Here are a few pictures to show you what I'm talking about. Don't mind the "broken pews" in the picture of the auditorium; that picture is a composite where I didn't get things lined up very well.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Date and Location
This past Thursday Katie was able to officially book the church for our wedding. April 1st, 2006 in a church outside Chester OK (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chester,+OK&ll=36.238657,-98.973405&spn=0.005187,0.013026&t=h&hl=en). ( Yes, it will be that same one out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, it is super-cool; you would not believe a church like this would reside on very rural Oklahoma. Waterfall and fountain in the lobby, stained glass windows, seating for ~350, multiple LCD projectors; I'm guessing that the denomination kicked in with a lot of the funds for the building because a congregation of 100 normally just doesn't have the cash for something like this. The church has been very generous thus far in the terms of our use of their facility and that has truly been a blessing. One big advantage over using this facility versus our own church here in Wichita: the reception and ceremony can be held at the same location.
Here are a few pictures to show you what I'm talking about. Don't mind the "broken pews" in the picture of the auditorium; that picture is a composite where I didn't get things lined up very well.
Here are a few pictures to show you what I'm talking about. Don't mind the "broken pews" in the picture of the auditorium; that picture is a composite where I didn't get things lined up very well.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Gift Registry
OK, due to time constraints I'm going to keep this short.
A little over a week ago, Katie and I started that mostly fun task of registering at stores for wedding gifts. Making a wish-list as a couple can be very enjoyable; it can also be quite a hassle. I think Katie summarized what made this mostly fun for us: "we have kind of similar tastes." I think I can sign on-board with this. Granted, there are always going to be gender-based differences in tastes (she like floral prints, I'm not such a big fan) but most of the time we were able to find good compromises. We had also talked about our "registration strategy" before-hand as well as making pre-registration trips just to see what kind of things we needed to be thinking about. The little bit of extra effort made the day quite enjoyable.
Well, almost.
Our last stop for the day was Dillard's. Katie wanted to get silverware from there and, more importantly, this was the only major store within a 100 mile radius of her hometown. If we didn't register here, there wasn't going to be an easy way for family and friends from that section of her life to figure out what to get us. We needed to put a Dillard's list together and that was the way it was.
We would have done better to go home and skip that last stop for the evening.
After a brief stroll around to get an idea of what the store had available we approached the very elegant registry desk and announced our intentions. After a very hurried introduction and having a small booklet passed to us to fill out, the clerk was off helping some other customer. We filled out all the appropriate information on the front page as requested and waited for her to return.
And waited, and waited. It was probably close to ten minutes before she got back to us. This did not bode well.
During that time I started leafing though the booklet. Why did there need to be so many pages? We gave all the essential information on the front; what were the rest of the pages for? A quick glance and my heart sank. Page after page of blanks fields with headings like "Kitchen Utensils", "Flatware", "Dinnerware" greeted my eyes; we were going to WRITE DOWN all the items we wanted to register for? Was this some kind of joke? After two experiences at stores where we merrily hopped, skipped, and scanned our way through the registry this seemed a sick twisted version of reality. She wasn't serious was she?
Yes, yes she was. She eventually came back and had just enough time to start us on picking our first item before she was yanked away by another "emergency." Katie and I debated the merits of the various silverware choices and eventually decided on a pattern we both liked. It took about fifteen more minutes before our registry clerk was able to get back with us. She carefully WROTE DOWN our choice in silverware, smiled, and asked what else we had in mind. In a five minute burst of registry-definition we added another fifteen items. To be honest I don't know if she was able to even fully write down each item before we were on to the next. We just needed to keep her fully occupied so that our blitz could not be so easily halted. As we finished our pass through the smaller kitchen items and turned to move on to the larger items we paused just long enough that she was able to be once again pulled into another crisis.
And that pretty much sealed the deal. As Katie and I were discussing which items we wanted to add when she came back again we both, nearly tacitly, decided that this was enough. Our next round would be the last and we would finish up the registry online. By the end of the trip, we had managed to get about 25 items on our list in the span of one hour.
Maybe one of these days Dillard's will make its way into the 21st century. We are hoping that day happens soon. Like maybe sometime before our wedding.
A little over a week ago, Katie and I started that mostly fun task of registering at stores for wedding gifts. Making a wish-list as a couple can be very enjoyable; it can also be quite a hassle. I think Katie summarized what made this mostly fun for us: "we have kind of similar tastes." I think I can sign on-board with this. Granted, there are always going to be gender-based differences in tastes (she like floral prints, I'm not such a big fan) but most of the time we were able to find good compromises. We had also talked about our "registration strategy" before-hand as well as making pre-registration trips just to see what kind of things we needed to be thinking about. The little bit of extra effort made the day quite enjoyable.
Well, almost.
Our last stop for the day was Dillard's. Katie wanted to get silverware from there and, more importantly, this was the only major store within a 100 mile radius of her hometown. If we didn't register here, there wasn't going to be an easy way for family and friends from that section of her life to figure out what to get us. We needed to put a Dillard's list together and that was the way it was.
We would have done better to go home and skip that last stop for the evening.
After a brief stroll around to get an idea of what the store had available we approached the very elegant registry desk and announced our intentions. After a very hurried introduction and having a small booklet passed to us to fill out, the clerk was off helping some other customer. We filled out all the appropriate information on the front page as requested and waited for her to return.
And waited, and waited. It was probably close to ten minutes before she got back to us. This did not bode well.
During that time I started leafing though the booklet. Why did there need to be so many pages? We gave all the essential information on the front; what were the rest of the pages for? A quick glance and my heart sank. Page after page of blanks fields with headings like "Kitchen Utensils", "Flatware", "Dinnerware" greeted my eyes; we were going to WRITE DOWN all the items we wanted to register for? Was this some kind of joke? After two experiences at stores where we merrily hopped, skipped, and scanned our way through the registry this seemed a sick twisted version of reality. She wasn't serious was she?
Yes, yes she was. She eventually came back and had just enough time to start us on picking our first item before she was yanked away by another "emergency." Katie and I debated the merits of the various silverware choices and eventually decided on a pattern we both liked. It took about fifteen more minutes before our registry clerk was able to get back with us. She carefully WROTE DOWN our choice in silverware, smiled, and asked what else we had in mind. In a five minute burst of registry-definition we added another fifteen items. To be honest I don't know if she was able to even fully write down each item before we were on to the next. We just needed to keep her fully occupied so that our blitz could not be so easily halted. As we finished our pass through the smaller kitchen items and turned to move on to the larger items we paused just long enough that she was able to be once again pulled into another crisis.
And that pretty much sealed the deal. As Katie and I were discussing which items we wanted to add when she came back again we both, nearly tacitly, decided that this was enough. Our next round would be the last and we would finish up the registry online. By the end of the trip, we had managed to get about 25 items on our list in the span of one hour.
Maybe one of these days Dillard's will make its way into the 21st century. We are hoping that day happens soon. Like maybe sometime before our wedding.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Dawali
This past Friday night Katie and I went to a Diwali festival put on by the Indian Student Association here at Wichita State. The evening started with some food which I thought was just fine but more than one Indian student said he could make better stuff at home. That's right, he; apparently these guys can cook. In my experiences with Indian cooking getting the right spice mixture can be very tricky. Most of the time, I do the best I can and end up "patching-up" with improvisation to get the food to a point where I like how it tastes. Now that I think about it, that almost ensures that the food will be in-authentic (not that I have a super good idea what authentic tastes like.) Suffice it to say that I have a long way to go before I can even catch up with the cooking skill of many of these Indian guys. Maybe I can con one of them to show me how to make the culinary magic work.
The second "half" of the evening was a talent-show-ish mostly-dancing series of performances. (It got started about an hour later than "scheduled"; Katie's Indian co-worker with whom we spent the evening was highly apologetic that things were running so far behind schedule. He seemed honestly irritated that the show started that late. I, on the other hand, expected nothing less. The irony of this is highly amusing to me.)
The first act of the show was an hour-long performance by a professional traditional Indian dancer. She was not at all impressed by the rowdy, party-loving nature of the crowd and spared no verbal expense in letting us know this. In between nearly every dance she took a few minutes to tell us we needed to respect her performance more and that any kind of inappropriate vocalizations from the crowd (that is to say, more than politely clapping at the end of the dance) would result in early termination of her performance. In short, she was the equivalent of an opera prima donna being asked to sing at "American Idol." It was not a good match and I think both the she and the audience were happy when she (finally) finished her part of the evening. For me, I enjoyed the first half-hour but by 45 min. was ready to move on. Yup, I'm a cultural bigot.
Though we didn't stay for the entire rest of the show, the rest of the acts were very entertaining. The performers showed no fear and seemed to either have a lot of natural talent or had practiced quite a while. Most of the acts were group pop dance-ish and the rows and rows of guys behind us loudly showed their appreciation. I learned that long, loud, high whistling seemed to be the Indian equivalent of clapping; I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to hear again after dozens of those guys really laid into it. Next time, I'm bringing earplugs.
I think I was most amazed at how many of the students seemed to lack any sense of embarrassment or stage-fright. There seemed to be no end of singing and dancing acts and members of the audience worked their way onto stage on several occasions or used the aisles of the auditorium as little dance halls to join in with on-stage performance. The group as a whole seemed to corporately feel much more at ease with themselves. Maybe its a function of forming an Indian bubble here in Wichita for the evening or maybe this was a reflection of a part of Indian culture I haven't seen before; probably its some of both.
Overall, great evening. Next time, I'm taking a nap before-hand so I can stay up later and probably can just plan on showing up a half-hour after the published time.
The second "half" of the evening was a talent-show-ish mostly-dancing series of performances. (It got started about an hour later than "scheduled"; Katie's Indian co-worker with whom we spent the evening was highly apologetic that things were running so far behind schedule. He seemed honestly irritated that the show started that late. I, on the other hand, expected nothing less. The irony of this is highly amusing to me.)
The first act of the show was an hour-long performance by a professional traditional Indian dancer. She was not at all impressed by the rowdy, party-loving nature of the crowd and spared no verbal expense in letting us know this. In between nearly every dance she took a few minutes to tell us we needed to respect her performance more and that any kind of inappropriate vocalizations from the crowd (that is to say, more than politely clapping at the end of the dance) would result in early termination of her performance. In short, she was the equivalent of an opera prima donna being asked to sing at "American Idol." It was not a good match and I think both the she and the audience were happy when she (finally) finished her part of the evening. For me, I enjoyed the first half-hour but by 45 min. was ready to move on. Yup, I'm a cultural bigot.
Though we didn't stay for the entire rest of the show, the rest of the acts were very entertaining. The performers showed no fear and seemed to either have a lot of natural talent or had practiced quite a while. Most of the acts were group pop dance-ish and the rows and rows of guys behind us loudly showed their appreciation. I learned that long, loud, high whistling seemed to be the Indian equivalent of clapping; I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to hear again after dozens of those guys really laid into it. Next time, I'm bringing earplugs.
I think I was most amazed at how many of the students seemed to lack any sense of embarrassment or stage-fright. There seemed to be no end of singing and dancing acts and members of the audience worked their way onto stage on several occasions or used the aisles of the auditorium as little dance halls to join in with on-stage performance. The group as a whole seemed to corporately feel much more at ease with themselves. Maybe its a function of forming an Indian bubble here in Wichita for the evening or maybe this was a reflection of a part of Indian culture I haven't seen before; probably its some of both.
Overall, great evening. Next time, I'm taking a nap before-hand so I can stay up later and probably can just plan on showing up a half-hour after the published time.
Monday, October 31, 2005
The Proposal
For those of you who haven't heard yet, I am now an engaged man! As of October 17th, 2005 one Katie McLarty has agreed to pursue a life-long commitment with me. As you might guess, we are both pretty excited about this and anxious about getting all the wedding details in place. For those of you who haven't really been involved in the whole wedding culture/industry I will simply say this: you would never think planning a ceremony like this would take so many months but it does. I promise you, it really does. Case in point, Katie and I are still working on the list of things that we need to be thinking about and planning; I guess you could say we're in the meta-planning stage.
As far as ceremony specifics go, we're aiming for April 1st (to hit spring break to accommodate my family's educationally-restricted time-off) in Mutual, OK. Nothing is set in stone and probably won't be until sometime towards the end of November. Keep your browsers pointed here for the latest details on this front.
The proposal itself was somewhat of an ordeal. The ring, after five or six weeks of effort, was finally ready on Oct. 14th. I was quite excited to be able to see the completed work and was thrilled with the results; Burnell's is the place to go if you ask my opinion. Phil, the craftsman who constructed the ring, did a fantastic job and the service there was excellent. Compared to the other places I visited, my experience at Burnell's was far and away the best. I can't recommend them enough.
Some good friends of mine were actually in town that weekend I picked it up and one of them, Lisa, went out with Katie for coffee that next morning (Saturday). Now, I made no specific requests to Lisa for information but Sunday afternoon while Katie was out with her protege from Youth Horizons I was eager to pump her for any information she might have. Specifically, I had a bit of a dilemma and I was hoping that she could provide some insight. I wanted to propose at the beginning of a free weekend so as to give Katie plenty of time to simply enjoy the event and do that girl-emotion thing. The problem: we didn't have a free weekend for three more weeks. Do I wait those weeks (which I maintain to this day that I could have) or do I try to bump it up earlier to end her anticipation/agony? Lisa said she could see the advantages of both but was convinced that any day now would also be just fine. I figured if it really didn't matter, it would probably be better to get on this sooner than later so, yeah, let's do it soon.
Like tomorrow night.
