Off again

to four days in KC for meetings and "face time".

Mmmm, face time: my favorite. :( Bleh. But it's necessary to continue in this telecommuting situation, and so - I go. :)

Hopefully no winter storms on the way down and back, though I am armed with a full set of new tires, courtesy of the IRS giving back a bit of what it confiscated last year.

Back in time for class on Thursday night, I hope. And good news on that front. I was able to land the topics in Church History 502 that I wanted for both the in-class presentation, and the research paper: Vatican II, and the Catholic response to the Reformation, respectively. Yay! Something I find interesting. :)

Arrivederci. Be good while I'm away. ;)

Vertigo

Well, the nosebleed section of the Xcel Center was about as steep an incline as I've ever tried to negotiate. As steep as the highest balcony of the Pabst in Milwaukee. That made me dizzy, too. I felt so grateful to sit down. Yikes!







Tonight it was Chris Tomlin in concert, with Israel Houghton and New Breed as the opener. Really, really fun. :) New Breed was jazzy, funky - just plain hot.

And Tomlin's backing band was very U2ish. Basic in its configuration: lead, bass, drum, keys, and vocals. The guy who played lead borrowed licks from The Edge. It was a big, big sound, but with echoes of classic rock brought forward a couple decades. Pretty great, I'd say.




Plus, when was the last time you have seen arena rock... with the song lyrics projected on jumbotrons?



They actually expected the audience to sing along. To everything. :) And we did.



Even our staid and minimalist 20-something guests, L&D, were caught singing from time to time.

Chris Tomlin is one of those singer/songwriters who can do both with equal aplomb. But his songwriting just makes it. He has the ability to keep it really simple without being simple-minded. I already knew 3/4 of the songs he did (with the unknown ones off his newest CD), but even the ones I didn't know, I "knew" before he got halfway through, and could easily sing along. That's good songwriting (at least for Contemporary Christian Music, where you want it to be easy for a congregation to pick up, but still be meaningful.) He does that better than anybody right now.

It was a great evening out with (younger) friends. And the newest CDs at the merch table were only $10 each, so... I have music to listen to on my trip tomorrow. :)

And oh... March came in like a lamb this year, and it's expected to go out like a lion, just as you might expect. Big snowstorm coming (hopefully after I am done driving!), but for today at least, it looked like Spring was near. Open water on the lakes! :)

Earth Hour (updated)

So yesterday I get this message from corporate headquarters:



This coming Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. (in each time zone), people around the world will turn their lights off for one hour - Earth Hour. Created by WWF, Earth Hour asks households and businesses across the globe to turn off their lights and electrical appliances for one hour. The aim is to raise awareness of the need to take action on climate change.

The following offices will go dark for one hour on Saturday evening: London, Folkestone, Gloucester and Telford, Asia-Pacific, Zurich, Armonk, Amstelveen, Manchester, Kansas City, Fort Wayne, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Madrid, Rome, Milano, Munich and Paris. * Please note: computer systems and services will not be affected, and anyone needing to work in the office during that time may turn on their office lights manually.

Click to read more about Earth Hour:


Yes, sirs! Guess I'll be a good corporate citizen, as well as a good planetary one. :)



Oh, hey, but is it just lights? Or is it television, too? I mean, the NCAA is on, man! Can I watch TV in the dark, and still be in compliance...

**********

8:50PM Saturday.

The Villanova/Pitt game ended right on time. :) Good job, boys.

I just stuck my head outside to see if anyone else in the neighborhood is participating. It's actually surprisingly dark! A lot of houses are off-line. I can see that the next door neighbors have candles burning.

Same here. There's a candle going in every room. And with one candle lit I can still see to type. I feel like a monk in the middle ages, scribing away by candlelight. :)

Except I'm using a keyboard, and the light from the screen on the Mac helps a bit, too. :P

morning

.


words arrive at six
haiku forming in my head
mental text alarm


.


why do I do this? writing haiku in my sleep... it is just plain weird.

The classroom calls

Spring Break is over. So is recreational reading and nights spent at movies and concerts. At least until June. And even then, with my independent study class getting approved, my Summer isn't exactly free, either. No classes for an independent study course, no - but plenty of theological reading and papers to write.

