the journey

Flickr Fridays

Huntington Beach Pier 6
Originally uploaded by pdebacker

[Click on photograph for larger, richer view.]

Today I will be finishing up my first week on a new job-- albeit a temporary job, a job nonetheless.

With all of the standing, twisting and craning of my neck, at nightime it's felt like someone has beaten me with a sack full of doorknobs. :-)

And sleep is an altogether different issue because my body isn't accustomed to the rhythm of working from 3:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

I'll be glad when I'm back in the church groove, but this stint in the real world will certainly do me some good. At least I hope it does.

Have a refreshing weekend.

pax,
meb

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An emergent faith

Interesting thoughts on the faith of the emerging church:

 

An emergent faith is not wishy-washy liberalism by another name. It is serious attempt to move beyond hard-line positions to a place where we understand the interdependence and inter-relation of things. We must therefore ensure that the back-drop to our movement is not a limp screen of "trendy postmodernism" lit by a dim tea-light of reactionary flight, but a serious engagement with the culture and thought, resonating with the ison of the Spirit that calls the body again to re-imagination and re-configuration based on God's radical, bottom-up principals.

 

Source: Rising from the Ashes by Becky Garrison, pp. 33-34.

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What children hear

Something funny from YS:

HT: YS

Tags: church humor, Tim Hawkins

There is no distinction between the sacred and secular

Here's a quotation from a man who's had a significant impact on my life:

 

For the Christian, there is no distinction between the sacred and secular.  Everything a Christian does is an expression of his faith. He does not make choices based on the religious significance of the alternative. As a Christian he makes the choice that is a logical extension of the values he has derived from his faith.

~ Mike Yaconelli

HT: Rising from the Ashes by Becky Garrison

Technorati Tags: Christian faith, Mike Yaconelli

Oprah reading Pillars of the Earth

I see that Oprah's book club is finally getting around to a book I thoroughly enjoyed-- Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth.  Here are a few related thoughts:

• If you haven't read Pillars, let me encourage you to pick up a copy of the mass market version and savor it over the holidays--it's very affordable, very readable.  The plot is carefully woven like an expensive tapestry; the characters will capture your imagination & the plot is quite believable.  It's all about power, manipulation, dreams, betrayal, deception, poverty, bishops, Kings and all of the trappings of a captivating story set in 12th century England.
• Here's a quotation from Pillars of the Earth:  "Mother had warned him to beware of the unscrupulous bishop. 'The only thing you need to know about Waleran Bigod,' she had said, 'is that everything he does is carefully calculated. Nothing spontaneous, nothing careless, nothing casual, nothing superfluous. Above all, nothing generous.' But Waleran hated Phillip, and had sworn to prevent him from building his cathedral. That was motive enough."  When I entered the ministry eons ago, the idea of working with unscrupulous pastors never crossed my mind.  Chalk it up to naivete I suppose.  But a half-dozen churches later I thought "Yep, that character is just like him or Wow, they really nailed her personality!" as I read this passage.  So sad.  In Pillars you will find likeable (complex) characters; interesting plot twists, gritty realism, and I was particularly interested in the ways in which wealth and power corrupted, and, ultimately, destroyed people. 
• It's a long book (over 900 pages), but well worth the time and effort to read it.  I highly recommend it.

If you get ambitious & are ready for the sequel, World Without End was recently released.  Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Oprah's book club, Pillars of the Earth

Heaven is a banquet

I just completed reading Dorothy Day's autobiography-- a somewhat disappointing book.  I suppose I was looking for pithy quotes and more about the ins and outs of her actual social work than her social activism. 

Anyway, here's an interesting quotation:

We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more.  Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.

Source: The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day, p. 285.

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Amazon Kindle

So much for my final post for the weekend.... but I digress....

I was just introduced to the Amazon Kindle.

It's a sleek wireless reading device that has a lot of potential.  However, it would have been a lot more tempting if the entire Amazon book collection was available for Kindle download, and complete Internet access had been included.

It looks ok, but it's definately overpriced.  $149 is closer to what its worth. If you'd like a more detailed review, here's one written by Guy Kawaski.

Anyway, it's an interesting addition to any bibliophile's library.

Tags: Amazon Kindle

Have a refreshing holiday

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 06
Originally uploaded by mdpNY

[Click for larger view.]

I'll be taking a brief blogging break due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Here's hoping you have a refreshing, relaxing holiday-- with just enough and not too much turkey-- with friends and family.

Blessings on you all! :-)

pax,
meb

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving, Flickr, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

What would your life be like without Christmas? (redux)

I've written on this topic before, but decided to revamp what I've already said:

Suppose we never celebrated Christmas.

What would your life be like without Christmas?

Without Christmas there would be:

• No Santa Clause or elves
• No Christmas gifts or Christmas shopping
• No Christmas caroling
• No Christmas office parties
• No Christmas lights, nativity scenes or candy canes  
• No shopping the day after Thanksgiving
• No Christmas rush, no last-minute shopping
• No Christmas meals or traditions
• No Grinch, no Scrooge, no Frosty the Snowman
• No Silent Night, Holy Night
• No Christmas trees, ornaments or wreaths
• No Christmas Eve services
• No Christmas cantatas/musicals 
• No Feliz Navidad
• No Little Drummer Boy
• No Handel's Messiah 
• No Christmas pageants
• No Christmas parades  
• No Christmas vacations
• No family gatherings or day off
• No Charlie Brown Christmas specials
• No Chevy Chase and Christmas Vacation
• No Red Rider Rifle and A Christmas Story 
• No Jimmy Stewart and It’s a Wonderful Life
• No Bing Crosby and White Christmas
• No celebration of the most important person in all of history--Jesus Christ

Here’s a related question:

What if there were no Christmas?

It's one thing to eliminate the celebration of Christmas-- we've seen that attempted in John Grisham's Skipping Christmas.  It's altogether different, however, to imagine that Jesus never existed--that Christmas never happened.

By eliminating Jesus Christ, the most influential person in all of human history, the effects are far more extensive than one might imagine. Today’s world would be significantly different because of the influence Jesus had on art, architecture, ethics/morality, philosophy, music, mass education, literature, higher education, politics, hospitals and non-profit charitable organizations, peace/nonviolence, womens/childrens rights, human rights, human hearts and lives, and that’s the short list.

And, of course, there'd be no Son of God, no promised Messiah, no Immanuel, no incarnation, no salvation.

Eliminate Jesus, and Jimmy Stewart's beloved Bedford Falls might look more like Sodom and Gomorrah than Currier and Ives. 

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Jesus Christ, Jesus

USAToday article on emerging church

USAToday has an interesting article on the emerging church.

Here's an excerpt:

There's a growing buzz about the emerging movement, and depending on your point of view, its robust growth and rising influence are worthy of applause, scorn, or perhaps just puzzlement. Fitting for a movement that eschews hierarchy and dogma, emergents defy simple definition. Perhaps the best one can say is that they're new-style Christians for the postmodern age, the evangelicals of whom the late Rev. Jerry Falwell disapproved.

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