m.cellophane

I can see russia from my house

2008-09-26T14:31:00.001-07:00

In recent days (did anyone see her interview with Katie Couric?), Sarah Palin has tried to buttress her foreign policy experience by mentioning that Russian diplomats fly over Alaska on their way to Washington. She said that somehow this proposed bailout of Wall Street should satisfy those seeking health care reform and it will create jobs too.

So I've decided to run for President. I live near the ocean and I'm sure lots of foreign dignitaries have flown over the ocean. Essentially my oceanside town shares a national border with every oceanside nation in the world. I never really knew of my hidden talents until Sarah Palin showed me the way. I had sushi for lunch so expect me to score new trade agreements with the Japanese when I take office. Since I'm posting this on all of the Internets, that pretty much makes me the Ruler of All Things.

Schadenfreude

2008-09-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

There's a blog I enjoy called Rude Cactus. He lists a weekly schadenfreude, which is taking pleasure from the misfortunes of others. So here's my chance to post an example. I saw this reported in the news and it really speaks a lot about humanity. And yes, I'll say it. Arrogance. It's being called a "rookie mistake", but I'm going to label it arrogant.

His early celebration of his first NFL touchdown ended up costing him the touchdown. And it's not his first time with this either. His Wikipedia page references a high school play where he attempted to somersault his way to a touchdown...and landed on the yard line.

Hopefully 2 experiences with early celebrations will teach him a lesson. I remain skeptical.

the veepstakes

2008-08-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've tried not to care about the Veepstakes, but since I have a B.A. in PoliSci, I can't help myself. Plus, what else is a B.A. in PoliSci for anyway?

I can't say who will be picked by either presumptive candidate, so instead I'll spout off about who I think they should pick.

Obama

Hillary Clinton. Hands down. There is no other choice in my opinion. I don't care if he doesn't like her or if he feels she has baggage. She received more votes in the primaries than he did. Oh, did you not know that? Linkage. The superdelegates want you to believe they've rallied behind the choice of the people; however, the reality is they've rallied behind the winner based on rules that they created. The actual winner of the popular vote, Hillary Clinton, gets this election's Al Gore Award for losing the win.

Barack Obama has tried to make it seem like he's the unified choice of the party with a mandate. The problem is, his mandate is as big as the one George Bush thought he had when he won his loss to Al Gore.

Some say Barack Obama can't choose her since he's running his campaign as a Washington outsider. Well, big news. He's a Washington Senator. So is she. And if he hopes to make anyone think he is going to get things done by bringing together Democrats and Republicans in Washington, how will he accomplish that if he can't reach across the Democratic Party aisle to the majority of Democratic voters who didn't vote for him?

McCain

The idea has been floated that McCain might choose a {gasp} pro-choice candidate. That candidate would be Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania and former Secretary of Homeland Security. I think that would be a master-stroke choice. More independent types would vote for him, in my opinion, and together they would have a rock solid reputation for international relations and homeland defense.

If Obama does not pick Clinton, what if McCain rocked the house and chose a woman for his ticket?

George Carlin

2008-06-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

George Carlin died yesterday. It was over 30 years ago that I somehow was allowed by my parents to purchase his On the Road album. They must not have known who he was or what he said. Previously, my only comedy album was by Bill Cosby. They must have trusted that George Carlin was similar.

Listening to that album was, I think, one of my first glimpses outside my childhood to see the world in a more critical eye.

As he goes, I feel that I now grow older. So long, George. If you get a chance, let us know if you can say those 7 dirty words in heaven.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

2008-05-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Quick quizz : Which film hero are you?

2008-04-21T20:59:00.000-07:00


Yoda (Star Wars) : 72%
Jim Levenstein (American Pie) : 72%
Hannibal Lecter : 71%
Néo (Matrix) : 69%
Eric Draven (The Crow) : 69%
Forrest Gump : 68%
James Bond : 66%
Indiana Jones : 63%
Tony Montana (Scarface) : 63%
Batman / Bruce Wayne : 61%
Maximus (Gladiator) : 59%
Schrek : 58%

Which film hero are you?

what do you have to be grateful for?

2008-04-20T00:49:00.000-07:00

I saw this on the Pacifica Riptide blog today.

Linkage

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost 3 billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the people in the world.

If you have money in the bank, cash in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare,even in the United States. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than 2 billion people in the world who cannot read anything at all.

Lately I've been traveling between my home in Pacifica (pop. 40,401) and McCloud (pop. 1,343). It's really a larger contrast than just 40:1 since Pacifica is really just part of the concrete known as the San Francisco Bay Area, home to 7.2 million people.

Here in McCloud, there's one bank, one post office and one market. There are 8 students in the high school. It's 10 miles from the next town. People wave to me as I drive down the 2 blocks of Main Street. People I've never seen before. It's weird. But cool.

It causes me to reflect on the life I have in Pacifica and how complicated and disconnected it is. I grew up in the Bay Area. That contributes to the illusion that life in the Bay Area can be "normal". But the deceit creeps up over time until one reads that San Mateo County (where Pacifica is) is the 4th most expensive housing market in the United States. And that's only because we fell from 2nd place.

Hanging out in McCloud, one hears...nothing. Virtually nothing. At 5:10 pm, the dinner train departs to take passengers on a tour of the McCloud railroad while they have dinner. It toots back in about 8 pm. Other than that, you have to be here on July 4th to hear anything else. I once heard a siren. Once.

It's a slower world here. I read somewhere that Fed Ex Overnight means "give it a few days" in McCloud. There's no home delivery of mail here. Everyone has to have a PO box. But I did have success this week when I ordered something from Amazon.com and it was delivered via UPS. I felt a sense of victory that I had somehow bent the two ends of my world together.

Tomorrow I head back home. Yesterday I was self-conscious of my bluetooth headset as I walked through the McCloud market. After I return home, I'll look odd if I don't have it on. Which is "normal"? I used to think the Bay Area is living in the "now" and McCloud is left over from "then". I'm starting to think of McCloud as "real" and the Bay Area...isn't.

It's fun to stay at the ...

2008-04-02T13:08:00.001-07:00

luscious

2008-03-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have a new computer. I've decided that the best word to describe it is "luscious". I know at first it seems like an odd choice, but I see that one of the definitions of luscious is richly satisfying to the senses or the mind. That works for me!

I'm in that new phase where the new computer is so fast and wonderful that it could swallow your old computer whole and not even notice. My old computer isn't really that old. Pentium 4. Perfectly respectable at the time.

