This email goes around a lot, but I realized that a good majority of my blog-readers are Canadian and may not have seen it (gotten from here)
You know you're from Michigan when...
1.You've never met any celebrities.
2."Vacation" means going to Cedar Point.
3.At least 1 member of your family disowns you the week of the Michigan/Michigan State game.
4.Half the change in your pocket is Canadian.....eh!
5.You drive 86 mph on the highway and pass on the right.
6.Your idea of a traffic jam is 40 cars waiting to pass an orange barrel.
7.You know how to play (and pronounce) Euchre.
8.It's easy to get VERNORS Ginger Ale, Sanders Hot Fudge sauce, AND Faygo Pop.
9.You know how to pronounce "Mackinac."
10.You've had to switch on the "heat" and the "A/C" in the same day.
11.You bake with SODA and drink a POP.
12.The movie "Escanaba in Da Moonlight" wasn't funny. You consider it a documentary.
13.Your little league game was snowed out.
14.The word "thumb" has geographical, rather than anatomical significance.
15.You show people where you grew up by pointing to a spot on your left hand.
16. Traveling coast-to-coast means driving from Port Huron to Muskegon.
17.You measure distance in minutes.
18.When giving directions, you refer to A Michigan Left.
19.You know that Kalamazoo not only exists, but isn't that far from Hell.
20.Your year has 2 seasons: Winter and Construction.
21.Home Depot on any Saturday is busier than toy stores at Christmas.
22.You know when it has rained because of the smell of worms.
23.Owning a Japanese car was a hangin' offense in your hometown.
24.You believe that "down south" means Toledo.
25. You are still bitter about the Toledo War.
Um, I changed #25 from a generic "You get these jokes" to something funnier and truer. Also, 3, 12, 23 and 24 are somewhat of an exaggeration. Well, maybe not 24 -- I do think of Chicago as down south, after all. Plus I think of Ontario as east and a bit south. Also, I don't refer to Michigan Lefts as such -- in fact, I didn't know they were so rare outside of Michigan -- but I do know what they are, and you will too if you follow the link I gave you. Oh, and I don't know what Sanders Hot Fudge sauce has to do with Michigan. Maybe we should replace that with "Your favo(u)rite ice cream is Mackinac Island Fudge".
My room-mate (John, also known as Ixi) and I were talking yesterday and he said something I found shocking – “I’m happy with who I am”. Fellow dorm-mate Jehan quite enjoys it when Ixi and I argue and tried to egg us on, of course, but really I was quite amazed.
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken Don’t close your eyes don’t close your eyes This is your life, and today is all you’ve got now, and -- And today is all you’ll ever have. Don’t close your eyes: don’t close your eyes!--Switchfoot, The Beautiful Letdown, “This Is Your Life”This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose?Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and overThis is your life, are you who you want to be…
Y’see, I don’t think I can say I’m happy with who I am. This doesn’t mean I have low self-esteem or think I’m the worst person in the world, though I do think the latter occasionally simply because I am privy to my own darkest thoughts in a way that I am not to those of others, if that makes sense.
The magnificent words of the Book of Common Prayer come to mind:
Most merciful God,And of course, what is I think at once the most frustratingly true and the most relieving passage in all of Scripture, taken from Eugene Peterson’s meditation-slash-paraphrase The Message for the benefit of those of us to whom the words are distant with familiarity:
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.And I’m off to bed, hoping I can sleep after a[n unintentionally long] three-hour nap (from 6:30 to 10:00, which is, incidentally, why I wasn’t in Mr. Strauss’ class this evening…). Ah, persistent low-level stress, you make me continually tired.But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
My favo(u)rite part of the traditional CRC worship service, next to God’s Greeting and the benediction, is the absolution. In Christ you are forgiven. I suppose to a tradition-minded (note: tradition-minded is likely not the same thing as traditionally-minded!) one such as myself, the constant repetition of these phrases speak powerfully. I am amazed at the way that I am able to receive grace from them. So, then, I will leave you with a benediction, and then I’ll really go to bed:
Grace, mercy and shalom be with you from God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Has anyone ever had to decide on what mission trip to pursue? It's a truly difficult task, especially when both choices are so attractive! For a while I was planning on going on a trip to Turkey, but then was offered the opportunity to go to Peru with Wycliffe (An organization of Bible Translators, of which I hope to one day be a part). This decision was fairly easy for me, as the Peru trip is more directly applicable to my life goals. The next decision I have to make is not quite so simple! After hearing about the Peru trip, I was informed of a trip to Indonesia, which was recommended to me by the leader of the Peru trip (whom I have gone with to Honduras). The reasoning behind it is that it would get me out of the Western Hemisphere and to a culture that is not primarily Latino--a definate plus. However, the Indonesia trip is led by a couple that I've not met. Decisions decisions! The strengths of each trip seem equal in my mind. How is one to decide???
