Friday Friends - Ray, Chad, and Kris

Exactly two weeks ago I was headed to the North Shore of Lake Superior with my friends Ray, Chad, and Kris. The four of us had a great time.

We set up our camp at Lamb's Resort. Kris and I used my pop-up camper, Chad set up his own tent, and Ray used a hammock tent strung up between two trees. We all kept warm even though the temps dropped to around 40º each night.

Over the weekend, we canoed and fished Nine-Mile Lake. We enjoyed meals at Sven and Ole's Pizza and The Angry Trout. We enjoyed sitting around the campfire and cooking at the campsite. We hiked trails up Britton Peak, the Cascade River, and Palisade Head.

On Sunday, we worshiped with a little group of locals and vacationers at Father Baraga's Cross (the service is a ministry of the Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte). We checked out a couple of outfitters in Grand Marais. And we scouted out a number of places for future trips, including: Naniboujou Lodge, Two Harbors, and Temperance River State Park.

Monday, on the way home we stopped by Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse, and spent some time at the Duluth Canal. We ate at Little Angie's Cantina and checked out a few shops. All in all it was a wonderful four days with three of the nicest guys I know. I hope we get to do it again next year.

Thursday Thinking - David Eagleman on the Brain

David Eagleman's new book, Incognito, examines the unconscious part of our brains — the complex neural networks that are constantly fighting one another and influencing how we act, the things we're attracted to, and the thoughts that we have.

"All of our lives — our cognition, our thoughts, our beliefs — all of these are underpinned by these massive lightning storms of [electrical] activity [in our brains,] and yet we don't have any awareness of it," he says. "What we find is that our brains have colossal things happening in them all the time."

In this recent interview on WHYY's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Eagleman explains how learning more about the unconscious portions of our brain can teach us more about time, reality, consciousness, religion and crime.

Wednesday Words - Ordinary Virtues

The Patience of Ordinary Things

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they're supposed to be.
I've been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

"The Patience of Ordinary Things" by Pat Schneider from Another River: New and Selected Poems. © Amherst Writers and Artists Press, 2005.

Tuesday Tome - The Bible

The Bible has been often referred to as the best selling, most published, most translated, and, unfortunately, least read book of all time. I suspect that's probably true, at least in terms of the number of copies printed in proportion to the number of copies actually read. That's especially true if you mean cover-to-cover reading.

For the last twenty-five years or more, I've been on a personal quest to change that statistic one person and one Bible at a time. I've been reading through the Bible every year and urging others to do the same. I've developed reading programs, tools, classes, and a blog in my efforts to encourage people to get started and to get the most from their reading.

The Useful Breath blog is written for people who are daily Bible readers. The format is simple and follow the Useful Breath reading schedule. More information about that blog and reading schedule are available HERE.

The Useful Breath reading plan starts in September every year. Most annual reading plans begin with January, but I think it makes more sense to get going when the summer wraps up and school gets started. Most church programs follow the lead of the academic year and kick-off in the September, so it makes better sense for a reading program to start then too.

The Useful Breath reading plan includes three reading selections for each day of the year. The first is from the Old Testament history/prophets, the second is from Old Testament wisdom/poetry, and the third is from the New Testament. This gives readers options for customizing their own plan. You can choose to read only the New Testament, or just the New Testament & Old Testament Wisdom, or just the Old Testament. If you do all three readings and stick with the schedule, you will complete the entire Bible in one year.

The New Testament readings in the schedule have a special order. Rather than beginning with all four gospels in succession, the Useful Breath schedule begins with Luke and John, then proceeds through the rest of the New Testament. The gospels of Matthew and Mark are then read at the end of the schedule.

The 2012-13 Useful Breath reading schedule begins on September 2. You're invited to download a copy of the the schedule and read along with me. You can also subscribe to my Useful Breath blog via email or Facebook. Just visit the site and look in the right column for more info. If Lakeville, MN isn't too far from where you live, you could also join me for the Pathway Bible Class I teach at Valley Christian Church on Wednesday nights, 6:30pm. Our fall quarter classes begin on Wednesday, September 12. Send me an email if you need more information.

If you've never read through the Bible, now is the time to do something about that. Join me in reading through the Bible this year (September 2012 - August 2013).