My Core 2 Duo scoffs at my Pentium 4 now.

It had been so long (in computer years) since I had ordered a computer, that I had to research every choice I was offered in the ordering process. What is a free fall sensor? What's RAID? There's Wireless-N now? What happened to Wireless-H or Wireless-M?

Inspiron 1720. It's not a Macbook Air. But it's blue.

And my Microsoft Word has never saved a file.

Time to write.

go to college

2008-03-24T01:55:00.000-07:00

I just found out that one needs to be at least a college undergrad to comprehend my bloggings. Gee, I didn't know I wrote that good. Seriously though, people have told me that they enjoy my writing, yet I of course think they're just trying to find something non-offensive to say.

Recently, my right brain has finger-tapped on my left-brain to announce, perhaps more loudly than ever before, that the right-brain would like to step up a little more. Sure, the left-brain has been earning the paychecks all these years as an accountant and will probably continue to do so. But right-brain finds the perpetual number-crunching to be a bit...unfulfilling.

Stay tuned to witness this epic battle begin: Right-cellophane vs. Left-cellophane.

Global Warming: Which do you choose?

2008-01-12T00:47:00.000-08:00

Apparently this is a pretty popular video on YouTube (which I just discovered while reading here). It was created by a teacher in Oregon. {/me waves at my Oregonian friends.}

Which do you choose? Column A or Column B?

While I'm at it, if you want to see which Presidential candidate you agree with the most, check this out. Unfortunately, it only covers Demopublicans. {/me waves at my Green and Libertarian friends.}

In Line at Starbucks

2007-11-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

I walked into Starbucks and groaned at the long line. I think there were 6 people ahead of me. Whatever.

The guy in front of me gets on his cell phone.

"I'm here. What? Where are you?"

The guy in front of him turns around.

Yes, he had just used his cell phone to locate the person ahead of him in line. I thought of those awful Black and White days before we had cell phones. Times when we left our house and were unreachable by humankind until we returned home to the tether of our non-modular home telephone. Of course back then, we didn't stand in line to buy $4 cups of coffee. Anyway.

"Oh, my God! How long have you been here?"

"Just a little bit longer than you apparently."

Much laughter.

The woman in front of the first guy turns around and very loudly says:

"That happened to me one time too. I felt so STOOPID."

They just looked at her. Then they resumed expressing disbelief that they hadn't seen each other until they connected by cell phone.

Meanwhile, the person behind me in line was making her second trip through the line and had forgotten to order an item. So a Barista noticed her, came to the end of the line, took her order and her money and that woman then disappeared.

The loud woman and the reunited men completed their orders. The two registers freed up and I approached one. My Barista asked me to hold on while he disappeared into the back room.

The person behind the disappeared woman then occupied the second register, placed her order, paid, and moved on...all before my Barista returned.

Yes, by the time I placed my order, I was behind more people waiting for coffee than when I started.

Same as it ever was.

AIDS Walk - San Francisco, July 15th, 2007

2007-06-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm walking in the San Francisco AIDS Walk on July 15th. It will be my first "walk" of any kind. At church last Sunday, the Vicar explained that last year, the Southern Alameda County Deanery gathered -- I think -- 30 people to walk as a team. They were the 4th largest religious organization in the walk.

This year, the call to walk is being expanded to the entire Diocese of California. As of today, there are 68 walkers registered with the diocesan team. We're going to be issued T-shirts that reference the AIDS Walk on the front. The back said will say "The Episcopal Church walks with you." I think that's pretty cool.

Look...I have a sponsor page!

Visioning Conference

2007-05-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to a diocesan conference tomorrow. My first. "Building the Beloved Community" Supposedly it's about letting your voice be heard and participating in shaping the vision for the local diocese.

I'm new to the whole Episcopalthing still so I'm just going along for the ride. When I signed up, I was supposed to select my area of ministry. Uh. I don't have one. So I'm just showing up.

We'll see what happens...

the new m.cellophane

2007-04-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

m.cellophane is new today...yet old. The personal topics I used to cover in m.cellophane seem more distant every day from where I am now. I've retired that blog. My other blog, Sprocket, is more about who I am today and what I have an interest in. Sprocket is the new m.cellophane. And here we go...

My Visual DNA

2007-03-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Fish

2007-02-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

I wrote some notes down at a recent service when the words of a hymn really touched me. I think it speaks to where the Church should be. It's where I thought the Episcopal church was; however, there are problems within the Anglican Communion over the Episcopal Church's ordination of a gay bishop and its blessing of same-sex unions.

The hymn was "You Walk Along Our Shoreline" by Sylvia G. Dunstan, 1984, as sung to the traditional Irish tune of Salley Gardens, and it contained the following lyric:

We cannot fish for only those lives we think have worth.

Mark 1:16-20
John 17:20-26
1 Tim 4:1-3

Ash Wednesday

2007-02-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

I went to my first Ash Wednesday service last night. Lent was never part of my Christian experience before. Our priest asked us to think of Lent as a purposeful process in which one takes stock of where things are in your life with God. Maybe there's some things you need to realign. Maybe you don't have to make any changes.

And any form of outward expression, such as fasting from certain foods, is just a symbol of the internal remembrance that's going on during this time. It's a way to conciously remind ourselves that we're in Lent and what that stands for.

My favorite part of the service was when she said that after we would kneel and confess all of the ways in which we've fallen short, we would have communion. She pointed out that even in our down moments when we reflect upon our sin, God still desires to commune with us. He still loves us.

I thought that was pretty cool.

SaveDarfur.org

2007-02-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

I saw this organization's name on a sign that was up on the fence of a high school today. Nice to see that the word is getting out. My daughter had a school project recently where she had to ask people of different age groups about what they knew about Darfur.

Faithful Agitation : Republican Jesus

2007-02-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

I found this quite funny!

Blog: Faithful Agitation
Post: Republican Jesus

Newsworthiness

2007-02-21T00:13:00.000-08:00

#1 news story on ABC Radio this afternoon: Jet Blue Airlines posts a passenger's Bill of Rights on You Tube. News or advertising?

#2 new story on ABC Radio this afternoon: The Battle over Anna Nicole Smith's body. News or entertainment? Where's Walter Cronkite?

Number of minutes of Larry King Live tonight which were devoted to the battle over Anna Nicole Smith's body = 60

Number of children in the world who died of hunger while the Larry King Live show was on = 750

There's a time and a place for fun and happiness in this world, but "news" should be "news". Instead of news, we're being distracted and anesthetized by our media.

Rev 7:16-17

Join me at a Congress is the Decider letter delivery

2007-02-20T10:40:00.001-08:00

I haven't been involved in a war protest since my Berkeley days!

The event details are:

Letters for Lantos
Lanto's San Mateo Office
400 S. El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94402
Thursday, 22 Feb 2007, 12:00 PM

To sign up for this event, click here:
http://political.moveon.org/event/iraqletters/33787

What Would Jesus Blog?

2007-02-20T01:53:00.000-08:00

I returned from the 3 day holiday weekend to find a big pile up of blog posts in the Episcopalian group of my Google Reader.

Number of posts concerning the final communique of the worldwide Anglican Communion's bishops as it pertains to the status of The Episcopal Church as part of the Anglican Communion due to its beliefs on homosexuality = 99

Number of posts discussing the UN announcement that 18,000 children die of hunger each day in the world and that 850 million people go to bed hungry each night = 1

Gal 5:13-15

ONE

When I snapped.

2007-01-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

I wanted to call this blog Liberepiscoatheidemonondenomrepubconservafundaterian, but it whacked out the formatting. Oh, well.

I had dinner Friday night with my best friend from high school. It had been a few years since we'd seen each other since we now live on opposite sides of the country.

Part of our conversation centered around religion and politics. When I met him, he was an atheistic Republican. He still is. During my friendship with him, I became just like him. Since then, I've been everything else. I recently saw Woody Allen's film Zelig again, where the main character becomes like the people he's around. Sort of reminded me of me.

I've been registered as a Republican, Democrat, Independent and Libertarian. My friend asked me if I'm Green yet. No, not yet.

I've gone to Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, non-denominational and Episcopal churches. And I was that Atheist once upon a time too.

I've spoken before about some of the stuff surrounding my swing from the conservative side to the liberal side of the religious spectrum. That change also affected my politics. The big snap for me came with Katrina.

I remember watching Soledad O'Brien on CNN while she was interviewing then-FEMA guy Michael Brown. He was saying everything was ok and the government was responding. This was several days after Katrina and there were people still floating in the streets of New Orleans and people dying on freeway overpasses and on the streets outside the Convention Center and Superdome. They showed Michael Brown on one side of the screen and they showed live images of the devastation in New Orleans on the other. That's when I snapped.

I saw Frank Rich on TV discussing his book The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina. He described what happened to people like me when we snapped after Katrina. He said that with the war in Iraq, many Americans (I would include myself here) believed the government when they talked about the reasons for war. We figured that the government must know things that we don't and they must know best. The government told us what was going on and we had little other information to go on. The bodies of the soldiers were shielded from public view when they returned to the US. Reporters were embedded with the troops in Iraq. We saw what they wanted us to see.

But with Katrina, he continued, we again had the government mouthpieces telling us that everything was fine and that the government had the situation under control...while at the same time, the live images of the truth were displayed on screen. This is when the reality set in for me and others that the government will lie to you. I've been sort of a Pollyanna when it comes to believing the government. I want to believe them. But when the lied about Katrina, that belief was shattered.

"Nobody thought the levies would fail..." George Bush to the public just days after video was taken of him being told that the levies would fail.

Bush's first fly-over of New Orleans. Two days after Katrina. Three days before he'd actually set foot in New Orleans.

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job..." George Bush to Michael Brown on Sept. 2nd after Brown lied about everything being under control. This was 5 days after Katrina and federal food supplies had just reached New Orleans. Did you know it took 18 hours for the US to get food and supplies to victims of the Tsunami half-way around the world? It took 4 days for the government to get to New Orleans. On the 5th day, supplies were halted due to airspace restrictions to allow for Bush's first visit to the city.

All of the above may be seen in Spike Lee's incredible documentary called When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. It should be required viewing before anyone votes for anything.

The interview with Michael Brown is there. Soledad O'Brien says she wondered how it was possible that she had a bigger stack of intelligence on the situation in New Orleans compiled by her 23-year old research assistant that was more complete than what FEMA had. She said, "How is that possible?" Stunning.

Stunning too to discover that Michael Brown went from being president of the Arabian Horse Association...to the directorship of FEMA. Who's in charge here?

The documentary shows a guy who was at his downtown office in New Orleans and discovered the power was turned on for the first time after Katrina. The next day he excitedly returned to find the power gone. It had only been turned on to provide lighting for Bush's speech from the French Quarter on Sept. 16th. After Bush...no more power.

If we have a big earthquake here in California, will the government come to help? Or will we be left to die in the streets while government officials go on CNN to tell the country that everything's fine?

The video of Bush being told of the potential for significant loss of life should the levies fail is also in the documentary.

Check out the Army Corps of Engineers site regarding the levies that hasn't been updated since Katrina. At the time of the writing, levy projects were to have completed in 2008 if they were funded. But they weren't. And the site hasn't listed any progress since 2003.

Why are there levies in New Orleans anyway? And why is it the problem of Americans elsewhere? Well, we've destroyed the natural wetlands that used to protect New Orleans. We destroyed them in order to get the oil from the coastline. Since the oil is far enough off the coast, we don't compensate Lousiana. We drag the oil through the wetlands to port and it goes to other parts of the country, including the money from the sales. This keeps Louisiana poor, unlike Texas which keeps a portion of the proceeds from the oil taken from their state.

40 years ago, in response to the realization of the destroyed wetlands, the Army Corps of Engineers started the levy project and said they would withstand a Category 3 hurricaine. Katrina passed New Orleans to the east. It wasn't the hurricaine that breached the levies. It was the flood water that built up in Lake Pontchartrain. Those flood waters put pressure on the levies at the force of a Category 1 hurricaine...and they failed.

How could levies built to withstand a Category 3 fail under Category 1 forces? The Army Corps of Engineers finally admitted they were at fault. Too late, I suppose, for the dead and displaced. Their report to find out they messed up cost $19.7 million. I wonder how many people could have been saved if we put $19.7 million into New Orleans before Katrina or even during Katrina. But now we've spent it after Katrina to find out that we messed up.

I hope it helps them figure out how to save people from the next time.

If you watch the documentary, I also recommend the commentary. The damning facts against the government continue to pile up in the commentary.

And then there was Barbara Bush's famous statement:

OK. I'm done now. And I didn't even mention racism. Perhaps another time.

Join me on the Virtual March on Washington

2007-01-29T11:19:00.001-08:00

On Thursday, February 1st - just days before the Senate votes on the escalation - there's going to be a massive virtual march on Washington. We're going to make 1 million contacts to Congress. Can you join us? Click below to sign up to call your senators.
http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch

Just click here to start:

http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch/

-- James Proffitt
[This message was sent on behalf of James Proffitt (jlproffitt@comcast.net) by MoveOn Political Action.]

EPPN Alert: Ask Senate To Vote For Peace, Not More Troops

2007-01-23T11:47:00.001-08:00


	The Episcopal Public Policy Network Policy Alert

Dear Member, "Diplomacy, built on a foundation of mutual respect and interest among people of good will, not more troops, can bring an end to this tragic conflict." --Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori January 10, 2007 The Senate is expected to vote next week on S. Con. Res. 2, a bipartisan non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Senators Biden (D-DE), Hagel (R-NE), Levin (D-MI), and Snowe (R-ME), opposing President Bush's proposed troop increase in Iraq. Another bipartisan resolution, proposed by Senator John Warner (R-VA) - also an Episcopalian - and Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Ben Nelson (D-NE), to "disagree with the 'plan' to augment our forces" in Iraq may be offered but it does not as directly address the need to involve other Middle East nations. At General Convention this year and at Executive Council, the Episcopal Church called for the implementation of a plan to stabilize Iraq and the withdrawal of US troops, as well as a regional approach in the Middle East. S. Con Res. 2 addresses those concerns. As Episcopal Senator Hagel said in a December speech to the Brookings Institution: In the Middle East, the core of instability and conflict is the underlying Arab-Israeli problem. Progress on Middle East peace does not ensure stability in Iraq. But, for the Arab world, the issue of Middle East peace is inextricably, emotionally and psychologically linked with all other issues. Until the United States helps lead a renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace process, there will be no prospect for broader Middle East peace and stability. The Iraq Study Group emphasized that point in its report saying: "The United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability." WRITE TODAY: CLICK HERE to contact your Senators and urge them to support S. Con. Res. 2 when it is brought to the floor. CLICK HERE to Forward this message to a Friend!
110 Maryland Ave., N.E. #309, Washington, D.C. 20002 1-800-228-0515, (202) 547-7300, FAX (202) 547-4457 On the Web: www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn Email: eppn@episcopalchurch.org Unsubscribe

Congress is selling out the Internet

2007-01-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet.

Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer.

If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers, plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.

You can do your part today--can you sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:

Petition

I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petiton will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress.

Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet, explained:
Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane.

If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the "fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the Internet--this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech--become captive to large corporations.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together, we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.

Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Internet freedom. Click here:

Petition

Thanks.

The state of our union

2007-01-22T11:53:00.001-08:00

Hey,

Senator Jim Webb has the honor of giving the nationally televised response to the president's State of the Union speech tomorrow night.

He'll be preparing his remarks tonight and tomorrow. Make your hopes, your dreams, and your thoughts about the state of our union part of our Democratic message.

Please take a moment to make your input part of the process by sending a note to Senator Webb as he prepares his remarks.

http://www.democrats.org/stateoftheunion

The Summer Wind

2006-07-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and with it, I've lost my blog. Not my physical blog, but my -- sort of -- will to blog. I think I always have a big exhale at the end of the school year. It's like I'm reaching the finish line. Another school year done. And a school year in which I probably worked harder as a parent than when I was a student. Well, you know what I mean. It was just hard.

So here we are in summer and I've just not been interested in documenting it.

I'll try to do a bit of catch up here.

I'm still going to St. Edmund's. My journey there was interrupted by a couple of out-of-town trips, but I'm still connected.

The Diocese of California is getting a new bishop. My parish got 4 tickets for the Investiture on July 22nd at Grace Cathedral. Our vicar said there was no way she was going to decide who got the tickets so she decided to raffle them off with a little fundraising benefit.

Guess who won a ticket?

me.

I've only been to church there...uh...3 times. But I'm very excited to go. The vicar joked that I'm getting quite the introduction to the Episcopalian experience. And somehow she snagged me an extra ticket for mrs. cellophane, for which I'm even more excited.

In reading news, I finished Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. It sure gives you a good picture of the various beliefs that were present shortly after Christ...and how they all thought of themselves as Christians. There were Jewish Christians who considered themselves to be Jewish and tried to uphold Jewish laws. There were non-Jewish Christians who very much believed they were not Jewish and the the "Jewish God" of what became the Old Testament was a different God from their Christian God. And the Christianity that we know today is basically the faith of the folks that "won".

The story I'll remember the most from the book is of the Nag Hammadi texts which were found buried near a monastery. The bindings of the books contain invoices with dates placing them at the time of an edict from Athanasius that listed the 27 books that we now know as the New Testament. He said these were scripture and all others were not. It seems the monks at the monastery hid the suddenly "non-canonical" books since possession of them would now be a heresy.

These texts weren't found until 1945. (Hey...what happened to the monks?) Some of the texts were known only by references made in other texts. Most of them had not been read in almost 2,000 years, and when they were first available to modern readers, they revealed stories of Mary Magdalene elevated above the other apostles as well as many additional sayings of Jesus.

Whether these texts should have been made part of the canon or not, the story still portrays how the battle over the canon was waged. Those who won purged their detractors and the texts that were deemed heretical. It's disconcerting to think that the content of the Bible we have today came to us via murder and destruction...in the name of God. And we use the words of the Bible to "prove" things against each other...while possibly not understanding that some of those words were tweaked from the original texts to fit the "story" that the canonical victors wished to portray.

Can't really think of a good segue...

Last night I went to a contemplative prayer group at the church and came home feeling about as relaxed as I've ever been in my life. Low lights. Candles. Soft voices. We listened to some repetitive verses sung to some melodic music. Then the music would stop and we would meditate on the words...for about 10 minutes.

One thing I learned is to not cross your legs during this service. No one moves. At all. And if you make a sound...you become the focus of attention...which isn't good for a cellophane. My right foot was so gone that I couldn't even move it.

But I listened to a bird chirping through many cycles. I could hear the creek behind the church. I could hear some insect hitting the ceiling over and over. I could hear my involuntary breath variations.

I could hear the summer wind.

A Woman Presides

2006-06-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

A woman was elected as the first primate of any Anglican province in history yesterday when Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, was selected to be the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA. I think there are only two or three other countries that ordain women (New Zealand and Canada and ???) and there are still a few diocese in the US that don't ordain women.

So this stirs the already stirred pot in the Anglican communion. There are some diocese that are concerned that any consecrations performed by the new Presiding Bishop will invalidate the ECUSA's claim to apostolic succession. They've made the same claim against Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who is openly gay. And how will our primate relate with primates of other provinces which don't ordain women? The pot is stirred.

