Editing is Neat

This morning I ran across the following video on YouTube, and as I was considering writing a post about cell phone use and etiquette (Just cause it rings doesn't mean you have to answer it!) I noticed another version of the video called "extended cut." Here's the first...

Wow, who hasn't wanted to do that, right? Props to the prof! But wait... who was sitting in the middle of the classroom catching it all on video? Maybe it's been too long since I was in school, but we weren't video-taping lectures then... Maybe the extended cut will give me some answers...

Hehe, I suspect, having seen the full cut, that the whole thing was staged, and that the short cut made it look more real than it actually was. Which is really rather clever, in my opinion!
Seriously, though, silence your cell phones when you're in class, or worship, or a movie. If you really feel you need to look at your phone when it starts buzzing away, go outside and do it. Especially if you're someplace dark, like a theater. Even texting is annoying in a darkened room, because everyone behind you can see the light from your phone. It's like waving a flashlight around in there. And for your safety, and the safety of others, don't talk or, God forbid, text while you're driving. I can't count the number of times I've personally avoided an accident and said aloud, "What are you doing?" and then been able to answer myself. "Oh. You're driving one-handed while talking on your cell phone."

Be polite, be safe, and be good to each other.
Rev. Josh
052308

Vindication

Those of you who have been following this blog probably remember my post concerning the IRS and how it was threatening the non-propephet tax-exempt status of the United Church of Christ. The complaint against the denomination was a response to Senator Barack Obama's address to General Synod, the biennial national meeting of the UCC. Sen. Obama was invited to speak to his own denomination at General Synod months before he announced his candidacy for president and as you can see below, the UCC did everything in its power to avoid officially endorcing Sen. Obama's campaign. Nevertheless, Sen. Obama supporters did set up tables outside of the convention center (on public property) and Sen. Obama mentioned his candidacy in the speech itself.

After a great deal of research and thought, I came away not knowing if the UCC had abided by the letter of the law, though I remained convinced that we were very much in the spirit of it. Apparently the IRS has been satisfied, though, as the latest news is that the UCC has been cleared of any wrongdoing concerning Sen. Obama's appearance at General Synod! Huzzah!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
052208

The Wii Says You're Fat?

You may have seen a news item recently about the Nintendo Wii telling a 10-year-old British girl that she's "fat." Several quotes from the father and from Tam Fry have been circulating the web (and I assume TV, too, possibly) on the subject. Besides the description of the father being "gobsmacked" when he heard what the game had said, the most repeated quote from the girl's father is this:

"She is a perfectly healthy, 4-feet-9-inch-tall 10-year-old who swims, dances, and weighs only six stone. She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she isn't."

The other most quoted quote is attributed (I assume correctly) to Tam Fry, a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum,

"I am absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat. A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit. I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents."

So far, nobody has been convinced that a "warning" or an older ESRB rating is in order here, and apparently Nintendo has made the following statement,

Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit.

Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development.

So here's the deal, near as I can tell after a lot of internet research. Wii fit doesn't use the word "fat." It uses a simple calculation to find the users' Body Mass Index (BMI). Based on their BMI, they are put into categories, the most unfit of which are "overweight" and "obese." So what's the big issue, if you're overweight and the game says so, it's just truth, right? Well, despite Thoreau's famous injunction to "simplify," the BMI calculation isn't completely accurate. As it is a function of weight and height, it does not work well when considering growing children (who's weight and height can vary from day to day!) or, ironically enough, the very fittest among us (muscle mass weighs more than fat!) So, I think I'll leave you with a little promotional video of the Wii Fit so you can see what it is, really, and leave you with this thought. Wii Sports is one of the first video games that promotes getting up out of the chair and moving (The arcade game, Dance Dance Revolution is the first one I became aware of.) and the Wii itself is certainly the first video game platform to do so. I think that if you're aware of the drawbacks of the BMI, and talk with your kids about it before they play the Wii Fit games, that you'll find, in the end, that the Wii is still a positive thing.


Be good to each other
Rev. Josh
052108

Updated Blog! Honest!

I know, I know it's been way to long again. But look! Here's the post about I Can Has Cheezburger? that I promised you. I don't know where they came from originally, but they can't spell, speak kind of broken English and Leet Speak (Hence the term Lolcats. LOL stands for "Laughing Out Loud" and cats. Well, they're the furry mammals that make us LOL.") I have to thank my friend Cort, from Aestus, for turning me on to Lolcats. In fact, they are so much a part of my day, now, that I've linked the site in my sidebar under the heading "Daily Dose of Joy." Cause that's what they are! Also new, is the Communication Stuff down at the bottom, for all of you who have been having trouble finding ways to lay ahold of me. Facebook and E-mail is about all I can keep up with though, so don't expect that list to get any longer any time soon! Anyway, here's one of my favorite Lolcats, I've done all I know how to, but I can't seem to make it smaller. The caption is "Meow Mix." I hope you enjoy it!


more cat pictures

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
050908

"Make this 17 seconds good."

I came in to work this morning intending to blog about an internet phenomenon called "lolcats." And I will sometime soon, I'm going to need the joy that it brings, I think. I've basically been holding a one-household boycott of televised news (which I think deserves its own blog entry somewhere down the line), so maybe I'm late running across this news item, but apparently six girls in Polk County, Florida lured another girl into a house, beat her unconscious, then waited for her to wake up with a video camera in hand. Then they took turns beating her on camera. I've seen the part of the video that I'm sure you've all been saturated with already, and I am, like I can only hope that you are, thoroughly disturbed. I will not link it here, if you haven't seen it and want to so bad, I'm sure you can find it on your own.

I guarantee that somebody on the TV has said something along the lines of, "Well, there's so much violence in television and movies and video games that they don't know any better." I don't watch as much TV as I once did, but I do love all kinds of movies (including some violent ones) and I do play video games (some of them violent) and I have never, ever seen anything like this video. Ever.

So what spawned this terrifying violence? Apparently the victim trash-talked about the other girls on her MySpace page. But I suspect that the real causes lie deeper than internet social-networking sites. I found another video, you see, and I want to say this very carefully, because I know how the televised news can make clever cuts and comments to make anyone mean anything--but the mother of one of the attackers speaks about the names that the victim called those girls on her MySpace page, "much worse names than 'slut.'" Perhaps this is a parent desperate to keep the media from demonizing her child. Perhaps the televised news cut the part of her interview where she says, "There is no excuse for what my daughter did." Or perhaps this is a mother thinking, "Heck, I'd want to beat her down, too." I'll never know for sure.

What I do know is that folks are blaming MySpace. And this is a topic that I know a little bit about, at least, being kinda internet savvy. MySpace is a tool, and just like any tool it can be used for good, or evil. A hammer can build up, or tear down, and the same is true of MySpace. But in the end, it's a tool, and can't do anything on its own. Both the victim and her attackers saw MySpace as a tool for evil. This isn't a new thing, MySpace wasn't around when I was in high school, but girls were vicious gossips and name callers then, too. What MySpace has done, is bring that kind of name-calling and bullying to a much wider audience. When girls in my tiny high school were being verbally vicious, it circulated around the school, but that was about it. When you do it on MySpace, anyone with the internet can see it. Anyone. And there are things that social-networking sites can do to cut down that kind of behavior. And I hope that they will.

