Here, so now what?

Hailie Must Be a Muse

2009-01-05T15:17:00.005-05:00

Hailie is now three and a half months old and doing very well. I thought it'd be nice to reinitiate blogging by posting some work done by her granddads shortly after her birth. For those of you who don't know, Hailie was born on the first day of fall (Sept 22) 2008 at 6lb and 17.5". I'll be posting a lengthy update into our lives soon, so look for more details there.

Hailie's Song (mp3) (lyrics)

By Grandpa Dixon

TO HAILIE
By Grandpa Williams

As dawn does break with eastern ray,
     Those glorious beams afire,
The promises of each new day
     Fulfill, renew, inspire.
And all around the miracles
     Of God’s amazing world
Caress our senses, great and small—
     The newest one’s unfurled—

Our Hailie.

A charming bundle, made to hold,
     So great to squeeze and love.
A precious gift more rare than gold
     Descended from above.
With darling yawns and twinkling eyes
     She’s stealing every heart.
And Grandpa now, with heavy sighs,
     So hates to be apart

From Hailie.

When knocking on the doors of earth
     She simply couldn’t wait—
The waters broke, and then the birth;
     A very special date.
So welcome to our lives, sweet child,
     You’ve blessed us, Oh so much!
And it’s for you, so soft, so mild,
     We pray our Father’s touch

Dear Hailie.

4D Ultrasound

2008-07-14T17:02:00.002-04:00

For my faithful few, here's the video of our 4D Ultrasound. At the office, they had some side-by-side pictures from the ultrasound and after the birth. Some of those looked incredibly similar. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised--they're of the same baby.

Enjoy Hailie's first video!

Ultrasound

2008-05-23T15:24:00.002-04:00

So it looks like we'll have a baby girl in a few months.

Back to the lasers.

Growing

2008-05-15T09:03:00.005-04:00

Just a quick note and picture.

Jen and the baby are both growing nicely. Unfortunately Jen still feels fairly miserable most days, but she's really strong. I'm so proud and impressed with her!

Here's a picture to show you she's showing!

The ultrasound is next Thursday, so I'll try to post some pictures of the baby next week.

Expelled - super trailer

2008-02-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

Things I learned this weekend

2008-01-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

I learned a few things this weekend at a retreat. There were a half dozen couples who met in upstate New York to talk. And talk. And talk. Two full days of conversation from dawn to dusk and into the night--we'd only relocate for meals (or an occasional walk or bball)--but the conversation never really stopped. It was GREAT!

Things I learned:

God is alive and active in his world. He never stopped working and he never stopped speaking. Most people never hear him because they don't know how to or even that it's possible.
Listening isn't enough regardless of who you're talking with. To really begin to understand each other all parties involved should try to hear the others. Listening isn't enough. (Let those who have ears to hear, hear. And be assured that God gives good gifts to his children when they ask him: Ask, seek, knock.)
There's a wonderful sense of peace that comes when I no longer feel like I must say the things I'm thinking. I can wait and let other people speak first (their comment might be much more important or profound). Once a few seconds of silence have passed, then I can say what I want to--if I still want to. I don't have to share everything I think of.

Christ Died for Our . . .

2008-01-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

Who are we?

2008-01-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

I think words are very important. For instance, it really bothers me when someone dismisses something as "just semantics." Connotation and word choice convey ideas, and really, what else do we have to communicate with (specifically concerning the written word)?

As a result I'm always trying to think of more accurate ways to describe things. According to a recent personality profile I'm a refiner through-and-through. It seems to fit.

So who are we?

Many names have been used to describe this "new" thing that God is doing. The Revolution, simple church, the Emerging church, house church, organic church. As is my tenancy, I feel somethings not quite right with each of them.

The revolution is too ambiguous. I like ambiguity, insofar as it sparks conversation, but too much ambiguity tends to make me just walk away--perhaps I'm afraid of what the answer might be.

Simple church has too many connotations and too little concrete meaning. Are we a simple church? Yes, of course, but I'm not really sure what all that means. I feel the same way about organic church. What does it mean to be organic? Does it mean we don't add preservatives? We're supposed to be salt. Does it mean we only follow natural methods? What does that mean anyway? Can I still use my TV to show a video? Is that organic? I think so . . .

House church reassigns the church to another location. Can you have a house church in a bar? I suppose so, but it sure would feel kinda weird.

And I have issues with the word church to begin with. As I understand it (working from memory), the word translated church is ecclesia which originally just meant assembly. Obviously it came to mean much more. Church on the other hand translates from the German kirk which is most accurately translated as temple--a building. I'm quite certain that buildings should be a non-issue. There are plenty of times where having one is very useful. There is so much the Body can do without one. It seems amoral.

So, I ask again, who are we?

As of this morning the best I've come up with is:

An Informal Church

There you have it. It's not great. It might not even be good. But of all the options I've come up with I like it the best . . . for now.

A somewhat related question is, what are we about?

Try this on for size:

An informal community trying to find the joy and glory of God everywhere.

Comments? Questions? You know where to go.

Charismatic Tithing??

2008-01-07T10:37:00.001-05:00

Don't start getting spoiled, but there have been too many "coincidences" in the past 12 hours to not share.

A bit of back story: Over the past several months/years I've had a staggering number of conversations about social justice and the Christian's proper response to helping those in need. I'm still thinking through the issues, but I'm definitely now more on the side of, "Let's do everything we possibly can to help restore as much of everyone's humanity as is possible!!"

So, for those of you not in a simple church you might not realize that we have no real expenses up here. We meet in houses. We feed each other whenever we get together. We share and just basically love being together, but we have no building, no mortgage, no heating (well, we do, but heating houses hardly counts. Although it feels like it should with $400+ heating bills--see my previous post.).

You might say, "So what's the problem? That hardly seems like something to complain about!" I'll tell you. Where does the money go? We need to be generous, but we don't have the "easy" option of just giving money to "the church" and washing our hands of the matter. There are so many good options out there, but I haven't been giving nearly enough of myself or our money.

Isaiah phrases it interestingly (check out the context):

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness
and your night will become like the noonday.

Spend yourselves? How do I spend myself everyday? In a chasing after the wind? In pursuing religion?

Or in pursuing God and what He cares about?

Back to all the coincidences. Last night Adam W, a great friend who recently joined our group of Christ-followers, went to talk about a stewardship campaign at a local parish. While taking his wife, Nikky, home I asked what their experience with the Health and Wealth gospel has been. She hadn't ever heard of it.

Their position is that if a body of believers has committed to each other then they must share responsibility in all areas, including the finances.

Including the mortgage and heating.

What a profoundly simple idea. It makes so much sense.

This morning I was eating at my regular breakfast nook, The Broken Yolk, when the cook asked me if I had my Bible with me today. She was interested if I knew the verse where we were told to give 10%. I went off into a long diatribe on how that was never commanded of us--Abraham set a good precedent and Jacob after him, but we don't have to. We have to be generous with out lives.

Fortunately someone came in a placed an order, so she sent me looking in Ecclesiastes (where I found the profound wisdom I linked to above). I had some time to realize I was not having a conversation, I was teaching. When she came back to my table we talked, she read Ecclesiastes 5, she found Malachi 3:10ff, and we had a conversation.

I then realized I had been answering the wrong question. There are several commands to give 10% (literally "a tithe"), they just all happen to be in the Hebrew Bible.

Several months ago she had told me that her community is an Assembly of God in Revere. Before leaving I asked her about it (since yesterday's sermon had been on tithing) and she told me that it's a Spanish congregation and she'd love to have me visit. They even have a wonderful lady who will translate into English whenever someone shows up who would otherwise be lost.* I'm really looking forward to visiting soon.

The final coincidence was that George Barna had sent me his weekly study of American demographics while I was at breakfast. Here it is. Definitely something to think about.

*LOST. Isn't that a great word? I just finished a book AKA Lost that talks about how demeaning it is to even think that way. We strip people of their humanity when we don't think of them as humans, but rather "the lost." However, I most certainly would be lost at a Spanish congregation without a translator. Perhaps the word isn't all bad . . .

A surprise post

2008-01-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

I never thought I'd say the following:

When I stepped outside yesterday my first thought was, "Wow! 24 degrees is so warm!"

That, my faithful few, is the sort of insight you've been without for the past 4 months (and yes, we have been having single digit highs). I know, because I haven't been sharing anything here. Sorry about that. But I make no promises for the future. Blogging isn't a new years resolution. But I'll try to be better.

In other news, here are my favorite 20 photos from 2007 (out of 12,609 I took this year). Feel free to pick your favorite in the comments.

More BME Fun

2007-09-05T10:46:00.000-04:00

Classes started back up yesterday. I'm taking two this term while continuing to work on my research project. Biophysics and Applied Quantum Electronics. The first excites me and the second scares me quite honestly.

Over Labor Day weekend our department had its annual retreat. This year we went up to our department chair's summerhouse in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. It was a gorgeous weekend and a great chance to get to know people more personally. On top of that Jen was able to join! Good food, good fun, good weather--that's hard to beat. As usual, I think I'll share some pictures:

Minesweeper: The Movie

2007-08-26T17:32:00.000-04:00

Stardust

2007-08-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

Just came home from the local AMC after seeing what very well might be the best movie I've ever seen. I don't want to be too dramatic (that and I tend to have a very bad memory, so I think "the very best movie I've ever seen" changes rather frequently), but I really do give Stardust my highest recommendation.

For any of you who have ever read John Eldridge (Wild at Heart, Captivating, Epic, The Journey of Desire, . . .) you'll know what I mean when I say that movie belongs in his books. Actually I'd say that this movie is the quintessential story (aside from the real story of God's romancing us back to himself) illustrating Eldridge's thoughts.

With humor reminiscent of The Princess Bride, this epic, magical, and truly romantic fairy tale really stirred my heart.

The Christian Web

2007-08-16T09:24:00.000-04:00

A couple days ago the Metro, one of Boston's free daily newspapers, printed an article about GodTube.com--a "safe" alternative to youtube.com, the popular video sharing site. My initial reaction--derision--matched most other reader's, but I decided to actually visit the site. The first video I found was by the Sons of Korah. Take a look:

I've since found many, many more that I don't care for (try the evangelism channel). I have mixed emotions about these new breed of sites for the evangelical conservative Christian sub-culture. I'm okay with them insofar as they are a place to have open conversations about faith or to encourage believers. But, in truth, they seem more like a new monasticism--complete self removal from the world and its people. Now I am personally very drawn to the idea of monasticism, but it's undeniable that Jesus never intended us to stop engaging the world around us. He infiltrated "places of sin" and helped rescue and redeem those places without feeling the need to retreat to where it would be safe. His believers need a place to help encourage each other, but that encouragement should serve to further propel us back into darkness.

