Adidas remakes 'Star Wars' Cantina scene

A bold move, Adidas. see how many celebrities you can spot in this Wold Cup 2010 advert!

"He remembered Luther's inkstand!"

I find it interesting to see the intersection of thoughts and ideas. A few months ago, I was introduced to these two paintings depicting Martin Luther in his study, when he saw a demon and, reflexively, threw his inkstand at him. The inkstain was supposedly visible on the wall for centuries. Note the very different styles and artistic methods of communicating emotion and movement.

Tonight, as I was reading "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky, I came across a passage where one of the characters, Ivan--who many have been hallucinating--has a rather extensive conversation with a man who purports to be the Devil. Ivan snatches a glass from his table and flings it at the specter, who exclaims "ah, mais c'est bête enfin"...which, roughly translated, means "it's finally stupid." He then says "he remembered Luther's inkstand!"

Great Lake Swimmers

These guys are great. Wish they toured outside of Canada more often...

Arcade Fire Announces New Album

It's due to be released in the UK and the US in early August. sweet. you can check out their new singles by clicking above!

Alie and Georgia Present: The McNuggetini

Best comment on the page: "warning! don't make this at McDonald's. you will be asked to leave."

Horrifying Ugliness; or, incongruous and illogical

"No light penetrates the darkness of absurdity."

So said Dr. David Estrada-Herrero at Westminster's Commencement Ceremony for the class of 2010. His topic was Art & Evangelism, and he was well-spoken and passionate. He bespoke of how the death of God in culture, in art, in philosophy has lead to terrible changes. We now see horrifying ugliness in the arts--nothing makes sense, all is incongruous and illogical. We see that the death of God in Philosophy leads to a distortion of and decrease in man's knowledge and awareness of himself. All is absurd; there is no hope in this picture. No light penetrates this darkness.

And it is into this void we are sent; like sheep, who have no real means to defend themselves, we are sent to spread the good news to mankind...many of whom have no desire to hear it.

This is my kind of commencement speech. But really, why should we ever expect leaving academia to be an easy road? Academia is the one arena of life that I have found to be simple, logical, and low-risk. One knows what is expected of you, in general, and how one may work towards success. It was upon leaving this arena that I realized how unpredictable and chaotic the world is, and how much we are truly at the mercy of God in the midst of it. I found myself, during the ceremony today, missing the richness of academic life; the newness, the freshness of ideas and the excitement of working through them for the first time. And then knowing that you are in seminary, learning more about the character of God and our relationship with Him, makes the environment that much weightier and more stimulating. I would never have said it, and it took two years to get to this place, but sometimes I miss Westminster. Not the New Westminster, but Old Westminster, when the Old Testament department was strong and professors were not getting kicked out of the school. All that aside, sometimes I wish that normal, everyday life was as simple as school, where success is achievable and risk is minimal. Suspension of reality, anyone?

Congratulations, Westminster Theological Seminary Class of 2010!

Closure for the McGowan family

Finally, some closure for the McGowan Family. See my post on 11.14.2007 for the context (the title of this post is a link).
The man who fired the killing shot at Jayne McGowan was convicted today of life imprisonment+. At least now this part of the struggle for the family is over; now they just have the rest of their lives to get through without their daughter and sister.

Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why.

"The Charge Of The Light Brigade"
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
[Written 1854]


Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Risk Assessment

It is nearly April, and I thought I might update you all (whomever you are) on the year's progress, 2010 being the Year of Living Dangerously. This involves resisting the urge to self-protect, particularly in situations where risk is necessary. The issue with this is that, however necessary it is to take such chances, this does not make them safe. As people, we desire safety, security, predictability. This is not life. We cannot predict the future, and we certainly cannot control all the extraneous variables in life...and yet, we still try to do so. We seek to assess the risk of a given situation and then act accordingly in whichever way seems most likely to protect us from harm. Do not misunderstand me; I am not saying that one should not check one's harness, anchor, and carabiners before going rock climbing--to not do so would be foolish. I would compare this equipment check to anchoring ourselves to the Lord with the full knowledge that He can and will protect and guide us. What I struggle with is when to take further measures to minimize risk out of fear. Fear is a powerful thing. It can keep us from taking chances when we most need to, to go out on a limb when it matters most. But what happens when we do take the risk, when we climb out on that limb, and then fall to the ground? It is reasonably certain that this will happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Alas! Not all of our risks will be rewarded with success. What do we do then? Allow this to exacerbate our pre-existing fears? Of course not. But the temptation to do so is there. Perhaps this is when we must return to the Lord, realizing that we cannot always understand what He intends for our lives. Much as I would wish this could be the case, it is simply not so. That must be what makes it faith.