Monday Media - Kenspeckle LetterPress

I'm a big fan of Rick Allen's work available at Kenspeckle LetterPress. His art is a celebration of Duluth, Lake Superior, and the North Woods of Minnesota's arrowhead region. Rick's work is both beautiful and whimsical--always a great combination in my book. I'm especially fond of his "Trapper's Daughter" prints. I hope he has plans for a large format book of the complete series.

Two weekends ago, I went camping up near Tofte, MN with several friends. The Sunday of that weekend, August 19, was the 34th wedding anniversary for Cheri and me.

Lest you think me old and crusty for being away from my lovely wife on that special occasion, I ask you to please remember that I am a romantic at heart. Yessiree, on that very day, Sunday, August 19, I purchased the Rick Allen print (above)--"Love in a COLD Climate"--to take home to my beloved spouse. Appropriate, don't you think!

Not only did I give her the joy of a nice quiet weekend without me, but she was thrilled when I returned with this Kenspeckle treasure which will now occupy a special place in our home sweet home. I should also pass along that, in additon to the print, she was pretty dang thrilled with the sea-salt chocolate covered caramels I brought her from the Great Lakes Candy Kitchen.

Here's a little video about Kenspeckle LetterPress. I hope you enjoy it.

Sunday Supplication - Life and Salvation

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy and love.

We thank you for your Son, Jesus, and for the life and salvation he has made possible for us. Help us, as part of your Church, to be a living demonstration of your power to save and transform and renew. Make us a true community of grace.

Forgive us our sins. Help us to turn away from darkness and to love the light. Make us willing and able to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to think, speak, and act in ways that restore lives, nurture relationships, create peace, and bring honor to you.

O God, thank you for Jesus, who did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and became a servant. Help us, like him, to reach across barriers, to welcome the weak, to serve, and to look to the interests of others.

It’s in His name that we pray all these things. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Online Star Ratings

From XKCD Webcomic

Friday Family - Minnesota State Fair

If you're attending the Minnesota State Fair this weekend, make a point to get over to the Heritage Square Stage to hear my sons Page and Jack performing with The Cactus Blossoms. They'll be playing shows at 10:30am, 11:30am, and 12:30pm on both Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26.

Performing on Prairie Home Companion - State Fair Show 2010

Thursday Thinking - Community

A number of our regular ministry programs at Valley Christian Church get rolling again in September.  LifeGroups is one of those programs.

The primary pastoral objective of our church LifeGroups is to promote relational care, friendship, and spiritual maturity through Christian community. It's difficult, however, to get people in our church to embrace and pursue this objective.

It's no surprise that one of the difficult things about any small group program is trying to promote genuine community rather than comfortable association or, worse yet, cliques. One of the most common reasons people give for not wanting to be in a LifeGroup is their discomfort with being with people they don't really like. There's always someone the wrong age, or socially ackward, or always whining about life, or always dominating the conversation.

In short, when small groups are not formed by easy and comfortable associations, they tend to expose how difficult it is to really share our lives with others. Small groups reveal how miserable we are at truly being kind and generous with poeple different from ourselves. They uncover our selfish and lazy hearts. They make clear our need for grace and spiritual maturity. In other words, they're not naturally comfortable.

So okay, I will come clean and admit that my pastoral goal for our church's LifeGroup ministry is uncomfortable fellowship. I'd rather have fewer groups that truly stretch people toward true community, than have lots of groups that don't make us grow spiritually and become able to break through social barriers.

Yesterday, Richard Beck, posted about community on his Experimental Theology blog. His post was prompted by his recent reading of Jean Vanier's book, Community and Growth. As the founder of L'Arche, an international network of homes and programs dedicated to helping people with disabilities, Vanier knows very well the sacrifice and challenge of Christlike community. Beck quoted from Vanier's book and challenged his readers to think about their own church communities as they read the following excerpt.

Community is the place where our limitations, our fears and our egotism are revealed to us. We discover our poverty and our weaknesses, our inability to get on with some people, our mental and emotional blocks, our affective and sexual disturbances, our seemingly insatiable desires, our frustrations and jealousies, our hatred and our wish to destroy. While we are alone, we could believe we loved everyone. Now that we are with others, living with them all the time, we realise how incapable we are of loving, how much we deny to others, how closed in on ourselves we are.

Beck then followed the Vanier quotation with these comments:

I think the reason I found this quote to be so powerful is that I've encountered many Christians who love people in the abstract. That is, they believe they love everyone. But when it comes time to loving flesh and blood people they remove themselves from the daily grind of simply getting along with others. (The classic illustration of this is liberal Christians talking a great deal about loving the poor but never getting around to being friends with any poor people.)

