Meditations and Contemplations

New Blog

2009-02-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

I've done it. I started a new blog specifically for work type stuff. The first post is about Twitter and why it works for me as a communication medium. I wanted to call it Anthony Online, but that was taken - so it's Online Anthony.

I've got a whole bunch of posts lined up and waiting to be written if I can find the time. Hopefully that will be soon ;-)

If you're interested in social media, ColdFusion, web development or other such topics stop on over. I'd love it if you left a comment for me! Hope to see you there.

http://onlineanthony.blogspot.com/

This space will continue to be for personal posts, pictures, family stuff and the like. I'll post a cross-link to this site when I update posts over there, just to let people know what I'm up to.

Goodbye 2008 - Hello 2009!

2009-01-16T12:02:00.001-08:00

So maybe twice a year isn't so good a track record. 2008 was insanely busy and I barely had time to breath let alone write. However, I took the social media plunge, got a Facebook account, signed up with Twitter and now I'm even writing a blog post.

In addition, on the personal side, I started personal violin lessons to focus on my technique and improve my playing, started going to church on Friday night instead of Sunday morning and started gaming again with our gaming group.

Theo turned 2 and is now exerting his 2fulness, Avi just turned 5 and exhibits enough signs of Asperger's Syndrome to qualify for services when he enters school. Both of them are exhausting and wonderful and challenging and fun.

Elizabeth started teaching again part time (2 days a week - team teaching with Martha), which has been good for her despite a very difficult class. She is as brilliant and lovely as ever and I'm quite blessed to have her.

Writing takes time, but maybe I can become more dilligent (more focused?) this year as I once again attempt to wrest my time back from the forces of work and life. We shall see. So far 2009 has been good. I'm very hopeful it will get even better.

Milestones in Parenthood

2008-07-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! it's been a long time since I posted, but some things must be written down for posterity and this is one of them.

At almost 4 1/2 years old to the day, Avi has requested that I read the Hobbit to him. I've been looking forward to this day since he was born and, I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised that it's come so soon. I wasn't expecting this until he was at least 6.

Hopefully, we'll actually make it through the whole book but I'll just take it a chapter at a time. So far it's one down, many to go.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank Phil Vischer for this opportunity. It was Veggie Tales' Lord of the Beans (and Avi's current interest in spooky stories - goblins, dragons, trolls and giant spiders were a pretty big hook) that got the ball rolling. I wouldn't recommend Lord of the Beans, by the way. As far as Veggie Tales go it's one of the weakest. Avi likes it, though. But he's only 4...

Family Friendly Film?

2007-11-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

My wife went to IKEA Friday which Avi thinks is great because he can play in the play area while they are there. Along with the ball pit, and giant wooden shoe is a movie viewing area. When Elizabeth went to pick him up, she asked him what he was watching. "Rat Patootie," he said. Giggling she looked over and saw what was playing: Ratatouille.

Child Development: Blocks Help Language Acquisition?

2007-10-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

A small study reported from the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and reported in Reuters seems to indicate that playing with blocks helps advance language learning. The study was relatively small and funded by Mega Bloks, so there's a bit of an asterisk hanging over it but it's interesting nonetheless.

I'm not sure that blocks are really key here, though. From the article:

Such play may also substitute for less stimulating activities such as watching television, [Study author Dimitri Christakis] said, adding parents ought to be skeptical of some toy-makers' claims.

"An increasing number of media-based products are making unsubstantiated claims that they can make children smarter, more literate, and more musical," Christakis wrote.

Bottom Line:
Interacting with the real world and doing physical problem-solving is much better than TV for child development. However, for language acquisition, blocks will not be enough. Interactive reading, talking and playing with your child not only do wonders for building your relationship, but also help with all manner of development including language.

Source
Playing with blocks helps with language, study finds

See Also
Kids Health: TV and Attention Problems
One More Reason to Kill Your TV

Kids' Health: Food Additives and Hyperactivity

2007-10-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the theme of kids' health, here's an article reporting on a Lancet study that found a link between certain food additives and hyperactivity. The study had a relatively small sample set, but the results were compelling and warrant a larger study.

In the study, fruit drinks had food colorings and preservatives added to them and those children that had the additives exhibited increased hyperactivity. But here's the kicker:

"These findings show that adverse effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity (such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population and across the range of severities of hyperactivity," the researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical journal.

So, according to the study, hyperactivity was even seen in children who wouldn't normally exhibit it. What exactly were these additives? According to the article:

They included sunset yellow coloring, also known as E110; carmoisine, or E122; tartrazine, or E102; ponceau 4R, or E124; the preservative sodium benzoate, or E211; and other colors.

One of the two mixtures contained ingredients commonly drunk by young British children in popular drinks, they said. They did not specify what foods might include the additives.

Both mixtures significantly affected the older children. The 3-year-olds were most affected by the mixture that closely resembled the average intake for children that age, Stevenson's team reported.

While there are those that debate the findings, it seems that once again the precautionary principal comes into play: if it might be harmful, best avoid or limit it. Common sense would dictate that natural foods - fruits, vegetables and whole grains - are going to be better for health than process ones loaded with artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners.

Bottom Line: When buying food and drinks for your children, avoid any artificial colors or flavors. Look for 100% juice and all natural snacks (fruit and nuts are great options!) The other stuff is not only poor quality, it's potentially very harmful.

Source: Food additives may cause hyperactivity: study

Kids Health: TV and Attention Problems

2007-10-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

One thing that has caught my eye lately are various reports regarding children's health issues. I'm going to try and post these reports when I can. My over-ambitious idea is to start a new blog and cross post, but I've decided to start small. I can always migrate when I think I've got enough to go on.

Here's a couple of studies that came out of New Zealand in September. It seems rather obvious that television viewing affects attention to some degree or another. This study preliminarily links TV to attention problems:

Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a study released on [September 4, 2007]

Reuters: Study links attention problems to early TV viewing

It goes on to quote the study

"Those who watched more than two hours, and particularly those who watched more than three hours, of television per day during childhood had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence," Carl Landhuis of the University of Otago in Dunedin wrote in his report, published in the journal Pediatrics.

Although the study didn't prove a causal connection between the two, it did seem to indicate that those with less TV experienced fewer attention problems. A second article on the report speculates about reasons for the trend:

He [Carl Erik Landhuis of the Dunedin School of Medicine at the University of Otago, the study's first author] and his colleagues suggest that kids who get used to watching lots of attention-grabbing TV may find ordinary life situations -- like the classroom -- boring. It's also possible, they add, that TV may simply crowd out time spent doing other activities that can build attention and concentration skills, such as reading and playing games.

Reuter's: Too much TV ups kids' risk of attention problems

Bottom Line: Keep television viewing under 2 hours a day for those over two years old and no television for those under two. My personal preference is no television, period, although my almost-four-year-old son watches two days a week for about forty-five minutes or so, which I can live with.

Related Articles:
More TV time means worse school performance - May 8, 2007
'Genius' videos may hinder baby development: study - August 9, 2007
Kids shovel down more calories watching TV - February 22, 2007

Related Posts
One More Reason to Kill Your TV

Let's Try This Again

2007-10-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted since April. It's been a really busy year. Q3 was eaten up by work, work work - it was seriously manic. Anyway, I'm going to try a go at this writing business again.

It's not like I haven't been doing other stuff. Along with work, I've been playing lots of fiddle (well, maybe not lots, but I try to get an hour a night in, if at all possible.) Theo had his first birthday, Avi started pre-school (OK, that was just this week) and life in general has just been hectic.

I have a ton of ideas for postings and writings I need to complete (Isaiah,ahem), but I'll try to be somewhat more modest and get at least a post a week in - hopefully, more, but we'll see.

Sink Bath!

2007-04-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's nice when you're small enough to take a bath in the sink. Just ask Theo!

Boy of La Mancha

2007-04-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes parenting is simply a struggle to keep things from going completely sideways. Last Friday Elizabeth went out for a well-deserved night out with friends, leaving me with the boys. Unfortunately, I was wiped out from the week and had no energy. Luckily - or not - Avi had enough for the both of us. The following photo essay is Avi pretending to be Don Quixote (AKA the Asparagus of La Mancha) I got to be the windmill...

It may look like I have the upper hand in this next picture, but the windmill never wins...

I am defeated.

Theo enjoyed the show.

One More Reason to Kill Your TV

2007-04-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

Reuters: TV-less family dinners best for healthy eating

Well, duh.

But wait, there's more. It's not just that families are distracted and don't talk to one another - that wasn't the focus of the study. It's not the usual media exposure and negative physical effects of TV. No - it's that kids eat fewer fruits and veggies when watching TV at dinner.

Bottom line - if you can't bring yourself to kill your television, at least turn it off during dinner. Please.

Need help? TrashYourTV.com has some ideas.

How to Rock the Fiddle

2007-04-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Watch this. Alex Depue can seriously play this thing.

Theo Pics

2007-04-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Just sitting and playing with blocks.

Practicing his martial arts. This is a move I taught him called "Tornado Hands".

Avinoam, Chipmunk

2007-04-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well, he does have a brother named Theodore...

Boxes

2007-04-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

A picture I took with my Q (1.3 megapixels)
I think there are artistic possibilities with portable media devices but I haven't mastered this one.

Original (cropped)

Highly Stylized in Photoshop

Somewhat Stylized in Photoshop

Isaiah on Tuesday - Excuse Me?

2007-04-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'll read a passage and not understand what it's getting at, but in Isaiah 39 I don't understand Hezekiah's response to a seemingly dire prophecy.

It's a very short chapter. The summary is this: A group from Babylon shows up at Hezekiah's doorstep with letters and a gift due to Hezekiah's recovery from his illness. The king shows the emissaries all the treasures - everything in the royal palace. Isaiah says:

"Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
8 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."

What?!? The word of the LORD you have spoken is good? It seems like there are only a few interpretations:

Hezekiah's has a material perspective
Intending to impress the emissaries from Babylon, Hezekiah shows them his great wealth and hides nothing. His self-worth, his glory is in what he owns and he wants everyone to think highly of him. Isaiah's prophecy is good because he understands the error of his ways and peace is more valuable than gold. I don't really think this interpretation follows, but there is a case to be made for it.

Hezekiah has a short term perspective
Knowing that he will be dead in fifteen years, Hezekiah is pleased to hear that whatever tragedy may befall Israel, it will occur after his death. I think this interpretation is plausible, although it does make the king sound like an uncaring short-timer.

Hezekiah has a political perspective
While the palace may be looted, an alliance will be formed between Israel and Babylon - or Israel will be incorporated in Babylon. I don't see how Hezekiah could see this as good, but perhaps some of his descendants serving in the court of Babylon is far better than the alternative. The alliance - forced or by choice - is politically practical in Hezekiah's mind. I'm not convinced this interpretation works, but there does seem to be a political overtone in the prophecy and his response to it.