I am quite pleased with this election and took some pleasure in informing my wife and daughters that this had occurred. What an interesting time to enter the church.

The Return of the Sprocket

2006-06-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

I went to church on Sunday for the first time in about...15 months I think. It was a long break, yet seems like it went fast in a way. In my last post, I talked about where I've been, church-wise. I was already contemplating a return to church when I wrote it, but I wanted to lay out for myself and my dear reader(s) the journey.

In researching churches near my home (a strong prerequisite for my aging bones), I burned up Wikipedia trying to find out all I could about various denominations. Piece by piece, I was led to Saint Edmund's Episcopal Church here in Pacifica.

It's small. Did I say small? I think it's the smallest congregation that I've ever worshipped with. Maybe 25 people. That's counting all of the human beings present. All of them. Including my party of 3. So that was the first thing that took me aback. There's no anonymity when it's that small.

I was known as a newcomer as soon as I angled my body away from the sidewalk toward the front door. The service is liturgical and I was immediately handed a 6 page lectionary and a 2 page list of annoucements. Good. I like lots of info.

NCH stands for the New Century Hymnal. That's the black book on the left . BCP is the Book of Common Prayer. That's the red one in the middle. Three books laid out before each loveseat. The blue hymnal on the right would not be used today. (Praise the Lord.)

I was already somewhat familiar with the BCP as I had already ordered my copy from Amazon..being the modern avoidant that I am. "Better" to figure it out on my own than to ask someone. I had my copy in hand in order to compare it with the church's version. It was the same.

Reading songs out of a hymnal was something I hadn't done since...I was a child. In my adult church years, I had either seen the words to the songs projected from an overhead machine or from a multimedia setup with laptops and video projectors. It used to be my job to prepare the presentations. And yet now I was reading hymns from a hymnal, following along in the lectionary, and occasionally glancing up at the hymn board for reference.

The service started with a processional hymn. As we sang, the celebrants (Lay Eucharistic Ministers and the Vicar) entered down the aisle. The first minister carried a tall cross. The second carried a raised Bible. Last came the Vicar.

Various collects, glorias and Bible readings followed. The small choir (with a fantastic cantor) used handbells for some hymns. Very beautiful.

When the Gospel was read, the celebrants came from the altar to the congregation with the cross and the Bible again. One minister held the Bible while the Vicar read the Gospel reading of the day. Then they returned to the altar.

I couldn't help but think that this ritual went back to they days before the Reformation when the only people with access to Bibles were the priests. They had to do the readings, and the Bible was held up and exalted in this manner due to it's scarcity among the people. Nowadays of course, in the denominations which I'm from, everyone has their own Bible and they're toted around in needlepoint covers.

The thing that absolutely freaked me out...more so than entering the church...was The Peace. Everyone exited their pews to the center aisle and it appeared as if every single person shook every single other person's hand and said "Peace be with you." I was frozen with terror when this occurred. Of course, it's bizarre to resist doing what everyone else is doing because you don't want to be embarassed when doing so actually calls attention to you as the one who isn't the same! But that's the mind trick that goes on in my head.

I shook everyone's hand that came to me, but I was frozen in place. I've been in churches where you had to greet the people around you...but never the entire congregation. Well, next time will be better, I suppose.

The Liturgy of the Table was the centerpoint of the service. It was a shock to not see the little plastic cups to hold the wine and juice. In this church, the elements are consecrated by the priest and there are two chalices. The two ministers each take a chalice and assist the congregation in taking the wine. And it's real wine. No grape juice here.

I must say that my initial reaction of fear was offset by the solemnity of the act.

All of the acts and rituals in the service are hundreds if not thousands of years old. While much of it seemed foreign to me, it also seemed familiar. It was comforting to celebrate as others of the faith were celebrating in other churches throughout the world. The Episcopalians use a common lectionary for the service with some variations, but essentially all participants throughout the world on a given Sunday are reading the same scriptures on the same days.

In addition, throughout the week in morning and evening prayers (The Daily Office) as listed in the BCP, all who practice the faith are reading the same scriptures daily. You can also get podcasts (check iTunes for morning prayer) and emails of The Daily Office.

It's an awesome undertaking. Rather than the fear of rote worship that I held in prior beliefs, I am coming to understand its place in drawing people together as a family of worshippers.

I've been thinking of it in terms of holiday traditions. In the US, most celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey dinner with family and friends. Even though all are doing virtually the same traditional ritual on that day, each meal is different. There's comfort in the familiarity yet interest and closeness through the individual differences. If someone makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sits alone in an effort to be an individual or to try something new, the bond with the community is lost.

As I begin to look at these rituals as traditions rather than religious requirements, my attitude toward them is changing. Christmas, for instance, is primarily a secular tradition rather than a religious observance. Seeing it as such helps me deal with it. A little Jesus gets mixed in. No harm done.

With the liturgy, it is again a traditional means to connect with the past while celebrating in the present.

And while the liturgy is ancient, the beliefs of the church are quite liberal. All are accepted at the table for communion. And that means all. Some allow any baptized Christian to take communion, but some, including Saint Edmund's, just say all are welcome.

Importantly, this extends to the GLBT community. This is evident on their website and from my experience at the service. It felt really good to worship together. Different lifestyles. Different ages. Different church histories. All are welcome. The bond is communion.

As a further demonstration of the inclusiveness, this was said by the Vicar during The Breaking of the Bread:

We break this bread for those who journey the way of the Hindus, for those who follow the path of the Buddha, for our sisters and brothers of Islam, for the Jewish People from whom we come, and for all those who walk the way of faith.
We break this bread for the earth we have wasted, for those who have no bread, and for ourselves in our brokenness.
Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

When I wrote about Buddhism recently, I had no idea about the possibility of this kind of Christian worship.

I felt peace when this was said.

Peace be with you.

MLKJ

2006-06-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's funny how things like this speak more to me now that I would actually call myself a progressive. When I thought more conservatively, I would've blown this off. Funny that we like things that match our paradigm and reject those that don't.

I became disillusioned with fleeting acts of generosity. I felt like I was not respecting the dignity of those that I wished to "help". Why did I only do charitable acts around Thanksgiving or Christmas? Weren't they hungry all the time? Why were they hungry? Is it their fault? Or have we created a system that creates hungry people?

I used to think it was their fault.

The Witness: Special GC Feature: Presiding Bishop Nominees Interviewed

2006-06-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

The Witness: Special GC Feature: Presiding Bishop Nominees Interviewed: "For me it is about fundamental principles, the fundamental ideas. I really believe that there is a place at the table in the life of the Episcopal Church for absolutely everybody. When I say everybody, I really do mean everybody. The witness of my ministry, my personal history is clear. I believe the Church should be radically reflective of the hospitality of God. If one gives one's life to Christ and to the Church, then one gives up being able to pick your own friends. God picks them for you. That allows you to relax."

This guy didn't win, but I still love his quote.

Where I've Been

2006-06-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

My father was raised a Baptist. I'm not sure about my mom. Judging by the fact that she was a Job's Daughter, she might've been raised in the Masonry at some point. Not sure. My parents were married in a Presbyterian church.

My first memories of church are from Sunday School. That's what I knew it as at the time. I don't recall if my parents were attending church. All I knew was I had an extra day of "school" to endure. We had a Bible and a half in my family. I got my mother's old Job's Daughters Bible while my younger sister got a New Testament.

My mother taught me a lot about Bible protocol. It was not to be placed on the floor. Wherever it was placed, it had to be face up. And you weren't supposed to write in it. I don't know where she learned the rules, but they stayed with me for a long time.

We moved around a lot since my dad was in the Navy, so I'm sure the denominations of churches I attended were varied. I'm sure they were all Protestant flavors of one kind or another.

We also frequented non-denominational Christian services on military bases. When I was about 10 and living on Guam, I recall being a shepherd in a church play. I remember doing a lot with palm leaves for the costume. It was a tropical island after all. "Hafa Adai, who goes there?"

When I was a sophomore in high school, I had bronchial pneumonia and was laid up in bed for the first couple of weeks of January. I decided to try to figure out the God Thing. I got my mom's Bible again as well as a book that my dad had ordered off of a Billy Graham TV show: What the Bible is All About by Henrietta C. Mears. This was 25 years ago, so my copy didn't look as cute as the one they're selling on Amazon now. That one has pictures. Mine copy was dry as a desert. That's how it seemed my sophomoric mind. By the time I got to Deuteronomy, I wanted to scratch my eyes out.

When I was a junior, my best friend was an atheist, so I became an atheist too.

In 1989, I realized that God was after me. I had a full-on vision during a Catholic wedding (someone else's). There was this bright aura that came out from the priest and it seemed as if the entire world stopped moving. He looked right at me and said "...and you will accept all children that I send to you." I knew it was God speaking to me, which was a bit troubling since I was still an atheist. The next morning, I found out I was to become a father for the second time. The "word of the Lord" seemed to make sense.

Then I read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time". As part of his explanation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, he decided that there is no God. For me however, I found God in Hawking's description of the Strong Force that holds protons together. From Wikipedia:

This force was postulated to overcome the electric repulsion between protons in the nucleus, and for its strength (at short distances) it was dubbed the "strong force".

Additionally, Hawking described time as the fourth dimension. Height, width, depth...and time. I started to see God outside of our time and also acting as the Strong Force. Trippy.

In 1990, I was asked to videotape a wedding at Calvary Chapel in San Francisco. I kept going back and became a Christian that summer. I actually started going to a home group before I went regularly to church. It was my involvement with the people there that helped me feel comfortable going to church. I was baptized at Aquatic Park in the San Francisco Bay.

I was horrified to see my fellow Christians writing in their Bibles with pens and highlighters. And they placed them on the floor too. Sometimes face down. The horror.

I used to go down to Jubilee Christian Center on Friday or Saturday nights to get that multimegaopolis church experience. Calvary Chapel eventually became part of the Vineyard movement and changed it's name to New Life Vineyard.

There was a First Baptist Church that was in walking distance of my home at the time, but one of my Vineyard friends cautioned me that it was "dead". This was meant to communicate to me that "they" weren't like "us".

It was about this time that I found out that my second child was not my biological child and neither was my third. Now I came to a fuller understanding of why God spoke to me in a vision about accepting my kids.

The New Thing at church then was Where Do We Go From Here? A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church. We started calling our home groups cell groups. It was in my first official cell group that I formed the most lasting friendships with other Chrisitians. Most of us are still friends many years and many life-changes later.

I went on a missionary trip to Cafetelaria, Mexico to help the church there plant a vegetable garden. I found the residents living in huts with dirt floors. I prayed for babies that had flies crawling around in their eyes and noses. They burned rubber tires to keep warm. And the pastor of their local church drove a Mercedes.

There came a point where I looked around and started going to Peninsula Christian Fellowship, which is part of the Conservative Baptist Association. I almost had the chance to go to Promise Keepers with the men from that church, but that came to a screeching halt when the pastor was informed that the interfaith council of advisors of the non-denominational Promise Keepers had Roman Catholic members. So our trip was cancelled, such was the chasm between Protestand and Catholic in that environment. We used to call each other "Bro", and at that time, I guess Catholics weren't "Bro's".

New Life Vineyard announced it was closing down and moving down the Peninsula to San Mateo. I went back for their last service and ended up following them to San Mateo for a while.

Marital circumstances took me back to PCF. Then I got divorced. I held on to the kids. Remember the vision?

Even still, that was a hard time for me spiritually. I moved temporarily to Tracy and went through the motions at Crossroads Christian Church, but was not able to open up to anyone there.

New marital circumstances, thanks to mrs-cellophane, brought me back to San Mateo Vineyard. Some years later, they moved again further south and became Mid-Peninsula Vineyard.

The distance eventually caused us to look for something closer and it was hard to leave our friends behind. We settled upon Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, which is a Foursquare church. With the men there, I made it to my first Promise Keepers event.

And that brings me to early 2005 when, for a couple of reasons, I stopped going to church altogether. I didn't stop being a Christian, but I was just unable to practice it publically.

Hurricane Katrina had a profound effect on me, spiritually speaking. For years I had believed that God voted Republican. When the abandonment of our citizens was on display on the TV for days before the government realized it was happening, I decided to rethink my political and spiritual views. I wanted to shed all of the divisions, prejudices, ignorance and blinders that I had placed on myself over the years.

I don't want to feel like I'm in an exclusive club with all of the answers. I want to have fellowship with those in "dead" churches. I want to call Roman Catholics and Buddhists "Bro". I might even want to write in my Bible.

And so here we are. I've told you where I've been so that where I'm going will make sense.

Faithful Agitation: Another Day, Another Agitation

2006-05-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

Faithful Agitation: Another Day, Another Agitation

William Sloane Coffin...was fond of saying that "you don't think your way into a new way of living; you live your way into a new way of thinking."