Luckily, there is something that you, dear parents can and should be doing. Get internet savvy. And check out your kids' blogs, MySpace, Facebook... whatever. Know who their friends are, where they're spending their time, and what they're spending their time doing.

And for the love of God, teach them how to turn the other cheek. I'm not saying to teach them to internalize what others say about them, either. It's quite likely that none of the attackers were sluts. But you can teach your children that the proper reaction is, "Huh, I guess she's not my friend after all. But I know I'm not a slut, and so do the people who know me, so whatever."

In other words, "Let's all get together and beat her on video for 30 minutes so we can post it on the internet for revenge" should be the furthest thing from their minds.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
041008

UCCtruths

In an earlier post I sounded off on a comment on my post about the United Church of Christ's IRS problems. (For the latest news on that topic, click here.) In that sound-off I said

For the first time (ever, I think) I've gotten a comment on my blog from someone who's name I don't recognize. I don't know for sure if this is someone from my community, or just someone connected with UCCtruths. I suspect that it is the latter, canvassing the internet for blogs making reference to the IRS investigation of the United Church of Christ, and slapping a rather nasty comment onto those that side with the UCC.

Well, just yesterday I received a comment on my blog from UCCtruths! "James" writes

Hi Rev. Josh!

I'm the guy responsible for UCCtruths and I apologize if someone enthusiastic about the site is bugging you. I was just doing a blog search for 'ucctruths' and found your site which is pretty cool.

UCCtruths is intentionally irreverent and within the context of the web site, you kind of expect this but it's not acceptable when it's projected onto other sites and people.

God's peace my friend.

-James

I have so much respect for that response. "James" identified himself as responsible for UCCtruths, and apologized for "Drew" ...who apparently has no official ties to the site. He makes sure to tell me how he found my blog, so no mystery there. He touches on the fact that UCCtruths intentionally strikes the tone that it does, which of course is fine. (It doesn't happen to be a tone that appeals to me, but that's not "James'" problem, now is it?) He also says, though, that projecting the tone from his site onto others' isn't acceptable. Which is a really nice, concise way of saying some of what I was getting at when I sounded off in the first place.

Besides which, he thinks my site is "pretty cool." And it's always good to hear nice things, isn't it?

As for his site, it's not really my thing. But I am going to look at it every once in a while, because even though I come to different conclusions than "James" does most of the time, at least he makes me think about why I do.

God's peace, my friends,
Rev. Josh
032708

Maundy Thursday/Good Friday

The Wright Stuff

I don't like talking politics. I don't have the mind, or the heart for it, for one thing. But there have been so many things happening in connection to the upcoming election that have been seriously disturbing me. I knew things were going downhill during the 2000 presidential election when the most unbiased and complete (and therefore helpful) coverage was not a major news program, but rather The Daily Show.

That's the first thing that's been disturbing me, and it has been for a long time now. One of these days I'm going to tell the story that led me to realize how much television editing can change the tone of something, but for now, let me say this: Maybe I'm an idealist, but I thought journalists, all journalists, including television journalists, were supposed to be fair and unbaised, "Just the facts, Ma'am." We've all seen, I hope, that television journalists especially have left that little ideal far behind.

And now we're not going to focus on the candidates themselves, but rather on their churches. And I'm not even talking about some inflamitory political talk show on FOX. I'm talking the ABC News.

Please understand, I'm not upset about this whole thing because it's a UCC church that's under fire. I'm upset because, in my opinion, the casualties of this political move of the media are too high: the impartiality of the press and freedom of the pulpit.

I think that John Thomas said it best in a recent statement responsing to the Wright controversy. He wrote:

What's really going on here? First, it may state the obvious to point out that these television and radio shows have very little interest in Trinity Church or Jeremiah Wright. Those who sifted through hours of sermons searching for a few lurid phrases and those who have aired them repeatedly have only one intention. It is to wound a presidential candidate. In the process a congregation that does exceptional ministry and a pastor who has given his life to shape those ministries is caricatured and demonized. You don't have to be an Obama supporter to be alarmed at this. Will Clinton's United Methodist Church be next? Or McCain's Episcopal Church? Wouldn't we have been just as alarmed had it been Huckabee's Southern Baptist Church, or Romney's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?

I simply ask you, what's at stake here?

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
031908

Amazing Story

It's not every day that I get permission to repeat a story of a pastoral call someplace public, like this blog is. And specific requests for me to do so are... well, this is the only one, to my memory! I hope I do it justice.

So, the other day I was chatting online with one of my favorite people, and she shared with me the story of a friend that she had met on-line through Pandora's Aquarium. Her friend was living somewhere in the UK, if what she was going through can appropriately be called living. You see, her friend was being sold for sex by her father.

Go ahead, read that again. No, it's not a typo, her friend was being sold for sex by her father.

Luckily, one of my favorite people knew about Love146, an intenational abolitionist organization dedicated to ending child sex slavery and exploitation. She immediately told her friend about the organization, and despite catching flak from an administrator of the message board (for being too "dogmatic"), one of my favorite people contacted Love146 on behalf of her friend. Love146 pointed her to International Justice Mission, who in turn pointed her to CAST (Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking). One of my favorite people asked me to pray for her friend, and you better believe that I did, and wholeheartedly.

Some time after that, I received a phone call from one of my favorite people. She told me that she had just heard from her friend, and that she was attempting suicide. It very quickly became clear that one of my favorite people had her friend on-line right there, and so I gave her some advice concerning what she should be trying to do (including getting an address so an ambulance could be sent and giving her online suicide hotlines). Her friend, however, was insistant that suicide was the way out. I told one of my favorite people that she was doing the right thing, and to stay with her friend as long as she could. And when we ended our phone conversation, that's where we left it.

I kept imagining what it would be like, wondering if your friend was alive or dead, possibly never hearing from them again and not knowing one way or the other. It would haunt me...

So I was exstatic when I got a happy phone call from one of my favorite people, and she told me that not only had her friend lived, she had been rescued by CAST! I'm always happy to field those difficult phone calls, but it absolutely makes my day to get one of those joyful ones!

A final note: I recently heard from one of my favorite people that her friend had just had a miscarriage and gone through a surgery that is very similar to an abortion. I have a friend who went through the same thing, and it was very traumatic for her. But one of my favorite people's friend was upbeat, happy, and hopeful. And that was what finally prompted one of my favorite people to ask me to write this post. Because her friend was so very inspiring.

Whatever difficulties you're going through right now, you can make it. Her friend has.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
031208

Gary Gygax

In the late 1960's, Jeff Perren and Gary Gygax created and published the rules for a war game played with minatures, and they named it Chainmail. The 1971 edition of Chainmail provided a fantasy supliment which added rules for jousting, man-to-man melee, and conducting battles with fantasy creatures. This supliment was written by Gary Gygax. Three years later Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published an expansion of these rules in the form of three slim books with the following dedication:

"Dedicated to all the fantasy wargamers who have enthusiastically played and expanded upon the Chainmail Fantasy Rules, with thanks and gratitude. Here is something better!"

The name of that "something better" was Dungeons & Dragons.

Gary Gygax died on Tuesday, March 4th. In his own words:

I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.

I don't think that will be a problem.