There are probably other interpretations but one interpretation I think isn't there is that Hezekiah has an eternal perspective. It seems clear that the king erred, whether because the letters sent to him contained offers of alliance, threats of destruction, simply encouraged competitive vanity or something else. Hezekiah should not have shown all the treasures of Israel to these Babylonian emissaries.

I think in some sense the treasures were a symbol of something sacred and holy, not items to be used to glorify the king. Hezekiah abused his treasures and they would be taken from him and Israel and given to a land and a people unworthy of them. The perplexing thing to me is why Hezekiah thought this was somehow good. My gut is that his short-term perspective blinded him to the eternal and he was taking the good (short-term peace) instead of the best (God's eternal will for Israel.)

I will need to ponder this more.

Isaiah on Tuesday - The Faith of the Redeemed

2007-04-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

After nearly 3 months off, I'm back traveling with Isaiah. I figured I really need to finish this series and it gives me some purposeful writing to do. I wish I could have been more diligent this past quarter, but were lack of content lives, grace abides all the more! I may drop the "Tuesday" part of this series and just try to get in as many posts as I can muster in a week. I have a lot of catching up to do.

OK, enough blather. We last left off with Hezekiah praying for the deliverance of Israel from Sennacherib and Sennacherib did indeed fall. Chapter 38 finds Hezekiah ill and praying for his own deliverance! While at the point of death he calls out to God and is given a 15 year reprieve from the grim reaper. Hezekiah is overwhelmed by God's grace and can't help but tell of what God did for him - he even writes a song about it:

10 I said, "In the prime of my life
must I go through the gates of death ^[a]
and be robbed of the rest of my years?"
11 I said, "I will not again see the LORD,
the LORD, in the land of the living;
no longer will I look on mankind,
or be with those who now dwell in this world. ^[b]
12 Like a shepherd's tent my house
has been pulled down and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;
day and night you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently till dawn,
but like a lion he broke all my bones;
day and night you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.
I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!"
15 But what can I say?
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.
I will walk humbly all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.
16 Lord, by such things men live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.
17 Surely it was for my benefit
that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
behind your back.
18 For the grave ^[c] cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise you,
as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The LORD will save me,
and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the temple of the LORD.

Sometimes it takes death or near death for us to truly recognize God's grace in our lives. As Christians we are in that place - we've been saved out of death and been given life. All to often I am guilty of taking that for granted and not recognizing God's grace in my life.

One of the meditations we're doing at church right now is on Mark 14 which is appropriate for this season. As we go through Holy Week, will we join Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and pray and watch with Him? And as we do what do we sense God is saving us out of (what is being crucified in our lives)? What is he saving us into (what is being born/resurrected)?

I think if we really though about it, we'd be composing songs of praise as well.

Avinoam, Rock Star

2007-04-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Just a picture I took with my Q a while back. I don't think I've posted it before. Avi in his volatile rock star mode.

Gardening and Kipper and Stuff

2007-04-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Our new place has quite a large piece of land for gardening - well, large for an urban back yard. It's probably average size for the suburbs. Anyway, we've started a garden with the help of our pastor who is, among other things, a prolific gardener. We're growing two kinds of kale, broccoli, green beans, cucumbers, zucchinis, onions, potatoes, corn, peppers, tomatoes and hopefully some raspberries. We also have some cilantro in a pot and will probably do some other potted herbs and whatnot. Only the kale, broccoli and cilantro are in now, but the rest will follow as their planting time arrives.

It's pretty exciting for Avi since he not only gets to garden (he's quite enjoyed stomping about in the mud as well as planting the kale), but grow his own toys. He's enjoyed playing with cucumbers and zucchinis for a while now, but this should save us some money.

Avi hasn't been into the VeggieTales as much since we moved, though. That's in part to his toys being less accessible and also because we're only allowing faster-paced videos a couple times a week. As a consequence, he's been watching the much slower Kipper the Dog. I'm no longer Archibald Asparagus, he now calls me Tiger (a dog). Elizabeth is Jake (a dog) and Theodore is Arnold (a baby pig). Other characters get foisted upon people as context allowed. If you ever visit and Avi says "You're Pig!", don't take offense. You've been honored as a character in Avi's world.

Hive: A Very Fun Game

2007-04-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

So remember that post about Mike Doyle? Well, he has a widget that displays his most recently played games and I click on them just to find out what kind of fun I'm not having right now (life's been a bit hectic for gaming...) One of those games was Hive. I looked at the entry at BoardGameGeek and it looked like a cool game.

It's chess-like, for two players and played with tiles but no board. What's more there's an online version at hivemania.com, so I've played a few games and I can say that this is a great game, highly addictive and worth getting. I'll play the digital version for now, but it's on my ever-growing list.

Family as Parable

2007-03-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Do you believe that God is present in the smile of a child, in the tears of a parent's grief over a suffering adolescent, in the sudden breakthrough of understading between quarreling spouses? Eternal truths can be learned by observing the most common elements of life: nursing an infant may be a window into God's nurturing care for each of us; bandaging a cut can help us know the healing desire of God; playing games may speak of the divine playfulness that knows our need for recreation; tending a garden may teach us the dynamics of growth. Families learn that they are sacred communities when they begin to name and claim the many forms of God's grace in their daily life.

- Marjorie J. Thompson
from "Family: The Forming Center"*

I think Ms. Thompson is on to something here and I quite agree with her. God has put us in community because He is a communal person. We learn about God by observing one another which only makes sense given that we are created in His image and likeness. This is especially true of families and for me as a parent. I understand now more than ever the father heart of God because I, myself, am a father. I understand myself as a son of God by observing my own sons - how do they see me? How do they want or need me to respond to them? What is child-likeness?

God is the great teacher and He knows we learn much more by personal experience than any other method. Suddenly, I now have the text-to-self connection I need to understand what the Bible is saying about various topics. Could I understand it without these? Yes, but now I understand it on a deeper level. It is God's grace in my life that allows me to be a continual learner - to know Him better and more. It's something I need and yet one more thing for which to be thankful.

* Quote provided from Sojourners "Verse and Voice" - Subscribe

Mike Doyle's Art Play

2007-03-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

As a gamer and one who appreciates art and design, I found this blog to be well worth a look, especially if you're into Eurogames. Even if you're not, you might like the pretty pictures.

Mike Doyle's Art Play

Quote of the Day

2007-03-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.

- Frederic D. Huntington
Forum magazine, 1890

I'm Not Dead

2007-03-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yet.

But my writing sure has been comatose. I think I may be waking a bit, though, and this post is at least a heartbeat. Yes, I can still fog a mirror, at least in the literary sense.

So what's up with me? Avi turned 3, Theo is 7 months old, we bought a house and moved last week, I've finished most of my big projects at work and am starting on the next ones and I'm still playing the violin.

That's a lot and it has definitely been a distraction from writing. There will be more to tell, but these fingers are out of practice and I need to take it slowly - I don't need a keyboard injury to lay me up for a few weeks. So yeah, I'm back and we'll just see where that takes me.

Too Cool Not to Share: Breakdance to Classical Music

2007-01-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still alive, just very, very, very busy. This was worth sharing though.

Popping and Breakdancing to Classical Music VideoSift

Via: VideoSift

Merry Stuffmas, Everyone!

2006-12-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's late, I know, but I hope everyone had a merry Stuffmas or happy Stuffnakuh or whatever shopping-induced, gift-fueled holiday you choose to celebrate. We tried hard not to have Stuffmas and to have Christmas instead and I think we did well for the most part, but we will need to continue to work at removing the Stuff and inserting the Christ into the season.

The adults in the family have pretty much been able to refocus the holiday (Elizabeth and I anyway) but even we need to get better at it. The problem is everybody likes stuff and gifts are free stuff. Kids understand stuff and don't have the social graces to mask their excitement about presents. Don't get me wrong - I love presents, too - it's just that presents have become the entire focus of the holiday.

I suppose if you remove Jesus, you have to replace Him with something and since the official state religion in the US is commerce it makes sense that stuff would be the replacement. If there is a war on Christmas, which I doubt, it has been waged covertly from Madison Avenue for years. It isn't the removal of nativities from the public square (although, even here in Portland we still have a very public Christmas tree) or the inclusive "Happy holidays!" (Oh fine, let's greet Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Atheists, etc. in a way that includes them, never mind it's way shorter than Merry Christmas and happy new year...) that have devalued the religious origins of the holiday. Those things are only a recognition of a multicultural society and represent common courtesies to all American citizens.

No, it is the full-embrace of commerce as the reason for the season rather than Christ that has caused its meaning to be lost. We like to pretend that we are noble by saying that it is giving or family or helping the less fortunate that embodies the spirit of Christmas, but in our hearts those things are just indulgences that mask our true desire for stuff. I have talked to many people this year who are just tired of the buying, the hustle and the focus on what's under the tree rather than the reason there's even a tree at all.

So while the covert operatives at Stuffmart and Madison Avenue are even now preparing their next holiday campaign, I am declaring open war on Stuffmas! Even now, families across the country are joining me in rejecting the stuff-focused holiday and are looking for ways to once again bring true meaning to season. It starts with new traditions, or maybe old ones rekindled. It makes the season a special one, but not because of acquisition, but because of acquaintances. The magic of Christmas is God come as man, to redeem the lost, to bring peace and to bring true love to all. This is a special season, a supernatural one - let's not continue to debase and devalue it with the material.

Who's with me?

Theo: Now With Teeth!

2006-12-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

Yep. It's true he's popping 'em out right and left - literally. Two on the bottom and he's working on a third on top. He really can't wait to be out and about and doing things. He's eating mushed peas now and will probably on to avocados soon - though his primary food source is still good ol' mother's milk. He also likes to jump and jump and jump and jump - that's why we got him a jumper (see picture.) We got tired of bouncing or holding him while he jumped. The contraption saves us weary backs and he gets very happy in his bouncing machine...bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun...

Too Much Content, Too Little Time

2006-12-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have much to post, but my time has been short especially this week. I lost 2 out of my 3 web servers at work and spend most of one day recovering the first one (bad power supply - easy fix) and won't recover the second one until next year when we take it down to bare metal and reinstall from scratch.

The timing is absolutely terrible, but we have one server up and happy and another one that is adequately. The upside is that these are internal development servers for the most part and haven't totally brought us down. There was some loss of productivity, but it was also a good lesson in processes and helps for planning 2007. Remember: it's almost always faster to rebuild than to repair. Take those disk images regularly...

Return of The Prisoner

2006-12-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

AMC is going to remake the Prisoner (and show the original episodes.)

For those of you who don't know, The Prisoner was one the all-time great television series. It ran from 1967-68, had a set number of episodes before it even started and told the story of a spy who tried to retire from the agency only to find himself in the mysterious "village" - a retirement community of sorts for people who know too much and shouldn't be out in the world. Only our protagonist doesn't want to be in the village, so he spends each episode trying to escape, trying to avoid divulging information to the enigmatic number 2 and generally trying to figure out the mysteries of The Village.