I used to think this was a failure of effort, of not wanting to put in the time and effort to be in concrete relationships with others. But in light of Vanier's quote I wonder how much of this might be driven by ego. The disciplines of community expose our selfishness, vanity, impatience, entitlement and our brokenness. Rather than face this exposure it's easier to withdraw and live with the illusion that we're awesome loving people.

So for any of my Valley Christian Church friends reading this, I urge you to think of our LifeGroups with these ideas in mind. Consider being part of a LifeGroup as a way to be stretched and pulled toward true community. Think about hosting or leading a LifeGroup, knowing full well it will require you and others to change and grow.

LifeGroups challenge us to participate in genuine fellowship that extends beyond our comfort zones. After all, what good is it if we only love people like ourselves? We don't even need God or grace or church for that! Think about it. Isn't this the challenge Jesus calls us to embrace? Read Matthew 5:46-47.

Wednesday Words - Rise & Shine

Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom

Daily dawns another day;
I must up, to make my way.
Though I dress and drink and eat,
Move my fingers and my feet,
Learn a little, here and there,
Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,
Hear a song, or watch a stage,
Leave some words upon a page,
Claim a foe, or hail a friend—
Bed awaits me at the end.

Though I go in pride and strength,
I'll come back to bed at length.
Though I walk in blinded woe,
Back to bed I'm bound to go.
High my heart, or bowed my head,
All my days but lead to bed.
Up, and out, and on; and then
Ever back to bed again,
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall—
I'm a fool to rise at all!

"Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom" by Dorothy Parker, from The Poetry & Short Stories of Dorothy Parker. © The Modern Library, 1994.

Tuesday Tome - Upcoming Book Club

The political climate and polarizing rhetoric is sure to be inescapable as we approach the November 6 election. Wouldn't it be good to take a step back and consider the values, ideas, and virtues that gave birth to our nation? How did those early Americans work for unity and democracy despite their profound differences of belief, religion, and national origin?

You're invited to join me and my upcoming Pastor's Book Club at Valley Christian Church as we read and discuss philosopher Jacob Needleman's book, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. Read the book description below.

Our discussion schedule will be:
September 25 - Ideas and Beginnings (pp. 1-188)
October 9 - Crimes and Failings (pp. 189-268)
October 23 - Democracy and Hope (pp. 269-356)

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Dave. Books will be available at the Valley resource center and at Amazon.

From Publisher's Weekly--
San Francisco State philosophy professor and author Needleman invites readers to contemplate the deeper spiritual meaning of the American legacy of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Finding a deep resonance between the founding principles of this country and the ancient spiritual quest for an inner liberation, Needleman proceeds to examine and "remythologize" the founders and some of their great deeds.

The reader is asked to consider Franklin's courageous experimentation ("...the man played and worked with lightening!"), Washington's restraint retiring from the army and later from the presidency rather than exploiting his matchless popularity and political power, Jefferson's brilliant articulation of the value of community, and the sheer gravity and awareness in Lincoln's face.
....
While Needleman clearly finds much to love about America, he balances our light with our darkness, our genuine good will and spirituality with our great crimes of slavery and the genocidal abuse of the American Indian. Decidedly not for strict materialists or historical literalists, Needleman's latest work gives open-minded readers a new set of spiritual role models and much valuable food for thought at a crucial moment. 

Monday Music - Missy Higgins

What a great song and video. I'm eager to see and hear the live performance in next Sunday night when she opens for the Gotye show in Maplewood.

Sunday Supplication - Our Merciful Savior

Almighty God, you have sent your only Son into the world to save us from sin and death.

We thank you for his sinless life, his selfless sacrifice, and his example of godly life. Give us the wisdom to take hold of all Jesus has so freely given. Thank you for his redeeming work in our lives and in our world. Help us to follow daily in his steps.

Forgive us and help us to turn away from wrong.  Transform us and give us the faith to press toward life, healing, restoration, holiness, and good deeds.  You are so gracious to us, and we ask you to make us able and quick to be gracious and forgiving toward others.

O God, you have shown mercy to us. Give us the attitude of Christ Jesus that we might be a testimony of your grace and instruments of your mercy to everyone around us.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our merciful Savior. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Minnesota on Colbert

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Friday Friends - Lake Superior

Today I'm heading north with three guys from church. We're going to be enjoying the beauty of Lake Superior and the Superior National Forest. We'll also be enjoying the company of good friends.

