more things...

I. Act in a play
II. Coach a team of some sort
III. Play in an organized team sport
IV. write more poetry
V. Use roman numerals more often.

Things I want to do...

Things I want to do.

1. Write a bunch more songs
2. Read more fiction
3. Write some fiction
4. Play in a band
5. Learn to paint
6. Teach a class on church history
7. Put together an event re: teaching/history
8. Do some more CHAPs
9. Work with film
a. Make a short film
b. Write some screenplays
c. Learn to speak German fluently
d. Learn to speak Italian fluently
e. Learn to read Latin
f. Learn to read Greek
g. Get a full time teaching job
i. Substitute teach in Spring 08, Fall 08, Spring 09
ii. Put together a camping trip or two
iii. Fix guitar
iv. Take a cooking class
v. Raise a puppy, then, raise a child
vi. Build some more furniture
vii. Maintain my blog
viii. Develop history curriculum
ix. Develop the animated map curriculum idea
x. Get a PhD, someday...

Well...

Update on what's happenin:

* My grandmother passed away this Friday. She had battled through some really tough years fighting Alzheimer's Disease, and she had left us bit by bit. Now she is complete again.
* This weekend was a long, but good, weekend. Spending time with family is irreplaceable, and it needs to be a higher priority for my wife and I. We say that we put family first, but sometimes our actions speak otherwise.

What I'm readin:

* I'm reading about 3000 pages of text this month, as I prepare to end the semester, write 3 papers and study for 3 finals. This will be the craziest month so far, but it will be very fulfilling to finish my first semester.
* Some books I'm reading for this marathon:
John Cobb - Process Theology: Introductory Exposition
Selected writings of Maximus the Confessor
Selected writings of Gregory of Palamas
Sallie McFague - Models of God
Richard Nelson - The Historical Books
Selected writings on Liberation Theology
And some other stuff too...

In class...

Update on what's happenin:

* I'm in class. School rocks.
* Life is good, but kinda unsettled. We're housesitting in Addison, and its really thrown our 'routines' off.
* Pretty sure that by Fall of 2008, I'll be applying for PhD programs. I'm trying to put together my top 15 program list, and then we'll be makin it happen! Studying latin (on and off), learning German with the wife, and trying to kick butt in seminary. Also have been meeting with some professors and that has been fun.

What I'm readin:

* A lot.
* And then more...

Random thoughts on my PVM:

I'm doing a community hour here at Perkins on blogs. Here's a basic outline:

Keep this question in mind - hypothetical question - would Paul have blogged?
I. History of blogs (15 minutes)
a. What is the internet? (digital, networks, files with file extensions)
b. What is html?
c. What is RSS? Why invented? How does it work?
d. Weblogs, and their raison d'aitre
e. Podcasts/Vidcasts (and why we're not covering that today)

II. Potential Purposes of Blogging (15 minutes)
a. Uses
1. news
2. journaling
3. editorials
4. random crap
b. Pros
1. dynamic content
2. interactivity
3. building buzz
c. cons
1. detached from other cues
2. can be static (if not used properly)
3. can be discouraging
4. isn't mainstream media

III. Application (15 minutes)
a. signing up is easy/free (tutorial at the end)
b. set up a realistic posting plan
c. write ALL the TIME
d. link - the network is the key
e. browse - aggregators are the answer (list of good starter blogs)

IV. Interaction
a. questions?
b. prompts for discussion -> ministry uses?

Descriptive Review of The Color Purple

Over ninety Letters. No separate narrative. All conversations, scenarios, and plot told from the perspective of either the main character or her sister. And yet, in the Color Purple, Alice Walker paints a near-perfect portrait of the struggle to survive in situations of oppression and hardship. The novel is entertaining, enriching, and at times, excruciatingly beautiful. At the end, the reader finds his or her soul lifted up and offered a shining ray of hope in spite of the apparent darkness and brokenness of the world. And in the midst of this, the author clearly delineates a theological argument that resonates through all sorts of people, time and place.

Question: The primary question asked by the author through the story is, “How can I have hope and joy when I am abused, marginalized and broken in two?” Furthermore, the question succeeding the question is what that hope and joy might look like and lead to if indeed they can be discovered. The author speaks these questions to whosoever will listen.

