
I love what you’re saying here! I’ll be back for more!
Peace
Christian,
I moved Careful Thought to http://www.carefulthought.com/ Please update your links.
thanks,
Steve
Ooooohh!
Autumn is deepening!
‘That’s not a knife! This is a Knife!’ – Crocodile Dundee.
Beat Tam to it.
You have a great blog – very refreshing to read. I like the way you think, and the questions you ask. I look forward to working my way through your topics.
Hello
I hate to do this but a muse made me
Tag your it…
Please forgive me.
Poetman
Thank you very much Christian for the heads up on that spam bot -much appreciated:):)
hello! i luv your site, and I’m glad to meet another Christian blogger! stop by mine @ http://scripture4u.wordpress.com
Keep in the Faith!!
-neogotchi
Thanks, Neo. I just came back from visiting your site. Thanks for the invite. Tres cool. Keep comin’ back, young feller.
Hey C…You are about to read a “nice” comment from me. Save it!
Thanks for your friendship. For your support. For encouraging Brent and me in this whole Bankruptcy thing. Your support means a lot to us. Thank you Christian!
Now go change your avatar. It freaks me out!
Whew! That was scary for a moment. Glad the real Tam’s still there.
Anyway, ditto.
My avatar? I’ve had that clay bear since I was 16 years old. I sculpted it in art class, back when there was some brief thought of my having some artistic talent. Anyway, he won a blue ribbon at the county fair, but sadly it was in the “arts and crafts” division along side the potholders and tea cozies.
I never fired him in an oven- afraid he might explode- so before he set up completely gravity had pulled the clay down, giving him a sort of older, heavier, more tired demeanor. After 30 years I have finally come to identify with him.
So, Lady – he stays. Sorry, but we can’t all be blessed with such lovely avatars.
Shoot-Darn! I fell bad now. Slightly
Now it will just make me laugh when I see it. In a purely respectful, loving manner of course!
Have a good one!
Good. That was my intention.
Hey C! How are Buddy and Kathy doing? I can’t post anything on their blog…
Oh, and…how are you?!
I’m cool. Haven’t spoken to them in a bit – kinda crazy in my house right now. I’ll check ‘em out.
Thanks, Tam.
thanks!
hope you have a great weekend
crazy in your house???
My daughter’s car was totaled (it was old but sooo sweet!) we’ve been trading the flu back and forth, trying to get our house ready to put on the market, I was just promoted with a double work load (thank you Lord) and we just gave my dad an 80th surprise birthday party. And I’ve been working more at the Castle (to pay for the car, the party and the housing upgrades).
But I know that things are always serene around your digs. I am so envious.
BTW – The Olivers are cool – Buddy has been working overtime getting ready for a big show in Germany (he’s invented this really cool fiber optic device called the Light Viper that eliminates the tangle of cables that are used at concerts, sporting events, etc. Some day his visage will be on the three dollar bill)
Oh my word C! You’re life is chaotic! Daughter’s ok, right?
ummmm…we have a “Castle” store here in Oregon. It’s an “adult” shop. Tell me yours isn’t? Please?
Anyways…I just taped our chords and cables down tonight on stage at church. That was fun! So tell B.O. (ooo, that’s not good!) Tell Buddy to hurry up and get that out for us all! Glad to hear they, and you, are all fine. Please tell them Hi for me when you can!
Our house? Serene? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Nah, not a porno shop (that was a disaster!) I moonlight at Medieval Times, where I am employed as a humble serf. In this capacity I get to practice my Olde English accent while wearing tights.
My daughter (and the young lad driving the offending vehicle) are unscathed, Thank God.
Buddy’s real name is Harry – Harry Oliver – Hairy All Over? Get it? So he goes by Buddy. His son is named Bo, so I call him Booliver. The Light Viper thing is a big deal. If Brent gets the trade magazines he’s probably run across it.
Your house may be pandemonium (what house worth its salt is not?) but your presence must be akin to that of oil being poured upon rough waters. (Sigh) I can only imagine.
Christian-
It’s me, Chad. Glad to have found your blog. I like it. I will be back.
peace, brother.
Chad
Thanks, Chad. Ditto.
Hope you don’t mind a to-my-mind technical question. How do you get the “AS IRON SHARPENS IRON…” recent comments to show? Is that a wordpress thing, or can an ignorant blogspotter like me do it, too?
You know, I haven’t a clue. With WP it’s a widget in the design module. Check with Rob in SirRobert’sWorld. His a blogspotter. Thanks for the link, BTW.