I'm looking forward to the hours of conversation and I'm quite confident that a number of world problems will be solved during our deliberations. Hopefully, we won't create any new ones.

Trips like this do so much to grow relationships stronger and deeper. Some of the things on my things to do list for the weekend include hiking a few peaks, fishing and canoeing Nine-Mile Lake, cooking and sitting around campfires, and enjoying a few restaurants. Other less strenuous activities I have in mind for the weekend include sleeping, reading, sleeping, and reading, and then sleeping.

If you've never been to the North Shore of Lake Superior in mid to late August, you've got to give it a try. The air is crisp with hints of Autumn in the air. Bugs are gone for the most part, and the cool night sleeping is absolutely great (especially if you're in a camper with a furnace like I will be).

Here's to a great weekend!
 

Thursday Thinking - End Times

In my sermon last Sunday, I included several texts from the New Testament book of Revelation. This has prompted a few people to ask me what I believe about eschatology and what Valley Christian Church's position is on things like tribulation, the millenium, and the second coming.

On many occasions, I have avoided a lengthy and potentially divisive conversation by claiming humorously to be a"promillenialist"-- meaning whatever happens, I'm for it.

I certainly think the subject is beyond my understanding, and I wouldn't want to claim my views are anything more than honest opinion. On the other hand, my opinions do shape my thinking, my living, and my teaching, so I think people deserve more than a humorous deflection from me.

“Apart from biblical inerrancy no doctrine has caused greater division in evangelical Christianity in the present day than the millennium.  Though the biblical references to a millennial kingdom are minimal, they have given rise to elaborate theologies based on the reality of such a kingdom.  Because the millennial hope has been a source of inspiration to Christians throughout the history of the church, impelling many toward a missionary vocation, it merits serious consideration.” 

Donald Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), II: 189.

Just yesterday, a woman who has been attending our church for a few months asked me to clarify my eschatological perspectives and beliefs. I think she has enjoyed our church, but I was a little hesitant to answer her questions because I'm quite sure she will not agree with me on these subjects. I'm trusting she will receive my answers (which I think are apt to disappoint her) with the same grace she asked her questions. In any case, I have decided her straightforward questions deserve a straightforward response.

So here is my response to her--

Dear Friend, thank you for your questions about the rapture, tribulation, and millenium.

Let me start by saying I do not think a person's millennial view is something that should be used as a test of their faith or salvation. Christians have held a wide variety of opinions and beliefs about these subjects throughout history. I think the ambiguities and gaps of Scripture on these subjects explain this wide spectrum of Christian perspectives.

You should know that Valley Christian Church does NOT have a specific millennial perspective it sanctions above all others or requires its members to believe. The Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (Valley's church history heritage) do tend to be amillennial in their perspective, though not dogmatically so. Part of our shared Restoration Movement heritage is valuing freedom in matters of opinion --"In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, in all things love."

Personally speaking, I lean toward amillenialism, partial preterism, and renewed earth eschatology. These perspectives make the most sense to me both historically and biblically. These perspectives also have a long and vibrant life throughout church history and are held, to some degree, by the many of the biblical scholars I respect most.

I've read the Bible many times and just cannot imagine coming to a dispensational-premillennial view on my own from simply reading the Bible. To me, it seems contrived and does not emerge from the text proper. The type of premillenialism prevalent in America today is also very late on the scene in Christian theology. It is troublesome to me that most of the people I know who hold this view came to it by reading books about the Bible, NOT from their own reading of the Bible itself. They seem to read the Bible through a dispensational-premillenial lens they have learned, rather than arriving at their view by reading the Bible.

Like I said, Valley Christian doesn't take a rigid position on this issue. Our statement of faith says that we believe Christ "will come to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end." It also says that "we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Those statements transcend millennial views.

Back to my personal perspectives, I'd recommend the following books to get a better picture of what makes sense to me.

The Throne, the Lamb, and the Dragon: A Reader's Guide to the Book of Revelation (Spilsbury)

A Case fo Amillenisalism: Understanding the End Times (Riddlebarger)

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (Wright)

Revelation for Everyone Commentary (Wright)

Wednesday Words - Baffled but Singing

THE REAL WORK

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

"The Real Work" by Wendell Berry, from Standing by Words. © 1983.