After taking a good hour or so to mentally adjust, throw out all my wonderful elaborate proposal schemes, and think through what I needed to do, I realized that I, uhmmm, still needed to talk with her parents. I grabbed my phone and called, figuring that the Sunday afternoon football would ensure that her dad was home. Twenty, thirty, forty rings later I remembered that her parents had caller ID and that they probably didn't recognize my number. Which meant that I needed to steal Katie's phone to make this call. Tricky.
It actually ended up being pretty simple. Katie came home from roller-skating with her protege just a wee bit worn out. Being the sensitive, caring, and manipulative person that I am, I encouraged this feeling of exhaustion in her and suggested she take a short nap. No, we'll take care of dinner. Here let me come tuck you into bed. NO!, leave your purse there on the table, we can clean up later. After a few minutes of getting her settled in I ran back into the living room, swiped her phone from her purse, and was making the call.
THE Call. Man, this was probably the most nerve-racking ten minutes of my life. I didn't know what to expect and rather than exchanging pleasantries I jumped right in with my question. "HithisisTrevorandIwaswonderingifIcouldmarryyourdaughter?"
Silence.
Bad silence? Good silence? Couldn't tell.
"Wow."
"You do realize that this is for life, right?"
After that things were much better. The conversation wrapped up shortly and I was over at her place carefully and exactly re-depositing the phone in her purse.
So now all I had to do was actually get her on a date. We had been planning for some time to visit a nearby observatory (Lake Afton) and the weather was wonderful that weekend (~80 'F, clear skies) so I called her the next day and suggested we head out that evening. The one catch, Katie already had plans to spend the evening hanging out with her roommate, Jen. She was trying to cancel but wasn't sure it was going to work out. I checked in after work and still no word from Jen. I suggested we give her another half-hour and if she didn't show we just head on out.
The. Longest. Half. Hour. Of. My. Life.
The moment of truth came and went and still no sign of Jen. Feeling we had made due diligence we headed for the door when in walks Jen. I could have cried. We were THIS close and had we moved 30 seconds earlier we would have been free and clear. Now all was ruined, ruined!
Katie was able to explain the situation to Jen and she kindly agreed to let us go. As quickly as possible, I shoved us out the door. We grabbed some dinner on the way out and made it to the observatory just in time for the sunset. Unfortunately, Kansas is flat and there were a few tree a long-ways off that blocked the view. Sigh. Regardless, I pulled out the blankets and we laid down to enjoy the dimming of the sky and the slow arrival of the stars.
We had a great time talking about, well, just about everything. What she thought of my friends who had been in town. How work had been going lately. How things had been going with us lately. Remembering how our romance got started. Remembering good and bad times in the past. I was intentionally steering the conversation to the point of making my intentions known when I realized that I would feel VERY awkward if I proposed to her while laying down. So, moments before asking I got UP (not the traditional down) on two knees and was able to deliver the question.
Without hardly any pause and the tears bursting through the last remnants of months of carefully constructed emotional barriers she answered "Yes". And then she cried. A very long time (by guy's standards). I was able to continue a proud family tradition of proposing while star-gazing in the dark (set by my dear brother Trent) but between the full moon and a flashlight I brought, she was able to actually see the ring. We got around to that after she was done crying. It took a little while.
That was two weeks ago and I'm sure you'll be happy to know we're still engaged. (Thank you, thank you. I knew I could hold it together for at least two weeks.) Still working on the planning stuff, still stressing a bit about all that we have to do over the coming months, still enjoying the simple joys of being in love. Its times like these where I begin to understand the appeal of elopement. Regardless, as things develop we'll keep you posted.
As far as ceremony specifics go, we're aiming for April 1st (to hit spring break to accommodate my family's educationally-restricted time-off) in Mutual, OK. Nothing is set in stone and probably won't be until sometime towards the end of November. Keep your browsers pointed here for the latest details on this front.
The proposal itself was somewhat of an ordeal. The ring, after five or six weeks of effort, was finally ready on Oct. 14th. I was quite excited to be able to see the completed work and was thrilled with the results; Burnell's is the place to go if you ask my opinion. Phil, the craftsman who constructed the ring, did a fantastic job and the service there was excellent. Compared to the other places I visited, my experience at Burnell's was far and away the best. I can't recommend them enough.
Some good friends of mine were actually in town that weekend I picked it up and one of them, Lisa, went out with Katie for coffee that next morning (Saturday). Now, I made no specific requests to Lisa for information but Sunday afternoon while Katie was out with her protege from Youth Horizons I was eager to pump her for any information she might have. Specifically, I had a bit of a dilemma and I was hoping that she could provide some insight. I wanted to propose at the beginning of a free weekend so as to give Katie plenty of time to simply enjoy the event and do that girl-emotion thing. The problem: we didn't have a free weekend for three more weeks. Do I wait those weeks (which I maintain to this day that I could have) or do I try to bump it up earlier to end her anticipation/agony? Lisa said she could see the advantages of both but was convinced that any day now would also be just fine. I figured if it really didn't matter, it would probably be better to get on this sooner than later so, yeah, let's do it soon.
Like tomorrow night.
After taking a good hour or so to mentally adjust, throw out all my wonderful elaborate proposal schemes, and think through what I needed to do, I realized that I, uhmmm, still needed to talk with her parents. I grabbed my phone and called, figuring that the Sunday afternoon football would ensure that her dad was home. Twenty, thirty, forty rings later I remembered that her parents had caller ID and that they probably didn't recognize my number. Which meant that I needed to steal Katie's phone to make this call. Tricky.
It actually ended up being pretty simple. Katie came home from roller-skating with her protege just a wee bit worn out. Being the sensitive, caring, and manipulative person that I am, I encouraged this feeling of exhaustion in her and suggested she take a short nap. No, we'll take care of dinner. Here let me come tuck you into bed. NO!, leave your purse there on the table, we can clean up later. After a few minutes of getting her settled in I ran back into the living room, swiped her phone from her purse, and was making the call.
THE Call. Man, this was probably the most nerve-racking ten minutes of my life. I didn't know what to expect and rather than exchanging pleasantries I jumped right in with my question. "HithisisTrevorandIwaswonderingifIcouldmarryyourdaughter?"
Silence.
Bad silence? Good silence? Couldn't tell.
"Wow."
"You do realize that this is for life, right?"
After that things were much better. The conversation wrapped up shortly and I was over at her place carefully and exactly re-depositing the phone in her purse.
So now all I had to do was actually get her on a date. We had been planning for some time to visit a nearby observatory (Lake Afton) and the weather was wonderful that weekend (~80 'F, clear skies) so I called her the next day and suggested we head out that evening. The one catch, Katie already had plans to spend the evening hanging out with her roommate, Jen. She was trying to cancel but wasn't sure it was going to work out. I checked in after work and still no word from Jen. I suggested we give her another half-hour and if she didn't show we just head on out.
The. Longest. Half. Hour. Of. My. Life.
The moment of truth came and went and still no sign of Jen. Feeling we had made due diligence we headed for the door when in walks Jen. I could have cried. We were THIS close and had we moved 30 seconds earlier we would have been free and clear. Now all was ruined, ruined!
Katie was able to explain the situation to Jen and she kindly agreed to let us go. As quickly as possible, I shoved us out the door. We grabbed some dinner on the way out and made it to the observatory just in time for the sunset. Unfortunately, Kansas is flat and there were a few tree a long-ways off that blocked the view. Sigh. Regardless, I pulled out the blankets and we laid down to enjoy the dimming of the sky and the slow arrival of the stars.
We had a great time talking about, well, just about everything. What she thought of my friends who had been in town. How work had been going lately. How things had been going with us lately. Remembering how our romance got started. Remembering good and bad times in the past. I was intentionally steering the conversation to the point of making my intentions known when I realized that I would feel VERY awkward if I proposed to her while laying down. So, moments before asking I got UP (not the traditional down) on two knees and was able to deliver the question.
Without hardly any pause and the tears bursting through the last remnants of months of carefully constructed emotional barriers she answered "Yes". And then she cried. A very long time (by guy's standards). I was able to continue a proud family tradition of proposing while star-gazing in the dark (set by my dear brother Trent) but between the full moon and a flashlight I brought, she was able to actually see the ring. We got around to that after she was done crying. It took a little while.
That was two weeks ago and I'm sure you'll be happy to know we're still engaged. (Thank you, thank you. I knew I could hold it together for at least two weeks.) Still working on the planning stuff, still stressing a bit about all that we have to do over the coming months, still enjoying the simple joys of being in love. Its times like these where I begin to understand the appeal of elopement. Regardless, as things develop we'll keep you posted.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
The Yard
Many, many LeTourneau engineering students have learned to despise Lowe's. We were often in need of parts for projects and one of the few places to get hardware was Lowe's. The problem we often experienced was something a fellow student of mine coined as "pop hardware". At Lowes', you can't buy pieces very easily, you can really only buy kits (which is what I'm assuming most people in home improvement love about it, thus "pop hardware.") More often than not, though, we just needed the pieces. Actually, it was usually just a piece, just one little knob, gear, rod or tube. Usually economic restraints prohibited us from purchasing the kit so a less than ideal replacement was found or the part was ordered out of a specialty catalog. This last solution was far from ideal: $0.25 for the part, $3.00 for shipping, five days down the toilet. It was just so....frustrating. We just need this little thing, this little nothing. Why is it so hard to get a hold of such a simple object?
As I have continued my tinkering hobby projects post-college I have continued to run into the same problem. No luck at Lowe's or Home Depot, Joann's Craft and Fabric could sometimes help out, and every once in a while I'd get lucky at the R/C or model rocketry store.
Today, this all ends; I have found The Yard.
The Yard is everything Lowe's is not. Its a surplus, used, new, scrap everything store that would make a killing from LeTourneau students if it were located in Longview. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person then this is THE place you need to be going for your next project. A few of my personal favorites I found today during my first peruse through the establishment:
-Insulated jump-suits
-Ammunition cases (not just those old metal tins, either)
-Socket sets sold by the pound!
-LARGE DC motors
-Everything you could possibly use on a lathe (I'm not joking even a little bit).
-Plexiglass
-Dental picks
It's Wichita's version of American Science and Surplus (without the science). Its a craft store for guys. Its four acres of potential.
Its a dream come true for me.
As I have continued my tinkering hobby projects post-college I have continued to run into the same problem. No luck at Lowe's or Home Depot, Joann's Craft and Fabric could sometimes help out, and every once in a while I'd get lucky at the R/C or model rocketry store.
Today, this all ends; I have found The Yard.
The Yard is everything Lowe's is not. Its a surplus, used, new, scrap everything store that would make a killing from LeTourneau students if it were located in Longview. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person then this is THE place you need to be going for your next project. A few of my personal favorites I found today during my first peruse through the establishment:
-Insulated jump-suits
-Ammunition cases (not just those old metal tins, either)
-Socket sets sold by the pound!
-LARGE DC motors
-Everything you could possibly use on a lathe (I'm not joking even a little bit).
-Plexiglass
-Dental picks
It's Wichita's version of American Science and Surplus (without the science). Its a craft store for guys. Its four acres of potential.
Its a dream come true for me.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I Love Documentaries
You know, I think I like movies in general but I've found a real sweet spot in my heart for documentaries. I haven't seen a lot of them but nearly every one I have I've thoroughly enjoyed. I think the appeal for me is the simplicity and factual-basis of the material. There is nothing contrived, nothing scripted, per se, just reality and one author's take on it. I think of them as visual essays with interesting ideas to ponder. (If you know me, you know I like to think and understand how other people see things. It should come as no surprise that I like documentaries.) Since they are essays, this also means that though they use reality or facts to make a case or an example, they are not necessarily "true". That said, here are some of my favorites because, though I may not agree with the author's conclusion, the ideas are presented well and the films provide great food or thought and discussion.
Supersize Me You'll never look at fast-food (or eating in general) the same way. The simple premise of the author: if I were to become McDonald's favorite customer and eat their food for every meal, every day for one month, how would it effect my health? Without really giving anything away I'll tell you: not positively. Even the three or four doctors this author hires to check up on him periodically were surprised at just how bad things got. Along the way the author also looks at the food industry in the US in general and makes a good case for taking diet more seriously.
The Lost Boys of Sudan A simply remarkable film. The story of a handful of orphans from the massacre in Sudan as they make the transition to life in the US. The author's choose to tell their story by being as uninvolved in the their subject's lives as possible. They just show up with a camera and follow the guys around. The end result is quite remarkable as they are able to get footage and "inside views" that would be hard to do any other way. It takes a little getting used to (no narrator, no guide through the story) but the power of simplicity is evident when all is said and done.
For me, what was most impacting was realizing just how easy it can be to be a helpful to those who come from other cultures. The film is so well done; it is easy to empathize with these young men, fresh from the African bush, as they try to make sense of things like electric appliances and street basketball. The film makes a clear case for ministries that focus on making foreigners feel welcome here in the US. In fact, as the author's point out in their commentary, the churches in these boy's lives were the most active in helping them with getting settled in the US. Too bad more of us in the Christian faith are not involved in this way. I know there are plenty of opportunities here in Wichita that I just haven't made a priority in my life. Yet.
Touching the Void More a docu-drama than a true documentary. A true story told by the men involved in a very serious and absolutely incredible mountain climbing accident. As one of my friends put it, "I get cold just thinking about what they went through." Probably more appealing to the adventure-some male audience but pretty accessible to all.
