theo|digital

Well, I’ve been hanging for the last several days in Washington DC, readying for my sister’s wedding which occurs at 4pm today. She and her husband-to-be live at 6th and Q St. NW, and I like this feel of DC, residential but busy. Historic row houses, thump music, and corner Chinese – blend of old and new. This pic of houses across the street is from my phone.

When we lose touch with the continuing reality of our selfishness, then forgiveness becomes something that it is good of God to do, like the newspaper carrier’s making sure the morning edition lands under the porch roof on a rainy day. We feel moved enough to remember his kindness with a generous tip the next time he collects.

Part of the problem is that we feel the reality of our wounds more than the fact of our sin. We therefore react with more passion to those things that restore a sense of personal wholeness than to our redemption.

How wrong of us to dedicate our energy to becoming whole. History is filled with the lives of godly men and women who managed to bless others in the midst of unrelieved personal struggles that left them feeling anything but whole.

~ Larry Crabb, Men & Women, p113 (italics are his)

My friend and roommate Monte left early this morning to move back to Florida. I’ve felt sad a lot of the day.

The audio of my talk “Why I Want Sex” [mp3; 8.9mb] has been posted at the Illini Life website. Unfortunately the first five or so minutes seem to be cut off, so I’m posting the opening text here. The audio picks up where this leaves off. Enjoy.

I’ve decided to start writing an advice column.

I want to use a pseudonym. Something that sorta sounds like me, but isn’t my real name. And one of those photos that’s more of a silhouette allows you to determine that I’m a male, but not much else.

Did you know that Dear Abby and Ann Landers were twin sisters? Yep. And they were probably the best known newspaper columnists in the world when our parents were in high school. The competing advice duo grew up as best friends, but became almost enemies after their columns became syndicated in newspapers across the US – no paper carrying both at any given time. Ann Landers wrote for the Chicago Trib, and if you head up to the city, you can see her honorary street sign in front of the Trib tower on Michigan Ave, just north of the river.

How do I know this stuff?

Tonight’s topic is Sex. It’s embarrassing to talk about unless you’re Dr. Drew or you’re reading on the internet about it, and I felt SNG would be too intimate a setting to discuss this together. So in the interest of putting more distance between you and me, I thought that answering your written questions to:

Ask Christoph, PO Box 7101 Champaign, IL 61825

would be the way to go.

And fortunately, I have a number of letters that I, uh, you wrote. So let’s look at a few, shall we?

Dear Christoph,
Sex is always on my mind. I want it with somebody. Is this normal?
Aroused in Arizona.

Whoa. Okay, who thinks tonight might feel a bit awkward?

Let’s see if we can ease into it a little bit more – that’s not really using the stairs in the wading area – that’s pretty much the cannonball into the deep end. Let’s see.

Dear Christoph,
I’m uncomfortable with the idea that we’re talking about sex, and also that a number of things – including laughter or church – might associated with the topic. I’ve included a verse-of-the-day for you to read aloud, and I hope you’ll look into my full line of Christian vitamin products that I’m now selling at Spiritually Healthy Supplements.com.
Holy in Houston.

-> download audio [mp3 8.9mb]

Imogen Heap
Speak for Yourself (2005)
Electronic Pop

Brit do-it-herself girl is an aural genius, stacking perfect loops and breath-stop vocals in a menagerie that doesn’t forget classical instruments and samples of passing train engines. The 2006 Best-New-Artist nominee started in 1998 but with recent singles Hide and Seek and Headlock is just now getting American attention. It’s deserved, she’s complicated, and I’m mesmerized.

…aren’t as much enemies as it could seem at first glance. Gave a talk last night at I-Life called “Why I Want Sex.” Will post the audio when it becomes available, but wanted to note four books (among others) that I referenced when preparing for my talk.