In Gennesaret

Don’t anyone get offended here, but I’m just not a megachurch gal.  I’m not knocking the phenomenon. Well, maybe a bit. But I’m definitely not knocking the people involved in the phenomenon. I have many loved ones in my life whose faith I don’t question one bit who do the megachurch thing. But it’s not for me. It just doesn’t feel right. On so many levels. It’s not just that they create a temptation for Sunday mornings (or afternoons or Saturday evenings) to become showtime -- although they do create that temptation. The fact is, when your service meets in a vast auditorium that seats a thousand, the struggle against the performative is real – whether you do worship in a contemporary style with a band and stage lights and special effects reminiscent of a rock concert or do it in a traditional style with a five-hundred voice choir and thirty-piece orchestra.  But no, the music isn't my main issue. It’s the ease of being anonymous in such a large crowd. Of being nothing more...

Hello. My name is Gwen, and I’m a Match-Match-Match addict. ( Hi, Gwen . . .) It’s a new game I found a week or two ago, and I simply can’t stop playing. It’s ridiculous. It’s a silly, mindless game – find three matching items in a massive pile of junk, over and over, until all the items are gone. I think it appeals to that part of me that enjoys creating order out of chaos. But people, I am spending HOURS playing this silly game. My phone is running out of charge by dinnertime because I’m on it so long. I wake up telling myself I won’t play it today . . . and then it’s, well, I won’t play it until lunchtime . . . and then, well, I’ll only play it until this show is over . . . and then I’ve played it for a couple hours and am still making excuses for why I don’t need to stop quite yet. Even as I’m typing this, part of my brain is thinking I should stop and play a quick game and come back to typing. Yeah, right. I’m thoroughly humbled, my friends. The crazy app has me licked. I sh...

For your amusement and enlightenment (maybe?), I present a transcript of my inner monologue as I prepared to and mowed the lawn last weekend for the first time in five years. (Note: I will bleep or edit the swear words. Just bein’ real with you, folks. God ain’t done with me yet. And if any of my students’ parents are reading, I promise I never swear at school. Remember, this is my inner  monologue.)   Upon waking in bed : Let’s see. The service is at 10 . . . picking up groceries at 12:30 . . . THE LAWN!   (Much groaning and incomprehensible muttering) I’ll call Javie again. No, he can’t do it. I’ll do it this afternoon. No, it’ll be too hot then. I have to do it this morning. But then I’ll have to shower and everything before the service. Nah, I don’t want to mow. I’ll do it Monday. During my prayer time : Lord, comfort the Blyths today . . . keep Austin safe driving home . . . and . . . and . . . FINE! FINE. I’LL MOW THE @&*$# LAWN. (Note: yes, I occasion...

I had never heard of Charlie Kirk before Wednesday night. I still have no real opinion on him because people on the left are just screaming about the horrible things he said and did and people on the right are just screaming about the wonderful things he said and did and I simply don’t have time to do the research to evaluate his actions and beliefs objectively, particularly when I suspect that such research would simply prove to me that he did good stuff and bad stuff just like all the rest of us. The only opinion I have about the man is that he should not have been shot. And the fact that I even need to say that is distressing to say the least. The rhetoric out there about this week’s events is absolutely deplorable. The rhetoric from both sides . The fact that people on the left are saying that he deserved to be killed is deplorable. The fact that people on the right are declaring war on the left is deplorable. I just can’t get over it. I don’t understand when we stopped bein...

I ran into an old friend the other day, and we were filling each other in on our kids’ lives. She told me her son recently decided he might be autistic. Well, hmm. She questioned that conclusion (so did I). He had apparently mentioned the idea to his therapist, who had asked, “Well . . . do you rehearse in your head ahead of time conversations you’re going to have with others?” His answer was yes, so the therapist agreed that yes, autism might be a possibility. And I thought, Hmm. I do that sometimes. But no, I am not on the spectrum. In a discussion a few months ago with the doctor fitting my Mandibular Advancement Device (it’s for sleep – a story for another day), I was filling her in on my history of sleep issues and the things I do to try to fall asleep. Such as recite the periodic table of elements – by atomic number or alphabetically. Or list the U.S. presidents – in chronological order or alphabetically (by first or last name) or by party – along with the years they we...

I’ve started a new habit in my nighttime routine: a quick review of my day with Jesus. What I did, how I did it, where I saw him, where I was out of line and need to repent, etc. It’s a nice habit; I’m glad I’m doing it. But a few days ago, I spent my Jesus Check-In time apologizing to him for my unproductive day. Now to be fair, I had a reason for my lack of productivity, weird though it is. I’m not able to wear my contacts right now, so I’m wearing my old glasses all day (which I hate, but that’s another story). I’ve worn contacts for decades – I put them in first thing in the morning and take them out last thing at night. So, when I don’t have them in, my brain says, “It’s sleepytime!” I have been yawning all day long, and I just never feel like my brain is ON. It’s very frustrating. So, this particular day in my old ugly glasses progressed with nothing significant accomplished. I watched too much TV. I played too many games on my phone. I was decidedly unproductive . And I was ...