Voices of Iraq I just saw this the other day and I can't recommend it enough. Unfortunately, distribution is pretty limited right now so, outside of Netflix, I don't know how to get a hold of it. All the footage of the film was provided through the use of ~150 digital video cameras that were distributed around the country of Iraq. Whoever ended up with the camera was encouraged to tell their story, tell people about their lives. The range of opinions and views expressed is incredible and, best of all, the story is told by Iraqis themselves. This is the story of Iraq told by Iraq.
Born Into Brothels Another great, great film. A documentary still-photographer working in the red-light district of Calcutta gets attached to some of the kids of the prostitutes and decides to teach them photography.
If you have a heart for social action and social justice, this is a good film to see. Not only is the need for involvement made clear but the difficulties presented by culture and the people in need themselves becomes evident. What happens when you try to enroll the child of a prostitute in school? What can be done for a child who's family does not recognize the value of education? The problems of "circumstance" and poor decisions cannot be more clearly demonstrated. And through it all, these unwanted children are still kids just like any others. Seeing the world through their photographs is simple wonderful.
Supersize Me You'll never look at fast-food (or eating in general) the same way. The simple premise of the author: if I were to become McDonald's favorite customer and eat their food for every meal, every day for one month, how would it effect my health? Without really giving anything away I'll tell you: not positively. Even the three or four doctors this author hires to check up on him periodically were surprised at just how bad things got. Along the way the author also looks at the food industry in the US in general and makes a good case for taking diet more seriously.
The Lost Boys of Sudan A simply remarkable film. The story of a handful of orphans from the massacre in Sudan as they make the transition to life in the US. The author's choose to tell their story by being as uninvolved in the their subject's lives as possible. They just show up with a camera and follow the guys around. The end result is quite remarkable as they are able to get footage and "inside views" that would be hard to do any other way. It takes a little getting used to (no narrator, no guide through the story) but the power of simplicity is evident when all is said and done.
For me, what was most impacting was realizing just how easy it can be to be a helpful to those who come from other cultures. The film is so well done; it is easy to empathize with these young men, fresh from the African bush, as they try to make sense of things like electric appliances and street basketball. The film makes a clear case for ministries that focus on making foreigners feel welcome here in the US. In fact, as the author's point out in their commentary, the churches in these boy's lives were the most active in helping them with getting settled in the US. Too bad more of us in the Christian faith are not involved in this way. I know there are plenty of opportunities here in Wichita that I just haven't made a priority in my life. Yet.
Touching the Void More a docu-drama than a true documentary. A true story told by the men involved in a very serious and absolutely incredible mountain climbing accident. As one of my friends put it, "I get cold just thinking about what they went through." Probably more appealing to the adventure-some male audience but pretty accessible to all.
Voices of Iraq I just saw this the other day and I can't recommend it enough. Unfortunately, distribution is pretty limited right now so, outside of Netflix, I don't know how to get a hold of it. All the footage of the film was provided through the use of ~150 digital video cameras that were distributed around the country of Iraq. Whoever ended up with the camera was encouraged to tell their story, tell people about their lives. The range of opinions and views expressed is incredible and, best of all, the story is told by Iraqis themselves. This is the story of Iraq told by Iraq.
Born Into Brothels Another great, great film. A documentary still-photographer working in the red-light district of Calcutta gets attached to some of the kids of the prostitutes and decides to teach them photography.
If you have a heart for social action and social justice, this is a good film to see. Not only is the need for involvement made clear but the difficulties presented by culture and the people in need themselves becomes evident. What happens when you try to enroll the child of a prostitute in school? What can be done for a child who's family does not recognize the value of education? The problems of "circumstance" and poor decisions cannot be more clearly demonstrated. And through it all, these unwanted children are still kids just like any others. Seeing the world through their photographs is simple wonderful.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Not Special Here
This past weekend on a trip back from seeing a good friend of mine get married and seeing my sister begin her college career at Trinity Western University (both conveniently located near Vancouver BC) I ended up with some time to kill in the Denver airport. I had about forty-five minutes so after walking up and down the concourse a few times in an attempt to do more than sit all day I stopped by one of the bookstores that litter nearly every airport in the US. As I was perusing the latest pop fiction that seem to be the staple of these type of establishments I heard two rather loud people walk into the store. Their voices gave them away very quickly: younger, black, female. What ensued was probably one of the most interesting comments on race relations I have experienced first-hand.
After not being able to find the book they were looking for they approached the clerk for help.
"Where are your books by black people?"
The (white) clerks, both of them, didn't catch the question and one of them asked her to repeat it.
"Where are the books by black authors?"
With a sweeping gesture that encompassed the whole store one of them answered, "Mixed in with everything else."
The gal who had been silent up to this point turned to her friend and responded, "We're not special here."
Now, before I go on, you've got to understand something about me. My cross-cultural relations have been fairly extensive. Unfortunately for me, hardly any of my friends are black and seeing as how this seems to be the most pertinent ethnicity in the current cultural climate I feel somewhat confused and perplexed by black culture at times. My four years of attending a university situated squarely in what can only be described as a black ghetto helped some but not as much as you might hope.
From my white, suburban perspective the fact that this bookstore didn't organize it's wares with regard to ethnicity seemed to be a statement (if that can be even ascribed to the management of an airport bookstore's wares) or racial equality. Level playing field all the way around. It was clear, though, by the look on both of these young ladies' faces, that this answer was not satisfactory. I would even say that, based on the way they walked out and continued to turn back to give the store clerk dirty looks, that they were offended that no such section existed and felt that they weren't being treated fairly.
If this little slice of life is an accurate reflection of the state of racial relations between the white and black communities then I think we have, despite all our efforts, somehow missed the boat and have a lot of work left to do. Any suggestions?
After not being able to find the book they were looking for they approached the clerk for help.
"Where are your books by black people?"
The (white) clerks, both of them, didn't catch the question and one of them asked her to repeat it.
"Where are the books by black authors?"
With a sweeping gesture that encompassed the whole store one of them answered, "Mixed in with everything else."
The gal who had been silent up to this point turned to her friend and responded, "We're not special here."
Now, before I go on, you've got to understand something about me. My cross-cultural relations have been fairly extensive. Unfortunately for me, hardly any of my friends are black and seeing as how this seems to be the most pertinent ethnicity in the current cultural climate I feel somewhat confused and perplexed by black culture at times. My four years of attending a university situated squarely in what can only be described as a black ghetto helped some but not as much as you might hope.
From my white, suburban perspective the fact that this bookstore didn't organize it's wares with regard to ethnicity seemed to be a statement (if that can be even ascribed to the management of an airport bookstore's wares) or racial equality. Level playing field all the way around. It was clear, though, by the look on both of these young ladies' faces, that this answer was not satisfactory. I would even say that, based on the way they walked out and continued to turn back to give the store clerk dirty looks, that they were offended that no such section existed and felt that they weren't being treated fairly.
If this little slice of life is an accurate reflection of the state of racial relations between the white and black communities then I think we have, despite all our efforts, somehow missed the boat and have a lot of work left to do. Any suggestions?
Monday, August 29, 2005
Education Debates
Dan and I have decided to take our debate to the blog-o-sphere! Check out http://debatingeducation.blogspot.com/ to see Dan and I match wits in an attempt to grind out a workable philosophy of education. Dan and I plan on taking turns posting and responding to the what the other has to say. Feel free participate by commenting on our posts. There is a good chance that much of my writing will be showing up on that blog for the next little while so things may get even more sparse around here. Who knows, though, I may be able to continue my sporadic and infrequent postings as if nothing had changed. Anyway, hope you enjoy our discussion; I'm sure there will be plenty of food for thought.
(Oh, and in case you are ever wondering, Dan and I are VERY good friends. We don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things but I have a deep respect for the faith of this man. Don't ever confuse our aggressive debate for personal attacks. Truth be told, we both enjoy a good argument for the challenge of expanding our understanding and skills.)
(Oh, and in case you are ever wondering, Dan and I are VERY good friends. We don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things but I have a deep respect for the faith of this man. Don't ever confuse our aggressive debate for personal attacks. Truth be told, we both enjoy a good argument for the challenge of expanding our understanding and skills.)
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Reponse to Dan Hillman
The following is part of a response that I've worked up to Dan's recent postings on his dealing with Dr. Newsome. His full postings can be found here. Reader's Digest version: Dan wants to reclaim education for the glory of God and he feels that drastic steps need to be taken so that the wholesale preaching of the Gospel of Christ can occur in a public education environment. If this sounds radical to you, well, it is. I encourage you to hear him out, though, because he speaks with a sincere heart and has some good things. At this point in my thinking I can't endorse all his conclusions but, well, I'm still in process on all of this myself. When all is said and done, he may just be right. So, with no further ado, here is my open response to Dan. I encourage you to post comments in either my blog or his. The both of us would love to hear from you.
Dan,
Thanks for posting at least a taste of what your meeting with Dr. Newsome looked like. I've got a lot to say in response but in the interest of keeping the size of my posts mangable, I'm going to try to break my thoughts down into (hopefully) single-issue responses. I'm also going to start with a thought you expressed part-way through your post because it is one that I have already collected my thoughts on due to our previous phone conversation. In fact, with your permission, I'm going to paraphrase part of what you said during that conversation and include it in the content I'm going to respond to in this post.
(Paraphrase) "Christians, teachers and students alike, need to either preach the Gospel boldly and openly in the public education classroom or they need to get out of the system entirely." Phone conversation
"We must obey God, not men"
You've really challenged me with your example of Peter and John from the Bible. You make a great point in that we need to be placing the commands of God above the laws of the land and speak boldly into the culture in which we live. Preach the Gospel, brother. Knowing you (and it is implicit in what you write) I think you would also say that we compromise our faith when we allow the laws of the land to keep us silent from proclaiming the truth. This is a challenging statement to me personally and something in which I need to spend some severe amount of prayer. How should this look in my workplace? How should this be played out in my daily life?
There is an aspect of this, though, that I don't think that you have considered and it comes from a desire to find a practical application to this idea. If we don't let any laws of any land prevent us from preaching the truth boldly, then I would say that a SIGNIFICANT percentage of the world's population will not ever even hear the name of Christ (This is assuming that it is entirely up to us to spread his name which, thankfully, is not the case). I'm referring to those who live in lands that are openly hostile to evangelism, China being a prime example but far from the only offender; there are many such nations throughout Asia. Preaching the Gospel openly and boldly in these places has severe consequences: deporation for non-citizens and worse for those who call that nation home. These nations hold a significant percentage of the world's population, somewhere between one-third and one-half is my guess. If we want to bring the Gospel to the people of these nations we must construct other tools besides direct, open evangelism and find other ways to bring truth to these people. A change of tactics is needed to still effectively bring salvation to people who are lost and who's governments would rather that this not change. This is, in my mind, a very plain truth that would be very hard to dispute. Street-preaching in China is not a viable method of saving very many Chinese. To evangelize you've got be there with the non-Christians.
Consider this: due to the increasing hostility towards the message of the Gospel in our own modern, Western culture I suggest that we start viewing our nation in a similar fashion. We still have a great deal more freedom than those in China when it comes to preaching the word and I think we need to use this freedom. Not to become beligerent and annoying street-preachers but to become consistent, truth-revealing lights in the world around us, using our tongues to re-affirm the Christ-formed character our lives demonstrate. Though you may disagree, Dan, I think we have a responsibility to continue to engage our culture in every way possible even if that means having to play by rules with which we don't agree. I think Christians need to be in environments that are openly hostile to their beliefs trying to find ways to subvert those environments for the cause of Christ. For the purposes of this discussion, I think Christians need to be in public education, reaching out to students and faculty to find ways to bring the love of Christ into their lives. (We'll call this the Trojan horse model.) Again, to evangelize you've got to be there with the non-Christian students and teachers.
Dan, I say this because I believe Christianity does not leave withdrawl as a viable method for maintaining purity and holiness in a culture that is corrupt and continuing to be corrupted. Israel has utterly failed to be the light and salt it was called to be in the OT because they mis-applied their understanding of the law. Christ removed confusion by making it clear that salvation is available to all, regardless of their ethnicity. As followers of Christ today that mandate still holds: we hold no prejudice and seek to evangelize all regardless of ethnicity, hair-color, nationality, sexual-orientation, occupation, criminal record, food preference, or educational environment. All are within the scope of salvation and we need to be actively engaged in bringing truth to the world. This means, implicitly, that we have to be there, in their lives, engaged in everyday living with them. We cannot share the truth if we're not around to share it.
When we spoke on the phone recently and you mentioned that you are convinced that Christians in public education need to be preaching the Bible in the classroom(regardless of the consequences) or need to get out of public education entirely, students and teachers alike. Let me make it very clear that I disagree with this for the simple reason that I will not abandon this segment of the population to their own desires and not continue to try to be an influence in their lives. Christians should not be withdrawing from these tough fights where are hands are tied but continuing to engage them despite our hands being tied. We want the lost people in these environments to have to deal with us, hampered and all, if they want to continue harming themselves. I don't think that a necessary condition of evangelism is having a clear and level playing field; this is a sinful world and the cards are stacked against us in so many ways. Though this field is not fair I don't think we have the option of taking our ball and going home; we can't evangelize if we're not there. Similarly, if we choose not play by their rules they are going to ask us to leave and we're in the same position. No, the way to continue to influence them is to stay in the game and work from there. It isn't easy or fun but the alternative of leaving the environment and letting sin run it's course just doesn't seem to have the best intersts of those we would abandon at heart. To bring salvation to the lost we have to be a part of their lives and able to influence them for Christ; we can't save them if we're not there.