But it was a good break. My reading pile is reduced considerably. :) And now only one of the books there counts: Justo Gonzalez's "The Story of Christianity", Vol. II (1500 - present). We pick up tonight with Luther, and exploration of the New World by Spain and Portugal. Jesuits & Reformers, ho!

The prof (same as last quarter) finally posted the syllabus last night (and STILL has not posted grades from the last class.) It looks like I may be able to opt for a major paper on either Vatican II or the Council of Trent, either of which would be of interest to me (and probably not to most of the rest of the class, unless there more evangebapticatholics than I suspect.)

Back to class, mister. Time to buckle down again.

Pretty Squirrely

Can't think of a better word.

These guys are as peculiar as ever. Top hats with feather plumes, rockabilly guitars, Hammond B-3 sound on the keys, and a horn section playing ska.

Boy, roll back the clock 15 years.







Some in the crowd were just as peculiar, wearing fez hats (Shriners!)



The demographic was distinctly different last night than for most shows I attend at The Varsity.


Usually I am one of the few people post-40, much less post-50. Last night, I was hard pressed to spot anyone under 30. But what few there were seemed to cluster near my table, asking me if I was reading that for a class, if I knew how to swing dance, would I watch her purse, etc., etc.


Um, yes to all. :)

And I wasn't the only guy who brought his book as a date. There was a kindred spirit in the crowd. :)



But I missed having my regular dancing partner (an evening class in Statistics can cramp a girl's style, apparently.) The opening act was the Twin Cities Hot Club, a Django Rheinhart / Stephane Grappelli style combo who we'd seen twice before, and the middle of the dance floor was actually used for - gasp! - dancing.



They actually had a dance contest. Fun to watch. I limited my involvement to a whirl or two behind the merchandise table (thanks, Natalie) and chatting up the dancers afterwards to find out where they go to swing.



Famous Dave's BBQ in Uptown Monday nights. Who knew?

That's one I'll have to check out. With someone who knows how. Ready, D?

Three-legged stools

Ever sat on one? They're used in analogies a lot, but I'll be darned if I can remember using one in practice. All the stools I remember have been four-legged, even Grandpa's milking stool out in the barn...

So with reluctance do I use it yet again in an analogy. But reluctance has never stopped me before. I just push right on with my ideas. ;)

As I was waking up a couple of days ago, I found myself thinking about male/female relationships.

Don't ask. :)

Anyway, I thought about how male/female relationships can suffer, or be less than they could be, because they are missing some key element necessary for fulness. And while mulling that over, my mind went (as it so often does) to the spiritual analog to communion between lovers: our relationship with God.

The Mass has three key elements that typify our relationship with God, which we can also take out into our daily lives and continue practicing, if we choose to nurture that relationship. They are:

Worship/Eucharist/Scripture (reading/hearing/meditation/prayer)

A lasting relationship between a man and woman has some key elements as well, which benefit from regular reinforcement. I see them as:

sexual intimacy/selfless love/companionship

Take out the other-centered love from a relationship and you have "friends with benefits", which is by nature void of committment, transient. The relationship is one of practicality and convenience, without depth and permanence.

Take out companionship, and you have either distance or secrecy. You're in love and have a good sex life when together, but you're not together often enough. It's either a long-distance or a non-public relationship. Either way, you cherish whatever time together you can arrange, and when you are together, you stick to yourselves.

Take out sexual intimacy and you have committment without passion, permanence without fulfillment, joyless romance, form without life. It's a recipe for frustration, atrophy or betrayal.

I looked for parallels between the three legs of the God/human relationship, and the three legs of "communion" between a man and woman. I'm not sure they all work. :) But I do sort of see the reading/hearing/meditation/prayer part as companionship. Two-way communication like that is central to effective companionship.

Then, sexuality has a lot of the same elements as what happens in vibrant worship - you find satisfaction by exulting in the wonders of your beloved. The delight soon becomes mutual. And finally, the Eucharist recalls and celebrates selfless giving that is done for love for the other. That's a pretty good parallel to a committment to loving your partner for life.

