Appliances and Yard Work

This site originated as a place where I track my reading.  But, over the last couple of years I have cited a few other things.

I haven't had time to do much reading of late - too busy with too many papers to grade from too many assignments I've assigned!  Phew!

Today was a crazy day.  I moved 9 separate dryers and 1 washer - back and forth between 6 different properties.  Boy I'm glad that I own a pick-up truck, a trailer, and a good appliance dolly!  Oh, and glad I own properties and garages to get stuff moved around in. 

A few weeks ago I hired a friend to help me sort and organize all my tools!  My tools are organized better now than they have been in - well, forever.  Never have my tools been so clearly organized, labeled, stored and picked up.  Very, very nice.

I like scholarship - my life in books and thinking - preaching and communicating - but I like working too.

I've said to my wife many times - if I weren't a scholar - and if I couldn't live in Oregon - the next best thing would be to be a groundskeeper at a gorgeous golf course.  (Preferably in the Northwest - or West Coast - but I could go to pretty places East of here.)   I love mowing.  Silly.  But true.  I love mowing grass!

Wendell Berry - on Violence.

Wendell Berry reflects on the violence of killing others as a perpetuated acceptable human value.

This is one of Berry's "Sabbaths" poems from his collection, Leavings.

They gather like an ancestry
in the centuries behind us:
the killed by violence, the dead
in war, the "acceptable losses" --
killed by custom in self-defense,
by way of correction, in revenge,
for love of God, for the glory
of the world, for peace; killed
for pride, lust, envy, anger,
covetousness, gluttony, sloth,
and fun. The strewn carcasses
cease to feed even the flies,
the stench passes from them,
the earth folds in the bones
like salt in a batter.

And we have learned
nothing. "Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you"--
it goes on regardless, reasonably
the always uncompleted
symmetry of just reprisal,
the angry word, the boast
of superior righteousness,
hate in Christ's name,
scorn for the dead, lies
for the honor of the nation,
centuries bloodied and dismembered
for ideas, for ideals,
for the love of God!

Thanks to John Hay Jr. for sharing.

A few quick notes

The past month has been full on many fronts - decidedly wonderful to be with my family in several ways.

I have picked up some additional responsibilities at my home church - currently between pastors - and that has occupied much of my time, but I enjoy being involved in pastoral ministry and still tell my wife that I really do think I would enjoy the patterns of life associated with a small church somewhere in the northwest - preferably on the Oregon coast.  I keep telling the representatives for the Church of the Nazarene in Oregon to keep me on their lists.  Someday the timing might be right.  I think about Oregon - and the coast - perhaps every single day - at least 5 days a week, that is for sure.  Having opportunity to preach in a series of weeks - has been delightful - so that sermons and content and the reading of Biblical books can be connected.  I post some of my public preaching / teaching at this link - http://mysermons.posterous.com/

Had opportunity to get to the TallGrass Prairie Reserve in the center of Kansas.  Amazing to study (as I did more in the past) how much American Westward Expansion has diminished this huge natural ecosystem down to nearly nothing.  I am not against what we have done - necessarily - as much of what we have done includes making the vast prairie of old into the "breadbasket" that keeps America and persons in the world - alive through agricultural harvest.  At the same time, I wish we were more frequently more thoughtful about how we use land - and how we allow for natural ecosystems to survive as we humans live in sync with the complexities and diversities of Creation.  The same days I was able to be among in the wild, I got in on some of the meetings of the International Symposium of Agroterrorism.  Not my bailiwick, but interesting for sure.

I had opportunity to read through Bill Bryson's most recent book, Home .  Not my favorite of Bryson's - mainly because the book did not seem to do what it claimed it would do.  Instead of being about the Home, it was much more like his other book, A Short History of Nearly Everything - where he follows a series of connected ideas on a wide berth of subjects.  I enjoyed *much* of what I gleaned and learned in HOME - but it was not what I had expected it to be - and not Bryson's characteristic charm.

I caught up on a couple of National Geographic magazines.

And, I've been grading a lot - it's the end of the semester, after all.

I leave soon for Thailand - will spend some time with family before departing. 

Blessed life I live.  Blessed.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Film and Faith - Hildegard von Bingen

Had the opportunity to watch VISION with my wife and friends this weekend.  Review of the film here:

Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist. New German Cinema auteur Margarethe von Trotta reunites with star Barbara Sukowa to bring the story von Bingen to life. Sukowa portrays von Bingen’s fierce determination to expand the responsibilities of women within the order, even as she fends off outrage from some in the Church over the visions she claims to receive from God. Lushly shot in the original medieval cloisters of the fairytale-like German countryside, Vision is a profoundly inspirational portrait of a woman who has emerged from the shadows of history as a forward-thinking and iconoclastic pioneer of faith, change and enlightenment. In German with English subtitles.

It was great to watch the movie with friends so that we could talk about the content of the film after it was over. 

In truth, I thought the film was too long (111 minutes) - and while some of the views/scenes were great - some transitions for sequencing between large blocks of time were awkward.

Most importantly, though, for myself and for those with me - we had opportunity to talk about how and where (in history) important persons of faith have shaped communities of faith.  We were able to talk about what it means to lead to and for communities of faith.

The movie created a great opportunity to share with others about challenges and opportunities for working to and for people of faith.

Always happy for students I have worked with to progress!

I have been blessed to mentor many great students - and to share extended relationship with many!  Happy for many who go on to do great things!

http://snu.edu/snu-senior-theology-student-accepted-into-duke-divinity-school

SNU Senior Theology Student Accepted into Duke Divinity School

BETHANY, Okla. (April 4, 2011) - Southern Nazarene University Senior Theology major Josiah Daniels has been accepted to the Master of Divinity program at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC. After completing the three-year M.Div. program Daniels plans to apply to doctoral programs in pursuit of his goal of earning a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Daniels wants to become a professor of Bible.

During his years at SNU Daniels has served as a ministerial intern at Tulakes Church of the Nazarene, and at Reaching Our City, two Nazarene outreach centers that provide ministries to serve disadvantaged populations in the Oklahoma City metro area. He also is a member of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, which helps prepare first-generation college students to succeed in graduate school. As part of this program he completed a research project under the direction of Dr. Marty Michelson entitled, “Jubilee Made Evident in Luke 4:18-20: A Biblical, Historical and Social Look” which he presented at several undergraduate research conferences around the country.

On his reason for pursuing graduate school Daniels says, “I have a particular interest in Christian work with the poor in a pastoral setting. I also hope to be able to teach theology and significantly contribute to the work of Biblical Studies and Christian Theology. While I have a strong commitment to academia, I believe that the world of academia must be fused with the life of the local church.”

Duke Divinity School is consistently ranked among the top five graduate programs in theology in the nation and is home to some of the most prominent writers and thinkers in the areas of biblical studies and Wesleyan theology.

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And, delighted to know of four other great students I remain friends with - who have finished other work at DUKE in the past decade!  Delightful!