arpeggia:

Robert Stadler’s light installation at St. Paul St. Louis Church, Paris (Nuit Blanche), 2007

Photo by Marc Domage

Visitors enter the church through a lateral door and first see a scattered group of luminous spheres hovering in the choir. As one approaches the center of the nave, the spheres form a giant question mark. They become a punctuation mark superimposed over the religious symbols. Then as one moves through the church, the question mark decomposes. The figure becomes abstracted again in order to echo the hanging lights of the cathedral. Contrasting with the symmetry of the edifice, these luminous suspension points are like a musical notation, or holes punctuating the architectural volume. The question (or doubt) is absorbed by the space. Commissioned by Olga Milogrodzka for the Baltic See Cultural Center, the installation was presented in 2009 at St. John’s church in Gdansk, Poland.

(via iloveeyou-because-deactivated20)

by Frank Viola. source

1. Because life makes no sense to me apart from Christ. Nor does it have any purpose.

2. Because I’ve tried to not believe in Jesus, and I find that I cannot. (Perhaps this is why the early Christians were called “believers.” We believe for reasons that we cannot naturally explain. We believe because we believe. I have certainly struggled with various doubts along the way and questioned why God does and doesn’t do certain things, but that’s a different issue.)

3. Because I’ve never seen the Gospel narratives refuted successfully. Every critique that’s sought to debunk them throughout the years has been discounted under careful scrutiny and scholarship. The Gospels have stood the test of time.

4. Because I’ve never seen the resurrection of Jesus refuted successfully. Upon careful study of all the historical data, it actually takes more faith to deny His resurrection than to believe it occurred.

5. Because it makes no sense to me that Jesus of Nazareth isn’t who He said He was – the Messiah, the Son of the living God. No human being has had nearly the kind of effect on world history as Jesus has (e.g., I’m writing this post in 2012 – what does “2012” mean?). No serious historian denies that Jesus of Nazareth existed (there is more historical attestation for His existence than there is to Julius Caesar and many other ancient figures). And C.S. Lewis’ trilemma – Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord – rings true for me.

6. Because I can’t help but see the biblical narrative of Creation, Fall, and Redemption echoed in every play, every work of art, every human story, every drama, every movie, and the news I read each day. The Christian story is deeply embedded in the soundtrack of human history and art.

7. Because every time I meet a true follower of Jesus for the first time, I feel like I’ve known him or her all my life.

8. Because Jesus is the most compelling, intriguing, awe-inspiring, and amazing person I know of who is worthy of the greatest admiration, obedience, love, and (uniquely) worship. To my mind, truth, justice, and beauty are all grounded in Him, and His story (as told in the Gospels) trumps every other story known to humanity.

9. Because I’ve never seen any religion or philosophy deliver people from a life of carnality and bondage to addictions. In my experience and observation at least, Jesus transforms people’s lives greater than anything else on the face of the Earth.

10. Because I have a deep and unshakeable belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is with me and taking care of me…and has all of my life. I cannot imagine life without Christ.

11. Because there is no rational explanation for some of the prayers that I (and others I know) have seen answered “in Jesus’ name.”

12. Because I don’t weep easily, but I readily cry whenever I detect the fingerprints of my Lord or behold His handiwork.

(Source: littlethingsaboutgod, via johnnyis)

(Source: joecatholic, via livealegendarylife)

(Source: residuetrail, via fourteen)

I am SO sorry for, and SO ashamed by, the reputation that Christians have given themselves. 

Seriously, we commit some hideous acts in the name of Jesus Christ… And it’s the most embarrassing and horrible thing, really, because it’s exactly the opposite of what we claim to be, or are supposed to be.

And I just want to say, to any of you out there, who have been wronged by one of us, that I whole-heartedly apologize. I am so, so, so sorry for the pain we have caused you.

I only hope that each of you will somehow understand that just because some Christians are jerks, doesn’t mean that Christ himself is a jerk. And it doesn’t make the commandments he spoke of (love, understanding, forgiveness, righteousness) any less real or wonderful.

Honestly, being a Christian is the most spectacular and important part of my entire life. I am not in love with Christians, at all. But I am in love with Christ.

TL;DR version: 

I am not ashamed of the God I worship at all.
It’s some of those who claim to be His spokespeople that I am ashamed of. 

When Jesus said not to worry about clothes, that he would take care of us better than he takes care of the lilies, do you suppose he had taken into account Anthropologie?

I mean, people back then didn’t have the turmoil of looking at an Anthropologie catalogue and THEN being told to not worry about it.

Taking faith to a whole new level :P If he said it, he must’ve meant it.

I love you anyways, pretty garments!

doesgodgetdiarrhea:

Before we start praising your God for the death of Bin Laden, let’s find out where God was on 9/11. Oh, that’s right. He had front row tickets to the whole damned thing because it was part of his plan, and now you actually THANK HIM for “getting rid of the bad guy.” Jesus goddamned Christ, eating a broken glass sandwich is less painful than trying to understand this logic.

You want to know what I think? If God interfered in every bad thing that was going to happen, it would turn life into a farce. The bad guys could never do anything bad and we would basically be robots, and plus, I think we’d begin to notice how nothing bad ever happens and then faith wouldn’t require faith. 

Plus, if God interfered, that’d be putting a dent in free will. What did you want him to do? The suicide bombers MADE THEIR OWN CHOICES. It’s not up to God to get in the way of that.

And PLUS we CHOSE the messy road. Back in the garden, with the fruit and the tree? We chose sin. We CHOSE cancer. We chose distress and destruction and separation. Not Him. 

It’s the only way life works.

But did God have a hand in killing Osama Bin Laden? Who really knows. Perhaps the shooter was a Christian, praying for God’s wisdom to guide him. Perhaps God somehow guided the bullet or whatever it was that killed him.

Perhaps the soldier just killed Osama by himself! It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

(Source: doesgodgetdiarrhea.com, via chemotherapy-deactivated2011081)

and still be the guy who can’t actually talk about sex?

SHE HAS A VALID POINT. I have never understood this. i really don’t. We’re told not to lust, but, I don’t understand how that is possible. And i don’t see why we would be asked to do something impossible, that’s silly. Maybe I don’t understand what lust is. I don’t know. 

I stayed up til 6:15 last night, among other things, talking to a boy acquaintance about how teenagers handle lust. He was all like, “I’m feeling very open tonight, do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

Uh, go for it. Dive in. Some of the questions were answered by, ‘I don’t want to answer that.’

Anyway, he’s an 18 year old virgin, lips included, and he said he didn’t think guys that successfully control their sex drives get enough credit. 

He also seemed to think girls have practically NOTHING to handle in comparison to guys. Not that I would know how guys feel, but my sex drive felt insulted, so I protested, but he stood his ground. 

We talked for however many hours about things I’ve definitely never discussed with anyone before, let alone a teenage boy. And even though I don’t feel like either of us said anything unhealthy, I’m not sure. He said, “Honesty is always a good thing.”

Does anyone out here have opinions on having semi-graphic discussions on controlling lust and how our adolescent minds and sex organs work and react to each other? Is that inappropriate? Wrong? Healthy? Should it be more common? Is it not really that big of a deal either way?

I don’t know. It was an eye-opening conversation, in any case. It made me feel more confident in my womanliness, more aware of how easy it’d be to seduce someone, and it also made me want to wear more modest clothing. It also made me want to wear less modest clothing.

idrkkkkkk