The World Ahead

Of Chocolate Eggs and Jesus, Redux

2011-04-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about blogging more lately, and Sarah reminded me of this post I wrote a couple years ago that's seasonally relevant. I thought I'd kick off some blogging by reposting this entry!

***

"There is a stage in a child's life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.' This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he must put one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life." – C.S. Lewis

Ah, more wisdom from Clive. The type of sentimentality and expectancy Lewis describes is probably more often associated with Christmas in this modern day and age, though the lesson is just as potent for Easter.

Children don't think in abstract terms, so to the boy, the thing (chocolate) and the sign (Easter) appear to be one and the same. But the thing is ephemeral, and is consumed – while the sign survives the thing in which it was once incarnate. The boy, then, remembers Easter even when the egg is gone, and is thus faced with the choice that Lewis presents.
How then, does the boy "get back" to the time when the chocolate was both delicious and significant? Does he focus on eating more chocolate, in the hopes that the feeling will somehow return? Or does he look elsewhere for the spiritual nature that made the egg significant in the first place?

What we often mistake as a desire to "consume more eggs" is really a desire to find the divine that makes the eggs significant in the first place. One commentary on this passage uses Communion – eating the bread and drinking the wine – as a metaphor.

"If [a] person puts the spiritual first and desires to have the benefits of the death of Christ sealed to his life, he can still use the sacrament to experience this. If [he] puts the sacrament, the physical ritual of eating and drinking, first in his life, he may become a very religious person, but he will have missed the higher reality to which the sacrament is pointing." - Will Vaus, Mere Theology

I'm fully aware that this post is a bit "out there" and highly theoretical – but the main point is that we seek an understanding of the spiritual that makes our rituals significant, as opposed to engaging in rituals because we recognize that they once held some sacred meaning. Chasing the "thing," as Lewis describes, will make the eggs no longer feel sacramental.

So this Easter, I hope you have many chocolate eggs to enjoy – and I hope that they are full of the meaning and significance of Christ's death and resurrection.

Moving forward by standing still

2010-12-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still."
- FDR

I've been doing a lot of critical thinking about commercials lately. It's funny how ridiculous they become if you stop to think about the premise they're presenting – whether it's gifting unexpected Lexuxes (Lexi?) to a family member, eight-year-olds demanding their parents buy a "cool" car, or relying on the Internet to fix all your problems.

I've paid special attention to two new ad campaigns from Microsoft: one advertising the ways the internet "cloud" improves our lives, families, pictures, and experiences, the other preaching the need for a "phone to save us from our phones."

Here's a commercial from the latter campaign.

The premise, which is unfortunately quite close to the truth: we live in a world where people are so attached to their technology that they seldom look up to interact with their environment. We're so distracted by our music, texts, news, or tweets that we wreck our bicycles, run into things, spill our coffee, and generally miss out on our surroundings.

And here's the ridiculous peddle from Microsoft: what you need to make it better is another, newer, faster phone. You'll free yourself from technology by purchasing more technology.

When you stop to think about it, it's absurd, isn't it? Of course buying a new phone isn't going to help you get off your phone. But we're so busy trying to move forward that we buy it -- we buy the premise, and we buy the phone. And maybe at first it does help, but in the longrun, it just leads to being even more attached to our phones. After all, we just need to keep moving forward, right?

It's a common way to deal with our problems, especially in America, and especially today. There's an idea that progress and technology will save us from ourselves -- that we just need to keep moving forward. Gas getting too expensive? Or running out? That's okay, by the time that happens, we'll have some other technology to fix things.

Now, there's nothing wrong with technology, smartphones, or progress, in and of themselves. I'm simply suggesting that sometimes we need to stand still to really assess where we are and where we're going -- and if we do, we might discover that sometimes the best way to go forward is by going back.

So here's the challenge: stand still. Think critically. Discover the premise behind what you're being sold. Get off your phone and enjoy your surroundings -- not by buying another, newer phone, but by simply taking time to appreciate what's around you. Take out your headphones. Talk to a stranger.

On another note, I think I'm going to try to do a brief series on commercials and the truths they're trying to present. I hope to blog about this again soon.

"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Running

2010-11-20T20:10:00.002-05:00

Now that I'm getting settled in a new place and establishing a bit of a weekly routine, I've started to get into the groove with running again. I took Gabe with me for the first time today and he did pretty well (he just needs to learn not to make any sharp turns across me when we're running!).

Here's the running playlist for November:

1. Muse - Starlight
I am a huge fan of just about everything Muse does.

2. The Go! Team - The Power is On
I don't know much about this group, but I love this song.

3. Bob Dylan - Forever Young
An updated version of the song that was originally heard on Pepsi commercials during the Super Bowl a couple years ago.

4. Bob Marley - Three Birds
Every little thing... is gonna be alright.

5. Daft Punk - Da Funk
Awesome, driving instrumentals.

6. Muse - Uprising
Another Muse hit about 1984's Winston and Julia. Makes me feel like I'm running from the thought police.

7. Ke$ha - Tik Tok
Okay, okay... guilty pleasure. But it's a really funny song and the beat is great.

8. matchbox twenty - Bright Lights
Baby, baby, baby....

9. Phoenix - 1901 (live)
When this song kicks in I always start to run a little faster.

10. MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix)
The original version of this song was on my playlist for the last half marathon I ran -- but this remix is so much better.

11. The All-American Rejects - Move Along
Probably my second favorite running song, behind Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now."

"Restoring Honor"

2010-09-02T17:51:00.000-04:00

Two interesting reads regarding last week's "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington, D.C.

First, Brian Bantum, a theology professor, writes Is America's Honor a Christian's Honor? Thoughts on Glenn Beck and the "Restoring Honor" Rally (discovered through Eugene Cho's blog). A quick excerpt:

While conservatives such as Beck and Palin point to a time past when America had honor, I am puzzled. Presumably, Beck and Palin mean America had honor in the eyes of God. Presumably, this honor was due to our limited government and desire for individual liberty.

But if we assume this to be true, was God also honored with the systematic displacement of native peoples; the enslavement, lynching, and raping of African women, children and men forcibly brought to our “blessed” shores; and the continual repression of women’s votes just to name a few? Was God being honored when those atrocities were not only permitted, but nationally sanctioned? Is God not honored because millions more have healthcare? Is God not honored because I do not keep what I rightfully earned?

Bantum's overall point: What "honor" can we really restore? It makes me think of the billboards and bumper stickers I've seen lately that say "America, Bless God." It's not to say that we can't work, as a nation, to live more Biblically, but I'm curious as to other people's thoughts if we can "bless God?"

Secondly, Jim Wallis, author of "God's Politics," wrote a piece about the rally on his blog titled "An Open Letter to Glenn Beck." In his post, Wallis particularly challenges Beck's notion that "social justice" churches are bad, and are simply code for a form of Communism or Marxism.

And let’s talk about salvation. You have emphasized that you believe strongly in personal salvation, as opposed to “collective salvation.” As an evangelical Christian, I also believe deeply in personal salvation—it is the foundation of my faith. But we need to ask ourselves, what are we saved for? Is salvation just about getting a pass into heaven? Is it just for us? Or is it also for the world, and being a part of God’s work and purposes in the world today? When I read a passage like Matthew 25 or Amos 5, I believe it’s clear that God won’t hear my prayers if I don’t care for the least of these, or I refuse justice to those in need.

Wallis also warns of the danger of acting as a spiritual leader, and not just as a talk show host (which reminded me of James 3:1 - "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness").

Before, I thought you were just another cable news talk show host. But now, you are using the language of a spiritual and even a religious leader. You acted as though you now want people to look to you for that kind of spiritual leadership. But to invoke the name of God and the vocation of a spiritual leader has consequences. It brings with it a whole new level of responsibility and accountability. It will require a more civil and even humble tone than you are used to. It will likely mean saying some different things and, certainly, saying many things differently than you have in the past. Pundits and talk show hosts say things that divide, create conflict, and get good ratings. They appeal more to fear than to hope.

Interesting stuff from these two bloggers. I'm not sure that I have my opinions on "Restoring Honor" and the Tea Party fully formed just yet, but I'm working on it. I'm curious for other people's thoughts as well.

Tough questions

2010-09-02T16:28:00.002-04:00

I'm currently reading "Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit," by Francis Chan. I'll readily admit that I was first attracted to the book because of its beautiful cover, but once I discovered what the book was about I was equally excited for its content.

I appreciate Chan's honest writing and Biblical approach to this book. Chan, the pastor of a Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, writes like he's giving a sermon. He presents his points clearly (and with a lot of Biblical references), often urging the reader to put down the book and instead read a relevant section of the Bible.

Overall, the book is a fairly simple and straightforward study of the Holy Spirit. Chan doesn't present anything earth-shattering or new, but instead explores foundational themes central to our belief in the Holy Spirit -- like a list of truths about the Holy Spirit, or a list of ways the Holy Spirit manifests itself in our daily lives.

I'm about halfway through the book, and came to a passage that I found particularly challenging to me personally. The quote I mainly wanted to include here is in bold, but I felt I needed to include the rest for context:

Did God lead you to where you are? A lot of people in my church and in my travels tell me, "I believe that God has called me to Simi Valley." Or Wichita. Or New York. Or Greenville. Or wherever. That very well may be the case. But it could also be a cop-out because you like where you live. You have a good job. The school district is safe and has high ratings. Your family lives close by (or perhaps far away, depending on your relationship with them). It makes sense that you are "called" to be there, right?

And maybe you are calle to where you live. But if you say you are called to be in the place you are, a few questions need to be considered. For example, how would you be missed if you left this place? What would change? Basically, what difference does your presence here make? Or, as my youth pastor once asked me, what would your church (and the worldwide church) look like if everyone was as committed as you are? If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless?

Yikes. That's an awfully convicting question. If I answered it honestly I'd have to say that the church wouldn't be very healthy at all. Definitely some food for thought.

Personal blogging

2010-09-02T16:28:00.000-04:00

Hello, people who might be reading this blog...

If you've followed my blog or photos over the last year, you know I've done a lot of blog switching and designing. A few months after I created the website for my photography earlier this year, I decided that I should probably keep my "professional" blogging (photo portfolio stuff) and "personal" blogging separate. I removed all the personal posts from my photo site and copied them to this blog, which has been dormant since I made the new site. It still has all my old posts from pre-2010 as well.

Anyway, I'll be blogging personally here again now – life updates, theological and spiritual thoughts and questions, silly videos – the whole gamut. Thanks for reading. :)

To the Lassies

2010-01-24T19:16:00.001-05:00

Doug asked me to give a traditional toast "to the lassies" for Burns Night. Below is the poem I wrote and delivered for the toast...
***
"To the Lassies"
The lassies with us here tonight,
Are graced with many gifts,
We count ourselves as lucky friends
Although they give us fits.

For sure, they’re wise and beautiful,
Fair-skinned, with eyes that glisten,
But when they open mouths to speak
We resign ourselves to listen.

And on you go, ‘bout many things:
‘Bout Glee and Harry Potters,
‘Bout knitting, running, vampire men,
And even circus otters.

But that’s not all, as we well know,
For more we often hear,
Of Percy Jackson, word twist games
And even schnabeltiers.

You study eyes, you study books,
And other information;
You work to keep things nice and cold,
and work with animation.

You wrangle germs and viruses
With great dexterity;
And one of you does something strange:
‘sustainability.’

And though we tease, we clearly know,
Your worth to us as sisters;
Without you we would merely be
Sad and lonely misters.

And so, to end this silly rhyme,
I do what just seems right –
I borrow from Sir Burns himself
To celebrate this night:

"Auld Nature swears the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes;
Her ‘prentice han’ she tried on man,
And then She made the lasses!"

Dear Beth, Christina, Chelsea, Jane,
To you, we raise our glasses.
And Megan, Sarah, Erica –
We toast you, all fair lasses.

The Law of Undulation

2009-12-24T17:45:00.002-05:00

On the drive to Cincinnati yesterday, I listened to a radio dramatization of "The Screwtape Letters," C.S. Lewis' famous look into the mentoring relationship between two devils – a junior tempter (Wormwood), and his uncle, a senior tempter (Screwtape). In the story, Wormwood is tempting his first human, and his uncle gives him tips and hints about how to adequately keep humans away from the "great enemy:" God.

