Just Because It Deserves a Blog All Its Own…

smgianotti@me.com  —  October 27, 2015

I dump the  powder into the pot and slip into the past…back to fifth grade and Miss Vanderlaan’s turtleneck sweaters in that same yellow-grey shade. A pungent smell—maybe garlic, maybe cumin—calls me back to the present and I shove the empty ziplock into the bear barrel.

 

Something black plummets into the pot. I bend forward through the smoky darkness and try to scoop it out, but the sparks fend me off. Probably a twig. Maybe a spider? Just then a freight train rumbles through my intestines, obliterating all traces of arachnophobia, and I stir the stew, intruder and all, at double speed.

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Photo courtesy of Angela Domini via flickr.com

 

Mugs loaded, I maneuver my backside between the branches of a fallen tree. I juggle the hot mug between city-sensitive fingers, pausing at intervals to land a spoonful of stew in my mouth. Steam billows out as I pant off the heat. The nerves in my fingers and tongue yelp in protest, but my empty stomach runs the show Continue Reading…

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When Has God Ever Done Anything For Us?

smgianotti@me.com  —  October 20, 2015

“God’s never done anything for me,” my friend said, “so why should I do anything for him?” 

 

Her question hung in the darkness between us—her final reason for rejecting Jesus.

 

Photo 1444220451343 9fcc0681ff8dPhoto courtesy of Gudbjörn Valgeirsson via unsplash.com, edited 

 

I wonder how many other people have asked that question this week. The relatives of the five people who died, three weeks ago, in a fiery crash near my office? The friends of the massacre victims at Umpqua Community College? The millions of Syrian refugees, fleeing for their lives?

 

Our world is in bad shape. We designate times of the year to fight certain evils, but we’re running out of months. Breast cancer has to share October with domestic violence. The brokenness never ends. It can leave us asking whether God is worth following and why, for heaven’s sake, he isn’t fixing things Continue Reading…

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Awkward Singles Anonymous

smgianotti@me.com  —  October 13, 2015

“Maybe you’ll meet a man, hijack the wedding, and get married yourself,” my friend, Raimie, said. Bless his optimism, but Raimie came late to the Christian dating scene.

 

Unfortunately, a good number of us church-going singles ought to attend ASA–Awkward Singles Anonymous. Blame it on I Kissed Dating Goodbye if you want, but the damage is done. 

 

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Photo courtesy of Josh Felise via StockSnap.io

 

So, during the reception Chad asks Melanie to dance, hears her mumble “No, thanks,” and then watches her escape to the bathroom like a gazelle fleeing from a cheeta. 

 

At another table, Andy admires how fabulous Sarah looks in her blue holter, but says nothing. Sarah stabs another crumb with her fork and wonders, “Why do I get all dressed up, if no one notices? Continue Reading…

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Jimmy’s–The Italian Stallion of Food Stores

smgianotti@me.com  —  October 6, 2015

This post first ran in January as a guest blog on www.aspire2.com.

 

It shocks me how many people haven’t heard about one of the epicurean gems in Dallas. So, for the good of my neighbors and delight of their tastebuds, I propose that everyone make a pilgrimage to the corner of Bryan Street and North Fitzhugh to visit Jimmy’s Food Store—twice—and that’s not a suggestion.  

 

Because, whether you work like Emeril in the kitchen or get by on Kraft dinners, your pasta skills can use the help. Jimmy’s Fine Italian Food and Wine works magic on the palate. Try adding a pound of sweet italian sausage to that no-name marinara sauce you bought for $1.98 and your spouse may worry that he forgot your anniversary. Or, if you live on a higher culinary plain, sauté the spicy variety with garlic-seared mushrooms before simmering in 28 ounces of imported San Marzano tomatoes. Your friends will wonder when Julia Child took possession of your body. 

 

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True, you’ll pay for it. But, what else can you expect after settling for that boring porker at the corner grocery store? And true, you’ll have to travel all that way for just one ingredient.  But that only bothers people who haven’t gone to Jimmy’s.  

 

Inside the store, teetering aisles crammed with imported cans lure the adventurer. Foreign labels flirt with language lovers. But Continue Reading…

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So We Say That We’re Christians, But What Do We Smell Like?

smgianotti@me.com  —  September 29, 2015

For some Christians, the last couple months have felt like a re-run of 127 Hours—the movie about Aron Ralson, the solo hiker who got pinned under a bolder in a Utah canyon. He survived, but only by cutting off his forearm with a pocketknife. Similarly, the legalization of same-sex marriage has left many Christians feeling pinned between two choices—lay there and watch conservative Christianity die or cutoff themselves off from culture. 

 

Thankfully, though, those aren’t our only options, because we Christians have more than knife in our pocket. We’ve got grace in there, too. 

 

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To be a Christian, after all, means that we’ve stepped into God’s grace and set up home there. People should be able to smell that grace lingering on us. And, that same grace should motivate us do whatever it takes to keep the lines of communication open for the gospel. 