Yeah, so in 24 hours, Lord willing, I'll be home for the weekend (actually Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning, but who's keeping track). One paper to write, the Other Paper Due Monday, i.e. two days ago.
The topic is the Anglican Communion, and I'm going to write about how it is able to balance theological diversity, worldwide unity and orthodox doctrine. Which is really quite interesting, and I got all my books a month and a half ago.
Only problem is, I can't do any of the reading without experiencing the strong urge to sleep. Here is a typical passage from some Anglican website:
Second, the debates and decisions of the PECUSA in the 18th century exhibit a manifest commitment to these parameters, and clearly define our present Constitution’s Preamble. The earliest Convention (October 1785: prior to the reception of bishops for the new church) established “articles of union” among different Anglican parishes. The purpose of this ordered union would be “the maintaining [of] uniformity in doctrine, discipline and worship.” This became the basis of subsequent revisions of the Constitution, and in 1786 was tied, by an official act of the Convention, to the “steadfast resolution to maintain the same essential Articles of Faith and Discipline with the Church of England” (Oct. 11, 1786). Thus, uniformity of doctrine and practice within the Episcopal Church, coupled with an “essential” uniformity with the Church England, were two sides of a single self-definition. Thus, the “council” of Convention was seen from the start as having as its purpose the maintenance of internal order through external coherence with the larger Church.I need a nap. Maybe I'll have another cool dream about Dooyeweerd and Oliver Cromwell discussing the separation of church and state, or something like that.
Think of it as US Federal elections on the 14th of September 2001. Here's today's editorial from Libertad Digital, a right-of-center Spanish paper (translated with the aid of 'cuz I've lost a lot of Spanish knowledge since, er, coming to Canada):
Sea cual sea el resultado de las urnas, sea cual sea el reflejo en el voto de la conmoción popular provocada por la masacre del 11-M, nada esencial ha cambiado tras la espectacular investigación policial que en sesenta horas ha sido capaz de descubrir pistas que apuntan a terroristas marroquíes ligados con Al-Qaeda como posibles autores de la masacre. Las razones por las que la Izquierda en general y el imperio prisaico muy en particular negaba la autoría más razonable, la de ETA, era deslegitimar al Gobierno y al PP ante las urnas y prevenir un voto de castigo contra el PSOE por sus complicidades con los socios de la ETA en Estella y Perpiñán. Las razones por las que muchos defendimos y defendemos la actuación del Gobierno en este caso y las hipótesis que desde el principio sostuvo como lógicas son igualmente evidentes: porque lo eran, porque es el Gobierno legítimo de España y porque no hay nada sustancialmente distinto entre una masacre provocada por ETA en Chamartín y una masacre provocada por los islamistas en Atocha, salvo que los muertos de esta última pueden arrojarlos los caínes de Ferraz y de Gran Vía a los pies de Aznar. Razón de más para defender al presidente del Gobierno frente a tan abyecta conspiración. Razón de más para defender al PP del golpismo desatado en una izquierda que se ha apresurado a deslegitimar las elecciones si las pierde. Como de costumbre. Acaso más que nunca, pero como siempre.I find this amazing; it certainly puts the lie to the claim that the US is engaged in a unilateral war. I certainly think there are things wrong with Western liberalism, but I would much rather live in a materialist, somewhat hedonist society and work within that system than undergo physical persecution in a Muslim theocracy, and it appears that Spaniards, Englishmen, Poles, Japanese, Australians and Iraqis feel the same way (they signed a new Constitution the other day, in case you didn't notice, and also attacks are petering off)....Whatever the result of the polls, however the tumult caused by the March 11 massacres is reflected in the vote, nothing essential has changed in the wake of the spectacular police investigation which has, in seventy hours, been able to pick up the trail leading to Morroccan terrorists with ties to Al-Quaeda as the possible authors of the massacres. The reason that the Left in general and the imperio prisaico [?] more specifically has ruled out the most reasonable suspect, the ETA [Basque terrorists], is to delegitimatize the Government and the PP [Partido Popular, the ruling right-of-center party] before the election and to prevent the voters from punishing the PSOE [left-of-center, socialist party] for their complicity with the partners [political wings] of the ETA in Estella and Perpiñán. The reason that so many of us defended and still defend the actions of the Government and the hypothesis that from the beginning was logical is similarly evident: simply, that this is the legitimate Government of Spain and because there is no substantial distinction between a massacre carried out by the ETA and one carried out by the Islamists in Atocha, unless this one can throw the
caínes [?] of Ferraz and Gran Vía at the feet of Aznar [Prime Minister of Spain and leader of the PP]. That's a further reason to defend the head of the Government from these abject conspiracy theories, a further reason to defend the PP from the coup d'etat mentality of a Left that has hurried to delegitimatize the elections if it loses them. As usual. Maybe more than ever, but like always.
