GroshLink

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame boasts "Most museums show you history, but only one takes you to the future." Looks like it is well worth the visit. Anyone been there?

We rejoice in your continued prayers! God hears and acts as we've seen some tracking w/her eye, some mov't of her eye, and more range of motion of her head. This cooresponds to the MRI finding that the coverage of bleeding in her brain has partially receded. She's also begun grabbing toys in addition to spending long periods of time quietly reaching for and/or chatting w/her reflection in the mirror and her various little friends. Eden and Hayley love to be w/her on the floor or in the bouncer chair during these times. Their care for baby Eden and help w/chores around the house brings us much joy.

 (More)

For all of you heading off to college or bouncing back, here's a practical one for you. Any other concerns, tips, or memories :-( to throw into the mix?

I found Dr. Rosenfield's May 22, 2005 Parade Piece quite insightful on our current health-care climate and the writing of a living will. As a Dentist's son who grew-up as part of & served as an assistant in an office where hospitality and listening are keys to excellent patient care/development/progress, I couldn't agree more w/the below quote. Even w/the complicated nature of care which we've received over the past several years for the various members of our family, a high emphasis has been placed on the relationship w/our health care professionals. There is a trust relationship necessary for familial, invasive, and long-term care:

 (More)

Read about this newsmaker visiting Pittsburgh who came to see empowering the family as key to church health and renewal of the urban community. I especially appreciate Rev. Alyn Waller's vision of bringing everyone back together:

"In order to strengthen families, churches need to get back to traditional biblical teachings about the importance of family and its roles. Family ministry needs to have language that is affirming, and there needs to be intergenerational fellowship. In the past, we've put the men upstairs, the women downstairs and the children outside. We need to come back together."

May all of our local congregations have such a vision and may our transforming vision link arms w/the likes of Waller, reaching across ethnic, class, educational, and generational differences.

Although raised w/stock car racing as must see TV, so many other things have garnered my attention. But this Sunday, our family came in and out of watching the race. The girls (Theresa, Ellen, and Hayley) were quite excited to see Donica Patrick come out of a close call, then crawl back up to the lead. Career aspirations haven't turned to Indy racing as Ellen would like to be Daddy's basketball cheerleader . . . I'm holding off professional play until she's 'of age' :-) Although she was able to cheer me on for victory at the Heinz School Tournament several months ago. As for Hayley, she'd like to be a veterinarian, so she can help animals.

For more on the race and the impact of Donica's strong showing visit NPR

or

the NY Times.

Let me know if you saw all or parts of the race and your thoughts on whether or not Donica's performance has something to say about the role of women in society.

A friend recommended a thread on "things to think about" . . . any suggestions? Send ideas and I'll draw them together for posts and some further conversation. Let's get at it :-)

A friend recommended a thread on "burnout and the curse of perfectionism." Thought I'd just post it up and solicit your thoughts on the topic. I'll share some in the coming week.

PS. I haven't gotten to it yet but IVP recently published Perfecting Ourselves to Death by Richard Winter, a psychiatrist, is professor of practical theology at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Would love to hear from those who have read this piece. I'm thinking about using this piece for the grad discussion groups in the fall.

Just received this from IVCF at Harvard. Please keep this in your prayers, take action, and pass along to others. Note to GCF-ers, get in touch w/me about this. I'll bring info. to our activies.

 (More)

The President's Stem Cell Theology

"His actions are based on strong religious beliefs on the part of some conservative Christians, and presumably the president himself. Such convictions deserve respect, but it is wrong to impose them on this pluralistic nation . . . The president's policy is based on the belief that all embryos, even the days-old, microscopic form used to derive stem cells in a laboratory dish, should be treated as emerging human life and protected from harm. This seems an extreme way to view tiny laboratory entities that are no larger than the period at the end of this sentence and are routinely flushed from the body by Mother Nature when created naturally. "

 (More)

Just received this from the Bowlings, GCF alum. Please be in prayer for them & their little ones.

"Five weeks ahead of schedule, we'd like to annouce the arrival of Andrew Samuel Bowling and Brandon Nathaniel Bowling. The eager boys were born around noon on Sunday, May 22. Shayna's doing very well and was discharged on Monday. The boys are also healthy for being early, but will be spending some time in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Andrew came in at 4lbs 4ozs, 18.5in long, and Brandon was 5lbs 1oz, 19.5in. They are both breathing unassisted and starting to take
some food via a tube.

Now for what you've been waiting for... You can find pictures of our
little guys at . . .

http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~bowling/personal/twins

This link will also contain updates about their progress."

To add on, I just received

1. info. on anti-genocide in darfur efforts of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) students at Harvard and other campuses

"especially helpful is the 6-page packet that Adrian Tam of the Harvard IVCF compiled . . . it contains information that can be sent to pastors who are willing to have their churches help . . . link to packet "

2. A good report on informal conversations at the first ever "ivy league faith and action" conference at Princeton, sponsored by the Christian Union . . . at which "about 450 ivy league undergrads and alums were there . . ."

3. NPR is also on the story

Has anyone read Teaching as Believing: Faith in the University? A friend just sent the link my direction and its sitting on my shelf waiting for me. Would love to have your thoughts on the piece. I'm in the process of editing some higher ed book reviews and papers for posting . . . check back in a few days.

