Developments in the Life of Lily

Lily is growing fast. She had her 5th birthday yesterday. Just kidding. However, check out the latest developments.


(Note to our mothers: this was a once in a lifetime occurrence; her brain is not yet mush.)

Lily's also working on her vertical.



And finally, watch out everyone, she's crawling.

Lent

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days (actually 46, minus the 6 Sundays that occur between Ash Wednesday and Easter), originally designed in the early church as a time for converts to make final preparations for baptism, which occurred on Easter. The season of Lent revolves around two foci. First, it is a time in which the church considers our human condition, specifically sin and its consequences. Second, it is also a time to consider the new possibilities and hope that Christ brings through the resurrection. Lent brings us full-circle, starting with the recognition that, "from dust we came and to dust we return," and culminating in the grand celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead.

Far too often, those of us who come from a Free-church background have neglected the Christian calendar, and this has been to our detriment. It is encouraging to see a rise in excitement over recovering these traditions, but often "discovery" comes hand in hand with misunderstanding. This treatment by Laurence Stookey greatly aided my understanding of Lent.

In the past much was made of "giving up something" for Lent. At times this was a trivial if harmless self-denial : abstaining from chocolate or attendance at movies. At times it was dishonest: giving up cigarettes because the physician had sternly warned of the dangers of smoking, or reducing food intake because weight loss was desired. In reaction, it has now come into vogue to suggest that instead we should "take on something" for Lent: pay a visit each week to someone who is ill or shut in, add an additional passage of scripture or prayer to personal devotions, or increase charitable offerings for six weeks. None of these is reprehensible; but neither do these grasp the depth of what is meant by Lenten devotion and discipline, if for no other reason than that they are temporary; presumably once Easter arrives, these "add-ons" will be set aside for another forty-six weeks.

The fuller Lenten discipline is self-examination that seeks greater conformity to the mind of Christ, and more effective ministry on behalf of the world (which is what true devotion is all about). In this perspective, Lenten disciplines are not temporary deletions or additions but spiritual exercises that permanently alter us. A budding pianist at a certain stage spends hours practicing scales, and the novice typist again and again keys in: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Far from being exercises of only temporary value or even busywork, these disciplines actually alter neural pathways such that years later access to the resulting skills can be gained with only a minimum of effort. By the same logic it is said that once you have learned, you can never quite forget how to ride a bicycle.

Solid spiritual disciplines seek to effect the same kind of permanent acquisition.... [they] are designed to have effects far past the Lenten season and indeed are intended to produce new pathways for devotion and discipline in the same way that the exercises of a pianist or typist create new and enduring neural pathways.

I'm looking forward to participating in the Lenten season. If anyone else is, I'd love to hear what you are doing.

The Cure of Souls

From John T. McNeill's A History of the Cure of Souls...

...the cure of souls is never merely a method, even a method derived from a doctrine, or a task for certain hours in the week, but it involves both the faith we live by and all our daily activities and contacts. (87)

1000 Records: Bad Brains

For Christmas, my in-laws bought me a book, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die by Tom Moon. Tom Moon is a music critic who has contributed to NPR's All Songs Considered, Rolling Stone, and some other publications. In the book he compiles 1,000 albums (obviously) that everyone should hear, spanning genres from classical to hip-hop to punk, as well as including music from all over the world. It's really a pretty cool book, although, some selections have more merit than others (Britney Spears "Toxic"?), but arguing over selections is all part of the fun in a book like this.

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to flip through the book and see which albums I own, as well as which I should check out. My most pleasant surprise, thus far, has been Bad Brains. When I was younger I used to love them. They were fast, hard, crazy, everything a kid could want. I love the idea of a Jamaican hardcore band from D.C., especially since the majority in their crowds are probably white skinhead punks. If I remember correctly, Bad Brains' album Rock for Light, was the first CD I ever purchased, having heard them on a skate video. I liked them, basically, for the fact that they played faster and yelled louder than any band I had heard. And they had dreadlocks. Looking back, it's wild to see that they were actually one of the more influential and trend-setting hardcore bands, not only fusing several musical genres (they had a jazz background, which they fused with reggae and punk music), but also crossing racial barriers. (Interesting side note: the Beastie Boys are huge Bad Brains fans, who chose their name to match the initials BB.) It gives me great pride to think that my first CD purchased, although ignorantly, was such an influential band. I'm not really into hardcore anymore, but I've listened to Bad Brain's self-titled EP a bit over the last few weeks, and I can say that I still dig it, although I haven't sold Radha on it. If you're interested, here's a choice cut:

A Year with Calvin

I stumbled across this a little late, but this year happens to be the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. In celebration of this, Princeton Theological Seminary has decided to read through the Institutes over the course of the year. They have developed a reading plan, and each week a pastor, theologian, or scholar will write a reflection on the reading. You can join the community that is reading together here.