I was checking out blogs the other day and came across this quote from one of my favorite new authors. (Well, new to me...but that's another story...)

It rings true for me. My spiritual journey has reflected the state of my life at any given moment. Recently (from Feb '05 to now) I've been on sort of a self-imposed exile from church. I needed to get away and explore who I am and how do I fit in. When you get involved in programs and meetings and obligations...it can get to a point where you suddenly don't know why you are doing the things you are doing. That's where I was early last year.

It was time to step back and reflect.

I've lived my life since then away from the church. But not away from God. God is still in my heart. But I needed to find out who I am. Really.

Through examination of how I live (think, feel, eat, sleep, relate), I've come to a better understanding of what I think. That's what the quote above is about. Live first, then think.

I know some might do all of their thinking first and then try to live up to the thinking. But for me, it's been important to live first. Find out who I am. Then think about how I fit in.

My journey is taking me in a spiritual direction that I wouldn't have thought probable given my prior church life. I'll detail that here as I walk through it.

Being with the Buddha

2006-05-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

In m.cellophane: Chinatown: The Passion of the Chaperone, I described the visit I had yesterday to a Buddhist temple in San Francisco.

I pondered many things while I was there. The service was beautiful. There were about 5 or 6 rows of low tables on each side of the sanctuary with 4 slanted cushions in front of each. I would say it was more than half occupied with men and women reading from books that would be the equivalent to a hymnal in a Christian church.

To me it sounded like the same 6 sounds over and over, but the worshippers were following along in their "hymnals". A woman was at the left of the alter facing forward at her own station. I couldn't see what she was doing, but she was doing her chanting into a microphone for the others to hear. They were in sync with her.

There was the sound of a metronome coming from somewhere and they were all keeping pace with the metronome.

The central alter had 3 main buddhas.

I wondered if this is related at all to the Christian concept of the Trinity. Are they worshipping a culturally diversified version of a similar concept? Or are they independent of each other?

To the right of the alter, a monk entered. He turned and faced forward and bowed before joining in with the chanting.

I observed 2 women coming in late. One woman squeezed in to one of the open cushions and started to open a book. A helpful woman next to her put her hand on the new woman's back and handed her the book she had been using, which was already opened to the appropriate place. The new woman was appreciative.

The helpful woman then motioned to the 2nd late woman to take her place on her cushion. The helpful woman left the sanctuary and returned with 2 new books and gave one to the second late woman. The helpful woman then took a new place for herself. All of this was done silently and with much body language.

I thought of Christian churches I've been too where people come in late and interrupt other worshippers with hugs and small talk about why they're late or catching each other up on what's going on in their lives or recruiting people to help with something after church and what not.

None of that here. Strict chanting. And bowing. New people bowed several times on their cushion before getting in on the chanting. Sort of reminded me of genuflecting at a Catholic church.

The volume of the chanting was uplifting. It carried you away. I was told by a teacher that the chanting was to cleanse the mind of all other thoughts so that the worshipper focused only upon the act of worship.

I thought of how in a Christian church, we think we have a corner on Brotherly love as Christians. I could see that same spirit on display amongst the Buddhist worshippers.

Again I thought of whether we are connected more than we know or understand. Are they all going to Hell because they don't believe in Jesus? Would God cast them into eternal damnation for failing to leave their cultural upbrining to embrace a different religion?

When I became a Christian, I became what my parents had brought me up to be. Not much of a sacrifice for me.

But for these people to leave their culture and families behind would be an enormous sacrifice. Is that part of God's Christian Package? I don't know.

I couldn't help but feel a oneness with the worshippers and I was sad when our tour moved on. I have much more to explore.

William Sloane Coffin, Part One

2006-05-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's sort of odd that I came to discover William Sloane Coffin right after the weekend he died. I've been devouring his books lately:

The following quotes are from The Heart is a Little to the Left:

Above all, I believe we need to claim the kinship of all people, to recover the prophetic insight that we belong one to another, every one of us from the pope to the lonliest wino on the planet.

Certainly in a time of war, one wonders about God's will. Is God on the USA Team and providing Divine Guidance to us to wage war against "non-believers"? So lately I've been thinking about whose side is God on in all of this and the idea that most likely He is grieved by the war and so much more about the way we've come to divide ourselves.

All of us tend to hold certainty dearer than truth. We want to learn only what we already know; we want to become only what we already are.

I see some folks up in arms about The Da Vinci Code and they go to lengths to disprove a fictional novel. I find that sort of amusing and a little alarming. There are many things in the novel that have been proven to have been created out of artistic license to make a good suspense thriller. But The Da Vinci Code has done much to raise curiosity for several issues. Is it ok to look at these issues? Or do we only want to know what we already know? And are we going to use what we already know (The Bible) to prove that what we already know is all there is to know?

When the powerful do as they will and the poor suffer as they must, it's easy to become bitter. In fact, it's comforting to be bitter. But it's not creative, bitterness being such a diminishing emotion. Far more productive is anger, which, if focused, is spiritual nourishment for those perishing alive for want of it....However deep, our anger must always and only measure our love.

In Anger, I talked about this concept of anger being used for good. I feel like I'm being nourished during this time of spiritual exploration, and I'm eager to learn more.

Integration

2006-05-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

I had three blogs that I started under different accounts with various purposes. Today I decided to integrate myself under one user account: m-cellophane. I'll still continue the separate blogs in order to keep the subjects separate and more manageable, but now they're linked - just like they are in my head. I still avoid people (m-cellophane), watch films (jlproffitt), and ponder God stuff (sprocket). And today, my wife and I started a new blog together: da bitsy code, in which we'll blog about (hopefully) losing weight.

I might have to have a blog about my blogs...

Progress on Darfur

2006-05-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

President Bush is sending food and aid to those displaced by the genocide in Darfur.

And Darfur made the evening news too.

This reminds me of a quote that William Sloane Coffin attributes to the former minister of Israel, Abba Egan, who said: "God is not mocked. Human beings really do the right thing, but only after exhausting all alternatives."

Anger

2006-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've thought lately that my posts here display too much anger. I don't feel angry. I was reading in William Sloane Coffin's The Heart is a Little to the Left: Essays on Public Morality last night. So much that I've read so far has touched me and spoken to me. I'll be writing more about this book as I have time to pull quotes, but I recall that he mentioned anger being a useful tool to get to love. If one misuses anger, one can become bitter. But if one uses anger to motivate oneself, it leads to an expression of love. And I feel that's where I am in this process. I'm angry about some things, but I have a lot that I want to love. I felt encouraged by his words.

Peace in Darfur?

2006-05-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

I just read a press release from the Genocide Intervention Network that a peace deal is within reach and they commend US mediators for their part in brokering the deal. Cool that the US got involved.

That's some good news.

Darfur made the front page of the Pacifica Tribune! I couldn't believe it. There was a photo of Rep. Tom Lantos and his wife with George Clooney, who was in Washington recently trying to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur. It was kinda creepy to see people leaning in to get photographed with a celebrity...and that's got to be the only reason this made the news...but good for George Clooney to spend some of his celebrity to do good. Kudos, George! And kudos to Tom Lantos for getting arrested while protesting at the Sudan embassy.

Come Down from the Cross

2006-05-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

In Perfect Freedom, Brian Mountford discusses "can the cross ever make a difference" and he says:

It is first of all significant, in this world of power politics, that the divine nature is revealed in weakness rather than in strength. If God is willing to suffer the humiliation of the cross, then shouldn't that make us think twice about our egotism, both individual and corporate? Isn't standing by watching the humiliation of nations a bit similar to standing at the cross and mocking, 'If you are the Son of God come down from the cross'?

This speaks to the nagging in my spirit that something is wrong about the world and the way in which we as Christians are taught to live. We get enmeshed in church programs and work life and school stuff and...where are we really following God in all of that?

Are we shirking our responsibilities when we watch the "news" to find out the latest information on the latest notorious trial and yet we pay little attention to the scores of people that are getting hacked up into bits by machetes.

How do I disentangle myself from the hamster wheel of my life? What can I do that's better than what I'm doing? Can I handle the answers to these questions?

I don't know.

Darfur

2006-05-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

I read today that 450,000 have been murdered and over 3,000,000 displaced in Darfur. The 3,000,000 are starving not because there isn't enough food but because there are forces at play that prevent them from getting food. The UN and countries like the US are not bringing aid to them due to air flyover rights, the remoteness of the region...and who knows the real reasons. Maybe they don't have enough oil for us to save them?

Here are the current top stories according to the Associated Press:

Tsunami Warning Issued for New Zealand - 9 minutes ago
Soda Distributors to End Most School Sales - one hour ago
Feds Release Pandemic Flu Plan - 43 minutes ago
House to Take Up Anti-Price Gouging Bill - 3 hours ago
113 Killed in Russian Plane Crash - 3 hours ago
Inspector May Be Behind Mine Confusion - 15 minutes ago
Northwest Pilots Vote to OK Pay-Cut Deal - one hour ago
Photographer Says Dame Edna Punched Him - 35 minutes ago
More Professors Ban Laptops in Class - 6 hours ago

And here are the most viewed news stories according to Yahoo:

Post Office Proposes Stamp Rate Increase - 2 hours ago
Magnitude-8.0 Quake Strikes Near Tonga - 53 minutes ago
113 Killed in Russian Plane Crash - 3 hours ago
Inspector May Be Behind Mine Confusion - one hour ago
Van Gogh Portrait Sells for $40 Million - 13 hours ago
Soda Distributors to End Most School Sales - one hour ago
Palestinian Blames U.S. for Lack of Money - 2 hours ago
"Mummy" Star a Daddy Again - 2 hours ago
As hurricanes loom, many in Florida Keys flee - 2 hours ago

Surely Dame Edna's adventures and Brendan Fraser's new baby are less important than the Darfur genocide?

And what most people want to read about right now is the cost of a postage stamp.

WWJD

2006-04-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

There's a 15-year old girl running a website called Peace Takes Courage. She's made over 70 animations, mostly about the war in Iraq. One of her latest is WWJD (contains graphic war photos).

Cover the Uninsured Week, May 1-7, 2006

2006-04-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Next week is Cover the Uninsured Week for healthcare.

"...if necessary using words."

2006-04-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

I found the footnote for this blog today:

"Preach the Gospel everywhere, if necessary using words." - St. Francis of Assisi

How cool is that? Totally me.

Book List

2006-04-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

In all its linkyfied glory...

Currently reading:

Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code by Dan Burstein
Looks like a good encyclopedia of articles so I can pick and choose the things I'm interested in...mostly canonization of the Bible.

Perfect Freedom : Why Liberal Christianity Might Be the Faith You're Looking For by Brian Mountford
I've read a little bit about this online and I'm intrigued by what is cultural vs. what is...God.

Upcoming (alpha by author/editor):

The Heart Is a Little to the Left: Essays on Public Morality by William Sloane Coffin
Does a Christian have to be a Conservative?

Lost Christianities : The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman
More on canonization. Was there anything God-breathed that got left out? What about man-made stuff that got in?

God's Self-Confident Daughters: Early Christianity and the Liberation of Women by Anne Jensen
Did cultural junk get pushed into the Bible to push women down?

A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN by Brian D. McLaren
This one's on your list. For me, it's further exploration of where-do-I-do-from-here...

The Nag Hammadi Library in English by James M. Robinson
I'll never read this entirely, but it's cool to look stuff up in occasionally.

When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome by Richard E. Rubenstein
More on canonization of scripture.

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar : Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail by Margaret Starbird
More on the theories from the Da Vinci Code

When Women Were Priests : Women's Leadership in the Early Church and the Scandal of Their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity by Karen J. Torjesen
More on what happened culturally that perpetuated a patriarchical setup in Christianity.

Cost of Spritual Growth

2006-04-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

So I ordered a buncha used books from the Amazon Marketplace as part of my current spiritual quest to learn more about the early church and such. Well, I found out at the grocery store on Saturday that my ATM was blocked due to 'suspicious activity'. I called this morning and found out it was my several transactions through the Amazon Marketplace that triggered their Fraud Unit. I was quizzed about all of my personal info to make sure it's me. Then I had to state whether these transactions were mine or not and to give the amounts of each. I said, well, I can look them up if you want, but there were several...and I think only one of them even exceeded $10. The operator said, oh, yeah, they are quite small transactions.

Lesson: Don't get too slap happy when you're ordering (too many) books...the Fraud Unit is watching!

reading

2006-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

After a year long struggle to get into it, I flew through The Da Vince Code this month. My interest in the early Church has been piqued. I'm just beginning Perfect Freedom . I'll let you know how it turns out.

sprocket

2006-04-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm a sprocket in line with other sprockets whirring away together.

Sometimes I'm just a sprocket.