Tuesday Tome - The American Soul

The political climate and polarizing rhetoric is sure to be inescapable as we approach the November 6 election. Wouldn't it be good to take a step back and consider the values, ideas, and virtues that gave birth to our nation? How did those early Americans work for unity and democracy despite their profound differences of belief, religion, and national origin?

You're invited to join me and my upcoming Pastor's Book Club at Valley Christian Church as we read and discuss philosopher Jacob Needleman's book, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. Read the book description below.

Our discussion schedule will be:
September 25 - Ideas & Beginnings (pp. 1-188)
October 9 - Crimes & Failings (pp. 189-268)
October 23 - Democracy & Hope (pp. 269-356)

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Dave. Books will be available at the Valley resource center and at Amazon.

From Publisher's Weekly--
San Francisco State philosophy professor and author Needleman invites readers to contemplate the deeper spiritual meaning of the American legacy of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Finding a deep resonance between the founding principles of this country and the ancient spiritual quest for an inner liberation, Needleman proceeds to examine and "remythologize" the founders and some of their great deeds.

The reader is asked to consider Franklin's courageous experimentation ("...the man played and worked with lightening!"), Washington's restraint retiring from the army and later from the presidency rather than exploiting his matchless popularity and political power, Jefferson's brilliant articulation of the value of community, and the sheer gravity and awareness in Lincoln's face.
....
While Needleman clearly finds much to love about America, he balances our light with our darkness, our genuine good will and spirituality with our great crimes of slavery and the genocidal abuse of the American Indian. Decidedly not for strict materialists or historical literalists, Needleman's latest work gives open-minded readers a new set of spiritual role models and much valuable food for thought at a crucial moment. 

Monday Music - Gotye

I'm looking forward to seeing Gotye live on August 26. Missy Higgins is opening for that show with a certain Tyler Burkum helping out on guitars and vocals. Should be fun.

CLICK HERE for Gotye Interview and Performances
on NPR's World Cafe.



This song is a lot of fun.

Sunday Supplication - Preserve Our Lives

O Lord, we praise you and ask that by your Holy Spirit you would shape our hearts and minds to think and do what is right. Provide for our needs and preserve our lives. Make us able to delight in your will and walk in your ways.

Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ.  As you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.
Give us the courage and the grace we need to restore relationships, heal brokenness, sacrifice our rights, and humbly consider the needs of others.

O God, save and protect us from the things that threaten to consume and destroy us. Help us to look faithfully to you in all circumstances. Thank you for Jesus, my Lord, who for our sake and our salvation came down from heaven. Help us to love you with heart, soul, mind and strength.

We pray in the name of Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit--one God, now and forever. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Snapshots from Mars

Friday Food - Mint & GInger Water

My friend, Ted Tellman, showed up at our weekly Weigh & Pray meeting with some fresh ginger water concentrate he had made for me. It's nice for adding to tea or ice water and adds a fresh little zing to the mix. Ginger also appears to have a number of nice health benefits.

Here's a simple recipe for making Mint & Ginger Water. Give it a try and see if you like it.

I'm going to try it with fresh basil from my garden instead of the mint. Fresh citrus slices or cucumbers are nice to add to the mix. Some people even like to add a little apple vinegar and a touch of sweetener. Experiment away and let me know if you make any great discoveries.

Ingredients
    1 (four-inch piece) ginger, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
    2 quarts spring water
    3 sprigs fresh mint

Directions
Use a mortar and pestle to crush the ginger. Crush mint. Combine water, ginger, and mint in large pitcher. Let steep for 1 hour before serving over ice.

Thursday Thinking - Curious Priorities

NASA has successfully landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars. It's amazing! What a display of human spirit and ingenuity! What an astounding feat of science, engineering, creativity, and financing!

I should be celebrating, right?

I'll be honest. While I am truly in awe at this accomplishment, I'm having trouble being happy about it. I think it's an amazing thing to do, but I'm having trouble thinking it's the right thing for us to be doing right now. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a spectacularly worthwhile thing to do, but I don't understand why it's more worthwhile than many other things. Why does Mars capture our imagination over other monumental challenges surrounding us?

Where are the op-ed pieces and social commentaries questioning the ethics of this project? I've seen a very obvious media effort on NASA's part to create interest, excitement, and support, and it seems to be working. I've been very surprised, however, at how little questioning or criticism there has been in the news or the blogosphere about all this. Where are the critics? I've tried to find them, but they don't seem to be out there.