A special thank-you to Kate for pointing out this frontpage NY Times Article: Class Matters: On a Christian Mission to the Top. (More)

Have to give John Williams his due for his continuing work w/the Stars Wars Score. Emotions of 'Sith,' Carried by Score.

Hayley and Ellen play the Episode IV CD regularly, thank-you to Toby for the gift!

Relatedly, they were pumped to glimpse a piece of the final battle scene of Attack of Clones last night. Now they're more adament about seeing the prequels. I've tried to stick to the canon of IV, V, VI, but they may over time wear me down for at least I and II. Maybe Peter and I can apprentice them w/a running sci-fi theatre commentary!

No the Groshes have not once again added to their number, but GCF alum Mike and Shayna welcomed twins today:

Andrew Samuel (4"4', 18.5) & Brandon Nathaniel 5"1', 19.5). They were born at 33 weeks and are breathing on their own. A perfect pair for Hayley and Ellen :-) Congrats!

Check out: The Power of the Mustard Seed: Why strict churches are strong

Currently, I'm considering Rodney Stark's The One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism (just finished) and For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery (just started) with a similar perspective. Good to know that God is real and the power of the mustard seed doesn't need to be explained only by sociological/historical insights!

*updated post*

That's right book reviews and cultural conversations are coming soon to our neighborhood. The initial project is posting your top 2-3 books for engaging 'the real world' of following Christ and a brief statement as to why (no more than 2 sentences). These books, alongside the Word of God, are ones that 'make you who you are today.' I would include,

1. J.I. Packer's Knowing God enabled me to 'behold God' and step into His mission. Alongside N.T. Wright's concept of the Biblical Story, this has provided an overarching sense of theological direction.

2. Leslie Newbigin's The Gospel in a Pluralist Society opened up to me the re-contextualization of the Word of God in post-Christendom.

3. Jerry Sittser's A Grace Disguised provided language for our family to draw close to God and the People of God during our loss of Elise Faith at 22 weeks. The piece continues to serve as a helpful framework as we've faced a variety of challenges including the irratic nature of my health, baby Eden's complications, and the intensity of life lived on this earth.

 (More)

"Heroic virtue does not mean that the saint performs a type of gymnastics of holiness, something that normal people do not dare to do. It means rather that in the life of a person God's presence is revealed -- something man could not do by himself and through himself. Perhaps in the final analysis we are rather dealing with a question of terminology, because the adjective heroic has been badly interpreted. Heroic virtue properly speaking does not mean that one has done great things by oneself, but rather that in one's life there appear realities which the person has not done himself, because he has been transparent and ready for the work of God. Or, in other words, to be a saint is nothing other than to speak with God as a friend speaks with a friend. This is holiness.

 (More)

Leia's memories of her mother from Episode VI are difficult to rationalize w/Padme's death in childbirth leads my list of things not matching up. A few others include Obi-Wan's lack of connection w/the droids in Episode IV, the tie-in w/connecting to one's master in the spirit world is good for Obi-Wan the hermit but nothing in the originals infers such a relationship, and wouldn't you think Chewbacca's relationship w/Yoda would have come out in Episode IV-VI? I apologize for the rant.

Now that I have that off my chest. I can turn my attention to thinking about the 'magical' nature of the Force manipulated toward ends that are not absolute and should not be tied to emotion. I have to say that we find absolutes in Anakin's ruthless elimination of young Jedi trainees (contrary to Yoda's counsel to Anakin, the Sith bring death in an unnatural way or at least unnatural timing), Luke and Anakin's elimination of the Sith in Episode VI, and the comments on democracy . . . "So this is how liberty ends—to thunderous applause."

Just have to say before I go to bed that Alec was right on the dialogue. I think Theresa found the whole film comical in general . . . more tomorrow along w/plot concerns.

Does this bring back memories?

An art theft in cold blood

Music stands a scarcity at CMU no more

'Star Wars' on Track for Record Opening . . . will have to wait until 8:40pm on Thursday. For all the the die-hards, please don't break your opinions to me until around 11pm on Thursday.

Don't worry, I'll have lots to say on Friday morning as I sort through the legacy. Particularly of interest to me is

1. how Yoda knew to escape to Dagobah, so as to be protected by the 'dark side' (similar to how the Sith can be close to the Jedi Council w/o them taking notice, even denying the presence of the Sith until face to face w/Darth Maul)

2. how Organa escapes w/Amidala and Leia in his care and how Obi-Wan escapes w/Luke in his care (and why he returned him to his family on his home planet) . . . w/o Anakin suspecting that there was the reasonable chance that he may have had offspring or visitng his family in his new role

3. if the new episode's dialogue saves us from the negative conclusions of Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan in Episodes IV-VI) 28 years ago OR if the technical mastery overcomes its certain shortcomings.

Well that's enough for now . . .

Some tracking occurred w/Eden's eye this afternoon around 3pm. In particular, when she had her 'good eye' covered, we even saw a little white between the edge of the eye lid and the iris! More tomorrow . . . continue to pray for God's healing hand to touch Eden. To Him be all the glory!

In brief we long for the opportunity be more richly connected with you in our shared life in Christ. This involves keeping up-to-date, taking time to chat, share some journals/reflections that testify to the power of God in our walk over the past several years, posting some book/article reviews of interest, and give no-nonesense critique of popular culture phenonmenas such as Star Wars . . . there's probably more to it, but time to head to bed after a busy day!