The Passage

wrestling with big issues...

Mary and I have been watching this years season of American Idol. I don't like was American Idol represents but I am drawn to the show. I have never voted; not that I'm against voting, but I like keeping my 95 cents. Last week we watched the American Idol: Idol Gives back show. It was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and Ryan Seacrest.  The show featured a mysterious and amazing performance by Celine Dion and Elvis Presley doing a duet of "If I Can Dream," Josh Groban, who was backed by the African Children's Choir on "You Raise Me Up"; Kelly Clarkson, who sang Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain" with riffs from Beck; and Carrie Underwood, who filmed her performance of the Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You" during her trip to an orphanage in Africa, Rascal Flatts' "My Wish"

The performances were couched in between filmed segments of the impoverished, the needy and the ill. The producers of the show superbly paced and alternated between information and entertainment, allowing the message to stand out from the music. I sat patiently, as I expect Paula Abdul's bust-enhancing top to experience a wardrobe malfunction at the hands of Ryan Seacrest, but it never happened.

The show raise somewhere around $30 million dollars for their charities, which is just mind blowing for a one night show. Yet, I could not help but wonder, will money really solve problems? Can we throw money at Africa and expect that things will be changed? As a Christian, I believe that Christ in people bring change, not money. I don't want to say that American Idol should not have raised money because some unbelievable good can be done with that kind of money, but I have the nagging, piercing feeling that just tossing money at a problem won't make the systemic changes that need to be made. Anyone got thoughts?

A new start...

I haven't been the best blogger. I have posted intermittent posts the last 6 months, but I am feeling a resurgence of sorts. I am in the process of restructuring my blog. I have discovered a new way to post polls on the sidebar. I am also in the process of purchasing a website name, which after I consistently post some thoughts, ideas, reflections, and pictures, than I will have a poll on the new website name. So answer the poll question!

I just got a new phone! My previous phone died so I got the new Motorola slvr phone, on verizon's dime! If I haven't heard from you in a while drop me a call, 260.417.8120.  I say that because I lost all my old phone numbers when my phone died, and if you call me, than I have your number again!!

Shalom

Under construction...

Forgive the mess. I am trying a new structure to my site. I am hoping to be adding more photos, since I usually lack time and energy to post much substance, I am thinking about carrying our camera around more and post more photos than words. We will see how things go. So for now, forgive the mess.

Celtic Spirituality Notes pt. 2

Celtic Prayer
•    A Two-Tier Approach
        o    In the Monastic Communities: Roman style liturgy in Latin, austere, distant, much Psalm             chanting
        o    In homes
        simple, earthy, intimate prayers,
•    use of symbol, vernacular forms,
•    use of song and poetry
•    HALLMARKS OF CELTIC PRAYER
        o    TRINITARIAN
        o    INTIMATE
        o    FULL OF GOD'S IMMANENCE, IN NATURE
        o    SOLITARY, NOT WRlTIEN FOR COMMUNITY
        o    POETIC & METAPHORICAL
•    CELTIC PRAYER STYLES
        o    LORICA  - prayer of protection; put on like armor
        o    CAlM – prayer of encirclement – similar to protection
        o    PRAYER FOR ALL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIFE
        o    MISC. lnvocations, Charms, Incantations, also cursing!
•    INFLUENCE OF CELTIC PRAYER & SPIRITUALITY
        o    HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, MEISTER ECIC-IARDT
        o    FRANCIS OF ASSISI, JOAN OF ARC, JULIAN OF NORWICH
        o    GEORGE HERBERT, EVELYN UNDERIIILL, THOMAS MERTON
•    IN OUR OWN PRAYER PRACTICE:
        o    MEMORIZE
        o    TRY SINGING OR CHANTING
        o    USE WHILE WORICING OR WALKING
        o    EXPERIMENT WITH OTHE,R PHYSICAL INVOLVEME,NT (eg., rocking)
        o    ALLOW ROOM FOR THE SILENCES
        o    REMEMBER(immanent, triune, in nature); The trinity being available – right here, right now..