Onions Have Layers

I believe people have layers as well. My Community Group is an excellent place to discuss such matters, as we did this evening. Conversation was sparked in reference to our pastor's sermon from this morning, on John 15.9-17, as we considered the topic of relationships and what the Lord calls us to be in them. Our instincts tell us to play it safe, to keep things superficial and protect ourselves; the Lord's commands are not nearly as conservative! Not only are we called to love others as Christ has loved us (which is a difficult enough task), Jesus further defines this call by telling us that we are to lay down our lives for our friends. Now, an interesting point was made tonight, in that it could be easier to conceptualize taking a bullet for someone than to walk with them on a day-to-day basis through the muck and mire of this fallen world. Who wouldn't choose a discrete period of pain (or death?) over a potentially innumerable number of days of emotional and psychological angst? Could it be said that the intense, possibly short-lived experience of the martyr might be easier than the extended, grief-filled lifetime of the saint?

And yet, this is what love is. This is what Christ has done for us--He has made life (and love) in a fallen world possible--even if it is never easy. Perhaps we could brush this command off as impossible if He Himself had not already walked this path, if He had never been tempted; this, however, is not the case. The Lord was tempted, and He endured all sorts of suffering...not merely physical, but emotional and mental suffering as well. Who are we to expect that we would be spared similar experience? What arrogance! Nevertheless, we can draw a great deal of comfort from the fact that the Lord *did* endure, to great and godly ends, His life on this earth. And He did not leave us helpless--no. He has and will equip is in trial and relationship to embody Him, if we are willing to put forth the effort. And let's not forget that this requires a significant amount of effort, self-sacrifice, and the willingness to make ourselves vulnerable to every sort of pain. We must abandon all illusions of self-sufficiency along with our selfish goals in relationships. We are guaranteed to mess things up every time we lose our focus and our desperate grip on Him.

By now, you are probably wondering at the dragon image attached to this post. It is Eustace Scrubb, the self-centred cousin of the Pevensies from C. S. Lewis' "Voyage of the Dawn Treader." If you remember, he is turned into a dragon during the story. At first he finds this to be a pleasant change, but as he realizes how he is distanced from mankind he falls into despair. Aslan comes to him and tells him that he can regain his former shape by shedding his dragon skin...so Eustace begins the process of removing his layers. Much to his horror, there are more layers than he realized between his dragon-self and his boy-self. Only when he sees his inadequacy does Alsan step in and offer assistance. Making one large, deep, and quite painful cut, Aslan removes the outer shell of Eustace and exposes the boy within. Much like Eustace, we need the Lord's help to remove our protective shells and to live as unmasked little boys and girls.

2010: The Year of Living Dangerously!

2009 was the year of Adventure. Now, I know that it is already February, but it has taken this long for me to become inspired. I was talking with my friend the other day, and we both expressed the desire to live more dangerously. To traverse the line between taking calculated risks and reckless risks; to stop worrying so much about playing it safe and realize that risk is involved with everything that is thrilling and fun. All too often we value personal comfort and security over adventure and exploration; could this be why we feel stuck in the doldrums of stagnant experience? Possibly.

Now, how does this relate to our spiritual lives, you ask. I would argue that our efforts to protect ourselves demonstrates a lack of faith and confidence in the Lord and in His plans. Is it not better to place our trust in Him, who is actually trustworthy, than to trust our own feeble measures of self-protection? I for one am fallible, and my plans regularly go astray. Would it not make more sense, logically, to accept the fact that the Lord does know what He's doing...and that this does not guarantee comfort and security? To let go of our obsession with feeling safe and secure, and embrace living dangerously in the Lord's plans for us?

2009, The Year of Adventure: Fin.

Well, the year has come to a close, and this is my final post on the subject of Adventure and 2009. While I do not yet know what kind of shenanigans 2010 will bring us, I certainly look forward to finding out! And with any luck, you, my faithful readers, will be a part of it all. Below, find the list of things I wanted to accomplish during the past year...X's are things I got to do!

-Roadtrip to Boston X
-Drop everything and leave town XX
-Visit the West Coast X
-Buy a new car X
-Take up a new sport X
-Dance all night X
-Explore more of PA XX
-Visit the South XX
-Make 2+ trips to NYC X
-explore Philly XX
-Get Injured XX
-Go camping one week-end X
-Go to a shooting range
-Live a Sufjan Stevens song X
-More Rockclimbing, always. X
-go to a Celtic festival X
-Hike PA X
-Go Whitewater Rafting