Play games with each other,
Rev. Josh
030608

Feeding the Troll?

For the first time (ever, I think) I've gotten a comment on my blog from someone who's name I don't recognize. I don't know for sure if this is someone from my community, or just someone connected with UCCtruths. I suspect that it is the latter, canvassing the internet for blogs making reference to the IRS investigation of the United Church of Christ, and slapping a rather nasty comment onto those that side with the UCC.

Which isn't to say that there isn't some truth to what "Drew" pointed me towards. He attached this link to the the comment, and if this letter is indeed accurate and legitimate, I'll have to slightly revise my position. As I said (and "Drew" ignored) at the end of my post, I reserve the right to be wrong. I am not an IRS lawyer, so I don't know for sure if the position held by either side is correct.

Assuming, for the moment, that this letter completely accurate, then elements of Sen. Obama's speech crossed the line. As I pointed out in the last post, he was hardly the first to cross that line, but there it is. I remember the general excitement that Sen. Obama would be speaking at General Synod, but I honestly can't remember one way or the other concerning the UCC pushing the idea that a presidential candidate would be speaking to Synod. As to the rest of it, UCCtruths sums it up better than I could:

Obama was not a candidate for office when invited, Obama only slipped twice in his speech in reference to his candidacy and that volunteers were campaigning outside the Civic Center and could not be controlled by the UCC.

Even though UCCtruths makes some interesting points that should be considered, I have a difficult time wading through their tone. There's something terribly absolutist about the way they say things that just sets my teeth on edge. Then again, perhaps I'm guilty of reading their blog with the tone of "Drew" still ringing in my ears.

Here's the comment "Drew" left on my blog:

Before you drink the punch on this, you should read the actual complaint that outlines the rules and specifically how they were violated:

http://www.ucctruths.com/irs.pdf

So, what do I know about "Drew"? He or she wants me to look at the link to UCCtruths, which I have done. He or she wants me to carefully consider his or her point of view, which I have done. He or she wants to win me over to the position of the IRS. This, he or she has not accomplished. To be quite frank, "Drew" is lucky that I went so far as to click that link this morning. Because his very first words are such an egregious and disgusting attack that I very nearly deleted his comment out of hand.

"Before you drink the punch..." is an obvious reference to the Jonestown Massacre. Evidence and eye-witness accounts of the very few survivors of that tragedy show that most, if not all, of the 909 people who died were, in fact, murdered. Referencing such a horrendous event in such an off-hand manner is not a good way to start with me.

I have been a member of the United Church of Christ my whole life. I was ordained by the UCC. I have worked as a delegate for two different General Synods, and I have seen first hand how our denomination is made up of an extremely diverse group of people with different theological emphases, different cultural backgrounds and different political ideals. What makes them special is that they are willing to come together, pray together, worship together, and openly work together on some very difficult issues. They respect—no—they treasure being exposed to new ideas and opposing viewpoints. As one columnist for the Hartford Currant wrote, "Really, sending the IRS after these people is like having the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms kick down the door of a bunch of nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons."

Seriously, though, I know these people, and even when I don't agree with them, I trust them. I am deeply insulted that "Drew" decided to make an anology between the United Church of Christ and Jim Jones. I hope, for their sake, that "Drew" is not one of the UCCtruth people, because he or she is not doing them any favors.

As for UCCtruth, I'm glad they're there. Their site says that every denomination should have one of these, and they have a point. If we are never challenged, never criticized, we never grow. However... they refer to the UCC's argument against the IRS allegations as if it were simply a tactic to get the UCC out of trouble. Is it really so shocking to consider the idea that the UCC is arguing that "that the spirit of the IRS rules are to prohibit churches from endorsing a candidate and the UCC went to great lengths not to endorse a candidate," because that's what they believe?

So, revision time: I personally believe that those laws are on the books for the purpose of keeping religious organizations from endorsing candidates. I know for a fact that we went out of our way to not endorse Sen. Obama. If every letter of the law was not followed, then yes, there should be some consequences. I do not, however, believe that yanking our tax-exempt status is a punishment that fits the crime. I believe in the separation of church and state, but I do not believe that means that church and state should not be in communication. And I believe these things strongly enough to provide a link to the Legal Defense Fund again, just in case you feel moved to contribute.

Make up your own minds,
and be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
030508

IRS BS

I don't like talking politics. However, some of you have been asking me about news reports that the United Church of Christ is under investigation by the IRS and that the IRS is in fact threatening our denomination's tax exempt status.

The reports are true. Here is an article from the UCC site explaining the whole thing. In fact, they even supply this link to the actual letter from the IRS.

Basically, the IRS is arguing that having Barack Obama speak at General Synod constituted an endorsement of his presidential campaign by the UCC. Here's why I think they're wrong: Sen. Obama, a long time member of the UCC, was invited as one of 60 diverse speakers, all of whom were asked to speak about the intersection between their faith an their respective vocations. He was invited to do this before he announced his candidacy. Once it was clear that he was running for president, the UCC carefully researched the very laws that the IRS accuses them of breaking. The letter from the IRS mentions Sen. Obama's campaign crew being outside the convention center. They were outside the convention center because they were banned from being inside General Synod. Also... well, check this out:

Did Sen. Barack Obama's speech get too political? I don't know. Was it too political in January when both Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke separately to the National Baptist Convention of America? Was it to poitical in April of 1996, when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, spoke before her denomination's General Conference? Was it too political when President Ronald Reagan gave his famous "Evil Empire" speech before the National Association of Evangelicals? Was it too political when John F. Kennedy appeared before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association to explain the “so-called religious issue” and “to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election.”?

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that the National Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church, the National Association of Evangelicals, nor the Greater Houston Ministerial Association had their tax exempt status investigated by the IRS.

So here's the thing, as the general minister and president of the UCC pointed out:

"The very fact of an IRS investigation, however, is disturbing," Thomas said. "When the invitation to an elected public official to speak to the national meeting of his own church family is called into question, it has a chilling effect on every religious community that seeks to encourage politicians and church members to thoughtfully relate their personal faith to their public responsibilities."

That's why I'm a little hot under the collar about this. Not because it happened to the UCC specifically, but because it happened to anybody. The laws that the IRS are citing are supposed to be in place to keep religion from screwing up the political process and are not supposed to be interpreted so narrowly that they abridge our 1st Amendment rights to free speech. I don't like it when certain politicians trot out controversial topics with severe religious overtones during elections, but I support their 1st Amendment right to do so. I certainly think it is important for poloticians and church members to thoughtfully relate their personal faith to their public responsibilities.

I feel the need to provide a link to the UCC's Legal Defense Fund, but I'm not going to ask you to contribute. I put it here merely to save some time for those of you who were of a mind to contribute already.

That's about all I have to say about that. I reserve the basic human right to be wrong. Perhaps Sen. Obama's speech, despite the best efforts of the UCC to abide by the law, truly did break it. I guess we'll see.

Speak your mind,
but be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
030408

Please Enjoy the Music

Hey, just a short one today, as the snow continues to fall, covering the world around me in a soft, thick blanket. An ever increasing blanket that is cold, and wet, and difficult to walk through. *grin*

Anyway, one of my favorite people sent this to me recently, and I thought you might enjoy it. Some of you local folk might even know some of these people!



Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
022208

Making Sense of the Violence

Sorry guys, back into the dark places for a moment. But before I get into this, let me just say right up front that while I am personally a pacifist, I am still deeply conflicted on the topic of gun control. Having said that...

As most of you must know by now, while many of us were celebrating Valentine's Day, a 27 year old man named Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on a classroom at Northern Illinois University, killing five students before turning the gun on himself.
This kind of violence is, by nature and definition, senseless.
Without sense.
But trying to make sense of things is a deeply ingrained human drive. We can no more keep from trying to make sense of things than we can keep two circles from looking like eyes. O.O
The things that cause us the most distress as human beings are those that force us to ask the question "Why?" despite the simple truth that there is no good answer to that question.

So, I've done just a little internet research and found two news articles about that horrific crime. The first comes from USA Today, and (despite my completely understandable hesitation to praise the news media) it seems to be a good piece of journalism. It is entitled, "Police: Ill. gunman quit taking meds, became 'erratic'" and it lays out the facts and leaves us to make our own sense of them.
The second comes from the New York Post. It is entitled "COLLEGE KILLER CRAZY FOR VIOLENT VID GAME" and it seems to be less facts than sensationalized quotes.

These two articles are similar in that they try to make sense of a senseless event in their headlines. USA Today quotes the police, who state that the gunman quit taking his meds and became erratic. The New York Post summerizes the gunman's dorm mate, Ben Woloszyn, who actually said, "He played a lot of video games, especially Counter-Strike, really loud." USA Today seems to be saying that the key thing for us to think about when we consider this terrible event is that the gunman chose to go off his medications, which apparently had been keeping him sane and level. The New York Post seems to be saying (in all capital letters) that the key thing for us to think about as we consider this terrible event is that the gunman liked to play violent video games.

My most devoted readers already know how I feel about censorship as well as my take on video games. So instead of rehashing all of that I will now obey the deep-seated need to make sense of something senseless.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to play violent video games.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to legally purchase several guns over the past year.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to stop taking his medications.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to take his guns to school.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to shoot as many people as he could.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose to kill himself.

Nobody and nothing forced him to do it.

All of these choices affected the other choices to one degree or another. I personally am inclined to believe that the choice to go off his meds had a greater impact on Stephen Kazmierczak's final choices than the choice to play video games did.

Nevertheless, I believe that the key thing to think about as we consider this senseless and horrible event is this: Stephen Kazmierczak is the one responsible. His video games aren't responsible. His guns aren't responsible. His video games and his guns do not have the ability to choose.

Stephen Kazmierczak chose.

Choose wisely,
Rev. Josh
022008

On the Lighter Side

Ok, considering how very serious and down I've been on the ol' blog lately, I thought it was high time to talk about something considerably lighter. Something from my childhood that I'm fully willing to admit I still occasionally gaze at with an appreciative eye when I stroll through the toy aisle of Target. Yes, I will also admit to strolling through the toy aisle of Target. I'd like to claim that it's an occupational hazard, but let's be honest... I still like toys.

Where was I? Oh yes, today's post is about... LEGO! I have a pretty decent collection of the old Space LEGOS, which I have just descovered are now considered "vintage" on eBay. I also have a decent collection of the old--er, vintage Castle LEGOS. I even have a couple of the old (but not as vintage as the other two) Pirate LEGOS I even used my LEGO guys to create a diorama of a historical battle for school once. (I don't remember which battle, but it had something to do with Oliver Cromwell) Where other people have train sets in their attics or basements (ok, so it was my parents' attic) I had my LEGO models. In fact, it was only recently that my folks made me take them all down and put them away! Someday I'll have my own attic (or basement) and maybe I'll set them all up again, wouldn't that be fun?

Anyway, I'm thinking about LEGO again because I ran across some fun internet stuff. Apparently another use for LEGO is doing stop motion animation!

(Just in case you have a love for stop motion, or old Michael Jackson videos, check this out, too.)
I also ran across this collection of photographs of other people's work in LEGO. The site calls them "weird" but I think a bunch of them are really cool. In fact, I'd like to know how someone ends up being able to make a living as a LEGO artist!

Play with toys,
Rev. Josh
021908

Drive Careful

I hate to put up more heavy and depressing things so soon after my post about Ben, but current events have led me there once again. And this is important stuff to think about. As you can see, I've updated my links lists to include material on teenage drivers. We have had yet another wreck, another two lives lost, and it's just so very senseless... These links take you to places that either give you information such as statistics or (more importantly) how teens can drive (and ride) more safely. I also want to share two videos with you from JourneySafe.org the first you can play right here in the blog, the second is linked here. I hope they help.

Drive Careful,
Rev. Josh
021508

Valentine Potluck

Please enjoy this footage of Meredith, 10 years old, as she performs at our annual Valentine Potluck and Talent Show!



Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
021408

Ben

Just a quick note before I really get into this post: Sometimes I create links merely to provide more information to you, my readers. The link concerning A. J. Jacobs below is one of those. However, at other times, I create links to things that are much more important. There are several of those in this post, and I hope that you take the time to explore them.

I've been meaning to blog about this wonderful book my wife gave to me for Christmas. It's called The Year of Living Biblically, by A. J. Jacobs. I'm still doing that, but recent events have prompted me to start with this quote:

Day 230. Here’s a sample from a phone conversation I just had with my wife. I was at the Esquire office for a meeting.
“What time are you coming home?” Julie asks.
“Six o’clock, God willing.”
“See you soon.”
“God willing.”
It’s not an atypical snippet. For the last month, I’ve been saying “God willing” at least eighty times a day.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament say this is a good idea. Proverbs advises us, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” In the New Testament, James 4:13-15 cautions against saying: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,” but “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that’” (NAS).
It has become a reflex. Every time I use the future tense, I try to tag on those two words: “God willing.” My mother hates it. She told me I sound like someone who sends in videos to Al Jazeera. And I know my verbal tic comes off as weird in secular settings. But I find it a profound reminder of the murky instability of the future. Yes, I hope to return home at six, but God or fate might have other plans. This, in turn, makes me value the present even more. As James 4:14 says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (NKJ).
I’ve got to try to squeeze all I can out of that vapor.

I received an e-mail from my mother some time after the local news program aired a report on Benjamin Wu. Ben was in my class in high school, and my high school was tiny, so everybody knew everyone else. I doubt if anyone would say that Ben and I were close. But we got along just fine all through school. And after graduation... well, I saw him briefly at our 10 year reunion, and that was about it. I learned that Ben was doing well for himself, that he was a booker for the Webster in Hartford, Connecticut. He was one of the ones who seemed to change the least, even with the addition of a piercing or two. Smiling, quietly self-assured, vibrant... so it was a shock to hear that he'd disappeared.
The next e-mail from Mom came on February 4th. She said that Ben's roommates were there when his iPod washed up and that they were pretty convinced that he had fallen off a cliff during a rain storm and drowned. She also told me when the memorial service would be. I was sure to get there.
Many people said many beautiful things about Ben, and every one of them struck me. I might have had a good friend in Ben, if I'd bothered to reach out. And now I'll never know. The chance has gone, at least in this life. I don't know, maybe it takes a tragedy like this (one that another classmate described as the kind of thing you read about, but doesn't happen to you, not in a small town like we grew up in) to force this kind of epiphany. But there's nothing keeping you from reaching out, folks. I know I will.

