Question: How Can Guys and Girls Be Friends?

I have always had loads of guy friends. My best friend growing up was Gabe, my best friend in college was Matt, and one of my best friends immediately after college was Ben. Right now my closest friends are mostly guys, with a few notable, BFF-type exceptions.

A female friend recently marveled at the series of close, platonic relationships I have with guys. I can't explain why it is so easy for me to relate to guys, but those male friendships have been the most loyal and consistent in my life.

At the women's sexuality forum they mentioned how sexuality is the longing for togetherness, and that sexual intercourse is only one aspect of sexuality. Non-genital sexuality, or social sexuality, is how male and female relationships are important outside of sexual intimacy. I know that those relationships with men have made me a more well-rounded person with a better understanding of myself and my God.

On the flip-side, in college I had friends who believed, in the tradition of Harry Burns, that guys and girls could never be friends.

Here are my questions for you all:
- Can men and women just be friends? If so, what are the benefits to those relationships?
- What factors are required for men and women to be friends?

Solomon was a graduate student

"Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body."
-Ecclesiastes 12:12

Preach it, Sol.

Times in life where I feel special

1. Making a left on red (Note: in Oregon, we're for some reason permitted to do this from a two way onto a one way)
2. Ordering an off-the-menu item (i.e. an In n' Out burger made "animal style")
3. When I remember God loves me and for some reason chose me to be saved

Give thanks in all things

If the Cardinals somehow beat the Steelers tomorrow, I'll be thrilled. Beyond thrilled. I pretty much always love when an underdog wins; what would make this even better is that it's the Arizona Cardinals (a team I bet my friend Todd wouldn't win the Super Bowl in the next 40 years).

Arizona is quarterbacked by Kurt Warner, whose story is pretty ridiculous and who the Lord has clearly used to show that, indeed, all things are possible through Christ. After wins, Kurt always begins by thanking Jesus. People are tired of hearing it. He knows they're tired of hearing it. He thanks Jesus anyway.

Tomorrow the Cardinals play for the Super Bowl. I don't particularly like their chances, though much stranger things have happened. I'll be rooting for them. But if it doesn't happen, I hope he thanks Jesus anyway.

"give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

It's snowing in Portland again

As people in Portland aren’t used to the snow, they tend to not like it (note: using this logic, they wouldn’t like deodorant, either). Being from the Northeast, with childhood memories steeped in snowball fights, sledding and cold, I love it. It’s pretty much the most beautiful thing in the world.

So as I sat on I-405 this AM, traffic snarled, I didn’t really mind. In the distance…well, I couldn’t really see in the distance. There was just whiteness around me – the whiteness of snow, the whiteness of snow-fog (pretty sure that’s the technical term for it). Stuck on 405, nothing to do but look out the windows, I was reminded how God wants us to live our lives slower, trusting in Him, resting in Him, not trying to control everything, not trying to mentally coerce the other cars to get out of the way. That’s a reminder I need pretty much every day.

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” – Isaiah 30:15

Stunning realization

If I looked to God for wisdom half as often as I looked in the fridge for food, I'd be a very wise man

Belated

Apparently, someone declared the 11th to be National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. This would have been a good time for me to point in the direction of the Not For Sale Campaign, a national and international project against human trafficking. There are numerous ways to get involved with Not For Sale besides simply giving money, and even if you aren't ready to do that, it's worth reading up on human trafficking, which now composes the second largest industry in the world behind illegal drugs (it was third a couple weeks ago, but I guess it just passed up the weapons trade). There are more people enslaved today than ever before! Here are some links to get started:
Not For Sale
Polaris Project
Change.org
a blog about Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation