Because food

Because a boat of sushi is good for the soul

After what I can safely say has been the most intense (#TheStanfordRapist, the slaughter of 49 innocent people because assault rifles are meant for target practice) weekend of blogging here in the Den, I think we're ready for a bit of a pivot. And what better way to pivot than news from TMFKATB? This week's update was a brief celebration of the good he encountered this past week. While given Sunday's vicious hate-fueled slaughter in Orlando, it may be hard to believe there's much good left in the world, there still is.

TMFKATB saw it as they were dealing with their own broken down car. Someone was willing to help them and get it going again. He saw it in the face of someone who was willing to let them in and hear what they had to say. Those are little things but I needed to hear that today. There's still some good out there.

He also, proving yet again he is so my son, celebrated the food they encountered this week. How can you go wrong when you celebrate your lone day off as a missionary with sushi for lunch? Or when you get to dive into stuff like this:

Shrimp cocktail - he called it the best he'd
had in a long time

God bless my Cuban soul! Arroz, frijoles negros,
ropa vieja y plátanos

These meals that he had were given to him by people as acts of kindness. Again, there's still good out there. And what better way to celebrate that goodness than over a good meal. Because food is awesome and a welcome relief from the Hellscape of this past weekend.

Editorial Note - Saturday's post on #TheStanfordRapist has quickly become the most read post in the Den. Mine is but one voice but I can only hope that it has sparked a conversation in your sphere of influence about turning away from the rape culture that is so pervasive in our country. Sunday's post, while raw in the wake of the slaughter in Orlando, has also garnered a lot reads and has sparked some discussion on the Facebook. Conversation time is over. Our elected officials need to stop genuflecting at the blood-soaked feet of the NRA and do something to stop this madness. Now.

Where I Find Peace

@examiner.com

Rays of long-absent sunshine pour through the windows of our family room this quiet morning. The trees that form our natural fence filter the precious sunlight and drink it in. You can almost see the buds on those trees, eager to become leaves, starting to form. The wind, which howled throughout the day yesterday, has gone still. It is a peaceful morning. It is Easter.

A millenia ago, sunlight poured into a tomb and a woman, looking inside, wept, because he who had been entombed there three days earlier was gone. At that moment, there was no peace for her. Her soul ached and she sobbed. She then heard a man asking her, "Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" Not recognizing His voice, she asked him if knew where the body had been taken. He then uttered her name, "Mary," and she knew. It was Him. Peace filled her soul. He was risen.

He is risen. In those three words, I find peace. On this Easter morning, I am grateful for those three words. More importantly, I am grateful for Him and the comfort that I feel in knowing what I do of Him. The words of the third verse of the hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace" are particularly meaningful to me:

He answers privately

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend

Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love without end.

- Text by Emma Lou Thayne

His message isn't complicated and it doesn't have to be divisive.

Peace. (Be) Kind. Love (One Another). We'd have a whole lot more of the first if we did a whole lot more of the second and third, wouldn't we?