Candy ftw!

The Battle of the Pelennor fields from The Return of the King completely reproduced using candy. What more can I say.

http://missedmanners.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/battle-of-pelennor-fields/

Penguins and Golden Calves

The title to this post is also the title of a book I cam currently reading. It was written by Madeline L'Engle and is rooted in a trip to Antarctica that she took in 1992 (at the age of seventy-four). She is probably best known for new Newbery award winning children's book A Wrinkle in Time. Like George MacDonald and Hannah Hurnard, she departed from orthodoxy into Universalism, and you should read her work with an awareness of that fact, I still greatly enjoy her writing, and I am particularly enjoying this book.

Given the Antarctic inspiration for the book, I suppose the penguins in the title make sense, but the book is primarily about "icons" (as opposed to "idols" - thus the Golden Calf reference). Here is a quote from the book that will hopefully elucidate what she means when she uses the term "icon":

"If it's impossible for me to describe the wild wonderfulness of Antarctica, it is equally impossible for me to describe what I, personally, mean by an icon. I am not thinking of the icons so familiar in the orthodox church, icons of Christ, the Theotokos, saints, painted on wood and often partially covered with silver. My personal definition is much wider, and the simplest way I can put it into words is to affirm that an icon, for me, is an open window to God. An icon is something I can look through and get a wider glimpse of God and God's demands on us, el's mortal children, than I would otherwise. It is not flippant for me to say that a penguin is an icon for me, because the penguin invited me to look through its odd little self and on to a God who demands that we eb vulnerable as we open ourselves to intimacy which leads not only to love of creature, but to love of God."

I really like the thought that God can use the things of this world to break through and reveal some aspect of Himself to us in a sudden, unexpected and poignant way, and that subsequently, so long as we are careful not to stray into idolatry, we can hold on to some of these as meaningful representations of divine reality and we can revisit them in order to gain a measure of perspective and insight.

I am reading through this book, albeit a bit slowly -- amidst the busyness of life one never has as much time to read as one would wish -- but perhaps that is for the best. I find that I read a bit more slowly not than I did when I was younger. Reading used to be almost a race. The more I liked a book, the faster I would read it. I would devour books, greedy to get through them. I am sure that I got a lot out of them, but I think I missed a lot as well. I continue to learn to slow down and enjoy the journey as I read, especially the book I read for pleasure, relaxation, and rejuvenation. I find that a more measured pace allows me to be a bit more contemplative, meditative, and reflective as I read. I get through less in a sitting, but I get more out of what I do read. Who knows, if I continue this way, maybe by the time I am 50 I will be able to read poetry properly.

I will probably write a bit more about this book in future posts, but I'd better sign off for now.

Road Trip Rituals

Ok, so for the record, I love taking road trips. I enjoy heading off to parts unknown with a small group of friends. But I enjoy driving by myself even more than taking trips with other people. To clarify a little, I don't necessarily enjoy being someplace by myself. The part I like about solo road trips is the time in the car itself. When I get wherever it is I am going, I would just as soon have good friends there waiting for me. But the time spent alone in the car serves its own purpose.

I think that this is because while driving you get an almost perfect sort of solitude. I've tried going on personal retreats -- off to the mountains, a park, or even a retreat center -- and somehow this sort of solitude is almost distracting. It is too broad. There are no constraints. I've brought reading materials and journals. I've spent time hiking, praying and even a walking a labyrinth. But I would find myself so overwhelmed by the fact that I could be spending my time doing anything that I found that I didn't know what do to.

But in the car, especially during highway driving in semi-desolate parts of the country, there is the perfect amount of structure. The fact that a portion of your mind has to stay focused on the task of actually driving provides just the right level of baseline mental engagement. Beyond that, your mind can float and wander seamlessly between a variety of other thoughts and activities, but keeping your car on the road and out of the ditch keeps you fully in the present moment and frees you from having to ask the question: "What should I do now?" Since you have to be driving, the question then becomes: "What else do I want to do while I am driving?" Maybe for you it sounds like there should be little to no difference between these two states of mind, but for me, the difference is sublime. The answer to this second question is not always even a conscious one. It usually just naturally happens. You are free to reminisce, ponder, meditate, pray, or just drop into a relaxed semi-daze.

Also, once you have had a vehicle for long enough, it becomes a comfortable environment -- indeed, almost an old friend or perhaps even an extension of yourself. Once you get yourself in the right mindset, few times that I remember are as relaxing and rejuvenating as the times I have spent traversing vast stretches of highway alone in my car.

