GroshLink

A brief update is that our doctors came back from their conference receiving advise to hold off on the biopsy as the risk, at this time, outweighs the potential diagnostic value. We are in the process of scheduling an MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy). We are sharing the most recent MRI w/other leading pediatric neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, and radiologists to garner their opinions. Continue to pray for insight regarding a proper diagnosis before moving ahead w/additonal treatment plans.

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The conclusion of the NY Times' Magazine section article Getting Religion caught my attention. After crying ourselves to sleep last night in prayer, the Father has given us the grace to open our eyes with faith this morning. As children of God who rest upon His Word and walk in His Presence with the people of God across time, space, and creation, we accept and embrace living in faith today and waiting for the grace for tomorrow. Our prayer is that we will look around and find you in part of the family of God.

I thought I was out of that business, but maybe not. It took years to acquire the education I missed as a young man, an education not only in books but in a certain comportment toward myself and the world around me. Doubt, like faith, has to be learned. It is a skill. But the curious thing about skepticism is that its adherents, ancient and modern, have so often been proselytizers. In reading them, I've often wanted to ask, "Why do you care?" Their skepticism offers no good answer to that question. And I don't have one for myself. When my daughter and I discuss her budding thoughts about the cosmos and morality, or when my students come to my office inspired or baffled by a book, something quickens within me. The Greeks spoke of eros, the Christians of agape and caritas. I don't know what to call it, I just know it is there. It is a kind of care. It is directed toward others, but also, perhaps, toward that young man lying on his bed, opening the Bible for the very first time.

-- Mark Lilla is a professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. His book on modern theology and politics, The Stillborn God, will be published by Knopf next year.

Dear Friends and Family,

On Thursday, 9/15, Eden had her follow-up MRI at Children's. Later that evening her doctor called us with the results which show that the affected area in her brainstem is larger than it had been. This was quite a shocker to us and the doctors since her neurological symptoms have been improving over the summer. No one expected to see what the scan revealed.

So what do we do now? We spoke to the neurosurgeon on the phone this morning (9/16) and he gave us the details concerning the possibility of a biopsy. We're now back to where we were in March when we were uncertain as to whether the mass was a tumor or a vascular malformation. The only way to know for certain is to biopsy the mass. Because of its critical location this is a risky procedure and we don't want to proceed without as much information as we can gather. Therefore our next step is to show the scan to other leading neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, and radiologists to garner their opinions. Perhaps there is someone out there who has seen a case like this before and has some wisdom to lend. Our doctors will be attending a conference next week with other neurospecialists and they will show them the scans and come back to us with more opinions.

If we go ahead with the biopsy and it reveals that the mass is a tumor, treatment is chemotherapy. If it reveals that the mass is vascular the traditional treatment is surgery, but because of its location I don't think that's a possibility in Eden's case.

It seems like serving two masters: a career that often takes most of our time and energy reserves, and a ministry with students that is growing and needing more time.

I have had an ambivalent affair with math, physics, and computer science. They want my heart, soul, and mind. But I can't promise that. Guilt follows from my lack of total commitment to them.

Am I wrong in sensing many christians in these high maintenance areas have a growing passion for ministry alongside a waning interest in their stated occupation?

It's very difficult to serve two masters. I'd like to know how some of you are making peace with these demands without being double-minded. We have to be in the world to influence the world.

An easy out is to quit everything and run off to a seminary or a monastery, and have someone else take care of my earthly needs. But we can't walk away from these students, these restless souls looking for someone with answers. They break my heart.

--contributed by Miller Peck, Mathematics Professor Emeritus, Westminister College

W/the new academic year, the Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) has taken off. Above is a picture of some of the grad students at a Labor Day weekend picnic. The conversations about following Christ in graduate school led to the formation of an Intentional Christian Community which meets daily (Monday-Friday, 8:30-9:30am) for prayer, Bible study, conversation, seeking the Lord's direction. Please pray for the 8 or so of us who are part of this endeavor. Other opportunities to water the seeds of faith include a Wednesday discussion of Colossians Remixed at CMU, a Friday Bible study at Pitt, and a Sunday social . . . for more specifics on our work and those of sister ministries click here.

So here's the pic!

Everyone's growing up so fast. For more click here

"How cute" is all Theresa (and now Hayley who started looking over my shoulder but is now on my lap as I compose this) can say regarding Lucy. We praise God for his continued grace as she continues to heal, gain weight and grow beautiful hair. Note: previous article regarding Lucy's follow-up care.

One of our CMU alum would like to know your reaction to Survey: Two-Thirds of Evangelicals Doubt Jesus' Words Regarding Salvation Thru Him Alone which concludes:

Americans have become so focused on a very personal style of worship -- that is, forging a direct relationship with God -- that spiritual experience has begun to supplant dogma, or teaching based on the authority of the Bible.

Any thoughts? I guess my initial reaction is (i.e., not very well thought out, just trying to get this posted) . . .

At our Sunday Grad Fellowship, Roland referred to a speech by Larry Wall at a 1997 computer convention on Perl, an open-source programming language, in which he basically tells the convention that the whole basis of Perl as a programming language is his faith in Christ.