Answer: In the words of Shug, “everything want to be loved” (Walker 198). Through the loving-kindness of Shug, and the ripples that spread from this love, Celie discovers hope and joy. This is foreshadowed through Celie’s initial impressions, glimpses and first encounter with the Blues singer (6, 8); and this fact is cemented as Shug becomes the lover and teacher of the broken and marginalized Celie (115). Celie does not discover this hope and joy on her own; she is taught to appreciate the gifts of life by someone who herself has learned to do so. Through this telling, the author argues that all of us are responsible not only to notice “the color purple” but also to point it out to others as well (197). This answer to the second question is elaborated on in the second half of the book as the ripples of loving-kindness spread outward from Celie and Shug to the rest of their family and community, until in the end the very soul of Celie is rejoined in an Utopian setting as her sister and children are verily resurrected from the dead (291).

Method: Through the use of narrative and poetic language, Alice Walker lays out her perspective on how to find joy and happiness in the midst of trial. The narrative of Celie and her sister demonstrate the divided heart; part of us has been torn asunder, and only after years of living and loving and healing can this deep rift be restored. The narrative of Celie and Shug puts on display the boundless nature of love as societal conventions and even other loves themselves cannot lessen or break the bond between the lovers. The various narratives of family members and in-laws demonstrates over and again the marginalization of a people that will not give up hope, whether it be African-Americans in the South or women in an abusive marriage; all these narratives are resolved with hope and optimism. The broken family is restored, the destitute find prosperity, the lost return home, and the ugliness of life is turned to beauty. In the end, through the resolutions of these narrative conflicts, the author clearly announces that this same hope and optimism are within all of our grasps.

Further, Walker employs dialectic to establish her theology in key moments. Whether it is Celie ‘arguing’ with Shug, Sofia fighting with her husband (and whoever else is stupid enough to mess with her), or even Nettie talking with Celie’s children and the tribe in Africa, the author continually uses dialogue to move towards the deeper truths hinted at in the narrative.

Significance: Since the message is one of hope, anyone who experiences a dark time can take solace in the notion of the eventual good; all ends well for Celie and her family, so why should it not end well for the reader? Also, this hope extends outward to a broken world that can’t seem to get it right. Maybe, Walker seems to say, we can fix this whole thing if we learn to love each other as equals in the scheme of things.

Evaluation: Walker’s novel is superb, her characters rich, and her tale engrossing. Even her theology, as implied in the book, is full of sparkling hope for the eventual unity and equality of the human race. However, the only flaw is that Walker’s story does not seem to imitate the way life actually ends up. The author’s utopian vision is jarring when contrasted with the unfair nature of the poverty cycle, the un-repentance of many abusive partners, and the death of many loved ones. It seems clear to me that the author was not naïve; every scenario seems to play out for the best in spite of all the odds for failure. Perhaps this is the vision of Walker: to present an absurdly hopeful picture. Maybe the author is saying that the world doesn’t look like this at all, and we all know it. But maybe it should. And maybe it can.

Post on scripture as metaphor

this was from my New Testament class. We were supposed to first read the passage in Luke about the calming of the storm, and view it as metaphor. Then we were tasked with engaging with it personally. Lastly, we were to pick our favorite scripture and explain why...

Scripture as metaphor:
Crossing to the other side - we are a part of a new exodus, leaving the old for the new; we have set out on this journey at the behest of our teacher/messiah/Lord; he has begun a new creation, and we are ready for the glorious journey...

(the ascension) - Jesus falls asleep.

The storm - wow, this journey is tough. Immediately, things have taken turns for the worse. What was promised is not being fulfilled. We are fighting against not only our own spiritual failings but against what seems to be the very bent of creation.

The calm - Jesus wakes up. He fixes it. (Implied: we make it to the other side).

My personal view:
Well, I always try to run away (far far away) from my built-in, Sunday school, canned responses that are so interwoven with the language and narrative of scripture that I have trouble distinguishing my own thought from that of Cokesbury Publishing. Here, after clearing my head as much as possible, I felt afraid. This story is deeply connected to my own struggle in this present day. I am much like the disciples, pre-calm.

We (humans/Christians in general) are stuck in a nasty storm. The waves are terrible. The wind is powerful and chaotic. There was little to no warning. We are in danger, constantly. So what do we do? I believe that we must read between the lines to understand the space between the storm and the waking up of Jesus (else, why the comment regarding little-faith?). The disciples first tried to bail out. They tried to sail away, or sail through. Some might have wanted to turn back. Others began doing what I find myself doing on a daily basis: accusing. "Peter, I thought you knew how to sail this thing!" "Andrew, you said those clouds wouldn't put us in danger!" "James, it was your turn to check the boat for leaks!" "Thaddeus, it's your job to get this boat bailed out!" "C'mon guys, we suck, we need to fix this boat!! We are failing! This isn't how we were supposed to sail!! How do you expect to get to the other side like this!" "Jesus, you ... you. are. sleeping."

