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Day 20 ~ Praying for Hermit Crabs & Saving the Toads
December 20, 2004
I've been really pleased to find a little door-opening fun of my own this month. After all, I already know what's behind all the doors in my Advent Calendar.
For the last several nights, I have been tucking myself into bed and reading an entry from the book RealLivePreacher.com, which is from the website bearing the same name. I happened to come across the site by accident when I was designing my blog. When I saw the words "RealLivePreacher.com" I thought, "Oh, great... some ultra conservative fundamentalist Christian is spreading fire and damnation online." Despite this initial knee-jerk reaction, I felt compelled to click on the link to see just what kind of fruitcake was at the other end of the internet.
The rabbit hole I stumbled down led me into the world of Gordon Atkinson, who really is a real, live, preacher with a blog. He was doing an online booksigning for his newly published compilation of weblogs, and was sitting at a desk in a bookstore in Texas with what looked like can of beer sitting in front of him. (Maybe it was sarsparilla, the resolution was bad.. it was hard to tell.)
I thought, "Hmmm, well that's rather odd and oxymoronic ... who IS this guy?"
What I found as I navigated through the site were entries with titles like Apparantly I Might Be A False Prophet, and What's In the Preacher's Pants? I don't think I have to explain the immediate liking I took to the preacher's blog.
Gordon has an easy way of writing, weaving a tapestry of words from the heart. It's an honest and sometimes blunt look at life and faith from a man who readily admits he doesn't have all of the answers. You won't find any prehistoric brimstone here. What you WILL find is a creative, funny, surprisingly real man who not only shoots straight from hip – he's shooting straight from the heart.
Gives a whole new meaning to Don't Mess With Texas.
My favorite entry, which can be found in his book is titled, Something About Prayer, here's an excerpt:
Toward the back I saw the head of the little girl who asked for this prayer. Her hands were clasped in front of her so seriously. It was a precious sight, and my heart filled with love for these people. I was like the Grinch looking down on the little town of Who–Ville and having a stunning revelation of his own.
"Maybe prayer," I thought, "means a little bit more."
Here were people who would pray for a [hermit] crab. They loved this little girl that much, and she felt comfortable enough to share the concerns of her heart. Even in the midst of their own unanswered prayers, they were big enough and small enough to pray with their young friend... I said to myself, "The hell with it. I'm praying for the damn crab."*
When I read this I laughed out loud and immediately thought of today's TOAD animation. I knew I was crazy, but there was a moment when I stood in the forest looking at the thrashing tadpoles gasping for their lives and I said to myself, "To hell with it. I'm saving the damn toads."
*used with the author's permission.
Posted by vincent at December 20, 2004 08:36 AM