:: inamirrordimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

<%image(20050930-soulofchristianity.jpg|50|75|soul)%> While at the Northshire Bookstore today I came across Huston Smith’s book The Soul of Christianity : Restoring the Great Tradition. It’s a look at the essentials of Christianity and the effects of modern secularism on our society. Having read the introduction I am thoroughly intrigued and the list of authors who recommend it includes Lamott, Willard, and McLaren.

<%image(20050929-hildenepolo.jpg|110|90|hildene polo vt)%> Though many have lamented, in the strongest of language at times, the inability of Philadelphia’s pro sports teams to bring home a championship within recent memory (25 years), the fact of the matter is that Philly is one of the best towns around for a sports fan. The shock waves of loyalty and passion that rumble from the epicenter in South Philly make the ground tremble in Doylestown, where the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles, and Sixers reign uncontested as the teams of choice. Beyond these major teams, Philly boasts minor league teams in hockey and baseball (right across the river in NJ that is), as well as professional teams in women’s basketball, arena football, lacrosse, indoor soccer, and I’m sure the list goes on.
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Situated an hour north of Philadelphia, our previous home was in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Doylestown had a lot going for it on the outskirts of a major US city, but none was more evident than the tremendous number of hair salons. There were the chains such as Fantastic Sams and Haircuttery, the appointment only places out of peoples’ homes, the generic hair salon, and then the drop $75 in an hour places. The $75 places typically had pink walls, pictures and short bios of each stylist in the front window, and pictures on the walls of glamorous women with styled, poofed, and sprayed hair.
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All of Southern Vermont had a huge power outage starting a little after 4 pm yesterday. I was right in the middle of an e-mail when all went black. I thought to myself, “Somebody as the power station is about to get fired.” With nothing much to do at the Art Center, I went home and picked up a couch with my father-in-law. By the time we got it in the house it was so dim that we couldn’t really tell how it looked in the living room. As the night progressed and the local energy company promised to have everything up and running by midnight, we dug up everything that could burn safely and began setting up our favorite game: The Settlers of Catan, supplemented by the expansion set: The Seafarers of Catan.
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<%image(20050927-handbook for bloggers.gif|220|120|blog handbook)%> It’s amazing to read about the limited freedom of speech throughout the world. China regulates not only news web sites, but has extended its reach to control blogs as well. Glutter.org tells about this struggle for democracy in China. In addition, Tunisia hardly lets anyone use the internet, lest they have access to uncensored reporting!

To assist in leveling the playing field, reporters without borders has put together a blog handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents. Though heavy on the journalistic end, I think it’s a useful tool for the average blogger, provided that it is read selectively. It is also fascinating to read how freedom is finding a way in some of the most restricted countries. I am so thankful to read of those who are fighting to keep this hope alive.

<%image(20050926-collision.JPG|70|70|crowder)%> Unfortunately we did not draw up our budget over the weekend, so I have to wait and see if we have the funds properly allocated to purchase David Croder’s new CD. Of course I would be in the dark about his latest offering were it not for Andrew Jones. In fact, every day begins with a cup of freshly ground Green Mountain coffee, blog roaming (especially on Tallskinnykiwi), and a quick read of the BBC. Andrew provided a link to a review of the CD by Matthew Westerholm, who is consequently putting the “fun” back into fundamentalist. Poor chap.

Oh for a digital camera . . . A digital camera is on our list of items to buy so we can document days like today with clear blue skies, towering mountains, a fireman’s carnival in the park in front of our house, yard sales all over town, the marketplace downtown, 60 cent sundaes at Stewart’s, and the finishing of a closet upstairs. The carnival is a small town affair, but it’s a good time with the baked good wheel of fortune, the usual selection of carnival games, and few rickety rides that I’m glad to watch from afar. It’s certainly a blast to be right in the middle of community life, walking over and seeing people from around town and talking about whatever. Not much else to do today but put up some blinds from IKEA, get dinner at the new pizza place (the Bumble Bee: Pizza, Bakery, Cafe, and chit chat; I’m not kidding, these people really didn’t find their marketing niche), and watch fireworks at 9:30 tonight. My hopes are not up very high for the pizza or the fireworks, but at least we can just walk across our lawn and go home if they are lame!