I made it through about half of the set yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the dramatization. I was totally engrossed. The voice acting helped, too – Andy Serkis (Gollum) was fantastic as Screwtape, and the other actors, though lesser known, performed their parts equally well.
I was struck yesterday by the dramatization of the eighth letter from Screwtape to Wormwood, dealing with the "law of undulation." I'd quote the whole chapter if I could, but that wouldn't be exactly legal – so, just a snippet. (Someone has posted the whole chapter, and most of the book, here).

Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal. (The Enemy's determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.) As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation—the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks. If you had watched your patient carefully you would have seen this undulation in every department of his life—his interest in his work, his affection for his friends, his physical appetites, all go up and down. As long as he lives on earth periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty. The dryness and dullness through which your patient is now going are not, as you fondly suppose, your workmanship; they are merely a natural phenomenon which will do us no good unless you make a good use of it.
To decide what the best use of it is, you must ask what use the Enemy wants to make of it, and then do the opposite. Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. The reason is this. To us a human is primarily good; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth.

Lewis goes on to discuss the role of free will in the "war" for human souls, but that's a slightly different topic (and, of course, a very debatable one). The "Law of Undulation" is, in itself, a broad topic that we can apply to our lives and walks of faith in a variety of different ways. With this blog post, I mostly just wanted to point out how much I believe in the point that Lewis is making – that our lives naturally have highs and lows, because of the way we have been created and because of the sinful and broken nature of our world. Often, when we're in a valley, we look only for the path that will take us to the next peak – but we should recognize that God is in the valleys as much as or more than he is in the peaks. When we find ourselves in a downward trough of undulation, we should ask ourselves what God wants to make of it.

This pattern of undulation won't end until we're at home in heaven. There's a verse in Isaiah that speaks to this:

Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
- Isaiah 40:4-5

Time away

2009-12-18T17:44:00.002-05:00

Christmas break has finally arrived! I finished my last final on Tuesday, so now I have – quite literally – nothing to do for three and a half weeks. Doubtless I'll fill most of my days with reading, episodes of LOST, Age of Empires III and random acts of tomfoolery. I'll be heading home to Cincinnati for a few days on either side of Christmas. Over the New Year's holiday, Sarah and I are heading to New England to visit Lake Champion, Sarah's brother's family in New York City and my sister's family in Portland, Maine, where we'll hopefully go skiing (Sunday River) and hit up the L.L. Bean Outlet in Freeport.
I'm also going to make a point to photoblog during break – especially during the New England trip. Without schoolwork to do, I'll need something to focus on!

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I decided to start off my Christmas break by taking a personal retreat. After spending some time looking for a location, I settled on St. Meinrad, a Benedictine Monastery and seminary in southern Indiana. The seminary had some interesting history – it was founded in 1852 by Swiss monks who were looking to expand their abbey to the United States as an insurance policy against the anti-Catholic Swiss government of the time. If the Swiss government became too oppressive, the monks planned to pack up and move to America. However, that never happened, and by the 1870s St. Meinrad had become an independent monastery.

I arrived Wednesday afternoon and pretty much spent all of my time in reading and prayer. I took an hour in the afternoon to walk around the grounds and take photos, and also attended the evening Vespers service in the monastery. The most interesting reading I was doing was from Tim Keller's "Counterfeit Gods," an excellent book about modern idolatry. When I'm finished with it I may have to devote a post to it.

Anyway, here's a few pictures. These were all taken with my Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. I'm digging the superwide.

When pigs fly.

2009-10-07T15:20:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm in for it now.

I've signed up for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati on May 2. It's 206 days away -- and there's a lot of running to be done between now and then.

To date, I've run four half marathons (soon to be five) with mixed success. I've finished them fine and generally felt good, though I've not really improved my time. I decided that it's time to put some dedicated effort into it and finish at least one full marathon.

Cincinnati is a great choice, too. It's not the flattest course (see the elevation profile below), but I'm from Cincinnati, it's a great marathon, and I should be able to have family and friends there to cheer me on.

And let's be honest -- the Flying Pig marathon? The moniker is perfect. I'm reminded of the "Pigasus," a personal stamp used by John Steinbeck with the latin motto Ad astra per alia porci (to the stars on the wings of a pig). The pigasus was supposed to symbolize Steinbeck's "earthbound but aspiring" nature, as he was a "lumbering soul but trying to fly...(with)...not enough wingspread but plenty of attention." Sounds a lot like my running. I'm currently researching training, but hope to come up with a plan soon!

Wedding photography!

2009-10-04T21:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I had my first experience as a wedding photographer – I'll be honest, it was a little stressful – but it was also a lot of fun. Especially since I got to shoot photos of and for such good friends.

By far and large I'm saving the photos so that Jeremy and Erica can see them first (especially the ones of them), but I did want to share a few highlights for those of you that were there. Maybe once I've given them all over to J&E and they're back from their honeymoon I'll post more.

((p.s. -- the pics really aren't looking their best through Blogger. Enjoy anyway!))

Your favorite president

2009-09-26T20:52:00.003-04:00

Quick. Who's your favorite U.S. President?

I'll give you a second. Think of your answer.

Got it?

Did you say Lincoln? Most do.

I recently watched a video where a guy was interviewing students at UC-Berkeley and asking them this exact question – and some of the answers were shocking. Most people said Lincoln – that seems to be the default answer, and for good reason. Lincoln was an immense figure in U.S. history.

However, lots of the other answers were just, well, shocking – many couldn't name one, or when they were asked for reasons for their selection they couldn't come up with any. Anyway, the question spurred my mind into action, and I thought I'd give a quick top three – for argument's sake, I'll exclude Lincoln from consideration (interestingly, my three come roughly from the same era of American history).

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897)
The only President elected to nonconsecutive terms, Cleveland was a tireless reformer. While some of Cleveland's policies as a President were controversial (including his support of the gold standard and his intervention in the Pullman strike), he was widely respected for his character. One biographer wrote, "in Grover Cleveland the greatness lies in typical rather than unusual qualities. He had no endowments that thousands of men do not have. He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not."

After election to his first term, Cleveland ignored the typical spoils system for appointments and instead vowed to presidentially appoint only those who would do their jobs well. Cleveland also undertook efforts to modernize the Navy and created the Interstate Commerce Commission. Cleveland was a Democrat, but was also a staunch believer in limited government, and used the veto more times than any president before. Interestingly, Cleveland is the only president to be married in the White House.

Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909)

America's youngest president. America's cowboy president. A man of impeccable character, energy and and achievements, T.R. was the man who coined the term "speak softly and carry a big stick." Roosevelt became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. A Republican president, T.R. was just as well known for his exploits as a naturalist, explorer, soldier and author as he was as a politician. Roosevelt pushed for the completion of the Panama Canal and negotiated the end to the Russo-Japanese War, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

Roosevelt declined to run for reelection in 1908 (remember, there were no term limits then) but ran again in 1912 as a third party candidate, coming in second to the next president on this list. As Roosevelt was campaigning in 1912, an attempt was made on his life. A bullet passed through his metal eyeglasses case and lodged in his ribcage. Roosevelt, drawing on his experience as a soldier, reasoned that since he wasn't coughing up blood he wasn't in any immediate danger. He went on to give a 90-minute campaign speech while the bullet wound bled.

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
America's only President to ever hold a Ph.D., Wilson was one of America's most idealistic presidents. In Wilson's first term, he worked with the Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Farm Loan Act and America's first-ever federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913. That's a lot for one term, and during Wilson's second term he guided the U.S.'s inevitable entry into World War I.

Towards the end of World War I, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany and issued his Fourteen Points, which enumerated his ideas for a peaceful post-war world. He worked hard to establish the League of Nations, a project that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. Sadly, Wilson would never see the U.S. enter the league he helped create, in part because Wilson refused to budge from his idealistic positions. During a debate with the Senate in 1919, Wilson collapsed and suffered a stroke. His refusal to compromise meant the U.S. would never ratify the legislation that would enter them into the league.

Lake Monroe

2009-09-23T16:48:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, I was able to head out to Lake Monroe (Indiana's largest lake) to help teach a Coastal Kayaking Class. We went to the easternmost part of the lake, near Crooked Creek, where few motorboats venture and where the lake, apart from a few channels, is less a lake and more a large, swampy marsh, full of eagles, herons, ducks, geese, fish, snakes and sucking mud.

It was a beautiful weekend, and getting outdoors and on the water was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of grad school. I'll just share a few photos...

We made pizza on the fire – it was amazing.

After beautiful weather on Saturday, storms and low clouds rolled in early Sunday morning. Though it made us wet, the lake was beautiful -- it felt like we were paddling in Alaska or British Columbia. Indiana has its moments.

This last picture is of the largest caterpillar I've ever seen in my life ("like a pickle," as one person put it -- just much, much hairier. And probably less tasty). I looked it up when I got home -- turns out it's an imperial moth: not overly rare (but large, with about a 5'6" wingspan), but rare to see as a caterpillar.

Welcome back to Blogger

2009-09-12T22:30:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm making a return to Blogger for the home of my blog posts. Luckily, I never deleted my old posts from Blogger, so they're all still here! I'm migrating the posts over from Wordpress and they should all be in place in the next week or so.

I'm switching back to Blogger because I'm making my domain an exclusive site for photography -- I might be selling some in the near future! Anyway, personal blog posts don't really belong there, so I'm going to be using blogger again.

I really haven't blogged much in a while, but I have some stuff I want to write about, so I'm happy to have the forum. And, of course, I'll still put up some photography -- I just got the zoom feature javascript working here so you can click on the image below to expand it.

This shot is from my recent backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. We were in a ton of fog, which spoiled some of the views but made for other beautiful scenery.

Of Lorien, Nature and the Four Loves

2009-06-10T22:50:00.002-04:00

I'm continuing my Lord of the Rings reread, and I have to say that this time through (this is probably the sixth or seventh time I've read them) I'm focusing on taking deeper lessons from the story instead of just reading for entertainment. Of course, participating in a LOTR book club on Monday nights with some brilliant friends only helps the cause.

One of the themes we've talked about a bit at the book club is nature. Both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis use nature as a thematic element in their fantasy stories, and both seem to have similar methods of introducing and using it.

And as it so happens, I've been thinking a lot about the role of nature in my life lately. I just returned from a wonderful vacation where I got to see both the piney splendor of the Pacific Northwest and the rocky lakeshores of the Catskill Mountains. While traveling, I began to read C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves, which includes a great section about nature. So, let me start this off with a section of The Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship has just emerged from the Mines of Moria and, under the leadership of Aragorn, decides to seek refuge in Lothlórien. Boromir shows some reluctance to enter the forest.

He stepped forward; but Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow. 'Is there no other way?' he said.

'What other fairer way would you desire?' said Aragorn.

'A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords,' said Boromir. 'By strange paths has this company been led, and so far to evil fortune. Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few none have escaped unscathed.'

'Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth,' said Aragorn. 'But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlórien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us – unless you would go back to Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone.'

'Then lead on!' said Boromir. 'But it is perilous.'

'Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!'

Boromir isn't afraid to speak his mind, and speak it plainly – even if he is wrong (one of the reasons I like him, but that's another story). Boromir, subject to what must have been the Gondorian equivalent of an urban legend, believes the woods to be wicked and evil. Aragorn corrects him, noting that the woods is dangerous, but that the real danger lies within one's own heart (think Star Wars: Luke's strange cave training with Yoda).

C.S. Lewis echoes this sentiment in The Four Loves.

"If you take nature as a teacher she will teach you exactly the lessons you had already decided to learn; this is only another way of saying that nature does not teach."

Lewis suggests that Nature is a myriad of different things all at once: it's life and death. It's beautiful and terrible. It's forgiving and unforgiving. As Lewis puts it, it at once includes, "overwhelming gaiety, insupportable grandeur and sombre desolation."

But Lewis certainly doesn't suggest that Nature is without its merits. He continues:

"Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one."

For Lewis, the lesson that Nature taught was one of God's glory. Lewis believes he never would have fully understood God's glory – or learned to fear God – without "certain ominous ravines" and "unapproachable crags." But to others, Nature appeals to the "dark gods in the blood." Though Nature can suggest glory, it presents other things, too – sex, hunger and power operate in Nature without shame.

We can certainly see this idea of nature as a "mirror" in Tolkien's Lothlórien, among other places. Boromir is right to fear the woods, because the woods will expose the fears that he carries in his heart. Tolkien's Nature, in and of itself, is not good or evil. It may reflect the good or evil present in it (as I'll note presently) or, in its natural course cause actions that seem to be good or evil, though they are neither (the foiling of the Fellowship on Caradhras).