And just as removing one of the aspects of your interaction with God causes your faith to weaken, so too in a love relationship between a man and woman does having only two legs of the three weaken it. The relationship becomes unstable, hard to keep steady, and you can lose faith in each other.

At that point, what do you do? You somehow try to put the missing leg on the stool (or find someone who can help you with that repair)...

or you toss it out.



Yes, it's work, but who wouldn't prefer the former?

Tossing a stool is one thing. Tossing away a relationship, a person...

Seven and a half miles

What was I thinking?  I must be really losing it.

See, my buddy SQ has been encouraging me to join him at one of the marathons around here this Spring, not to run the whole thing, but one of the accompanying shorter races, like a 10K (since I've already done two 5Ks, and survived.)

So the one he recommended was this one.  Picturesque, brand new, full tech support (like the RFID chip they clip to your laces which keeps track of your splits.)   

It turns out that they stretched the 10K into a 12K. (Why in the world they picked that distance, I can't fathom. It isn't even a quarter-marathon or some other sensible interval.)

But I thought, gee whiz! I had better be sure that I can actually GO that far before I pay the $45 to sign up, right?

So yesterday was the day. I managed to run a 5K in 31:30, about 2 minutes too slow, but still the first 5K I've run since surgery, so ... yay for me! :) Then I thought I would just keep going, walking as needed.

I needed.

For the next mile & a half I walked one lap, ran 4, walked one, ran 4. The next mile and a half it was walk 2, run 3, walk 2, run 3. For the rest it was run when you think you can. :) And I could, here and there. All told, not a good time; about 10 minutes longer than I would ultimately like, but for never having done it before... just fine!

I proved to myself that I could do 12K (7.4 miles). And I'm not dead! Nor did I leave any appendages behind. Yes, everything hurts, but I can still walk. So later when back home, sitting in front of the fan, naked and dripping (don't dwell on that image), I registered online. :)

You go, me.

While I was at the track, a 40ish woman started running after I did my first 5K, and was consistently lapping me. Grrr... so afterwards I asked her for some training tips. She's training for a 10K, and recommended a website with some good progressive iPod mixes. Actually, she hated the music, "all this electronic stuff and heavy beats. Ick.", she said. Cool. :)

And sure as shootin', they have training mixes for a 10K. Yay! I'm all over that.

7AM, May 24th. Stillwater. I'm there.



What a nutcase. What am I thinking?

You. Twit?

Not ARE you... DO you?

I signed up for Twitter, yes, just to see how it worked.  But... what's it for?  I mean, with Facebook and a blog to post my thoughts and activities for whatever audience chooses to look at them... what's the added utility of Twitter?  So far, I can't see it.  I'm already pretty close to stream-of-consciousness posting as it is.  ;)  

Now, I CAN see it as helpful for businesses who want instantaneous, real-time feedback on what they're doing.  It's like an instant focus group from the young and tech-savvy marketing segment.  Trot out a new product or ad campaign and - boom!  Feedback!

So now my grad school is getting in on the trend.  Jeepers, Molly, is nothing sacred?  Seminaries on Twitter?  The academy of high theological learning... wired?  

Join Bethel Seminary on Twitter

Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. Millions of people stay in touch with friends, family, and favorite organizations on Twitter.

You can now keep up to date on what's going on at Bethel Seminary on Twitter. Follow Bethel Seminary at: http://twitter.com/BethelSeminary

It is a great way to keep up on events, news, and important information.

Don't have a free Twitter account yet? Sign up today!

(Sigh.)  No, thanks.  Not yet.  

I'm waiting for when they implant a chip in my skull and tie it in to my neural pathways so that I can just "think" words and pictures into cyberspace, and see my contacts' instant reactions to it on the heads-up display projected on my retinal walls (inverted and flipped horizontally, of course, so it looks normal.)  

Instead of Artificial Intelligence, it'll be like Artificial Telepathy.  

Cool.  I'd sign up.  

If you did.

The Artistic Caveman

Came across this great little column on the arts in my local weekly newsletter from the archdiocese. I won't rehash it all for you, just click through to read it, but simply put the author is articulating the idea that early cave art is evidence of the innate creativity of the human species, and a mark of the Imago Dei in us. And while interpreted within culture, art certainly transcends culture as well. Art has cross-cultural appeal simply because it is basic to our humanity.