Should I really be happy about NASA's Curiosity Mission? Is Mars really the best focus of our best energy, creativity, scientific expertise, and dollars? Why don't we get excited about missions on our own planet to end poverty, cure disease, supply clean water, provide healthy sanitation, end wars, educate children? How is it we can nail a landing on Mars, but we can't fix a healthcare system?

So much of what we humans do--even the best of what we do--seems to be an exercise in missing the point. This Mars project certainly doesn't miss the point as badly as other things we do (wars, movie budgets, Olympics, bottled water, pet toys, etc). Still, should I really be happy about something simply because it's not as wasteful or misdirected as other things? Why should I celebrate great successes if they're the wrong successes.

I'm excited to see what we're able to do. I love scientific advances. I really do want to stand up and cheer for human achievement and success. My hat is off to NASA. Beyond question, this mission to Mars is a tremendous demonstration of what is possible when we humans concentrate our best efforts toward accomplishing the seemingly impossible.

I just wish we would direct our passion and curiosity toward some big challenges right here on earth.

Wednesday Words - Dangerous Summer Days

ON THE BEACH
by Ramon Montaigne

Children playing on the beach,
Mad dogs running off the leash.
Babies eating small mudpies,
Poison puddles in disguise.

Surfers paddling out to sea.
Are there sharks? There well might be.
Children walking to and fro.
Are they wearing sunscreen? No.

Men who go without long pants or
Shirts are asking for skin cancer.
Naked women soon will be
Sent to chemotherapy.

Food left sitting in the sun,
Salmonella has begun.
Young girls talking to strange men
Who yesterday were in the pen.

The days get hotter,
Near the water
Here in Sodom.
Thank God for autumn.


* * * * * * * *

Two whimsical poems by Ramon Montaigne ("On the Beach" and "Unification") have recently been featured on The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor. I really enjoy both of these poems, so I went online to see if I could find out more about the poet and maybe find a book of poetry. Instead, I found a mysterious void. Nothing on Amazon. Nothing at Wikipedia. Nothing at the Poetry Foundation. Nothing on Google searches. Hmm.....

I sent an email to The Writer's Almanac to see if they could help me out. I also sent a note to Keillor's bookstore, Common Good Books, to see if they could help me. If you know anything about this writer, or have any suggestions for how I could get more info, I would appreciate hearing from you. 

Thanks.

Tuesday Tome - Minnesota Birds Field Guide

Keeping the bird feeders filled is one of my weekly chores around the house. I keep three feeders stocked with safflower, one tube feeder with thistle, one tray feeder with a sunflower mix, and three hummingbird feeders. In addition to our feeders, Cheri keeps four large flower beds around our house that have a nice variety of seeds and blossoms that attract birds.

The main feeder station and a couple flower beds are right outside our dining room windows, so we often get to enjoy a close look at birds when we're sitting at the table. We also enjoy the wrens and cardinals near the garden when we're on the back patio by the garage. During our morning coffee time, we usually see gold finches and maybe a hummingbird or two while sitting in the Adirondack chairs on our front patio.

Our regular visitors include, Cardinals, House Finches, Sparrows, Gold Finches, Hummingbirds, Turtle Doves, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Redbellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Juncos, and Orioles. Occasionally, we'll have a bird at the feeders that we don't recognize. That's when we grab our Birds of Minnesota Field Guide to see if we can figure out what we've got.

This field guide by Stan Tekiela is perfect for amateurs like us. It only includes the most common birds of Minnesota (just over a hundred) and organizes them by color instead of name or species classification. So when we spot a bird we've never seen, we just note the bird's color, grab the field guide, go to the section for that color, and then flip through the pages of photos until we find a match. If, like us, you enjoy watching birds but you're a novice at identifying them, this little book is just what you need. It's great for kids too. Cheri and I have certainly had fun looking up birds with our grandkids. Sometimes, they just grab the book for the fun of looking at all the wonderful pictures.

Publisher's Book Description:

Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.

Monday Music - Pictures from the Road

All three of my sons have been musical road warriors in recent weeks. I'm not sure how many thousand miles we've racked up, but it's a lot.

Page and Jack performed at the 2012 Sawtooth Music Festival in Stanley, ID and are finishing up a week in the Portland area. The picture below (from Saturday, July 28) was posted on the Sawtooth Music Festival facebook page.