We can see the effect of good or evil in nature if we read on to the end of the Lothlórien chapter. The Fellowship has reached Cerin Amroth, a hill with a vantage point of the surrounding lands. Frodo pauses to look out over the golden wood:

Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it, it seemed to him that the power and light came that held all the land in sway. He longed suddenly to fly like a bird to rest in the green city. Then he looked eastward and saw all the land of Lorien running down to the pale gleam of Anduin, the Great River. He lifted his eyes across the river and all the light went out, and he was back again in the world he knew. Beyond the river the land appeared flat and empty, formless and vague, until far away it rose again like a wall, dark and drear. The sun that lay on Lothlorien had no power to enlighten the shadow of that distant height.

'There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,' said Haldir. 'It is clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and their branches rot and wither. In the midst upon a stony height stands Dol Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dewlling. We fear now that it is inhabited again, and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it of late. In this high place you ay see the two powers that are opposed to one another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been discovered. Not yet' He turned and climbed swiftly down, and they followed him.

Nature can appear to be good or evil depending on both what is inhabiting it, and, again, depending on the perspective of the beholder. As Lewis would say, it teaches us no lessons than those we already wish to learn.

Instead, Lewis suggests we should "learn our theology and philosophy elsewhere." That we must "leave the hills and woods and go back to our studies, to church, to our Bibles, to our knees." And, in a specific note to nature lovers, Lewis continues, "Otherwise the love of nature is beginning to turn into nature religion. And then, even if it does not lead us to the Dark Gods, it will lead us to a great deal of nonsense."

I don't know about you, but to me this all makes perfect sense. I believe wholeheartedly – especially since I tend to be a "nature lover" – that the love of nature must be anchored in truth. Additionally, Tolkien's storytelling seems to back up the theological stylings of his good friend Lewis. Lothlórien is just one example.

As a parting thought: At book club on Monday we discussed Radagast, Gandalf's wizarding peer with a deep affection for nature (and possible St. Francis parallel). If Lewis suggests that a pure love of nature will, at best, lead to a "great deal of nonsense," then perhaps that's one reason why Radagast is considered a simpleton and a fool in the books.

Vacation, briefly

2009-05-24T22:51:00.001-04:00

I don't have much time to compose a post this morning, but I thought I'd post a couple pictures from the vacation so far. It's amazingly beautiful here. The weather has been great, the travel easy, and we've seen an incredible amount of things in just a few days. We were in Yosemite National Park the last couple days and today are back in San Francisco. We're going to do some things here today (Golden Gate Bridge, etc.). Should be a fun day!

The Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Forest:

The view from our backcountry campsite in Yosemite:

On a random dome in northern Yosemite:

Sunsets + Summer Reading

2009-05-10T22:26:00.001-04:00

Ah, summer is finally here. I went camping last night at Yellowwood to kick off the summer properly. Since I changed the blog design the photos show up kind of small, so a reminder that if you click on them they'll expand to full- screen.

More blogging to come now that exams are done!

Everything is amazing, no one is happy

2009-04-22T22:26:00.001-04:00

A friend sent me a link to this youtube clip of a comedian – Louis CK – on Conan the other night. I've never heard of him, though I appreciate his simple message in this clip.

My backyard

2009-04-17T22:22:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons I moved into my current apartment was because I liked the fact that it had a nice, wooded backyard that – complete with a fire pit – that was dark at night.
Well, my landlord really hasn't turned out to be such a great guy. The place isn't so hot either. For the last couple weeks they've been doing some kind of mysterious work to the apartment downstairs (the one that always has bass coming from it, regardless of the hour) – and so this is what the backyard looks like.
This picture was inspired by the fact that the guy that my landlord hires to do stuff decided to mow today, so he just literally mowed over and around all this crap. Classic.

And here's the challenge. Can you all of these things in the photo? If you can, you win!
- Snow shovel
- (4) half-cinder blocks
- One FULL cinder block
- Croquet set
- Taco bell cup
- McDonald's cup
- Coffee mug (with coffee still in it)
- Tire
- Bag of cypress mulch
- Mysterious cable
- Empty bottle of mountain dew.

l'amour de Dieu est folie!

2009-04-12T22:23:00.001-04:00

In France, when Easter is celebrated, there is a common phrase that is proclaimed in cathedrals, shared on sidewalks, spraypainted on walls and plastered on streetlights.

l'amour de Dieu est folie!
The love of God is foolish!
What a great phrase. Why don't we have anything like it here?
Now, we know God is infinitely wise and omnipotent. It's a bit odd to call him foolish, isn't it? It's simply foolish because we can't possibly fathom or understand God's love for us. We are broken, sinful creatures, yet God loves us. Magnificently. Spectacularly. Undeservedly. And I can think of no better time to proclaim the glory of God's foolish love for his creation than on Easter, the day of Christ's resurrection and victory over death.
1 Corinthians says it better than I ever could.

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (ESV)

Happy Easter!

Heed the forecast

2009-04-10T22:21:00.002-04:00

this is what happens when you ignore the forecast and have to bike home in the pouring rain.

Of Chocolate Eggs and Jesus

2009-04-09T22:20:00.003-04:00

In thinking about and discussing Easter lately with some friends, I was reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote that I'd seen once before but had never considered deeply.

"There is a stage in a child's life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.' This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he must put one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life."

Ah, more wisdom from Clive. The type of sentimentality and expectancy Lewis describes is probably more often associated with Christmas in this modern day and age, though the lesson is just as potent for Easter.
Children don't think in abstract terms, so to the boy, the thing (chocolate) and the sign (Easter) appear to be one and the same. But the thing is ephemeral, and is consumed – while the sign survives the thing in which it was once incarnate. The boy, then, remembers Easter even when the egg is gone, and is thus faced with the choice that Lewis presents.
How then, does the boy "get back" to the time when the chocolate was both delicious and significant? Does he focus on eating more chocolate, in the hopes that the feeling will somehow return? Or does he look elsewhere for the spiritual nature that made the egg significant in the first place?
What we often mistake as a desire to "consume more eggs" is really a desire to find the divine that makes the eggs significant in the first place. One commentary on this passage uses Communion – eating the bread and drinking the wine – as a metaphor.

"If [a] person puts the spiritual first and desires to have the benefits of the death of Christ sealed to his life, he can still use the sacrament to experience this. If [he] puts the sacrament, the physical ritual of eating and drinking, first in his life, he may become a very religious person, but he will have missed the higher reality to which the sacrament is pointing." - Will Vaus, Mere Theology

I'm fully aware that this post is a bit "out there" and highly theoretical – but the main point is that we seek an understanding of the spiritual that makes our rituals significant, as opposed to engaging in rituals because we recognize that they once held some sacred meaning. Chasing the "thing," as Lewis describes, will make the eggs no longer feel sacramental.
So this Easter, I hope you have many chocolate eggs to enjoy – and I hope that they are full of the meaning and significance of Christ's death and resurrection.

Soundtrack for life

2009-04-04T22:20:00.001-04:00

i'm totally stealing this idea from others, but here, in no particular order, are ten songs from the past few years that are played frequently on my ipod. if i was choosing a soundtrack for my life right now, these songs would probably be on it.

Keep it Together
Guster | Keep It Together
An older song, but my favorite Guster offering -- and that's saying something.

~~~

Love Will Find a Way
Delirious | Kingdom of Comfort
A favorite off Delirious' most recent album.

~~~

Death and All His Friends
Coldplay | Viva La Vida
Listen from 1:16-2:00. Enough said. Coldplay, you're onto something.

~~~

Hopipolla
Sigur Ros | Hoppipolla
Always awesome, always strangely inspiring.

~~~

Beautiful Love (Acoustic)
The Afters | Never Going Back to OK
This song is breathtaking. A beautiful, inspirational duet.

~~~

The Lighthouse's Tale
Nickel Creek | Nickel Creek
Probably the oldest song on here - but I still listen to this album all the time.

~~~

Sweetly Broken
Jeremy Riddle | Full Attention
A recent find, this song is my favorite worship song at the moment.

~~~

Ain't No Reason
Brett Dennen | So Much More
Chosen for its awesome lyrics, though most of the album is great.