Reach out to each other,
Rev. Josh
021208

"Now I Want a Meat Pie"

Those are the words of my loving wife as we stepped out into the parking lot following our very first viewing of Sweeny Todd in any of its various forms. We chose to cut our teeth on this rather interesting musical in the cinima rather than a stage production because, well, we rather adore just about anything that has Johnny Depp in it. We're also rather fond of just about everything that Tim Burton has ever done. Take into account how many films, including this iteration of Sweeny Todd, involve both of these folk... well, you get the picture. In any case, in honor of Jenny's meat pies, I thought I'd post this unique interview of both Depp and Burton. Enjoy!



Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
011608

Snow

As you can all well imagine, the past few weeks have been... hectic. To say the very, very least. The only other time of year for a pastor that's anything resembling as busy as the Christmas Season is Lent/Easter. On the one hand, Easter is the most important of the Christian Holy Days (incidentally, holy days = holidays) and on the other hand, most pastors also celebrate the secular side of Christmas, too. So in the end, the amount of time and effort put into both seasons kind of evens out.

Which is all a long way of saying, it's been very... hectic. And in about a month it's going to be hectic again! Meanwhile, let's go back in time... it's December 16th, and a disgusting "wintery mix" consisting mostly of snow and freezing rain has descended on the New England seaboard. The word comes down from the top. Church has been cancelled for the day. Radio and television stations are called, a message was left on the answering machine, and this pastor, at least, tried to go back to bed!

And then this appeared in my e-mail from Zoltan Toman, and I just had to share it with you all:

Dear Pastors,

Josh and I, we got up early,
wrapped up in duds, so cozy, burly,
we braved the snow, wind and rain,
defrosted the car and shoveled the plain
surface bare of sidewalk and drive,
came in, warmed up, 'til we felt alive,
watched 61 and 12 to make sure,
then went out in the white stuff, as if we were lured.
To hear the Gospel Word by the Deacon spoken
To hear the holy Cantata sung unbroken
by the FCC heavenly choir of voices,
Meted out by Dr. Joe's particular choices.
We braved swirley snow and pelting rain,
watched the plows unclog the drains,
And we reached Church St., and then, by St. Pete!
we saw a lonely, forbidding, snow covered street!
No church goers plodding up to the doors
crimson red from upper lintel to floors,
No clanging of bell to welcome the faithful,
No greeters or meeting those who are grateful!
Alas! Let down, saddened and chastened,
we returned to Park St., then we hastened
to the piano and parlor, Upper Room and Bible,
and we three gathered 'round read the word of the Disciple
James,and sang Come O Long Expected Jesus.
And didn't let lack of a service grieve us,
'cause Advent is something you hold in your heart...

If only everyone were so willing to not let the lack of a church service grieve them!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
122707

PS If you share the above poem, please give credit to Zoltan Toman, the poet!

Merry Christmas from Dragon Pastor's Hyperdrive!

And There Is Another Like It

Here's another video from the Campaign for Real Beauty I think it makes an even sharper point than the first one...



Be good to each other
(and yourself)
Rev Josh
113007

Talk to Your Daughters

Talk to your sons, too. I'll always remember a study shown to me in my high school health class. It consisted of a series of drawings of women ranging from skeletal to obese and a series of drawings of men from skeletal to steroid-abuse-muscle-bound. Every participant in the study was asked to pick the drawing that they thought the opposite sex would be most attracted to, and to pick the drawing of the opposite sex they were most attracted to.

Without fail, the girls believed that the guys wanted them to be more skinny than the guys actually wanted.

And the guys believed the girls wanted them to be more muscular than the girls were really attracted to.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

On a similar note, one of my favorite people showed me this video recently, and I simply must share it with you, my faithful readers!

Turn up the sound and hold on tight.



Be good to yourself
Rev. Josh
112907

All Apologies

Greetings loyal readers. I know you must be loyal, because if you're still reading my blog after a month of inactivity, you must be loyal! And so my first apology. I'm sorry I waited so very long to update my poor, neglected blog.

Which begs the question, what's my second apology? Well, I recently received some anonymous feedback as part of my official yearly evaluation process that questioned the appropriateness of my last post for our teens. Apparently the primary message these folk got out of the post was "My mom didn't want me to get a tattoo, but I did it anyway."

If that's the message I was sending, then they are right. That is not an appropriate message to send our teenagers.

To be fair, I was trying to send the message that it's ok for a 30 year old man to come to a different conclusion than his parents. That I was glad that I did not get a tattoo as a teen, because I surely didn't know enough as a teenager to warrent a perminant alteration of appearance.

However, I learned in communications class that what you communicate is defined by what is received, not what you sent.

So I apologize for my previous post. And now I'm going to try to be clear.

Teens should not get tattoos. The biggest part of being a teen is the process of figuring out who you are and what you believe. Things change very fast for you now, and all through college. So until you're out on your own, making your own living, and able to deal with the rights and responsiblities of being an adult, listen to your parents. They really do know better than you do. I know you're going to rebel, that's part of growing up. But for my sake, don't get tattooed to rebel.

Get a piercing instead.

Be good to each other
Honor your Father and Mother
Rev. Josh
112807

Aslan Tattoo

"Who is Aslan?" asked Susan.
"Aslan?" said Mr Beaver. "Why, don't you know? He's the King. He's the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father's time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment...

I'll admit it, I've been putting off writing this post. Not because I'm ashamed (I'm not) but because I don't know what my parents will think. Some of you might pointedly ask me how old I am. (I'm 30) Some of you may even make jokes about a full grown adult still being afraid of his parents. But that's not it, not exactly. The thing is, I respect my parents and I care deeply about what my parents think, and this is one of the few places where I am forced to say that my thought probably differs from both my mother and my father. But honestly, they both brought me up to be a critical thinker and I know they still love and respect me even when I end up in a different place than they are.

Over a year ago, I wrote a post about how I was considering getting a tattoo of Aslan on my left shoulder. I'd been considering a tattoo for many years, since my early days of college, but I clearly remember my brother an I talking about tattoos in front of my mother. Mom's reaction to the idea was not favorable. I'm very close to my Mom, and her opinion matters.

However, after much soul searching, praying, and consideration, I decided to go through with it. My opinion concerning other people's tattoos has for a long time been that they should be absolutely sure that the image they choose is something they are willing to have on their body forever. I think something that's going to be perminant should have a great deal of meaning to you. And I think the placement of the tattoo be someplace appropriate to your profession. (For example, a lawyer probably shouldn't get a tattoo on their face. Circus performers can, if they really want to.)

I was inspired by the artwork on the cover of my copy of the collected Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. As most of you know, Lewis' classic work has deeply influenced me over the years. The titular Lion, Aslan, is a vibrant characterization of the Christ as He would appear if there were a world of talking animals such as is found in Beatrix Potter or Kenneth Grahame. Just like Potter and Grahame, Aslan is a part of my childhood. Aslan is a part of my first thundering epiphany ("You know those books are about the Gospel, right?"). Aslan represents my first struggles with anything resembling an organized theology. Aslan is tied up in one of my first projects in my first full time position as an ordained minister, and one that was very successful. Aslan is a concrete example of how popular culture and faith do not have to be separate, which has always been a mainstay of my personal theology.