One more quick point and then I'll wrap it up for now. As I mentioned above, (if I understood you correctly), you believe that if we cannot preach openly in the public education system then we need to withdraw and wait until the world degrades to such an extent that they come back to us, begging to know the truth. I don't think it will actually work out that way, that our presence will be missed, and I say this because it hasn't worked in the past. Look at the Amish, for example. Through their desire to be holy they have taken the OT Jewish route and effectively removed themselves from society. They seek to evangelize through example and hope to spread the truth when the world comes around and realizes it is screwed up and that they, the Amish, might be able to help. If the Amish have an evangelism strategy, this is it and you know what, it hasn't worked yet, not for several hundred years. Though society has, by their standards, continued to degrade for decade after decade, it is no closer to realizing it's decadence and mending it's ways by coming to the Amish point of view. Though there are several other factors that are causing this method of evangelism to fail, the one that is most pertinent to this discussion is the nature of sin. Sin not only screws us up it also prevents us from seeing how screwed up we are. Look at the book of Revelation. Is the world not engaged in actively resisting Christ at the cost of their lives even up to the bitter end? Sin binds and sin blinds and if we want to be that freeing light we are called to be, we need to not leave the sinful world to it's desires but continue to confront it while staying culturally relevent.
When the rubber meets the road staying culturally relevant while continuing to follow Christ is a very hard thing to do. I think the book of Revelation also makes it very clear that there will come a time when cultural relevancy will be next to impossible without compromising our faith and when that time comes we need to pick a side. You might say, Dan, that at the core of this discussion if the question of whether this time has come or not: I say it hasn't and you (I'm guessing) say it has. You could be right, you really could be. Things might be so bad already that we just need to let sin run it's course and hope things get bad enough that some of world realizes the dead end it is on and turn to us, the isolated followers of Christ, to find truth. Me, I'm not convinced it's gone that far and I'm going to continue fighting in the trenches engaging those around me, confronting them with truth, and challenging their beliefs in hopes that my influence will be positive in their lives. At least, that's what I'm going to try to do. Keep challenging me, Dan, to not compromise.
Dan,
Thanks for posting at least a taste of what your meeting with Dr. Newsome looked like. I've got a lot to say in response but in the interest of keeping the size of my posts mangable, I'm going to try to break my thoughts down into (hopefully) single-issue responses. I'm also going to start with a thought you expressed part-way through your post because it is one that I have already collected my thoughts on due to our previous phone conversation. In fact, with your permission, I'm going to paraphrase part of what you said during that conversation and include it in the content I'm going to respond to in this post.
(Paraphrase) "Christians, teachers and students alike, need to either preach the Gospel boldly and openly in the public education classroom or they need to get out of the system entirely." Phone conversation
"We must obey God, not men"
You've really challenged me with your example of Peter and John from the Bible. You make a great point in that we need to be placing the commands of God above the laws of the land and speak boldly into the culture in which we live. Preach the Gospel, brother. Knowing you (and it is implicit in what you write) I think you would also say that we compromise our faith when we allow the laws of the land to keep us silent from proclaiming the truth. This is a challenging statement to me personally and something in which I need to spend some severe amount of prayer. How should this look in my workplace? How should this be played out in my daily life?
There is an aspect of this, though, that I don't think that you have considered and it comes from a desire to find a practical application to this idea. If we don't let any laws of any land prevent us from preaching the truth boldly, then I would say that a SIGNIFICANT percentage of the world's population will not ever even hear the name of Christ (This is assuming that it is entirely up to us to spread his name which, thankfully, is not the case). I'm referring to those who live in lands that are openly hostile to evangelism, China being a prime example but far from the only offender; there are many such nations throughout Asia. Preaching the Gospel openly and boldly in these places has severe consequences: deporation for non-citizens and worse for those who call that nation home. These nations hold a significant percentage of the world's population, somewhere between one-third and one-half is my guess. If we want to bring the Gospel to the people of these nations we must construct other tools besides direct, open evangelism and find other ways to bring truth to these people. A change of tactics is needed to still effectively bring salvation to people who are lost and who's governments would rather that this not change. This is, in my mind, a very plain truth that would be very hard to dispute. Street-preaching in China is not a viable method of saving very many Chinese. To evangelize you've got be there with the non-Christians.
Consider this: due to the increasing hostility towards the message of the Gospel in our own modern, Western culture I suggest that we start viewing our nation in a similar fashion. We still have a great deal more freedom than those in China when it comes to preaching the word and I think we need to use this freedom. Not to become beligerent and annoying street-preachers but to become consistent, truth-revealing lights in the world around us, using our tongues to re-affirm the Christ-formed character our lives demonstrate. Though you may disagree, Dan, I think we have a responsibility to continue to engage our culture in every way possible even if that means having to play by rules with which we don't agree. I think Christians need to be in environments that are openly hostile to their beliefs trying to find ways to subvert those environments for the cause of Christ. For the purposes of this discussion, I think Christians need to be in public education, reaching out to students and faculty to find ways to bring the love of Christ into their lives. (We'll call this the Trojan horse model.) Again, to evangelize you've got to be there with the non-Christian students and teachers.
Dan, I say this because I believe Christianity does not leave withdrawl as a viable method for maintaining purity and holiness in a culture that is corrupt and continuing to be corrupted. Israel has utterly failed to be the light and salt it was called to be in the OT because they mis-applied their understanding of the law. Christ removed confusion by making it clear that salvation is available to all, regardless of their ethnicity. As followers of Christ today that mandate still holds: we hold no prejudice and seek to evangelize all regardless of ethnicity, hair-color, nationality, sexual-orientation, occupation, criminal record, food preference, or educational environment. All are within the scope of salvation and we need to be actively engaged in bringing truth to the world. This means, implicitly, that we have to be there, in their lives, engaged in everyday living with them. We cannot share the truth if we're not around to share it.
When we spoke on the phone recently and you mentioned that you are convinced that Christians in public education need to be preaching the Bible in the classroom(regardless of the consequences) or need to get out of public education entirely, students and teachers alike. Let me make it very clear that I disagree with this for the simple reason that I will not abandon this segment of the population to their own desires and not continue to try to be an influence in their lives. Christians should not be withdrawing from these tough fights where are hands are tied but continuing to engage them despite our hands being tied. We want the lost people in these environments to have to deal with us, hampered and all, if they want to continue harming themselves. I don't think that a necessary condition of evangelism is having a clear and level playing field; this is a sinful world and the cards are stacked against us in so many ways. Though this field is not fair I don't think we have the option of taking our ball and going home; we can't evangelize if we're not there. Similarly, if we choose not play by their rules they are going to ask us to leave and we're in the same position. No, the way to continue to influence them is to stay in the game and work from there. It isn't easy or fun but the alternative of leaving the environment and letting sin run it's course just doesn't seem to have the best intersts of those we would abandon at heart. To bring salvation to the lost we have to be a part of their lives and able to influence them for Christ; we can't save them if we're not there.
One more quick point and then I'll wrap it up for now. As I mentioned above, (if I understood you correctly), you believe that if we cannot preach openly in the public education system then we need to withdraw and wait until the world degrades to such an extent that they come back to us, begging to know the truth. I don't think it will actually work out that way, that our presence will be missed, and I say this because it hasn't worked in the past. Look at the Amish, for example. Through their desire to be holy they have taken the OT Jewish route and effectively removed themselves from society. They seek to evangelize through example and hope to spread the truth when the world comes around and realizes it is screwed up and that they, the Amish, might be able to help. If the Amish have an evangelism strategy, this is it and you know what, it hasn't worked yet, not for several hundred years. Though society has, by their standards, continued to degrade for decade after decade, it is no closer to realizing it's decadence and mending it's ways by coming to the Amish point of view. Though there are several other factors that are causing this method of evangelism to fail, the one that is most pertinent to this discussion is the nature of sin. Sin not only screws us up it also prevents us from seeing how screwed up we are. Look at the book of Revelation. Is the world not engaged in actively resisting Christ at the cost of their lives even up to the bitter end? Sin binds and sin blinds and if we want to be that freeing light we are called to be, we need to not leave the sinful world to it's desires but continue to confront it while staying culturally relevent.
When the rubber meets the road staying culturally relevant while continuing to follow Christ is a very hard thing to do. I think the book of Revelation also makes it very clear that there will come a time when cultural relevancy will be next to impossible without compromising our faith and when that time comes we need to pick a side. You might say, Dan, that at the core of this discussion if the question of whether this time has come or not: I say it hasn't and you (I'm guessing) say it has. You could be right, you really could be. Things might be so bad already that we just need to let sin run it's course and hope things get bad enough that some of world realizes the dead end it is on and turn to us, the isolated followers of Christ, to find truth. Me, I'm not convinced it's gone that far and I'm going to continue fighting in the trenches engaging those around me, confronting them with truth, and challenging their beliefs in hopes that my influence will be positive in their lives. At least, that's what I'm going to try to do. Keep challenging me, Dan, to not compromise.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Hiatus Thoughts
OK, I have a confession to make. In my post that ended my month-long hiatus I said
"I haven't had much time to think about many other things, much less post the thoughts."
Well, this is only partially true. Thought I didn't have time to post the thoughts I have had several topics of interest that have eaten up a good chunk of my time and in the interest of full disclosure and keeping the lines of communication open with all of you, here they are:
Sleep
Sleeping and dreaming are simply and utterly fascinating to me. I've had a long-time interest in doing some research into these and have finally decided to jump in and just see what kind of credible information is out there. I've had a few very fun and interesting lucid dreams (dreams where you know you are dreaming and subsequently take control of the dream) and have a keen cat-napping ability that may not actually be doing me much good sleep-wise. We'll see what my investigation turns up.
LDS Church (Mormonism)
For me, this a a topic of perennial interest. I've already done quite a bit of research during my high school year and time in Boise and, despite the fact that the Mormon presence in Wichita is relatively small, it is still something I enjoy trying to understand. There are mountains and mountains of papers, articles, journals, and transcripts to read through here; I don't know if I'll ever be done exploring this field.
Wireless Networks
With Katie living just thirty feet away from me now, we've decided to save some money by shipping my higher-speed connection over to her unit via a wireless connection. I've done some reading on wireless network architecture and security but now having a working understanding of these is more than an academic endeavor. To be honest, dipping my feet into the hacker community has been quite an eye-opener and more than a little enticing. No, I don't plan on joining the "Matrix"-like underworld (Seriously, me in goth? I don't think so.) but moving to a wireless network definitely increase the possibility of trouble and I want to be aware, informed, and prepared. As long as the the guy upstairs continues to leave his connection wide-open, though, I don't think I have very much to worry about.
In another month or so I bet I'll be on to other topics but for now, that's what's rattling around in my brain.
"I haven't had much time to think about many other things, much less post the thoughts."
Well, this is only partially true. Thought I didn't have time to post the thoughts I have had several topics of interest that have eaten up a good chunk of my time and in the interest of full disclosure and keeping the lines of communication open with all of you, here they are:
Sleep
Sleeping and dreaming are simply and utterly fascinating to me. I've had a long-time interest in doing some research into these and have finally decided to jump in and just see what kind of credible information is out there. I've had a few very fun and interesting lucid dreams (dreams where you know you are dreaming and subsequently take control of the dream) and have a keen cat-napping ability that may not actually be doing me much good sleep-wise. We'll see what my investigation turns up.
LDS Church (Mormonism)
For me, this a a topic of perennial interest. I've already done quite a bit of research during my high school year and time in Boise and, despite the fact that the Mormon presence in Wichita is relatively small, it is still something I enjoy trying to understand. There are mountains and mountains of papers, articles, journals, and transcripts to read through here; I don't know if I'll ever be done exploring this field.
Wireless Networks
With Katie living just thirty feet away from me now, we've decided to save some money by shipping my higher-speed connection over to her unit via a wireless connection. I've done some reading on wireless network architecture and security but now having a working understanding of these is more than an academic endeavor. To be honest, dipping my feet into the hacker community has been quite an eye-opener and more than a little enticing. No, I don't plan on joining the "Matrix"-like underworld (Seriously, me in goth? I don't think so.) but moving to a wireless network definitely increase the possibility of trouble and I want to be aware, informed, and prepared. As long as the the guy upstairs continues to leave his connection wide-open, though, I don't think I have very much to worry about.
In another month or so I bet I'll be on to other topics but for now, that's what's rattling around in my brain.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Warming Up to Wichita
Maybe this place isn't so bad after all. I've been here about seven months and I'm starting to get the hang of Wichita, learn some of it's traits and characteristics. Sure, it may not have the mountains, forests, beaches, rivers, desert, or hills that I'm used to but once i got past that, it might not be as bad as I originally thought. The cost of living is low, the people are nice, and the town has some of its own unique traits that add a touch of flavor to life.
One of these little treats I've found is a store called "The Spice Merchant" which is a bit of a mis-nomer because they actually specialize in coffees. They buy the beans, roast, and grind the coffee right there in-house (heck, the roaster is in the middle of the store). In addition to the coffee they do also sell a lot of tea, spices (whole and ground), and cooking accouterment. I got off of work early a few months ago and decided to stop on in and just see what they had. What a treat! It was close to closing time so the place was mostly empty and ended up talking to the shop owner. When he found out I was from the Pacific Northwest (arguably the cultural center for coffee in the US), that I was new to town and was looking for specialty stores for ingredient shopping, he gladly volunteered the names of a few stores in the area. Truth be told, the discussion was well over and hour and it was time I was happy to spend with him, learning more about my new home and to hear how his business was doing.
