ohiolands:

Columbus, Ohio

lucynic83:

Rest in peace Whitney Elizabeth Houston: August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012
“God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?”  

(via heavens2betsy)

ohiosurftown:

The other day my roommates were dying over a video of some guy playing the guitar and singing, and I was making so much fun of them… Like, ladies, put a cork in your uteruses please. 

Then I remembered about this. 

A Post About Knowing Things. 

..Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Cor. 13:12

I am known. All that is good and all that is evil within me, every single thought and feeling and action I’ve ever produced, are known. At times, such knowledge, that God knows about my every move, can be a little uncomfortable. But the more I think about it, the more comforting it actually is. I am known. I am understood. Though not all of my actions are good, I am comforted by the knowledge that I am understood and cared for by my Creator.

However, this is not what I really want to talk about, but a mere segue to what I really want to say. Now I know in part.. That is what I want to talk about. The truth is, every believer on the face of the earth knows in part. Knows what? Knows God…in part. The most studied bible scholar, sees in part. A person that can’t even read, sees in part. Christian, non-christian, we all see in part. We don’t see God as He fully is, but He sees us. 

There are things about God that we know, thanks to the Word given to us. We know that He is good. We don’t know the scope and spectrum of His goodness. We know that He is merciful. We don’t know the extent of His mercy. We know that He is faithful. We don’t know how high the heavens are or the extent of the depths of the ocean. We catch mere glimpses of His character traits day in and day out. 

That being said, we know Him… but we don’t. Way back in the day, we saw many people doing things in the name of God, due to their poor understanding of Him. People thought doing certain things pleased Him. People could condone racism, slavery, and murder. In the name of God, with a distorted view of His character, people could justify many many things. We see repeatedly that people with pure, yet naive hearts, did and thought horrible things. 

Thanks to technology, which has made even this post possible, we have access to information about the whole world. Movements. People. Messages. We are no longer limited to what we see and who we know, but to people we may never see and never know. And so we can see, racism, slavery, murder, and discrimination in the name of God continue to persist. Ideas are transferred from East to West, West to East, neighbor to neighbor, regarding what pleases God, and with these transfers, horrific things have transpired. It is my general theory, that in addition, these transfers have also caused a certain alienation and discrimination even toward friends and family. You may say, ‘Well, the Bible said it would happen in Luke 12:53.’ Search it. And so we justify our divisive ways. Christians versus Christians. In the name of God, my movement is better that yours. My idea of what God is like is more accurate than yours. According to this scripture or that scripture, this is what we are focusing on. Our visions. And we forget to love. We forget the poor. We forget the hungry. We don’t feel pain for one another’s trials. We are cold. We are focused on visions. When our oasis gets here, then maybe we can get around to other stuff.. we can get around to maturing.

And so, sometimes I have the urge to… quit. And I know I am not the only one… for I can only see in part. I don’t understand God and I understand Christianity even less. So my prayer is that I wouldn’t have to wait to die to see fully. More fully. Not necessarily through something crazy, like a vision or a dream, but through relationship and conversation with the God above, who sees and knows and understands all. My desire is to be more like Him, not just in character, but in understanding, because following people is the most unreliable thing. My prayer is that I wouldn’t fall into any category of Christianity, but that I would be, just a Christian. My prayer is that Christians and non-Christians alike will know me by my love and gentleness, rather than by my philosophies or my activities. My prayer is that unity would be celebrated. All would feel loved. All would feel included and invited to know Him. His truth instead of our opinions.

But that’s just me.

felldowntherabbithole:

June 2, 2000

What does that day, month and year mean to you? President Bill Clinton used that particular day to declare ”Gay and Lesbian Pride Month”. Nine years later, on June 1st, President Barack Obama spoke to incorporate an even wider group. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered citizens alike could all have this month for recognition, respect and appreciation. However, I am aware that not all minds meet equally about the rights and respect that we should pay to others. As each generation leaves their footprints, and paves the way for what is to come…to some, change is an impossible idea or action to put in motion.

You know what? Often, this unfortunate reality is because of learned behavior! As much as we may often preach that we like to speak for ourselves, or outside the box, how many times have you caught yourself, or someone you know repeating the thoughts of another before them? Sometimes without proper information? And how many times have you felt that perhaps further knowledge on an issue or subject matter might result in a different voice, a different understanding? Perhaps even going against the ideas they’ve learned, heard, or grown up around? We have the ability to fly planes, send astronauts into space, develop technology such as cellphones! Things that once were unfathomable. I can sit at this small computer and type this message. Once I push send, this message can be seen by anyone who’d like to engage, all across the WORLD. 