Once I'd made my decision, I asked one of my parishioners where she got her tattoo done, and she referred me to the good folks at Sleepy Hallow Tattoo. I e-mailed them, explaining who I was and what I wanted done and included the picture you see at the top of this post. I was excited by the response, which showed me that they not only understood what I was looking for, but also that they knew who Aslan was in all his complexity! So I made the fateful appointment...

When my wife dropped me off the day I got it done, I found a framed page from a tattoo magazine on their wall that put into words something that I hadn't been able to yet. It was a quote from a famous tattoo artist called Spider Webb.

“Tattooing when understood in its entirety must be seen as a religious act. The human being brings forth images from the center of the self and communicates them to the world. Fantasy is embodied in reality and the person is made whole.”

Here, in plain English, was what I was feeling about the process as I was in the midst of it! I found the fact that the folk at Sleepy Hallow had it up on their wall very encouraging.

I was further encouraged by the drawing Brandon had done for the design of my tattoo.

I had the whole thing done in a single sitting, but it did go on for hours. Luckily they had a little DVD player for me to watch. I brought in the multidisk set of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, of course. I got all the way through the movie and most of the way through a full length film of Lewis' life before we were done. Yes, it did hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. Some parts of my shoulder hurt more than others. Afterwords it felt very much like a bad sunburn.

But it looked like this!

I was sent home in a gauze bandage that carefully came off in the shower the next morning. I washed the tattoo and put on anti-bacterial ointment three to five times a day, and after a few days (I forgot to count, sorry!) the top layer or two of skin peeled, again, like a sunburn.

Click the picture to make it big enough to see how it looked like the tattoo was coming off! And it was really hard not to pick at it!

Eventually it stopped hurting and stopped pealing, just like a sunburn. Can you tell that I've been sunburned enough to know? Anyway, it's all healed up just fine now, and I think it looks pretty good!



So, Aslan stays perfectly hidden away, even under a short-sleaved shirt. He's not a secret, but he's not out where people could potentially be offended by him. And he's beautiful. And I'm happy to have him. And even though he's not what my parents would have wished for me, I hope that they can be happy for me, too.

Honor thy Father and Mother,
Rev. Josh
092807

Aslan is Coming

"They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed."

Happy Birthday, Brother!

Hey! It's my brother's birthday! It turns out that he's still younger than me. And since he wrapped my iPod until the package was about a foot cubed, I made him work for his present this year. A blast from our past resurfaced. Pirate Pete! Pirate Pete used to hide the goodie bags for our birthday guests and leave behind a trail of clues to follow to their location. A wonderful treasure hunt! I'm sure my parents held their breath the whole time, as kids pounded hither and yon... Anyway, Pirate Pete made off with my brother's present, and he had to follow the clues to get it!

I don't think he had to work any harder than I did to get through that stacking doll style wrap job at my birthday. Then again, he's threatened me with duct tape for my next present. Sigh... let this be a lesson in escalation, boys and girls.

Speaking of escalation, here are some wicked cute pics of my bro:

I don't remember that railing, but that has to be the house we initially moved into when we first came to the state. I hardly remember that tricycle, either, but he seems to be enjoying it, doesn't he?

I don't remember those jammies, but that has to be the same house as before. The hat is our father's (I think we still have it somewhere) the ball and bat saw quite a bit of use, even though neither of us became anything resembling athletes. Oh, and Mr. Potato Head's mouth and glasses were never quite the same again!

All cuteness, kidding, and escalating wrap-jobs aside...

Happy, happy birthday, Brother. We love you.


Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
092207 (birthday)

Something Serious

By now any loyal reader of my blog knows where I stand on the subject of censorship of all kinds. In a recent New York Times article, the world became aware that the Federal government (Yes, OUR government.) has decided that it has the right to systematically purge the chapel libraries in the federal prison system.
This purging does not only target texts with a violent philosophy, because the government didn't have the wherewithall to actually read all of the titles that were already in the prison chapels. So they created a very limited list of "approved" texts and are removing all other titles from the shelves. In the article, a professor of law, Douglas Laycock, summed up the situation this way:

“Government does have a legitimate interest to screen out things that tend to incite violence in prisons,” Mr. Laycock said. “But once they say, ‘We’re going to pick 150 good books for your religion, and that’s all you get,’ the criteria has become more than just inciting violence. They’re picking out what is accessible religious teaching for prisoners, and the government can’t do that without a compelling justification. Here the justification is, the government is too busy to look at all the books, so they’re going to make their own preferred list to save a little time, a little money.”

Please take the time to read the Times article, and then go here to e-mail the appropriate federal official and tell our government that ours is a country of religious freedom!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
092107

"I'll post this when I'm done with my work for the day"

Right...

Queersighted

I've been really struggling with the question of whether or not to include in my links list the blog, Queersighted, which I would describe as an editorial blog from a GLBT perspective. I keep running into it, I think through my AIM page that pops up when I get on. (My handle is revjosh211, by the way.) In any case, it does deal with issues of sexuality, which makes it kind of PG13 reading. However, the perspective is always interesting, and I imagine it would help straight folk get into the heads of real GLBT folk, as opposed to those swishy stereotypes that have been so thoroughly integrated into our popular culture.

Besides which, I simply had to share with you this scam that I just read about on Queersighted. Apparently there's a website that claims to be able to scientifically test whether or not your baby is gay. You just make your child lick a piece of paper and then send it in to them. And then they "test" the saliva on the paper to see if your baby is gay, and send you the results. Oh yeah, and they charge you 20 bucks for it. Please, for your own sake, do not give such people money. First of all, I don't think there is any such test. Secondly, in my opinion, it's a lot healthier to just let your child grow up as he or she will. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be a good parent and raise your child right, but... geeze, there are so many more important things to be concerned about when it comes to your baby, ok?

"No, Mom, don't make me lick the paper!"

Finally, I ought to mention that our church is going through the Open & Affirming (or ONA) process. This is an opportunity for the church to learn and grow in their faith and understanding through a great deal of dialogue and discussion around issues of sexual orientation as it relates to the church and issues of hospitality and welcome in general. I have created a links list for Open & Affirming, and I have tried to be very even-handed so people can use them all to make informed decisions.

I'm afraid I do have one more "socially liberal" link than I do "conservative" (yar, we need better nomenclature) because I thought I ought to include PFLAG. So if any of you know of something that's like PFLAG from the "other" perspective, feel free to let me know, and I'll include it!

And if any of you know of a way I can have these conversations with fewer words in "quotes" feel free to tell me that, too.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
091307

Keepin' On Keepin' On

Quote of the Day

"Hey, Smart-Athletic-Son-of-Parishioner, what did you think of the new service?"
"It was awesome!"

I can't say it any better than that. It went well, I did use the long hyphonated string from the previous post in my welcome, and it got applause! Gasp and surpise! Although, later on one parishioner did tell me she had problems with my use of the word "boring." I've considered that, and the fact is, most of the teens, preteens, and childlings I work with do find the traditional service to be excruciatingly boring. *shrug* Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who helped (and will continue to help) make this service run so well! And I'd like to thank Elizabeth for her comment on my last post. Maybe it's just a little shallow, but it's always nice to get some praise and thanks for hard work accomplished!