Where are you, Lord? How strongly does the storm rage.

The promise is there in the text. I do not feel inclined to read this passage in a individualistic/salvation light. So I ask that dreaded question. Why? Why are you sleeping? Do you not care that we are perishing?

Now. My choice of text.

Revelation 22:17, 20.

"The spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'
And let everyone who hears say, 'Come.'
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift...

The one who testifies to these things says,
Surely.
I am
coming
soon.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus."

I echo the words again, in my soul.
Amen.
Amen.
Come Lord Jesus.
Come.

Descriptive Review of The Essential Tillich, Ch 5

Engaging with Paul Tillich’s writing has been refreshing and challenging to my soul. So, as I attempt to do a descriptive review of his chapter on “The Nature of Religious Language,” I am certain that my own enjoyment of Tillich will show through; however, I also will attempt to be as honest and critical of Tillich’s arguments and methods as I would of any other author.

Question: The question for this chapter is illuminated by the title of the essay from which it was collected: “Religious Symbols and Our Knowledge of God” (Tillich 44). Tillich attempts to answer the dilemma that he has created in previous chapters, as he has established that God is the being beyond being, or Being-Itself. If God is beyond being, then how can we speak of God? Tillich writes this piece in 1955, in America, at a time when the world was picking up the pieces from a foundation-shaking war (44).

Answer: Tillich answers this question through his description of symbols over against signs, then through his refinement of the specifically religious symbols. To the author, one obviously cannot understand any reality without some kind of sign or symbol to point to that experienced reality (45). Tillich differentiates between signs and symbols, and this is the key to his answer. A sign can only represent something, but it is arbitrary (45). The letters in this sentence have no internal significance; if they had any originally, it has since been lost. Symbols, however, “participate in the meaning and the power” of the reality which they represent (45). Furthermore, a religious symbol both participates in and points to the “fundamental level … of being itself” (49). Therefore, the concept of God, while insufficient, is the religious symbol for the transcendent reality of the Being-Itself (51). Not only this, but all of the materials that make up our conception of God are from our own experienced reality (52); therefore, our conception of God can only be a symbol, since God, by definition, is greater than all of our experienced reality.

Method: Tillich engages in a philosophical method aptly named dialectic. All of Tillich’s syntheses in this chapter are forged from the theses and antitheses that Tillich brings up. First, Tillich juxtaposes the concepts of sign and symbol (45); his synthesis states that symbols are those concepts that participate in the reality to which they point, and he arrives at this conclusion by illustrating that signs are excluded from this definition, in that they are arbitrary. Next, Tillich holds up symbols to a more specific religious symbol (49). Symbols in general point to a deeper reality, but religious symbols point to the ultimate transcendent reality. Then the theologian holds up the transcendent reality itself as an antithesis to the previous thesis in order to arrive at this synthesis: “participation is not identity; they [the religious symbols] are not themselves the Holy” (49). This kind of logic and approach intermingled with existential language and reasoning drive Tillich’s arguments.

Significance: For all those who have suffered under the yoke of existentialism, and for any and all who feel infinitely distant from a transcendent God, this chapter offers a light unto the path back to speaking of God. We must be careful, Tillich notes, but we must still attempt to point to the deep dimensions of reality with symbols and to the ultimate dimension of Being-Itself with religious symbol. For any and all who have become worshippers of the symbols themselves, this chapter is a warning and a reminder of just how limited our symbols actually are.

Evaluation: Following Tillich’s lead, the thesis is that this chapter logically demonstrates for us how we can and why we should still attempt to speak of the Holy; the antithesis is that the very arguments made are made with signs, rather than symbol. We can then move to our synthesis that this chapter examines language with language, and thus is limited; but Tillich acknowledges this limitation in his tone and structure. One weak point in Tillich’s chain of reasoning is the seemingly simple dichotomies that the author moves through to get to his point. We must ignore all gray in order to clearly delineate the black and white. Sign and symbol, we are led to believe, are the only ways to communicate reality. Conversely, Tillich’s method of differentiating between the two is one of degrees and personal judgment, leaving much open ended and unclear. Furthermore, Tillich appears to work in a world of universals – there is little room in these arguments for different perspectives. Overall, a great chapter that is effective and important; but like all reasoned arguments, it has its flaws.