By toba on January 6th, 2009 at 12:01 am in Street Level, Talk, Video

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What are some of your favorite date ideas? This week we went out asked you what you consider to be a great first date.

 

 Street Level - Dating: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Check out our Sex & Love section for great articles on dating, relationships and marriage.

By sarah on January 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 am in Talk

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You probably have a New Year’s Resolution. Maybe it’s to lose weight, eat less junk food, spend more time with your kids. I am considering a job change: superhero.

What does it take to be an official, certified superhero? According to the World Superhero Registry, a real-life superhero must meet a few basic criteria:

Costume. The purpose of a costume is not simply to protect the identity of the Real-Life Superhero from criminals that might seek revenge, but to make a statement both to the evil-doers that you fight against and to the world at large: you are not simply someone who happened upon crime or injustice and made an impulsive decision to intervene. You have vowed to actively fight for the betterment of humankind and to serve as an example for others.

Heroic Deeds. The purpose behind becoming a Real-Life Superhero must be for the benefit of mankind, and the Heroic Deeds must be of sufficient degree as to exceed normal everyday behavior.

Personal Motivation. A Real-Life Superhero cannot be a paid representative of an organization, not even a benevolent one. The motivation to become a Real-Life Superhero must come from the individual…

Plenty of people have registered themselves on the site, crime-fighters like Queen of Hearts, whose “goal is to quell Domestic Violence by teaching our youth and others how to recognize and prevent it”,  or Red Arrow, who says he is “a real-life superhero in Hong Kong. I try to bring happiness to people and become the salt and light of the world.”

Black Arrow, a Real Life Superhero (RLSH) from the United Kingdom says,

“I am a female RLSH, I was born to be a RLSH. My mission is to save the world. I aid those in need, I serve justice to those who deserve it. I give advice and guidance. But I am not just here for the people, I am here for the animals and the environment, for they are part of this world. Everyone has the power to stand up for themselves, to stand up for other people, but it’s the few that decide to embrace that power and be heard, and these people are RLSH, and rightly so. We stand for our beliefs, the rights of others. We stand for those who cannot. We stand because we can. It’s not that uniform you wear or the training you have done that matters, it’s how big your heart is and how far you are willing to go for your fellow man.”

Do think committing to a life of crime fighting and good deeds will make a difference in the communities of these superheros? If you registered on the Word Superhero Registry, what idenity would you assume? Why expend so much energy for other people?

By Dani on January 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 am in Talk

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We could complain about new year’s resolutions all day long. How dumb they are, how useless it is to make them, how easily they are abandoned, how they’re only encouraged to bolster gym membership numbers.

It’s easy to be negative about it. That calendar flips over and suddenly humanity swells with good intention. Intention that rarely ever sees February.  But maybe this year, instead of making a top 10 list of vague resolutions - lose weight, pay off debt, quit smoking - you could sharpen your pencil, get real, and ask yourself one question.

What is it that I want?

You want to play guitar, swim off the island of Santorini, Greece, help protect leatherback sea turtles or learn Spanish? Well how much do you want it? Because you are the only one who can take the necessary steps to make it happen. You can decide to do these things on any day of the year, but what better time than at the brink of a fresh, clean slate.

Instead of moping about new year’s resolutions, take some advice from H.L. Hunt,

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.”

What’s on your list of things you want to accomplish, places you want to see, people you want to meet? Are you trying to tackle that list proactively or are you whining at the thought of resolutions?

Image credit: moni

By Dani on December 29th, 2008 at 2:00 am in Talk

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At the end of any year, the Top 10 lists come pouring out of the woodwork. Top 10 Albums, Top 10 Breakups, Top 10 Sports Moments, you name it. TIME magazine online provides the Top 10 News Stories of 2008:

1. Our economic downward spiral
2. America’s first black president, Barack Obama, is elected
3. Mumbai under siege
4. Pakistan blast at the Marriott Hotel
5. Pirates ruling the seas off of Africa
6. Georgia vs. Russia conflict
7. The “Made in China” scare
8. Fidel Castro’s reign came to an end
9. The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia
10. Natural disasters: the cyclone in Burma and the earthquake in Sichuan, China

I’m always drawn to the Top 10 News Stories because they capture the raw reality of things that were felt around the globe. It’s incredible to look back on that list now and think, “Wow. That all happened just this year.” Things that shattered our ideals, revolutionized our politics, and painted a different landscape for what is to come.

