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.