 

But, what if we lose our religious freedoms? What if the court had revoked Kim Davis’ title and sentenced her to jail? What if pastors who refuse to marry same-sex couples get charged with hate crimes Continue Reading…

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Grand Central Station

smgianotti@me.com  —  September 22, 2015

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Photo courtesy of Maria Molinero via unsplash.com

 

Sprinting, squeezing through the metal doors,

my mind a passenger on every train,

careening through a cityscape of deadlines,

past endless blocks of tasks that must be done,

now dipping into tunnels webbed with worry, 

then out again into the blaze of dreams, 

each line a frantic scramble toward tomorrow, 

carrying me to everywhere but here Continue Reading…

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7 Awesome Ideas for Connecting Faith to Your Other Five Senses

smgianotti@me.com  —  September 15, 2015

I sat on the rocky shore and gripped a small book in my hands, consuming its pages like a hungry teenager devouring pizza. A few days later I would return to Dallas changed—and not just from the mineral waters at Ouachita State Park.

 

Madeline L’Engle and her book, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, gave voice to the questions simmering in my subconscious. Does art matter to God? What do our bodies have to do with faith? Does God care about physical things too, or just spiritual stuff? L’Engle’s book catapulted me into these questions and I began a journey that became this blog. 

 

Today, I want to introduce you to some of my traveling companions, in case you’re interested in a similar journey—an artist, an audio journal, a short-film series, a prayer idea, and the two books I’m so glad I read. You might not agree with everything they say, and that’s ok—I didn’t either—but, the way they think about faith and the other five senses is just so good that I had to share. 

 

1. Makoto Fujimura

 

Makoto Fujimura’s abstract art calls viewers home—home to life as it was meant to be when God created the world, home as it will be in the new Heaven and New Earth. Fujimura’s integration of art and faith earned him the “2014 Religion and the Arts” award from the American Academy for Religion.

 

  • Get it: Stroll through his online gallery, read some of his essays, or watch “Golden Sea,” a six-minute documentary about one of his recent paintings. 

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Walking on Water – Azurite by Makoto Fujimura

 

 

2. Mars Hill Audio Journal—Ken Myers

 

I met Ken Myers in 2013 during Arts Week at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). His lectures on “Creation and the Ordered Imagination” planted the seeds for my blog. In his audio journal (Mars Hill Audio Journal), he interviews artists, philosophers, and sociologists (just to name a few) who are exploring the connection between Christianity and culture.

 

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Out of the Chaos (and into the Mist)

smgianotti@me.com  —  September 8, 2015

I flitted through Hope Coffee dipping in and out of each photograph. I had promised myself to leave by 8:30 p.m. and it was already 8:45. In less than 12 hours, the men from church would be knocking on my door, ready to load up the U-Haul, and I still had packing to do. 

 

Attending the art show, which featured my classmate’s work, let me check two boxes off my to-do list. It fulfilled the “cultural engagement” assignment due Monday for my Theology of Art & Worship class, and it let me wave goodbye to the world before the tsunami of cardboard and packing tape pushed me under.  

 

Reflections on light and darkness. Each piece nodded to the name of the exhibit—light flickering off a child’s face, sun slicing through the distant clouds, a cobblestone street basking in the morning light. All of them saluted to the theme, except one.

 

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In The Mist by Paul Singleton, used with permission.

 

It stopped me as I buzzed around the corner and pulled me onto the cement jetty, past twenty-five seagulls, maybe thirty. It was hard to tell that far into the fog. Still. Peaceful. Stark. I felt those foggy mornings back up north on the dock, when the mist refused to say goodbye to the lake Continue Reading…

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A Few Perks to Not Having Kids

smgianotti@me.com  —  September 1, 2015

This summer, my family rented a cabin in the Adirondacks. For a glorious week I escaped the Texas inferno and romped around with my two nieces who are, without question, the cutest humans on the planet.  

 

One evening, as my brother, Jason, laid on the couch two-year-old Ruby climbed onto him and sprawled across his chest. For a moment, envy shot through me. I wanted what Jason had—my own family, my own kids. 

 

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Photo courtesy of Abby Bischoff via flickr.com

 

But, while parenthood is a gift, it isn’t the promised land. Before the week of family vacation was over, that reality check had already bounced. There are some definite perks to not having kids. So, in case you need a reminder of what those are, here’s a short list from my week in the Adirondacks Continue Reading…

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The Other Half of The Story

smgianotti@me.com  —  August 25, 2015

For some reason, when people talk about God, they often start with sin. But, that’s not where anyone’s story begins—not that weekend you got wasted, or when your coworker had an affair, or even when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. 

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Photo courtesy of Kay Ter Harr via flickr.com

 

Our story began in a garden with two humans and a God who set them loose in a brand new world. God commissioned Adam and Eve to represent him in the world—not as curators of as museum, but as mini-rulers and sub-creators. God wanted humans to develop and unfold his world in a way that would further infuse it with his creativity and care. The garden of Eden was just the starting point. From there, humanity would extend God’s order and beauty into the world Continue Reading…

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