~~~

Two
Ryan Adams | Easy Tiger
Another favorite off an album that gets frequent playing time.

~~~

Life is Beautiful
Vega4 | You and Others
A great accidental find, this one's currently on 'repeat' - on my ipod and in my head.

A bit more spring break stuff....

2009-03-25T22:24:00.001-04:00

I'm on a real blogging kick here this past week... anyway, just wanted to post a couple more of my favorite photos from Florida:
This is the sandbar off of an island we stopped at for lunch one day. It was totally bird-infested. Or at least it was until we went running into their midst.

More of the birds.

There were a ton of Osprey. I thought this one was going to attack me for getting too close to its nest (the sign says "Manatee Zone, No Wake").

Plenty of sting rays, too. This was the biggest one I saw:

And lastly, might as well put one in of us actually kayaking, huh?

Off course

2009-03-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

While in Florida this past week, I started a re-read of "Lord of the Rings." I think this will be my sixth reading of the books, but it's amazing how it never gets tiresome. The story is always rich and I always seem to find some new detail that brings me joy. Anyway, this re-read will probably trigger a rash of Tolkien-themed pots, so prepare yourselves. You've been warned.
Anyway, to set the scene: the Hobbits have just fled the Shire, ducking into the Old Forest to evade the pursuit of the black riders. They know the forest is dangerous, but believe they can make it through if they keep their wits about them, set a direction of travel and don't dally. Of course, that doesn't quite work out.

"At first their choice seemed to be good: they got along at a fair speed, though whenever they got a glimpse of the sun in an open glade they seemed unaccountably to have veered eastwards. But after a time the trees began to close in again, just where they had appeared from a distance to be
thinner and less tangled. Then deep folds in the ground were discovered unexpectedly, like the ruts of great giant-wheels or wide moats and sunken roads long disused and choked with brambles. These lay usually right across their line of march, and could only be crossed by scrambling down and out again, which was troublesome and difficult with their ponies. Each time they climbed down they found the hollow filled with thick bushes and matted undergrowth, which somehow would not yield to the left, but only gave way when they turned to the right; and they had to go some distance along the bottom before they could find a way up the further bank. Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker; and always to the left and upwards it was most difficult to find a way, and they were forced to the right and downwards."

This continues for a while, until the four Hobbits end up exactly where they didn't want to be: the Heart of the Old Forest. There, the magic and enchantment of the forest are strongest, and they soon find themselves in peril. Old Man Willow snatches Merry and Pippin, and Frodo and Sam's attempts to help them prove fruitless.
Isn't this just like our lives and our walks of faith? I can't put a number on the amount of times I've believed myself fully capable of doing something on my own, only to find myself hopelessly off course. We may set out on a course of action with the best intentions, but when we are reliant on ourselves we often drift farther and farther off course.
And more often than not we're not lured off course drastically. It happens one little bit at a time – just like the Hobbits found themselves slowly and unaccountably veering East. But they didn't stop – they kept going, perhaps thinking they could correct the course on their own.
The world lures us in similar ways. Take "stuff" as an example. As we graduate from college and enter into the working world, we go (hopefully) from being poor college students to having a job with a salary. And we can use that salary to get all kinds of stuff – furniture, DVDs, surround sound systems, cars, ships in bottles – you name it. Our appetite for stuff is temporarily sated, and we think we have enough. But we get used to those things. And maybe one day we get a raise. All of a sudden, we can afford nicer stuff. And why not? We've earned it, right? So we get the nicer things. We get accustomed to those, too, and our slow drift off course continues until one day we open our eyes and realize: we're not in the place we intended to be when we first set out!
The same happens to the Hobbits. They find themselves at the River Withywindle, the heart of the forest's strangeness. They soon find themselves in trouble, and Merry and Pippin are taken by Old Man Willow. Frodo and Sam try to help, but can't rescue their friends. Then Frodo takes an unexpected action:

"Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help! It seemed to him that he could hardly hear the sound of his own shrill voice: it was blown away from him by the willow-wind and drowned in a clamour of leaves, as soon as the words left his mouth. He felt desperate: lost and witless."

How often have we felt as Frodo did: lost and helpless in a world that is constantly trying to throw us off course. And when we reach that desperation, what do we do? We cry for help! And there is an answer!
Frodo's answer comes from Tom Bombadil (a mysterious figure who isn't worth delving into in depth in this post, because it would take far too many words), who – by some divine mistake or providence – claims he just happened to be in the neighborhood. Tom rights the wrongs, gets the Hobbits back on their feet and sets them back on the path with clear direction. The Hobbits escape the peril.
When we find ourselves off course, we too should ask for help – because it will come. And instead of being self-reliant, believing ourselves strong and capable enough to set our own course through life, we should ask for help before we find ourselves hopelessly lost and in trouble. And where does our help come from?

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
- Psalm 121:1-2

The Lord will rescue us, put us back on our feet and set us on the right path.

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
- Isaiah 30:21

Here's to staying on course.

THA NK YOU FOR ISITIN GTHE GV SSOM AEROPLE X

2009-03-11T17:16:00.003-04:00

I'm currently up near Kokomo, Indiana at a training session put on by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The session is "Introduction to Emergency Management," and covers a lot of the basics of emergency management, including the various functions and phases. I don't know how I fit in to all of this exactly (career-wise), but I know it's good to be here learning and making these connections. Most of the people here are much older than I am – of the 40 people here, 33 are probably white men in their 50 – and all of them have more things on their belt and flashing lights on their SUVs and trucks than me.

The class is at the dilapidated, somewhat-melancholy Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base (named for Gus Grissom). A few decades ago, the base must have had a thriving little community. It was originally a training and testing base, and has been greatly downsized in the last decade. One of the guys at the training is a local – "grew up just on the other side of that fence there," as he says – and talks about how he used to come onto the base to play with the military kids. It feels a lot more like a ghost town. Really, this picture says it all.

The base isn't entirely inoperative – there's still a squadron of KC-135 refueling planes that operates out of the base, and it's also been opened to civic use. The base might have been closed were it not for an accident that occured in 1964, when a B-58 (a supersonic bomber) skidded off the runway with five nuclear devices.

"On December 8, 1964, during a routine Operational Readiness Inspection, a B-58 strategic bomber skidded off the runway) at Bunker Hill AFB, IN (later named Grissom Air Force Base). The consequence of the accident was a fire and destruction of five nuclear weapons on the aircraft. The high explosives in the weapons did not detonate, but melted and burned, leaving some residual radioactive contamination in soils adjacent to the runway. The contaminated area was excavated and buried along with the aircraft wreckage at a different location on base. In June 1996, the Air Force Safety Center conducted a review of both classified and unclassified documents in its possession and concluded that sufficient data did not exist to support closure of the site. Since that time, the State of Indiana and this organization performed small- scale scoping surveys that identified a small area with elevated gamma radiation exposure levels. Soil samples collected from the area indicated the presence of depleted uranium."

Oops. Anyway, I guess that's a good reason to not close the base. Back in Bloomington tomorrow!

Welcome, Spring

2009-03-09T22:17:00.002-04:00

Can I just say I'm incredibly happy that spring is here? These crocuses (they kind of remind me of simbelmyne) have sprouted in incredibly rapid fashion in my backyard over the past few days. They're now everywhere.

"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way."

- Psalm 85:10-13

Riding through life on a surfboard with God

2009-02-06T22:11:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I've never written about this before. There are, in life, certain things – books, sermons, moments or people – that shape who we are. They're unique to each of us, and we can always revisit them, relearning the lessons we've learned before.
In high school, my Young Life leader shared a sermon with a small group of us that has had a profound impact on my life. It's given by a pastor named Bruce Thielemann, from Pittsburgh, and judging by the manner of speaking and the references in the sermon, it's probably from the early 80's. It's loosely based around Acts 5.
Thielemann begins his sermon in this way:

"I'm deeply and personally convinced that the Christian life is to be an exciting and a joyous experience. I think we are to be living lives which are thrilling to behold, exciting to watch, ennobling, enkindling, enabling, enthusiastic. That is what the Christian life is supposed to be."

I love it. Thielemann goes on to discuss the counsel given by Gamaliel, a Pharisee, in Acts 5. In the passage, the citizenry become enraged by the teaching of the Apostles, and want to kill them. Gamamiel, who was "held in honor by all people," stood up and dispensed his wisdom to the crowd. With apologies for the paraphrasing, here's what he said: "People, I know you're upset ... but the best thing we can do is.... nothing."
Sound advice? It seems logical, and, to steal from Frodo, "would seem like wisdom but for the warning in my heart." Do nothing? Make no decision, take no risk? The problem is that doing nothing is all too common an answer for the Pharisees.
Thielemann then uses the words of surfing legend Phil Edwards to describe those who, like the Pharisees, do nothing.

"There is a need in all of us for controlled danger. That is, there is a need for an activity that puts us on the edge of life. There are uncounted millions of people, right now, who are going through life without any sort of real vibrant kick. I call them the legions of the unjazzed."

The legions of the unjazzed. To keep with the surfing metaphor, as Thielemann does, these are the people who never get out into the big waves. Maybe they splash around in the shallows. Maybe they play in the puddles, like C.S. Lewis describes. Maybe they can build the best sandcastles on the beach, but the fact remains that they're avoiding something bigger. Thielemann
"If you're going to get out to where the big waves are, you can expect to be beaten up a little bit," Thieleman continues. It's true, we get tossed around and beaten up when we take get into the deep water. We'll frequently get slammed against the ocean floor – tossed and turned by the turbulent power of the waves. It's a rough and experience, but one that locks you into being alive. The disciples in Acts 5 are living this out in living by faith. They're out in the big waves.
Thielemann concludes with a wonderful descriptive passage, and it would not do anyone service for me to paraphrase it.

"When you get into one of the truly big waves off the islands of the Pacific, there is a time when if you ride the wave properly, you can crest the curl, and coming down the other side turn into the wave so that the wave curls over your head. In that moment you find yourself in a tunnel of water. It swirls all about you, like a whirling green cathedral. The water above is most thin, and the sunlight coming down spangles it so that it looks like green diamonds. And it's absolutely silent in there; you cannot hear a sound. And if you want to, you can lean back against the wall of water behind you, and it lifts you and carries you like a pillow. Now you can never know that, what it's like to be carried, what it's like to be in a whirling green cathedral, what it's like to have life spangled with diamonds -- you can never know that until you move into the midst of the wave, until you say 'yes' to God's dares."

Amen. May our faith teach us to lean into the waves of life, meeting the challenges that are before us. May we always be riding through life on a surfboard with God.
((I have an MP3 of this entire sermon, and if you'd like to listen, please let me know.))

Quinzee!

2009-01-29T17:12:00.007-05:00

No, Quinzee isn't a new take on Yahtzee. A quinzee is a type of snow survival shelter – something you could make if you were stranded in the snowy tundra of ... say, Dunn Meadow for a few days.

Basically, you make a huge pile of snow – the bigger, the better – let it sit and sinter for a few hours and then dig out the middle, making a sort of igloo/sow cave combination shelter. It was actually quite warm inside, and you probably could have slept three people in the shelter we built. As it was, we had five of us sitting inside fairly comfortably at once.

Anyway, pictures:

Sawtelle

2009-01-27T17:08:00.001-05:00

I laid awake for a good hour last night after I turned the light off. I'd just finished reading "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," by Dave Wroblewski, and my mind just wouldn't shut off.

It's a great book, and I highly recommend reading it. There are the obvious undertones of "Hamlet," but Wroblewski's writing also seems to combine the traits of some of my favorite American writers – John Steinbeck, Richard Adams and John Irving.

Wroblewski's writing waxes poetic – he's wonderful at describing things in a way you haven't quite heard before. His best writing is about abstract concepts, though, and I particularly enjoy the few chapters that are about the family's dog, Almondine. Her loyalty and devotion are touching. I don't want to give much away, but here's a passage from a chapter about her from late in the book:

"She had learned, in her life, that time lived inside you. You are time, you breathe time. When she'd been young, she'd had an insatiable hunger for more of it, though she hadn't understood why. Now she held inside her a cacophony of times and lately it drowned out the world. The apple tree was still nice to lie near. The peony, for its scent, was also fine. When she walked through the woods (infrequently now) she picked her way along the path, making way for the boy inside to run along before her. It could be hard to choose the time outside over the time within. There was still work to do, of course. The young ones in the barn knew so little and she had taught so many before. It hardly seemed worth trying when she was asked, though she did."

Gone wild.

2008-09-08T12:03:00.001-04:00

Excerpted from today's New York Times weekly newsroom critique, by by Philip B. Corbett, found here. I got a kick out of this.

Tacky Phrase Gone Wild!

Perhaps more surprising is the continuing popularity of headlines built on the tiresome “Girls Gone Wild” theme. In just the past year, all these people and things have gone wild in Times headlines:

Fish
Girls in Idaho
Grain
Governors
Salem Girls
Geezers
Banks
Guys
Water Parks

Especially given its low-rent origins, I think this one could be permanently banished from our pages.

A day of adventure

2008-07-24T22:38:00.004-04:00

Hard to pick just one photo today, as I took a lot. I was off today, and had about the best day of playing and adventuring I've had all summer.

This afternoon, we loaded my car with three kayaks and drove across the street to kayak the usually impassible wetlands. Since it rained so much yesterday, we were able to kayak the wetlands with surprising ease, and they were incredibly beautiful. Tons of birds, tons of green and some fantastic weather with a great sunset, to boot.