If you have some time, take a few minutes to reflect. Ask yourself, what will I remember most about 2008? What stands out in your mind as the event that most affected you?

Image credit: IowaPolitics.com

By Dani on December 26th, 2008 at 2:00 am in Talk

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Hope.

It means to put trust in, to believe in, to desire. It is someone or something that carries your expectation. You can hope for peace, for change, for a better time. Some place hope in a person, in an ideal, or in God.

It’s a word we hear often, especially at Christmas time. So what do you put your hope in?

As I’ve wandered through my short 24 years of life, my hope has gone through a few different owners. Money, a boyfriend, the future and its well laid-out plans, someone’s word, a promise, a better day. I’ve handed it to unfit owners for years.

But when it gets handed back to me, ripped apart and in pieces, you know who takes it in His hands and slowly mends the pieces back together? Jesus Christ. My hope has only ever found its survival and life in Him.

This Christmas season I am again reminded of where my hope needs to be. Jesus Christ is the only one deserving of my trust, my expectation, and my belief.

As you walk through this Christmas season, ask yourself: What do I put my hope in? Where is my hope getting handed out to?

Further reading: Is the Christmas Story True? Does it Still Matter Today?

image credit: swirling miasma

By Darren Hewer on December 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am in Talk

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Charlie Brown asks the title question in the classic TV animated feature A Charlie Brown Christmas. Linus (Charlie Brown’s blanket-wielding friend) gives an answer that was controversial even upon the special’s release in 1965. The show was at the time considered “too slow, too religious” by its executive producer according to the Calgary Sun, yet it’s one of the most popular animated specials of all time.

Here is probably the most famous scene from the movie:

Does it seem controversial to include this scene in an animated special now? It did back in 1965 when its executive producer worried they’d ruined Charlie Brown! Yet Charles Shultz, Charlie Brown’s creator, insisted that the scene be included. How do you react when you watch it?

This may also be a good time to think about the Christmas story itself, and whether or not the Christmas story is true and matters today.

By Dani on December 19th, 2008 at 2:00 am in Talk

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Christmas is synonymous with gifts, and gifts can be a lot of things. Gifts can be tradition. Gifts can be expensive tokens. They can be wrapped packages of obligation. They might just be boxes that serve as under-the-tree fillers. But gifts, in their most ideal form, can be thought-out sentiments of love.

Yet I never thought about them as substitutes for words until I read this quote by Harlan Miller,

“Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words.”

Now the bulging Christmas lists, the wracked Visa cards, and the hectic malls full of strained faces and hurried feet make a bit more sense. Maybe everyone is racing against the clock to cross names off their Christmas list. Or maybe some of them are truly trying to purchase a symbol of how they feel about someone.

When you look at it, it seems like every tradition started out as something honest and heart-felt. I think gifts started out much the same way, as a way to express something from the heart, not from the wallet.

As you scour the stores, trying to find that perfect gift, why are you doing it? Is it because it’s Christmas and, well, this is just what everyone does? Or are you truly trying to find an accurate substitute to express your affections?

Image credit: brungrrl

By Claire Colvin on December 17th, 2008 at 8:00 am in Christmas, Talk

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How do you face the Christmas season when it doesn’t look the way it used to? I’ve been thinking about this a lot this year.  A friend of mine will face his first Christmas in over 20 years without his wife.  Another will celebrate without the child she waited so long for and held so briefly.  They had both had plans for Christmas.  They knew what was coming and now, this year, Christmas doesn’t look like Christmas at all.

