Marathon Runner

I wish I had the endurance to run a marathon. I know you can train for these kinds of things, but that's a lot of work. Maybe someday in the not so distant future I'll try it.

Today was a marathon day though. Start at 8am and go until 9pm. I'm trying to get better at taking little breaks now and then. When money is the main priority, working a little extra here and there is easy to do without thinking about it. My second marathon day is Thursday (8am-7:30pm). The one thing I like about these days is I have concrete proof I've been productive and busy all day. I'm tired at the end of the day. When I get back home, all I have to do is rest. There's no time to do anything else and there's nothing else to do. [Flashback to Holy Spirit class: Time has run out. There's no where else to go and nothing else to do.] So here's to marathons and the energy to run them!

The Crucible

The name of an entertaining movie about the Salem Witch Trials starring Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Rider. I had to read the book and watch the movie in 9th or 10th grade. More recently, the favored image used by one of my confessions professors to explain the schizophrenic nature of life on earth. Also a useful image for the time spent writing an endorsement essay and the waiting until going before the firing squad (March 3 for those who are curious). As an extension of the aforementioned image, people are forced to confess as to whether they are witches or not. Here I am being forced to confess in my paper what I believe to be and hold true. Ironically the movie ends with those being executed reciting the Lord's Prayer--which is what we've been covering in confessions class.

Word of the Day

Mark: They're spiritual immigrants coming to take my job in heaven.

Regarding the fundegelicals' nondenominational response to feeling trapped by free salvation given by Jesus.

Researching at Work

While at work this week I was tasked to find out more info on a possible speaker at a seminary event. The guy turns out to be a popular emergent/postmodern speaker. Here is a portion of the article I found and the link to get to the rest of it.

I like the comment. Lately I've come to realize how important it is to translate God's Word to people. In ways they can understand it and absorb it. Surely the Word is efficacious on its own and is at work even when we have not translated it. Even though this is the case, we are all called to give voice to the faith that has been instilled within us by God (witnessing)--for this is how faith and Christianity spread. The writer claims that theology is inherently practical. I would add that this is because we are earthy people (incarnational) and God chooses to come to us on earth and through earthly means. Read and enjoy.

So then, WHAT COUNTS AS THEOLOGY? “Everything is theology. Every ‘small’ decision reflects and reveals what you think. Whatever is actually practiced is theology. Praying in practice is what is believed about prayer.” So said one small circle of people associated with the network, who as it happens are part of the ‘emergent’ movement’s conversation as well. Among them there is a strong conviction that people practice their way into beliefs. It is natural for them to assume that real beliefs are embodied, enacted, not merely spoken or espoused. They perceive there is much of the time a gap between what we think we think, and what we do think.
What counts as theology is likely to be a question about whose theology counts! It is not only that of the pastor or the magisterial teachers most skilled in the intellectual traditions. Those skilled in the daily routine practices of the faith are theologians also. In this view, then, a range of things count: songs composed and sung in the congregation; dialogue with the received tradition; recognitions of the gospel’s critique of the community’s culture and call to a divergent pattern of activity; patterns of listening and attending to biblical texts; efforts to discern the presence of the reign of God and interpret it among peers; owning the public-ness of worship, witness, and identity and knowing that in that public activity the gospel is grasped more and more; developing an imagination of the world in light of the mission of God and God’s intentions for the world; finding meaning in work and lending meaning to the workworlds in which people live daily.

Breathe....

I think that was the name of a movie once. Apparently one I didn't see. Also the name of a song by Faith Hill--which has only a small connection to this post. Obviously it's what all aerobic organisms do when exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen. Not what I tried to do the last time I thought about internship. Also a helpful event in staving off what might become a panic or anxiety attack.

The world is closing in fast. Talk about being crowded out of the world by JC. Let's aim for something more like crushed, squished, squeezed, perhaps even on some occasions (like this one) systematically eliminated. I love the double entendre in that phrase. Can't someone create some space for me so I can accomplish the tasks at hand? It's all going so fast. Too fast. As in Scrubs when JD finally takes Elliot's advice, he discovers that when the world is pushing and pressing in all you need to do is take a breath. In that breath the world slows down and the tide subsides briefly. You gain a moment to think clearly and to lay out the plan. Then you proceed. So I'm breathing. Breathing space for reviewing site profiles, setting up interviews for this next week, making decisions about more dog sitting, writing an essay from the world's most vague prompts, reading articles and books in short sittings, laundry, food, sleeping, but most importantly for listening and hearing the voice of my shepherd as the sheep run astray in circles. I'm breathing the Spirit as a beggar, for I have no other source.