It's a provoking read as it dives into the question of how an evangelical navigates science and faith in creating organizational/intellectual culture. His perspective is different than you might expect. Would love to read your reactions/thoughts on The culture of perl

Below is this week's email from Worship Quote for the Week. I found it helpful for focus amidst all the personal and public conversation regarding Katrina. Later, I will be posting some reflections shared by our pastor under the title "Katrina & the Table" (i.e., the Lord's Table, Communion Sunday).

Katrina's destructive force has, once again, caused the world to ask important theological questions: Is there a God? If so, what is he like? How is he involved in all of the wreckage and suffering? How can we worship a God like that? I find help in today's Worship Quote, another from N. T. Wright's short book on Christian worship, For All God's Worth.

Sharing and Bearing the Pain
Worship is nothing more nor less than love on its knees before the beloved; just as mission is love on its feet to serve the beloved . . .

But this is only true if it's the true God you're worshipping. I was talking to somebody not long ago who said, You know, I used to believe in God; but then, as I grew up, I found it harder and harder to think of this old man up there in the sky, so far removed from all the pain and suffering down here in the world. And I said to him, I don't believe in that god either! The God I believe in is the god I see in the middle of the pain and the suffering down here in the world. Without Jesus, the crucified Jesus, sharing and bearing the pain and sin and suffering of the world, I don't actually know who on earth or in heaven God might be at all.

You see, if you envisage a god up there in the sky, detached from the reality of the world, any worship you offer will simply be a distant acknowledgement of majesty, like the ploughboy doffing his cap as the great nobleman rides by ignoring him. And if you go the other route, as my friend was inclined to, and say that therefore the word god can only refer to the impulse of goodness inside ourselves, then you'll find it pretty hard to sustain any real sense of worship at all. All you're left with is the ploughboy imagining himself to be a nobleman. But if Jesus is to be the lens through which you glimpse the beauty of God, you will discover what it means to worship, because you will discover what it means to be loved . . .

This was forwarded to me the other day by an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship colleague. As Theresa and I both have a biology background and a shared love for the Creator and His handiwork, we find this endeavor of interest (note: if you haven't already, we'd recommend you place Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship on your reading list):

So why am I writing to you? First, my experience talking with students at Urbana 2003 was a key factor in the decision to begin this organization. If you were at Urbana, you might remember a feeling of dismay that environment was nowhere to be found. I was representing Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies, the only organization that had anything to do with the environment in the entire place - and Au Sable is a school! I had students lined up asking me where they could find an organization that would be able to use their interest, skills and training as environmental studies majors. There simply were no such organizations at Urbana. Those conversations stayed with me, and are a big reason why I'm now the Director of Care of Creation.

So I'm not the only one interested in Dream Catchers :-) Check out the review on Urbana's site (also don't miss the transcript of Cross-Cultural Conversion, Urban 03 presentation given by Ray Aldred, Director of the First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada, Cree Nation):

As Jenkins explains, this marketplace demand for individualistic spirituality has profoundly affected Native religious life. Native religions have become much more "religious" and less ethnic. Rituals have become more abstract and esoteric, as millions upon millions of Americans have sought "pure" spirituality, accessible to tribal outsiders.

Most New Age seekers, Jenkins notes, have come from Christianity, and are seeking within native spirituality that magical something they found lacking in Christianity. Natives are thus under financial (tourist) pressure to downplay those overly other-worldly elements of their cultures, when working with non-Natives fleeing the perceived otherworldliness of Christianity. Conversely, Natives must often deemphasize the earthy, communal and moral elements of their faiths to appease non-Natives who are seeking individualistic and amoral spirituality.

A number of people have passed along quotes such as the one given below. I am seeking direction as how I might engage this issue in graduate ministry among largely a young adult population. If you have insights. Please send them my direction.

Using classic benchmarks for adulthood (including financial independence from parents, finishing school, career, marrying, parenting, etc.), 65% of males had reached "adulthood" by age 30 in 1960. In 2000, only 31% had reached that level. In 1960, 77% of women had reached adulthood. By 2000 that number had fallen to 46%. Many researchers express concern over not only the extension of adolescence, but the extension of childhood as parents remain actively involved in running the lives of their grown kids into college and beyond. (taken from "A Nation of Wimps, Psychology Today, November 2004)

Are Transitions now smoother for Kindgartners? Hayley and Ellen definately were prepared in a significant way by Miss Rhonda at Greenfield's Community Church of God Academy.

Yet, I (Tom) would not have traded growing up in the family dental office. For quite awhile I preferred this learning community over formal schooling, something I still have not completely lost. I hope Hayley and Ellen look back to their InterVarsity neighborhood with fondness, but also adjust to the formal schooling more quickly. Such was one of goals in enrolling them in preschool. The choice of a preschool informed by a shared faith in Christ was also intentional, as seek to lay a foundation for following Christ as salt and light in a complex world . . . young women giving witness to God with their whole being (mind, body, and strength) day-by-day, each step of the way.