Rent the original episodes (or catch them on AMC when they rerun) I'd be interested in seeing the the remakes only we don't have a television and don't plan on getting one anytime soon, let alone subscribing to cable. I suppose there's always the internet...

LINK: AMC Locks Up The Prisoner

Joseph Barbera: RIP

2006-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Joseph Barbera of Hanna/Barbera has died at age 95. Their cartoons shaped the cultural landscape of my generation. Yabba-dabba-do! You were smarter than the average bear.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6191999.stm (BBC)
(Photo Credit: AP)

Just One More Reason to Be Vegetarian

2006-12-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

Low-protein diet might reduce cancer risk

Aside from the environmental benefits and the efficiency (growing plants to feed people instead of growing plants to feed animals to feed people), add one more health benefit to no meat - it may reduce cancer...again.

Link: Low-protein diet might reduce cancer risk

'Twas Brillig

2006-12-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

We got Avi a Jabberwocky book a while back and he quite likes it. In fact, just today he was playing Jabberwocky in the park with Elizabeth, a stick his vorpal sword. So when my sister asked if he'd like a plush Jaberwocky, how could I say no? It's in his bed right now as I write. The question is, are nerds made or are they born?

On a related note, he also has a Santa Cthulu. It's great! How many kids have seasonal plush Ancient Ones? Not many, I'd wager. That was also my sister's doing. He isn't quite as attached to that one as the Jabberwock, but he hasn't read any Lovecraft...yet.

If you want to know why my sister is getting Avi this odd assortment of toys, it's because she owns a game store: Z Games in Vancouver, Washington. The toys are from Toy Vault - they also have an excellent selection of Monty Python toys.

Hirsuit Avi

2006-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

I wish I was present for this story, but alas, it comes from Elizabeth. She will no doubt make corrections if I get it wrong - and it wouldn't be the first time

Avi was looking at an ornament hanging on our small Christmas tree in the corner of the room, which happened to be a picture of him in a Santa Clause frame. Santa has a big, white beard and his outstretched arms hold the "frame" portion of the ornament. Elizabeth was telling Avi that the picture was him when he was one. He kept staring at the ornament, looking puzzled and said, "no, that's not me." Elizabeth reassured Avi that, yes, it was indeed him that he was looking at. It was clear he wasn't buying it and after staring a little bit longer he asked incredulously, "I had a white beard?"

Isaiah on Tuesday - Faith of Hezekiah

2006-12-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

In chapters 36 and 37 of Isaiah, the book takes an historical narrative turn. Isaiah recounts the siege of Jerusalem, which wasn't much of a siege at all. The army of Assyria marches up to the city walls and demands surrender; moreover, the field commander mocks the God of Israel saying that none of the other conquered people's gods saved them. It was both a boast and an insult.

Hezekiah, however, refused to bow to the Assyrian army, but instead turned to God for deliverance. God indeed delivered Jerusalem - slaying the army supernaturally and sending the field commander packing.

It should be noted, however, that God lays out His reason for saving the city in Chapter 37, verse 35, "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!" God is faithful to His promises and though Hezekiah was saved, It was for God's glory and not his that city was delivered.

New Template - Again

2006-12-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

So Blogger and Google got together and offered some new features for the blog and I thought I'd take advantage of them. The most notable is labels. Look at the bottom of each post and to the right column - you'll see a label marking general topic categories. Now you can view posts by topic! Cool.

I may change the look to be a bit more minimal, but for now, it works. I'm in the process of labeling all the past posts, but there are a fair amount, so it may take a while.

Hand Transplant Not a Horror Movie

2006-12-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

Woman has double hand transplant (BBC)

Once again the miracles of modern technology never cease to amaze me. I just hope those hands didn't belong to a serial killer...or someone who died with an unquenched need for revenge.

Children suffer when mother lacks input, UNICEF says (Reuters)

2006-12-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder to all you men out there: Eve was created because YOU needed the help. You couldn't do it yourself and were never meant to. See this whole marriage thing is a partnership, like the whole church thing. We really need to get better at this...

Link: Children suffer when mother lacks input, UNICEF says (Reuters)

Flash, ah-ah-ahhhh!

2006-12-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

So there we were at the end of a nice Thai takeout dinner at our house with our friends. Avi and their son Gwylim who is also 3 had run back to Avi's room to play. Gwylim came back into the living room and was playing with some trains on the floor, but Avi was curiously quiet in his room. He could have been reading a book, or playing with his vegetables, but we soon found out what was up when, much to our surprise Avi came out in his socks and shouted, "I'm naked!" - So he was; bare but for the socks on his feet.

You know you'll be changing diapers, you know you'll be answering questions like "where did I come from", you even expect some idiosyncratic behavior, but you never expect a streaker. Children: expect the unexpected and plan for anything.

Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) on Iraq

2006-12-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Gordon Smith made a speech on the senate floor concerning Iraq. It's worth a read. If I can find time I'll comment.

Link: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002104.php

Misheard - Again...

2006-12-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

Once again the child's ear is an amusing thing. We were listening to the radio in the car on the way back from Theo's 4 month appointment (16 pounds, 26 inches - the boy is big) and Elizabeth said, "I think this is from Porgy and Bess."

Avi replied, "I want an accordion vest!"

Me too. Although a guitar t-shirt wouldn't be bad either.

EPA: Don't Get the Lead out

2006-12-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

EPA: Don't Get the Lead out - TPMMuckRaker.com

I was just thinking this morning - You know, I haven't been getting enough lead in my lungs lately.

Unmarried Mary

2006-12-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

Unmarried Mary
14 years old
Pulls aside her betrothed
At a party.

Whispers unwelcome news
It's not the path he would choose
And so with pensive face
Decides to lessen her disgrace
And divorce her -
Quietly.

But for the grace
Of God
She alone with orphan child
Divine intervention
Restores hope -
Peace on Earth and
Mercy Mild.

Yet, shame and scandal still:
Unmarried,
Mary's belly belies baby
But with Betrothed to Bethlehem goes.
Insult added to injury, though;
Inns full,
How about a stable stall?
After all -
Only 9 months pregnant.

And so
Groans mix with
Brey of mule and
Neigh of horse as
Pain of labor
Takes its course
And born alongside
Beast of Burden is
The Prince of Peace
And King of Kings
To Mary
Mother of Jesus.

Hallowed Be Thy Name

2006-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

In my first post ever on this blog I was discussing what the phrase "hallowed be thy name" means. Two months later, I was writing again on this topic. Today, I find myself back in that same place with yet more thoughts on the topic.

My first true meditations on the topic came about because I was teaching the Lord's Prayer to my Sunday school class. I struggled with communicating the concept of "hallowed" to these grade school kids, but did the best I could. It wasn't until yesterday when I was talking with my friend Rick that I realized why I've continued to struggle with this concept - there is NOTHING HALLOWED in the USA anymore. How do you convey a concept for which we have no context?

As I was thinking about this, I had to redefine the word hallowed into its verb form - to hallow. OK, that didn't get me very far. The deconstruction continued: If hallow means to set apart, to keep something from the profane then there is an active effort on our part to PROTECT that which should be hallowed - The name of God (as well as the Sabbath among other things, see those pesky 10 commandments.)

In my mind to hallow is to draw a line around something across which no profane or unholy thing may enter. We build a wall and then protect what is inside. I think this is very much the idea behind using the Lord's name in vain as well. God is so sacred, so holy that even his very name should be set apart and not used lightly.

Again, this enlightened my thinking about another odd phrase - at least to my 21st century ears: Lift up the name of God (and similar constructions.) Ahhh - now I have a vision of this. We hold God above the profane, above the average, we protect it, metaphorically, from the things of a sinful world. Further, we elevate its stature beyond something mundane - it is important, it is beautiful, precious, valuable. We are not to approach the throne of God lightly.

So what does this mean practically? I think that it means we must not be passive about God. "Hallowed be thy name" is not simply a reverential phrase, it is a call to action. We are to actively protect, defend, exalt and proclaim the name of God. It is an act of worship. We must regain the sense of reverence that the very name of God should invoke.

In Jewish tradition, "God" is never spoken or written, instead G-d is often used in print and the Tetragrammaton ( י‎ (yodh) ה‎ (heh) ו‎ (vav) ה‎ (heh) or יהוה‎ - YHWH) is said "Adonai" or "Hashem" not Yahweh. While seemingly legalistic, it is a visceral reminder that the very name of God is set apart and not to be used in the same way as any other name. I wonder if it might not be time for Christians to begin to look more closely at this idea - not to add another rule, but rather a tradition. It may be time to reevaluate and bring back the sacred in a deeper and more meaningful way - at least it feels like that for me.

Christian Bloggers

2006-11-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've added this blog to Christian Bloggers, a site which aggregates a publishes feeds from bloggers who are Christian. If you are curious what other people are writing from a Christian perspective, check it out. There's plenty of theology, but also life-in-general stuff (not unlike the potpourri you find here.)

Check it out - I'm sure you'll see it growing: http://www.christian-bloggers.com/index.php

The Psalms

2006-11-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

This is a "Quote of the Day" and I really like it. The Psalms, like many passages in the Hebrew scriptures can be mystifying. In one Psalm, David (or one of the other authors) is contrite, in the next worshipful and in the next asking for retribution on his enemies. I finally came to the conclusion that while this was scripture, it was also the thoughts, feelings, cries and songs of a person like you or me. How we disentangle the pathos of human life from the truth of who God is can only be done through prayer, I believe. Yet the Psalms are a very important part of our scriptural meditation and cannot be ignored because we don't like what they say. So here is the quote and attribution which is much more eloquent than me.

The Psalms defy our notions of profane and sacred, proving that everything we feel, witness, do unto others, and have done to us is acceptable subject matter for conversing with the Divine. They invite us to bring every part of ourselves into our houses of worship. If we omit expressions of faith lost, of rage, of disdain, and of the desire for revenge, we leave parts of ourselves at the door.

- Kari Jo Verhulst, in "The Dangers of De-Fanging God," Sojourners, Nov-Dec 1999

Isaiah on Tuesday - Images of Redemption

2006-11-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Once more as I approach Isaiah I find that chapter divisions, while helpful for reference, divide the text where they should probably stay together. Last time, I looked at Isaiah 34 and likened the prose to a Conan novel due to its graphic and fantastical content.

This week starts where that chapter left off, although with a completely different theme. Last time, Isaiah was deep in judgment; today he is full of promise. To Isaiah, the physical world around him was a metaphor for what is and what is to come. In chapter 35, he uses that world to describe what redemption will be like:

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

He then goes on to list the imperfections that will be made Perfect:

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.