Another example: I just learned about this little nut and candy store called "Nifty Nut House" The store is family-owned and has been for around eighty years. They do their own roasting and have all kinds of nuts and candy for sale. Dry-roasted, unsalted, salted, honey-roasted, caramelized, chocolate-covered (milk and dark) peanuts, cashews, macadamias, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, coffee beans; they've got it all. (The nerd in me was also impressed at their point-of-sale system. Bluetooth (wireless) carcode readers, custom labelling for each sale like many supremarket meat counters, and MANY LCD panels hanging above the counter to display the transaction. Not something the traditional mom-and-pop store seems be willing to do. Bonus points for running a store in both the 19th and 21st century while retaining the advantage of both. Many other small chops could learn a lot from these guys.) After just one visit, I think I'm going to be stopping in their quite a bit more now. Katie's a nut girl so this has a lot of date potential for us.
These two shops are just wonderful; I love little expressions of local culture that provide a unique expression of what this town has to offer. Said differently, its good to know that Wichita has more to offer than Walmart, Best Buy, and Target. (Though I will say that not having Fred Meyer's around has been the hardest thing to deal with. I miss my clearance racks!) Are these kinds of stores in Boise and Portland? I'm sure there are. The bonus for me though, is that both of these places are a ten-minute bike ride away and that is truly wonderful.
One of these little treats I've found is a store called "The Spice Merchant" which is a bit of a mis-nomer because they actually specialize in coffees. They buy the beans, roast, and grind the coffee right there in-house (heck, the roaster is in the middle of the store). In addition to the coffee they do also sell a lot of tea, spices (whole and ground), and cooking accouterment. I got off of work early a few months ago and decided to stop on in and just see what they had. What a treat! It was close to closing time so the place was mostly empty and ended up talking to the shop owner. When he found out I was from the Pacific Northwest (arguably the cultural center for coffee in the US), that I was new to town and was looking for specialty stores for ingredient shopping, he gladly volunteered the names of a few stores in the area. Truth be told, the discussion was well over and hour and it was time I was happy to spend with him, learning more about my new home and to hear how his business was doing.
Another example: I just learned about this little nut and candy store called "Nifty Nut House" The store is family-owned and has been for around eighty years. They do their own roasting and have all kinds of nuts and candy for sale. Dry-roasted, unsalted, salted, honey-roasted, caramelized, chocolate-covered (milk and dark) peanuts, cashews, macadamias, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, coffee beans; they've got it all. (The nerd in me was also impressed at their point-of-sale system. Bluetooth (wireless) carcode readers, custom labelling for each sale like many supremarket meat counters, and MANY LCD panels hanging above the counter to display the transaction. Not something the traditional mom-and-pop store seems be willing to do. Bonus points for running a store in both the 19th and 21st century while retaining the advantage of both. Many other small chops could learn a lot from these guys.) After just one visit, I think I'm going to be stopping in their quite a bit more now. Katie's a nut girl so this has a lot of date potential for us.
These two shops are just wonderful; I love little expressions of local culture that provide a unique expression of what this town has to offer. Said differently, its good to know that Wichita has more to offer than Walmart, Best Buy, and Target. (Though I will say that not having Fred Meyer's around has been the hardest thing to deal with. I miss my clearance racks!) Are these kinds of stores in Boise and Portland? I'm sure there are. The bonus for me though, is that both of these places are a ten-minute bike ride away and that is truly wonderful.
Monday, August 01, 2005
River Community Church
Many of you have commented in personal emails to me (keep 'em coming!) that I haven't done a very good of updating my blog as of late. I just checked it now and sure enough, I haven't posted in over a month; shame on me! The cause for this silence is relatively simple, though: moving. The past few weeks have been highly consumed with moving Katie two times, moving myself once, dealing with waste water from upstairs flooding out my new unit, and getting all this chaos squared away with the management. Saying this, I haven't had much time to think about many other things, much less post the thoughts. Had I realized how long the delay had been, I might have been more on top of things. So, while I work on a few of the ideas I've had in queue, here's a bit out of an email that I sent out a week or so ago that should serve quite well as a full-fledged posting:
Probably the most significant thing that has happened to me lately is my completion of the membership process at church here in Wichita. This is super-important because prior to membership, there really aren't any ways that I can be involved in any kind of ministry. The whole thing is kind of funny in a way. Let me explain.
River Community Church is organized as a cell church, almost. There is a very large emphasis on small-groups with most of what we consider the fundamental functions of a body taking place in the small-group context. They still have services on Sunday morning but there is no Sunday school for anybody older than 10 or so (the youth do meet on Sunday evening for youth group, more on that later). First problem in trying to be involved in ministry at River: there aren't a lot of ministries in which you can participate outside of leading a small group. To my knowledge, the complete list of ministry potentials is as follows: worship band, sound/lights, nursery, small children's Sunday school, youth group, small-group leadership. Outside of these, there is no formal church ministry.
My first inclination was to explore potentials in running the sound system on Sunday morning. Ladies and gentlemen, the church gets even weirder: they have more than enough sound people already. My help, at that time, was totally not needed. The final blow came when I learned that, actually, I wasn't able to be involved in any of these official ministries at all until I became a member of the church. Joining the church is a 4-8 month process (minimum) involving taking new-member classes, consistently attending a small group, and going through a mini-confirmation interview (mostly just paperwork). My church life was, for some time, going to be pretty minimal.
This policy makes a lot of sense but it was pretty discouraging for me to realize that the MOST I could do to be a part of the body was show up on Sunday morning for a service and a small group sometime during the week. I wanted to be involved, to jump in and just get to work, be a part of the body. Just the way this church does things, though, my level of involvement was pretty low and VERY passive in nature. Contrast this with what Bill, the youth pastor at "Number One Baptist" (as my brother and I call it) told me after I was only showing up for a month or so: "We've been praying for God to provide somebody like you and we have great hopes for your involvement."
Truth be told, I can see why River does things the way they do; if I was in charge I would probably do it the same way. These past six months have been a good time of simple learning and understanding as I get used to a new family and they get to know me better. On the other hand, what a blessing it was for Bill, with spiritual discernment, to identify me as somebody ready, willing, and able to be highly involved and give me that opportunity. High-five to Bill for taking that chance with me and allowing me to get plugged right in.
I should also mention another point of ironic frustration: the pastors of this church are VERY relationship-oriented. I mean, imagine that. A pastor who doesn't treat leading the Body of Christ as an institution or organization to be managed but rather as a collection of people and relationships all with individual abilities and needs. In the words of Terry, the lead pastor, River is an "organic body."
(Along with "small groups", "organic" was the answer to almost any question about the structure of River Community Church. I don't think I can tell you how many times the summary answer to my questions was one or both of those words. For example:
Me: "So where does (function of the church) take place?"
Them: "Small groups."
Me: "Ahhhh. Ok. So how exactly does that work? What does that look like?"
Them: "Well, its kind of organic."
No joke, I got to the point where I stopped asking.)
Don't get me wrong, I think its great that Terry, Jim, and Dave, the pastors of River, are so relationally skilled and focused. I, on the other hand, find understanding and meaning through structure; this choice of organization-style was very difficult for me personally to get my head around. This is just the way I am, I've realized. Org-charts, the bane of so many in the business world, are very helpful and meaningful to me. I think in terms of systems, structure, and the big-picture. This church, though not lacking structure, goes to some effort to not make it obvious.
These two factors combined to make a VERY frustrating first few months for me here in Wichita. Now, though, I am past that: I have a good idea how the church is structured and I'm a member. Just one week after officially becoming a member of the body I approached the youth leader, Sherry, and was simply able to volunteer to help out with the youth group. She was very excited to have me on board and we'll be working on how I'll be involved over the next few weeks. In short, I think the hard times in getting used to a new body are past me.
Probably the most significant thing that has happened to me lately is my completion of the membership process at church here in Wichita. This is super-important because prior to membership, there really aren't any ways that I can be involved in any kind of ministry. The whole thing is kind of funny in a way. Let me explain.
River Community Church is organized as a cell church, almost. There is a very large emphasis on small-groups with most of what we consider the fundamental functions of a body taking place in the small-group context. They still have services on Sunday morning but there is no Sunday school for anybody older than 10 or so (the youth do meet on Sunday evening for youth group, more on that later). First problem in trying to be involved in ministry at River: there aren't a lot of ministries in which you can participate outside of leading a small group. To my knowledge, the complete list of ministry potentials is as follows: worship band, sound/lights, nursery, small children's Sunday school, youth group, small-group leadership. Outside of these, there is no formal church ministry.
My first inclination was to explore potentials in running the sound system on Sunday morning. Ladies and gentlemen, the church gets even weirder: they have more than enough sound people already. My help, at that time, was totally not needed. The final blow came when I learned that, actually, I wasn't able to be involved in any of these official ministries at all until I became a member of the church. Joining the church is a 4-8 month process (minimum) involving taking new-member classes, consistently attending a small group, and going through a mini-confirmation interview (mostly just paperwork). My church life was, for some time, going to be pretty minimal.
This policy makes a lot of sense but it was pretty discouraging for me to realize that the MOST I could do to be a part of the body was show up on Sunday morning for a service and a small group sometime during the week. I wanted to be involved, to jump in and just get to work, be a part of the body. Just the way this church does things, though, my level of involvement was pretty low and VERY passive in nature. Contrast this with what Bill, the youth pastor at "Number One Baptist" (as my brother and I call it) told me after I was only showing up for a month or so: "We've been praying for God to provide somebody like you and we have great hopes for your involvement."
Truth be told, I can see why River does things the way they do; if I was in charge I would probably do it the same way. These past six months have been a good time of simple learning and understanding as I get used to a new family and they get to know me better. On the other hand, what a blessing it was for Bill, with spiritual discernment, to identify me as somebody ready, willing, and able to be highly involved and give me that opportunity. High-five to Bill for taking that chance with me and allowing me to get plugged right in.
I should also mention another point of ironic frustration: the pastors of this church are VERY relationship-oriented. I mean, imagine that. A pastor who doesn't treat leading the Body of Christ as an institution or organization to be managed but rather as a collection of people and relationships all with individual abilities and needs. In the words of Terry, the lead pastor, River is an "organic body."
(Along with "small groups", "organic" was the answer to almost any question about the structure of River Community Church. I don't think I can tell you how many times the summary answer to my questions was one or both of those words. For example:
Me: "So where does (function of the church) take place?"
Them: "Small groups."
Me: "Ahhhh. Ok. So how exactly does that work? What does that look like?"
Them: "Well, its kind of organic."
No joke, I got to the point where I stopped asking.)
Don't get me wrong, I think its great that Terry, Jim, and Dave, the pastors of River, are so relationally skilled and focused. I, on the other hand, find understanding and meaning through structure; this choice of organization-style was very difficult for me personally to get my head around. This is just the way I am, I've realized. Org-charts, the bane of so many in the business world, are very helpful and meaningful to me. I think in terms of systems, structure, and the big-picture. This church, though not lacking structure, goes to some effort to not make it obvious.
These two factors combined to make a VERY frustrating first few months for me here in Wichita. Now, though, I am past that: I have a good idea how the church is structured and I'm a member. Just one week after officially becoming a member of the body I approached the youth leader, Sherry, and was simply able to volunteer to help out with the youth group. She was very excited to have me on board and we'll be working on how I'll be involved over the next few weeks. In short, I think the hard times in getting used to a new body are past me.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Two Wheels Or Four?
I'm thinking about selling my nice little '96 Honda Civic and using a motorbike for transportation instead. What do you think? Here are the pros and cons I can think of regarding this decision:
PRO
-Chick(s) dig(s) it.
-Better fuel economy.
-I'm hardly ever hauling more than myself when I drive right now.
-Insurance is MUCH cheaper.
CON
-Driving in a safe manner takes more intentionality than a car.
-Hauling any kind of cargo (groceries, etc.) can be tricky (but not impossible).
-Probably won't be able to offer rides anytime soon.
POINTS I DIDN'T MENTION ON PURPOSE
-Riding in bad weather. I already do this on my bicycle and feel the transition to motorbike won't be horribly difficult. This will be my year-round transportation just like my bicycle is.
-Start-up cost of bike and gear. Sale of my car will pretty handily cover this. I'll probably make money on the deal even if I buy really expensive (read "quality") safety gear.
Any I missed? Discuss.
PRO
-Chick(s) dig(s) it.
-Better fuel economy.
-I'm hardly ever hauling more than myself when I drive right now.
-Insurance is MUCH cheaper.
CON
-Driving in a safe manner takes more intentionality than a car.
-Hauling any kind of cargo (groceries, etc.) can be tricky (but not impossible).
-Probably won't be able to offer rides anytime soon.
POINTS I DIDN'T MENTION ON PURPOSE
-Riding in bad weather. I already do this on my bicycle and feel the transition to motorbike won't be horribly difficult. This will be my year-round transportation just like my bicycle is.
-Start-up cost of bike and gear. Sale of my car will pretty handily cover this. I'll probably make money on the deal even if I buy really expensive (read "quality") safety gear.
Any I missed? Discuss.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Where the Skyscrapers are Silos
This is where I live, now. Its all so.....different. On the way down to Enid, OK to spend some time with Katie's sister Samantha I actually mistook a collection of grain elevators and silos for skyscrapers. For some reason, I thought Enid was a little bit on the larger side as far as towns/cities go. When I saw this cluster of buildings jutting out of the landscape my city-fied brain automatically thought, "Ohhh, that must be downtown." I actually fooled myself for about ten seconds as my brain desperately tried to make sense of these rather odd-looking skyscrapers. As soon as I noticed a rounded top on one of the buildings my brain switched gears and the urban landmarks quickly settled into the agrarian outposts they actually were.