Today was great. I'm off to play some late soccer before crashing into bed. You can find the rest of the photos from today's adventuring on my Facebook page.

Once more...

2008-06-25T19:43:00.003-04:00

So much for getting back to blogging more frequently, huh? Since I last posted, nearly a month ago, life – work, specifically – has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I've hardly spent any time on the computer. Not that I'm complaining. Less time on the computer is always nice.

My time here has been well-spent, and there's nowhere that I'd rather be. After working 18 consecutive days from the end of May into June, averaging between 12 and 16 hours of work a day, things have finally calmed down a bit and I can step back and gain some perspective. It was hard work getting the camp ready for summer, especially with a brand new dining hall. There was lots of new ground that had to be covered, but now that we're running (we're into week three of summer camping) things are going much smoother.

I love this part of New York in the summer. The weather is fickle at best – in the course of a day it can change from rain to sun and back to rain several times. In June alone we've had swings from 45 degrees to 95 degrees; humid to dry; sunshine to hail. It keeps things interesting.

My focus now is to just use the rest of the summer to serve and to grow in my relationships with others and with the Lord. And to cram some fun activities into my free time when it comes along.

Here's my short list of what I still want to get done with my days off this summer:
- Trip to Cincinnati (forthcoming, for a family reunion) where I'll see all of my family, a Reds game, run a 5k and see Zimmer, who's been in Thailand.
- Go to NYC.
- Go to a Mets game.
- Go to a Red Bulls game (hopefully versus FC Barcelona).
- Go to Portland to visit my sister and her family.
- Go to Fenway.
- Make dentist and optometrist appointments (before I'm a poor grad student!)
- Spend a night out practicing wilderness survival with friends.
- Backpack into Pine Creek Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania."

There's more I want to get done, too... we'll have to see what I have time for!

To summer.

2008-05-22T01:07:00.007-04:00

Well, a lot's been happening in my life lately, and I've not blogged much about it. I'm sure I'm going to have lots of adventures this summer in New York I want to write about though, so I've decided to get right back on the blogging horse – so to speak.

I had a wonderful, busy last week in the Midwest before departing for New York. I went to three baseball games with wonderful people, all of which the home team won (the Indy Indians won two, the Reds won one. Oh, and Doug – I swear all baseball games aren't militant.) It always feels like summer hasn't really started until I've been to a baseball game – three in one week means the season can really start.

I also had the chance to finish up a freelance project shooting a bald eagle nest – it was really incredible how close I was able to get to such amazing birds. The chicks were a captive audience, but the mother was very wary of me, and any time I'd get close she'd fly off. Luckily I arrived one day while she was away, and when she returned she didn't spot me right away. I had about five minutes in which to capture some cool images, including this one. The full gallery can be found on my Flickr site here.

After packing up, cleaning, finding a place to live next year and finishing up everything I had to do in Bloomington, I was ready to drive to New York. After spending 12.5 quality hours in my car on Sunday, I finally arrived at Lake Champion. It was great arriving and seeing a place that I really do love, and more importantly, seeing people that I really care about. I was also greeted by a midnight soccer game in the gym, which I somewhat regretted participating in after spending so much time in the car.

So now I've had a few days to get settled here. I've been thrust immediately into a really busy work situation, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the people I'm working with and I love the cause I'm working for. I really could make a life out of this property staff thing.

The highlight of yesterday was seeing the rather large bat pictured below. It was the biggest bat I've ever seen not in a zoo, and after some Internet research, I'm pretty sure it was the Hoary Bat – which has an average wingspan of 15.7 inches (thanks, Wikipedia). I thought it was pretty cool to see.

Peyton Manning & United Way

2008-04-15T17:24:00.002-04:00

An enjoyable SNL video I've never seen until today:

"O" my!

2008-04-11T18:05:00.007-04:00

So my co-worker Jessica and I just went to the Women's Little 500, and as we were walking in, Barack Obama's motorcade pulled up. No one was sure if Obama was going to make an appearance, but it was widely rumored that he'd show. The rumors were right.

Jess and I had perfect timing to get a spot along the railing near the bus and wait for Obama to emerge from his bus. After 10 or 15 minutes of waiting, he emerged to cheers and walked along the crowd shaking hands, and yes, even kissing babies (see below).

Luckily he walked in my direction, and I was able to shake his hand! It was pretty cool. I'm still not sure if I'm going to vote for him, but I can certainly understand the power of personal appearance after today. It makes sense that politicians tour around doing these things – it really does get people excited about them.

Anyway, Obama hung around inside the track before the race began, shaking the hands of the women's riders before getting back on his bus to head for (presumably) Terre Haute.

The women's race was fun, too, and the weather was fantastic. What a great start to the weekend.

Right after shaking my hand.

Plans!

2008-04-03T14:23:00.003-04:00

Well, after a long, long season of prayer and waiting, I'm excited to say that I have... plans! Of course, plans can always change, but I'm excited to have an idea of what I'll be doing with this next period in my life.

In a crazy week right before Spring Break, things started to come together in an amazing way. It's one of those times in your life where you can't possibly deny a higher power working to bring things together – God really knocked down some obstacles and plowed a road for me. I am incredibly blessed.

May 14 will be my last day of work at the School of Journalism. I'll put my stuff into storage for the summer, run the half-marathon on the 17th in Indianapolis, then head to Lake Champion for the summer – where I used to work.

I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of returning to work for a Young Life camp for the summer. Being around the people there, sharing in rich Christian fellowship and serving the Lord, will be a real blessing. Additionally, I get to spend all my time outside – and that makes me happy.

Just last night I was looking forward to living in the middle of nowhere again and falling asleep to an amazing chorus of frogs and locusts.

I'll stay at Lake Champion until late August, at which point I'll return to Bloomington to become a full-time student in SPEA (the School of Public and Environmental Affairs). I'm planning on pursuing my Masters in Public Administration, focusing on non-profit and public management. While Emergency Management isn't a concentration choice at SPEA, I am going to customize my experience as much as possible to gain experience in that area.

So – a summer away, then another two years in Bloomington. I'm excited to stay here with the people I've gotten to know and enjoy this Indiana life for a while longer.

Awareness

2008-03-26T16:08:00.003-04:00

Haven't blogged much lately... life's been a bit busy to find time to sit down and write. But check out this amazing British advertisement...

More pictures... from France!

2008-03-12T14:00:00.009-04:00

Another little update since it's been a couple of days.

Tuesday we traveled from London to Caen in an exhausting all-day excursion. It was bus to Dover, then ferry to Calais, then bus to Caen. It took us about 12 hours total to get to our destination – partially because of problems with the ferry (bad weather combined with a strike of French ferry workers). Anyway, we arrived in Caen last night.

These pictures are mostly from today, apart from the first one from the back of the ferry (the coast of France is just visible on the left).

1. On the ferry.
2. Omaha Beach.
3. The American Cemetery near Omaha Beach.
4. German gun emplacements near Longues Sur Mer.
5. The town of Aromanches, where the allies built their artificial harbor on D-Day +2. An engineering marvel of the time, most of the parts of the artificial harbor can still be seen just 2km off the coast.
6. In Bayeux, in front of the Bayeux Cathedral with several of the students on the trip. We ducked inside (it was beautiful) and then went to see the Bayeux Tapestry, a famous 11th-century depiction of the battle between the Normans and Saxons (involving "William the Bastard," later known as "William the Conquerer."

All in all, very cool stuff. I'm exhausted and hoping to catch up on some sleep tonight. I'll certainly post full sets of photos later on Flickr or something... so far I think I've taken 487 photos on the days we've been here. Yipes.

I love London.

2008-03-09T19:56:00.009-04:00

A few images from my day in London today. The internet isn't so good, so I'll have to post my full set later. In order:

1. At the new home of football. I watched an Arsenal game at the "Gunners Pub" in Islington then went and saw Highbury and Emirates. Happy day.
2. Phone booths on Fleet Street.
3. Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross!
4. Random bikes.
5. At the Arsenal tube stop.
6. At the newly-remodeled and refurbished St. Pancras train station.
7. There are flowers here. It's green. It's (sort of) warm.

In short, I LOVE it here. I could live here.

Land me safe on Canaan's side

2008-02-24T22:59:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post the words to a hymn that has really struck a chord with me over the past few months, and has come to be a great source of insight and encouragement in my life.

The hymn is "Guide me O, Thou Great Jehovah," penned by the Welshman William Williams (what a name) in 1745. Here are the lyrics:

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.

Gosh, I love this hymn. "Lord... guide me through this desert with your powerful hand... through streams and fires, anywhere on my journey, be my strength and shield. I will not fear, though I face death, for you will guide me, and I will ever sing you songs of praises."

The whole point is that we don't know what's ahead, but we walk in faith anyway, trusting that even if God leads us into fire – yes, he'll do that - he'll deliver us through it.

Though we may have the desire to know what's next, that's not something God is typically going to just come out and reveal to us. Instead, perhaps God will talk to us as Aslan does to Lucy in C.S. Lewis' "Prince Caspian." ((I just finished re-reading it not long ago, so it's fresh in my mind )).

"Please, Aslan!" said Lucy, "am I not to know?"

"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No, nobody is ever told that."

"Oh dear," said Lucy.

"But anyone can find out what will happen," said Aslan. "If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out…"

"But they won’t believe me!" said Lucy.

"It doesn't matter," said Aslan.

"Oh dear, oh dear," said Lucy. "And I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you’d come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid."

"It is hard for you, little one," said Aslan. "But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now."

"Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.

"I’m sorry, Aslan," she said. "I’m ready now."

I love the way Aslan talks to Lucy: The only way you will find out what can happen is by doing. And there is great encouragement to be found in the Lord in facing this task, as well, for he promises us ((just studied this in small group, too)):

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
- Isaiah 43:2

Anyway, just a few thoughts as I face a time of uncertainty in exactly "what's next" – though I trust God that if I make a step of faith, he will be with me, guiding me through whatever flames and floods may come.

Happiness is...

2008-02-18T12:02:00.005-05:00

Happiness is a warm nap in the sun.

Another fantastic day yesterday. More work - I ended up taking a lot of photos of people golfing – but then more play, too. We went down to the beach near San Diego and had a great time. We saw a bunch of seals up on one of the beaches, too, which was cool.

All the photos here.

Joshua Tree

2008-02-17T01:12:00.006-05:00

Well, if you didn't know, I'm in San Diego on business. My friend Mark got a gig covering a biotech company's annual sales conference and needed a hand, so he and I are out here doing audio/video coverage of the conference. It's not a terrible amount of work – in fact we have quite a good amount of free time.

Today we had the most amount of free time we'll have all week, so we rented a car from the hotel and drove to Joshua Tree National Park – a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. Mark and I had a U2 moment in front of one of the Joshua Trees (also, the middle picture is Mark's, you can find more of his here) and really enjoyed the awesome views. The weather was great, too – not too hot or cold.

The only downer today was finding out Arsenal lost to Manchester United 4-0. Blech. That's okay, though... we'll beat 'em in the league!

My full set of pictures can be found on Flickr here.

'San Diego'

2008-02-16T21:14:00.004-05:00

The view from my hotel room in San Diego as of 5 minutes ago. :) I'll have to write more about what's going on a bit later... off to dinner right now.

I love storms.

2008-02-05T22:39:00.002-05:00

I can't believe we're having a thunderstorm like this in February. But I love it. I just spent a couple hours sitting on the back porch trying to take photos of the lightning. I think I took 192 photos. These two were the winners.

Anyone? Anyone?

2008-01-30T10:35:00.001-05:00

Ben Stein is a modern renaissance man. Seriously, what hasn't the guy done? He's been an activist. A writer. A commentator. A lawyer. A speech writer for two presidents. He's been on TV (Win Ben Stein's Money, The Wonder Years), he's been in commercials (Musine Dry Eyes), and of course, has had roles in movies ("Reagan called this what? BLANK economics ... Voo Doo Economics").

Stein has previously been honored for his pro-life activism, and now he is taking on Darwinism in a new movie/documentary that will debut this spring called "Expelled."

In the trailer, Stein shares his belief in intelligent design, and seems to shine the spotlight most brilliantly on scientists who are shunned for questioning Darwinism, or for their belief in the possibility of intelligent design.

There's an extended trailer on the Web site that is worth checking out. Between small group and Young Life, creationism has been a hot topic amongst friends lately – I thought many of you would be interested in knowing about this.

Stein wraps up the extended trailer with the following challenge to the viewers, and ends with a nice homage to his Ferris Bueller days:

"So I'm going to begin by warning you: feel free to watch this film if you must, and I hope that you do – but you've got to know that doing so could land you in a heap of trouble. Some of you are going to lose your friends from watching this film. Some of you may even lose your jobs. In fact, if you're a scientist with any hope of a future, I suggest you leave right now. College or high school students, especially teachers, legislators, journalists – anyone else with a stake in this debate should probably leave right now as well. But if you do leave, will anyone be left to fight this battle? ... Anyone? ....... Anyone?"

Standards of Evangelism, Part I

2008-01-18T09:03:00.001-05:00

As most of you know, Young Life, the youth evangelism organization started by Jim Rayburn in 1941, has been a huge part of my life for the last ten years. After my sophomore year of high school I went to Lake Saranac, a Young Life camp in the Adirondacks, where I heard the Gospel presented to me clearly for the first time. It changed my life, and I wouldn't be who I am today without Young Life. Granted, God could have chosen to work in my life in some other way – but the fact remains that it was because of Young Life that I came to accept the Gospel and begin my relationship with Christ.

Over the years, I've become very familiar with the ministry, both from serving as a volunteer leader in Bloomington and from working on full-time staff at Lake Champion for more than two years. But for the past few weeks there has been a great cloud of controversy surrounding the ministry – a cloud that has turned into a bit of an internet firestorm in the last week or two.