He then returns to the land around him as the desert, the burning sand, becomes a pool - a place of refreshment. Finally, a road will lead to the holy city upon which there is no fear of bandit or wild animal. The righteous will walk it and upon entering the city:

the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

That sounds pretty good to me. Redemption from Isaiah's standpoint is corruption becoming pure, emptiness becoming full, sickness being healed and barriers being removed. Hey! I want to be redeemed! Luckily, that's the promise under which we live.

Researchers say Canadian injection site a success - Reuters

2006-11-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Researchers say Canadian injection site a success (Reuters.com)

This came out last week and I wanted to write about it then, but didn't get the chance. Vancouver, BC tried an experiment in sane drug policy which was a great success. A site was provided where injection drug users could go a shoot up in a clean and safe environment. The needles were clean and disposed of safely and the users were able to get help treating their addictions.

Fears that crime would increase around the site were unfounded and in fact quite the opposite occurred. The treatment level was astounding and the public health ramifications positive, in that the spread of HIV/AIDS and other harms from needle sharing were diminished.

Drug policy (and other social policies) in the United States tend toward criminalization. Make things illegal and let the courts deal with those who break the law (or on the other side make them legal and let the states figure it out.) However, simply making something illegal doesn't make it go away, it just means that law enforcement deals with the problem, which isn't always the best institution to handle social ills.

The Vancouver experiment has shown us that other solutions can be much more effective than simple shuttling addicts off to jail. This is, of course, common sense but common sense isn't always easy, nor wisdom often cheap. I'm not advocating decriminalization - at least not yet - but I would advocate a radical shift in the way we deal with drugs in this country. Addicts need help to deal with their addiction and jail should be a method of last resort.

Of Coarse Knot

2006-11-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

Words are funny things and homonyms add even more confusion to our already confusing language. This isn't about homonyms per se, but about a slight mishearing my son Avi had when we arrived at church this last Sunday morning.

The context is somewhat fuzzy in my mind but Avi was still buckled in his seat and wanting to get out. Elizabeth, my wife, said something like, "We're not going to leave you in the car." I added, "Of course not!" The next thing I hear is Avi saying, "I'm not a poor snot!" Well, of course, not! Who's on first?

I guess it's a good insight into the mind of an almost-three-year-old. They haven't built the mental framework and phrase vocabulary to hear a snippet of speech, understand the context and interpret back into its intended meaning. This takes years of immersion in a language and one of the reasons that sarcasm isn't well understood until well into the grade-school years. It's important for us to continue to make sure that Avi understands what we mean when we say it and have him repeat back his own interpretation of events, instructions, jokes, whatever. He's very good at acting like he understands - and he probably thinks he does, but until we hear it back we can't be so sure.

Just another adventure in parenting - untangling the strange tangles of cognitive linguistics - a coarse knot, to be sure . (or is it two bee shore...?)

Update on the Boys

2006-11-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

Kristin has requested an update on my two sons and so, to show I am responsive to reader comments, here are a few notable things:

We were discussing the difference between what a man and what a boy was as well as the female equivalents and Avi seemed to be getting it pretty well. "Colin is a boy," he said, "and Daddy is a man." So far so good. "Gracie is a girl and Mommy is a woman." Yup. And of course, the requisite question - "And what about you, Avi?"

"I'm going to be a penguin when I grow up."

My son. The penguin.

Avi is currently into story play. What I mean by that is he reenacts, re-imagines and amalgamates different stories he's heard or seen. Certain elements are currently recurring - it's snowing, we're in an igloo (a "blanket-fort" either on his bed or with chairs) and Veggie Tales characters appear. I'm currently Larry or Archibald. I suppose that's better than Bazooka Ears.

Ah, yes, Bazooka Ears. For a while Avi would greet me with "Hey you big bazooka ears" when I came home. It's not that I have enormous ears or that they make intermittent loud booming noises - it's just something one of the grape children called the other in a Veggie Tales book we got from the library. I'm glad that one didn't stick.

As for Theo, he's friggin' heavy, but oh-so-cute. He sleeps a lot, pukes a lot and generally does baby things. He thinks his brother is pretty entertaining and he's right. It's hard to tell what he'll be like as he becomes his own person, but we'll do our best to squeeze any normalcy out of him. I'm going for mad-scientist. It should compliment musical buffoon nicely, I think. (And lest you think I am maligning Avi, I'm not. Humor and music just seem to be his interests/intelligences and I suspect he will continue to use them for good and not evil.)

A Better Way to Vote

2006-11-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Bill Bradbury - A Better Way to Vote - washingtonpost.com

Oregon does all its voting by mail and this op-ed article from our Secretary of State is a great testament as to why that is a very good idea. This is my favorite paragraph:

One episode that highlights its success occurred in Tillamook County, where 13 inches of rain on Election Day sent many citizens scrambling to the safety of shelters under a declared state of emergency. Despite the fact that many roads were impassable and parts of the county were inaccessible -- conditions that would have crippled turnout in a state that relied on conventional polling places -- 70 percent of the voters cast ballots. Only voting by mail could have led to this outcome.

I also learned why voting takes place on Tuesday:

Election days were originally scheduled on Tuesdays because that was when farmers brought their crops into town to sell.

We're not an agrarian society anymore - it's time to shed the old traditions and get into the 21st century. More on that later.

Drop Me a Line!

2006-11-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

You know that little link at the bottom of all the posts that says "Comments" next to the little envelope icon? Click it! Then you too can be published on this very site. It's quick, it's easy and most of all it let's me know who's actually taking a look at stuff. I wanna know - really.

You can type anything you want there and if it's germane to the post, even better. If you agree, disagree, think I'm smoking crack, have a witty aside, it doesn't really matter. I'll even respond - we can have a conversation. It's neat.

I'm trying to write more and more often, your comments are very helpful to that end. Have a topic request? Want to know what Avi was for Halloween (Big, Fat W, BTW)? Post a comment. I see the web stats but they're so cold and anonymous. Until you comment, you're just an IP address and who wants to be known as 68.163.255.174 (Mrs. Burns!)

That is all.

Follow Up: Hunger

2006-11-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Some Americans Lack Food, but USDA Won't Call Them Hungry - washingtonpost.com

WaPo does an article on the USDA report. It appears that the word "hunger" is not being used:

Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey." Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, "We don't have a measure of that condition."

I'm lost and I'm found, I smell like I sound and I'm food-insecure like the wolf...

Hunger in America: Good News and Bad News

2006-11-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

First the good news - Hunger in the United States declined in 2005 to 11 percent from 11.9 percent in 2004.

Now the bad news - there are still 35 million hungry people in one of the most affluent countries in the world. 12 million of those 35 million were "food insecure" meaning problems getting enough food throughout the year.

How to deal with the problem is certainly a quandary and I'll be the first to admit that I don't do enough to help the poor - and I would extend that onus onto the church, at least given my reading of the scriptures. That's not to say that the Church isn't doing much already - it is - but we should be on the front lines and this should be a big deal.

I would also say that there is a role for the government as well, especially as it pertains to institutional problems (wage fairness, racism, food stamps, unemployment.) I think we need to raise the minimum wage and revive the Public Works Project. The government has plenty to do (infrastructure projects in particular) but do we have the will to offer everyone a job who wants one? Training, wages and benefits are all expensive and would certainly require additional taxation, at least at first. Those employed by the PWP would be paying taxes, however, as well as having income to spend in their communities. Health benefits would also be net beneficial with fewer visits to the emergency room and preventive care heading off catastrophic illness.

There will always be those unwilling or unable to work, but a public/private partnership could, if we had the will to do it, go a long way toward alleviating hunger and poverty in the US.

SOURCE: USDA says 12 mln Americans faced hunger in 2005 (Reuters)

Isaiah on Tuesday - Conan, Judgement, Mercy, Grace: a mystery

2006-11-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I read something in the Bible and think it could be pulled right out of a pulp adventure story. Today I'm looking at Isaiah 34 and it seems like Isaiah was trying his hand at this genre. Conan the Barbarian seems to fit. It's not that the content is devalued in any way, it's just the language as translated into english seems very...descriptive. I've written about Isaiah's prose in the past and I think he really did have a gift for writing. I bet he was an amazing story teller. Check this out:

1 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations;
his wrath is upon all their armies.
He will totally destroy ^[a] them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will send up a stench;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved
and the sky rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
the people I have totally destroyed.
6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah
and a great slaughter in Edom.

It's an amazingly descriptive and evocative chapter and this is just the beginning.

I try to look for the spiritual truths that Isaiah is trying to communicate, but I think this chapter is one of Isaiah's manifestations of justice. The reason I think that is verse 8 "For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause." Somehow this is a righting of wrongs done to Israel. I don't really know how to hold that violence in my head and reconcile it with the God of mercy and grace, yet somehow it is the same God. That is one of the vast mysteries of faith and if I ever say that I have a full understanding of God, then I know I'm speaking rubbish. We finite creatures can only begin to understand the infinite.

I think that is one of the reasons Jesus had to show up - it allowed us a glimpse at the infinite in a finite time in space, held in one man. The ultimate sacrifice at one moment, to allow for eternal salvation for all time. Now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see in full...

Good Eeeevening...

2006-11-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

Theo does his "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" imitation on a recent beach trip.

Air Guitar No Longer Vicarious!

2006-11-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yes! A T-shirt invented by Australian scientists is actually an instrument. The future of music is here - today!

Australian air guitar T-shirt actually rocks (Reuters)

Econ 101 as Propaganda

2006-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've always thought that people's understanding of economics was wrongly shaped by basic economics classes. Others have actually done the footwork and come to the same conclusion. I found this post in a rather circuitous fashion, but it's worth a read. There is a linked PDF with an article by Chris Hayes from In These Times about his experience at an Econ 101 class at the University of Chicago. I'm reading through it now and it's pretty interesting.

Link: Neoclassical Indoctrination

Coincidentally, my word of the day yesterday was ipsedixitism. Which aptly describes econ 101, at least in my High School experience.

So You Want To Learn to Disco?

2006-11-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Lucky for you, there's the internet - and Google Video. I can't wait to practice my moves!

Learn to Disco

UN: US 8th Best Place to Live

2006-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Norway, Iceland, Australia said best places to live

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Norway, Iceland, Australia, Ireland and Sweden rank as the best five countries to live in but Africa's quality of life has plummeted because of AIDS, said a U.N. report released on Thursday.

Full Article: Reuters

Quote of the Day

2006-11-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

There is much to write, but right now I'm relying on others. Look for more "quick hits" - I'm trying out a new strategy/tactic for getting more posts...