Trusting God

2007-08-06T13:59:00.000-04:00

I love the days when God just really leaves no doubt how much he love us. Yesterday was one of those days.

I suppose I should start at the beginning. A week ago I was sitting at school and had a thought--we should probably move. Now this wasn't a new thought, but it really just struck me. So I called Jen up and asked her if she wanted to give 30 days notice to our landlord (since it was the 31st of July). She said "sure," so I made the call. One of our good friends told me a couple days later, "Taylor, a spontaneous action like that sure seems out of character for you"--I'm glad I can keep him guessing.

Well, of course we started an eager search for a new place in Quincy. Our primary criteria for our new place was either (1) near Germantown (the roughest neighborhood in Quincy--demographically categorized as "struggling urban diversity") or (2) near someone else on our team (walking distance so we can start living out this idea of doing life together in Christian community). (Other criteria included minimum 2 bedrooms--for when you come visit us--and a separate dining room since eating together is central to Christian community). Since we had a bit of a time crunch we decided we should decide on a place by the end of the weekend. Criagslist provided many leads, but most wouldn't quite work for one reason or another.

Coming up to Sunday we had a couple "it'd be alright" places, but nothing we loved, but we had two final apartments to see Sunday afternoon. For some strange reason I was never worried about finding a place--I had no doubt that God wanted us to move according to his above criteria (his vision) and so he'd certainly reserve the place he wanted us at (his provision). As my friend said above, this is not normal behavior for me--I tend to stress and worry about things far less life changing than this. Well, I take that back, this sort of trust is actually becoming increasingly more normal. What a joy to recognize God's hand in continually transforming me into the sort of person he wants me to be.

Well, we go to our first Sunday appointment and I knew from the moment I saw the staircase leading up to the apartment that this was our place. Seeing the rest merely confirmed that (as did seeing the radiant smile on Jen's face). We did go to the other appointment since Meghan has told us how horrible it is to have people stand her up, but as soon as we walked out that door we found some shade and filled out the applications for the first place. As it turns out, our new landlords are amazing people (you could call them people of peace) and they live about a block away from our new place. I'm eager to cultivate a friendship with them and the people in the neighborhood they know. Meghan and Taylor are also about a block away (as are the beach and the subway), so we really couldn't ask for anything more perfect. God has truly made good on his promise (and early too).

All praise to our Lord and Father forever, for his goodness is astounding and infinite.

----
An interesting bit of trivia. We'll now be living on Botolph St. St. Botolph is the patron saint of travelers, and a town Lincolnshire is named after him--Boston (a corruption of "Botolph's Town"). I bet you can guess which English city Boston, MA was named after. Details here.

Men and Church

2007-07-30T16:29:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I received an an article from a friend regarding men and the church. Essentially a review of David Murrow's Why Men Hate Going to Church, this article reactivated my thinking on this topic. Murrow found that the top reasons why men don't like church are:

Men don't like to sing in public.
Think about how much of our worship involves singing. Look around at your next worship service and notice how many men are participating but not singing.

Men don't really like to talk about their feelings or to talk about relationships.
Think about how your church talks about following Jesus. Most of us use the picture of a relationship with Jesus. We tell men that they grow in that relationship by sitting around and talking about how the Bible impacts their life.

Most men love a challenge, a chance to risk and to put their faith into action.
Consider having more opportunities for the men in your church to grow through service. I had a real learning experience when twelve men from our congregation spent a week in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. We did not spend a ton of time in the Bible each day, but instead put faith into action, shoulder to shoulder, as we "mucked out" houses, shingled roofs and ate and played together. I bet those twelve men would say they grew more in their faith that week than at any other time in their lives.

Men respect and expect excellence and quality.
But excellence and quality are probably not the first two words that pop into the average man's mind when he thinks about church. Think seriously about how your church can strive for excellence and quality in all the areas of your ministry; from the music to the messages; from the way the church is decorated to the activities you offer men. God is worthy of our best efforts and so are the men (and women) who have yet to come to know His grace in Jesus.

Personally this list really speaks to my heart (well, 2-4 anyway--I do love singing). It's really no wonder our men are passive our absent--we've designed the church to exclude and suppress much of what is masculine. We don't let men be men and we suffer for it.

In our simple expression of Christ's body we've been examining Jesus and one thing that's been brought to our attention is how he's constantly on the move. He's active. He's working. Sure, the conversations and relationship are there, but those things are developing while Jesus is taking his band of followers all over the place--i.e. eating and healing, proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of the heavens, righting wrongs, and living out righteousness and shalom in his every moment. Jesus hardly spent most of his time in a sterile environment sitting around in a circle discussing how loving God is. He was out demonstrating how loving God is.

We still sit around and have discussions--and rightfully so--but we also encourage people to get out there and dispense some shalom to the people around you. Whether that is sitting at a bar watching the Red Sox and talking with the people there (like Jen and I are doing tonight), or walking your puppy and taking advantage of the opportunities that creates (like the Plotts are doing), or helping out at a homeless food shelter (Adam and I on Wednesday) it's important to get out there.

Men of the church, what are your thoughts?

Here's a website discussing these issues.

Cross in the Cemetery

2007-07-29T10:14:00.000-04:00

Purple flowers

2007-07-26T13:40:00.001-04:00

Forcing "Jerusalem" to Happen

2007-07-24T08:08:00.000-04:00

A Dallas Willard quote in response to Steve's question about if the American Experiment has failed:

[On the new earth and] in this new city--"Jerusalem," or "the peace of God," is its name--"all cultures and languages will come together to see God in his glory (Isa. 66:18). They will transmit that vision of God throughout all of the earth, and all humanity will come regularly to the center of divine presence on earth, to delight in God and worship him (vv. 19-23).
The power of God's personal presence will, directly and indirectly, accomplish the public order in and among nations that human government has never been able to bring about. Truth and mercy will have met and kissed each other at last, like long-lost friends (Ps. 85:10). Grace and truth are reconciled in the person of the Son of man (John 1:17).
The greatest temptation to evil that humanity ever suffers is the temptation to make a "Jerusalem" happen by human means. Human means are absolutely indispensable in the world as it is. that is God's intention. We are supposed to act, and our actions are to count. But there is a limit on what human arrangements can accomplish. The alone cannot change the heart and spirit of the human being.
Because of this, the instrumentalities invoked to make "Jerusalem" happen always wind up eliminating truth, or mercy, or both. World history as well as small-scale decision making demonstrates this. It is seen in the ravages of dictatorial power, on the one hand, and, on the other, in the death by minutiae that a bureaucracy tends to impose. It is well known how hard it is to provide a benign order within human means. For the problem, once again, is in the human heart. Until it fully engages with the rule of God, the good that we feel must be cannot come. It will at a certain point be defeated by the very means implemented to produce it.

feel free to stop reading there (that's the main responce), but Willard continues:

God's way of moving toward the future is, with gentle persistence in unfailing purpose, to bring about the transformation of the human heart by speaking with human beings and living with and in them. He finds an Abraham, a Moses, a Paul--a you. It is this millennia-long process that Jesus the Son of man brings and will bring to completion. And it is the way of the prophets, who foresaw that the day would come with God's heart is the human heart: "the law of God would be written in the heart." That is, when what is right to God's mind would be done as a simple matter of course, and when we would not be able to understand why anyone would even think of engaging in evil. That is the nature of God's full reign [i.e. the Kingdom of God].
All of the instruments of brutality and deceit that human government and society now employ to manage a corrupted and unruly humanity will then have no use. As, even now, the presence of a good person touches, influences, and may even govern people near-by through the respect inspired in their hearts, the focused presence of the Trinitarian personality upon the earth will govern through the clarity and force of its own goodness, and indirectly through its transformed people.
Thus we see repeated portrayed in the prophecy the gentleness of this government--for the first time a completely adequate government, in which the means to the good do not limit or destroy the possibility of goodness. The beautiful prophetic images portray the divine way of operating: "Your true king is coming to you, vindicated and triumphant, humble, mounted on a donkey. His word will bring peace to the nations, and his supervision will take in all lands, from where his presence is centered to the farthest reaches of the earth" (Zech. 9:9-10).
Divine presence replaces brute power, and especially power exercised by human beings whose hearts are alienated from God's best. "I will focus my being in their midst forever. And the nations will know that it is I the Masterful Lord who makes my people different" (Ezek. 37:26-28).
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, pp. 380f.

As long as we humans act like we're God (and God's not) there's no real hope for any human institution. But the day described above will come. I long for it. Don't you?

Maranatha, Lord Jesus!

Cruising Reflections

2007-07-21T01:07:00.000-04:00

Perhaps you hadn't noticed, but I haven't been updating this thing too frequently. I apologize, but this will likely be my last apology. Blogging is enjoyable, but it is far from a top priority in my life right now, so I'll put something up when I have both the inclination and time. Oh, and I won't make the mistake of trying to catch you up on all that has happened since my last update either--that's a daunting task that only makes me less likely to even try. Now that that unfortunate business is out of the way . . . .

We returned from our cruise a week or two ago, and I've been planing on blogging about how pathetic it is that we Americans think of cruising as an ideal vacation. I started explaining my thoughts to Jen a few days ago when she said, "I just really enjoyed it. It was nice to relax and be taken care of for a while."

What a better perspective. I'm sure if I had just decided to dwell on the blessing of being on a vacation then I would have had a more cheerful one. As it is, on tropical vacations I usually let my thoughts drift to self or societal criticism.

Becoming "fully alive" is a personal and team goal, and I think a drastic and divine transformation and renovation of my mind is in order. I like how Paul put it:

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. (Philippians 4:8 MSG)

So, friends, if you don't mind, then please help me with this transformation. When you see me help direct my thoughts toward the good and perhaps we can together find God in it.

A few cruise pictures for you:

Who Poached my Watermelon?!?!

2007-06-11T06:40:00.000-04:00

Have you ever woken up with a real rush of emotion?

This morning when the alarm went off (probably the 6th time) I was irate. The thought running through my head:

WHO POACHED MY WATERMELON?

Surely that means something.

The Creative Process

2007-05-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

My good friend Chris (who also happens to be Quincy's newest resident) responded to my post "Why Photography" over at Narf's Cavern. I'd recommend you go read his profound insights there before you continue reading this.