As many of you know, we (the Glee cast) have been storming the country at whirlwind speeds to put on a forty-two show, month-long tour. It has been a constant reminder of why we do this. We’ve witnessed the impact our show has had, from the very beginning, to these moments, three years later. You LOVELY & AMAZING fans! Just indescribable. The love, affirmation, and dedication you provide! We see it all, value it all. Trust me, we do! On stage, the excitement that we absorb from your ball of energy brings our adrenaline levels to highs that often-times, we aren’t sure we can reach. Bottom line, we love you guys. And our crew! Without this diverse group of hard-working people, this venture would be impossible. 

Yesterday was June 11th, and we were tackling our newest location, Toronto! We had finished our first concert of the day, and I was about to take a moment to relax before the second. On the way to our dressing rooms, I passed a stack of shirts lined up on the merchandise tables. The white T’s were modeled after shirts we wore in a performance set to Lady Gaga’s, “Born This Way.” In case you are not familiar here are the lyrics:

[Verse:]
My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars

She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir

“There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are”
She said, “‘Cause he made you perfect, babe”

“So hold your head up girl and you’ll go far,
Listen to me when I say”

[Chorus:]
I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don’t hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you’re set
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Beautiful. True. Words to remind yourself, words to live by. Doesn’t matter if you’re not a Gaga supporter, or one of her “Little Monsters” as she lovingly refers to her fans. Kindness moves mountains. Acceptance opens doors, makes room for change, diffuses misunderstanding. Every day, people commit hate crimes because of misunderstandings. Hate effects the target, and consumes the person behind the gun. It is crazy to realize that we have been in war for almost our entire existence on this planet. Many times for reasons of greed and hate.

Anyone that has experienced the death or abuse of a loved one can tell you that, “IT HURTS BEYOND EXPLANATION!!! AND WE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO MAKE ANY CHANGE POSSIBLE.” Raise your hand if you’ve spent nights crying yourself to sleep, raise your hand if you’ve felt as if you’d rather hide in bed all day than face the people that make you feel small or powerless! Raise your hand if you’ve felt as if you’d rather lie to people than tell them the truth about who you really are, because at least you wouldn’t be the victim of hateful behavior or prejudice! And raise your hand if lying feels almost as bad. 

I was not raised in a family that accepted prejudice or hatred. For that, I thank my Mom and Dad each and every day. Look, we are human, we make mistakes. I will gladly shout from the rooftops that I AM NOT PERFECT. Nor will I ever be. But I can happily say that to my knowledge, I do not ever intentionally cause people pain. I love my family, my friends, my co-workers…and they all consist of girls AND boys. I do tell them that I love them. Yesterday, during our second show,  Instead of wearing my usual shirt during “Born This Way” I decided to wear one that said “Likes Girls”. It should actually have read, “Loves Girls”, because I do. The women in my life give me things that the men in my life can’t. And vice-versa. No, I am not a lesbian, yet if I were, I hope that the people in my life could embrace it whole-heartedly. And let me tell you, I can easily spill (quite comfortably) what I admire, respect and think is beautiful about any of the women in my life. Piece of cake! 

Last night, I wanted to do something  to show my respect and love for the GLBT community. Support that people could actually see. Which is why I decided to change my shirt for the show. I happened to read a few comments that were posted on twitter. Many of you asked, “why?” This is my response. I am not asking for you to agree with what I am saying, but if you are listening, thank you. That is all I can ask. And a step further would be to take a moment to (honestly) answer the questions that I have raised. We can’t always put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. But we can try.

I am lucky to live in a place where I can wear almost anything that I want to express myself, and that jail is not a probable consequence. Which makes me feel as if I should exercise my right to do so every now and then. Think of the people that have died because of their passion and heartfelt hopes of change? So many good men and women. All because of an inherent wish for tolerance, love and support. 