In saying "Your kingdom come," we are acknowledging that faith in Jesus is not simply an idea or an emotion. It is a concrete reality of which we are to become part or else be out of step with the way things are now that God has come into the world in Jesus. When the kingdom comes, we are "to repent" (i.e. change, let go of our citizenship in the old kingdoms) and "believe the good news" (i.e. join up, become part of the revolution). - Stanley Hauerwas

Quote of the Day

2006-10-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Community is first and foremost a gift of the Holy Spirit, not built upon mutual compatibility, shared affection, or common interests but upon having received the same divine breath, having been given a heart set aflame by the same divine fire, and having been embraced by the same divine love.

- Henri Nouwen

Isaiah on Tuesday - A Sure Foundation for Our Times

2006-10-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

I think that Isaiah returns to that moment in Isaiah 6 where he sees the Lord high and lifted up and is in His presence. It must have been a defining moment and when he gets to prophesying, Isaiah reaches up and sees God and knows who He is and what that means for His people. Isaiah 33 starts out like that:

1 Woe to you, O destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, O traitor,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of distress.
3 At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee;
when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. ^[a]

We can hear Isaiah's cry for justice in verse 1 as he envisions the destroyer and betrayer falling under their own devices. Immediately he turns and utters a prayer to the God he met face to face in the temple: " O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress."

I am impressed by Isaiah's hope God despite what is going on around him, whether it be famine, war, injustice or idolatry. Isaiah is grounded in the truth: "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.^{" I think that's a mantra worth repeating.}

Unacceptable

2006-10-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Violence against children widely accepted: U.N. study (Reuters)

A day is coming when we will be protectors of those unable to protect themselves and no child will be harmed by the hands of men. I pray that day comes soon.

1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

Isaiah 32:1-2

Axis of Evil is Not a Foreign Policy

2006-10-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this since yesterday and finally got the time to post.

North Korea explodes (or attempts to explode) a nuclear weapon and the US, via President Bush, condemns it - and rightly so, although somewhat hypocritically. Iran continues to develop a nuclear capability that conventional wisdom says will lead to a bomb and US foreign policy is to talk tough - a policy which failed with North Korea.

So here we are with a policy towards two countries that actually have or are pursuing weapons of mass destruction that is essentially, "Stop! Or I'll say stop again!" while simultaneously bogged down with a war in a country that didn't have nor was developing those weapons (mendacity of our current administration aside.)

What I'm getting at is that the Bush administration is either woefully incompetent when it comes to foreign policy or criminally negligent. Have there been any successes? I can't think of any. The sad part is that I'm pretty sure we could be doing good in the world and we're not. So instead of helping stave off the genocide in Darfur or working towards a more peaceful world, our foreign policy is "fight the terrorists over there." Well, great. Send in the military, make more enemies, foment civil war in Iraq have nothing but empty rhetoric for everybody else and keep telling the American people everything is fine and we'll win the long war.

Is it 2008, yet? We can only hope that somehow the 2006 midterms at least bring some accountability to these people.

Isaiah on Tuesday - Fertile and Fallow

2006-10-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

There are many times when I read a Biblical passage and think, "If I were a farmer I think this would be much more meaningful." This week as I look at Isaiah 32:9-20, I feel the same way. It's not that I can't get the point, it's just that I think I'm missing the fuller meaning being a city dweller.

In this section, Isaiah directs his voice to a portion of the women of Israel, those who feel "complacent" and "secure". I suspect that part of this passage has to do with the role of women in agrarian Israel, it seems like they were the primary reapers yet as they go to reap, nothing is to be found. The metaphor is of a nation overgrown with weeds and briars, the fields untended as those who should be tending them make merry. It's as if God is imposing a "fallow" year, after which the fields will be tilled, weeded and planted and will once again be able to bear fruit.

How will the fields become fertile again? "...[T]he Spirit is poured upon us from on high..." (I can't help but think of living water here.) And what exactly does that mean? Here is the rest of the passage:

15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Justice will dwell in the desert
and righteousness live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest
and the city is leveled completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
sowing your seed by every stream,
and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

I think I could use some of that.

I Have Seen The Future...And It Has Hair!

2006-10-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

UK government funds robot to help treat baldness (Reuters)

Isaiah on Tuesday - Correcting the Skew

2006-10-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

In my last "Isaiah" post I started in on chapter 32 and then my life got really busy (new baby and all) and I haven't been able to really sit down and finish what I started. So we're back in Isaiah 32 and "That Day."

The thing that most stood out to me about verses 1 and 2 of this chapter was how Isaiah defined what a man should be - a refuge, a provider, just and righteous. So already people will be something that they currently aren't (or aren't to the degree they should be), but more than that they will be transformed and our eyes will be opened. Verses 3-8:

3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the rash will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For the fool speaks folly,
his mind is busy with evil:
He practices ungodliness
and spreads error concerning the LORD;
the hungry he leaves empty
and from the thirsty he withholds water.
7 The scoundrel's methods are wicked,
he makes up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble man makes noble plans,
and by noble deeds he stands.

Not only will eyes and ears be opened and tied-tongues loosed, but we will see the fool and the scoundrel for what they really are. Note the definition of a fool here - it is not someone who is stupid or simple-minded, it is one who speaks folly (the opposite of wisdom - see Proverbs), plots evil, maligns or misrepresents God. Additionally, a fool and scoundrel treats the poor with contempt - neither feeding them nor quenching their thirst.

In that day people will be treated justly and with compassion and the truly noble will be held up while the fool will be seen for who he is.

Life at Two and Half

2006-10-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

When you're two and half you eat green beans, cloud's ears (mushrooms), cheese and a bowl of cereal for dinner...

Later...

When you wash your hands and there's new unwrapped soap on the bathroom counter you say, "That soap looks pretty good to me."

Or maybe it's just Avi.

Verse and Voice from Sojourners

2006-09-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sojourners magazine has recently released a series of daily e-newsletters one of which I find quite good. The "Verse and Voice" newsletter offers a scripture and quote of the day and so far I've found them to be really worth reading. They're short and to the point - perfect for the medium and a great way for me to start the day.

Sign up for Verse and Voice

The other newsletters are OK, but this one is tops for my email time. A few excerpts from the past few days:

Quotes:
True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all people.

- Menno Simons

Prayer that works is prayer that makes a difference, contemplation that turns into action, on behalf of peace and justice in a troubled and unjust world system. Prayer is energy, the energy of love and transformative power. It is given to us to use for the good of all creation. In prayer God gives us the fuel of life, and asks us to live it.

-Margaret Silf

Divine Veggie Tales

2006-09-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

So my two-and-a-half-year-old son is sitting there looking at one of those junky trinket catalogs that come in the mail every once and a while and points to a Betty Boop calendar and asks "What's that?"

"It's Betty Boop," I tell him, "It's a cartoon character drawn by someone - just like Bob the Tomato or Larry the Cucumber."

"Bob the Tomato isn't a cartoon character," he replies. "Bob the Tomato is a vegetable and he's drawn by God."

You heard it here first. Bob the Tomato. Drawn by God.

Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center

2006-09-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

It's true. There really is a Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M. Here I was thinking that carrots were perfectly good vegetables, without need for improvement - how wrong I was.

It seems the shining achievement of the VFIC so far is the "beta sweet" carrot. It's maroon:

They're also working on spinach, which is good, because apparently it's fighting back and trying to kill us with its friend e. coli. Viva La Veggie!

Some News Tidbits

2006-09-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm forcing myself to write something. Here are a few news stories that are catching my attention:

A teacher in Ephrata, Washington has grown a beard for five years since September 11, 2001 and says he
won't shave it off until Osama Bin-Laden is captured (CNN). I hope he isn't waiting for Bush to do it since it's not a top priority for him.

Meanwhile, our administration attempts to gut the Geneva Conventions so that we can mistreat people. It's an ends-justifies-the-means sorta thing. Tony Snow argues that the conventions are too vague. Lt. Col. Geoffrey S. Corn, former chief of war law for the army JAG says, "Duh. That was intentional." Josh Marshall has the commentary and quotes: TalkingPointsMemo

Finally, it turns out that experts in the field of nuclear weapons and proliferation have something to say about a Republican House panel report on Iran: it's wrong, misleading and contains out and out falsehoods. This is all starting to sound vaguely familiar. The Washington Post has the details:U.N. Inspectors Dispute Iran Report By House Panel

Theo Gives a Shoutout to His Homies

2006-09-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

Theodore Winston Israel-Davis
Born August 9th, 2006
7 pounds 14 ounces (although now he's up to 10 or more!)

I figured I ought to get a picture up and now I have.

Not very meditative or contemplative, but quite lovely nonetheless!

Oregon Brewer's Festival (OBF)

2006-09-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

The last full weekend in July is a glorious one. The Oregeon Brewer's Festival takes place, showcasing dozens of microbrews from around the country. This four-day event has become a summer ritual for me and my fellow beer-enthusiasts and it is a grand time. Oregon, Portland in particular, is a fantastic spot for good beer and the OBF is just one more reason why we continue to be the best place in the US (probably in all of the Americas) for beer. Sure, good beer can be found just about anywhere, but in no other place is the quality, quantity and variety so consistently great. Just one more reason Portland, Oregon is a great, great city. Just don't tell anyone.

My friend Matthew at the OBF (and my hand with a mug)

Baby Ten Commandments

2006-09-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, as I posted below, I have a new baby son - 4 weeks old right now - and I've decided that if babies wrote the ten commandments for their parents they would go something like this:

1) Thou shalt not be comfortable. If you are sitting, I want you to stand. If you are standing I want you to rock. If you are rocking, it must be in a complex rhythm of my choosing and that change whenever I please.

2) Thou shalt not be clean. That shirt, those pants, they don't have any bodily fluids on them. I will change that immediately.

3) Thou shalt not enjoy a hot meal. If your meal is hot, you must eat it too quickly to enjoy it. If you have the time to enjoy it, I will ensure that I enjoy MY meal first.

4) Thou shalt not sleep soundly. If I am not crying to be fed or changed, I will make weird noises to keep you up. I'm not choking - but I COULD be - so don't even think about deep sleep.
5) Thou shalt not have a conversation. Who's the center of attention here anyway? Stop talking and rock me.

6) Thou shalt not be on time. I planned it that way. I will be hungry or have a soiled diaper right before you have to go anywhere. If that doesn't work, see number 2.

7) Thou shalt repeat my age to all. It's a mind trick we babies play. All who come within our range will be forced to ask, "How old is he?"

8) Thou shalt always change me twice. I will inevitably fill a diaper immediately after you put it on.

9) Thou shalt be ever afraid on the changing table. I will go as soon as my diaper is off - no sooner. Unless you stand there waiting in order to be absolutely 100% sure that there's no more in there. In that case, see number 8. Also number 2.

10) Thou shalt love me. Despite commandments one through nine, you will find me cute, adorable, wonderful, marvelous and everything you've always hoped.