Though the Bible is relevant at all times, it’s awfully hard to find passages that speak directly to the latest situations confronting the church in the West. In New Hampshire the Episcopal church is rapidly approaching a split over the election of a gay bishop, while the church of England is swept up in a controversy over the ordination of a bisexual person (formerly a he, now a she). Each of these issues are complex and arouse a myriad of emotions from both sides entangled in the controversies. How can the body of Christ stay together and still move forward in the midst of this crippling situation?
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<%image(20050923-Swimming VT2.jpg|174|233|equinox pond)%> Around the clock diners, greasy cheese steaks, sweltering summers, bottled up traffic jams, rolling hills, and the occasional patch of trees. These are my images of the Philadelphia (and its suburbs) that I left behind in moving to Arlington, Vermont. (Picture shows us swimming in Equinox Pond in front of Mt. Equinox)
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I’m having a very peaceful lunch break at the Northshire Bookstore and I came accross a great book called Community and Growth by Jean Vanier, the founder of the l’Arche community. She distinguishes a community from groups with a particular cause or agenda:

“A community will say come and see. It wants to manifest the truth in a non-violent way, offering the truth to others; visitors are encouraged to come, to ask questions to experience the way of life. A community knows that the fundamental questions of life can only be looked at in a spirit of peace and inner freedom. Nobody can force anyone else to love and to walk in freedom. Militants for a cause will tend to be organized for a struggle which they hope to win; they will seek to impose their way aggressively. Frequently they seek outward change more than inward change” (86).

And there you have it. The ideal for the church vs. the tendency of the Christian right. It’s far to easy to sacrifice community for a cause.

Todd Hiestand tagged my blog the other day, and so now I have the pleasure of tagging some other blogs that I check out. I should admit that sometimes I just go off into the web and look for people with different experiences than myself, perhaps in another country or someone who’s traveling all over the world. Other times I look for people who have strong opinions about something. As a mild and fairly measured person, I find people who feel strongly about the environment, politics, etc. fascinating. I think they have so much to teach me, even if I don’t agree with their views. My typical blog diet can be found on the side bar of this blog. Of course every emerging church blogger has a link to TSK, and I really enjoy Scott’s theopraxis blog. So here are some blogs that I think are worth a look, but have not made it to the side bar yet:

To Write or Not to Write: a blog in English by an Iranian student in France. His perspective and observations are very sharp and interesting.

Just Todd: A friend from Oklahoma who has some good thoughts on theology and culture.

That’s about all for now, it’s time to start painting the closet we just put in upstairs.

A delightful morning can always be had by reading through Anne Lamott’s article archive from salon.com. This morning I read through “God Doesn’t Take Sides” and found the following statement compelling:

You can tell you are following Jesus, instead of following people who are following Jesus, when you truly get — or grok, as the late, great Robert Heinlein put it — that we are one family, brothers and sisters. We stand up for the very least in our family: the Republican uncle with his shotgun, the grandparent with Alzheimer’s, the stoner cousin, the aunt with no savings.

If you can dive through Lamott’s politics and witty asides, I think that you will find a profound truth here. So often what we call Jesus is really just the image of Jesus that someone else has painted for us, and not the living Christ who was raised from the dead and lives in us through his Holy Spirit.

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<%image(20050920-dylan.jpg|120|75|dylan)%> At my place of employment, the Southern Vermont Arts Center, the Woodstock photo gallery has been extended to this Thursday. It’s a great collection of photos from Woodstock and of the bands who performed there. I’ll be sad to see it go. The pictures of Dylan, Joplin, and the swarming crowds are a lot of fun to look at. One particular shot from the stage shows the throng of people with clear skies on one side and imposing storm clouds quickly sweeping in to soak everyone. If you’re somewhere near southern Vermont in the next few days, I highly recommend stopping by to check it out.

If God wrote a leadership book, it would not bear much of a resemblance to the books on the market today. Here are some principles that I have noticed in successful leaders under God:

• Afflict them with hardship.
• Teach them humility and submission to others.
• Hide important parts of the future from them.
• Put them in situations beyond their qualifications.
• Remove them from key posts at crucial times without a plan for a replacement.

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Andrew Jones has some thoughts that are helpful in light of my post on the 17th regarding culture and the church. Link