Tower of Babel

Movie Review: Babel

Some said this movie was boring. Some compared it to Crash. I liked the movie. It was intense from beginning to end. Packed with drama and uncertainty--the kind that is realistic enough to make your insides churn. It didn't help that I had a super sensitive lady next to me who writhed and over amplified all the crucial moments of the movie. I felt bad for her as it was obviously stressing her out. I do think they should have shortened up some of the longer scenes that dragged a bit. The story would not have been affected at all and they could have shaved off 15-30 minutes of the movie. The point of the movie? Communication. How do people express ideas, fears, assumptions, thoughts, and material goods across borders, rooms, parties, languages, and time? Do we do it in healthy, constructive ways or detrimental and inappropriate ways? How does an act of gratitude in one time become an act of destruction in another time? Can we forgive for the sake of a relationship or do we insist upon the divide to preserve our pride and fear? Does time heal wounds? Is love a common language we all share? (Notice how at the end of each story line the people hug.) If you don't want to think, then don't see the movie.

The Frozen Tundra

It's freezing here. Literally. For the last 5 days we have not awoken to a temperature above 0F. Today was the shocker at -15F. Elle groaned and whined when I turned on the ignition. I kindly let her warm up for 2 minutes before pushing her to speedily take me to church. Meanwhile, I shivered in my thin, black dress pants. Perhaps black spandex was invented for just such occasions. Yesterday it was -8F and the day before that -5F. The entire state is under a -30F to -25F wind chill advisory.

Despite all this frigidness, I have ventured out more than expected. I planned to stay in most of the weekend and I ended up going out each day for something. Friday night it was to acquire a black dress for Karen. Saturday to get binders and pens for class (which starts on Tuesday--Yikes!! How'd that get here so fast??) and pillows for my futon which were on sale. Oh, and I played personal assistant to my dear friend Karen. A black dress requires hot, black shoes to match. Which, incidentally, is hard to do when you are tethered to a desk at work pointing out the restroom sign. Later that night I saw the movie Babel. Review to follow. Sunday I went to church and gathered groceries for the week. All in all, an eventful weekend for the bitter coldness.

My Life as a Movie Soundtrack

So I saw this on Karen's blog and thought I'd take a crack at it. I apologize now for any cheesiness that follows.

This is my life as a movie soundtrack...

Opening Credits: Tell Me Why--Atlanta Gathering Ubuntu Kids
Waking up: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor--Bach for Breakfast
First Day At School: Remember 2--Lost and Found
Falling In Love: Ave Maria--Sarah Brightman
Breaking Up: Everything I Hate--Smalltown Poets
1st Date: There's A Day--Smalltown Poets
Prom: Field Holler--World Music
Life’s OK: This World--Caedmon's Call
Driving: Remember When It Rained--Josh Groban
Flashback: Together--Phil Joel
Getting Back Together: Kyrie Eleison--Mark Schultz
Wedding: By Hear, By Soul--Avalon w/ Aaron Neville
Birth of Child: Navajo Yeibichai--World Music
Final Battle: Fingerprints of God--Steven Curtis Chapman
Death Scene: This Is Your Time--Michael W. Smith
Funeral Song: Surrender--Joy Williams
Ending Credits: Phenomenon--Toby Mac

Wow, 2.13GB of memory and 602 songs and I get this list. Hmmm. Well, it's interesting.

Local Zoologist

Last weekend I was dog sitting. I will be watching them again early next week. This is also the end of week 2 of 3 for cat sitting for my friend Kelly. Monet is such a cute cat. He loves to perform for anyone who visits. We have our 15 minutes straight of cuddling together when I first arrive to check in on him. We play with the feather on a plastic stick and poke at the ball in the plastic corral. He misses Kelly though. Can't blame him. He's done pretty good for 2 weeks straight now. Perhaps there are some other local animals for me to take care of??

Forced to Submit

Today is the day. The Old Blogger died. I had to switch to the new one. It's okay. The one thing I like: instant publishing. What I don't like: everything looks all weird and I have to figure out where stuff is again.

I like it when things are consistent for the most part. At least for certain things--like my blog. It's more comfortable and easier to handle that way. When things keep changing all the time, I have oodles of overwhelming work to do in trying and keep up with it. I guess change is the elusive ghost we all wish we could harness, grasp or at least slap once in a while. No, we are always left chasing change and running breathless after it. In the wake of change we are left to mourn what we loved and discard what we despised. So I resign my old blog. I miss your familiar lay out. I mourn the effort of learning new pathways to my settings.