The Hiatus is Over

2006-09-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've written - which seems to be a pattern - but this time my excuse is the birth of my son, Theodore Winston, on August 9th. I've been sleeping less, writing less and biking less, but it's time to start the routine back up again. So I'm back - hopefully on a more regular basis. It's Tuesday, so I should be doing an Isaiah post, but we'll see.

There's much to do at work among other things, so I'll just have brief posts for a while. Brief is a challenge for me, but I'll try it and see how works.

Isaiah on Tuesday - What a Man Should Be

2006-07-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I know it's Wednesday but, hey, at least it's a post. I've been stuck for a while on Isaiah 32 - I've read it several times and I have to say it's jam packed with goodness; so much so that I'm going to divide my posts on it into a few sections.

Isaiah has many visions about the future, both his immediate and the Future (capital 'F') In previous chapters he has used the term "In that day" to indicate that something big and final is going to happen. In chapter 32, he just flows from 31 and says:

1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

This is Isaiah's vision of what those "Days of the Lord" will be like and they are instructive as to how we should be. This is the ideal, this is what authority and men, in particular, should look like. I hope this doesn't come across as sexist, but what I see here is a message of what a man looks like in that ideal kingdom. A king reigns in righteousness, justice is the guiding principle of the rulers and each man is a servant, providing protection, sustenance, refuge and peace.

Let's go back to chapter 1 - what does Isaiah exhort the nation to do?

17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. ^[a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Does this sound like a shelter from the wind? A stream in the desert? A shadow from the oppressive heat? I think so. And while I think everyone, men and women are called to this, I think the onus falls most heavily on men.

What if men actually took this role upon themselves? What if they were willing to sacrafice for justice and righteousness? What if a husband or father were truly a refuge for his wife and children? I think that would be a good day.

Long, Hot Summer....

2006-07-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

It's not that I haven't been writing, it's that I haven't been blogging. I actually spent a bunch of my blog-time on painting recently. It was my 10th wedding anniversary and I wanted to do something big. Short on cash, but long on creativity I figured another art piece was in order (I'd done something for several past anniversaries, just not something this big.)

Anyway it's shooting up to 100 degrees Farenheit outside right now which means everyone in my neck of the woods is going to melt away into small puddles and complain loudly about it. Hopefully, this won't last. Please.

So, yeah. This is a pretty lame post, but it's something, which may or may not be better than nothing. Hopefully it's a kick-start.

Isaiah on Tuesday - Who do you trust?

2006-06-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Short post today (World Cup Madness, you know...) Isaiah 30:1-5 is an interesting tidbit. I can't really tell whether it's an introduction to what follows, an oracle concerning the animals of the Negev, or a conclusion to the "in that day" section. Regardless, its message is the same - woe to you who trust in others and not in the LORD.

Israel looks to Egypt for protection and help eschewing God as their refuge. Isaiah lays it out, though: when looking for help you will only find disgrace and shame. Seems to me it's better to look in the right direction if we want to find help.

Here's the full text:

1 "Woe to the obstinate children,"
declares the LORD,
"to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh's protection,
to Egypt's shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame,
Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace."

World Cup Madness

2006-06-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

I think I should be posting more but between the World Cup, work and general malaise I just haven't really been inspired. Blogger went down a couple of times a while back, which made it difficult but I'm trying to force myself to write out of a moral obligation. There's a contract of sorts, I think, and if I wait any longer I may be in breach.

Anyway USA plays Ghana on Thursday and I'm conflicted - I'd really like to see both teams go on to the second round. I hope it's a good game and someone wins - a draw would mean a split on goal differences and who wants that? Of course, this is predicated on Italy beating Czech Republic, otherwise goals come back into play. At least we have an interesting group. How about those Swedes?

Isaiah on Tuesday - The Scroll is Sealed

2006-06-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

The more I read Isaiah, the more he is my friend. I never cease to be amazed at the words of this prophet. In the 28th chapter of Isaiah, an indictment is leveled against Israel and the future is laid out - a future revealed by the the Revelation of Apostle John , particularly the 5th chapter.

As Isaiah closes his vision of "that day", the day of the LORD, he foretells of a time when Ariel is
besieged by hordes of enemies and

4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.

[An aside - the language here is stunning. I think that's an incredibly vivid picture, purely from an aesthetic standpoint]

Yet the besieging enemies will be "blown like chaff." The destruction of Ariel's enemies is not a wholly triumphant affair for Israel, however:

6 the LORD Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.

and

9 Be stunned and amazed,
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but not from beer.
10 The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep:
He has sealed your eyes (the prophets)
he has covered your heads (the seers).

But here is the tie-in with John's Revelation:

11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I don't know how to read."

Read this alongside Revelation 5:

1Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

The vision of "That day" is sealed in a scroll and none are worthy to open it, indeed, they cannot. And why is the scroll sealed? Isaiah continues:

13 The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

They have exchanged the love of God for the love of rules, the fear of God for the fear of man. In fact, as Isaiah continues, they even begin to think that God cannot see them while they make their plans, plot injustice and think of themselves as greater than the one who formed them.

John weeps in his revelation that no one could open the scroll. He longs to see the scroll opened . Why? Isaiah finishes:

18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down-
21 those who with a word make a man out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22 Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of Jacob:
"No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction."

The opening of the scroll harkens a day of justice when "The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down" and "No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale." I too look forward to "That Day."

College Makes for Better Fathers

2006-06-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

CNN has an article about a study done on fatherhood. The low-down: college grads tend to be more involved parents. What this really means is that the better your class position economically, the more likely you are to be more involved with your kids.

There's more in the study, and it doesn't really go into truly qualitative aspects of parenting but a clear line can be drawn between class and parenting. There are probably numerous reasons for this, but the implications are pretty clear to me: get as many people to college as possible. It's good for them, it's good for society, it's good for families.

College improves one's chances of a better income and, thus, better security. Maslow's pyramid works for social units as well as individuals and the higher up they go, the better off we all are. Sending everyone to college won't cure all of society's ills, but it certainly seems to give a booster shot. We really should make public education truly public from pre-k all the way through college.

Strategies for Raising Wages

2006-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Nathan Newman has a nice post over at TPMCafe.com about how various state and local governments are working on raising wages outside of the federal minimum wage law. It's worth taking a look at. I have some more radical thoughts, but nothing concrete to post at this time.

Beyond the Minimum Wage: New Policies to Raise Wages

Keep the Estate Tax!

2006-06-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Another salvo is about to be launched in the ongoing American class war. The House has voted to repeal the Estate Tax and the Senate may likely follow suit, which would either increase our already large deficit or push the tax responsibility down to those who can least afford it.

Sebastian Mallaby has a nice op-ed with the details: Reward for the Hereditary Elite

A few key facts:

1) The Estate Tax allows up to $4,000,000 (that's four million dollars) to be bequeathed tax free
2) The Estate Tax affects only the richest 2 percent of Americans
3) According to economist Jon M. Bakija and tax policy expert William G. Gale:

Estate tax repeal would have significant deleterious
effects on charitable bequests and charitable giving
during life. Although estate tax reform will raise many
issues, the impact on the nonprofit sector should be a
central part of the debate.

That is, charitable giving will likely fall significantly if the Estate Tax is repealed.

Aside from the practical effects of increasing the deficit and reducing charitable giving, the bigger issue is a philosophical one. Mallaby sums it up nicely in his article:

The nation faces rising inequality. Since 1980 the gap between the earnings of the top fifth and the bottom fifth has jumped by almost 50 percent. The United States is by some measures the most unequal society in the rich world and the most unequal that it's been since the 1920s. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Identify the most progressive federal tax and repeal it.
The nation faces the prospect that inequality will damage meritocracy. When the distance between top and bottom widens, it becomes harder to traverse the gap; people of low birth are stuck at the bottom, and human talent is wasted. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Take the tax that limits what the super-rich pass on to their children and get rid of it. Send a message to hereditary elites: Go ahead, entrench yourselves!

Mallaby is advocating economic justice and a leveling of the playing field (well, OK, reducing the grade slightly) and he's right to because a significant gap in economic equality destroys our notion of democracy, increases class tensions and ultimately makes for a society which is inherently unjust.

There is a deeper argument here, as well, that I don't have time for right now, but would like to write on in the future: what is the purpose of government and why have taxes anyway? There is a certain faction of people in the US who want most, if not all, taxes repealed. It's a silly notion, but goes to the heart of the government question. For now, let's just be intelligent, moral and just and keep the Estate Tax.

Traffic Cones are People Too

2006-06-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

The good people at the Traffic Cone Preservation Society enlighten us with their educational and fun guide to these oft-neglected creatures. Please take the time to learn more about the fascinating lives, myriad species and colorful history of the Traffic cone. After all, if we don't extend justice to all, we are extending justice to none.

Outside the Box - The Foreign Policy of Immigration

2006-06-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to draw a line between law and justice, specifically as it relates to immigration and the ongoing immigration debate. But so far I've only talked about immigration law and border security without the wider discussion of why do people choose to come to America anyway? Certainly there are many answers to that question, but again, let's be blunt - the context of this discussion is really around emigration from our southern neighbors.

Immigration Law Has No Moral Foundation
First of all, I question whether or not illegal immigration is really a problem at all. I'm not saying it doesn't occur, I'm questioning why people who want to come to this country to work have to sneak across deserts, pay coyotes to ferry them and generally risk life, limb and property. I don't ask this question from a logistical or practical position - certainly those details need to be discussed and worked out - but rather from the standpoint of what is moral, right and just.

As I've written before, I don't see any particular moral weight to an arbitrary geographical line which some governments have decided (without asking me, by the way) delineate who rules where. Borders are, after all, simply the spoils of conquest. They are practical things, but ultimately they are imaginary, contrived and useful only to those in power. They keep us in, they keep us out. Which brings me to the core of this post - a just foreign policy.

Justice Must Be Our Policy Foundation
Before I move to the foreign, though, I must address the domestic because what I have to say applies internally as well as externally. What I would really like to see is economic justice, which must start at home. As long as we have people feasting alongside those starving, we live in injustice. As long as people go without shelter while others live on palatial estates, we live in injustice. As long as medical care goes to the wealthy, but not to the needy then, yes, we live in injustice. As long as the United States continues to have the resources to alleviate hunger, homelessness and provide healthcare to all its citizens but it does not, it remains an unjust society. We are wealthy beyond measure, yet morally bankrupt, and I am not just talking about sex, drugs and rock and roll. So even as I talk about foreign policy, what I really want is good policy - foreign and domestic. What good are governments if they can't take care of their citizens? And I mean the ones who are wealthy and powerful - the government does a fine job taking care of them.