A lot of things changed in our lives during the pandemic, yes? Here’s one: we started using curbside pickup for groceries. I mean, we started doing it and kept doing it. At least I did. (Is it just me?) Very rarely am I inside a grocery store anymore. But I needed something the other day and stopped at HEB on my way home from the gym. And oh, friends . . . I am seriously out of practice here. I forgot how crowded your average HEB is at noon on a Saturday. Good grief. I forgot how BIG your average HEB is. And how it is organized. I couldn’t find salsa. What the heck? This is SAN ANTONIO, people. There is no excuse for salsa not being easily accessible. But most of all, I forgot how looking at food makes me want to buy it . . . and that HEB knows this full well. This is why the basic necessity items (like milk) are in the very back of the store so that you have to walk through aisles and aisles of tempting, delicious-looking stuff to get to it. Oooh . . . blueberry muffins! I l...

I wrote recently about a production of Godspell that I directed earlier this summer – a wonderful experience. But while watching rehearsals, I noted again a line in the Beatitudes section that was one of my assigned lines in the production I performed in years ago. Blessed are those who hunger . . . “and thirst for righteousness.” “That’s justice, not righteousness,” my director Randy corrected me in notes one day. “Really? Are you sure?” “Yep. Check the script.” And he was right. And I got my gander up a bit. Because I had memorized the Beatitudes long ago, and that verse says “righteousness”. Whatever, Mr. Tebelak. Just change the words of scripture to say what you want it to say. Except he didn’t really do that. The Greek word is dikaiosyne , and it can apparently be translated as either righteousness or justice. That’s how closely related the two concepts are. Which brings me back to my viper post  (which you can click there to read). You see, there has been a b...

I used to be rich. I mean, relatively speaking. For most of my married life, we lived in nice houses – some of them big, very nice houses. We honestly never really wanted for anything. That was mostly due to my ex-husband’s good income (which he worked hard for, to his credit) and to the fact that we both were raised not to waste money. I had a few friends during my years of plenty who had real attitudes toward the “greedy, rich people” out there. They were always careful to say that they didn’t include me in that crowd, but once in a while, a comment would slip that would hurt. Yes, I’m financially secure, I thought, but I’m not one of THOSE rich people. And, well . . . I’m certainly not rich now. I’ve had some lovely social events in the last couple months with some good friends, and a lot of them have been talking about the traveling they’ve done this summer or plan to do. And people, please understand: I don’t begrudge them those trips at all! I’m glad they get to have tho...

So, I haven’t posted a blog for quite a while. That’s because I was directing a production of Godspell . And oh, y’all. It was so wonderful. The show itself is wonderful. I was in a production almost 20 years ago, and the songs and script have had residence in my heart ever since. To be able to direct my own production was a dream. Our audiences were wonderful. Small, but wonderful. So appreciative! So enthusiastic! But yes, smaller than we’d hoped for. It saddened me how many of my friends, who are always asking me to let them know about the next show I'm doing, couldn’t make it to the one I might be most proud of. But still, the people who were able to be there were responsive and complimentary. The crew was wonderful. My daughter came back from Atlanta to be stage manager (she’s great at that), and she said she was almost bored because everyone was just doing their jobs like they were supposed to. She wasn’t having to remind or nag people. What a concept! The cast was ...

They seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right. Ouch. Thus sayeth the Lord through Isaiah in chapter 58. He’s raking Israel over the coals for their false religion. They put on their righteous faces and do all the “right things”. In particular, here, fasting is the hot topic. “Why have we fasted and you have not seen it?” the people are asking. Why aren’t you paying attention to us when we’re such good, religious people? But the Lord lays to rest their righteous notions. They aren’t good people. “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” he asks. Just a day for you to look and act all humble and show off your righteousness? But in the same breath, you take advantage of people and quarrel and fight? You’re missing the point here, folks. THIS is what I have in mind for your “fasting”, he tells them: To loose the chains of injustice                And untie the cords of the yoke,...

Fourteen years ago, a couple of dudes who were frustrated at the cost of razors got this wild idea to start a business shipping monthly supplies of shaving products to men in their homes. They ended up selling the business five years later for a billion dollars. That's billion. With a "B". We love those stories, don’t we? The big risk that paid off. Netflix moving from DVD rentals to streaming services and shifting the paradigm entirely. The two Steves starting Apple in their garage – and then Apple changing the world with a phone that could browse the internet. But for every success story, you know there have to be dozens of failures – big risks that did NOT pay off. And probably a lot of them were great ideas! But for whatever reason, they just didn’t take off like the iphone and streaming and razors in your mailbox every month. I was reminded of this recently thinking of the adventures my youngest has had living in Atlanta. She has gotten involved with a few ventur...