Good article, great point. Plus, it's nice to see an Art History major making good outside of the bowels of a museum.

I do love the Catholic Church's emphasis on art. Art has a place in the sacraments, and certainly is used in sacramentals. Art is a facilitator to worship and to a richer understanding of the human condition, including our relationship to God and each other, for good or ill.

It's one of the things that the Reformation threw out when they broke away from what they saw as a corrupted institution. Too bad they were unable to discern that it was the hearts of men that needed reform, and not the accoutrements of the church in which those men wielded power.

Last Saturday I read at Mass. It had been awhile, and it was nice to be "Proclaimer of the Word" again. :) My OT passage was from Exodus, the decalogue. I loved the chance to thunder: "for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but..." 

(and here a loooong pause after "but"), then to finish tenderly: "... showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Hm. Someone among my ancestors must have loved and obeyed. :)

Stalkers and Purgatory

No, they don't really go together, except in this little post of mine.  
Or maybe they do. Anyway, I just happened to read two disparate comments which caught my attention, in the same hour.  

One was by Bill Maher, in an interview by Rolling Stone magazine (to which I now subscribe, along with Men's Journal, thanks to freebies from Amazon.com.)  In a political context, Maher referred briefly to hard-right-wingers being like stalkers in that "rejection just makes them crazier". 

Hey.  That's why a truly bipartisan approach to the stimulus package would have helped, Bill.  Seriously.  Like, suppose I'm a hard-right-winger... oops, I mean a stalker (and understand - this is only from speculation, not experience.  Really!) and you are someone who is trying to move forward without problems from me.  It's simple, really:  
just make sure I don't feel rejected!  

Make sure I feel loved and wanted.  Reinforce.  Then I will behave better, and probably cooperate with you.  Unless I'm a psychopath. :)

I wonder if Nancy Pelosi has ever been stalked.  Or if Rush Limbaugh has ever been a stalker.  Hm.

The other comment that caught my attention was by Greg Boyd, a mega-church evangelical pastor, on his blog today.  He lends support to the Catholic idea of purgatory.  Woohoo!  :) Yeah, baby!  

But of course, he does NOT lend support to the notion of granting indulgences, which is lately making a comeback.  :(  I mean, there's only so much pre-reformation Catholicism an evangelical can take...

I wonder how long stalkers have to be in purgatory.  I know, I know, time has no meaning there, it's essentially instantaneous, but still..
I would guess it's less of a chunk of (instantaneous) time than for Wall Street tycoons or bonus-collecting executives at AIG.  

Isn't it?

Superman vs. Batman

The firm I work for publishes weekly e-newsletters; they always conclude with an editorial. This one caught my attention, and I just present it as is. :)

Editorial: Superman vs Batman

Superman vs Batman; Venus vs Mars; David Lee Roth vs Sammy Hagar; McDonald's vs Burger King; John Wayne vs Clint Eastwood; Butter vs Margarine; New York vs London; Good vs Evil; The Force vs The Schwartz; Genesis (Gabriel) vs Genesis (Collins); Left vs Right, Light vs Dark... We spend an inordinate amount of time on negatively focusing on the "vs" and far too little on trying to appreciate the other side's positives.

There are good reasons for that, of course. Highlighting contrasts can sharpen our positions and understanding. And in good times a nice little argument or controversy livens up the day and there's no harm done because, in the end, no news is bad news as they say in show business. In tough times, however, the spectrum goes from the mildly interesting to the truly horrific. In tough times we often focus on the negative with extreme fervor. And history has seen the terrible results of that time and time again.

It all comes down to point of view and we have the ability, always, to choose that point of view. We choose whether we want to look for common ground or ground for arguments. Basically, we choose whether we want to smile or frown. It is generally held, as I'm sure you know, that frowning requires more muscular work than smiling does. So what is it with us as a human race!? Do we just like to overwork our facial muscles day in, day out? Are we truly that masochistic?