This is where I live, in the Great Plains. The wind blows strong and often brings in heavy rains and thunderstorms. Only at school did I see lightning like this, so fierce and spectacular. Nearly every evening the clouds roll in, the weatherman warns to watch out for severe storms. The land is flat, so flat, with nothing to stop the wind. It just blows on through, sometimes barely stopping at all on its way to who knows where.
My recent trip back to Portland made me realize just how much I miss that land. Just stepping off the plan I could smell the difference. The cool, damp, fecund air; you can smell the green in it. On the way up to Mt. St. Helens, following a winding pass up the mountain, vast forests standing guarding the road on either side. These forests were completely destroyed just a few decades ago in the eruption and now they cover the mountainside like a verdant carpet, demonstrating the resiliency of life in this land. It was all so.....green. Its not as if Kansas is void of grass and trees; these things just don't define the land the same way they do back home.
To be able to so easily walk through forests, enjoying the shade of the tall, rough-barked Douglas Firs and the elegant beauty of ferns, this I desire. For now, though, Kansas is the place God has called me and this is the life I have. I make the best of it, trying to enjoy the creation for what it is. I don't know, though, if I will ever be able to get the mountains, trees, and water out of my blood. I think I may be suffering withdrawal symptoms for the rest of my life.
This is where I live, in the Great Plains. The wind blows strong and often brings in heavy rains and thunderstorms. Only at school did I see lightning like this, so fierce and spectacular. Nearly every evening the clouds roll in, the weatherman warns to watch out for severe storms. The land is flat, so flat, with nothing to stop the wind. It just blows on through, sometimes barely stopping at all on its way to who knows where.
My recent trip back to Portland made me realize just how much I miss that land. Just stepping off the plan I could smell the difference. The cool, damp, fecund air; you can smell the green in it. On the way up to Mt. St. Helens, following a winding pass up the mountain, vast forests standing guarding the road on either side. These forests were completely destroyed just a few decades ago in the eruption and now they cover the mountainside like a verdant carpet, demonstrating the resiliency of life in this land. It was all so.....green. Its not as if Kansas is void of grass and trees; these things just don't define the land the same way they do back home.
To be able to so easily walk through forests, enjoying the shade of the tall, rough-barked Douglas Firs and the elegant beauty of ferns, this I desire. For now, though, Kansas is the place God has called me and this is the life I have. I make the best of it, trying to enjoy the creation for what it is. I don't know, though, if I will ever be able to get the mountains, trees, and water out of my blood. I think I may be suffering withdrawal symptoms for the rest of my life.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Getting Off Work Early
There are a number of things I have enjoyed about my job at Cessna as compared to Micron. The biggest difference so far has been the quality of the two managers I've had here at Cessna. These guys have simply been fantastic bosses showing not only respectable engineering prowess but top-notch people skills. I have deeply appreciated the more personable approach from my leadership here; they make work so much more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Case in point: I got off from work early today. One of the planes our group has been working towards FAA certification finally achieved that goal today. As a small reward, we all got part of the afternoon off. Its small things like this that make my managers so great. The loss to the company is pretty small, just a few hours of work on a Friday afternoon. In my mind, though, this mini-holiday is a wonderful treat and an excellent way to show that management appreciates my work. I feel quite blessed.
Case in point: I got off from work early today. One of the planes our group has been working towards FAA certification finally achieved that goal today. As a small reward, we all got part of the afternoon off. Its small things like this that make my managers so great. The loss to the company is pretty small, just a few hours of work on a Friday afternoon. In my mind, though, this mini-holiday is a wonderful treat and an excellent way to show that management appreciates my work. I feel quite blessed.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Church and State
Remember what I said about the radio program "This American Life" a few days ago? Well, the show this past weekend (June 4-5, 2005) is well worth listening to particularly if you have a desire to try to be culturally relevant as a Christian. The show is titled "Godless America" and it explores the recent trend of what I'll call "fundamental Christian activism". Over the course of an hour two stories are run; the first dealing with Christian activism in the public forum and the second with one woman's grappling with some of the more unseemly sides of the Bible.
Putting the second half of the show aside (it is told in the vein of a personal story rather than strict journalism, per se), the show does a decent job of looking at both sides of the problem. Put better, this show is very typical of what the program as a whole does quite well. Rather than looking at the big topics of the day from the perspective of the movers and shakers in this world, "This American Life" looks at it from the perspective of the ordinary, everyday person. So rather than examine in detail court decisions regarding the separation of church and state, we hear how one high school biology teacher feels like she was forced by her principal to take an oath confessing the supremacy of the Bible in her life.
If you are of the Christian persuasive and take your faith seriously, this will not be a comfortable show to listen to but I still think it is very worthwhile. Ira Glass does a good job of not caricaturing the Christian faith by calling extreme practices the norm. I don't think there will be any confusion just where he stands on all of this but his bias is actually the best reason to listen to the stories he has assembled. Though I can't say for certain, (especially now that I live in a culture that is highly overtly Bible-Belt-ish), I would be willing to bet that his viewpoint is the viewpoint of many who are on the outside looking in. Ira Glass communicates very clearly how he feels about the growing tide of Christian activism in the public forum and does it in a way that is neither inflammatory nor stoked with rhetoric.
(The second half of the show is a monologue by a woman who, after examining the Bible and realizing just how un-candy-coated some it is, has walked away from the faith. Man, I wish somebody (aside from her unhelpful priest) could have been there to help her understand some of these uncomfortable passages. She raises a lot of good questions about the nature of God as revealed in the Bible but, sadly, doesn't seem to have found any answers. )
For me, the story resurfaced a question that has been dormant in my mind for a while but is one I REALLY need to pull up the frontal parts of my brain again. Putting aside all the rhetoric from both sides about the religious views of the Founding Fathers and the words actually used in the Constitution we are left with the following reality. Our nation was founded on the unique principle that church and state should not be joined at the hip as was commonly the case throughout much of Europe. I'm talking about state governments mandating a religious orientation and taxes going to fund the promotion of a particular religious establishment. Again, setting the details aside, I think this is something that nearly everybody in the good ol' USA thinks is a pretty darn good idea. Religious freedom is something we all value; none of us desires to have other people telling us what is and isn't the right way to believe. We all want the right to decided for ourselves what is an isn't correct without coercion from others.
In the same breath, though, there are many people of many different beliefs that are quite convinced they have THE ANSWER and fit would just be best if all believed the same way. And sometimes, every so often, these people form a majority; this is the politically-active Christian church as it stands today. From a nationwide perspective, on average, Christianity has a slim majority. It may or may not feel like it where you are living now, but let me tell you, down here in the Bible-Belt, its pretty clear.
Given this situation, what's the best course of action for the church? The Constitution will probably prevent a radical transformation of our country into a church-run state but what level of activism is appropriate and beneficial? Are we, the church, doing ourselves any favors by drawing the line where we have drawn it? From a national perspective, there are significant political efforts underway to do everything from get the the Ten Commandments plastered on every public building in existence to making homosexual marriages illegal. What kind of image of Christ do we present by being so active, so militant in pursuing our agenda in the public arena?
Personally, I see both sides of this. The church has a very important role in demonstrating and guiding society (aka people) to Christ and we need to be making a stand and letting our secular culture know that we do not approve of the choices it makes at times. Case in point: homosexuality. The Bible is VERY clear about homosexual practices and, even though it is unpopular and will probably be even more so as time goes on, the church has the responsibility of making it clear how God sees this. Our society needs to know that this is not the direction we need to be heading and that there are some very serious consequences to these choices. The church is in a world of hurt when it abandons this role.
On the other hand, these are just my personal religious beliefs. I know there are a ton of people out there who see differently and cramming my faith into their lives isn't doing either of us any good. They get upset because they feel they are being forced to believe something they don't and I'm upset because they are stubbornly refusing the truth. Is this doing either of us any good? More importantly, from the Christian perspective, have I brought this person any closer to a right relationship with God by my actions? Its hard to imagine how we do any good in with such a militant or forceful approach. It seems to me that we are only hardening the soil while trying to plant.
What to do? Do we pursue the goal of Christianizing the nation or do we verbalize our dissent while no actively hindering the path others have chosen? The only answer I have right now is "yes". As I puzzle over this more and more, I have reached the tentative conclusion that in the public forum, the church cannot forsake its role as a lighthouse to society but also cannot take up the role of steering the endangered boat as well. Christians in government are good but not for the purpose of Christianizing our culture. I think we, the church, could all agree that we don't just want people to act like they have submitted their lives to Christ because thats the accepted, cultural norm, we want them to actually do so. Constantine already tried all of this and it didn't work out so well in the end. As always, people are changed through personal relationships and something a government can never mandate.
That's what I got for now. Again, try to listen to the radio program; its a good thing, trust me.
Putting the second half of the show aside (it is told in the vein of a personal story rather than strict journalism, per se), the show does a decent job of looking at both sides of the problem. Put better, this show is very typical of what the program as a whole does quite well. Rather than looking at the big topics of the day from the perspective of the movers and shakers in this world, "This American Life" looks at it from the perspective of the ordinary, everyday person. So rather than examine in detail court decisions regarding the separation of church and state, we hear how one high school biology teacher feels like she was forced by her principal to take an oath confessing the supremacy of the Bible in her life.
If you are of the Christian persuasive and take your faith seriously, this will not be a comfortable show to listen to but I still think it is very worthwhile. Ira Glass does a good job of not caricaturing the Christian faith by calling extreme practices the norm. I don't think there will be any confusion just where he stands on all of this but his bias is actually the best reason to listen to the stories he has assembled. Though I can't say for certain, (especially now that I live in a culture that is highly overtly Bible-Belt-ish), I would be willing to bet that his viewpoint is the viewpoint of many who are on the outside looking in. Ira Glass communicates very clearly how he feels about the growing tide of Christian activism in the public forum and does it in a way that is neither inflammatory nor stoked with rhetoric.
(The second half of the show is a monologue by a woman who, after examining the Bible and realizing just how un-candy-coated some it is, has walked away from the faith. Man, I wish somebody (aside from her unhelpful priest) could have been there to help her understand some of these uncomfortable passages. She raises a lot of good questions about the nature of God as revealed in the Bible but, sadly, doesn't seem to have found any answers. )
For me, the story resurfaced a question that has been dormant in my mind for a while but is one I REALLY need to pull up the frontal parts of my brain again. Putting aside all the rhetoric from both sides about the religious views of the Founding Fathers and the words actually used in the Constitution we are left with the following reality. Our nation was founded on the unique principle that church and state should not be joined at the hip as was commonly the case throughout much of Europe. I'm talking about state governments mandating a religious orientation and taxes going to fund the promotion of a particular religious establishment. Again, setting the details aside, I think this is something that nearly everybody in the good ol' USA thinks is a pretty darn good idea. Religious freedom is something we all value; none of us desires to have other people telling us what is and isn't the right way to believe. We all want the right to decided for ourselves what is an isn't correct without coercion from others.
In the same breath, though, there are many people of many different beliefs that are quite convinced they have THE ANSWER and fit would just be best if all believed the same way. And sometimes, every so often, these people form a majority; this is the politically-active Christian church as it stands today. From a nationwide perspective, on average, Christianity has a slim majority. It may or may not feel like it where you are living now, but let me tell you, down here in the Bible-Belt, its pretty clear.
Given this situation, what's the best course of action for the church? The Constitution will probably prevent a radical transformation of our country into a church-run state but what level of activism is appropriate and beneficial? Are we, the church, doing ourselves any favors by drawing the line where we have drawn it? From a national perspective, there are significant political efforts underway to do everything from get the the Ten Commandments plastered on every public building in existence to making homosexual marriages illegal. What kind of image of Christ do we present by being so active, so militant in pursuing our agenda in the public arena?
Personally, I see both sides of this. The church has a very important role in demonstrating and guiding society (aka people) to Christ and we need to be making a stand and letting our secular culture know that we do not approve of the choices it makes at times. Case in point: homosexuality. The Bible is VERY clear about homosexual practices and, even though it is unpopular and will probably be even more so as time goes on, the church has the responsibility of making it clear how God sees this. Our society needs to know that this is not the direction we need to be heading and that there are some very serious consequences to these choices. The church is in a world of hurt when it abandons this role.
On the other hand, these are just my personal religious beliefs. I know there are a ton of people out there who see differently and cramming my faith into their lives isn't doing either of us any good. They get upset because they feel they are being forced to believe something they don't and I'm upset because they are stubbornly refusing the truth. Is this doing either of us any good? More importantly, from the Christian perspective, have I brought this person any closer to a right relationship with God by my actions? Its hard to imagine how we do any good in with such a militant or forceful approach. It seems to me that we are only hardening the soil while trying to plant.
What to do? Do we pursue the goal of Christianizing the nation or do we verbalize our dissent while no actively hindering the path others have chosen? The only answer I have right now is "yes". As I puzzle over this more and more, I have reached the tentative conclusion that in the public forum, the church cannot forsake its role as a lighthouse to society but also cannot take up the role of steering the endangered boat as well. Christians in government are good but not for the purpose of Christianizing our culture. I think we, the church, could all agree that we don't just want people to act like they have submitted their lives to Christ because thats the accepted, cultural norm, we want them to actually do so. Constantine already tried all of this and it didn't work out so well in the end. As always, people are changed through personal relationships and something a government can never mandate.