Heartbreak and loss, loneliness and disappointment stand out in sharp contrast to the sparkly excitement of Christmas. An article I was reading earlier quoted Kate O’Dwyer Randall, a Chaplin, who said,

“Holidays in our culture are often about families, and families are not always happy institutions.  I think that particularly if you’re facing a death or a divorce, the ‘empty chair syndrome’ becomes very real at this time of year.”

The article went on to say that many churches now have “Longest Night” or “Blue Christmas” services.  These services offer a more subdued atmosphere to welcome those who want to acknowledge Christmas, but can’t face the ebullient joy of a well intentioned “Joy to the World!”

Christmas gets all glammed up, but at the heart of it all, it celebrates a very quiet moment.   Christmas began with a little baby in a stable.  It started with two parents who were tired from a long journey and caught off guard that the baby would choose this particular moment to be born.  It wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t shiny but it did mark the moment that hope came to the world.  (If you’re rusty on the details, you can read the Christmas story from the book of Luke.)

As I was reading about the Longest Night services, I found this poem by Ann Weems from her book Kneeling in Bethlehem.  Her poem sums it up perfectly:

The Christmas Spirit
Is that hope
Which tenaciously clings
To the hearts of the faithful
And announces
In the face
Of any Herod the world can produce
And all the inn doors slammed in our faces
And all the dark nights of our souls
That with God
All things are possible,
That even now
Unto us
A child is born!
~ Ann Weems

If you would like someone to talk to, we’re hosting something close to a Longest Night service in the chat room.  On December 17, 2008 at 10:00 pm EST we’re talking about finding hope in the darkness.  Come and join us and about talk about what you are facing this Christmas.  May you continue to cling tenaciously to the hope that we celebrate, even now.

By toba on December 16th, 2008 at 2:00 am in Street Level, Talk, Video

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‘Hope, peace and joy’ is something we often wish for each other at Christmas time. No matter how you define hope, it is something most people can’t live without. In times of difficulty, what brings you hope?

 

 Street Level - Hope: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

‘Deck the Halls’ by John Morgan.

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By Claire Colvin on December 15th, 2008 at 5:30 am in Christmas, Discover, Family, Family, Home Page, Talk, Women, Women-Discover

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Did you have Christmas traditions when you were a kid? We had a few.  They didn’t start with “everyone sitting by the fireside …” but they were ours and I loved them.  My Dad used to hide six red robins in the living room and my brothers and I (well usually just my younger brother and I) would huddle together on the couch trying to find them all.   We always made sugar cookies and when it came to decorating the tree EVERY ornament had to find a place somewhere.

There’s something very comforting in the familiar sights and sounds of Christmas.  There’s that moment of recognition, of thinking, “I know how this goes, I know what comes next.”  It reminds me of the country dancing you see in those old Jane Austen movies.  Everyone knows the steps and so everyone in the room participates.  There is an inherent togetherness in tradition.

As I’ve grown up part of the process has been choosing my own traditions and deciding how I want to celebrate.  It started in university, the first year I participated in Operation Christmas Child.   Filling a gift box for a child on the other side of the planet is a wonderful way to start the season.  Each year as I keep filling boxes, I remember the student I was.  Even with little money to speak of it wasn’t so hard to find a little extra.  I try to remember that now as I bustle through the other expenses of the season.  Sometimes generosity hardly costs a thing.

One Christmas, my parents bought all three of us Nerf dart guns.  My oldest brother was almost out of the house and my Mom said she just wanted to see us all playing together like we did when we were kids.  There’s nothing refined about three almost-adults chasing each other through the halls with foam darts.   But the laughter that rang out through the house that day, and that lives still in my memory was very Christmassy indeed.

If you’re looking to start a tradition of your own this year, check out Lily Green’s wonderful article, “My Christmas Tradition”.  Often it’s not the fanciest or priciest traditions we hold dearest, but rather the ones that bring us together and remind us of the ones we love.  How will you celebrate this year?

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