Tyler is currently playing with Missy Higgins in Australia. Posted below is a really nice television performance (from Wednesday, August 1). Instead of playing with a full band, Missy just had the band members sing while she played piano. Tyler is the singer on the left.

It's great to see the boys doing their thing out on the road, but my old heart misses having them close to home. I'm feeling it a lot this week after moving Tyler's family to Nashville. I'll adjust, but it ain't easy.

Sunday Supplication - Protect and Guide Us

O Lord, we ask you to give us clean hearts. We ask you to protect and guide us as we strive to be a growing and devoted part of your Church in the world. May your goodness and grace shape us and direct us. Help us to honor you and to follow faithfully in the way of Christ Jesus.

You know our weaknesses, O God, and you understand our limitations.  Our sins and failures are no secret or surprise to you. And yet, Dear Father, you are faithful to forgive, you are ready to renew, you are able to lift us up, and you call us to press forward in Christ.

Thank you for the forgiveness, hope, and redemption you give.  In the same way, help us to forgive, to encourage, and to bless others. You are gracious and merciful to us, and we ask you to make us gracious and merciful to others.

Thank you, O God, for Jesus, your Son who came to live among us, full of grace and truth. Help us to see him for all he is. Help us to grow in our relationships with him. Help us to follow him wherever he leads.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Vermeer Updated

Wikipedia: Girl with a Pearl Earring (Johannes Vermeer)

Friday Family - Nashville School Days

One of the bonus perks of driving the moving truck to Nashville was the opportunity to get in on the first day of school with my grandsons. We unloaded the truck and moved them into the house on Tuesday, and the very next day the boys went to school.

It sounds kinda crazy, but it really did work out well. It's good for the boys to have structure for their days and immediate opportunities to make new friends. It's also good for Ali to have some undisturbed (at least a little less disturbed) time for unpacking boxes.

When we picked them up after school, they both reported that their new teachers were nice.

Osten & Soren ready for school on Wednesday morning.

Thursday Thinking - Drought of 2012

A little over a week ago I posted something about having some time to read on a rainy Tuesday. I got more responses about rain than I did about the book I mentioned. One person in the Omaha area wrote, "Send some of that rain down here. Our crops are dying in the fields."

Monday of this week, I drove a moving truck from the Twin Cities to Nashville. That means I got a good close look at Illinois from top to bottom. I never enjoy that stretch of road and frequently wonder how much nicer my world would be if there wasn't any Illinois. Why can't western Tennessee just be tucked up nicely to the bottom of Wisconsin? Well, on Monday, I'm sad to say, it looked as though Illinois might, in fact, just dry up and blow away.

I grew up in Nebraska, so I'm no stranger to wide open flat lands, desert grasses, and brownish summers on the plains. What I saw in Illinois, however, was truly astounding. I think it's the most severe drought situation I've ever seen. The fields and roadsides and medians were absolutely scorched! It looked like everything had burned up, and then, just to make things worse, as if someone had spray painted all the dead plants a rusty brown. Even the weeds were parched. Trees were barely hanging in there.

I flew home from Nashville late yesterday afternoon and got a bird's-eye view of the charred midwest. Painful to see. When I returned to the lush landscape of Minnesota and Wisconsin late in the evening, I could see from my window seat that thunderstorms were rolling just south of the Cities.

I'm thankful for the good rain we've had this very hot summer. I'm thankful for the green grass in my yard and the beautiful crop in my garden. But today, I'm thinking of how miserable the poor people of the midwest are as they face the depressing reality of the worse drought since the dust-bowl days. Let's all send up some prayers for them.

From Associated Press

10:49 a.m. CDT, July 26, 2012

A new report shows the drought in the nation's midsection is rapidly intensifying and shows no signs of abating.

Illinois is one of the hardest hit states. It saw its percentage of land in extreme or exceptional drought balloon from 8 percent last week to roughly 71 percent this week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday.

The report shows the range of the drought in the continental U.S. has increased only slightly in the past week.

But the severity is worsening. The report shows that the amount of U.S. land classified in extreme or exceptional drought jumped to more than 20 percent, up 7 percent from last week.

More than 63 percent of the continental U.S. is in some stage of drought, a portion unseen since the Drought Monitor started 1999.

Wednesday Words - Roads and Travelers

With the thousands of miles my family is traveling and the many decisions we're making, this classic poem from Robert Frost seems to fit the bill for this week's Wednesday Words post.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

By Robert Frost