I suppose there’s more evident arrangement and technical skill involved in lyric writing than photography, but I imagine some photographers out there would happily disagree. Nor is it true that personal skill always shines through lyrics while great photographs minimize the role of the photographer. The truly great songs are the ones that are so natural, so perfectly affecting, that they don’t seem written at all. It floors us that great songs were “written” because they seem to us to have been “discovered.” I suspect, in a very deep sense, they were.

Chris, I couldn't agree more with you. The photograph is full of the photographer just like the lyrics are full of the composer. Hopefully they've uncovered something deep and true that already existed, but they bring their identity and vision to what was there so now there is this neat partnership or pairing of the two. Both are essential for the final product to ever exist.

[side note:
Perhaps we can use this as an illustration of the Trinity and how the Holy Spirit partners with us. The product of creativity should be full of us, and yet it should also be full of God (the object reflects God's glory--we capture it and then reflect it again). So, we humans are in one sense wholly responsible for the final product, but in another sense God is the one who is wholly responsible. The product is full of both God and us, and yet it is unified. Similarly, the God is full of the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and yet is singular and whole. Or, Christians are wholly ourselves and yet wholly dead to ourselves so that God can live in us and direct us. In that process our individuality is accentuated through partnership with God.* Just because something seems paradoxical or contradictory doesn't mean it is necessarily false. Some mystery is good.]

God seems to work like this everywhere. He's chosen to reveal himself through music and nature, people and governments, his Church and himself, but he still relies on those people and organizations to be an accurate reflection of him in order to glorify his name. I can choose not to honor him (much like I can choose not to take a beautiful photograph when I see it in front of me)--it doesn't mean God's any less deserving of honor (or the scene is any less strikingly beautiful)--it only means that I've decided not to participate in that greatness, that beauty. In the truest sense it is "my loss."

But God loves individuals, and small groups, and huge institutions, and all of creation. He actually is smart and big and powerful enough to get his mind around such big and small things at the same time. Probably my favorite verse in John's Revelation to the Church is:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
--John telling us how God intimately knows each of his children

I think I'll let Chris close:

I’d like to think that it’s not pride to recognize when something is good, to recognize when you have a talent for sharing that with people in artful ways, and to take joy in what you’ve done. That’s a gift and we ought to treasure it. We are told to think on whatever is right, noble, pure, lovely, virtuous, etc. and so it seems like a good idea to me to be pumping out as much lovely, noble, pure stuff as we can, so we have more to think on.

-----------------------
* Rather than being absorbed into a universal consciousness where we lose all sense of identity like some religions propose.

On the Evolution/Inteligent Design debate

2007-05-25T03:08:00.000-04:00

Real quick (I really should be in bed):
I found this in the hallway of the Science and Technology Center at Tufts (where I live). It's in reference to the finding that we share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees.

That the poster is advertising a DNA sequencing company makes it all that much better.

Why Photography?

2007-05-24T15:32:00.000-04:00

I was asked "why photography?" when I joined the Boston Photography Center. I think I finally figured part of that question out:

Photography, unlike most art forms, generally doesn't attempt to create. Rather, a good photographer will see the beauty surrounding him in every moment and capture it. He freezes the essence of the world in that place and time. Therefore, a photographer should be humble--his job is to capture (reflect) the inherent glory of creation in his work.

A parallel: as Christians, we too should learn to be fully present in every moment. Then we can humbly always be reflecting the glory of God to those around us.

Month in review: part 1

2007-05-24T14:28:00.000-04:00

I think I'll just do snippets as I have the time. If you want details . . . ask. If you want pictures then you're in luck.

4/11: I've joined a few meetup groups. One is the Boston Photography Center. So this Wednesday night I traveled to the Fenway for the monthly meeting at the New England School of Photography. Of course I had to take a few pictures before the meetings started. It's a good group with good people; I look forward to spending more time with them.

4/18: Another meetup group night: The JP Settlers of Catan Meetup. Three of us got together to play Settlers at a dessert cafe. You'll be glad to know I came in from behind and barely won. It looks like I'm the new assistant organizer of this group, so I guess I'd better keep attending.

4/20: The Friday before finals started. After listening to 3+ hours of 12 minute student seminars (yes, I did fall asleep), I decided to go visit the Boston Public Library at Copley Square. Jen had to work late, and I wanted to go do something fun. Well, I got there at 4:35. The exhibit was a display and audio tour of John Adam's personal library, but unfortunately they kicked me out at 4:50 (why must libraries close so early on the weekend).

I decided to visit the MFA since I was close and certainly hadn't had my fill of art after 15 minutes in the library. Most of the MFA closes at 5pm, but the hall I wanted to visit was open till 9pm. The best part is, as a Tufts student, I get free admission. I wanted to see the exhibit "Donatello to Giambologna: Italian Renaissance Sculpture." So I did. Some great stuff in there, but soon after I entered the exhibit I was informed that it was a no-photography zone. Sad. Guess you'll just have to go see it yourself.

4/27: I gave my 12 minute seminar on the laser ablation process using long pulsed (picoseconds) or short pulsed (femtoseconds) lasers. This is probably going to be my area of research for my master's thesis. (FYI: short pulses are the way to go! Good overview here.) It went well, but I went over my allotted time and contributed more than my fair share to the 4+ hour session.

Needing to relax, we had the Plotts over for a movie night watching The Nativity Story. It's by far the best telling of the birth of Christ I've ever experienced. Perhaps it's the best Christian movie I've ever seen. Go watch it (we got it from the library--yay free movies!).

more to come

17 of 22

2007-05-23T10:38:00.000-04:00

One of my good friends here in Boston posted a while ago letting readers experience a day in her life through a series of images. I feel inspired. I'll let you see my yesterday--17 pictures from May 22nd.

7:43am: After getting up and out the door, Jen and I got on the T (Boston's subway). Jen's spending these next couple weeks at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as a nursing liaison for Partner's Hospice, so we get to spend a bit more time together in the morning.

8:17am: Jen gets off at Charles/MGH, but I get to spend a bit more time on the train.

8:20am: Almost every day I take a picture of Boston's Back Bay while crossing the Charles River.

8:45am: At Davis station I listened to a trumpet player for a while. To see him in action click here (coming soon).

9:15: On my walk from Davis to Tufts I pass by Power House Square. There's a great historical park (see slideshow) where I spent an hour relaxing and taking pictures.

9:50am: Saint Clement's church is also on my walk. I usually take a few minutes to read and pray before I start my day.

10:22am: Finally made it to school.

10:48am: In my group's Non-Linear Optics Research lab I then spent several hours trying to make my unruly Labview code cooperate (trying to add a 3rd dimension of control to the XYZ stage seen in the center of the photo--sounds exciting, doesn't it?).

1:13pm: I spent several hours in the computer lab (being very productive . . . . if only it were true . . .)

6:36pm: Chris wanted to hang out and go driving, so he picked me up at Tufts.

7:38pm: We drove down to UMASS Boston where we found Stone Hinge.

7:44pm: We saw Malibu was around (who knew?), so we took a quick detour before Chris dropped me off at Davis station.

8:03pm: At Davis Station--train going the wrong way (which was fortunate since I still needed to get to the platform).

8:04pm: Back on the empty T.

8:16pm: Across the Charles again.

8:53pm: Jen kindly came to pick me at Quincy Adams station.

9:26pm: Two of my favorite things: my pretty wife and taco salad. (Don't worry, the first trumps the second any day.)

9:42pm: Having fun with Dustie. She got a couple new toys yesterday--a laser pointer and a toy mouse.
10:47pm: We tried to make it through Syriana for the second night. We made progress before we fell asleep. Perhaps we can actually finish it tonight.

So what was your day like?

Month in review: preview

2007-05-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

So, what is one to do when one has neglected one's blog, but that one's life has been fun and potentially interesting? Well, as I see it this individual could either (1) pretend nothing ever happened and move on, (2) neglect the present by living in the past to recount the missed posts, or (3) stop referring to himself as "one."

I think I'll opt for number two. But before I completely neglect informing you of today's world I think Dustie would appreciate a cameo.

A kitten's first snow

Yes, that's right, a cat! We're the proud cat-sitters of Dustie, a sickenly adorable 1 year old. A good friend, Garrett (who took the above picture--go check out his great photos!), had to leave for Germany yesterday on business. Our landlord has previously given us a firm "no" to having a feline friend, but I decided to throw my dignity to the wind and beg. It worked! How exciting. Perhaps I should do without dignity more often. . . .

On a somewhat related note, you really must visit I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?. If Dustie is sickenly adorable then this site is downright unbearable--you'll love it.

Three weeks?!? I appoligize

2007-05-18T10:37:00.000-04:00

Yuck, three weeks without any posts. I suppose you'd never know that I've been fairly busy looking here since it's been deathly calm and quiet. Ironic.

Well, if I have any readers left, I thought I'd let you know about a tool that Google's put out for just such an occasion. Google Reader is a very nice little program that continually checks all your favorite blogs and feeds for updates. That way you only have to visit one site instead of coming to my blog (and everyone else's) everyday in hopes that I've written something inspiring and thought provoking. (Keep hoping--someday it might happen.)

So, go check it out. Now you can know within minutes that I've labored to help you waste a few more minutes of your day. Feel free to go ahead and click the button to connect directly to my site--that way your visit will be logged and my ego assuaged.

[something more substantial soon--I promise]

Willard on Discipleship and Heaven

2007-04-30T16:03:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I'll get back to posting once finals are over, but for now here's a quote from Dallas Willard.

From The Divine Conspiracy (page 301f):

The division of professing Christians into those for whom it is a matter of whole-life devotion to God and those who maintain a consumer, or client, relationship to the church has now been an accepted reality for over fifteen hundred years. . . . It is now understood to be a part of the "good news" that one does not have to be a life student of Jesus in order to be a Christian and receive forgiveness of sins. This gives a precise meaning to the phrase "cheap grace," though it would be better described as "costly faithlessness."

. . . I want it to be very clear that I am not saying only "true disciples" of Jesus make it to heaven after death. Indeed, I believe that that is not t rue, though I would not encourage anyone to stop short of discipleship. Nevertheless I know that as far as forgiveness alone is concerned, the tenderness of god is far greater than we will ever understand on earth or perhaps elsewhere.

That is surely what it means to say that he gave his unique Son to die on our behalf. I am thoroughly convinced that God will let everyone in to heaven who, in his considered opinion, can stand it. But "standing it" may prove to be a more difficult matter than those who take their view of heaven from popular movies or popular preaching may think. The fires in heaven may be hotter than those in the other place.

. . . There is a widespread notion that just passing though death transforms human character. Discipleship is not needed. Just believe enough to "make it." But I have never been able to find any basis in scriptural tradition or psychological reality to think this might be so. What if death only forever fixes us as the kind of person we are at death? What would one do in heaven with a debauched character or a hate-filled heart?

