s|ice: My Meckel and Me - On the Next Oprah

If you hadn’t heard, a few weeks ago I was in the hospital for 3 days or so. I had stomach issues which I can only liken to what I would expect contractions or labor pains to be. At first the doctor thought it was appendicitis, luckily the surgeon looked at a CT scan and said nope and joked seriously about it being a water chestnut [which I had earlier that day for lunch]. Still not being sure they wanted to do some exploratory surgery which was postponed due to feeling fine [though the morphine drip the night before was glorious]. Another test later and the doc said it’s a blockage due to a meckel. Go figure.


Naomi and I watched Jesus Camp recently. I had mixed and conflicting feelings on both the subject matter and the “documentation” style. Spiritual voyeurism is a term that came to mind; freedom, brainwashing, world views are some others. The whole topic of Jesus and American politics is important to say the least but the way Christian’s do and don’t deal with it is annoying at best. I deny the phrases about returning America back to God as a Christian nation, though I pray for the Gospel to be breathed into this nation. America was/is based off of Judeo-Christian ethics but we would never say, unless we had bad theology, that ethics make a person a follower of Christ [and yes, followers of Christ need to be more ethical]. There was a great podcast on the Veritas Forum from Ron Sider about a more complete Gospel. Derek Webb’s new album Ringing Bell, has a few things to say about politics… and here are two quotes from a Book Review on THE AGE OF ABUNDANCE somewhat dealing with politics and such:

…contrary to those under the spell of the romantic delusion, not all limitations on choice are the enemies of freedom.

Is liberty valuable because it promotes virtuous behavior? Or is liberty merely necessary because, given that there are deep disagreements about what virtuous behavior is, we must agree to leave one another a lot of social space to do as we please, or we shall not have social peace?

Naomi and I went to see Waitress for a date night a few weeks back. It was pretty heart wrenching for me personally. There were a ton of messed up relationships in so many different ways and, for whatever reason, I had to cry over the loneliness aspect of the movie. He sets the lonely in families; sets the prisoners free to sing. Statistically in America, two in four marriages don't last and half of the marriages that do stay together are not "happy" ones... and i think recently it's been observed that atheistic marriages are "healthier" than Christian ones. As a side note, in all the social messiness through-out Waitress there was still a good underlying pro-life message.

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis has been my latest finished work, reading wise. Overall I think the previous paperback, Out of a Silent Plant, was more adventurous. I didn’t enjoy the first quarter of Peralandra but the rest of if, for the most part, was fantastic. I was emotionally attached to feelings of fear, death, and philosophical conflict. The parts on temptation are worth the read alone. I’m starting to appreciate fantasy and fiction more and more thanks to Lewis.

On a side note of that subject, Madeleine L'Engle spoke about fantasy, fact, and truth on the Veritas Forum. The basic idea is that fact isn’t always truth and fantasy isn’t always false. Some of the concepts she spoke about were too out there for me but I understood and agreed to a degree some of what she said. I remember being more connected with the fantasy scene in Narnia when Aslan is killed than with the “realistic” crucifixion scene in The Passion. Oh ,how we need Disciples of Christ with scholarly minds, poetic hearts and humble hands… I hope my path of holistic growing takes me there.

s|ice: In Other News

Adam has got me hooked on a radio show lately called This American Life. For the most part, the stories are entertaining if not psychologically fascinating from an observational point of view. You might not always like what you here but the quality and variety of the show will make you listen and think. You can listen to them online for free here; below are some episodes to check out if you want to download [right-click, Save As...] and listen later.

290 - Godless America
American history in question and a Christian that finds her faith and then loses God.
77 - Pray
Christian lingo, sensationalists[?], and pray affecting an atheist.
188-Kid Logic
They really do say the darnedest things.
304-Heretics
FYI - There is no hell.
317-Unconditional Love
Could you love someone that tried to kill you?
286-Mind Games
What just happened?
328-What I Learned from Television
Good for both cultural observation and anti-stereotypes.
104-Music Lessons
David Sedaris and Anne Lamott.