Our show celebrates the GLBT community. We are proud to be a part of something that embraces an often avoided topic. Hate is terrible, especially when we pass it down to a new generation of innocents. Recently, I heard a lament about San Francisco. How SFO just didn’t sound like a fun place to be, or visit, because that person wasn’t gay. Wait, really???? I wanted to laugh! But that would have been a response that wouldn’t have encouraged that person to be open-minded. To see that perhaps, their statement was foolish? Why won’t San Francisco be fun for you? Do you think the whole city is gay? Do you think they will judge you? Won’t feed you good food?  Perhaps they won’t let you have fun, the way THEY have fun? 

Sadly, we’ve gotten letters from people who explain that they love the show but hate the gay story-lines. That we shouldn’t be polluting their children’s heads. To this I’d sometimes like to sarcastically reply, would you also like us to tell them that a stork is dropping off our offspring? That the sky is purple? That it is not practical to be true to yourself, because there are mean people in this world that will make them feel wrong for being honest? That instead of embracing themselves, they should lie to the world? THEY should be the ones being untrue and unhappy? 

I believe that if you are bringing a child into the world, you should be willing to accept them in any reality. Whether they are Black, White, Asian, have four fingers, are disabled, gay….that the only wish should be for a happy and healthy baby. We are each other’s children. Unless someone has committed a violent or hateful act, why should we judge? We can so quickly resort to anger, often, the product of a whole other issue. Most often, an issue with our own self.

I understand that I am sitting behind the protection of this computer screen, in this hotel room, and to many I might sound “preachy”. Especially now that I have written an essay. I hope my intentions sound pure, and just. I speak, because I am passionate. I write with this passion because I know how it feels to be hurt, to be depressed, to not value yourself, or your feelings. If any of this has inspired or moved you, even just made you think….I encourage you to tweet or reblog a picture, quote, anything that you feel will continue to spread the love. And if any are interested in tracking the chain, perhaps visualizing the greater collective, include the hatch tag, #letlovein.

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. - C.S. Lewis
 

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu
 

Fortune and love favor the brave. - Ovid

AND remember that sometimes….

People need loving the most when they deserve it the least. - John Harrigan

To thine own heart be true. Many thanks for your time, your love, and the gift you’ve given me.

Sincerely,

Dianna Elise Agron

Christianity. You’re doing it right Ms. Agron. 

Mess and Mistakes: An Introduction. 

Every now and then we all do things that are wrong in other people’s eyes. And sometimes they’re right. Sometimes we are wrong.

This is not a confession post. Too long, too stressful. But over the course of two years, I’ve been in a whirlwind about the things I’ve thought about my faith. Sometimes I feel like my faith is what has made me stronger, but other times I’ve felt that its been my faith that has caged me. 

Caged from what? Perhaps you immediately think that somebody who feels caged in faith is just dying to go out, live la vida loca, at full force, full throttle without consequence or remorse. This is not what I feel caged about. I’ve felt caged, imprisoned, trapped by my faith in the understanding of the world and the people who live in it. I’ve been around religious people all my life. Some are the nicest, sweetest, most amazing people. But some of them are calloused, proud, and condemning. Its when I see people of my own kind that I wonder: In 40 years, 50 years, who will I be most like? Thats why this post isn’t about them, but about me. I’ve never had the chance to really question anything. Its all been to fed to me directly from those above me and I’m not always sure what I’ve been eating.

Not everything that can be fed to someone is food. I could put dog food into a baby’s mouth (gross), and he will probably eat it. He might even grow up to eat it as an adult, acquire a taste for it, and even die eating dog food when there’s things to eat that you and I know, are much more delicious than that. So no, what I’ve been needing all my life is not people’s dog food religion. What I’ve been needing is God. Life that comes from another source other than Man’s.

So I’ve explored. I’ve explored the Church and I’ve explored the world, and I’m not done. All my life I’ve been re-evaluating the rules and norms of Church. If I’m going to choose to belong to anything, I think I deserve the right to see what I’m getting into. To read the fine print. The Terms and Conditions. And there have been times that I’ve been appalled by what I see. First, the judgement people make toward others that aren’t like them. You know, people like…. the adulterers, the gay and lesbians, the pregnant teenagers, the druggie, etc. I’ve seen them all come and go at Church. People that are this or that, into this or that, that really makes people’s mouths itch to gossip or makes them desperately want to change them for their own comfort.

Parents tell their kids to watch out and not talk to people like them because they may be a “bad influence” on them. Maybe they’re right. But have you ever thought that maybe the religious kid that shows up to all the church services, that participates, that wears the tie, could possibly be the one that is a bad influence on your kid? Teaching your kids to be judgmental a**holes, to read the Bible like its a textbook, guilt-tripping them whenever they make a mistake, ditching them whenever they make a BIG MISTAKE?