-------
On a side note I won second place in the Tufts Graduate Student Photo Contest with these two pictures (two which I wouldn't have put at the top of my submissions):

New Camera!

2007-04-11T08:34:00.000-04:00

Jen got me a new camera for a late birthday present (my fault for being late, not hers) and it came in Monday. It's a Canon S3 IS and I love it.

I yesterday afforded me some time around Tufts and Boston to try out my new toy. I thought I would share a few of my favorites.

On a side note I joined the Boston Photography Meetup, a group for amateur and professional photographers to get together and interact and learn. My first meeting is tonight--hope I'm not out of my league.

Zebra Fish Embryo

2007-04-09T12:49:00.000-04:00

I saw this video (sans narration) in my Biomedical Engineering Seminar this morning (by Donald E. Ingber from Harvard). It was truly an excellent talk--wish they were all so good.

I think this video of the development of a zebra fish embryo is absolutely amazing. Enjoy!

The Ineffectiveness of Talking Head Preaching

2007-04-06T18:14:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about and struggling with the concepts of teaching and preaching as they applied in the early church and in house churches. I read this today over on the House Church Blog. I think that some of the problems with preaching (as done) are accurately diagnosed, and a treatment is offered as well. Check it out and let me know what you think--I'm still trying to figure this one out.

Boundry Conditioning

2007-04-06T09:14:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting video. I think it has implications for the Church. (HT* The Forgotten Way)

This PS2 add (I really don't get how it's advertising the PS2) is a great illustration of the problem of centered vs bounded sets. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch discuss this concept in their book, The Shaping of Things to Come (an excellent book that I'd recommend to anyone who has any interest in the past or future of the body of Christ). Ben Cheek also references this idea in his very good e-book examining the person of Jesus, Revolutionary. Since I'm short on time (and since he does a better job than I can) I'm going to quote from Ben (book 4 page 9 and following).

Frost and Hirsch use this as an illustration to demonstrate the difference between bounded sets and centered sets. A set is a collection of objects, or in the case of the spiritual community, people. A bounded set is a group of people defined by their boundary and by their separation form others. On the other hand, a centered set is defined by their center and their relationship relative to that center (how close they are to the center).

Churches that see themselves as bounded sets have a clear line of who’s in and who’s out. Those inside the boundary all have certain minimal qualities in common like baptism, membership, doctrine, etc. The point is to get unbelievers or non-Christians to become believers or Christians by crossing the boundary. The work of the leaders is to tend the fence, make sure none of those inside “cross the fence” and are lost, and in some cases they prevent others from getting in who are outsiders and don’t
belong.

In contrast, churches that see themselves as centered sets have no clear line of who’s in and who’s out — in the broadest sense of the group, everyone who has any kind of connection at all is in. What all the people have in common is a relationship to the center, but these relationships vary considerably in closeness, quality, strength, and style. The point is — whether you consider yourself a Christian or a not-yet-Christian — to move closer to the center of the set: towards Christ and his core values. The work of the leaders in a centered set community is to link to people and to the center. Like rescue workers, they use their relationship to Jesus as an anchor line, while they extend relationships to those farther out (regardless of their Christian/non-Christian, member/non-member status), which they use to pull them in closer.

I'd recommend picking up Shaping or downloading Revolutionary. This is an important thing for Christ's church to think about.

-----
* HT: (I just found this today) blogging jargon for "Hat Tip" or, in other words, the source for where the blogger found the content for his blog

Viral Videos

2007-03-31T02:19:00.000-04:00

Karl Fischer created a trilogy of videos recently about the (i) past, (ii) present, and (iii) future of education. At least the second one ("Did You Know") has gone viral (and is embedded below).

Viral is a relatively new term used on the internet to describe content that transforms from obscurity to near ubiquitousness, due to sharing through email, blogs, and the like. It's exponential growth that in many ways replicates the cycle of pandemics. On top of that no one really understands what the common threads are that make for viral content--some things just seem to resonate with people. It's an interesting phenomenon that will undoubtedly become a significant way that information and knowledge are shared in this world.

A couple other examples of videos that went viral (and have since faded back into obscurity) are the Star Wars Kid and Nooma Nooma. If you missed them when they went around the first time then watch them now--I promise you'll laugh.

God's on the Move in the Bronx

2007-03-28T10:20:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Steve and I made a quick trip down to New York City to visit some friends and fellow revolutionaries.

I'm busy with a lab writeup on Photodynamic Therapy (if you're curious), so head on over to harvestboston.net to see what Steve had to say about our trip.

Men are happier

2007-03-26T13:27:00.000-04:00

I just received this from a good college friend. I don't usually care for forwards, but it made me laugh and so I thought I'd share. (I don't envy all you ladies out there.)

Men Are Just Happier People--

What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pa y. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress~$5000. Tux rental~$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks.

A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of
thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier. Send this to the women who can handle it and to the men who will enjoy reading it.

The last day of winter, the first day of spring

2007-03-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

Taylor and I decided to spend the last day of winter sloshing though a bog in the Blue Hills Reservation. You can enjoy the hike vicareously below. All I have to say is, "thank God for waterproof boots." We in very cold water up to our ankles repeatedly.

An ironic twist is that the last day of winter was warmer than the first day of spring, but it appears that mother nature is only one day behind schedule.


Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
35° 31°	55° 42°	60° 32°	51° 31°

I know I'm ready for spring.

---------------
On an unrelated note, I found the end of the Internet. Kinda sad, really.

Talk about Being Ecumenical

2007-03-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

I bet you don't have one of these where you live.

The Mystery of the Missing Card

2007-03-19T13:02:00.000-04:00

Funny story: Friday morning I was in downtown Boston to interview with Color Kinetics for a summer internship. They're a really awesome looking company who have merged the geekiness of technical engineering with the coolness of aesthetic lighting. I think it'd be a great place to spend the summer, even though they aren't related to biomedical engineering at all. But the story happens before the interview.

The weather was a bit rough on Friday. We had Nor'easter blow through, so it was very cold and windy Friday morning. By mid afternoon we had several inches of snow, and it didn't stop snowing all night. Well, I was hurrying to the warmth of my interview when I passed a begger. I was planing on walking past until I remembered the $5 gift cards I keep with me to give out. I went back, pulled a card out of my wallet, handed it to him and told him what it was, then I continued on my way.

I made it to my interview (three interviews actually) with a bit of time to spare and the interview went well--if only I remembered how C++ allowcates memory inside object constructors I might have done a bit better. Truth be told, I didn't even know I was interview for a software position. I thought I was there for an electrical engineering one. Oh well.

So I leave the building along with another Tufts student who had been interviewing at the same time. She had driven and offered to give me a ride back to campus. On our way to the garage I decided I should get out the other $5 card in case I came across someone else in need. I open up my wallet to find both cards still in there. There really should have only been one left. I had given the guy earlier that day some card from my wallet, but I have no idea which one it was (aside from knowing it's a nonessential card since that's all I keep in that part of my wallet).

So I feel sorry for this guy I gave the random card to. I can just imagine him going to McDonald's and giving them this card to pay. "I'm sorry sir, but this is your AAA card." "But the guy told me it had $5 on it." "If it does it's not for here." It's sad really, but funny.

New England Skiing

2007-03-19T09:04:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday Pat's Peak was kind enough to let slide repeatedly down it's back with sticks strapped to our feet. Jen and I joined a group of about 20 from Calvary Chapel in the City to Henniker, NH for an afternoon of cold fun. The mountain (hill) was beautiful and the skiing was surprisingly good. We were fortunate enough to be hit by a Nor'easter all day Friday which dumped over a foot of fresh powder on the slopes, so we didn't have to experience the infamous icy Appalachian slopes.

We were invited to join Calvary by two of our good friends, Joel and Shoba. Joel's in the biomedical engineering program with me, and we were fortunate (blessed) enough to discover we both belong to the same Lord. As far as we know we're the only Christians in the department (I hope I'm wrong), so we're trying to be salt and light as best as we can. Having a friend and ally around is a great blessing. What's even better is that they play (and actually like!) Settlers of Catan, so I might actually eventually get to play with someone. [Actually Adam and Krista like Settler's also, but they don't live here yet. Coincidentally both couples share a last name--perhaps I've stumbled on something. On a side note, Adam and Krista will be up here in less than two weeks looking for apartments! They'll be Quincians in no time.]

So, all told, New England skiing wasn't nearly as disappointing as I had expected it to be; in fact, it was great! Hopefully we'll even do it again soon, but I think Jen wants to take me cross country skiing first. Sounds like fun.

What is a Christian?

2007-03-14T09:16:00.000-04:00

There's an interesting conversation going on over at Steve's site (http://www.harvestboston.net/). (Come to think of it, there are always interesting conversations going on over there. You should definitely frequent his blog.)

Well, the current discussion is on what it takes to be a Christian. It's in direct response to an experience that Steve, his wife, Jen, and I had a couple weeks ago when we joined a local Christian mysticism group for a movie and discussion. You can read all about that experience here (my thoughts are in the comments).

Go check it out.

Inadiquacies in the Naturalistic Evolutionary Model

2007-03-12T12:31:00.000-04:00

I'm intimidated by that title, but it's the best I could come up with in six words.

I just got out of the most enjoyable Biomedical Engineering seminar in my life (I've only attended a dozen or two, but still . . .). It was interesting, well presented, and I actually had enough background to understand what he was saying. That's certainly preferable to sitting for an hour on Mondays completely confused and feeling inadequate. Perhaps I am actually learning something.

Well, the seminar was by David Walt (Tufts Chemistry Professor) on Optical Fiber Microarrays. Now I'm not going to pretend to understand what he said well enough to explain it to you (and I'm not going to pretend that you'd be interested if I could), but one comment he made in the Q&A section made me think.*

Someone asked if his setup (which can be used as a "nose") gives us any information about how biological noses actually work--how many specific types of sensors we have. He said that it's interesting because theoretically and experimentally it only takes about 100 distinct sensors to detect every (practically) possible combination of odors; however, humans (and dogs for that matter) have around 1000 distinct sensors. He didn't seem to think there's any practical reason why we should have evolved such a unnecessarily precise array of sensors. I was thinking, "Wow, God's such an overachiever. He's amazing." It made me smile.

* On the off chance you are actually interested: Here's his site which I'm sure has more information than you'd ever care about.