With economic justice as a foundation, if we really were concerned about illegal immigration, we would be concerned about why people are immigrating in the first place. We know the answer, of course, work. A worker can earn more money in the United States than in many of the impoverished regions of Latin America. Even earning sub-minimum wage, workers here find a way to subsist and send money back home. I suspect given the choice, these workers would much rather stay with their families and earn the same amount where they came from. The problem is that lack of infrastructure, governmental corruption and poor economies lead to a lack of employment opportunities back home. These workers are clearly not lazy - they risk a great deal to get to the US, work exceptionally hard when they get here and continue to diligently send earnings back home to support family members. Coming here illegally is an act of desperation that a hopeless situation can be rectified, even at great cost.

Towards Economic Justice
How can it be that the United States, with its massive amounts of wealth, have neighbors to the south that are in abject poverty? The reasons are as complex and difficult as human beings themselves, but we can say with surety that just as poverty here should not exist alongside opulence, neither should poverty there. If we really cared about immigration, we would want immigration to not be last-ditch effort to provide for one's family, but a truly free choice. In order to make that so, we would work with those countries to help provide needed infrastructure - roads, water treatment facilities, electricity - as well as economic opportunities.

I recognize this is short on specifics, but as a guiding principle it seems worthwhile to help lift the economies of our neighbors. This means debt eradication, fair trade policy and aid where necessary. Prosperous people don't risk desert crossings and arrest for low-paying, hard labor. It is in our national interest to help others achieve economic prosperity, even as we attempt to bring it to all at home. I want to be clear here, however, that I do not see the United States as the savior of the developing world. What I would like to see is a United States that uses its vast wealth and resources for the benefit of humanity, instead of its detriment.

I can't help but think of the words of Christ, "To him who has been given much, much will be expected." I don't know that we've been given much, more accurately we've taken much, but the fact remains that we have much. I think it's appropriate to have great expectations for the United States, but I also worry that if wealth and resources that we have aren't used more justly, we will find them squandered or taken from us. Hopefully someday soon we'll learn to use our powers for good and not evil...hopefully.

Isaiah on Tuesday: A Spirit of Justice, A Source of Strength

2006-05-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

The ideas that have been swimming around in my head in terms of deep thought all have to do with justice. I first started thinking somewhat deliberately about this back when I was writing about chapter 26 but have been driven much more intensely as I read Howard Zinn's Passionate Declarations, especially the current chapter on economic justice.

In terms of what that means on a practical level, I am trying to formulate a way to understand, encapsulate and communicate what justice means from a Biblical standpoint. This is no easy task, but I think it worthwhile - even critical - in terms of a full understanding of my faith. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to Isaiah. He was unafraid to stand up to the authorities (as we'll see in this week's chapter, 28) and justice and the poor were never far from his message.

In this week's chapter, Isaiah has it in for the religious rulers of Israel, even as he proclaims a messianic message. These priests are referred to, in quite poetic fashion, as "Ephraim's drunkards." These hypocrites who declare the law with their mouths (or burble on as v. 10 seems to imply) spend their money on beer and wine. Their "visions" are blurred and "decisions" are spoken with slurred speech. Yet, one who is coming to displace the disgrace of the priesthood:

2 See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong.
Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind,
like a driving rain and a flooding downpour,
he will throw it forcefully to the ground.

"In that day" (there's that phrase again...)

5 ...the LORD Almighty
will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
for the remnant of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice
to him who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

The unjust and foolish priesthood would be replaced by a just and eternal one. Here again we see Isaiah's ability to hear and speak of the coming Messiah:

16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

17 I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow your hiding place.

The LORD is very concerned with both justice and righteousness. They are inseparable concepts. Isaiah saw a day when those who have betrayed both justice and righteousness are replaced with one who IS (and brings) both justice and righteousness.

It is these very words that impress upon me the need to have a very clear and accurate understanding of this word "justice", especially as it is used throughout the Bible. Righteousness has never been a problem for us to understand. Jesus made very clear what righteousness is in the Sermon on the Mount. He also gave us the greatest commandments: Love God and love your neighbor.

Yet, we (I) struggle with defining and living out justice. Perhaps because it is a concept that is much fuzzier than righteousness. The bright lines of the law are blurred in circumstances and contexts. Even so, I think it is MORE important to understand justice since it is the foundation of the law (again, the Sermon on the Mount provides some direction - and there are ample other examples.) And so even as I attempt to build a clear picture of true justice, I need to deconstruct my current frameworks (particularly cultural ones) and question the very foundation of what is commonly thought of as justice.

Expect to see much more writings on this topic of justice. Until then, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Immigration - Law vs. Justice

2006-05-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Before I get into part two of my immigration post, I want to point out a few articles that appeared in the Washington Post in the past couple of days (Registration may be required)

Senate Approves Immigration Bill - Charles Babington
A Debate Beyond The Fence: Immigration Issues We're Overlooking - E.J. Dionne
A Vote For English - George F. Will

Dionne's article is particularly relevant to today's post particularly this:

Paradoxically, those fighting to achieve justice for immigrants will reach their goal only if they are also seen as fighting for justice for the native-born. The native-born, in turn, will find their rights better protected if the rights of immigrants are guaranteed, too.

This paragraph gets to the heart of the debate for me. I've been reading Howard Zinn's Passionate Declarations which deals specifically with the ideas of law and justice. It's an excellent read and particularly of use in thinking about many of the issues we're dealing with today including immigration.

So here's the thing (and you'll read this in Will's article above), much is being made in some conservative circles of "the rule of law", in particular immigration law. The target (as is often the case) is on the immigrants themselves who, admittedly are in violation of the federal statutes. But law, it seems, is a selective topic. Much less is said about enforcing labor law which is really the driver behind illegal immigration (which fuels collateral immigration of those seeking relatives who are here...)

Just labor laws would ensure that the rights of both workers and employers were upheld. Workers should receive fair wages for their labor, a safe working environment and be entitled to whatever benefits the law requires (which is a different topic entirely...) Employers should expect to receive the labor for which they are paying. This, of course, has nothing to do with immigration per se, but would have a dramatic effect on those most exploited by unscrupulous employers: the poor and the alien (see many references in the Mosaic Law, by the way - particularly Exodus and Leviticus)

While employing people in this country illegally is also a crime, it is rarely enforced. What of the rule of law here? Well, for one thing there is a significant disincentive to enforce this particular set of laws. Workers typically supply bogus Social Security information when asked and employers rarely verify the information. Bogus information does two things, it ensures that the employee is paying taxes which the employer reports and it means that Social Security paid is never collected. The flip side of this is that local governments typically spend about $25,000 per illegal resident while collecting very little, if any taxes. Federal payroll taxes are collected, however. (see the Dionne article for references) States have an incentive to have labor laws enforced, which the Federal Government does not. Oh, and there's that whole no taxation without representation thing, but that's pretty much a historical anachronism anyway.

That is labor law, however. What of immigration law? This is where law versus justice becomes muddy. Unlike the laws against murder, theft and the like, immigration law is much more about controlling the economic interests of the country. There isn't really a strong moral underpinning for why we allow some people in, why some can become citizens and why some must stay out. Why, from a moral or justice standpoint, should a person be barred from coming to this country and working if he or she wants to? If labor laws are just and strongly enforced, then one would think this would be desirable. Granted, there could potentially be some downward pressure on wages as labor supply increases, but there doesn't seem to be a moral dilemma with this.

Now, just because there isn't a clear moral underpinning to the law doesn't mean it is unjust. Some laws are good laws simply because they maintain the good functioning of society - stop at red lights, for instance. I would not advocate simply opening the borders and allowing people free access as between the states. The reason, however, has nothing to do with the economic issues and everything to do with security. We still want to know who is coming into our country, especially from the relatively porous Mexico.

This brings me to my last interlocking issue - border security. Immigration and border security are two distinctly different things. Border security implies keeping out those who are potentially harmful to our national security or who may be violating the human rights of others From my standpoint that would include smugglers of illegal substances (e.g. drugs), sex traffickers and those seeking to do violence to people within our borders. If we would allow people seeking work easy and legal access, that would significantly reduce the number of people attempting to cross the border for that reason alone. This would, I think, make patrolling the border a much easier thing, since those seeking to cross illegally would be reduced to mostly drug smugglers.

Does this mean I favor a guest worker program? To quote the apostle Paul, "by no means!" I think anyone who comes to this country and wants citizenship should be able to attain it based on current naturalization standards. Now, we may want to take a look at naturalization and hone that law, but that is a different topic altogether. A guest worker program seems to me a lousy idea, since it creates a sub-class of people who are allowed to work here but not attain citizenship, nor be granted those rights. On the other hand, an open border would allow the benefits of the guest worker legislation without the restrictions it applies. Workers would work legally, pay taxes as expected, be eligible for services such as public education and have the opportunity, if so they so desired, to follow the path of citizenship.

Is an open border a perfect solution? No way. It is only part of a good solution. Fair and just labor laws that are strongly enforced also need to be applied. Border security will always be an issue, but one that is greatly reduced and narrowed in focus. There is also one more thing that will go a long way towards just immigration: improving the economic and political conditions of our southern neighbors.

Next Time: Outside the Box - The Foreign Policy of Immigration.

Immigration - The New Southern Strategy?

2006-05-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

I know I'm coming in late to this game, but give me a break, I've been busy. This may be my cynical side writing, but it seems to me this whole immigration issue is another manifestation of the Southern Strategy.

The Southern Strategy
The Southern Strategy was a term invented in the Nixon years and basically boils down to securing votes in the American South using racially divisive tactics. By inciting fear and racial biases in the South, the Republicans were able to capture majorities there which remain to this day.

As the Republicans are now embroiled in a corruption scandal that seems to have deep roots and long tentacles and as President Bush continues his precipitous decline in the polls, the GOP needs something to get its base fired up about. Iraq and terrorism aren't working for them anymore (there is only so much failure the general public will tolerate) so it's time to move the fear that much closer to home: those brown people to the south of us. And what better timing than the year of a mid-term election?

Race and Culture - The Real Issues
Let's be brutally honest here. This issue isn't about securing our borders and it isn't about the labor market. It's about race and culture - maybe the latter more than the former. Why else has the Senate rushed to pass an "English-as-the-national-language" bill? Race and culture - divide and conquer, the Southern Strategy. Immigration plays very well in the South where the impacts are the greatest and the border states not in the South are quite sympathetic to the issue (Minutemen anyone?)

So what's the big deal with immigration, anyway? Some are using the "rule of law" argument, others talk about jobs and economic impacts and others still of security. Security comes closest to the real explanation, I think, but it's not the security you're thinking of. The security that is at stake here is the security of culture. It is uncomfortable to not be able to understand your neighbors - their language, their family structure, their mores even their food. It is the nascent fear of the other and the impact to our current, predominantly white, culture that seem to be at the heart of the immigration debate.

Race + Fear = Division
Division has always been a winning strategy in war as well as politics. Capitalizing on fear and race has been a Republican specialty and used to great effect as a tool to divide people who have traditionally stood together (Union members and the poor to name a couple.) By painting the Democrats as weak on security, as allowing "those people" to take American jobs and as sympathetic to those who would cross our borders (illegally) to seek a better life, the GOP becomes the party of choice for protecting the "American way of life." The Democrats are forced to either acquiesce and pass bad legislation or fight and be mis-characterized on the issue. Brilliant politics, bad policy.