Los datos revelados por el Ministerio del Interior nos obligan a una sola rectificación: admitimos que hemos sido demasiado duros con Ángel Acebes, cuya angustia en estos días ha debido ser terrible, pero cuyo comportamiento informativo, transparente hasta extremos muy perjudiciales para su partido, arroja un saldo finalmente positivo para el sistema, para el Gobierno y, sin duda, para su conciencia. No es poca cosa cuando no se sabe qué puede salir hoy de las urnas. No lo es saber que en el Gobierno hay gente timorata de puro decente y no audaz de puro canalla. De Corcuera y Belloch a Mayor y Acebes (pasando por Rajoy) la diferencia moral es... insalvable. Cuando la Izquierda acusa a la Derecha de mentir es porque no concibe que en política se pueda hacer otra cosa. Porque ella no hace otra cosa. “La mentira puede ser una herramienta revolucionaria”, decía Lenin. ¡Se lo van a contar a Rubalcaba!
The data revealed by the Interior Minister forces us to make a correction: we admit that we were too harsh on Ángel Acebes, who in these last few days must have been suffering terribly, but whose cooperative attitude, transparent even to the detriment of his party, has made a positive contribution to the system, to the Government, and, doubtless to his conscience. [I'm not sure about that sentence.] This is no little thing when one does not know what the result of the vote will be, or know whether there are decent, pure people or mere gangsters [I'm not sure about this sentence either...] in the Government. The moral difference between Corcuera & Belloch and Mayor & Acebes (by way of Rajoy) is... unsalvable [I'm not sure what that word means, likely the sentence is saying that Mayor, Acebes and Rajoy are incomparably better than Corcuera and Belloch]. When the Left accuses the Right of lying, it's because they can't conceive that a politician could do anything else. Because it can't do anything else. "The lie can be a tool for the Revolution", said Lenin. They're going to tell Rubalcaba that!Nuestro editorial de anteayer se titulaba: “Fue ETA; pero si hubiera sido Al Qaeda, ¿qué?”. Podemos invertirlo y mantenerlo: “Ha sido Al Qaeda, pero si hubiera sido ETA, ¿qué?”. Las víctimas siguen siendo víctimas y el crimen sigue siendo crimen, maten los asesinos en nombre de Alá o de Euskal Herria. Desde el 11-S, Occidente está en guerra contra el terrorismo islámico, por eso defendemos toda actuación nacional e internacional que conduzca a su destrucción. No se puede estar contra el terrorismo en Madrid y no en Manhattan. Quien se somete al protectorado etarra en Cataluña es tan vil y tan estúpido como el que busca un protectorado terrorista islámico para toda España a cambio de abandonar la alianza con los países a los que odian los islamistas: Estados Unidos, Israel, Gran Bretaña... y España. Ben Laden, antes de la guerra de Irak, ya reivindicaba Al Andalus, o sea, España, como hace el terrorismo islámico marroquí que se estrenó en el atentado contra la Casa de España en Casablanca. No hay alternativa a la de la lucha implacable contra los que quieren destruirnos: destruirlos. No sabemos lo que hoy dirán las urnas pero nosotros seguiremos diciendo lo mismo: estamos con el Gobierno legítimo de España y contra el terrorismo. Y estaremos con cualquier otro Gobierno legítimo que luche contra cualquier terrorismo. Ayer, hoy y pasado mañana.