Encouragement from Unexpected Sources

2007-03-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

I've joined a research lab at Tufts looking into non-linear optics. Presently I'm working with a couple friends trying to blast tiny (micrometer) holes in silk with a really fast (femtosecond pulsed) laser. We started actually shooting the silk with photons last Tuesday, and I can't tell you how glad I am to finally be working on something that isn't hardware interfacing. But that's not the point of this post. (If you're interested in the micromachining research then look here for a good understandable explanation of the sort of thing we're researching.)

Thursday morning we met up for round two of silk trials, but before Brian arrived Hannah and I were talking. Somehow it came up that I had moved here with friends. She asked why, and so I was able to tell her that we are a group of Christians who wanted to move to a world class city together to live out the teachings of Christ: learning and training how to love people, community involvement, and basically declaring that the kingdom of the heavens is here and available. As far as I've been able to deduce no one in my lab is a Christian, but nonetheless she was extremely encouraging and perhaps excited about what we're up here to do. When Brian arrived she even started telling him about why I was here and he likewise thought it was neat.

It was such an encouragement to hear that from people I know and like who don't necessarily share my beliefs. It got me to thinking about what I had read earlier that morning:

We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
--Paul describing how Christians are perceived in the world (2 Cor. 2:15-16)

If those who aren't Christians respond favorably to such news then perhaps they better fit into the category of those who are "being saved" than that of those who are perishing. Prechristians if you will.

I know I found the realization encouraging.

T time for God

2007-03-05T19:01:00.000-05:00

Getting from on place to another is an adventure up here. I spend about 2 hours on the subway (called the T) here in Boston everyday. That's a good chunk of time--over 8% of my day--and I've been wanting to use it toward our mission up here somehow. Such a great cross-section of the population is within reach (literally) everyday on the T. I've heard of people testing the culture of a city by asking random people on the subway questions, but I'm not quite to the point where I'd be comfortable doing that. (You'd be amazed how absolutely silent a train car with perhaps 150 people packed into it is during the commute hours. Any conversation above a whisper will be heard by dozens of other people, and I generally don't like my private conversations overheard.) Perhaps someday I'll work up the nerve, but for now I've decided on another option.

I know you'll think I must be slow for taking 7 months to figure this out, but I've decided to read my Bible on the T. It's such a great idea! I've been lagging way behind in my Bible reading, so this gives me some set-aside time to do it each day with the added benefit of being a subtle (but visible and obvious) follower of Christ in the city. Being easily associated with Jesus on the T has the added benefit of making me more aware of my surroundings (it'd be horrible to sit obliviously reading while an elderly or pregnant person stands right in front of me!). In fact, having my Bible out and open has even provided the starting point for a few (short) converstations. For instance, a nicely dressed black gentleman today said on his way off the train "Hey man, that's cool [gesturing at my Bible]. What church do you go to?" Now that's a question I usually take a little bit of time to answer and explain, but since I only had about 5 seconds I replied, "Actually, I moved up here with a few friends to start one." He seemed to approve, but the few people remaining on the train didn't make eye contact with me for the rest of the trip (not that that should be surprising--no one ever makes eye contact with anyone else on the train, that's probably why advertising on the T is such a great idea).

I've even starting noticing other people who do the same thing. Today there was a lady who had a Bible open when I got on, and last Friday there was a man reading out of Romans (in the tiniest Bible I've ever seen). I've not yet approached another like-minded soul, but perhaps someday soon I will.

Let the conversations begin.

Simplicity

2007-02-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

--Simple Gifts, an old Shaker hymn by Elder Joseph Brackett: (the melody is hauntingly beautiful, please take a moment to listen)

Last night Jen and I joined several of our friends in downtown Boston for two one acts at Emerson. Both were by Thornton Wilder, and the first one was actually good (we won't speak of the second). The evening opened up with this famous melody and made me remember just how much I love it.

Perhaps of all the spiritual disciplines I'm most reluctant to truly practice simplicity. I want the freedom that naturally follows from living simply, but I'm afraid of the necessary demands and changes to my life. I seem to have bought into this ideal of affluence and "comfort" as an important part (perhaps the most important part?) of what is proper and good in life. Richard Foster points out that as a society we have developed an insane attachment to things because we lack a divine Center. I'm inclined to agree.

The central point for the Discipline of simplicity is to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of his kingdom first and then everything necessary will come in its proper order. . . . Simplicity itself becomes idolatry when it takes precedence over seeking the kingdom.

Focus upon the kingdom produces the inward reality, and without the inward reality we will degenerate into legalistic trivia. Nothing else can be central. The desire to get out of the rat race cannot be central, the redistribution of the world's wealth cannot be central, the concern for ecology cannot be central. Seeking first God's kingdom and the righteousness, both personal and social, of that kingdom is the only thing that can be central in the Spiritual Discipline of simplicity.

The person who does not seek the kingdom first does not seek it at all. Worthy as all other concerns may be, the moment they become the focus of our efforts they become idolatry. To center on them will inevitably draw us into declaring that our particular activity is Christian simplicity. And, in fact, when the kingdom of God is genuinely placed first, ecological concerns, the poor, the equitable distribution of wealth, and many other things will be given their proper attention.

--Richard Foster on Simplicity in Celebration of Discipline

A singularity of focus on God will put everything else in perspective. I'm sad to say my focus is far from singular, but hopefully every day is a little better than the last.

The practical implications of simplicity are where I hesitate--buying useful things rather than status building ones, rejection of any thing that I'm addicted to, habitually giving things away, refusing the lure of gadgetry, enjoying things without having to own them, using plain and honest speech, refusing to give support to things that oppress other people, and shunning things that distract me from my singular focus on the kingdom of God.

Father, please teach me how to loosen my grip on my life so you can move me to where you want me to be.

An answer from C.S. Lewis

2007-02-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

Jen and I were listening to a lecture this morning on The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis by Louis Markos (good stuff if you want to check it out from the library). I like his line of reasoning, so I'm transcribing it for you.

From lecture 3: Ethics and the Tao

What is the strongest evidence against Christianity? The strongest argument is "look at all the injustice and suffering in the world, how could a good God have created it?" That is really, to me, the best attack on Christianity--why is this world so unjust? But do you know what Lewis says? How do we know our world is unjust? The only way we could know our world is unjust is if we have a just measure to measure it against. Do you follow me here? To put it in C. S. Lewis' words, "a man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line." How do we know that the world is unjust and unfair unless we have some kind of supernatural standard to tell us what is just and what is fair. So, you see, the greatest argument against Christianity becomes an argument in favor of it.

Grad School: Round Two

2007-01-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

After my very long break (somewhere around 5 glorious weeks) I'm finally back to the grindstone, well, that is I will be after Jen and I go back to Texas this weekend to visit my parents.

A very exciting development (for me at least) is that I joined a research lab today. Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto kindly agreed to let me help him and his team look into the potential for ultrafast lasers (femtosecond pulses) and the nonlinear optics problems and potential they create. A "femtosecond is one billionth of one millionth of a second. For context, a femtosecond is to a second, what a second is to a hundred million years," from Wikipedia.

The project I'm currently working on is micromachining. Some other really cool research being explored includes optical tweezers (pretty much a Star Trek tractor beam on a really small scale), pulse shaping to control chemical reactions, and optofluidics to name a few. I won't go into details so as not to bore you, but it's really interesting stuff. So check out the links if you're even slightly interested.

The classes this term are looking up as well. I'm only taking two (which will leave me with one to go before finishing my course work--just thesis and seminars after that!):

I'm sure I'll let you know how things progress.

God's Amazing Creatures

2007-01-14T13:17:00.000-05:00

This past week Jen and I went to the zoo and the aquarium. The New England Aquarium gets 4 big thumbs up--definitely the best and nicest aquarium either of us have ever visited. The Frankin Zoo gets maybe 1.5 thumbs up. Somewhat disappointing as far as zoos go, and all the animals looked miserable. Getting there only an hour before closing gave us plenty of time. We hear there's a really great zoo down in Rhode Island that we should visit soon.

I thought I'd share some pictures so you can visit them vicariously.

Getting Into the Community

2007-01-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

We’re finally starting to feel settled in. We know where to get groceries, we can generally find our way around town without getting lost (too often), we’re figuring out the public transportation system, we’re bracing for our first winter. We’re also trying to make friends and get a feel for the culture and people of Quincy. Integrating into a new community is a long process.

Jen and I have gone to a couple professional sporting events since we’ve been here. One Red Sox game and one Celtics game. They were both enjoyable and interesting, but the subway ride back home has been the most interesting part. Sporting events tend to help create community between people who would otherwise never talk. Striking up a conversation with someone who just experienced the same (in our cases) defeat is so much easier than trying to start one without any common ground.

On the way home from the Celtics game a couple weeks ago we started talking with a couple guys who were a bit younger than us. They were friends–one a Celtics fan and the other a Suns fan (who had won that night). The conversation went from the game to space aliens (don’t ask). Unexpectedly the more talkative of the two started loudly exclaiming, “I believe in aliens more than I do in Jesus’ making wine out of water.” When this got no reaction from anyone on the train he tried a new tactic: “F*** Jesus! Does anyone disagree? F*** Jesus.” After a few seconds of this I decided to chime in. We actually had a good time talking about faith and Jesus. Our stop came sooner than I would have liked, but I’m glad to have talked with them.

One of the other guys who had been in the car with us had mentioned how he was really late getting home and “his girl” was really angry. He had actually stood up for Jesus along with Jen and I on the train, so when I saw him getting into a taxi outside the station I decided to offer him a ride home. He was very appreciative and told us how much he likes Christians. He is a nice guy. He definitely has problems, but we all do. He gave us his phone number and said he’d like to get together some time. Perhaps this is the beginnings of another friendship. I sure hope so.

God’s always providing us all with opportunities to bless and engage those around us. I just pray that we each have the “eyes to see,” the “ears to hear,” and the courage to act when they come around.

One of the best things about break

2006-12-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

Ask anyone very close to me and they'll tell you I'm a reader. I come from a family of readers. In fact, one of the basic ideas I grew up with was, "Never leave the house without a book." You'll never know when you're going to be stuck someplace with nothing to do, so it seems like a pretty good idea. There's a problem though: one of those pesky little details about being in school is that the professors have their own ideas about what I should be spending my time reading; unfortunately their list and mine rarely line up and there's almost never enough time for everything. So I enjoy the summer and winter breaks since I have a chance to read what I want.

On occasion I allow myself the pleasure of reading fiction. I started a lengthy series a few weeks ago by George RR Martin called The Song of Fire and Ice. The first book (of 7) is A Game of Thrones and has been quite good--good, but not exactly relaxing. It's a medieval fantasy book that many people claim is as good as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I'm not quite convinced, but it can be worse than Tolkien and still be excellent. I've been avoiding starting it for a couple years now since starting these 6000+ page stories is such a huge commitment.