We're a jaded bunch, let's face it. We often don't even see "the good", unless it is contrasted by "the bad". But that's neither here nor there. Instead of looking for the negative in everything and everybody, instead of frowning about bad times, competitors, brokers, regulators, etc. - why not - finally and simply - change point of view? With every client, in every meeting, anytime, anywhere. I still like Batman more than I like Superman - but hey, Superman can fly - how cool is that? And his x-ray vision is kinda nifty, too. So do it - try it - change your point of view. Now. It's as easy as changing a frown into a smile. Come on - I'm watching you - right now - do it! Yes, that's it, you're close, it's almost there - Yes, well done! Now did that hurt so much!? Hey wait a second - did your colleague across the aisle just smile back at you? This thing just might work!

Peyroux

pronounced like the South American country, apparently, except with a bit of a southern drawl. Never knew that until I heard her say her own name last night.



She has such an interesting style. I can't describe it any better than the Dakota Jazz Club can. Very cool of them to actually plug a show at a beautiful rival venue.

Shows respect for their patrons without a lot of self-interest. Nice people at the Dakota. :)


The opener was a local guy named Joe Pug. We both thought he had all the tools for a leftist folky singer/songwriter to be successful in the genre, except he just needs better songs. ;) Trying too hard to be deep, he wound up being unintelligible. Plus, a better name would help. How about J. Alexander Pug, or some such?



Madeleine was at her best when she and the musicians clustered together in the front of the stage, went all acoustic (a stand-up bass, dropping the jazz guitar for mandolin, trading the drum kit for brushes on a cardboard box, and having the keyboard guy play a melodica), as if they were busking on the street in Paris.) Yeah, baby. That's the ticket.



Her new album, "Bare Bones", is a little dark and a little less swingy, with no jazz covers. When she did songs from it, she kept apologizing and promising to do more happy numbers later. :) But she closed the show with a great little upbeat jazzy tune from the new album called "Instead". Great little song... and message.

Instead

Instead of feelin' bad, be glad you've got somewhere to go
Instead of feelin' sad, be happy you're not all alone
Instead of feelin' low, get high on everything that you love
Instead of wastin' time, feel good 'bout what you're dreamin' of.

Instead of tryin' to win something you never understood
Just play the game, you know eventually you'll love her good
It's silly to pretend that you have something you don't own
Just let her be your woman and you'll be her man ..

Instead of feelin' broke, buck up and get yourself in the black
Instead of losin' hope, touch up the things that feel out of whack
Instead of bein' old, be young because you know you are
Instead of feelin' cold, let sunshine into your heart.

Instead of acting crazy chasin' things that make you mad
Keep your heart ahead, it'll lead you back to what you have
With every step you're closer to the place you need to be
It's up to you to let her love you sweetly ...

Instead of feelin' bad be glad you've got someone to love
Instead of feelin' sad, be happy there's a god above
Instead of feelin' low, remember you're never on your own
Instead of feelin' sad, be happy that she's there at home

She's waitin' for you by the phone
So be glad that she is all your own!

Get happy ... she's waitin' for you by the telephone.
So get back home!



----- Madeleine Peyroux

Religious Re-org?

There's lots of press these days talking about companies who are discontinuing unprofitable operations, and reorganizing to "focus on their core business." Hm. I've heard this before somewhere. Like pretty much at every place I've worked. ;)

An organization gets overeager, plays it a little fast & loose, loses a little money and ... oops, hey, it's time to get back to the basics.

Just before the quarter break this week, we were studying in HS501 about Benedictine Monasticism, and it struck me that this movement was in essence a re-org for the church, a call for reform (to an overextended church that had been playing it fast and loose), a call to get back to the basics of the Gospel, focusing on the church's "core business" of:

Scripture

Prayer

Community

Service

Simplicity

Hm. Not a bad idea. Strip away what's unprofitable. Stick with the basics. Maybe we're due for it again. This author thinks so.

Desert Disney World

Standing out in front of Bellagio at night last week, watching the fountains dance teasingly to "Hey Big Spender", I think I figured out why I like it so much in that spot.



It's the "Boardwalk" at Orlando's Disney World writ large. Strolling on the boardwalk in the evening, listening to music being played as you walk, the slight cool in the air making you reach for your jacket, watching lovers walk arm in arm in the ambient streetlight, seeing the fireworks burst over the lagoon across from Epcot.. it's marvelously romantic, even if you're there alone. And the section of the Strip around Bellagio is like that. Just bigger.



