Safe Haven

I'm fairly certain the microwave heated my Ramen noodles to roughly 4000°C. I thought, "Well, if I want to taste anything anytime in the next year, I should probably wait." I left it aside, and I wrote an email. [You wanted to hyphenate that, didn't you?--ed.] Yes. Anyway, emails take comparatively forever. This particular one was going to take 20 minutes, at least. And that reminds me, no, I did not add vegetables to my Ramen noodles. I have no idea when this particular abomination started taking off. I'm not opposed to vegetables; I like them. I decidedly do not like them in other things. Being an observant Catholic who keeps the Friday abstinence all year round, my conviction on this point deepens. You can season anything you like; you can put butter on anything you like, but I want to taste whatever it is I happen to be eating. I don't want to go on an adventure. I know the texture and taste of the foods I eat, and I don't like surprises. Maybe the ove

Probably not. Admittedly, I have a holy picture of Him that looks rather Northern European. That is, white. Among the three choices I had, that one looked the least kitschy. I can still recognize Him, you know. I’ve seen an East Asian Jesus, Black Jesus, and others. If—more accurately—He looks like a Jew or an Arab, what is that to me? He still asks me, “Who do you say that I am?” When Saul of Tarsus was arresting and killing His followers, Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” He repeated it. He personalized it. Anyone who is dehumanized has a friend who understands in Jesus. We take the risk of politicizing Jesus, because that’s what He did. From the Roman Empire, to Mexico during the Cristero War and beyond, declaring, “Jesus is Lord!” has often cost people their lives. He still says, “You would have no power over Me, unless it were granted you from above.” When we traffic in racism, or even make excuses for it, we are Herod; we are Pontius Pilate. We really are on the