Dallas Willard is an author I can't recommend high enough. A friend and I have been slowly working through The Divine Conspiracy for the better part of a year now, and I just picked it back up after an extended break. He truly has a gift in making the most common and simple ideas amazingly profound. This book is an extended look at Jesus' sermon on the mount from Mathew 5-7. The paraphrase of Jesus' model prayer (previous post) is from his book. I had almost developed a bit of disdain for "The Lord's Prayer"--I had let it become perfunctory--but his discussion and explanation have changed my attitude. Amazingly Jesus (who Willard points out was the absolute smartest person who ever lived--a fact I need to remember) included in these few sentences everything that we should include in our petitions to God: our relationship with God, his nearness and love for us, our praise and a desire for everyone and everything to give him his due respect, requests that every institution and individual surrender themselves to becoming a willing part of God's kingdom, asking for our daily needs, a recognition and request for forgiveness (along with a realization that once we've grasped how great the grace given to us is that it'll be impossible to not extend it to those who offend or wrong us), and pleading that everything evil, unpleasant, and tempting be kept far from us (unless, of course, our Father has bigger and better plans for us that involve suffering). Willard's discussion is great, but the true genius is found in the timeless and terse words of Jesus.

I started a book yesterday and finished it this morning. I can't remember the last time I finished a book in a dozen hours, but this is one I've been wanting to read and am glad I finally picked it up. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski is a first hand exploration of the plight of America's homeless. Mike tells his story of how he was convicted to go and experience homelessness, so he took a break from getting his BS in computer science and spent 5 months with a friend living on the streets of Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, and San Diego with only the cloths on their back and a guitar each. The stories and faith found within these 200 pages are amazing. By far the best and worst interactions they had were with those who claim the name of Christ. They were shooed away like stray dogs from most of the churches they slept near. On Sunday mornings multiple pews around them were usually left empty, even in an otherwise packed auditorium. One church in Portland even has a posted sign saying "No Loitering. Church Business Only. Police Enforced." On one day (most days, in fact) Mike and Sam (his companion) hadn't eaten anything but a 99 cent hamburger during the past day when they saw a feast being taken into this church. Two well dressed men came over and angrily tried to remove these two bums (who happened to be reading their Bibles at the time). Mike's question sticks with me: "What is the Church's business?"

However, some of the Christians that Mike and Sam encountered surprised them with their generosity and faith, but very few of these were working with a church. In fact, many of them were homeless themselves. One homeless man in Portland known only as Sugar Man upon discovering that Mike and Sam were Christians exclaimed

You guys are my brothers in Christ. I know it. The Bible tells me to love my neighbor as myself. Not even my brother, but simply my neighbor. You share more with a brother than simply with a neighbor and I'm supposed to love a neighbor more than myself. So, brothers, those I love more than neighbors, more than myself in fact, what do you need? Anything I have is yours because you call Christ Lord same as I do. You need a car? I've got one. It's yours. You need cash? I'll give you everything I've got. Place to stay? We'll work that out. So tell me, how can I serve you?

While waiting for a response he accepted a marijuana pipe being passed around by the other homeless around him. This left Mike questioning.

What do you do when a good tree bears bad fruit or a bad tree bears good fruit? Look harder.
What's your definition of a Christian? Is it broad enough to encompass the drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and broken people of the world? Jesus said that he came to heal the sick. Drug addicts are messed up just the same as liars are messed up, just the same as all humans are messed up. We all need Jesus. we all struggle with personal ways in which sin plays itself out in our lives.
What's worse? To not do dope or to not love your brother? Why do we kick drug users out of the church while quietly ignoring those who aren't dealing with other, equally destructive sins? Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing drug addict but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer?

Tough questions. The same ones could be asked regarding homosexuals or gossips or any number of other "taboo" or "acceptable" sins. We're all sinners separated from God and redeemed by His son. We all struggle daily with our own demons. Of course, some sin have worse consequences than others and some are less culturally acceptable, but they all have the same eternal effect--and they are all forgivable. . . . . Things to think about.

That's a sampling of what I've been reading over break; well, that and an Introduction to Wave Phenomena and a book on Photonics, but we won't talk about those.

When you pray, pray like this

2006-12-24T12:22:00.000-05:00

Dear Father always near us,
may your name be treasured and loved,
may your rule be completed in us—
may your will be done here on earth
in just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
and forgive us our sins and impositions on you
as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
but deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one in charge,
and you have all the power,
and the glory too is all yours—forever—
which is just the way we want it!

The Little Mermaid (a parable)

2006-11-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

This is from Steven James' book Story: recapture the mystery:

In Has Christian Andersen's original tale of "The Little Mermaid" (not the Disney version), a beautiful young mermaid has fallen in love with a human prince. The mermaid is a glorious singer beneath the sea, but she gives up her voice to be able to become human and love the prince. The deal is, if she can woo him, then she can remain human and receive an eternal soul. But if he marries another woman, the little mermaid will turn into sea foam, the fate of all mermaids.

Well, despite all her devotion to him, the prince's heart remains enamored with a different woman, a princess whom he believes rescued him from a shipwreck. However, the little mermaid was really the one who had saved him. She wants desperately to tell him that she was his savior and that she loves him, but she has no voice above the sea, no words he can hear.

In the end, all three are sailing back to the prince's palace for his wedding to the other woman. The little mermaid is about to turn back into sea foam when her sisters swim to the water's surface and offer her a knife and a choice: if she will take the prince's life, she need not give up her own. The magic can be reversed; she can become a mermaid again if only she will kill the prince. One of them must die before daybreak.

Everyone else is asleep on the boat. Silently the little mermaid approaches the prince and finds him in the arms of the other woman. As Hans Christian Andersen writes,

The knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. She cast one more lingering, half-fainting glance at the prince, and then threw herself from the ship into the sea, and thought her body was dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves, and his warm rays fell on the cold foam of the little mermaid.¹

The prince knew nothing of her sacrifice, nothing of her love. He didn't know she had rescued him, giver up her beautiful voice to become like him, and then exchanged her life for his. All this went on while he pursued another woman. She sacrificed all for her prince because she loved him, yet he never returned her love.

When the gospel is told like that, I can understand it.

God's love didn't happen in a courtroom but on a cross where Jesus threw himself from the ship and into the sea. The story I see woven all throughtout Scripture is a tale of passion and sacrifice--not a deal brokered between a lawyer and a judge. It was a gift given from a lover to his beloved: in one final act of sacrificial love, he offers his life so that she might live.

We have a God who would let himself be nailed to a cross for his beloved. And there he would dare to die for her. For us.

Hold onto this moment. See him hanging there, between heaven and earth. Between God and humanity. See him dying there on Skull Hill. Don't turn away. Easter will never make sense without this moment.²

----------
1. Hans Christian Andersen, The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, ed. Lilly Owens.
2. Stephen James, Story: recapture the mystery.

God Will Accomplish His Purposes (regardless of who's in office)

2006-11-08T01:21:00.000-05:00

I've really never been one to follow politics. I often question whether I should or not, but even when I try to keep track of what's happening I never seem to sustain much interest. Perhaps it's due to my being too busy or self-absorbed. Perhaps it's because I unfortunately tend to only think about those things which I personally see and deal with daily. Maybe I can blame it on growing up in a house where politics were never really discussed or because I grew up in Texas where there is never really any question about which party will dominate. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that honestly I usually just don't seem to care.*

I do, however, wrestle about what a Christian's proper relation to government is. On one hand we're told to submit to the ruling authorities since they are instituted by God (Paul and Peter discuss this in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13-17). But on the other hand we're living in a very different political climate than they were--in a democracy we're each (arguably) an important part in deciding on who our rulers are or becomeing those rulers ourselves. Is simply obeying the established laws all that I'm required to do in "honoring the king" or do I take a more active stance since I'm somehow responsible for the creation or modification of those laws? I think these are important questions. I wish I had good answers to them. Complete separation is tempting, but to completely concede this nation to forces that are bad or perhaps even evil hardly seems like a proper position for a warrior of God. And from what I can tell politics seems to completely consume people who truly get involved; that doesn't seem like a good way for a Christian to live either. . . . . and the questions and contradictions continue

At the very least I do think it's appropriate for me to visit the ballot box when opportunity arises. Jen and I are now official Massachusetts residents, and our vote today definitely was part of the minority. At any rate, afterward Jen commented, "It felt good to vote." I have to agree.

I just checked on the voting results: as of 2am most everything is finalized and it looks like a sweeping victory for the democratic party both locally and nationally. In Massachusetts we elected democrats for governor (surprisingly it's the first time in 16 years) and for just about everything else. The republicans lost control of the house and it looks like they might lose the senate as well. I know many Christians who would equate Christianity with the republican party.** It would be easy for them to despair.

However it's important to remember that the political stage should never be our primary focus. Looking through history and the scriptures we see that nations will rise and fall; evil will appear to win for a time and then good will miraculously appear to regain control. It cycles. It undulates. It always has and we shouldn't be supprised that it happens in America also. But throughout the good and the bad we must remember that God is constant, active, and concerned. But perhaps He's concerned about nations only insofar as they will effect the lives and decisions of individuals--how those individuals will relate to Him. If a surge of evil (i.e. the Babylonians destroying Judah ca. 600BC) results in some people truly meeting and knowing God (that ever present remnant God's always talking about in the OT), then perhaps the evil isn't really in control after all. God is ALWAYS in control. He's present and involved whether it's on the national political stage or with you at work tomorrow. Don't forget that.

--------------------
* Unless I'm regularly around politically savvy people. For instance, this summer while I was working at Quincy College Bookstore one of my coworkers, Jay, would often ask me about my views on a myriad of topics. Since he is well informed politically it only makes since that a few of these would be political. Like one day we were discussing the last presidential election when he asked me "How can a follower of Jesus vote for evil?" (This was in response to a statement I made about how neither candidate was even close to ideal, therefore the decision had to come down to choosing the lesser-of-two evils.) I think it's a good and valid question. If any of you happen to have an answer to the question then I'd love to hear it. But, back on topic (I think it's funny that I got on a tangent in a footnote which is inherently tangential to the main topic itself--go figure), while I was around Jay daily I found myself listening to the news and keeping up with world and national events much better--I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to be able to have meaningful conversations with him. And it was fun. Perhaps I just need proper motivation.

