Christians and Panties

(Matt)

I was about to go to bed, but an encouraging email from Chip and Kelly (thanks guys!) prompted me to make one short post before I shut off the computer.

Today after Makinzie and I heard a good sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:23--"May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." How, the preacher asked, do we make sure that we devote our entire selves--spirit, soul, and body--to purity?

We had a chance to thoroughly examine the last aspect of this question in a very real way when we decided to make a trip to Ашан (ASHAN) after church. To imagine ASHAN in your mind, think of a Super-Walmart packed with people during Christmastime, and then add into the picture about twice the number of people at Wal-Mart's busiest moment. The lines for checkout at ASHAN stretch back into the aisles of products for miles. We spent about 1 hour in line, and for a large part of this hour we were stationary in front of the men's denim selections. There was a particularly bad looking denim jacket that people kept trying to look at (of course, my cart was always in the way), and I kept sending them mental signals not to make the purchase. It must have worked, since nobody bought the product.

But the "body" aspect of the day wasn't so much at ASHAN as in the "free" bus that goes to ASHAN from the metro station. I put "free" in quotes because the cost of the trip is figured into the discomfort of being so packed into the bus that one quite literally has no control over one's own movement. I wish I could re-model for you my own position on the return trip of the ride--each joint of my body, including neck, torso, arms, and legs--was bent at a different and awkward angle, so that a mannequin of my pose would either be hilariously funny or unnatural and frightening. Of course, with everyone else two inches away, the only part of me showing was my head, so I was saved from embarassment, although not from the pain of riding for twenty minutes with my left knee inverted inwards!

I laugh to think how my body would look "preserved" in this way for Christ's coming--certainly not blameless! Anyway, the experience of being melded into the people around me helped me recognize how much freedom we have to move and act otherwise. When the control of my body was taken away, I really missed it.

Well, how 'bout that little ephiphany for the day? My original intention for writing was only to share a quick quip about cereals:

• My favorite cereal here is "xristeeki's", a name which means "krispy's" but which sounds a lot like "xristeankis"--the word for "Christians."
• Makinzie's favorite cereal is "Panda's" (like the panda bear). Unfortunately, the Russian word for panda is pronounced "panty."
• Mmm! There's nothing like starting our day with a fresh bowl of Christians and Panties!

Enjoy your Sunday!

--Matt