The Mirage where I stayed has a beautiful exterior, all white and gold. Lovely.



Inside it was like a cavern. Enormous meeting rooms, like you could put a quarter-mile track inside the hall.



But the rooms were modern, sleek, cool. Very tasteful.





And, just like at the Bellagio, there was a noticeable Dale Chihuly presence in the decor of the common areas.






As always, it was fascinating to be out on the street in the cool spring-like air watching people. The McDonalds across the street next to Harrahs was hopping. :) Walked enough that my feet got sore (still are, a bit), but it was worth it to be almost invisible in the partying crowds. Amazing what an inebriated condition people were in (and what the girls wore! - hard to tell the amateurs from the professionals), out on a public thoroughfare. The brass some people have. Wow.

But still, it was fun. Not to mention that I got lucky out on the street. No, not that kind of lucky. I don't think I looked like a big spender, so didn't attract that kind of attention. :)

Rather, this kind of lucky lady



was waiting for me on the prow of the pirate ship at Treasure Island next door. Anyway, she must have come back to the casino with me... I was one of the few visitors who beat the house during my visit, and left with more coin than I came with.

I had noted in the airport that incoming passengers to Vegas were uniformly upbeat and grinning. Those leaving town... not so much.

Just me, I guess. Thanks, Vegas. Nice doing business with you. :D

Cali

My Saturday noon to Sunday noon 24 hours with J1 was great. It was nice to catch up, hang out, swap music, talk books, eat out, shop, and.. enjoy some scenery.



The highlight was sitting on a rock (on a spot ergonomically designed by God for my butt) in the riverbed of the Kaweah River, eating grapes, brie, dates and butter toffee peanuts, in the 62 degree sunshine. Lovely. Thanks, kitten!



On our way to the river, we stopped for ice cream, and noticed something across the street. A big ol' sign, and some little animals near it... hm.



Kinda makes a guy wonder what exactly IS "gourmet" about that jerky. Woof?



Before and after the 24 hours with J1, I had a few hours to myself as well, and it served to remind me of things I had forgotten about that part of the country. To wit:

1) It's dry. I walked across the hotel lawn in the shade of a huge oak at about 9AM, and caught myself, thinking "dummy, your shoes are gonna be soaked!" Um, no. There's no morning dew on the grass. Too dry. :) But that's also why cool old cars hold up so well.





2) There are poppys EVERYwhere. Which is great, I love poppies, but.. some are the big, showy, blousy, overblown kind. Like some women you see in Vegas. ;) Not my favorites.



I prefer them bright, lovely, fresh, natural, unpretentious.



Flowers, I mean. But you knew that.




3) Diversity rules. In the McDonalds where I had breakfast there were about 6 different nationalities represented, and almost as many languages spoken. I did a double-take as one kid reminded me of J2.





And across the street was a billboard advertising a local bank with free checking (cheques gratis), and the lead line was:

Cero. Nulo. Nada.

And in the restaurant... Mickey D's Sweet Tea.



All this combined to tell me: "Hun, you ain't in Minnesota no more." ;)

So after hugs and kisses with J1, and a quick burger at my favorite fast food joint (In & Out Burger),




it was off to cool and WINDY Las Vegas, for some hopefully cool but NOT so windy conference speakers. :P

The price one pays...

to keep one's credentials.

I am expecting to learn something at this seminar. I'm not expecting it to as riveting as writing a grad school paper, mind you, but with workshop titles like:

Applications of Quantile Regression in Commercial Underwriting,

Measuring the Value of Rate Segmentation,

Leveraging Machine Learning Techniques, and

Price Optimization for the U.S. Market: Techniques and Implementation Strategies...

how can you miss?

Hmm... I wonder what cool gadgets the exhibitors will be handing out. Made great Christmas presents last year. You think I'm kidding...

Okay, then, it's time for wheels up. Vegas, geekworld... here I come!

They don't call 'em Snowdrops for nothin'!