** I also know a few people who would equate Christianity with the democratic party. I think its sad and amusing how we humans tend to superimpose the things we're most concerned about on top of our understanding of God and Jesus. It seems to me that God wouldn't agree with the conservative position that unborn children should be allowed to live AND the liberal position that people should and do have the free will to make their own decisions regarding their own lives. We're doing a disservice to our Creator when we try to fit him within political confines. Both parties have stands that resemble the heart of God, and both parties also have a lot of scnadal and corruption too. It's never an easy choice.

Self-Love?

2006-10-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

For a while now one of my friends--Steve from Harvestboston.net--has been thinking and writing about this concept of self-love (check it out here and here). He brings up a good question: if the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves then do we need to better understand what it means to love ourselves? I think we do. Perhaps the best thing I can do to love myself is to observe Sabbath. In taking some time out of my week having fun, relaxing, worshiping, reading, being with God and Jennie and friends, or by spending time doing whatever else would truly be rest I will better experience God as present and real. And really, who am I to think that without God's help and presence that I could truly help or bless anyone else? All blessings originate from Him.

I was reading through C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters this morning and found the following quote. (If you're unfamiliar with the premice of the Screwtape Letters then please click here first.)

To anticipate the Enemy’s [God’s] strategy, we must consider His aims. The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbour’s talents - or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall. He wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognise all creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things. He wants to kill their animal self-love as soon as possible; but it is His long-term policy, I fear, to restore to them a new kind of self-love–-a charity and gratitude for all selves, including their own; when they have really learned to love their neighbours as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as their neighbours. For we must never forget what is the most repellent and inexplicable trait in our enemy; he really loves the hairless bipeds He has created and always gives back to them with His right hand what He has taken away with His left.

–Screwtape (C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, letter 14, pp 71f)

For the Computer Nerds

2006-10-10T14:32:00.000-04:00

Several months ago Jen and I purchased a new television. I also convinced my lovely wife that she'd appreciate my having a TV tuner card for my computer. (I convinced her that we would no longer need a VCR and could therefore save a bit of space during the move.) I encountered a problem though, I couldn't get the video signal from my computer to the television. Over the past month or so I've tried everything I could think of without success. But a couple nights ago it occurred to me that I haven't updated my video card drivers for quite some time. I updated and within a half hour I had everything running like I had hoped it would for so long. I was so proud of myself for finally getting it to work.

The next day I was cleaning up and it occurred to me that I really wasn't personally responsible for most of the work that made my system work. Most of the credit should really go to the programmers and computer engineers who have spent years of their lives to develop the products and software. All I did was purchase, put together, download, and install--all comparatively small tasks. However, without my having participated in the process my computer and television would still have significant communication issues. So, even though I didn't do much I still had to do something.

Isn't that like spiritual growth? All we're really responsible for is trusting, accepting, and obeying God--He's done all the real work. I think the temptation is to focus on one extreme to the exclusion of the other. For instance, Calvinism insits that God determines everything and I have not input at all whereas Arminianism focuses on my free will to either accept or reject God almost to the exclulsion of God's having any part of it. I'd claim that neither (and both) are correct. God's responsible for almost everything concerning my salvation--He's created the world and me, He's revealed who He is and what He wants, He humiliated Himself and completely rejected His rightful dignity as God and became human, He chose to sacrifice Himself just so that it'd be possible for me to be near Him. So much. However, He's left me the final decision. I can either reach out my hand or lift a finger and truly touch Him or I can turn around and ignore His very real and near presence. It's up to me. I don't have to do much, but I do have to do something. And everyday I try to consciously make that decision to reach out to God and invite Him to join me in my life as I try to join Him in His. And I think that that--practicing the presence of God--is spiritual growth.

This and That

2006-09-29T23:55:00.000-04:00

How easily time can disappear. I know that my schedule seems to stay completely packed, and it seems that I'm not alone. Americans in general hardly take any time out for rest, relaxation, family, community, long meals, volunteering, recreation, or any of hundreds of other ways to spend their time outside of work. This urgently needs to change. So much of culture is defined by how time is spent and what is deemed valuable. In this country time is spent working and the dollar is esteemed as the only standard of value. It's no wonder we're losing much of our identity as a nation and, even more regrettably, as God's ambassadors on earth.

Take Back Your Time is an organization that I stumbled upon tonight. Perhaps some of their efforts and media attention will pay off. At any rate I think I desperately need to try harder to not get swallowed by school.

----------------------------

On a quick and unrelated note, Marvin and Judith Crowson from Harding visited our team this past weekend. Marvin has been a mentor to our team and the instigator of much of the domestic church planting efforts coming out of Harding. Outreach America is his organization on campus.

We spend a very short weekend going through a ton of useful stuff, but most of our time was spent in rediscovering who we are as a team, verbalizing what is and isn't working for us up here, and trying to discover solutions. Spending time refocusing was invaluable, especially since much of the newness of having moved here has worn off during the three months since we moved.

As always, notes and prayers from those we love are indescribably helpful. Thank you for letting us know that you care about what we're here to do.

----------------------------

One last thing before I go to sleep: My mom flew up this past Wednesday to spend some time with us, and she'll be around until Tuesday. Unfortunately I had class all day Thursday and Jen had to work, so I dropped mom off in downtown Boston to let her explore. Somehow she hooked up with a couple of ladies from Australia. It sounds like the three of them had fun.

Today (and most of the past week) I spent trying to get our cars (yes, both of them) back into drivable condition. When I say that I did that what I really mean is that I took them to people who undoubtedly know worlds more about cars than I do (it wouldn't take a lot of knowledge to qualify). It's taken time at any rate to deal with Jen's car (new battery, replacement alternator and ac belts, a flat tire--twice--resulting in a new full set of tires, and an oil change) and mine (one of my brake pads somehow disintegrated and it sure sounds like we've been destroying the rotor while continuing to use the car while Jen's was unavailable). But as of today Jen's car should be good to go and mine is at the shop. All that to say that we didn't get much done or seen today, or last Wednesday, or the Friday before that, or the Wednesday before that.

I'm very glad that we have a working car now because tomorrow we're going apple picking in Stow, MA. The Honey-Pot Hill Orchards is a farm about an hour away that Jen's boss highly recommended for this favorite New England fall family activity. So by tomorrow night I imagine that we will have obtained a couple pumpkins and a 13lb bag of personally picked apples, enjoyed a hay ride through the beautiful countryside as it's changing colors, and have gotten ourselves completely lost in a hedge maze. I know you wish you were here.

Sunday plans include a Duck Tour. And Monday I'll take mom up to see Tufts. At some point I might even try to make a dent in my homework--or then again . . . maybe not.

A Possible Definition of Education

2006-09-17T09:46:00.000-04:00

The continual progression and realization of one's ignorance concerning the true nature of reality.

And So It Begins (again)

2006-09-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was the first day of class at Tufts, and an exhausting day it was. Four two hour Biomedical Engineering (BME) classes (from noon to 8pm) and as many syllabi later I still haven't decided what classes to take this term. Generally schools consider three grad classes as full time, and two of my classes have been predetermined for me (Analytical Tools for BME and Intro to BME). So my question is, do I take the other class that is requited for the PhD students (I'm just masters) or do I take something else. Here are my options:

BME – 0162 Molecular Biotechnology (the one the PhD students have to take)
BME – 0100 Design of Medical Instrumentation
BME – 0121 Engineering Challenges in Physiology I

Any of those sound like they'd be interesting? I think they all sound good, so I'm just going to the first few classes of each to decide based on professor/assignment/and schedule.

I think I'll let you know a little about the BME program here:

There are about 40-50 grad students with ~10 of those being new this year (there is an undergrad program also)
The faculty seems great, as do the other students
We students have a wide variety of background (from purely biology to purely engineering, some with a masters already, some already working for engineering companies). I'm excited by this. Since BME is such an interdisciplinary field no one coming in (or perhaps ever) feels like they know everything they should. So I foresee quite a bit of (perhaps forced) interdependence and cooperation. We'll have to help each other along--that can only be good. Right?
Research here is segmented into 2 areas: Tissue engineering and instrumentation/optics. I'll be more on the optics side (especially since I haven't had any real biology since high school), but there seems to be a good amount of cross over between the two. I couldn't ask for more appealing research areas as far as I'm concerned.
We have a department retreat at Tufts Loj in New Hampshire this weekend--I'm very excited.

Well, I need to go grab some lunch before my next class. I'll try to update a little more regularly, but with grad school having started I make no promises. Shalom.

An Important Conversation

2006-08-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

If you find yourself with some free time I'd recommend you surf on over to HarvestBoston.net

Steve is a great thinker--I've yet to find anything he's said that I fundamentally disagree with.

Over the past few days there's been a conversation on his blog with an agnostic questioner. I've yet to read the whole conversation, but I know we all should take to time to go through it. I'm going to read it today during my 1.5 hour commute (today is graduate orientation at Tufts).

What do you agree with/disagree with? I'd love to talk.

We're Not Alone

2006-08-28T17:12:00.000-04:00

How encouraging to not have the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm all the time tempted to think that God and/or the world truly needs me in order to function. Would that be called an Atlas complex? God has always claimed personal responsibility for the ultimate outcome of the world. Jesus promises that he will personally build his church. Is it not the height of arrogance for me to think that without me he won't be able to do it. Like Mordici told Esther:

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"¹

All I have to do is open my eyes and look around me to see that God is not neglecting Boston. God has something big planed here and I'm privileged to be a small part of it. Almost every week we find out about another group, couple, team, or traditional church that is already here and doing good for God. I'll tell you about a few, but as I discover them I will add their website links to my blog sidebar. ----->

Steve and Crissy are an amazing couple from ACU. Thanks to a mutual friend in Texas Steve and I started talking almost 2 years ago. It didn't take long before we discovered we have practically the same vision for Boston. They moved to Boston proper about 3 weeks before our caravan arrived in Quincy (just south of Boston). I'm eager to see what God does with this couple--it will be truly amazing.

Oasis is a house church that meets in a suburb just north of Boston. Many from our team worship with them regularly. They are part of a larger organization called the CCPC--the Collegiate Church Planting Community. Oasis' leader, Brent, and I have really become good friends. On a side note, he and his wife are expecting a new baby later this week, so I'm sure prayers would be coveted.

On Sunday (27th) four of us (Jen, Plotts, me) visited a very neat Presbyterian Church that's close by. I wish I could tell you more about it, but I'm running late for work. Here it is quick: wonderful people, great worship, very thoughtful sermon, extremely welcoming, established young married small group ministry that has already multiplied, outreach focused--the local community is this years primary focus. There's much more. I'm excited to get involved with this church to see what they're doing and what has and hasn't worked in Quincy for them. I think we'll learn quite a bit.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed by responsibilities and pressures, remember that you are important², but the world existed before you and will likely continue after you. God is eager to use you as a tool, but he doesn't want you to break. Take some time and rediscover Sabbath--God made us and knows how we operate best (with rest).