That's what I got for now. Again, try to listen to the radio program; its a good thing, trust me.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Concrete vs Abstract
An interesting idea popped up this last weekend as Katie and I were hiking. Katie asked if I had ever considered visiting Israel for any reason. I should pause before going any further and say that Katie is EXTREMELY interested in all things Jewish. She's taken a trip over to Israel, participated in an outreach ministry here in the US directed towards Jews, and has a nearly constant latent desire to go head over for a long-term stay in Israel. In some sense of the word, she feels "called" to the Jewish people and since I do not share this calling we've talked about this desire she has and how it impacts our dating relationship. In fact, we've talked about it a lot. If I ever feel that things are going too well between us, I bring this up as a topic of conversation so as to muddy the waters between us and keep us both off-balance. It usually works pretty well.
Katie, on the other hand, did not bring this up question about visiting Israel for the reason of creating relational strife. She was simply curious if I had ever wanted to visit Israel for the purpose of better understanding the Bible. I thought about it a second and concluded that I had almost NO desire to visit Israel for this reason. In fact, I had always kind of looked at these spiritual vacations with some disdain or skepticism. I mean, seriously, "walk where Jesus walked"? How is that going to help me understand God or build my faith in any way? What benefit is there in visiting the land of the Bible? It's not like the culture/language/geo-political structure/economics/dirt of Israel today have much of a resemblance to those of any time in the Bible. To me, these trips have always seemed self-indulgent vacations for relatively wealthy Christians in the West.
Katie's response to my answer changed my whole perspective. In a very simple way she showed me what I was missing in all of this (aside from an attitude check). "I'm surprised by your answer but I guess I shouldn't be. You're an abstract person and I'm more concrete."
....
What? Where did that come from?
Slowly, with great deliberation, my brain started to churn on these words. Katie was, I knew, referring to a personality book we had recently finished reading together titled "Please Understand Me" by David Keirsey. Keirsey used the Myers-Briggs (aka MBTI) model to discuss personalities and people. At the beginning of the book he outlines four fundamental personality types defined by the combination of two factors: how we use tools (cooperative vs. utilitarian) and how we use words (abstract vs. concrete). Rather than trying to explain the differences here, let me show you by way of example how the concrete-vs-abstract factor plays in with Katie and I. (No promises I'm going to get this explanation to totally line-up with Keirey's actual personality theory. Have grace on me, Mark M.)
For Katie, because she is a concrete-word person, she uses and understands words in a very, well, concrete way. Maybe "visceral" or "experiential" would be good synonyms here; words have a very definite meaning that is referenced to actual, "real" things she has experienced in some way. When she thinks of "hard" she doesn't think of a concept as much as what "hard" means as a function of experience. She thinks of hard things and how they have impacted her world.
I, though, deal with words in a totally different way, abstractly. I think of the, uhmm, ideas behind the words. I think of words in terms of what they "mean" in an abstract way not so much how the words interact with reality. When I think of "hard" I'm thinking of what it means for something to be "hard", what "hard"-ness can mean in this context, or what other words I associate with "hard". To some extent, abstract-word people live in an ideal word where words are concepts and are used as such.
This difference has come up all the time between Katie and I as we try to communicate; the classic difficulty comes up when we are having a disagreement of some kind. In an attempt to make a point or illustrate more clearly how I see things I'll tacitly start taking in an analogy or metaphor. Early on, this ALWAYS threw Katie (though she's much better at following me now) because I wouldn't clearly state that I was going to speak abstractly. She would, true to her character, start interpreting my analogy/metaphor in very real, experiential, concrete, terms. In short, she was supremely confused as to the sudden change of topic and what it had to do at all with the problem under discussion.
So what does this have to do with visiting Israel? Well, for Katie and all other concrete word-users like her the words in the Bible have concrete connotations. When she reads those words she is trying to understand what is being said in terms of experiences. This means that if real, concrete experiences can be closely associated with the words used in Bible then her level of understanding increases significantly. So for all those concrete-word users (which, if I remember correctly from the book, are the vast majority of the people in the world), visiting the Biblical lands DOES bring greater meaning to the text. In Katie's words, "It helps me be able to have a picture in my mind when I'm reading. I can better understand what the Bible is talking about now that I've been there."
What a revelation this was to me! This changes my perspective completely! In exactly the same way that I could see no benefit to "walking where Jesus walked", there is tremendous benefit for people like Katie. Visiting Israel really was a faith-building venture; to see Jerusalem as it is today and visit the significant sites of the Bible (even though they aren't in many ways what is described in the Bible) provides that concrete-ness to bring the text to life. People like me don't need that experiential basis to feel like we are understanding the text, we are trying to understand the Bible in terms of this network of ideas that we associate with all the words we read. To us, the Bible IS the ideas and the text is a construction of words to communicate those ideas.
So all of this becomes another brick towards a better understanding of Katie. I can promise you, though, that I'm going to be re-learning and more fully learning it for a while. Thankfully Katie is very patient with me; I need that to understand crazy concrete-word users like her. (Seriously, words as experiences? How crazy is that?)
Katie, on the other hand, did not bring this up question about visiting Israel for the reason of creating relational strife. She was simply curious if I had ever wanted to visit Israel for the purpose of better understanding the Bible. I thought about it a second and concluded that I had almost NO desire to visit Israel for this reason. In fact, I had always kind of looked at these spiritual vacations with some disdain or skepticism. I mean, seriously, "walk where Jesus walked"? How is that going to help me understand God or build my faith in any way? What benefit is there in visiting the land of the Bible? It's not like the culture/language/geo-political structure/economics/dirt of Israel today have much of a resemblance to those of any time in the Bible. To me, these trips have always seemed self-indulgent vacations for relatively wealthy Christians in the West.
Katie's response to my answer changed my whole perspective. In a very simple way she showed me what I was missing in all of this (aside from an attitude check). "I'm surprised by your answer but I guess I shouldn't be. You're an abstract person and I'm more concrete."
....
What? Where did that come from?
Slowly, with great deliberation, my brain started to churn on these words. Katie was, I knew, referring to a personality book we had recently finished reading together titled "Please Understand Me" by David Keirsey. Keirsey used the Myers-Briggs (aka MBTI) model to discuss personalities and people. At the beginning of the book he outlines four fundamental personality types defined by the combination of two factors: how we use tools (cooperative vs. utilitarian) and how we use words (abstract vs. concrete). Rather than trying to explain the differences here, let me show you by way of example how the concrete-vs-abstract factor plays in with Katie and I. (No promises I'm going to get this explanation to totally line-up with Keirey's actual personality theory. Have grace on me, Mark M.)
For Katie, because she is a concrete-word person, she uses and understands words in a very, well, concrete way. Maybe "visceral" or "experiential" would be good synonyms here; words have a very definite meaning that is referenced to actual, "real" things she has experienced in some way. When she thinks of "hard" she doesn't think of a concept as much as what "hard" means as a function of experience. She thinks of hard things and how they have impacted her world.
I, though, deal with words in a totally different way, abstractly. I think of the, uhmm, ideas behind the words. I think of words in terms of what they "mean" in an abstract way not so much how the words interact with reality. When I think of "hard" I'm thinking of what it means for something to be "hard", what "hard"-ness can mean in this context, or what other words I associate with "hard". To some extent, abstract-word people live in an ideal word where words are concepts and are used as such.
This difference has come up all the time between Katie and I as we try to communicate; the classic difficulty comes up when we are having a disagreement of some kind. In an attempt to make a point or illustrate more clearly how I see things I'll tacitly start taking in an analogy or metaphor. Early on, this ALWAYS threw Katie (though she's much better at following me now) because I wouldn't clearly state that I was going to speak abstractly. She would, true to her character, start interpreting my analogy/metaphor in very real, experiential, concrete, terms. In short, she was supremely confused as to the sudden change of topic and what it had to do at all with the problem under discussion.
So what does this have to do with visiting Israel? Well, for Katie and all other concrete word-users like her the words in the Bible have concrete connotations. When she reads those words she is trying to understand what is being said in terms of experiences. This means that if real, concrete experiences can be closely associated with the words used in Bible then her level of understanding increases significantly. So for all those concrete-word users (which, if I remember correctly from the book, are the vast majority of the people in the world), visiting the Biblical lands DOES bring greater meaning to the text. In Katie's words, "It helps me be able to have a picture in my mind when I'm reading. I can better understand what the Bible is talking about now that I've been there."
What a revelation this was to me! This changes my perspective completely! In exactly the same way that I could see no benefit to "walking where Jesus walked", there is tremendous benefit for people like Katie. Visiting Israel really was a faith-building venture; to see Jerusalem as it is today and visit the significant sites of the Bible (even though they aren't in many ways what is described in the Bible) provides that concrete-ness to bring the text to life. People like me don't need that experiential basis to feel like we are understanding the text, we are trying to understand the Bible in terms of this network of ideas that we associate with all the words we read. To us, the Bible IS the ideas and the text is a construction of words to communicate those ideas.
So all of this becomes another brick towards a better understanding of Katie. I can promise you, though, that I'm going to be re-learning and more fully learning it for a while. Thankfully Katie is very patient with me; I need that to understand crazy concrete-word users like her. (Seriously, words as experiences? How crazy is that?)
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Hutchinson, KS?
That's right, boys and girls. It may be hard to believe, but Hutchinson, KS is home of one of the most amazing collections of early rocketry and space flight artifacts outside of the Smithsonian. I'm referring to the one and only Cosmosphere which Katie and I just took a trip to see on this fine Memorial Day. This is a town of 41,000 people about an hour's drive due NW of Wichita and not the type of place you would expect such a collection to reside. The museum proper isn't all that large physically but I would guess that it would take over four hours to go through and just read all the placards. Not only are there explanations for the artifacts but the museum also provides a very good history of early rocketry and space-craft itself.
And the artifacts, well, this is nothing to sneeze at. To name a few of the more impressive items, the museum is currently the custodian of:
-One each of the V-1 and V-2 rockets developed by Germany in WWII.
-What are effectively serial numbers two for both Sputnik I and Sputnik II (These are the satellites that would have been sent to space if the originals didn't make it.)
-A space suit used by one of the astronauts on Apollo 13.
-The engineering development unit of the lunar module used in the Apollo missions (one of the few left in the world as most are sitting on the moon right now).
-The actual, honest-to-goodness Apollo 13 command module in which the astronauts managed to survive their treacherous voyage.
-A fully-assembled but decommissioned SR-71 Blackbird.
Like I said, these are just the highlights. There are a ton of smaller items from the early days of rocketry which are simply truly amazing to see in-person. There is also an OMNImax theater and planetarium to round out the outer-space experience. Katie and I were more than occupied from 10am to 4pm and we didn't quite get to see it all.
I would have never thought in my entire life I would be able to do something like touch an SR-71 Blackbird with my hands or see any actual Apollo command module but, well, I've done both now. So if you're ever in the area and have a little bit of a space-bug in you, I would heartily recommend you stop in and spend the time exploring the museum. I think it will be worth your while.
Who would have though such wonders would be found in Hutchinson, KS?
And the artifacts, well, this is nothing to sneeze at. To name a few of the more impressive items, the museum is currently the custodian of:
-One each of the V-1 and V-2 rockets developed by Germany in WWII.
-What are effectively serial numbers two for both Sputnik I and Sputnik II (These are the satellites that would have been sent to space if the originals didn't make it.)
-A space suit used by one of the astronauts on Apollo 13.
-The engineering development unit of the lunar module used in the Apollo missions (one of the few left in the world as most are sitting on the moon right now).
-The actual, honest-to-goodness Apollo 13 command module in which the astronauts managed to survive their treacherous voyage.
-A fully-assembled but decommissioned SR-71 Blackbird.
Like I said, these are just the highlights. There are a ton of smaller items from the early days of rocketry which are simply truly amazing to see in-person. There is also an OMNImax theater and planetarium to round out the outer-space experience. Katie and I were more than occupied from 10am to 4pm and we didn't quite get to see it all.
I would have never thought in my entire life I would be able to do something like touch an SR-71 Blackbird with my hands or see any actual Apollo command module but, well, I've done both now. So if you're ever in the area and have a little bit of a space-bug in you, I would heartily recommend you stop in and spend the time exploring the museum. I think it will be worth your while.
Who would have though such wonders would be found in Hutchinson, KS?
Monday, May 30, 2005
The Best Radio Program Ever
Right now I'm listening to a recording of one of the most unique radio programs that is nationally syndicated, This American Life. NPR does the distribution and if you've got a chance, I recommend tuning in. I have found, after listening for a year or two on a pretty consistent basis (now even more consistent due to the wonders of TiVo for radio, the radioShark) that this is a winner of a show. Probably not something to schedule your life around, but during that hour broadcast you can pretty much count on something you have never thought about popping across the airwaves. If you're a fan of new ideas and interesting things to mull over in your mind, this is a fertile feeding ground. Airing every weekend on a public radio station near you.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Hiking and Ticks
Just back from a hike at the Konza Prairie with my wonderful girlfriend. Katie was very patient with me today as I forced us to stop many times to take pictures of the scenery. You know, for Kansas, this is a very nice hike. Lots of trees, big spaces, the Flint Hills to roam around in; just what my Pacific NW upbringing needs after four months on the prairie.
Something I never dealt with back where I grew up, though, were ticks. I was in the Boy Scouts during my middle and high school years and we talked of ticks often. In fact, one of the hottest Boy Scout debates (at least in our troop) was the best way to deal with ticks. The common cures ranged from the much maligned gentle tweezer pull (But if their heads break off, it'll get infected!) to the hot burnt-out match to using vegetable oil at the bite location to suffocate them. Though the debates were fierce at times the vegetable oil trick seemed to usually win out in the end as it seemed the least invasive. The funny part about all of this is the fact that NONE of us had EVER seen a tick in person. It may have been the weather forcing us into long-pants for most of our camping trips or maybe there just aren't as many ticks up there; it doesn't matter, we were all blithely ignorant.