Babel - I hear it's like Crash, which I've never seen, but on a global scale. Brad Pitt does a good job while not beating up or blowing up something. The Japanese scenes made me feel small in my worldview. As the native tongue was used, that's right, some subtitles are needed, I started to wonder how it would feel to be in a city of a million people and yet not be able to be understood or understand what others where saying. Beware of the crude flash scenes.

Ollabelle - James introduced me to this new band, which is a compilation of some individual artists. I would label it Neo-Gospel-Soul with a dash of Jazz and a hint of Funk. There first self titles album is pretty rockin', in a traditional newness kind of way, while the second release, Riverside Battle Songs, is a bit more melancholy.

If you haven't heard, Naomi and I started a MySpace band site which you can find us at www.myspace.com/undertheoak. We'll be playing a semi-show in May which makes me kind of nervous but should be fun. James will be helping us out with that. Also, a few friends and I have started a small, group blog in which we write a short essay once a month. Check it out at silhouette-words.blogspot.com.

s|ice: The Last Morning of Winter

The layers of gray are slowing strolling through the Seattle Sky this morning. I’m sitting on the 2nd floor of Peet’s Coffee and Tea in Fremont glancing out to see construction workers in their orange and yellow surgery scrubs giving a face-lift to a bridge. There is a shaggy dog tied up across the street at who gets up from his morning nap every now and then to peek around the patio chairs and catch a glimpse of any intruders or friends that might interrupt him. A group of casually dressed gentlepersons are next to me talking in the foreign language of legalese about lawsuits and contracts and cell phone companies. The older guy on the left is dominating the conversations… almost like a mentor who listens too little and yet always has something good to say. Before hand, another businessman, this time in a suit was doing some office work and making some phone calls. He apologized for his volume and out of place context and offered me an untouched piece of Zucchini bread that wasn’t going to be able to accompany him to his 10am meeting down the street. After an initial questioning, I thankfully accepted – it made my less than tasteful chai go down easier. Naomi is at a TESL conference at SPU for the day and I have lunch plans with an old co-worker, which includes a beer and a geo-cache.

Last evening Naomi, James, Jana, and myself had balcony seats to see Patty Griffin. She did a fantastic job with both the acoustic upbeat hand clapping songs and her soul connecting ballads of depression and incompleteness. The band played around her – it wasn’t an overextension of anything; no rock hard guitar solos or drum breakout sessions. Everything was used to give background and context and ambience to her and her song at that moment. The band enhanced the perfection of the song, even if the piano wanted to sabotage the scene with some of its off-key rebels. She was on of my must see before I die artist. And now I’m closer to death but with the anticipation of also being closer to life.

It is the last morning of winter. Spring is officially here at 5:07 this evening. May the things that died this cold season past stay dead if the Divine desires. But for the sake of hope and change and resurrection may new life come. Leave this winter cold behind and embrace the coming sun

s|ice: Victoria

awake.backpacks.leave.snow.bagels.chai.a-severe-mercy.canada.parking.windy.ferry.rain.bus.nap.scooters.laurel-point-inn.brown-water.tv.dine-by-the-water.sleep-in.late-breakfast.coffee.walk.geocache.sit.cuban-cigar.the-god-delusion.read-some-more.drive-back.wrong-exit.fruit.movie-never-seen.home.

it was one of those slow-down-don't-think-about-school-or-planning-or-conquering-just-think-and-be-with-and-enjoy-each-other-while-travelling-experiencing-laughing-kissing-being-silly-semi-random kind of weekends.

Victoria, BC

I believe that genuine inloveness is rather less common than the romantic novelists suggest. One who has never been in love might mistake either infatuation or a mixture of affection and sexual attraction for being in love. But when the 'real thing' happens, there is no doubt. A man in the jungle at night, as someone said, may suppose a hyena's growl to be a lion's; but when he hears the lion's growl, he knows damn' well it's a lion. So with the genuine inloveness. – Vanakuen

s|ice: Boulder River Trail

Five of us set out on the first hike of the season. Boulder River trail is about 9 miles roundtrip and took us about six hours [2 of those were for sightseeing and geocaching.] The trail and weather were great... some areas looked like a twister came through or a mud slide... but heck, we're men... we take tough terrain and pee on it.

Boulder River Trail