The Hill, where i like to be

Well, for a Carolina grad, it shouldn't be a surprise to find that one of my new favorite eateries is the Hill Cafe. i got by there the other week and had the best Fried Chicken in my life, as well as the most amazingly seasoned fresh string beans too. Sunday came around and i got Ashley and our other Carolina friend, Kyle, by the place for brunch. Kyle got an amazing veggie-people omelette, Ashley got an all-American spread of the typical breakfast foods, and i got Huevos Racheros (spectacularly good poached eggs over black beans and salsa, all on top of a fried tortilla that was crisp to perfection). It's a corner cafe/bar, narrow and small. The decor is all painted on, but you can't beat a bar with old church pews for booth seating. i give the place 5 stars.

Journal, the paper kind (ooooooooooooooo)

So the major project since i've started working is this 120-page journal. The kids each receive it when they get here and use it to reflect on each day for two weeks. In addition to explanations about the journal itself and how to journal and explanations of the Examen process of prayer/meditation/reflection, there are 6 pages for each day. Each day there is a scripture passage to read and reflect on (most of them are "call" narratives, like Samuel, Moses, the Disciples, etc) and a selection of pictures and quotes. i picked quotes from Billy Graham to Ghandi, from old Swedish sayings to V for Vendetta. The pictures range from Norman Rockwell and Ansel Adams to 3D renderings of Escher drawings. i also was responsible for creating the CD they will be given as food for thought, and the lyrics are a part of the journal, as well as pictures i selected for the bands and to represent parts of the songs. i've been working on it on and off (more on than off) for about 6 weeks, so i'm glad to have it completed. It goes to print and binding today.

For curious minds, i selected these songs for the CD. They all have relevance in today's world for their content as it pertains to being actively participating Christians in a world that is too often full of intolerance and apathy...

I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Big Joe - David M. Bailey
Chico - David M. Bailey
Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby
Dirty Laundry - Don Henley
Jesus Freak - DC Talk
Dare You to Move - Switchfoot (as covered by an UNC acapella group)
Long Long Time - Guy Forsyth
Everybody Hurts - REM
Everybody's Fool - Evanescence
Popular - Nada Surf
Hands - Jewel

On the Road Again

Ashley and i had originally planned to head to NY in late July, but my grandfather's rapidly declining health had us rethinking that plan. We headed up this past Thursday on the 14th after lunch. We drove 540 miles up through DC, Baltimore, Harrisburg PA, and Binghampton before hitting Albany around midnight. Ashley and i visited my grandfather briefly in the hospital. He is going to have to be placed in a hospice care facility, and not be able to go home to be taken care of, much to his growing disappointment. Under his suggestion and that of my gathered family, we made the best of our time there in NY.
We hit a wonderful tiny Italian place on New Scotland Ave, Pasqualle's, for pizza. We went out to Rensellaer to see a few of my father's aunts, whose only flaw is that they have a propensity for calling me Tommy. We stayed the weekend at my Aunt Betty and Uncle Pat's (mom's sister and brother-in-law). i briefly came down with a horrible stomach bug that passed in a day or so, which i probably picked up from the hospital. Ashley and i drove around Albany and the surrounding area and even made it up to Thatcher Park, which was beautiful. We stopped on the way and got wonderful ice cream at Ross's, this little stand with umbrellas and flowers. We got dinner out at another Italian place with Betty and Pat and a tour of the city. We also saw The Painted Veil, which was decent.
Sunday morning, Ashley and i got Brunch with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Gary (dad's sister and brother-in-law) at the 76 Diner. i got one of my favorite treats, their enormous Blueberry muffins. YUM! We then hit the road with my mother's brother to give him a ride down as far as DC and we got back to Richmond around 10:30 last night. It was a bit of a long trip and hard to see my grandfather in such low health and spirits, but i was glad to see him and the family. The weather was beautiful though for all the exploring we did between visits and we'll head back to get to Lake George for a day on the water as soon as we can.

Goin to the Chapel...

Yes, another wedding. Maggie and Erik got married and it all went off with a hitch. Saw TONS of people i hadn't seen in ages and got time with all of them. The ceremony was lovely, Erik was a stud, Maggie looked beautiful, and the squirmy little ring bearer licked Sandy's hand all during the vows (ok, so the 4 year old also licked his tie some too).

Rode down to Charlotte with Sallie late Friday night, which was a blast. Had coffee in the AM with Jess Patchett and we caught up on life for awhile, then headed to the wedding. The wedding was followed by a spectacular reception at A Roof With a View in downtown Charlotte behind Panther Stadium. It was a great place and had a huge balcony on the 5th floor outside the reception hall with a view of the stadium and the skyline. Because both Erik and Maggie grew up at ARPC, it was not your typical his and her wedding. Everyone knew everyone else and it went on for a good 5 hours. i went home and happened to catch Phillip Stafford and Yasmin Farahi in the driveway of his place. i hadn't seen them both in years, only once since high school, and so we caught up for awhile.

Today, our family took 4, yes, 4 vehicles, to Durham. My parents, Kelley and Brice, and i all went to have brunch with Ashley, her mother and her mother's husband at Elmo's so they could all meet. i think it went well and brunch was good. We took all 3 of our cars and Brice's because Kelley's car had to stay in Durham with her where she is living, Brice had to continue on with his to State, and Dad had to go home. i had to drive my mom to Richmond so she could sleep on the way and continue on her way to NY to see and take care of my grandfather. Ashley followed us up in her car. My mother continued to DC to stay for the night and Ashley and i went out to Bottoms Up for pizza (ricotta cheese and tomato slices on top). Spectacular. She then left to go meet her cousin to get acclimated to where she'll be living nearby in Chesterfield until she finds work and her own place.

All in all, a spectacularly good weekend.

Fuzzy Logic

Anyone who has been reading my blog this year may remember my blog several months back (Nov 2) in which i was horrified and dismayed at my professors for asserting the approximate 100% validity of certain Biblical authorship theories. Why did this bother me? Any time someone claims a theory as fact, you end up with close-mindedness and no room for further scholarship or discussion. It is no more enlightened to be sure exactly 6 people wrote Isaiah than claiming Moses wrote the whole Pentateuch, including his death. What's my point? Someone else is up to the same fuzzy logic, if not worse.

This part has to be prefaced. i do NOT completely disagree with the author of the article i am about to critique. i firmly believe Christ loves everyone and calls us to do the same. My discomfort is with this author using the same practices that white supremacists and slaveholders used for centuries to interpret a biblical passage. It's important that you read this article at some point, but for time's sake, i'll summarize some. The author makes several very uncomfortable conclusions. It's not even the conclusions that bother me, it is how he arrives at them. i'd find the article intriguing and worth thinking on if his conclusions were less along the lines of
"this = that," and more like "this leads one to the likely conclusion that..." The author discusses the Greek terms that are used in the passages that describe the Roman Centurion who comes to Jesus, asking that his slave be healed. The terms, indeed, may bear out that this was the Centurion's homosexual partner. However, not only is it not inescapable conclusion, but you can't draw the next conclusion on top of it, especially if it is not 100%. The next conclusion the author draws is that BECAUSE this is true, Jesus is affirming this type of relationship. However, this is the same argument the Pharisees used against Jesus. Jesus visited the home of Zacheus. Was this because Jesus approved of his lifestyle? No. He visited in hopes of reaching out to Zacheus and that his help and his time and love might change Zacheus. Jesus protected the woman caught in adultery. He did so not because he approved, but that she too deserved love more than judgment, and he told her to go and sin no more. i am not suggesting Jesus was trying to change the Centurion, but even if this was the Centurions homosexual partner (not entirely proved by the word usages), Jesus' healing and help was not conditional any more than his love.
The biggest leap the author makes is that this whole passages clearly illustrates that Jesus was affirming homosexual relationships. The Centurion had a homosexual relationship and healed his partner. Alright. Well, the Centurion had countless slaves. Was Jesus affirming slavery? His male slave he wished healed was likely purchased according to the author of this article. Was Jesus affirming the purchase of marital partners? The Centurion was part of an empire that suppressed the Jews. Was Jesus affirming the position of the Romans over the Jews? or Antisemitism? Making these radically large assumptions about Jesus is no less than what the Pharisees did, and slave holders and supremacists for centuries. When you leave no room for anyone else's interpretation, and when your narrow one, especially, a particularly speculative one is the only one that can be correct, you have become the narrow-minded person you oppose. Is it worth it?

I just ask that you read the Bible closely and draw your own conclusions. Don't let anyone decide for you. Most importantly, no matter what lifestyle Jesus does or doesn't condone in this passage, he did condone loving and healing all those we can. If we spent more time doing just that, these arguments would be far less important.

I walk the Line

Yeah, so as a self-proclaimed middle of the roader, and Libertarian, i thought it would be interesting to take some of the political quizzes available on the internet. The facebook application has a needle like a gas gauge from Liberal to Conservative and Moderate in the middle. My tank is a little more than half full (barely over on the conservative side). i tried taking another one at this site and got this result (picture left), which also may be inaccurate. On the plus side, out of Stalin, Hitler, Thatcher, Friedman, and Ghandi, i am by far, closer to Ghandi. Yay? i'm wondering where i can find a decent political compass tool without the seriously loaded questions and obvious personal political agenda of the person creating it. Any thoughts? In the mean time, i'm going to try to compile a list of what the government should and should not have their fingers in. After all, the founding fathers were the leaders of a people who were under-represented, overtaxed, and worried about protecting their local authority from a government thousands of miles away and unfamiliar with their local needs (sound familiar?). The Constitution and Bill of Rights are about protecting freedoms FROM the government, restraint, rather than allowing the government as much power as possible. The following is not comprehensive, but simply highlights the most pressing needs.

FEDERAL Government should be allowed [limited] access in the following areas:
Interstate road systems
A standing Army (and navy, marines, air force, etc)
Mail Delivery
Environmental Protection and Parks

STATE/Local Government should be allowed [limited] access in the following areas:
Police and Law Enforcement (Including Criminal and Civil Courts)
Primary and Secondary Education
Gun Laws
Marriage Laws

Stringent Limits placed on:
Domestic Surveillance (There must be oversight)
Hiring and Firing Practices (The Constitution already provides for the protection of all persons of any Gender, Race, or Creed to be given equal opportunity, but does not grant equal access, much less over representation. Gender, race, and creed should not be allowed consideration for hiring, firing, or acceptance into any school or program and should not be valid application questions under this statute. Organizations should be held to this in all ways and any preference given to any person for these reasons should be prosecuted as unlawful and unconstitutional)
Classified information (Such information must be overseen and labeled for declassification within a reasonable time, 20 years at the longest)

No level of Government should be allowed to regulate or fund:
Charitable Organizations
Campaign Finances

At all levels, additional tax levies should be brought to referendum for a direct vote. "Temporary taxes" must have time tables attached for when they will be no longer legal.

Andrew Shepherd, the Democratic president in The American President, said it best, "America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad."
He goes on to say, "it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.'"

So decide if this country really matters to you at all and if the freedom you enjoy is bought by your daily citizenship, some one else's citizenship with a viewpoint you oppose, a soldier fighting in a country that you oppose him being in, but didn't vote in the last election? If you read this far, you must care about this country. Go do something about it.

Do you do you want my face?

http://www.myheritage.com