Well, Senior Pastor is taking the last of his vacation time, so I'm in charge. Lots of writing to be done...

Be good to each other.
Rev. Josh
091007

Heh...

Ok, so, apparently I'm really not capable of posting every day. Which I think makes the past couple of days the fastest lapse ever. In any case, I've been working really hard on a Power Point presentation for our brand—spanking—new—right—out—of—the—box—some—assembly—required—informal—experiential—experimental—multimedia—alternative—to—the—same—boring—old—Sunday—morning—worship—service service. And now I'm totally going to have to try to remember that whole huge thing for the welcome Sunday night.

Anyway, I've been using a lot of stock photos from stock.xchng for this project, I'd I thought it'd be nice to show you some of my personal favorites...

Absolutely gorgeous sky, what else is there to say?

Speaking of experiential, this young woman looks like she's caught up in the Holy Spirit, doesn't she?

I wonder if anyone who will be at the service has ever seen an icon of Christ before?

I was looking for an image that says, "Dancing in the Light of God." I think I found it.

I'm really excited about this new service, I'm sure it's going to be sparsely attended to start off with, but I also believe that if we stick with it, it will grow. (And so will the church.)

Be good to each other!
Rev. Josh
090707

Ronpaaruumu!

So, I ran across something today that amused me, so maybe it will amuse you, too. I wiki-ed (don't you love the way Wikipedia has become a verb?) Romper Room because I was writing a pastoral prayer. Ok, so I'm not going to make the Romper Room reference in the prayer after all, because I'm not sure everyone would get it. At the end of every show, Miss... well, whichever Miss you had at your television station—would look through her "magic mirror" and name all the people she could "see" out there in TVland. Kids were encouraged to send their names in so they could be "seen" by Miss Whoever. Sometimes when I'm praying the pastoral prayer, I feel like one of the Misses from Romper Room, because our congregation is large enough that the names of those being prayed for can become a very long list indeed!

But here's the thing: When those pre-schoolers heard their name being spoken out of the television especially for them, it really did mean something special. And when the entire congregation is praying for your loved one by name, it means even more. I just wasn't sure that the connotation of the reference would come through in the prayer.

Anyway, I discovered this wonderful story about the Japanese version of Romper Room, Ronpaaruumu. It falls under the catagory of "Kids Say the Darndest Things," and if you can't stand the proper terms for certain male body parts, just skip down to the nice video. For the rest of you, sate your curiousity by reading on...

The Japanese version had a controversial episode; when hostess Midori Utsumi (second hostess) asked the kids, Tell me a word that begin with "Ki" (き or キ). A boy answered with "kintama" (testicles). Miss Midori replied "Do you know any words that are more beautiful?" The same boy responded with "kireina kintama!" ("beautiful testicles"; the word "kireina" (beautiful) also begins with "Ki"). After a commercial break, the boy was replaced with a teddy bear. Midori Utsumi, who has since became a major media personality, often tells this story on some TV programs that she appears in.

The above was quoted directly from Wikipedia, which is linked under "Useful Stuff." And finally, I found this clip from Romper Room on Youtube. Well, it's a little long to be called a clip, maybe, but it at least shows the "magic mirror" part, for those of you who don't remember Romper Room! Oh, and if you remember these commercials, you're probably beginning to feel old... (but you probably aren't yet).



Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
083107 (again)

Re-evaluation

So, I took the time to post yesterday, and I didn't get completely swamped by all the other writing I need to be doing. So I'm going to try on the idea of posting at least a little something every day I'm in the office again. We'll see if this concept actually survives Advent this year!

Of course, one of the dangers of this newfound self-discipline is that I don't have brilliant ideas for entries every day, and I'm afraid today is one of those days. It's Friday, I'm a little tired, I have to get up early and perform a funeral tomorrow, and overall I'm feeling just a little down. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the way I see people treating each other on the road. On the way back from the gym this morning I watched a young lady cross the street in the crosswalk while blathering away on her cell phone. She was probably somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way across when a guy (I almost said "gentleman," but he wasn't acting like one) in a beat-up green car started laying on his horn at her.

BEEP! BEP! BEP! BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEP! Granted, she ignored him, kept walking and blathering away on her cell phone, but really, it didn't cost him more than 30 seconds to slow down and let her get out of his lane. And the look on his face was just... demonic.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the law states that pedestrians in a crosswalk have the right-of-way.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
083107

PS I did not take either of these pics, they came from Stock.Xchng

"I got that guy"

Hey, I've got a lot on my plate today, well... the rest of the week, really. And I wasn't going to post today, but I ran across this incident on MSNBC that I simply have to get out there.

Did Tucker Carlson say on air that he and a friend beat a guy in a bathroom stall for propositioning him? And is it just me, or was the general response... glee? Doesn't that fit the definition of gay bashing? Shouldn't the appropriate response to any part of that situation be the opposite of glee? I'm not saying that anybody should be propositioned for sex in a public restroom. You ought to be able to urinate without having to worry about unwanted advances. But I will also say that approaching someone for sex shouldn't be grounds for being assaulted, whether you're gay or not.

I guess there are several lessons here. Stop watching MSNBC, they're inappropriately gleeful over there. Don't proposition people in public restrooms—public restrooms are usually gross to begin with and most people just want to urinate and get out of there as soon as possible. And finally, don't proposition Tucker Carlson for sex, ever—he might respond with violence.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
083007

More Written Words

Hey, I know it's been a long time, but I've been on vacation! You'd think that would mean lots of time to write, but what really happened is that it was lots of time to visit and be visited! Which can be just as busy as work, only much more fun! (And this coming from someone who really loves his job!) In any case, I'd like to share a poem that came out of my week at Silver Lake counseling for The Written Word. The fool thing keeps refusing to be titled, either I have no ideas or too many... I'll keep thinking about it. Anyway, here it is.

I hear familier voices singing alongside new.
I feel the floor as it bounces and moves with the shrieking throng.
I see the pulsing mob occassionally disgorge a happy and flushed dancer, out of breath and laughing.

And I, no dancer, bask in the glow.

And I don't mind.

Content, I find myself thinking that I've only ever danced to please another.

As if on cue I see them suddenly baring down on me.
I'm being mugged by dancers!
"Give me your money!" replaced by "You have to dance now!"
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" I reply as I am dragged by both arms, struggling, to the dance floor.

I hear familiar voices alongside new.
I feel the floor as it bounces and moves with the shrieking throng.
I see the beaming faces of my abductors as they dance freely, effortlessly, consumed by joy.

And I dance as best as I'm able.

And I don't mind.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
082907

Is It Still Road Rash If You Do It On A Chain Link Fence?

So, I don't have a pic of the "rash" in question, (my skin is too brilliantly white to get a good pic...) but I'd still like to know... Is it still called road rash if you do it on a chain link fence? And you'd like to know how the question came up in the first place, I imagine!


Well, this is your bike post, the one I alluded to last time. Actually, this is kind of a postscript to my skateboard post. If you remember, or feel like going back and looking at it, I decided that I couldn't very well skateboard to work with the sidewalks being as bad as they are. And I ended with the question, "Now where'd my bike go?" The answer is: Nowhere, it's right at home, hanging up in my parents' garage, right where I left it... um... gotta be over 10 years ago now. Or rather, that was the answer. Today the answer is:

Chained to the railing in the entryway of the church.