The background

Nine members of Young Life staff in Durham, North Carolina, were terminated or resigned at the end of November after they declined to abide by a new set of “non-negotiable” guidelines for proclaiming the Gospel set forth by Young Life. From my understanding – gathered from news articles I've read and from accounts from friends still on staff, the "non-negotiables" were set forth late in 2007 as a response to a series of Gospel presentations at summer camps and a paper written by Jeff McSwain, the director of Young Life in the Durham areae. Here's the synopsis from an article in Christianity Today:

The Non-Negotiables statement came out after a paper circulated last summer by Jeff McSwain. The former YL area director for Raleigh and Chapel Hill, McSwain was the highest-ranking staff member fired. In his paper, McSwain criticized YL’s traditional approach to evangelism, which he said emphasizes kids’ separation from God. His paper, “Jesus Is the Gospel,” said such gospel presentations can be more Unitarian than Trinitarian, because they draw a sharp contrast between the holy God and the incarnated Son who “actually became sin.”

“I can go into the realm of the most lost, furthest-out kids, knowing something that is true about them before they do,” he wrote in the paper. “They are lost children of God; people can’t be lost unless they have a home!”

YL’s eight-page Non-Negotiables statement requires a sequence for gospel presentations that closely resembles Campus Crusade for Christ’s Four Spiritual Laws. Talks must begin with the person of Jesus Christ, “the overarching theme of all our talks.” From there, evangelists should explain the reality and consequences of sin before presenting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Talks end with an invitation to believe and become a disciple of Jesus.

The Christianity Today article is an interesting read, but I disagree with their assumption that the non-negotiables require a certain sequence of Gospel presentation. More about that later. There's also an interesting article about the situation from Christian Century.

Also, here are the six key points from Young Life's "non-negotiables." The full, eight-page text can be found here.

1) We proclaim the Person of Jesus Christ in every message.

2) We proclaim the reality of sin and its consequences — that apart from divine grace, we are estranged from God by our disobedience and incapable of a right relationship with God.

3) We proclaim the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as the ultimate proof of God’s love and the only solution to our problem of sin.

4) We proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

5) We proclaim the risen Christ’s offer of salvation by inviting our middle school, high school and college friends to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

6) We proclaim God’s call to discipleship by encouraging all who respond to grow in their faith.

There has obviously been a lot of fallout from the dismissal of the 10 staff members in the Durham area. I hate that this situation has come to that, yet it seems that in our sinful nature, theological disagreements – and sometimes splits, become inevitable, if not unavoidable.

On December 11, Young Life posted a statement about the incident on its Web site, saying that its method of presenting the Gospel "has been widely applauded within the mission" and that only "a small fraction of staff" have disagreed.

"We start with love in our proclamation of the gospel," the statement reads. "Young Life reaches out to adolescents in friendship, loving them where they are and as they are. It is in this context of grace that we talk about the truth of sin that separates us from relationship with our Creator."

The debate

Let me get this out of the way – I'm no theologian. My knowledge is severely limited, but I like to think about and investigate these things as they pertain to our faith in Jesus Christ. So, I'm not going to go so far as to make a judgment on this topic. For now, I simply want to figure out the question.

It's important to remember that while hundreds of people are abuzz about these "non-negotiables" and the debate surrounding them, hundreds – no, thousands – of high school kids are attending Young Life camps and hearing the Gospel. Thousands of kids are coming to know Christ because of Young Life leaders and staff members all over the country and all around the world. That is important work, and we should all rejoice because of it. In Philippians 1:18, Paul says:

"What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice."

The great point being that we're debating about details. Whenever and wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, we should rejoice.

I also think it's important to note that when I accepted Christ at Saranac in June 1998, the camp speaker that presented the Gospel was – you guessed it – Jeff McSwain. I obviously have a tremendous amount of respect for the man and have no desire to belittle his efforts for the sake of the Gospel.

I'd love to read McSwain's paper to better understand what he is standing up for and what exactly he believes – but unfortunately the paper is not public, so I'll have to go off what is reported. Below is pretty much the full list of all the sources I'm using. If you Google "Young Life non-negotiables" you'll come up with a lot more results. The Tony Jones blog is interesting, and much of it I pointedly disagree with, but you should read it anyway.

News articles:
Christianity Today: Gospel Talk
The Christian Century: Young Life draws fire over new ministry guidelines
The Jesus Manifesto: The Gospel according to Young Life

Tony Jones blog:
Something is wrong at Young Life
More on what's wrong at Young Life
Closing the loop on Young Life

It seems that this debate from the 10 staff in Durham is creating quite a stir (considering there are 30,000 Young Life volunteers/leaders/committee) and it's become popular to attack Young Life for it. However, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect an organization like Young Life to create a policy for all of its staff to follow. I don't think it makes them overly controlling or dictatorial. I would expect a worldwide ministry to have something like that in place.

There are a lot of things that frustrate me about Young Life, and I could go on for a day with critiques about things I think they could do better. Young Life is a great high school ministry, but tends to "lose" kids after they've made the initial commitment to Christ, failing to plug them into a church or helping them grow and become rooted in their faith. But that's not the point here.

This debate is centered on the order of things – specifically, the order of repentance and salvation. You can label it as a Calvinistic debate about soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). Here's what Tony Jones says:

It seems that YL President Denny Rydberg and others in the organization are worried about the influence of neo-orthodox theology, and they are thus battening down the hatches on a certain type of conservative, Reformed orthodoxy. For instance, staffers are told in the statement that they must not introduce the concept of Jesus and his grace until the students have been sufficiently convinced of their own depravity and been allowed to ~~wallow~~ stew in that depravity (preferably overnight).

...

YL has embraced the very “gospel of sin management” that Christian leaders like Dallas Willard and Brian McLaren have criticized. It is unhistorical, and, arguably, unorthodox. Even Augustine, Calvin’s predecessor in all things Reformed, came to faith and then was convinced of and convicted of his sin. Remember, Augustine wrote his Confessions a couple decades after his conversion, so all of his talk of his own sinfulness was realized by him after he came to faith in Christ.

This is simply unfair. I have heard hundreds of Young Life talks and their process is simple and effective. There is not a desire to make kids "wallow" in their sin before they hear that there is an answer (in my experience – there are always exceptions). They do, however, lay out first that we are condemned because we are sinners, and then explain that Christ is the answer for that problem. But every time I've seen one of these "sin talks," it is overwhelmingly done with a spirit of love, and hinges on the fact that there is hope for us in Jesus Christ.

The text of "non-negotiable" point two supports this:

We maintain that sin’s consequences include a broken relationship with God, so relational words such as estrangement, alienation, lostness and purposelessness do represent our condition. We also maintain that words such as guilty, rebellious, separated and condemned are descriptions that characterize sinful humanity and necessitate God’s ultimate rescue in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Great care must be taken to keep Jesus present in this message about sin. Gospel narratives, including the paralytic brought to Jesus by his friends, the woman at the well, the rich young ruler, the woman caught in adultery, Peter’s characterization of himself as a “sinful man” and other passages all may be used to communicate this message.

The frequent criticism of "sin talks" (see Tony Jones' comments above) is refuted by this text: Great care must be taken to keep Jesus present in this message about sin.

The theology

Going back to the soteriology debate, the Young Life Gospel presentation includes 1) the person recognizing that they are in a sinful, broken state and 2) the person repenting and accepting Christ (gaining faith). It suggests that our salvation is not complete until we make a decision to have faith and accept Christ. This seems to me to be a fairly Calvinistic approach – see Calvin's doctrine of "evangelical repentance."

For since pardon and forgiveness are offered by the preaching of the Gospel, in order that the sinner, delivered from the tyranny of Satan, the yoke of sin, and the miserable bondage of iniquity, may pass into the kingdom of God, it is certain that no man can embrace the grace of the Gospel without retaking himself from the errors of his former life into the right path, and making it his whole study to practice repentance. Those who think that repentance precedes faith instead of flowing from, or being produced by it, as the fruit by the tree, have never understood its nature, and are moved to adopt that view on very insufficient grounds.

First is pardon and forgiveness – which go along with the recognition of being in a broken and sinful state. Then, faith and repentance come hand-in-hand, one flowing out of the other. I don't believe Young Life is stating that we must repent before we have salvation. However, they are saying we must make a decision to have faith before salvation is complete.

McSwain's theological views are clearly a bit different than Young Life's – hence the dismissal – but I'm not entirely clear on how. It is my understanding that McSwain is arguing that the work of salvation is already complete before we gain faith – citing Romans 5:8: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

McSwain is also quoted in the Christianity Today article as saying: “They are lost children of God; people can’t be lost unless they have a home!” This is totally correct. But I'd add this: We are all broken Children of God, but if you don't realize you're broken, why would you ever look to become whole?

Christ died on the cross, but not everyone is going to heaven. Why? Because we have to make that conscious choice to have faith, to accept Christ and follow him – thus completing salvation.

“From what are people being saved? Not from visible warfare or barbarians but something far greater: from their own sins, a work that had never been possible to anyone before.”

-John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, 4

((A side note: most of the articles seem to suggest McSwain is more in line with theologian Karl Barth, who I don't know much about. This largely deals with the principles of liberalism and neo-orthodoxy, and if anyone has anything to add on these subjects (ahem: Dan) I'd love to hear it!))

The question

OK, I've written a novel and hardly scratched the surface of this subject – this will have to suffice for now. The point of writing this wasn't to stick my own opinion out there (though writing this has helped me realize where I stand), but to raise awareness of this situation, and ask you, my friends, what you think. I put a Part I on here – maybe there will be a Part II. Maybe not, though.

I think what gets me the most worked up is the harsh criticism and vitriol towards Young Life in some of the articles written. It's too bad. Young Life is far from perfect as an organization, as is the case with each and every church and para-church organization. None of these folks or churches or organizations has it "right", but I believe YL, just like all the others out there, is trying to do the best job they can while staying true to their beliefs.

I don't think they're a fundamentalist dictatorial monster taking evangelism to hell in a handbasket. I don't necessarly think there is a great evangelical "schism" forthcoming (see Tony Jones again).

Anyway, we should approach this with an open spirit of love and concern, not with a spirit of criticism and condemnation. I hope I've not put any words into Young Life's of Jeff McSwain's mouths in this article. I know that Young Life is a wonderful, Christ-seeking ministry and that McSwain is a fine, Christ-seeking man – who presented the Gospel to me, and I believed.

Amen.

The Enneagram...

2008-01-11T00:26:00.001-05:00

I'm a Type Seven – an Enthusiast. The Seven is a person who wants to constantly have new experiences, who wants to be constantly exploring and finding joy in new and simple things in life. The Enneagram Web site has this to say about the Type 7:

Basic Fear: Of being deprived and in pain
Basic Desire: To be satisfied and content—to have their needs fulfilled
Key Motivations: Want to maintain their freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, to keep themselves excited and occupied, to avoid and discharge pain.

It goes on to describe Enthusiasts at their healthy levels and at their unhealthy levels. I'll just post a bit and highlight what I feel like describes me best:

Level 1 (At Their Best): Assimilate experiences in depth, making them deeply grateful and appreciative for what they have. Become awed by the simple wonders of life: joyous and ecstatic. Intimations of spiritual reality, of the boundless goodness of life.

Level 2: Highly responsive, excitable, enthusiastic about sensation and experience. Most extroverted type: stimuli bring immediate responses—they find everything invigorating. Lively, vivacious, eager, spontaneous, resilient, cheerful.

Level 3: Easily become accomplished achievers, generalists who do many different things well: multi-talented. Practical, productive, usually prolific, cross-fertilizing areas of interest.

Level 4: As restlessness increases, want to have more options and choices available to them. Become adventurous and "worldly wise," but less focused, constantly seeking new things and experiences: the sophisticate, connoisseur, and consumer. Money, variety, keeping up with the latest trends important.

Level 5: Unable to discriminate what they really need, become hyperactive, unable to say "no" to themselves, throwing self into constant activity. Uninhibited, doing and saying whatever comes to mind: storytelling, flamboyant exaggerations, witty wise-cracking, performing. Fear being bored: in perpetual motion, but do too many things—many ideas but little follow through.

I admit I can see both my strengths and weaknesses in that description. I didn't post any of the "really unhealthy" levels (7, 8, 9), but I don't see much of myself in those anyway. In the Type 7 description by Richard Rohr, he says, "The Seven is the 'eternal child.' Peter Pan could be their patron saint, or Mercury, the messenger of the gods wearing his winged shoes, with which he disappears into a wonderful world of fantasy... Sevens are curious. It's as if what they already know or have is never enough. They need change, stimulation, new experiences... Sevens are not specialists, but 'generalists.' They always have several irons in the fire, because they always want to leave all their options open and unconsciously want to avoid committing themselves too deeply to a thing or a person... because if you totally devote yourself, your own limits might become visible – and that would be too painful. Thus many Sevens master the art of bluffing; they are all-around diletantes and evoke the impression of being many-faceted in their gifts, of knowing all about everything. A handful of facts, cleverly combined, sometimes suffice to create a comprehensive image. They often have a hard time tying themselves down to one career."