•    IN ONE'S OWN PRAYER PRACTICE:
•    SELLNER:
        o    Anywhere, anytime; simply the act of opening our hearts to God,
        o    Anamnesis, remembering with gratitude those who have gone before us.
        o    Try use of a prayer shrine in your home
        o    Schedule regular reheat times – priory lacy, WA; guided silent retreat. Why do I have no       
            retreats? Why do I have no times when I retreat and be alone? Poustinia
        o    Work with a mentor or "soul friend"

Tom shared the prayer that he recites every morning; very impactful and compelling. I am moved to create my own prayer to recite; key aspects
•    Body movement
•    Mind/Eyes/ nose/ ears/mouth
•    Mary
•    Daily tasks
•    Vision for the future

Celtic Spirituality Notes pt. 1

Important Key Idea:
•    Interest in Celtic Spirituality is a gift of the Holy Spirit for the church that is in unprecedented change. The church is reinventing itself.

Scriptural basis for our Relationship to the Earth
        •    2 different world views
    1)    Dominion Over the Earth (Redemption – Atonement focused)
        •    All creation is flawed and needs to be redeemed along with humankind.
        •    The earth is hostile and needs to be conquered and subdued
        •    Humankind is the Sacred Community
        •    The earth has been given to humankind by God for us to do with as we wish.
        •    Also a factor in eschatological thinking

    2) Kinship with the earth
        •    The earth is God’s creation much love and good
        •    Earth is a gift from God to humankind, with in with respect and harmony
        •    Humankind is just one part of the sacred community
        •    Kinship, mutually and interdependence mark the relationship of sacred community

Panentheism
        •    God is indeed present in and through all creation
        •    God is present in each of us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit
        •    God is creator, we are created

The Early Church
    •    Celtic Diversity
        o    There is no single Celtic culture
        o    Distinct differences between Scotch, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Manx, Breton, and Galician                   languages and culture.
        o    Many differences and commonalities
    •    The Celtic Christian Church
        o    Presents a world-view and values from the 5th-12th century
        o    Never formally existed as a political entity
        o    Began to be formally replaced when a mission from Rome asserted authority over the Celtic         Bishops at the Council of Whitby in 664.
    •    A World View
        o    Celts know a God who was not only transcendent but who had also chosen to be immanent.
        o    One form of that presence was in and through the world that God created.
        o    The Celts saw the created world as a gift, something to befriend rather than conquer.
        o    They knew animals and all of nature as part of God’s blessed community.
        o    The relationship humankind enjoyed with nature was not domination or even stewardship, but             kinship. Celtic Knot.
        o    Sacred and Secular were totally integreated
        o    All of daily life was sacred
        o    Accommodate paradox
•    Joy and melancholy
•    Community and solitude
•    Hearth and family and wanderlust
•    Goodness of humanity vs. joyful penitence
    o    Relatively non-hierarchical, relatively egalitarian
    o    Leadership followed tribal and family lines
    o    “Blueberry pancake” OD model
•    VALUES: THE FEMININE ASPECT
    o    Embraced the Feminine in it’s ethos and cluture
    o    Women were often leaders and scholars
    o    Intuition was honored equally with intellect
    o    The experiential was valued as much as the intellectual and the rational
    o    Wisdom could be found in all community members
•    Values
    o    Saw everything in God’s creation as BLESSED and good, including human-kind
    o    Celebrated “Original Blessing” rather than original sin
•    VALUE: Simplicity
    o    Simplicity in worship, structure and lifestyle
    o    Solitude, pilgrimage, and monasticism – valued
    o    Appreciation of ordinary daily life in community.
•    VALUE: Mysticism
    o    Hope and expectation of all
    o    Imagery in John’s gospel
    o    Writings, arts, Kells, Lindisfarne and Iona
•    How Did The Celtic Church Come to Exist?
    o    Geographic and cultural separation from the European Continent
    o    Early Christianity came to Britain and Wales with the Roman Army
    o    Various Christian enclaves remained after the Roman army retreated.
•    Christian Ireland
    o    Ireland was Christianized by missionaries from North Africa and Egypt, Joseph of Araimathia,         not Europe
    o    The missionaries encountered a Druidic culture that readily accepted the Christian faith.
    o    The two traditions embraced and formed a new, unique culture.
•    Irish Christianity
    o    Heavily oriented toward Monastic Communities
    o    Ascetic, penitential practice
    o    Honored individual leaders as saints and emulated their life-style
    o    Greatly valued Learning
    o    A different kind of envangelism

the greatest invention...

This is my thermos. We have been together now for over 3 years. It has been an awesome relationship. My thermos has kept me alert in class, at work, and while studying. It always keeps my coffee (or chai tea) hot and it has never leaked! I give Starbucks credit for making the greatest invention!