The question is, will the politics of race, fear and division backfire as a strategy? I don't know, but I hope so. This is a complicated issue and there is something to be said about (actual) security, but I'm just not seeing the problem that we're trying to solve. The lack of a clear problem statement makes this a great political issue because politicians can speak in vagaries and generalities while doing nothing more than getting people bothered about what boils down to very little. Are there problems? Certainly, but they have nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with justice (how people are treated, specifically) and the global economic system.

The meta-narrative is clear - immigration becomes the umbrella word for fear of the other. Secure borders, like a gated community, keeps us isolated from the chaotic pressures of
an country that is becoming more and more multi-cultural. In fact, I think the gated community is the perfect metaphor for what this is really about. I'm inclined to tear down the gates, myself...

Tomorrow - Law vs. Justice, what exactly is immigration law all about anyway?

Isaiah on Tuesday is BACK, Yo!

2006-05-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

We return to "That Day" with Isaiah 27, what the NIV titles as "Deliverance of Israel", but I can't say I really like the NIV's section titles.

Isaiah starts this one off like an action thriller with the leviathan being slayed:

1 In that day,
the LORD will punish with his sword,
his fierce, great and powerful sword,
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.

But Isaiah continues with another "In that Day", saying that Israel will become like a fruitful vineyard, filling the world with fruit. It is a vineyard without briars or thorns - yet even if something came against it the LORD would rather it make peace than confront destruction.

Yet, the promise comes before the judgment in this passage. Israel WILL become fruitful, but the atonement must be made first and what is that atonement? Destruction of idols and the symbols and places of their worship. Turn back to me, God is saying, and you will become as a garden, tended, weeded and protected.

God desires undivided attention and the place of worship is a good place. When we go there we find it is a shelter and a refuge. A cool place from the heat of the desert, a fruitful place. The trumpet calls us there - are we willing to do what it takes to go?

Earl Blumenauer on Colbert Report

2006-05-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

My very own representative was featured on the Colbert Report, bow tie and all!

I'm Back! With Music...

2006-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but I think I'm finally back to writing. Working through lunch shouldn't be too hard a habit to break, I hope. Short post today - I've gotta break myself in slowly.

I actually had some time over the weekend to play around and was dabbling in one of my many avocations, electronic music, and finally recorded some stuff onto my computer. Here are a couple of songs I put together:

Rap Muzique
Foolin' Around

Both were made with Korg Elctribes EA-1 and ER-1 (synthesizer and rhythm machine)

Maybe I'll have more music in the future, but for now - enjoy!

Isaiah - I really want to write something

2006-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm staring at Isaiah 27 and trying to figure out exactly what I want to write or if I have anything to say and I'm just stumped. It's not that there isn't anything there - there most certainly is good stuff, it's that my brain is so full of other things right now that my ideas just swirl around my head in a disorganized jumble.

Most of the time, I can see the ideas coalesce into a single theme and I can focus. Right now there's just a lot out there.

What exactly, you may be asking. Well, I'll tell you. The first thing is a work project which is really several projects under one banner and the three or four of them that need to be done in less than two weeks. They're close to finished, but they dance around each other each one vying for attention simultaneously. I really can only do one thing at a time - especially when it comes to writing code.

Next, we're trying to buy a house. This does not help one's concentration or sleep, which doesn't help one's (OK My) ability to complete above projects.

Finally, trying to find time to actually write a coherent post about Isaiah's prophecies which are slightly obtuse and very big is just not happening for me right now. Read it. It's good. I pray it will enter your eyes, hit your brain, and be translated by the Spirit into something much better than I could ever write.

That's my ramble and I'm sticking to it.

Excuses, excuses

2006-04-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

I know It's been over a week since anything has been posted, which is lame, but I'm going to be a bit sporadic possibly through mid-may. I have a major project at work and this Sunday I'm the preacher, so time and energy is being directed away from this blogging endeavor. I'll be picking it up sooner rather than later - I still have Isaiah to finish - but right now I don't feel like I have the time to write as much or well as I would like.

In the meantime enjoy this sweet tattoo: http://www.neatorama.com/2006/04/23/chameleon-blacklight-tattoo/

What He Said

2006-04-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

E.J Dionne has a nice op-ed about the Gospel of Judas which has garnered so much buzz of late. It's hard to add much - especially since I haven't actually read the document or the National Geographic articles, which is certainly something I would like to do. I have a feeling that my opinion wouldn't change much except to be more detailed, though. Give Dionne's piece a read, I think it's a nice tight piece that is worthy of attention.

A New Twist On Judas: Beyond the Buzz Over Gospel's Publication - E.J. Dionne (may require registration)

Beware of Terrorists Distributing Flyers!

2006-04-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

TPMmuckraker.com has the story. DHS has put out a bulletin warning of eco-terrorists:

In a bulletin issued yesterday, the Homeland Security Department warns U.S. businesses of the threats they face from animal rights group and "eco-terrorists." Such radical extremist groups may use several tactics -- each devastating in its own way -- including:
- "organizing protests"
- "flyer distribution"
- "inundating computers with e-mails"
- "tying up phone lines to prevent legitimate calls"
- "sending continuous faxes in order to drain the ink supply from company fax machines"

Full story: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000380.php

Isaiah on Tuesday - Isaiah's Passion for Justice (part 3)

2006-04-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

In the final part of the "Passion for Justice" series, Isaiah wraps up Chapter 26 with a wonderful vision of redemption:

13 O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but your name alone do we honor.
14 They are now dead, they live no more;
those departed spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
you wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD;
you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
you have extended all the borders of the land.

I can't help but liken Isaiah's "dead lords" to our own sin. We were once ruled by it, slaves to our flesh as Paul would say, but we are now dead to sin. God has conquered that, wiped it out and in turn blessed us as adopted sons and daughters. As we go into the final days of the Christian Holy week (and start Passover tonight), I can't help but think of the crucifixion and resurrection as God bringing sin to ruin and "extending the borders of our land."

13 O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but your name alone do we honor.

14 They are now dead, they live no more;
those departed spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
you wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD;
you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
you have extended all the borders of the land.

If that weren't amazing enough, the following section drives it home:

16 LORD, they came to you in their distress;
when you disciplined them,
they could barely whisper a prayer. ^[b]
17 As a woman with child and about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
18 We were with child, we writhed in pain,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth;
we have not given birth to people of the world.
19 But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.
21 See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer.

Though we could barely utter a prayer, though we tried in vain to save ourselves and others, we couldn't do it. It was only through God's grace, mercy and justice that we find ourselves "hidden for a little while until wrath has passed by" (Sound like Passover?)

Verse 21 is Isaiah's justice verse and you can feel his passion as he sees the violent and murderous come to reckon for the destruction they have sowed. Like Abel, the blood of the innocent and victimized cries out and they will live. Friday is a dark day of death and mourning, but Sunday is coming and "the dead will live." Wake up and shout for joy!

AL GOP Says No to Bible?

2006-04-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

Now this is interesting. A bill introduced in the Alabama senate to allow an elective course in the Bible, one that has been constitutionally vetted by conservative AND liberal lawyers is being blocked by Republican members there. Why, you ask. Is it to draw a bright line between church and state? Is it because it portrays the Bible inaccurately? Nope. It's because the bill was introduced by two Democrats and heaven forbid a Democrat be anything other than a raving secular humanist bent on tarnishing children's minds and killing God.

Christians should know by now that we've been played by politicians - I think it's been going on for about 2000 years. This is really just a recent blatant example. So at what point can we good citizens demand good politics in the public interest instead of crass partisanship to protect privileged position? Just dreaming I guess...

Full article: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0604.sullivan.html

Nudism, Nudism, Nudism

2006-04-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

So back in February I wrote a post entitled "Nudism as Prophecy" as part of my Isaiah on Tuesday series and ever since then I've been getting one or two hits a week from people searching blogs using the word "nudism." I can only imagine what these hapless surfers are thinking when they come across an entry discussing the biblical prophecies of Isaiah. Sorry guys, no pictures. You'll have to use your mind's eye - picture an older man with a long grey beard which covers up the naughty bits, a torso not emaciated, but with the faint outline of rib bones and a bony bum.

There, I hope that satisfies whatever curiosity it was that sparked your search.

nudism.

Isaiah on Tuesday - Isaiah's Passion for Justice (part 2)

2006-04-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Last week, I started a series on Isaiah 26 which really lays out Isaiah's passion and vision for justice. In verses 1-8 we see the poor and oppressed trampling the city of the oppressor as their patience in waiting for the LORD is rewarded. This week Isaiah turns his focus from the oppressed to the oppressor as we see judgment and justice applied. There are only four verses this week:

9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
and regard not the majesty of the LORD.
11 O LORD, your hand is lifted high,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
12 LORD, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

Verse nine is the key verse of this section. Isaiah, longing for the coming of the LORD to right the wrongs and injustices of his day and see all hearts turned to him says, "When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." Judgment should not be equated with punishment. It is not simply a punitive action for a wrong done, but a pronouncement about something. It can be judged good or bad - the bad should be done away with so that the good can shine the brighter. Look also to the purpose of judgment - to learn righteousness. To take another biblical analogy, judgment is intended to refine us to remove the impurities as gold is refined in fire.

However, verse ten shows us the difference between wisdom and folly. The wise learn from judgment and recognize that it is an act of grace. Judgment, as used here, leaves room for repentance - a needed course correction. Yet, the wicked scorn the grace shown them and continue in their ways. To take for granted God's grace is to somehow think that we are deserving of it. It is granted as an act of love, as is the judgment, in order to turn us from self-destruction. To continue on a wayward path fails to recognize that we deserve death and not life - it is a total rejection of the gift of grace and exchanges the eternal for the temporal.

Isaiah burns with passion as he writes about the wicked in verse 11. He sees the compassion and love of God for his children and the rebellious rejection of that love. It moves him to urge for their total consumption in the fire reserved for the enemies of God. It reminds me of that visceral response to a child who defiantly talks back to a parent.

Part of Isaiah's definition of justice seems to be laid out finally here - judgment is given as a corrective action of grace. The wise receive that judgment, but the wicked reject it. After rejecting judgment and grace, Isaiah calls for punishment which seems to imply that despite repeated warnings, the wicked choose to continue towards the cliff until they finally plunge over it.

Finally in verse 12, Isaiah caps this thought by recognizing that God is the source of all we have. God establishes peace for us, all that we have accomplished God has done for us. It puts us in proper perspective - we cannot take credit, for all our talents, resources and successes ultimately come from God. Though we are partners in the outcome, the recognition goes ultimately to the one who made it possible.