Wow. Has Richard Rohr been spying on me? I really can't add anything in my own words that's better than the description above. I love new experiences and find joy in them - but it can be taken to a fault, too, to where I'm bored if I don't have constant new stimulation and I'm afraid to commit to any one thing that might limit my experiences.

Season Four...

2008-01-03T22:49:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

I just spent an hour getting excited for the new season of L O S T. ABC just started advertising for the season premiere the other day, and I have to say – it looks awesome. I'm a little concerned about how the writer's strike will affect the season (does anyone know?)

Anyway, a few years ago, during the summer, the makers of L O S T presented "The Lost Experience," an interactive online game that gave clues to the upcoming season of L O S T.

Good news... it's BACK!

Go to www.flyoceanicair.com to start the experience.

It will take you to www.find815.com.

I won't reveal anything else, but go to it and do it... it's worth it!

Arrogant monsters

2007-12-20T09:56:00.002-05:00

From 1998 to 2006, I spent at least part of my summer at a Young Life camp.

In 1997, I had my first Young Life summer camping experience at Saranac Lake in upstate New York, and it changed my life. I went back two more summers as a camper, then two summers as a leader, two summers on summer staff, a summer as an intern and two years as full-time property staff.

Needless to say, I love Young Life camping and believe that it's an important evangelical tool.

I also got to have a lot of fun at Young Life camp. A lot of my best memories come from camp, and a lot of my favorite memories come from working with the program teams. One of my favorite parts of my job at Lake Champion was working with the program teams who came in in the summer. I'd often work on videos for them, as well.

I was blessed to work with a lot of talented and funny people and witness a lot of ridiculous situations. The video above is a video that was made with Gary Wilmer and Chris Geisler while I was a summer intern at Lake Champion in 2003. I hadn't seen this video in a while, but my friend Mark was able to find it and post it to Youtube. Gary's narration still cracks me up to this day.

I.M. Pei on a Rainy Day

2007-12-13T10:18:00.001-05:00

Last night, after helping a friend with a project at work, I grabbed a camera and stopped off at the IU Art Museum a little after 10 o'clock. The art museum, designed by famous architect I.M. Pei (arguably most famous for the glass pyramid at the Louvre), is lit up beautifully by a myriad of colorful LED lights in celebration of its 25th anniversary.

The rainy evening only added to the color, as the reds, greens and blues reflected off of the sidewalks and rocks. Shots taken with a Canon PowerShot A650IS, ISO 800.

For the full FLICKR gallery, click here.

The holidays are here...

2007-12-04T12:55:00.001-05:00

As seen in a Maryland grocery store:

Binocular soccer

2007-11-27T17:21:00.001-05:00

For no reason whatsoever, other than that it's hilarious: A Japanese sketch comedy show (I think the host is that guy from MXC) where they make some guys play soccer with binoculars on.

Happy break!

2007-11-21T12:40:00.002-05:00

A fun video to celebrate Thanksgiving. I love Dwight.

The Kings of Old

2007-11-16T16:04:00.001-05:00

So I just checked out one of the new cameras from our multimedia lab here at work for the weekend – a Canon PowerShot A650 IS. The thing has the most ridiculous macro lens on it – the focal distance is practically 0! Anyway, I checked it out so I can play with it this weekend, which means I'll probably be posting some pics up here...

I thought I'd start by taking a picture of one of the bookends on my desk at work. "Long have I desired to see the kings of old... on my desk!"

TGIF!

Misconceptions of Jesus

2007-11-13T16:15:00.001-05:00

A friend and I were discussing common misconceptions about Jesus today, specifically people who get bogged down in legalities – and I was reminded of this parody video that Vintage21, a church group in North Carolina, produced a few years ago.

I ought to offer a disclaimer: this video, in no way, represents my views of Jesus, nor do I believe it reflects the views of the film's producers. Bear in mind this video was shown in church, then followed up with a sermon about common misconceptions and stereotypes of Jesus. This one specifically deals with what some people perceive Jesus to be like with rule-breaking, sinning and other "infractions."

It's quite humorous. There's three other videos just like this (it was a four-part sermon series) on Youtube that you can find through watching the video below.

In Flanders Fields

2007-11-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

In Flanders Fields
Lt. Col John McRae, MD (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders fields.

***

This poem, penned by Canadian military doctor John McRae about the 1915 battle at the Ypres salient, is one of the most memorable war poems ever penned. It's a fitting poem to read and think about today, as we honor our veterans – living and dead – and remember the horrible cost of war.

More Philly...

2007-11-09T18:32:00.001-05:00

We got the tour of Independence Hall today! It was really cool to be in the room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and voted on. I didn't find any clues to a giant masonic treasure, but I'll keep looking.

Also, as we were talking to the historic district of Philadelphia, we passed a McDonald's with this trash can out front – and for some reason the clever graffiti made me laugh out loud. So apparently one graffiti artist thinks McDonald's is murder – but another says, "Hey, who cares? It's delicious!" Maybe this is only funny to me ...

The House of Pass and Stow

2007-11-08T20:03:00.002-05:00

I'm on a business trip in Philadelphia right now, but while I'm relaxing in my hotel room this evening I thought I'd put the free Internet access to use and post a couple pictures.

Though I've been to Philadelphia before, I've never seen the historic part of town, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I am a bit of a history nut, so I was pretty excited today when Jessica and I had a couple free hours and were able to walk over to Philly's historic district.

After all, Philadelphia full of interesting American history. It's one of the U.S.'s oldest metropolises, established in 1682 by William Penn. It was the home of the first government of the united colonies, home to the first Supreme Court, home to the first and second banks of the United States and is still home to a federal mint.

We ran out of time today to get the tour of Independence Hall, but we're planning on taking our lunch break tomorrow to go back. I'll try to sneak off to discover mystery like Benjamin Gates does in "National Treasure..."

'Goal that saved Arsenal'

2007-11-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

Random post today. I have this whole post I'm working on about God and chivalry and the Knight's Code and swords... but I haven't collected my thoughts enough yet to actually finish the post. I need some less mentally-taxing days at work so I can focus on that one night at home.

ALSO... my freelance business is exploding. Praise the Lord for it, as it definitely helps pay the bills, but I've got an incredible amount of projects I need to finish right now! Gah!

Anyway, my day at work today was pretty great – my coworker Jess returned from her trip to London and brought me a pretty awesome souvenir ... a new Arsenal scarf! I didn't even ask or anything, she's just feeding my obsession of her own volition. :)

It was a great weekend, too – for Arsenal and for me. Before I went to the Connexion retreat on Saturday I managed to catch a little bit of the second half of the Arsenal-Man United game. I didn't see any goals, but I went back later and downloaded the whole match and watched it. Phew. William Gallas scoring in the last minute of stoppage time to save the draw – sure it would have been better if it was a win, but still... amazing. Jess also brought me back the Sunday Telegraph, which has a nice big picture of the ref calling the goal and the headline, 'Goal that saved Arsenal.'

The retreat was really great, too – it's always great to meet new people, spend time in fellowship and worship, learn about God and ourselves and in general have fun. We even got to play a little soccer. Good times.

This is a crazy week at work – guest speakers today and Wednesday and a trip to Philadelphia Thursday through Saturday, but after that things calm down! I'm looking forward to getting into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

I was also asked to be my new niece's Godfather, which is a pretty great honor. I'm going to try to go home on Sunday to go to her baptism.

And with that last random bit, I'm off to go home and get ready to celebrate Guy Fawkes night.

'The World Ahead'

2007-10-24T21:06:00.000-04:00

I've never explained why I decided to title my blog, "The World Ahead." If it isn't already imminently obvious, I'm a huge fan of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. I grew up reading "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," and have probably read the books upwards of a dozen times. The books were the roots of my imagination as a child, and as I've grown, Middle Earth has remained a wonderful and mystical place for me to let my thoughts and imagination linger.

The phrase "the world ahead" is from one of the many songs and poems Tolkien wrote to appear in the trilogy. The first time we hear the song is when Frodo, Pippin and Sam sing it along a wooded road of the Shire, not long after they've set out from Hobbiton. Tolkien writes, "Bilbo Baggins had made the words, to a tune that was as old as the hills, and taught it to Frodo as they walked in the lanes of the Water-valley and talked about Adventure" (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 3). Here it is:

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed,
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet:
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky,
Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though we pass them by today
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,
Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell,
Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead
We'll wander back to home and bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
And then to bed! And then to bed!

The song is all about finding Adventure – with a capital A, as Tolkien writes it. Life is about finding our own adventure, about setting out from home and exploring the world ahead of us. I identify so much with the ideas presented here – about finding a secret tree, or gate, about finding excitement in the little aspects of life.

But Tolkien also recognizes the great value and draw of home on a traveler, particularly after adventure is complete. The song turns at the end, and suddenly the traveler grows weary of the road – and the comforts and draw of home are ever-more appealing. This is true in the immediate sense of completing an adventure, but also in the grander metaphorical sense of living our lives. At some point, we have to go home – in the meantime, all the world is there for our Adventure.

A few years after Frodo and Sam return to the Shire in The Return of the King, while Frodo and Sam are traveling to the Grey Havens, Frodo recalls the song, and sings it with slightly changed words. After all, Frodo is different than when he set out upon his adventure – the things he's experienced have left him changed, different, and not altogether complete. Frodo knows that he'll never be completely whole as long as he remains in Middle Earth. As Frodo approaches the havens, he sings these words:

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

Frodo sings of traveling the hidden path that will take him west of the moon and east of the sun, a traditional reference in fairy tales of traveling to a place that is impossibly far away. Frodo speaks of traveling on the Straight Road across the ocean Belegaer to Tolkien's Aman, the great Western continent where the Valar reside. Without getting into too much nerdy detail – this "traveling West" for Frodo is, for him, finally going home – Tolkien's Aman is the metaphorical heaven, where we can all go home to at the end of our Adventure, if we choose.

But for me, the road ahead is just beginning, and while going home sounds like the most wonderful thing I can imagine, it's the world that is ahead of me, and I'm ready for my Adventure.

Vacation... Part II

2007-10-23T17:20:00.001-04:00

Just a few more pictures to share.

The road through the Smokies:

The inspiring view from atop Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee:

And camp:

Vacation ... Part I

2007-10-22T16:02:00.001-04:00

Here I am at the top of Rainbow Falls on the Horse Pasture River ... the falls were a 25-minute hike from the car, and we arrived an hour before the park closed. The locals assured us that the park service would actually lock the gate and lock the car inside the park at 6 p.m., so we really had to run through the woods to get a view of the river and the falls.

It was a real Last of the Mohicans moment, running through the woods and running along the river. Incidentally, lots of the movie was filmed right in this area, possibly even some on this river. I felt like I was in the movie. Except I didn't jump off the waterfall.

Here's a view from Newfound Gap in the Smokey Mountains National Park. The fall color was really coming out at higher elevation.

We spent one night in the Chataloochee Valley on the eastern side of the park, in an area where they had repopulated elk back in the 1990s. We got there kind of late, just as the sun was going down, so I wasn't able to get very many great pictures... but I do like this one.

Now you may be asking yourself, "Why didn't Tim approach the wildlife?" Well, here's your answer.

More to come, later...

Back, and alive!

2007-10-19T23:55:00.001-04:00

I'm back and alive from the adventure in the Smokeys and Blue Ridge Mountains... no computer or cell phone for a week, and it was glorious! The week also included a black bear, trout, and a bunch of elk, which was pretty awesome. I'll post some pictures when I get caught up on my e-mail and work.

I feel relaxed and refreshed. This verse is the absolute truth:

"For you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands."
- Isaiah 55:12

Vacation!

2007-10-11T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm wrapping up work today and getting ready to head home tomorrow to fly to North Carolina for a week of ... nothing. Nothing but the outdoors, the trees, the rivers and relaxation. I'm really looking forward to some time away from the bustle of life here right now.

If you want to do something fun and educational, I challenge you to take this geography test (us U.S. Americans don't have enough maps as it is, anyway) and see how many you can get right.

Beware: This is addicting. You can do the other continents through this web site, too.

The African Country Geography Quiz

I'll post more when I get back from vacation, photos, and hopefully some deeper thoughts too, since I'll have some time to read and think...

New niece!

2007-10-05T10:19:00.002-04:00

I have a new niece! Vivian Jane was born on Wednesday afternoon, making me an uncle for the sixth time. I'll get home next week to see her..

Ganging up on the Sun

2007-10-02T11:16:00.001-04:00

Second row tickets to Brett Dennen and Guster tonight. I'm pretty excited.

Rock. On.

The Rise of the Lost River!

2007-09-29T21:58:00.003-04:00

First off, the blog layout keeps changing – sorry about that, I'm trying to learn the limits of what Blogger can do and add some new elements to the blog. Hopefully I'll continue to update it and make it better!

Today I managed to have another Southern Indiana Safari – and now I'm able to make my second post in my series on cool, out of the way places right in our Indiana "backyard." It was a great day outside, and I was looking forward to getting outdoors and taking some photos. Today I took my roommate along, and we drove down to the quaint little town of Paoli, Indiana. I had three destinations picked out: the Orangeville River Rise, the Wesley Chapel Gulf and the Pioneer Mothers Forest. They're all within about 15 miles of each other, and they're all uniquely interesting.

********

The Orangeville Rise (or "The Rise of the Lost River")