That's right, I've been riding my bike to work! Praise me! Considering that I hadn't been on the thing in over a decade, I think I've been doing pretty well.
Now, I know that some of you might be against it, but I've been riding on the sidewalks. Call me a coward, but I simply do not trust the way people drive on Main Street (or Stratford Ave. for that matter) enough to be in the road with them. Besides, if I take the sidewalks I don't have to cross Main Street to get to the church. I think the main argument for not riding on the sidewalks is that it's rude and/or dangerous to, you know, barrel down on pedestrians with your bike. And I agree with that, of course! But over half of my ride has a strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb and lawns on the other side, so I can get around padestrians!


And the rest of my ride? Well, pretty frequently I end up walking my bike for at least part of it. I'm scared of corners. I know, I know, but I actually took a pretty bad turn into my parents' driveway one time, lost control, hit a driveway light, went over the handlebars onto my head... So I'm afraid that I might loose control when I'm turning, because I've done it so spectacularly before. Now, the turn out of the apartment's driveway is really safe, but the next turn is onto a really busy street, so I dismount and walk my bike instead of trying it. Cause if I did loose control, I'd end up on the hood of a BMW or something. And then I often walk it just a little bit further, because the sidewalk gets really narrow right after that. All these pics are taken on the way to the church, by the way, but it was on the way home, in that narrow spot, that I earned my "road rash." I got a little too close to the fence side of that little gap, and, well... I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt! (Cool. I just discovered that sleaved is a real word, too!) So I didn't scrape myself on the road, per se, but I did do it biking... is that still road rash?


Major intersections that I have to cross, I do so walking my bike, with the walk light—there's no sense in taking stupid chances. Especially when you're on a bike and the other guy has an SUV. There is one last corner I walk, it's just at the church, and it's actually got a decent descent to it. (Try saying that three times fast!) I was biking downhill when I lost control all those years ago, and I don't want to repeat that, especially not when loosing control would probably mean ending up in the street—or running into the side of a car! I doubt if my insurance covers me running into a stationary car on my bicycle!

For what it's worth, I can make that turn coming from the other direction!

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about bicycling to work, and I'm going to keep it up as much as is safe. Thanks to my folks for helping me get the bike here, and giving me enough money to get it tuned up and safe. Thanks also to Dawn for staying on the cell phone with me and talking me to Tony's Bikes and Sports. I never would have gotten there without her!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
080707

Bash Bish

You were going to get a post about bicycles. Or rather, my bike. And you will, but not today. Because I forgot that taking pics on the way to work doesn't do anything for today's post, because I need to bring the camera home to upload them...

So, instead, the first installment of Silver Lake posts! Yay!


So, I think I mentioned that I was a conselor for a creative writing conference called The Written Word last week. I thought it would be silly to simply tell you about how I've been writing and not share any of it with you, so here's the first piece that came out of the week for me. But first, you need the setting: This piece came out of a writing exercise we did downstream from Bash Bish Falls. I'd say that this is a first draft, but I suspect that I'll be doing some editing as I transcribe it from my hand-written copy into the post, so in effect you'll be reading a second draft. I'm all about the constructive criticism, so if you have any, please, be my guest and comment!

Wednesday, 072507, Bash Bish

I meander down the bank of the stream, feeling secure in my old boots, looking for a new friend to make. As I sit here, writing this, I resist the urge to smile and lovingly give him a little pat. I know him well enough now to be confident that he would not appreciate the gesture.

But I get ahead of myself. It was downstream from the little beach that he caught my eye. He was, in general, shaped like all the other rocks, but something about his pockmarked features spoke to me.

I picked him up, ranged upstream and found a large rock in the center to sit on. Then, after a brief interlude involving the need of a pen, the return to the bank to retrieve a pen, and the subsequent decision to roll up my pant legs, remove my boots and socks, and wade back to the center, I lay him down on the stone next to me, and he began to tell me his story.

"Who but God knows the immensity of the pressure, the literal physical weight under which I was formed?"

I knew there was something about this rock, he has already brought proper focus to me, setting my mind on God, I thought.

"Who but God remembers the great, tall and fantastic mountain of which I was once a part? A spire so tall that it would seem to be a route into heaven. Who but God can comprehend the terrible cold, or the inexorable grinding movement of the glacial flow or the insistant tumble of water, or the more intermittent working of wind and rain that has worn me down to the palm-full of pock-marked stone you find me to be?"

I left him there, to ponder heavily the working and mystery of God. A smile and a pat seemed inappropriate.



Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
080307

Vacation is Work!

Hey everybody, been a long time, I know, so sorry, so sorry. Lots of things have happened since I posted that long, long post about a tiny piece of General Synod. Most of which happened during vacation. (Actually, I have only had half of my vacation, the other half is coming in about a week... don't ask, it's not worth the telling, lol!) But let me backtrack a second. Just before my vacation, I learned from Elizabeth (she of Modern Day Slavery and Red Leggings) that she was going to be involved in a presentation in the park of Shakespear's The Tempest. Awesome! I find out from her that the show will be running every Friday and Saturday in July. Way cool, plenty of time to go see it!

Well, as soon as I reach my vacation start, Jenny (she of Yarnpie) and I head home to visit the fams. We watch the new Transformers movie with my brother... and then we go searching for a walk-in clinic. It turns out that Jenny has Strep. (Cue evil music.) But not just in her throat. Oh no. She has a lovely ear infection to go with. By the time (hours... horrible hours) we get out of there, Jenny has been proscribed an antibiotic... and is tripping on Vicodin. No, you can't have any. So I got to take care of Jenny for a while.

We spent some time cleaning out closets (now, to clean out the rest of the apartment made messy by the closet cleaning... hmm... vicious circle anyone?) We also tried to spend some actual quality time with the fams. We also got to see my friend, Bob, from seminary. He and his wife came down to see the aquarium, Bob's got a thing for penguins, so he was happy! We had to hurry home so I could get ready to go to Silver Lake to be a councelor for The Written Word, a creative writing conference for high school students. I would be leaving Saturday late in the morning... to...

d'oh

I haven't been to see The Tempest yet. I suggest to Jenny that she could go on her own, but she would rather wait for me. She gets online and re-discovered that the Saturday I come home is the last showing, not the Saturday I go up, so we make plans to see it when I get back.

Now, I love Silver Lake, and it was a very good week, I think. But there wasn't a whole lot of sleep involved. Ok, so only half of that was the fault of the youth (Harry Potter is my Kryptonite) but the fact remains that I was dead on my feet by the time we got to the park. But I really wanted to be there to see Elizabeth (and, it turns out, another member of my church) in the play.

Only, Elizabeth wasn't there. I haven't had a chance to talk to her since I've gotten back, but I hope everything is ok... and I fear that she might have told me she couldn't make that last performance. If so, then I am truly sorry.

Anyway, The Tempest was very good.

But it would have been better with Elizabeth.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
080107

PS I just reread this post, and I realize now that my tenses are shifting all over the place... and I just don't have the umph to sort them out. You'll just have to deal, lol!