<%image(20050831-katrina_New Or.jpg|318|213|New Orleans)%> The gulf coast in Mississippi and Louisiana has been destroyed by hurricane Katrina. It hit yesterday morning, flooding New Orleans, destroying Biloxi (Mis.), and threatening the lives of thousands. The crazy thing is that it never crossed my mind to pray about all of this until dinner time yesterday. I had work to do, projects to manage, a home to prepare for company, my schedule was packed.
<%image(20050829-julie at picnic 8.05.jpg|250|188|Julie)%> My wife Julie (blue shirt, center) made it into the local news on the Bennington Banner. We attended a pot luck dinner yesterday that was supposed to kick off the new year by introducing the parents to the teachers in an informal setting. It was a pretty good time, but very tiring to meet so many people all at once. Julie did a nice job chatting with the parents and struck a nice pose for the picture in the paper. I was probably cowering behind a cup of iced tea at the time, trying to make myself invisible.
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While meeting with some friends yesterday we discussed the work of the Holy Spirit in each Christian and our role as his temple. In no specific order, here are some thoughts:
<%image(20050828-google moon.jpg|154|87|google moon)%> Having a hard time finding work? Looking for a career that is out of this world? Google is currently offering jobs on the moon for the year 2008. Check out Google’s map of the moon http://moon.google.com/, be sure to zoom in close and get a good look. Job opportunities are listed under the link “More about google moon”. Hat tip to Joel for finding this site.
As an advocate of GMail and the Mozilla Firefox web browser, I’m a big fan of programs that are free (or at least resonably priced) and are designed intelligently (not to be confused with “intelligent design”), I’m fairly opposed to programs such as America Online. AOL has destroyed many a fine computer with spyware and all kinds of programs that run while the computer is on. As if causing computers to crash wasn’t enough, AOL has added a new offense . . .
Some laws are very useful. Some are not. Some could be useful, but are enforced in useless ways. Typically the useless laws are aimed at making someone, a politician usually, look good. Useless laws give an illusion that something is being done about a problem and they provide tidy statistics that will hopefully win the politician re-election. The real kicker is that if you question the enforcement of laws or the usefulness of laws themselves, you really can’t help but look like the bad guy, even if the laws are useless. Here are some examples:
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I just read an interesting article on the BBC’s home page about the increase of obesity in America. Apparently this is a problem that is not going away. The risk of diabetes and heart disease are on the rise, prompting one person from India to comment:
“3/4 population is dying without food and remaining 1/4 population is dying with too much of food. I don’t know whether this model of the world is working”
Shaz, Varanasi, India
There’s an important part of the postmodern critique of modernity’s quest for certainty that I often overlook. Instead of admitting that I can’t be 100% scientifically certain about much of anything, the matter lies more with the fact that NO ONE can be that certain. Everyone is part of interconnected and infinitely complex systems that influence their knowledge. So if I am ever critiqued on account of my bias, I can just as well point out the bias of the one who critiques. You could say that postmodernism sort of levels the playing field.
The reading for today’s morning hour has spurned some thinking about sharing my faith. Here’s the passage:
The Parable of the Growing Seed
4:26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. 4:27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 4:28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 4:29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.”
(from the NET Bible)
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While reading Psalm 1 today I realized that I take a lot for granted. I take it for granted that this describes me:
“How happy is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners,
or sit in the assembly of arrogant fools!”
But is that the real me???
Google is once again in the news, offering a revamped desktop companion that will keep track of your documents, track e-mail, suggest relevant web pages, keep you up to date with your favorite pages, and much more. It’s nice to know that SOMEBODY is challenging Microsoft and may also knock off part of AOL’s business as an added bonus.
In light of the tragic murder of the founder of the Taize movement, Christianity Today has published an excellent article about this movement and the common ground many Christians have found within it. I have found that there is immense value in ancient forms of prayer, fixed hour prayer, and silent meditation. Reading about the Taize movement has raised questions in my own mind about the nature of many evangelical worship services, in particular the focus on singing and teaching. Perhaps we are missing out on something.
According to some reviews of George Barna’s latest offering, Revolution, the church is in for some major changes in the next 20-30 years. Whereas 70% of Americans primary spiritual experience and expression is currently found in the church, this number will shrink to 30$ by 2025. That’s not a direct quote from the book, so don’t hold to that as doctrine, unlike the rest of Barna’s findings 
. Yet I would have to say that God is up to something, calling people to gather in new ways and opening up possibilities for him to exhibit greater influence in the church. While the opportunities are great, the threats are also great and must be faced. If anything, we will need more faith than ever as we gather together and seek God.
Faith. The last 6-9 months have been a real walk of faith. A reminder that most of my life is not a walk of faith. IN fact, most of life has not required a whole lot of faith. Even the faith I’ve needed to place in God seems to be all a gift from him. I can’t explain how to rest in God. Nevertheless, last Spring I heard God say that he wanted me to take July and August off. There would be a job after that for me. That wasn’t enough for me.
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Limited though I am in time before my cousin’s wedding, I was hoping to hammer out a few thoughts I’ve been having of late and then fill them in later. The main concept on my mind is when those in the emerging church have gone too far. This does not refer to the leadership per se, I have a great deal of trust for guys like McLaren, Pagitt, etc. I am far more concerned with those who have identified with the emerging church, soak it up, and then run with it. When have we taken some of the concepts of emergent and taken them too far?
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::INAMIRRORDIMLY:: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other. Ed Cyzewski is a freelance writer, theologian, and a nonprofit employee in southern Vermont.
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