but, I AM a Christian!

       Today Emily and I went to the famous Pike's Place Farmer's Market.  The last time I was there, I was with Christine and I think it was about a hundred years ago.  It's funny, I had really short hair then, too.  Anyway, the farmer's market is famous for these funny, entertaining guys who throw fish up into the air and make jokes.  They always draw a crowd because it's such a commodity.  It also is lined with gorgeously vibrant produce of all kinds and flowers--tons and tons of flowers!  I had never seen rainbow-colored roses before, so I took this picture to show all you guys.  It's looks like you could eat them.  

     There are also a good amount of musicians with their guitars spread throughout the area and one guy stood out, in particular.  He was rather short and hefty with kind of messy tight curls, a la Crusty the Clown.  And what song do you think he was covering? A Whole New World, from Aladdin.  Yeah, he sang that duet all by himself.  I am sorry, but he was such a far cry from the beautiful and exotic Arab princess--or even Aladdin, before he was a prince, when he was poor and just a street rat--that it bordered on ridiculous, but he certainly tried it.  You gotta give him props for that.  
      And last night a group of us went to this place called the Purple Cafe.  It wasn't nearly as purple as you'd imagine; in fact it wasn't purple at all, but we all did get to sit around this enormous wooden table that looked fitted for kings and queens, so that was cool.  There were three of us, me, Kevin, and Brandon, who had the same hair--so I wanted to capture the moment.  Luckily, I have a face like a girl, I guess.  

      I have been living with my good friend John this week.  Don't go thinking it's anything remotely inappropriate because I can assure you in all honesty that it isn't.  He cracks me up and we have a good time.  A lot of mornings he will turn on the televangelist, Joyce Meyer, who he has confessed to me that he really loves.  I find this very interesting because he is not a Christian.  Anyway, we were listening to Joyce and she was saying that we need to be the kind of Christians that do not react to our circumstances, but rather act according to who God is and be consistent about it.  She said that we cannot act like the devil on Monday and try to take authority over him on Tuesday--which made both of us laugh, especially.  

    She also said that some Christians have given all of us a bad reputation, which made John say, Yeah, I really don't like Christians. Immediately, I asked him, But, what about me, John?!  He nonchalantly replied, Oh, I don't consider you a Christian.  Just like that, like it was no big deal to just write-off my faith.  But, John, I said, I love Jesus! To that, he simply said, So do I, but I don't consider myself a Christian.  But...I AM one! I said, in one last-ditch effort to convince him of my life's faith.  Nope, he simply replied, I just consider you deeply spiritual.   

     Well, I am not totally sure what to think of that.  I think, coming from John, it may be a compliment.  I think that he does not see Christians as positive or something that he wants to align himself with--and maybe I am simply different from the Christians he has known.  We talk about God a lot.  He knows that I have a relationship with Him.  It's not that he doesn't think I love God; he just doesn't want to call me a Christian, which again, is interesting.  

     There have been times when I haven't wanted to call myself a Christian, either--or at least, not when it is the same word that people use to describe themselves when they are actively starting groups like God Hates Fags or promising that Jesus will return in 1999.  And the crusades were not anything to be proud of.  And let's face it, Americanism--even democracy--are not the same thing as following Jesus, yet many people say that America and what we do are Christian.  At least, it is easy for the muslim and buddhist and everything-in-between nations to get that impression; that if you want to have a relationship with the true Creator, you have to dress a certain way, buy certain things, become a little more western.  A little more like us.  

    However, I know that I am a Christian.  I just thought my conversation with John was interesting and thought-provoking.  

  Oh, and actually John just walked in and got on his computer and said this to me: Ugh! I am getting all these stupid emails alerting me about Christian singles in my area--tell your people to stop sending me that s*#@ and leave me alone!  Lol.  I guess I've been re-inducted.