Because Southern Indiana is rich in limestone, it's also criss-crossed with a network of underground caves, rivers and other unique geological features. Large portions of the southern part of the state have what's known as karst topography – a landscape shaped by the erosion of a layer of bedrock – such as limestone. Because of the dissolution of this rock layer, the area displays many unique drainage features and is home to thousands of caves. (Here's another interesting link about karst topography features: Karst in Indiana).

The area near Paoli has a rich karst topography, and the aptly-named Lost River is a great example of the complex nature of the hydrological system. A Sierra Club article about the river says this:

One of the most complex hydrological systems in the world winds through southern Indiana, dotted with deep springs, caves and sinkholes.
Except after heavy rains, a 22-mile section in the middle of the river is dry, while the water continues to flow underground, coming back to the surface in impressive springs called "rises." The water flows underground at depths of up to 150 feet.
The Lost River has been called an "underground Grand Canyon" and "three-dimensional river delta."

We set out to find one of few of the rises that happen to be on publicly-owned land. The Orangeville Rise is one of the locations that the Lost River suddenly bursts forth above ground again, bubbling to the surface just below a cliff on the south side of town. It's clear locals use the rise as a swimming hole, but exactly how deep the water is would be hard to measure – some sources indicate it's easily over 100 feet deep. The water is unbelievably clear and cool and has the most wonderful green tint to it. The Orangeville Rise isn't hard to find, and is right off the side of the road, designated as a National Natural Landmark. Definitely worth seeing.

********

The Wesley Chapel Gulf
About five miles east of the Orangeville Rise is the Wesley Chapel Gulf, which is found in a small, 187-acre island of the Hoosier National Forest. The topography is drastic and unexpected – amongst the rolling farmland is a 1,000-foot wide sinkhole!

The Wesley Chapel Gulf was formed when a large section of the underground topography collapsed, sinking the terrain and exposing many caves, springs and other karst features. The most breathtaking part of the gulf is pictured above – where a large spring bubbles to the surface below the 200-foot cliff. According to most estimates, the water rises about 150 feet (that number rises to more than 300 feet if you believe some of the locals) and promptly flows into the cliff wall and disappears. It's really quite incredible. I'm not entirely sure of the name of this particular feature, but I think it's called the "Boiling Spring."

Once again, the water was incredibly clear at the top, while just below the surface it took on a pristine green color. You could actually hear the water coming to the surface and running under the cliff. It was amazing, and exceeded all my expectations of how beautiful it would be. There are also lots of caves in the area (caving, of course, is strictly prohibited) which criss-cross in every direction imaginable. They are prone to flash floods, just as the water level of the spring is apt to change often. After such a dry summer, I'm sure the water level was relatively low in this photo. I want to go back sometime when it's rained a lot and see how high the water rises. As dry as it was, I still got pretty muddy (especially my butt... when I slipped and fell... multiple times).

While we were at the Boiling Spring, we met two of the friendliest and funnest local beagle dogs – I nicknamed them George and Lennie in the fashion of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." George was the leader, while Lennie was a bit bigger but just followed George around. Anyway, the dogs ran up to us as soon as we hiked back to the gulf and followed us around the whole time (I was impressed with their climbing skills). I caught this picture of "George" and I think it shows exactly what he's all about. What a happy life. Both George and Lennie (who didn't kill any rabbits or mice while we were there, to my knowledge) were both rewarded with a Nature Valley granola bar when they followed us back to the car.

********

The Pioneer Mother's Forest
Not much to say about this one, as the visit here was cut short by my inability to find the darn place, and the fact that it was getting dark (and we were getting hungry). The Forest Service sells the Pioneer Mother's Forest as Indiana's only public old-growth forest – there has never been a tree cut inside the boundaries of the park, as far as their records show (apart from one or two for pioneer firewood, I'm sure).

Well, if you know me, you know that I LOVE trees, so I thought this place was pretty cool. There were enormous birch, oak, maple, sycamore and tulip trees. I don't think we hiked in far enough to really get to the biggest trees – most of the forest looked like much of the forest you see in Indiana already. It was still beautiful though, and I'd love to go back in a few weeks when the fall colors are out and find the really big old trees.

Anyway, it's time to go back to watching Raiders of the Lost Ark – an appropriate end to an adventurous day. If you want to know how to get to any of these places, give me a shout – they're not hard to find if you know what you're looking for, and they're all within an hour of Bloomington.

The case in Jena.

2007-09-22T21:19:00.001-04:00

If you haven't already read about the "Jena 6" – six black high schoolers facing murder charges in a rural Louisiana town, please check out the following link to NPR's coverage of the story. Inform yourself.

In summary: Last year, three black students sat under a tree at Jena High School where white students would normally sit. The next day, three nooses were hung from the tree. A group of white students was found to be responsible for hanging the nooses, and received an in-school suspension for the "prank" (the school's word). In the following days and weeks, race relations in the small town high school continued to deteriorate. A black student was beaten up at a party attended by mostly white students, and the next day, when he got in an argument with a white student who was at the party, the white student went to his car to get his gun. The black student and his friends wrestled the gun away from him and took it home – and were charged with theft of a firearm. The culminating incident occurred when six black students beat up a white student after he allegedly used racial slurs. The boys were initially charged with aggravated assault, but the district attorney changed the charges to attempted 2nd degree murder. For more information, particularly about the trials, please read below...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14533821

For those of you at IU, there's also a facebook group (of course) you can check out for more information.

http://indiana.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4897458234

I'll refrain from stating any opinions about the case and let you make your own decisions. I have a feeling you'll be hearing more and more about this story in the coming weeks.

Only who can prevent forest fires?

2007-09-19T13:46:00.001-04:00

First off, happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Who knew it was September 19th? Glad I found that out before it was too late. But let's be serious, shouldn't every day be talk like a pirate day? Arrr!

I'm home sick from work today – just woke up tired – and while I've been spending some time navigating the clogged tubes of the internets, I came across this photo from the 2007 Albequerque Hot Air Balloon festival, which took place early last week (incidentally I've seen the Hot Air Balloon festival in person, in 2004 when I was living in Santa Fe.)

It seems like Smokey is making a bit of a comeback these days – he's featured in a new series of forest service commercials with the traditional "Only you can prevent forest fires" slogan, and still has his face plastered on state and national parks all across the country.

So what better way to have Smokey watch over the dried, tinderbox forests than to literally have him looking down on campers below, right? Well, sure it's a great idea, but the Smokey campaign went a little wrong.

Whoops! Reports say both people who were navigating the giant bear head through the skies weren't seriously injured in the crash. This does make the marketing scheme a little less effective, though, doesn't it? Just found this amusing and wanted to share. :)

Prince Caspian...

2007-09-18T13:47:00.000-04:00

For anyone who loves the "Chronicles of Narnia," Disney has released a video preview of the new "Prince Caspian" movie, due out on May 16, 2008. The movie is based on the fourth book in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, in which the Pevensie siblings return to Narnia to again fight an evil that threatens the land.

This isn't an official trailer, but does contain some movie footage. Looks good - I'm just excited to see Reepicheep.

http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/blog/vid_player.swf?vid_id=1

Female rocker alert!

2007-09-16T23:19:00.000-04:00

It's rare that I find a musician who speaks directly into my heart – whose lyrics cut so deep into the heart of who I am that I absolutely feel the song deep inside me. It's even rarer that I find a female singer who reflects my own heart so well – after all, there are a lot of fundamental differences in the male and female hearts. But after getting a recommendation to listen to some Betsy Walker (it's actually "betsy walker" on the album, but I'm not into that whole lowercase thing) I was instantly hooked. I've enjoyed some female Christian music before – namely Jennifer Knapp and Ginny Owens, but I think Betsy is an instant favorite.

Incidentally, Betsy is an Indy Indie rocker. She's from Indianapolis, is independent, Christian and has a beautiful voice.

This is her song "Blessings," which echoes a prayer that has been in my own heart for months, a prayer I still pray every night for certain people in my life.

"Blessings"

May you walk with the Lord all your life,
And not turn to the left or the right.
May your pace match the step of the almighty guide
May you walk with the Lord all your life.

May you ache of the Lord all your life,
May you run that you might win the prize.
May you hunger and thirst and be satisfied,
May you wake with the Lord all your life.

And may there be blessings on you,
And may there be mercies ever anew.
And may you find all his promises true,
May blessings fall all over you.

May you fight for the lord all your life,
May your courage not fail you in night,
May you put on his armor and stand in the light,
May you fight for the Lord all your life.

May God grant you peace,
Grant you peace,
Grant you peace.

The Electric Company

2007-09-14T15:44:00.001-04:00

I've always fancied myself to be a bit of an environmentalist and conservationist. I'm certainly not ready to join Earth First or Greenpeace, but I love the world that God has given us and believe we should protect it.

Recently God has really laid it on my heart to do everything I can as an individual to save the planet in small ways. I've been listening to some really excellent sermons on the subject – namely the "God is Green" series by Rob Bell and his compatriots at Mars Hill Bible Church (if you're going to listen to one, listen to "God is Green IV: Tomatoes and Towers," which you can download here). I've also been doing a little bit of independent research on the Internet, and I have been reading some really interesting books on what it means to be a Christian and love the planet. "Serve God, Save the Planet," by Dr. James Sleeth, is an excellent, page-turning book that has opened my eyes to the excess waste I generate every day. Sleeth, a former New England ER doctor, gives spiritual reasons why we should care about the planet, and then explains how we can take action in practical ways.

Our electricity bill from Duke Energy for August was $75.74. It's one of the higher electric bills we've had to pay, but we finally caved in in August and ran the air conditioning for consistent days. Luckily our apartment stays pretty naturally cool, but the consistent combination of 98 degree days with 90 percent humidity was a bit much.

So here's the current goal: halve the electricity bill. Granted, it will be a little easier since September brings cooler weather and open windows, but it will take a little extra effort to get the bill below $38.00. The lowest we've paid since we moved into the apartment in December is about $60. I'm not sure how the end result will turn out, but here's the plan of action:

Turn out the lights! Probably the most obvious answer, but still very applicable. Lights need to be turned out when not in use.
Turn off & unplug. This goes for computers, appliances, and other random electric devices. This means turning off the computer entirely, instead of just letting it go to sleep. It means unplugging small electric devices that draw a constant current – for example: the electric shaver I have that doesn't need to stay plugged in when it's already fully charged. Larger devices like the television and stereo draw power even when they're turned off. TVs draw current because they're always "partially on" – waiting for you to click the remote and turn the set on. Most stereos have what's called "phantom power" – power that's provided even when it's turned off. By using a surge protector to shut power to these devices completely off when they're not in use, a lot of electricity can be saved.
Energy-efficient light bulbs. OK, they're still expensive, and I can't afford to buy a lot of them right now. And it's wasteful to replace bulbs that are still perfectly good. However, I did buy four compact fluorescent bulbs to replace the most commonly used bulbs in our house. Compact fluorescent bulbs use about 25% of the electricity traditional incandescent bulbs use to produce the same amount of light (lumens). They also don't generate heat and last a lot longer.
No dryer. A clothes dryer draws an enormous, enormous amount of electricity. As Sleeth points out, it would take five work horses rigged to a turbine to generate enough electricity to run a clothes dryer. That's a lot of power. I've got a clothesline, and I can use it.
Our clothes dryer has a light bulb in it that turns on when you open the door. Granted, this takes a miniscule amount of energy, but it's pretty ridiculous. I don't need a light in the dryer. I'm going to disable it.
Canvas grocery bag. Sure it's a little dorky to carry around, but I really don't need to throw away five plastic grocery bags every time I go shopping.
Bike and walk. I already bike the three miles to work most days, I'll just have to get that extra motivation for those days I really don't feel like pedaling.
Windows open! Obviously this one is going to be pretty easy for the month of September. We'll see how it goes after that.

Again, these are simple, everyday things we can all do to be more conscious about the beautiful world God has given us. The less power we use, the less power plants we need. If fossil fuel power plants go offline, we have the benefit of having less pollution and less dependence on oil.

I'm not advocating that we need to shut down our modern lives and live in a semi-neolithic sate. But there are many, many ways we can be more responsible with the incredible amount of luxury we are afforded by living in a country like the United States.

Will definitely post more on this topic later, including the results of the electric bill test in about a month.

Right in our backyard...

2007-09-05T09:43:00.002-04:00

I'm making a point of visiting interesting, funny and strange places near Bloomington. It's not the most beautiful place I've lived, but there is certainly a lot of character in the hills (and people) of Southern Indiana. On Monday (Labor Day) a small group of us went out to the Greene County Rail Viaduct.

A viaduct is a series of spans or arches used to carry a road or railroad over a wide valley or over other roads or railroads. Not many people know that there's a stupendous viaduct right in our backyard, in Greene County. In fact, the Greene County viaduct is said to be the third largest of its kind in the world.

The viaduct spans the Richland Creek valley on the Illinois Central Railroad. Built in 1906, the viaduct is a half-mile long and up to 180 feet tall. Reportedly six or seven trains still cross the 100-year old structure every day.

I walked out onto the viaduct a little bit – as far as I was willing to go, anyway. Remember "Stand by Me?" I didn't want that to happen, as there's nowhere to go off the sides of this thing.