I've always meant to read through the Institutes and usually manage to get 100 or so pages into when something or other comes up and pulls me away. This has served as motivation for me to actually read it, and the reading plan breaks it down so that you only read about 3 pages a day.

I've loved all that I have read of Calvin, thus far and in the past, and am thankful for his contribution to the Church. Calvin is somewhat of a polarizing individual, I've come across people who idolize him, as well as those who loathe him. Usually, neither have actually read him. He often gets a bad rap, typically for his association with predestination (which is almost always unfair, several others spoke much more extensively on this). However, in my reading I have found him to be extremely pastoral and gracious. His theology came within the context of the pastorate. His concerns where on those whom he shepherded. That is extremely appealing to me.

I hope to share some thoughts on what I read from time to time. I would love it even more if anyone (if anyone reads posts that don't have pictures of Lily!) would join and converse with me.

The Next Generation of Depressed Syracuse Fans

Lily is the coolest kid in the world. Look at that gut. She is milk-drunk.

Why?

I've debated for quite a while as to whether or not I wanted to keep a blog. My concerns have always been the same; I'm in a part of my life where my thoughts are still rather formative (read: in ten years I'll look back and think I was an idiot); often, I think I'm a lot more interesting than I actually am; I'm concerned that writing, especially on a medium that exposes you to the world, would been done more as an exercise of vanity, rather than one leading to humility and wisdom.

I suppose that my reasons for actually writing now are similar to those stated by Buechner in the previous post. Autobiography is a form of prayer. Radha and I have become more and more convinced that it is not the fantastic in life that matters most, rather, it is the ordinary, the details. James Joyce made the comment that, "literature deals with the ordinary; the unusual and extraordinary belong to journalism." The bulk of our days consist of menial tasks, taking out the trash, washing the dishes, saying hi to those we pass by, working. The tension arises when we become dissatisfied with this type of life because we yearn for some type of "super-spiritual" existence. We use words like "calling" and "purpose" (often poorly defined, if defined at all) which rarely seem to align with our daily activities and realities.

It's interesting to note that the majority of early church heresies (I'm thinking largely of Gnosticism, Manicheism, etc.) did not deny Christ's deity, but rather, they denied his humanity. These heresies adhered to a strict dualism that denied any value to the material, the ordinary (perhaps, the "secular"). Yet, in the miracle of the Incarnation, deity was united with humanity. The Second Person of the Trinity "came in the flesh," lived among us, ate food, washed feet, and wept. He did everyday, ordinary stuff.

We can spend a lot of time chasing after the spectacular, waiting for the next great moment. In the meantime I'm sure we miss a lot. The details are important. I'd like to pay attention to them, and hopefully in the process pay attention to God. I'd like to make autobiography prayer. That's why I'm going to take the time to share ordinary stuff. Pictures, stories, thoughts, movies, music. I'd like it to be more than entertainment. I hope that it forces me to see what God is doing in my life.

Buechner on Autobiography

Because the word that God speaks to us is always an incarnate word - a word spelled out to us not alphabetically, in syllables, but enigmatically, in events, even in the books we read and the movies we see - the chances are we will never get it just right. We are so used to hearing what we want to hear and remaining deaf to what it would be well for us to hear that it is hard to break the habit. But if we keep our hearts and minds open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize, beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear him, he is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, his word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling. In that sense autobiography becomes a way of praying, and a book like this, if it matters at all, matters mostly as a call to prayer.

Frederick Buechner, Now & Again

Lily Has Teeth!

Okay, she's had them for a while, but now she's showing them off. In case you were wondering, they are stinking sharp! She actually bit a shoe in half with them. We're hoping to get her on an infomercial.

Dark Was the Night

Dark Was the Night is an album that is being produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National. It's a compilation that benefits Red Hot Organization - an international organization that promotes awareness and money for the prevention of AIDS and HIV. It will be released February 17, 2009 and has an incredible list of artists including some of my favorites: Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The National, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, and a bunch of others. Check out some of the tracks below: