Word: Philippians

First off, thanks again to my Facebook peeps for their Philippians suggestions! There was an awesome suggestion for Philippians 3:8 where Paul uses the word "skubala," which is best translated as "sh*t." I gotta tell you, when you're designing your way through the Bible and you run into a passage that mentions "sh*t," it's very difficult to pass up. This morning... wait a second... time out.... Is anyone really less offended that I've used an asterisk in that word? I mean, you all know what word that is, right? Does one letter missing really make it less offensive? I don't know about you, but it seems a little silly to me. Plus, Paul used this word in the the Bible! So let's just be real. After all, you don't really visit my site for polite talk about the Bible, right? It's "shit." Paul used the word "shit" and that is what I'll use from here on out. So for those of you who haven't left the site, let's pick it back up. Where was I... oh yeah....

So this morning I started going with the "shit" direction, but I just couldn't figure out a way to make that work. I may have to "leftover" that passage though. In other words, I'll come back to that shit.

Now that we're done swearing, let's talk about God

In Philippians we find Paul encouraging people to think about good things. However, I don't think Paul's goal was to just make them feel happy. Rather, I think he wanted them to have a mood and mindset that makes them more receptive to to hearing and following God.

Are you gonna get all "Oprah" up in here?

I like Paul's idea of thinking about good stuff. It sorta sounds a little self-help-Oprahish, but there's a lot of truth in that. I know when I devote brain time to thinking about good stuff, I generally have a better attitude, I'm more thankful and I'm more focused on others. And that's good. So for this design, I decided to list out some of the things that, in my opinion, contribute to me being in a mindset where I'm more likely to hear and follow God's word. Just to be clear, this is not intended to be a literal translation of the passage.

I'd like to quickly rattle through each of the things in the design and give you my incredibly subjective reasons why I love each of them. Ready? Go!

• Cat – This is the internet, right? We gotta talk about cats! I love cats. Specifically I love my 2 cats, Tutti and Peppers. I'm amazed at how much joy I get from them.
• Thumbs Up – I like to be positive as much as possible. Y'know, hope the best in all situations?
• Suitcase – I don't fly halfway around the world very often, but just a day trip can be refreshing. I love seeing different things in different places.
• Coffee – I don't mean the sissy sweet latte stuff. I'm talking straight up dark roast. No cream, no sugar.
• Tshirt – I've never had a job where I need to wear a suit and I hope I never have to. What's more comfortable than a tshirt?
• Movie Camera – Movies are awesome. I love getting lost in another world for a couple hours.
• Wheat – This one represents farming, which represents my grandpa. My grandpa was an amazing guy who farmed his entire life. He was a great example of how "being a man" doesn't always mean being macho. It can mean being gentle, kind and humble.
• Bird – If I could be any animal, I'd be a bird. They fly in the air. How cool is that?!
• Baseball – If you think it's a boring game, you just don't get it.
• Cross – Jesus is a pretty sweet dude. I've talked about him before.
• Treble Clef – Music is a powerful thing. Like movies, I can get so caught up in music that it transports me into another world.
• Computer – It's how I make my living and my art. Plus, did you know that you can see tons of funny cat pictures on a computer?
• Minnesota – I complain about it in the winter, but I really do love Minnesota. Great music and arts scene and the change of seasons is beautiful.
• Flower – I kinda like flowers, but this one really represents my wife, who loves flowers. She's the love of my life and makes me a better person. When I first asked her out, I called her from a pay phone at a gas station since I didn't have any minutes left on my cell phone for that month. (I was a real catch, huh?) I honestly don't know why she married me, but I sure am glad she did.
• Popcorn – My addiction to the popcorn from Candyland has been well-documented. It makes all other popcorn taste like skubala.
• Beer – Like with coffee, I don't mean sweet beer. And I don't mean downing a 12 pack of Bud Light either. I'm talking about a single craft beer. Preferably local.
• Bonfire – Crisp evening, warm fire, close friends and a few marshmallows. Who doesn't love that?
• iPhone – Remember when the internet wasn't in your pocket? Me neither.

That it! I'm sure Paul was thinking about things a bit more holy than popcorn and beer. Again, this is not intended to be a literal translation of the passage. In other words, find all the humor you want in the design, just don't look to it for accurate theology.

Like I mentioned, this is a very subjective list (which makes me think there won't be a high demand for prints of this one). Your list may have 18 completely different things than mine. Why not drop a few of yours in the comments below?