the unlikely orange

in moments like this, we are reminded that the kingdom in which we are citizens is not protected by police, ruined by riots, or selling headlines for the media.   we are part of the kingdom of God.  it is a kingdom that is already/not yet; a kingdom that is marked by love, not fear; a kingdom that is coming to earth as it is in heaven.   it won't be legislated, enforced, or sold in stores.   but it is happening right now.   every time we choose to love our neighbor; every time we put the "other" before ourselves; every time we embrace someone with all their differences from us.   every time we demonstrate that every life matters, because we are all children of God. let us live today - and everyday - in love and kindness, compassion and peace.  

on monday night, the steelers squeaked by the tennessee titans, overcoming an 11-point deficit late in the second half, thanks mostly to le'veon bell. i wasn't a fan of his off-the-field antics this summer, but i sure do love the way this kid runs the ball.  like everyone in the world has already written about him before, it is so strange to watch him.  he seems to linger and hesitate behind the line of scrimmage, the way many other ball carriers for the steelers have in the past.  the difference is that when they hesitated, they almost always got hit for a 2-yard loss.  with bell, it is like he hesitates just long enough to see the hole and then explode through it.  there was a series in the game on monday night where he rushed for 10.  then 10 again.  then 8.  even though the titans knew the handoff was coming, he just found a way.  yes, tons of credit goes to the offensive line for recognizing defenses and getting the blocking righ...

"which way?" mixed  media collage on stretched canvas (vintage papers, acrylic paint, acrylic gel medium, glue) november, 2014 gregory a. milinovich yes, i can still make a collage!  it has been a long time, but i finally carved out some time here recently to let the creative juices flow a little bit, and this is what came of it.  it is meant to make you think twice about what you are actually seeing, and what your eye assumes.   one of the things i've been reminded of recently is that you simply cannot draw conclusions from first glances.  well, i should say that you can - in fact we often do - but you shouldn't.  what appears to be so clear from one angle is completely ambiguous from another one.  the part of me that feels the urge to categorize and organize everyone into groupings that i've somehow justified in my mind is the same part of me that hates when someone does that to me, and compels me to do all sorts of ridiculous thing...

what else can i say?

here is shannon and i dressed up for halloween.  shannon is rockin' the 50's girl style.  i'm supposed to be an ironic hipster, albeit an old and chubby ironic hipster. oh, you're surprised we celebrate halloween?  don't be.  it is all hallow's eve, as the darkness descends before all saints day, when we celebrate all those who have gone to glory before us.  so as the sun sets and darkness covers the earth, it is natural to consider the power of death, and how it robs us, eventually, of everyone we love, and in the end, it gets even to us.  for so many people, and in so many ways, death is absolutely terrifying. but not to Christ followers.  see, if we really believe what we say we believe, then we believe that Jesus defeated death once and for all.  the bible, which we believe to be the very word of God, speaks of this over and over (where, o death, is your victory?).  death has been crushed by the power of life through the overwhelmi...

i get so nervous when the steelers play the ravens, because i want the steelers to win so badly.  so when they lose, it is so sickening. but when they win....it is so sweet. and this time was one of the sweetest. partly it was because big ben did what absolutely no one - NO ONE - thought he could possibly do: throw 6 more touchdowns in this game after throwing 6 last week (the first quarterback to EVER do this).  it is really great to see our franchise quarterback, who is regularly underrated, get some well-deserved national attention and accolades. and partly this win over the ravens was especially sweet because of the return of james harrison, who was retired just a few weeks ago.  he's been back for several games now, but this game found him returning to form, and scaring the unibrow off of joe flacco's face.  he had two sacks to go with the two from last week, and he is once again a defensive terror that opposing teams have to worry about. it is ...