Thanks, Chris, I’ll check with Rob. And … ooh … thanks for your link, too!
Christian:
I’m new to this blog stuff. I tried to make a comment on one of our postings and it didn’t show. Do I need to register?
Great spirituality!
Mike
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I have been exactly where you are with the whole c thing. I think I have made it work for now but I will never let it interfere with my relationship with God. I took a sabbatical about a year ago from it and focused on my relationship with God and that was the smartest thing I ever did!
Thanks. Except for blogging (which is really just a hobby) I am doing a similar thing. I have been attending a very non-religious Christian gathering and I am making a deliberate effort to no get too involved right away. Just enjoying the people and God while ignoring the ‘rules’.
Chris…great blog. I’ll be back for more. I’m fairly new to this blogging thing but check mine out. You’ve also got a great list of blogs that I’m gonna work my way through…
http://www.marleytheheathen.blogspot.com
Marley
particularly like the Jefferson quote…
Put a link to your blog on my site. You’ve got a lot of good stuff going on over here….
Marley
Thanks Marley. Now I’m going to catch all kinds of hell.
I’m looking forward to exploring your site a bit once things slow down some.
Brother I didnt know you were in to cooking. Thats awesome, just one more thing we share in common. I teach cooking classes myself and count cooking as one of my favorite things to do in life. If you ever come thru Kentucky you should stop by and we could swap some recipes. Just curious, does your wife cook? I only ask because my wife has only attempted to cook three meals in our two years of marriage and I was wondering if anyone else out there was with me on that.
Outstanding! This makes three of us; Netprophet is a retired chef out in the Pacific Northwest.
My wife can and does cook, but not that often. She has a few ‘family’ classics that are hard to beat – her meatloaf is one of the best. But….she’s not too crazy about it and I do most of the cooking.
But I am not a very good recipe guy. I love to be challenged, in the vein of Caesar Caridini tale. I like to look around the kitchen and see what I can make out of what’s available, which is often not too much (the shoemaker’s children and all that). My family calls me the king of the One Dish Wonder because most everything ends up in the skillet. Or on the outdoor grill.
But Kentucky…I am a great fan of BBQ and I love Kentucky style (as well as SC, NC, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana…..not to mention the offerings of Bourbon county and Bardstown.
So, who do you teach? I like what I do, but I would love to teach a class that is not learning disabled and maybe into cooking themselves.
I mainly teach international foods since I have spent a lot of time out of the States the last several years. Thai, Chinese, Greek, and Italian are specialties. I also love souther home cooking foods. Plus my mom and her boyfriend just bought me a grill, so I am using that a lot too, even when its snowing.
Hey, I was wondering if you ever got a chance to check out my blog? marleytheheathen.blogspot.com. I would love to get your feedback.
Hey, Marley, I did visit briefly and meant to return for a more in depth discovery but alas….things got away from me. A very, very busy fall. But yes, I will make a point of checking in, do some reading and likely give my a 2 cents (you may be sorry
)
I doubt it. I am rarely sorry when I’ve taken some kind of action. I can live with mistakes; what I can’t live with are missed opportunities.
Any reaction is better than none! I really like the energy and community you’ve built.
Thankee, m’lady. I’ve visited your site and left me comments, for what they’re worth. I like what you write (and how you write, as well) and expect to visit regularly. I’ve placed you on my blogroll.
Excellent, sir. Back at you on your writing style. Just came from reading your comments and they add IMMEASURABLY to the content. I cannot thank you enough. (I would have emailed you but there doesn’t seem to be a way to do that on your site. There is on mine if you want to use it.) Anyway, thanks for moseying on over, rummaging around and leaving a few thoughts behind. And thanks for putting me on your blogroll.
Hey, man! It’s funny because ever since I read this book called “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore”, the guilt I had concerning my dissatisfaction with my local Christian institution has vanished. I highly recommend this book, btw! It really shows how Jesus didn’t come to start a religion and how the religious institutions tend to make things worse.
The author of the book has a podcast, too. Just go here and check it out! It is amazing!
http://www.thegodjourney.com/archive/
Hey can you email me because I don’t think it’s a proffesional idea leaving personal comments on your blog, this way we I can shoot the breeze through the net and not interupt deep theological thought processes. OR HEY, maybe you should get a face book.
Yes, I can email you (just did), the thought processes are not that deep (you should know) and get a FACEBOOK!? Are you nuts? I’m half a century old, fer cryin’ out loud!
But I have been contemplating the idea.