As of today, I have now passed this adolescent stage and have begun my adult life when it comes to ticks.
Being male and not having the social pressure to shave my legs, I tend to let the hair on my legs grow out. From what I've noticed, this is common among most men (exceptions that come to mind are hard-core bicycle racers and swimmers). Well, today that came back to bite me, literally, thanks to wearing shorts on this approximately twelve mile hike through the prairie.
On our way back to Wichita, I noticed a small insect that looked like a proportionally-challenged spider crawling around on my legs. I let it crawl onto my finger and then tried to kill it by squishing it against the dashboard of my car. Well, things didn't work out so well and the little guy ended up in Katie's seat. Note to self: Katie is not a big fan of insects. She ID-ed the guy as a tick when it landed in her lap but wasn't able to finish what I started due to her somewhat excited state. He escaped somewhere on her side of the car and I volunteered to take the next exit so we could hunt him down.
We never found him but decided it would be a good idea to look ourselves over to make sure we were clean. (This was probably the first time in my life I was verbally encouraged to intently study a woman's legs.) Katie was tick free but, I, on the other hand was not. We found two of those guys buried in my legs. TWO.
The Boy Scout training evaporated from my brain; I wanted those little buggers out now! Let me tell you, if you've ever tried pulling a tick off a non-smooth surface, you know how hard it can be. It took me a few minutes to finally wrest one of them from my thigh; Katie got the other one in just a few seconds. As I found out, though, the only thing harder than getting the tick out is killing it. Without any of my blood in them, ticks are very thin and flat and even trying to crush this one between my thumb and index finger did not succeed in killing it. I tried this on a fourth tick I found while driving home; he made the same mistake the first one did and just crawled onto my finger looking for blood. I didn't look back and simply mashed him against my thumb for fifteen seconds before flicking him onto the dash (and not onto Katie's lap). He was still moving around, trying to get off his back! How do they do that? Again, Katie came to the rescue by picking him up with a tissue and throwing him out the window.
I'm about to go take a shower and give my whole body one more check but before I go, let me say this: probably the most unique experience in all of this adventure is looking down at my leg and seeing those guys with their (very) small heads buried in my skin. Its a very, uhmm, unusual sight. Just sitting there, legs spread out for balance, (empty) flat abdomen laying flush against me. With just a glance you could see that this thing was very foreign to my body, not a part of me. It made me want to yell and say "Hey, who said you could help yourself to that? That's my blood!"
POST-SHOWER UPDATE:
No embedded parasites ID-ed, one free-loader on the elastic leg-band of my underwear. (just a wee too bit close for comfort.) Attempted to neutralize with tweezers. Crippled but was not able to easily terminate (How do they do that?!) Total tick count for the day: five, all mine. Next time, I'm shaving my legs are wearing pants.
Something I never dealt with back where I grew up, though, were ticks. I was in the Boy Scouts during my middle and high school years and we talked of ticks often. In fact, one of the hottest Boy Scout debates (at least in our troop) was the best way to deal with ticks. The common cures ranged from the much maligned gentle tweezer pull (But if their heads break off, it'll get infected!) to the hot burnt-out match to using vegetable oil at the bite location to suffocate them. Though the debates were fierce at times the vegetable oil trick seemed to usually win out in the end as it seemed the least invasive. The funny part about all of this is the fact that NONE of us had EVER seen a tick in person. It may have been the weather forcing us into long-pants for most of our camping trips or maybe there just aren't as many ticks up there; it doesn't matter, we were all blithely ignorant.
As of today, I have now passed this adolescent stage and have begun my adult life when it comes to ticks.
Being male and not having the social pressure to shave my legs, I tend to let the hair on my legs grow out. From what I've noticed, this is common among most men (exceptions that come to mind are hard-core bicycle racers and swimmers). Well, today that came back to bite me, literally, thanks to wearing shorts on this approximately twelve mile hike through the prairie.
On our way back to Wichita, I noticed a small insect that looked like a proportionally-challenged spider crawling around on my legs. I let it crawl onto my finger and then tried to kill it by squishing it against the dashboard of my car. Well, things didn't work out so well and the little guy ended up in Katie's seat. Note to self: Katie is not a big fan of insects. She ID-ed the guy as a tick when it landed in her lap but wasn't able to finish what I started due to her somewhat excited state. He escaped somewhere on her side of the car and I volunteered to take the next exit so we could hunt him down.
We never found him but decided it would be a good idea to look ourselves over to make sure we were clean. (This was probably the first time in my life I was verbally encouraged to intently study a woman's legs.) Katie was tick free but, I, on the other hand was not. We found two of those guys buried in my legs. TWO.
The Boy Scout training evaporated from my brain; I wanted those little buggers out now! Let me tell you, if you've ever tried pulling a tick off a non-smooth surface, you know how hard it can be. It took me a few minutes to finally wrest one of them from my thigh; Katie got the other one in just a few seconds. As I found out, though, the only thing harder than getting the tick out is killing it. Without any of my blood in them, ticks are very thin and flat and even trying to crush this one between my thumb and index finger did not succeed in killing it. I tried this on a fourth tick I found while driving home; he made the same mistake the first one did and just crawled onto my finger looking for blood. I didn't look back and simply mashed him against my thumb for fifteen seconds before flicking him onto the dash (and not onto Katie's lap). He was still moving around, trying to get off his back! How do they do that? Again, Katie came to the rescue by picking him up with a tissue and throwing him out the window.
I'm about to go take a shower and give my whole body one more check but before I go, let me say this: probably the most unique experience in all of this adventure is looking down at my leg and seeing those guys with their (very) small heads buried in my skin. Its a very, uhmm, unusual sight. Just sitting there, legs spread out for balance, (empty) flat abdomen laying flush against me. With just a glance you could see that this thing was very foreign to my body, not a part of me. It made me want to yell and say "Hey, who said you could help yourself to that? That's my blood!"
POST-SHOWER UPDATE:
No embedded parasites ID-ed, one free-loader on the elastic leg-band of my underwear. (just a wee too bit close for comfort.) Attempted to neutralize with tweezers. Crippled but was not able to easily terminate (How do they do that?!) Total tick count for the day: five, all mine. Next time, I'm shaving my legs are wearing pants.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Move to Wichita
As many of you probably know, about four months ago I made a big change in my life and moved to Wichita, KS from Boise, ID. The change was prompted by year-and-a-half, long-distance romance with a fine young lady living down here in Wichita. We both desired to advance the relationship to a point where plane rides were not required to see each other; we're kind of weird like that. Both of us had been working on getting jobs for a while (she in Boise, I in Wichita) but I was the one that landed an interview around Thanksgiving 2004. When a job offer materialized, the choice was clear to me and I took the it without much second-guessing. Katie and I had been working towards this goal for so long and now the end was in sight.
Moves are hard for me, though. My move to Boise straight out of college was much more difficult than I had expected and I ended up with a significant but not frequently crippling case of depression (self- and peer-diagnosed). Being more introverted, it takes a lot of time and energy to form new relationships, making moves (and sometimes changes in general) large emotional burdens. I guessed that moving to Wichita would probably not be as difficult as the move to Boise but I had no hopes of it being a natural adjustment. I figured that having one key relationship already in place and being more aware of how I struggle in moves would make this one easier than the last but far from a cake-walk.
I was right.
The toughest part of this transition, though, came in realizing just how much I had given up to make this move. Or, more specifically, how much I had worked to form relationships in Boise that were just now coming to fruition. I had been putting diligent effort for quite a while into find ing my place in Boise and after years (literally) of struggling with it, I finally felt like I was making some progress. In short, I felt I had been making some long-term investments and they were just now paying off. To be specific:
Teaching the 11th grade Sunday school class at church. Just a few months before I left an opportunity had been presented for me to start teaching the 11th graders. This was great in so many ways: I got to take part in the teacher training which was, far and away, the best small group of which I have ever been a part. I knew all the 11th graders pretty well and they are a fun group to be around. I had an opportunity to use a somewhat latent skill I have always wanted to develop. All around, this was a very good thing.
The Triumvirate was just forming. By this I mean some of the coolest and most unique social activities with two people I greatly respect: Ken and Caroline. These two and been interning at church for the past several summers but due to their busy schedules during those times, we hadn't had much time to hang out together. Almost by accident, we started spending time together on a weekly basis and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my week. We three thought in a pretty similar way and enjoyed many of the same things. We were all at the same stage in life, still trying to figure out where we were headed. Both, I miss those two.
New group at church. Two very cool people, Mark and Jenny, were just back from China and, using their exceptional people skills, were in the midst of forming a group of younger single people. The church (in the most general sense of the word) seems to have a hard time knowing what to do with single people. This makes a lot of sense; it is a family-oriented institution and people without families don't easily fit into its structure. I had made feeble attempts to get a group going to deal with this problem. Let's just say that Mark and Jenny were able to succeed where I couldn't. All-around high-fives to them, too bad I was literally on my way out the door as it was happening.
African ministry partner. Continuing on the list of gifted and all around great people I had been spending time with, Kelly and I had been working for a number of months to find a ministry in Africa with which to partner. (Truth be told, Kelly was doing most of the work and I was doing my best to provide feedback and keep her encouraged in the endeavor). We found one and just a few weeks before I hopped in my car to drive to Wichita, the founder of the ministry visited our church to further explore this opportunity. Well, as of the time of this writing, things are looking very promising. Kelly has arranged a large number of child sponsorships and already spent a month over in Rwanda (where the ministry is based). My heart for social justice and a desire to make Christ known in practical ways could not have found a better outlet.
I don't list these all so as to solicit pity from others. I list these to make a point: my move was either one of those grand bits of Divine Timing or I have made a very big mistake. I'm not exaggerating when I say that all of these things had come together just in the past few months prior to my departure. This is when God provides the job and the opportunity to be with Katie. For a long time, Sunday mornings here in Wichita were pretty depressing. I would go to this new church and sit around all these new people and all I wanted was to be in a comfortable environment again, one where I knew others and was known. This I had finally achieved back in Boise but Boise was no longer my home.
I choose to believe that God knew what he was doing when he provided this job for me in Wichita. Though I long to be back in Boise, this is where my life is now.
Moves are hard for me, though. My move to Boise straight out of college was much more difficult than I had expected and I ended up with a significant but not frequently crippling case of depression (self- and peer-diagnosed). Being more introverted, it takes a lot of time and energy to form new relationships, making moves (and sometimes changes in general) large emotional burdens. I guessed that moving to Wichita would probably not be as difficult as the move to Boise but I had no hopes of it being a natural adjustment. I figured that having one key relationship already in place and being more aware of how I struggle in moves would make this one easier than the last but far from a cake-walk.
I was right.
The toughest part of this transition, though, came in realizing just how much I had given up to make this move. Or, more specifically, how much I had worked to form relationships in Boise that were just now coming to fruition. I had been putting diligent effort for quite a while into find ing my place in Boise and after years (literally) of struggling with it, I finally felt like I was making some progress. In short, I felt I had been making some long-term investments and they were just now paying off. To be specific:
Teaching the 11th grade Sunday school class at church. Just a few months before I left an opportunity had been presented for me to start teaching the 11th graders. This was great in so many ways: I got to take part in the teacher training which was, far and away, the best small group of which I have ever been a part. I knew all the 11th graders pretty well and they are a fun group to be around. I had an opportunity to use a somewhat latent skill I have always wanted to develop. All around, this was a very good thing.
The Triumvirate was just forming. By this I mean some of the coolest and most unique social activities with two people I greatly respect: Ken and Caroline. These two and been interning at church for the past several summers but due to their busy schedules during those times, we hadn't had much time to hang out together. Almost by accident, we started spending time together on a weekly basis and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my week. We three thought in a pretty similar way and enjoyed many of the same things. We were all at the same stage in life, still trying to figure out where we were headed. Both, I miss those two.
New group at church. Two very cool people, Mark and Jenny, were just back from China and, using their exceptional people skills, were in the midst of forming a group of younger single people. The church (in the most general sense of the word) seems to have a hard time knowing what to do with single people. This makes a lot of sense; it is a family-oriented institution and people without families don't easily fit into its structure. I had made feeble attempts to get a group going to deal with this problem. Let's just say that Mark and Jenny were able to succeed where I couldn't. All-around high-fives to them, too bad I was literally on my way out the door as it was happening.
African ministry partner. Continuing on the list of gifted and all around great people I had been spending time with, Kelly and I had been working for a number of months to find a ministry in Africa with which to partner. (Truth be told, Kelly was doing most of the work and I was doing my best to provide feedback and keep her encouraged in the endeavor). We found one and just a few weeks before I hopped in my car to drive to Wichita, the founder of the ministry visited our church to further explore this opportunity. Well, as of the time of this writing, things are looking very promising. Kelly has arranged a large number of child sponsorships and already spent a month over in Rwanda (where the ministry is based). My heart for social justice and a desire to make Christ known in practical ways could not have found a better outlet.
I don't list these all so as to solicit pity from others. I list these to make a point: my move was either one of those grand bits of Divine Timing or I have made a very big mistake. I'm not exaggerating when I say that all of these things had come together just in the past few months prior to my departure. This is when God provides the job and the opportunity to be with Katie. For a long time, Sunday mornings here in Wichita were pretty depressing. I would go to this new church and sit around all these new people and all I wanted was to be in a comfortable environment again, one where I knew others and was known. This I had finally achieved back in Boise but Boise was no longer my home.
I choose to believe that God knew what he was doing when he provided this job for me in Wichita. Though I long to be back in Boise, this is where my life is now.
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