I’ll be blunt. I am very disappointed in the fact that Christianity has predominantly become a social club, the biggest self-help group of the Western hemisphere, a place where people only come to watch people. A group of people not knowing or caring what their neighbor is going through, no friendship, no words of affirmation, talking to you to see when you will pay this debt or that debt to, asking you if you can help with a Church event to raise money (for what?!), never bothering to get to know you because they are God’s representatives, when in reality people only need people. Things can be so messy.

But then so is the world sometimes. The world isn’t without lack of cheaters, and liars, and adulterers, and different kinds and flavors of bad. However, nobody in the world is pretending they’re not. So sometimes people choose the lesser of two evils. And that is why I think people make a subjective decision to go into this crowd or that crowd. Whichever one tickles their fancy. 

From the bottom of my heart, you should know, I never intend to offend Him or you. I wonder sometimes if He’s loved me more as a Saint than as a sinner, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve never been a Saint at all. If He has loved me its been while I was a sinner. And I cannot change, and I refuse to change or feel bad for His approval because it cannot be done. He didn’t make me perfect. I’ve determined I’m not better than any of you or worse than you. All of you have made mistakes. All of you have sins. All of you have taken chances. And if God accepts anyone, likes anyones, will take anyone into His Kingdom, it may only be people that are superhuman.

If there’s a race to be run and endured and a finish line to get to, it is a marathon that not even the best runner can finish. Its a race so long and grueling that it has to be run with legs of iron. And none of us have legs of iron. So, its a race that has to be run for you or you are automatically disqualified, no matter how hard you try. This is what I know and what I have found to be true. If anyone gets to heaven, it wont be because of what you are and what you did with your puny legs. And this is what I’ve been doing and I can’t go on. So I pray to God that He will carry me. If He wants anyone of us to be with Him, He will carry us.

about me 

Hi. Thanks for coming here. I must have said something you agree with or something that pissed you off if you’re here. Hopefully, it wont be the latter. I do apologize for anything I say in this blog if it offends you. My goal is not to offend.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I hope that by reading this you’ll see that I am actually a person that wants to promote good over evil. I don’t always get it right, but I am on the search for Truth and Peace as much as you are probably.

My name is Adriana. My life experience is this, in a nutshell: I grew up in a small town in Texas, my parents’ were pastors most of my childhood, I learned who Jesus was early on and He is the only Man I’ve ever fallen in love with. But my world was small then in comparison to now. The longer I live, the more I realize that the people I identify with (Christian people) are actually not known for being loving. The longer I live, I find out that I’m not better than anyone (sometimes I’m way worse). The longer I live, I realize that some things I believe were actually things I never pondered on my own. They were spoon-fed to me by more influential, persuasive, bolder people than me (either on the pulpit or in the classroom). 

I went to Ohio State for college. There, I was lucky enough to have met some of the most amazing people I will ever meet. Some of the most fiery Christians I have ever met are my close friends. They sharpened me in ways I probably wouldn’t have been sharpened had I not met them. In college, I fell even more in love with God and I learned about His abounding love for me.

After college was a little different. After college I wasn’t able to continue being and living with the people that so influenced my walk with God. I got to know a whole new, different awesome set of people. I got to know people that weren’t necessary crazy about God all that much. There were some people I met that hated the idea of God because they saw God as someone who hated them. I realized that this hatred wasn’t fueled by God or people on their own. I learned that people like me were actually the most responsible for creating this fear-based, hatred-based gospel. Though I saw myself as a harmless person, I hadn’t been. I didn’t see what my actions had done. I had been a part of a clean, homogeneous Christianity that left a whole lot of people out. My happiness caused others’ unhappiness, created barriers between God and people, and people and their pursuit of happiness.

The biggest lesson I am learning is that as a Christian, I am to be a bridge to God and not a precipice. My words and actions are tools for love or hatred. This Tumblr is a thinking pad for me as a Christian and as a human being. A place where discussions can happen, truth can be discovered, and love can be promoted. Anyway, enough about me.

Hi. I'm Adriana and this is where I waste my time. I'm an Ohioan. No. Texan.. Texhioan. I like people, places, and things. I also like trying to figure out the meaning of life.

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