Tomorrow I start a 2 day extravaganza! I have an intensive class, Celtic Spirituality, from 9 AM - 5 PM tomorrow and Saturday. I am going to try and post real time notes. We shall see how it goes.

I have to say congrats to the Davis Family!! Welcome Ella!! She is a beautiful little girl! Kelly you did awesome! Abe you will be a great Father! And I will be an unbelievable distant uncle!

Shalom

bright spot...

You know how sometimes when you are having a bad day or your just feeling depressed and then you open up your email and you get a note from somebody...well that happened to me the other day. I got an email from an old friend and it was quite refreshing. I love it when that happens. So here is your chance...send an email to somebody who is not expecting it, say something sincere and nice - it will brighten up their day.

I just finished a paper for my Celtic Spirituality class and I am beginning another book for that class. I love it!!! I want to become a Christian all over again, but this time a Celtic Christian. Is that possible? I have plans to post more on this later.

Shalom

Frank...

I work at the UPS Store. We have lots of services, one of them happens to be mail boxes. People come in and "open" a mail box, in which the receive mail, magazines, paychecks, packages, etc. As you would expect, the owners of the boxes frequent the store and pick up their mail. This is one of the things I like about my job because I get to meet so many different people, and most of the people live in, or near the neighborhood where Mary and I live, so I get to meet my neighbors.

Frank was a box holder at our store. Frank would come in every other night about 5:30 PM. Frank used to be a cook on the fishing boats that would leave Seattle for months at a time, go out to the Bering Sea, and bring back crab, lobster, and fish that would be sold in the market, to restaurants, or shipped to other places throughout the country.

A while back, Frank hurt his back, failed his physical and was forced to retire.  I don't know how old Frank was, but not old enough to be my father. Frank lived in Seattle off of his disability checks, which couldn't have been enough. Frank was in a lot of pain, if you have ever had any back problems you could certainly relate. Frank walked with a cane, and he always had his back back and a pair of sunglasses on his face. His sunglasses reminded me of the ones you got from McDonald's, when way back in the day they did the "Mac At Night" campaign. Every time Frank came to the store he was drunk.  He said the medicine they gave him didn't do much for the pain, so he would take his medicine with liquor to ease the pain. Most of the time it was difficult to understand what he was saying. He would tell me stories of fishing and how he wished he could go back out on his boat. Frank would stay in the store so long I would have to kick him out so that I could go home. He would stay in the store for hours at a time, and just ramble.

Frank died a few days ago. I was told by a court official that they think it was an over dose. He had no relatives, so we are to forward his mail to a government address. Frank would tell me I was a, "Cool Cat," and he would try to get me to go drinking with him.  He gave me a tip one time because he said I was a good employee, and he refused to take it back.  I wish I would have gone drinking with Frank. I wish I was a better neighbor to Frank. I miss Frank.

Shalom

Where have I been...

So where have I been? Well, I ran the Seattle half marathon in 30 degree, pouring rain weather, that was fun...

I was caught in a snow storm in Bothell. 6 inches! We didn't leave school until about 8 PM and a usual 20 minute drive took 3 hours. Joy....

Just ran the Seattle Jingle Bell 5k with a bunch of friends, very fun. There were about 10,000 runners, most everyone dressed in some festive costume.  We all had the tallest antlers!

Currently, I am finishing up finals and final papers. My Greek/Hebrew take home final too many hours! But it is done!  One more paper and one more exam tomorrow and I am finished! Sweetness! Right after I am done with school, I start the Christmas rush at The UPS Store - 11 straight days of 10-12 hours...that is not a type-o.

Redeeming the Christmas break is the Dancause Christmas Eve Party!! The Christmas day movie marathon, and the Closson New Year's Eve Ball at the QVC! Oh yeah, MEXICO! January 4th!!!! I have been tanning, and its been great to come into contact with UV light...Seattle is the black hole where no UV light can be found; it's one of the great wonders of the world, or at least the northwest.

I also received some news last week, and I am shelving any reflection on until after finals.

So that's my world, your free to visit.

Shalom

sad day on eve of big day...

Coach Schembechler died today...If you are a Michigan fan, or a sports fan, we mourn the loss of a great coach.  Growing up, he was the face of Michigan football. One of the last tough, in your face coaches, Bo was the man.  In middle school, I did one of my first papers on Bo.  He was a childhood hero...
Not that we need any more incentive for tomorrow's game, but this should inspire our team. Go blue...rest in peace Bo.

Shalom.