Another thing that helps me get the most out of these driving trips is little rituals that I have developed. For example, on nearly every road trip that I have taken over the past several years I have started out by listening to Caedmon's Call's self titled album (1997). It is nowhere close to my favorite album, but I really like driving to this album. Interestingly enough I almost never listen to it when I am not driving. I think certain albums are just meant to be driven to. And for me, this one has now been permanently associated with starting a long journey. Lately, I have also taken to treating myself to a new CD when I go on a road trip. Before my summer '07 road trip, I bought the Blue Cowboy Bebop soundtrack CD. For my recent Spring Break trip back to Nebraska, I got They Might Be Giant's album "Flood" (which was a nice trip down memory lane for me. I had a tape of this back in my undergrad days that I pretty much wore out). I also have a habit of queuing up U2's wonderful album "The Joshua Tree" while I am driving on I-76 between Ogallala, NE and Sterling, CO.

I think that I will make this a tradition: taking at least one road trip a year and buying a new CD for the time in the car. Oh, and I like buying a new book to read sometime during the trip (NOT while driving!) [I don't mind listening to sermons in the car on a trip, but I don't think I'll even be a books on tape kind of guy. Books are meant to be READ not HEARD]. I bought a nice little book: "Penguins & Golden Calves" by Madeline L'Engle while I was in Nebraska, but discussing that will have to wait until a later post.

Well, this is getting quite long so I'd better sign off. I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into the mind of Justin.

The Blog is Dead -- Long live the Blog

After being coaxed by my brother-in-law Eric, I have decided to return to the world of blogging. I have never been too great as posting regularly, but my new overly ambitious goal is to actually post once a week. Stay tuned to this space for my occasional musings on life, the universe and everything.

For those that may be visiting this blog for the first time (or the first time in a long time) feel free to nose about in the archives.

Giving Thanks

Sorry for the lack of posts. It has been a few very busy weeks. I went to a math conference in California the week before last so I had a lot of work to do beforehand to get all of my classes prepped and covered and more work last week when I got back getting caught up with grading, etc.

It is nice to be caught up and to have a few days to relax before plunging into the end of semester rush.

Since it is Thanksgiving day, I thought it would be appropriate to spend a little time reflecting on the past year. In doing so, I have been convicted with the fact that I am not naturally a very thankful person. I tend to be a bit of an idealist, so my focus tends to be more on the future than the past, and more on what is less than ideal and how to go about "fixing" them than on the numerous good things that fill my life.

I also have been thinking that our society is driven by dissatisfaction. Our whole economy is fueled ban fanning the embers of avarice and covetousness into flame and by selling the idea that our happiness is primarily a function of our ability to acquire material possessions. The media also plays upon our fears while simultaneously communicating that if we only had enough money, technology, and information then all that we fear can be held at bay.

For this reason, I believe that it is imperative that we choose to hold the line against these blatant falsehoods. We need to realize that despite the many advantages and comforts that our current society provides (which we can and should be thankful for) our identity, security, comfort, and hope lie elsewhere. I believe that we also need to make a conscious effort to refuse to fall into these prevalent patterns of thought. Instead we should work to value that which is truly valuable and we ought to cultivate a sense gratitude. Our hope and happiness lie outside of ourselves and our destiny is more than just to wring as much pleasure as possible out of this present life. We were meant for more then that, and we can experience this greater life and hope today -- and that is something to be thankful for.

Over a Month

Well, so much for me updating my blog more frequently. Time has flown this semester and we are almost half-way through. I've been a bit busier than I had hoped I would be this semester, but I am hanging in there. I get a couple of days off from teaching next week. It will be nice to have a chance to catch my breath.

I'll try to write more when I am a little more caught up on life.

2 Weeks In

Well, I've managed to survive the first two weeks of the new semester. Its been quite hectic -- kind of a blur. Hopefully things will slow down a little now that I am getting into more of a routine.

I volunteered to help teach one of the 5th and 6th grade Sunday school classes at my church, starting this Sunday. I'm not overly thrilled with the curriculum, but I am glad to be working with this age group again.

I also finally finished reading "Above All Earthly Pow'rs" by David F. Wells. Its a bit of a dense read, but a great look at Christianity in the postmodern age and the "seeker-sensitive" movement. I'd highly recommend it. Here are a couple quotes:

" . . . the Church cannot hide itself within a culture but must also speak to that culture from outside itself. To the seeker-sensitive theorists, this kind of "authoritative" faith is what is supposedly puts off the postmodern generations, but one must ask what is so "authentic" about Christians becoming cognitively indistinguishable from the postmodern unbelievers they want to see join their churches?"

"Christianity is not up for sale. Its price has already been fixed and that price is the complete and ongoing surrender to Christ of those who embrace him by faith. It can only be had on his terms. It can only be had as a whole. It refuses to offer only selections of its teachings. Furthermore, the Church is not its retailing outlet. Its preachers are not its peddlers and those who are Christians are not its customers. It cannot legitimately be had as a bargain though the marketplace is full of bargain hunters. No. Let us think instead of the Church as its voice of proclamation, not its sales agent, its practitioner, not its marketing firm. And in that proclamation there is inevitable cultural confrontation. More precisely, there is the confrontation between Christ, in and through the biblical Word, and the rebellion of the human heart. This is confrontation of those whose face is that of a particular culture but whose heart is that of the fallen world. We cannot forget that."