Jonah was a pretty sorry excuse for a prophet, y’all. That man failed in so many ways. I mean, let’s take a look at that story in the Old Testament book that bears his name. From what we read there in the first few verses, I think it’s a safe assumption that Jonah was someone with a significant relationship with God – significant enough that God used him to speak to others because it is stated rather matter-of-factly that God told Jonah to go deliver a message to the Ninevites, as if this was not an unusual exchange between them. Apparently, the man was familiar enough with God’s voice to recognize it when he heard it. But he didn’t go. And it’s not like he just sat at home and ignored that familiar voice; he ran away . He purposefully moved in the opposition direction because, as he tells the Lord later, he didn’t want to give his enemies a chance to receive mercy from God. Thus the infamous fish story that you can read in chapters 1 and 2. Do you notice, by the way, that when J...

I’ve been considering for a couple days whether I should submit my latest play for publication. I have a couple of plays published already, which is kind of cool. They don’t get produced much, so I get very little income from that, unfortunately. I am happy that the scripts are out there getting used rather than sitting in silence on my laptop. But still – a bit more income would be very much appreciated right now. There is a fantastic playwright in Austin named Don Zolidis. I’m familiar with him because my theater won a prize at a conference a few years ago, and he wrote a play for us, which I ended up directing. He’s an amazing playwright. He has hundreds of plays out there that are very popular and performed all over the world. I follow him on Facebook, so I always hear about his latest publication and his many successes. And I get a bit jealous. I mean, the man deserves his success – he’s incredibly talented and works very hard. But you know, I think what I write is pretty goo...

I just finished watching a series called Inventing Anna . Who’s heard of that one? Fascinating story – based on the real-life drama of a young woman who convinced people she was a German heiress and conned friends and banks and such out of thousands and thousands of dollars. This woman was staying in the most expensive hotels . . . eating at the best restaurants . . . wearing top quality designer clothes . . . attending the most exclusive of social events . . . traveling all around the world, flying first class. And somehow managed to do it all without paying for any of it. The lifestyle she was living was absolutely crazy. And even crazier, I realized as I watched that I didn’t find it appealing in the least. I mean, NOT AT ALL. I’ve thought the same thing watching some episodes of Rich Kids Go Skint , a British reality show where spoiled young adults raised in ridiculous wealth spend a weekend with a family “living on the breadline.” They start each episode giving you a taste...

Many, many years ago, I had an online conversation about abortion with an old high school friend. She had worked with George Tiller, a well-known abortion doctor in our hometown who was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist, so this was a subject of passion for her. To her credit, she initiated the exchange; she’d seen posts I’d made about my pro-life beliefs, believed I was honest and thoughtful about those beliefs (which I took as a great compliment), and wanted a genuine discussion with “the other side”. It was a fascinating conversation . . . mainly because of how much we found we agreed on. Yes, folks – when it came right down to it, we agreed on so much! We pondered together why each of our respective camps in this debate ended up so far in the extreme. She blamed it on that fear that giving an inch would sacrifice a mile. For example, even though she (and many of her colleagues) might personally have been okay with abortions only being allowed very early in a pregnancy, they...

I saw a PA in my doctor’s office a few weeks ago about pain in my arm. He said it’s “texter’s elbow” (once more commonly known as “tennis elbow”) and prescribed me a whole bunch of meds and exercises and a band to wear on my arm, and he gave me his absolute assurance that this would go away. “It always does,” he said. Many of my friends have had the same malady and shared their own doctor’s advice – different exercises and massages and medicinal cocktails. "This made mine go away." "This took care of my pain immediately." But I was back at the doctor’s office last week because my arm was still hurting. This time, I saw a different PA . . . and he had a different story. Some of those exercises may help; some of them make it worse. If the band seems to be doing some good, okay; if not, stop wearing it. And actually, this pain may come and go for months; don’t expect it to go away completely for good. Sigh. I also saw a different doctor last week at Dr. Drake’s S...

Yesterday was Easter. And I started the day by writing in my prayer journal a thank you to Jesus for his death and resurrection to save me. And then I had a check in my spirit . . . and I added, “To save us .” I’ve been reading this book: Generations by Jean M. Twenge. It’s 500+ pages of the most fascinating data I’ve read in years. All this information about generations in America: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents. All backed by tons of research, and all presented in a very engaging manner. (And no, I’m not getting any financial compensation for promoting the book, but you should still read it.)  But one of the big picture trends it talks about is how America has become more and more individualistic. Twenge says, “American culture began the 1960s as a collectivistic culture (focused on social rules and group harmony) and ended it as an individualistic one (focused on the needs of the self and thus often rejecting traditional rules). Each subsequent decade c...

Between travels and my busy schedule recently, I haven’t been able to get to the gym for my exercise classes. So, this weekend, I made a point of forcing myself out of the house a couple times a day to walk the wooded paths nearby – I need the exercise, the fresh air, the vitamin D, and the break from my computer screen. And as I hiked, I was inspired again by the trees. I’ve written about the trees on these trails, I’m sure. They are SO lovely. I suspect if you flew in a helicopter above this area, you would see a sea of green – healthy, leafy branches reaching to the sun for nourishment. But the view from below is quite different. From below, you have to strain a bit to see the green growth at the top. What you are surrounded by from below are the old dead branches. See the picture here? Imagine trees growing to two or three times this size and surrounding you as you walk. They are beautiful and cozy . . . and thought-provoking. Y’all, these trees. They are us . We all have...