Our editorial of the day before yesterday was entitled: "It was ETA; but if it had been Al-Qaida, what?". We can keep that by inverting it: "It was Al-Qaida, but if it had been ETA, what?" The victims would still be victims, the crime would still be a crime whether the assassins were killing in the name of Allah or Euskal Herria. After 9/11, the West has been engaged in a war against Islamic terrorism; for this, we defend every national and international action conducted against terrorism. It is not possible to stand against terrorism in Madrid but not in Manhattan. Who under the aegis [?] of the ETA in Catalonia is so vile and stupid that he seeks to make all Spain an Islamic terrorists' protectorate and abandon the alliance with the nations which find the Islamists odious: the United States, Israel, Great Britain... and Spain. Bin Laden, before the war in Iraq, had already vindicated Al Andalus -- that is, Spain, [I suspect Al Andalus is the historical name for Spain under Arab rule, and this use is tantamount to, say, Germany referring to Poland as "East Prussia"] releasing Morroccan Islamic terrorists to attack the House of Spain in Casablanca. There is no alternative to this implacable fight against those who which to destroy us than this: to destroy them. We do not know what the vote will be today, but we will certainly say the same: we stand with the legitimate Government of Spain and against terrorism. And we will stand with any other legitimate Government which fights against any sort of terrorism. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Update: Preliminary results are in; with 76% of votes counted, the Partido Popular has lost, going from 183 seats to 147 and from 44.5% of the vote to 37.1. PSOE has gained 40 seats to a total of 165 (from 34.1 to 43.1). I'm not sure what all the other parties are, but IU rose from 5 to 8 seats, CiU from 10 to 15 and ERC which is I think the Basque nationalist party down from 8 seats to one. I know very little about Spanish politics though, for a much better analysis check out Iberian Notes, excellent blog run by an American living in Barcelona.
So I just woke up from a 20-minute nap to keep my brain sharp for figuring out what Dooyeweerd says about modernity and postmodernity for That One Paper That's Due Monday. (I haven't even started on That Other Paper Due Monday yet.)
Anyway, I was a character in some futuristic-type society, and I was walking down the stairs (stairs, may I add, which looked suspiciously like the stairs in my dorm) with my female sidekick-type person discussing whatever mission we were about to carry out. She said something or other and I suddenly realized that she was not really a participant in our future society after all.
And I shouted: "Aha! You are not truly postmodern; you have failed to critique the core assumptions of the modern era!" Then the doorbell rang in my dream simultaneously with the doorbell ringing in our real dorm, and I woke up. I wish I could have picked her brain a little more....
Nearly two hundred people are dead and a thousand injured today in Madrid after terrorist group ETA (Basque separatists) bombed train stations in the Spanish capital.
Oramos por usted hoy, España (We're praying for you today, Spain).
Suddenly my problems are much smaller.
In chapel today we sang this song, based on Psalm 139:
You have searched me, O God
And You know me well
You know when I sit and when I rise
You perceive my thoughts from afar
Know my words before they are -- O Lord
I stand in awe of your waysWhere can I go where You'll not be?
From Your presence where can I flee?
Where can I go where You'll not be?If I go to the heavens, there You are
If I go to the depths You are not far,
not far, from me, from me
If I rise on the wings of the dawn
Where-ever I sing this song -- O Lord,
Your hand is guiding meSearch me, oh God, and know my heart
Test me and know my anxious thoughts
Reveal the wicked ways in me
For on my own I cannot see, O Lord
And lead me in Your ways
So yes, in addition to the work I have to do for this Friday/next Monday and all the Big Questions floating around in my head, there is now another Issue that needs urgently to be addressed: what am I doing next year?
Waitasec, people who know me are saying. You've said for a month and a half that you were going to school back home next year. You said you decided over Reading Break so you wouldn't have to figure this out while wrestling all this other stuff.
Well, I've changed my mind. This doesn't mean for sure I'm coming back. But it's definitely a change from when I was completely sure I wasn't returning to Redeemer.
A friend of mine pointed out to me last night (well, I've expounded on his basic idea) that there are two major factors in decision-making: reason and emotion. Both are important; it's unwise to make a decision when your gut tells you it's wrong, but it's also unwise to do something you feel is good if there seem to be strong, rational arguments against it. But he noted also that both reason and emotion can be corrupted by sin. I cannot yield to the temptation to identify, say, the emotional arguments as coming from the sinful nature and the rational arguments as being from God, but rather must determine whether... I'm not explaining this very well. Let me get St. Paul to do it for me:
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.And hey, a little Isaiah never hurt:
Therefore once more I will astound these peopleSo yeah. If I want to make a decision, I need to do it soon; if I come back, I will want to be on Senate, and if I run for Senate I likely will win. And nomination forms are due Friday at midnight -- so that's as good a time as any to be my arbitrary deadline (because, believe me, if I were not to force myself to decide by a certain time, I would never finish weighing the arguments).
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.
The last month or so, I realize, I've been to some extent hiding, both physically in my room and emotionally from others, so that I wouldn't have to build any stronger relationships with people I wouldn't likely be around after next month. But in the last couple weeks I've met new people and had good conversations in spite of this, and that makes me reconsider what God is calling me to.
Heh. Keep me in your prayers. Also pray that I don't get too self-absorbed, as tends to happen when we're going through trials. I have to choose to remember how blessed I am, how many opportunities I have been given, how much love and grace are all around me.