You are very important, but you're not God. I find that thought comforting.

_____________________
1. Esther 4:14 NIV
2. Never doubt your importance either. The infinite creator of all that is personally emptied himself of his glory in order to make it possible for you to coexist eternally with him. Now that's value.

How Would You Change the World?

2006-08-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

I was talking with Jay (my coworker at the college bookstore) a few days ago when I asked him how he'd go about enlightening people if he had the ability to view time like we do the other dimensions.

We use dimensions to locate, i.e. on earth we use latitude, longitude, and elevation to pinpoint any specific place on our globe. Time locates as well. If you want to locate a person or object then the three spatial diminutions are inadequate. At 2 this morning I was located in a very different place then I was at 2am 6 months ago. I think you get the picture.

Time is commonly understood as the forth dimension, but perhaps it would be better to think of it as a half dimension since we we are limited to one direction at a constant speed. With the other three dimensions we can move around at will--changing direction and velocity whenever we want to--but time doesn't allow us that luxury.

Back to the question I asked Jay, "What would you do if you had a full view of time? How would you enlighten people?"

"I'd ride bikes," he said.

Bikes . . . I like it. The answer supprised me, but perhaps it's a good plan. It's hard to not get involved with the people you're riding bikes with; usually you all share a common goal. Community forms. Bike riding people can be led and encouraged, but they can't be forced to follow. It's a good way to do life together.

He told me about a group that rides bikes for social change in Boston. Unfortunately I can't remember the name or I'd link to them, but I'll try to remember to ask him.

In the meantime I think I'll go for a ride.

Jobs and Houses

2006-08-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

As much as I like talking about theory and theology I know some of you would far prefer to hear about what's gone on since we arrived up here. This is for you.

Bob from 3AApartments.com found us and the Plotts apartments before we even left the south. He found gems. We're the entire second floor of the pictured house (if you click on the picture you can see other views of our place inside and out). A interesting turn of events was that after both our families agreed to the places Bob found for us (with no more than words and pictures), Bob offered Meghan a part time job. Truly a blessing.

Jennie's been working at Vistacare Hospice. Next week she'll start out on her own with her own set of patients to care for. Her heart is amazing--such love and caring for people. Watching her interact with people truly helps me understand the depths of God's love better. I'm so proud of her.

Jen's job was also a Godsend. At the interview (which her manager had completely forgotten about) she was offered the job on the spot. She had never really enjoyed working at the hospital (especially not the night schedule), but last week her boss offered her a day off and she didn't even take advantage of it. I love seeing her happy.

I'm working a great temp job at Quincy College Bookstore. They needed help for the back to school rush and somehow had my resume laying around. It's a small place with only 4 full time employees (that's including the two managers) and really feels like a family. Jay, one of the employees there, is a very smart and enjoyable liberal. We have hours long conversations each day (today included dimensionality, black matter, string theory . . . .). He definitely keeps me thinking and questioning--two of my favorite things.

In a couple weeks I'll be starting the Master's program for Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. For those who have been asking, here's a definition for bioengineering. I've sure enjoyed this past year without serious classes, but I suppose I can survive a couple more years. I'll let you know how it goes.

In Pursuit of a Jewish Worldview

2006-08-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been occasionally seeing /hearing¹/reading²/thinking about how the pre-Jesus Jews understood their world. I think they had it down much better than we do with our Hellenized Christianity. Take for instance God's involvement in our world: Hellenistic Christianity tends toward Gnosticism (a complete division of that which is spiritual and thereby inherently good from that which is physical and thereby inherently evil). The Hebraic view says that God is active and involved in every detail of this world and our lives.

If we are to be a truly biblical people then we must affirm that God is here with us and has always been. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty in the horrors of human freedom that is called history.³

Or notice their insatiable love for life (L'chaim--"to life!") and ability to endure innumerable and indescribable hardships and still thrive.

The real trigger--what really got me thinking today--is that I think I finally experienced something I thought I understood.

Sabbath.
Yesterday.

A true day of rest. A day where I truly enjoyed God, people, and myself. Time to worship; time to pray; time to read and study and discuss; time to be still, silent, meditative; time to exist in a way I never have before--in a way I'm certain God wants me to experience regularly.

God spoke to Moses: "Tell the Israelites, 'Above all, keep my Sabbaths, the sign between me and you, generation after generation, to keep the knowledge alive that I am the God who makes you holy. Keep the Sabbath; it's holy to you. Whoever profanes it will most certainly be put to death. Whoever works on it will be excommunicated from the people. There are six days for work but the seventh day is Sabbath, pure rest, holy to God. Anyone who works on the Sabbath will most certainly be put to death. The Israelites will keep the Sabbath, observe Sabbath-keeping down through the generations, as a standing covenant. It's a fixed sign between me and the Israelites. Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath.'"⁴

It seems that perhaps God is more serious about us taking a break than we are. It also seems logical to me that we should do what He says. If for no other reason than He created us and knows what we need to do to truly thrive. It's no wonder the Pharisees took Shabbat extremely seriously--"Whoever profanes it will most certainly be put to death" is strong language.

I suppose that begs the question, "what, exactly, profanes the Sabbath?" Would not attending a church service on Sunday do that? I hope not--we didn't attend one.

We actually stayed home, slept in, cleaned up, had breakfast, played nerts, read and discussed God Is Closer Thank You Think⁵ together, ate lunch together, spent some time in worship then alone with God. Afterword we went up to Medford to the Oasis house church to enjoy their company and discuss spiritual gifts and personality (DiSC) profiles (if you know me, then you know I enjoyed that). We then went on to the Plott's (if you don't know them then you're missing out--fun people!) for some good conversation, bagels, and Pride and Prejudice. Home and bed rounded out the day.

Now I don't intend to frequently tell you every detail of my day (how boring would that get?), but this once I think it's appropriate. In a way that I can't describe I feel more energized and able to engage the world around me. I feel fully present in each moment. I feel like God is actually walking beside me and nudging me this way or that. I want more of this.

Perhaps I even experienced a little bit more of what church--true church--is.

_____________________
1. I had the privilege of attending Rob Bell's Everything Is Spiritual tour a few weeks ago. I do appreciate the way Rob interprets and discusses ancient and not-so-ancient thoughts. He's hit on how to connect with this postmodern generation.
2. The Shaping of Things to Come by by Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch (specifically chapter 7); Velvet Elvis & NOOMA by Rob Bell; and Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg have all played a part in this . They are also all resources I highly recommend. You'll find I will probably highly recommend quite a few books in this blog.
3. The Shaping of Things to Come. p. 123
4. God telling Moses one more way for his people to be culturally distinct from the surrounding nations. Exodus 31:12-17 MSG
5. Another excellent book. This one by John Ortberg. "Read anything of his you can get your hands on," I was once told by my mentor at the time.

Thoughts On Insomnia

2006-08-19T05:49:00.000-04:00

It's early, 5:45, and I've been up since about 1:00. I can't sleep and the sun is starting to rise. I've never really had a problem with insomnia before, but I'm glad I've experienced it. I can see why it's such a predicament for people. I must say I've enjoyed it though--but I am ready to sleep now. So here I sit with some tea1 and my thoughts. "Perhaps writing them out will help," I thought, so here I am. I'd appreciate some feedback on what I'm about to say though (if I say crazy things then I blame sleep deprivation).

Over the last few hours my mind has had a chance to roam without all the normal distractions--like light. Now that I again have light I see that the notes I made aren't going to do me much good. Moving on.

Here's my question: "On the New Earth will we sleep?"
I don't think we will.

Here's why:

On the new earth there will no longer be night. With the time for sleep removed it seems that sleep might go along with it. [Revelation 21:25, Revelation 22:5]
Sleep seems to be a shadow (perhaps an echo) of death, and thereby a result of the fall. Genesis 2 seems to imply that perhaps Adam hadn't slept until "the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep." [if you'd like to read it yourself]
While we sleep we dream. Dreams (both the fun and the horrifying) are constructions of our mind of alternate reality. Once we've entered into true reality then there will be no reason for our minds to construct other options. (Don't read that I think imagination will be abolished along with sleep--imagination is one of the greatest gifts God has given us and I seem no reason we won't continue to use it in the world to come.)
Sleep is a non-productive time. Nothing is accomplished either for good or ill aside from allowing our bodies to rest and recuperate (regenerate?). With death and decay no longer around will we need whatever happens while we sleep2? We'll be working on the new earth and I believe we'll experience joy beyond what is available in this world while doing it and praising God. Sleep would seem like a curse if it removed us from that. [Revelation 22:3-5 again--we "will serve him" and "we will reign"]

What do you think?

Well, the sun is up and the birds are singing. I think I'm going to have a hard time making it through today. I think a nap will be in order.

________________________

1. I've never really made tea for myself before. I did enjoy tea time while I was at the villa in Florence a couple years ago. I wanted a warm drink (and I don't drink coffee) so I thought I'd try some of Jennie's tea. I made it too strong. Perhaps I'll get it next time.

2. It seems we still don't know.

Second Anniversary

2006-08-16T14:20:00.000-04:00

Last week Jen and I celebrated our second anniversary (7 Aug). On 5 Aug. we went down to Cape Cod and drove along scenic highway 6A up to the tip (Provincetown). There we boarded the Dolphin VII whale watching ship. It was an amazing time. Three different humpbacks breached within sight of the ship. Evidently this is a very rare activity since it takes a lot of energy to propel a 50 ton animal completely out of the water. The humpbacks migrate up here to eat during the summer and then spend the winter down in the Caribbean to mate, but the downside to spending the summer in such a nice tropical place is that there's no food for them to eat, hence the normal lack of breaching. [Note, I unfortunately didn't capture a single picture of a breach so the top side photo isn't mine.] It was a great 3+ hour trip to sea and a great Saturday anniversary activity.

This past Sunday we spent the afternoon at Revere Beach. A gorgeous day. We both got quite a bit of sun but nothing too bad. We both just sat on the beach, listened to the waves, got our feet wet, read, and talked. I think that qualifies as a productive afternoon, don't you?

Overall it was a very nice anniversary week.

To Start a Blog

2006-08-16T13:21:00.000-04:00

It seems about time that I started to blog. With people asking me what's happening in my life (and those of the rest of the team) , it seams that a blog is ideal. So here I am joining the rest of the ever-expanding world of blogging. I hope that you're appetite for what's going on in my life is satisfied. Just let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to fill you in.