Look closely now; it's white on white.  (click pic to enlarge)

aww... yeah. :)

So with the first snowdrops of the season starting to pop out, can Daylight Savings Time be far behind?

Not anymore it can't. It's like... THIS WEEKEND! Yikes!

I was grousing about it the other day. It's such a headache. And in a global marketplace, it makes no sense; it's American parochialism at work again. I have to make India adjust our standing meetings to adapt to this silly timekeeping notion of ours. Why not just have it be daylight savings time all year 'round, instead of switching? I mean, we're already at 3/4 of the year as it is.

But today... I think I have a happy reason for DST. I think it's properly set up now to coincide with when flowers are blooming. It's not just Daylight we're saving... it's "flower watching time" we're saving. :) This way, we have another hour of light when most of us are off-duty but still awake & alert, and can spend a little more time enjoying the flowers that bloom from now until Standard time returns.

It isn't about farming, it isn't about school, it isn't about energy... 

it's all about the flowers!

My HS501 Paper: actually fun to write!

Whew.  Last night I finished the first draft, and now I can head off to my seminar and leave Church History where it belongs: on the bookshelf. :) At least until I have to edit and finalize the thing.

And yeah, it was fun to write. The assignment was to take a current issue in the church, and connect it back to some historical crux that had similarities, and discuss the applicability of historical events to today's issues. Nice idea, since we all know that, per Solomon: "there's nothing new under the sun."

So here's my thesis:

How the American Evangelical church today deals with the subject of “why bad things happen to good people” is founded in large part on its view of God’s nature and providence. These views are rooted historically in Classical Theism or in reactions against it. Classical Theism in the West, in turn, has its roots in Augustine of Hippo, whose influence extended to later theologians, Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. The concepts Augustine put forth still hold sway in many quarters today, particularly in churches that espouse Calvinism as a theological framework. I will use a recent local example of tragedy, namely the 35W bridge collapse, and explore the public reactions to it of two prominent local pastors, one a Calvinist (John Piper), and one who is not (Greg Boyd). I believe the position of John Piper is not unlike that of Augustine, as he reflected on events in the Roman Empire of his day, as seen in his book The City Of God. Finally, I will argue that our current American culture is sufficiently unlike that of Augustine’s day that it no longer can accept God’s role in tragedy in terms of “classical” views of God’s nature.

So much for Switzerland.

Oh well. It was fun to think about it, anyway. Some other year.

The company's tough fourth quarter has produced ratings downgrades, salary freezes, and a new CEO. Even though the poor results were not driven by operations but by the financial markets, and even though there was a healthy outside capital infusion, there is still pressure internally to keep a lid on expenses, so...

Travel budgets have been slashed, and all unnecessary travel cancelled, including large group meetings drawing together people from multiple continents. Nuts. We'll do a video conference instead at the end of the month. Not quite the same as a handshake and a chat over lunch, but.. it is cheaper.

Still, travel for both critical business reasons and for required continuing ed credits is okay, so I am off next week to a technical seminar to acquire a few of those elusive CEUs. It's only Vegas, where I've been enough that it isn't a thrill to visit anymore, but it is at least warmer. It also allows for a little out-of-my-own-pocket jaunt over the Sierras to see J1 for 24 hours. That'll be fun.

And if I can finish the rough draft of my HS501 paper before I go, I can have a clear conscience to boot. :) Tonight! (if the Marquette/Pitt game doesn't distract me.)

dreams

.


unconscious longing
ephemeral, persistent
fleeting wisps of hope


.

augustine

.

disordered desire

loving lesser things too much

all that is not god

.

(Hmm.. an occupational hazard of being in Seminary, I guess.  Systematic theology and church history start creeping into your love poems.)

Never Give All The Heart

Never give all the heart, for love

Will hardly seem worth thinking of

To passionate women if it seem

Certain, and they never dream

That it fades out from kiss to kiss;

For everything that's lovely is

But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.

O never give the heart outright,

For they, for all smooth lips can say,

Have given their hearts up to the play.

And who could play it well enough

If deaf and dumb and blind with love?

He that made this knows all the cost,

For he gave all his heart and lost.

----- William Butler Yeats (and put to music by The Chieftains)