"Where can I go where you'll not be... where-ever I sing this song, O Lord, Your hand is guiding me."
Update 7:56 PM: I am coming back to Redeemer. Thanks for your prayers.
this is the current away message on my aol instant messenger:
Uh, yeah, I'm super busy. And by super busy I mean I have three-hundred pages of reading for Monday and two term papers due Friday And another Monday And I might be going to New Jersey this weekend And I might be going home next week Wednesday And I have no clue what I'm going to do with my life. If anyone sees my mom or my best friend tell her/him to call me before I break down entirely -- I love y'all. Oh, and I would like you to know that I have not exaggerated at all. I seriously have that much work to do. Maybe I will just not sleep for the next five days.so yes and yes I realize I could have done some of this work earlier except for the part that I had work that I was doing then. and hopefully in nine days I will be home and then I can rest, if by rest you mean rush around frantically catching up with various friends and spending money i don't have going to movies with said friends.
uh, money. which reminds me to update you on the whole campus job / health card / lack of paying thing. basically there is no new news. I am still working. I am still not getting paid. I am still angry.
right now, i just wish I could not be in school. i don't want that mystical little paper that lets me get a Good Job and a Successful Life if it means sacrificing another three years of my life. It would be different if I didn't have anything better to do. But I have all these, as Mr. Strauss would put it, "Big Questions" that I would like to sit down and write about and think about. Questions like What does it mean to be a Christian and an intellectual and What is shalom and What does a Christian society look like and Whom should I vote for.
Plus new ones that were added today when I visited the Orthodox Presbyterian Church which Steve Veldkamp and Andrea Hensen attend, and which by the way I really loved (sorry, way too tired to do links) and ended up in a several-hours-long theological discussion: What is worship, What is formal worship, What do we mean when we say that the Bible is the Word of God and isn't Jesus the Word of God, What role does art have in worship, Is the Gospel a spoken thing. Even more questions that now I need to deal with (read: SHELF WHILE I DO SCHOOLWORK).
It's frustrating especially because some of these papers I would really enjoy writing, like the Reformation Theology one on the Anglican Communion and what we can learn from their church structure and the Philosophy paper on Postmodernism.
And meanwhile concepts like 'regulative principle of worship' to 'postmodernism' and 'Kingdom' and 'shalom' and 'worship' and 'Platonism' and 'tradition' and 'church-state separation' and 'ideology' and the ever-popular 'Herman Dooyeweerd' are running around in my head at high speed, screaming their lungs out, bumping into one another and making it nigh impossible for me to get anything done.
I think that my attempts to also keep an eye on American, Canadian, British, French, Spanish, Iraqi and Israeli/Palestinian politics and current events via blog-reading should really be discarded for the next week, as should my reading of various Christian bloggers. They only add more words, pictures and comments
to my overloaded brain.
And so now it's almost three. I've been in bed since 1 but have been unable to sleep despite being tired. It's so good to write again; I truly miss writing prose and poetry in this blog and in my offline journal. I console myself with writing snatches, mere turns of phrase really, in my head on off-moments or making sure the prose I write for my papers shines. But writing papers is not the same as taking a thought you want to think and thinking it out on paper (or on screen, you know what I mean.)
So, good night. I will likely not be back for a week at least.
Why is it that colleges seem to think that college students are loaded? Besides the enourmous amount we pay for tuition, we are charged fees for just about everything they can come up with. Personally, I was recently given a ticket for parking in a handicap parking place that was not clearly marked. There was no sign in front of the space, as there is in front of the two spaces next to the one I erroneously parked in. Also, the painted sign on the ground was covered by snow, which the grounds crew had not plowed. So who gets the $100 ticket? I do! Now, I understand the concept of handicap parking. Truly I do, and if there had been a visible sign I would obviously not have parked there. I contested the ticket and was told I would receive a phone call the next day, which I never did. Now, because of this unpaid ticket I have a stop on my account, which means I could not view any of my own information, or receive grades, or register for next semester. I gave up and paid the ticket, but I wonder what it is they think they are accomplishing by saddling me with this fine? The hassle with the security guard was enough to prevent me from ever parking there again. Honestly, knowing it's handicap (now) is enough to prevent the same mistake. But is it enough for them? No. A college dedicated to Christian values insists upon full payment. This payment, I might add, is taken from the loans I've taken out to pay for my living expenses so that I may concentrate on my studies. This Christian College is just making it that much harder for me to get OUT of debt and on my way to the mission field. Does this make sense to you???
I would just like everyone to know that Return of the King won all of the awards it was nominated for, all 11, including best picture and best director. While the movies need no awards to prove their greatness, it's nice to see that Hollywood has SOME taste yet!