GroshLink

For all of you parents and current/recent undergrads, all the college marketing is not a surprise. For others, it might be of interest to see how At Decision Time, Colleges Lay On Charm and how Brand U. is enough to drive a satirist to something stronger than chai latte. I need to reflect a little more on SAGES Central, the great third place of Case (Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH).

But as I meet with faculty and students at Washington and Jefferson College today, may I find the revelation and pursuit of wisdom at the heart of their life. I can think of no greater end for those involved in higher education. And its not for sale, but for the offering. May we receive the instruction of the Woman of Wisdom when she visits our colleges and universities today (and every day).

Hi All

Just wanted to update you on Eden's visit to the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor this morning. We've been monitoring the fluid in Eden's ears--the last few times she's been there she's had fluid, but no infection. B/c the fluid can affect hearing our concern has been that she's not hearing optimally out of the right ear (the left ear is the one that doesn't hear). Today she continued to have fluid and the doctor decided it's best to put tubes in her ears to drain the fluid and prevent future buildup. Again, our concern is to maintain hearing in her right ear, but he'll tube both ears. He said it's not out of the realm of possibility that she may regain some hearing in her left ear, based on how we've observed the other cranial nerves improve over the last few months. Tubing the left ear would at least rule out fluid that could interfere with hearing. It's rare that hearing would come back, but b/c we assume the mass was causing the hearing loss by impeding the auditory nerve, if the mass shrinks or goes away, it could free up the auditory nerve to function again.

The surgery takes about 5 min. but requires anesthesia (gas). It's scheduled for May 8th. After that she'll have another hearing test and hopefully we'll get her ears "squared away" before our move.

Eden continues to make new speech sounds. She'll say "mama" when asked and can say "dada" and "deedee" but not on command. A developmentalist sees her once a month to keep on eye on her progress. She comes this week for the 2nd time.

That's the scoop. Thanks for your prayers!

Theresa

A friend forward to me On Being Valued By God by Rev. Dennett Buettner, an Anglican priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, urban church planter and missionary to the city, entitled. This prayer letter reflects upon Pittsburgh's mill culture, how it was excellent at telling people that they were utterly and absolutely worthless, and how that feeds into Stillers pride. Here is an excerpt for your edification.

. . . at the heart level for many in Pittsburgh—the only way there is for us to have value and worth is vicariously. This I believe is one reason some Pittsburghers are so emphatic in their support of their sports teams. The teams become the extension of our selves, the one way we might have the opportunity to feel valuable and worthy.

The need to find value and meaning by projection and extension through our sports teams is tragic. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be proud of the Steelers' achievement, of course. But putting that achievement in a place of ultimacy or totality, where it is given the opportunity to determine our sense of worth, is a classic instance of the form of idolatry that St. Augustine described as making the merely good out to be the best.

Only God has the right—or the ability—to occupy the place of totality in our lives. The more I reflected on my friend Larry's comment [thanking a Steeler's player for making the city proud], the more I felt a deep sadness. I realized that what I heard in his offhand remark was actually a cry of the heart from a man yearning to be able to say: "I'm worth something."

To play basketball at CMU this morning, I had to squeeze through security as the streets closed down for buggy. Quite an event, imagine pushing a buggy up the hill, imagine being the little person inside! Learn more about this campus tradition and to join me as I watch it Live! Please pray for the giftted students involved in this campus function as you re-load the page you'll scroll through a number of quotes that represent the freedom of exploration and expression available at CMU (eg., CMU-TV cured me of my heterosexuality). Pray for the deeper influence of the Gospel in the structures of this campus. Looking forward to reconnecting with some of you alum as you visit today and tomorrow :-)

Update: Just saw SDC's Rage graze the hay bale in the first men's heat.

You might remember my mentioning of Care of Creation a few months ago. Some of you might be interested that their blog is on-line again, exploring the 2006 Global Climate Debate. Here's an excerpt,

We do not have to choose between plants and people. We don’t have to choose between good stewardship and prosperity. And we don’t have to choose between reducing global emissions and reducing poverty. In fact, we can make a strong case that in improving the environment for plants, we make it better for people. In pursuing stewardship, we lay the groundwork for ongoing prosperity. And we can reduce poverty and reduce emissions at the same time and with some of the same policies.

Beisner and friends are really arguing about Kyoto, and that’s fine. Could be it’s bad policy. The issue is not Kyoto. The issue is a changing climate and our response to that as stewards of God’s creation.

I'd encourage you to link over to read the quotes from from the IFSA's (InterFaith Stewardship Alliance) Bibilical Principles. I don't see a need to reproduce them one more time and they speak for themselves. Tough read after having been a Biology major at a Grove City College. Good to see Care of Creation in action.

John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople; sermon, ca. 400

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

Quote taken from Christian History & Biography's Easter Eloquence

Wow! Thanks to Marcy and Arlan, I finally got my hands on a copy of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything and had some time to read and discuss it. This fascinating piece seeks to establish the unconventional premise: if morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work . . . It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world. One of the stories I enjoyed the most was What the Bagel Man Saw: An Accidental Glimpse at Human Nature.

You should not be surprised that I agree with the value of stories, particularly those which tell how we act in relationship to what we articulate as our beliefs/understandings of the real world. Although the Story which I embrace has space for the below assertions to be true in the larger society, none-the-less followers of Christ are called (and empowered by the Holy Spirit) to live a different way. Is this true or am I filled w/wishful thinking? In Freakonomics there are individuals and communities (not to mention the authors) which overcome, but by in large our destiny is set by our family's socio-economic status and community of origin.

So yes the book describes much of modern life and human nature, but we are called to live in a manner different than this world. And it is hard as the systems which surround us are complex and directive. But God can redeem the structures and provide proper direction, even when we find ourselves one of the only uncorruptable sumo wrestlers, real estate agents, public school educators, university professors who writes books about the world in which we find ourselves

The opening of the April 11, N.Y. Times Op-Ed piece Faith-Based Medicine caught my attention,

RESPONSIBLE religious leaders will breathe a sigh of relief at the news that so-called intercessory prayer is medically ineffective. In a large and much touted scientific study, one group of patients was told that strangers would pray for them, a second group was told strangers might or might not pray for them, and a third group was not prayed for at all. The $2.4 million study found that the strangers' prayers did not help patients' recovery. The results of the study, led by Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute near Boston, came as welcome news. That may sound odd coming from an ordained minister. But if it could ever be persuasively demonstrated that such prayer "works," our religious institutions and meeting places would be degraded to a kind of commercial enterprise, like Burger King, where one expects to get what one pays for.

Toward the end of the article, the author Raymond J. Lawrence (an episcopal priest and director of pastoral care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center) asserts In my several decades as a clergyman working closely with doctors, I have never met one who prays with patients, nor one who prescribes intercessory prayer. There are other ways to express personal care and concern.

According to Raymond, if only the study would have consulted the material of who he considers the two major Christian theologians of the 20th century (Paul Tillich and Karl Barth) or The Lord's Prayer, the central prayer of Christendom, the researchers would have realized pleas for God to influence specific events in people's lives are not part of the Christian understanding of prayer. He seems to understand prayer as an expression of empathy that strengthens a caring community and brings comfort to those who are suffering.

I (Tom) would briefly like to give testimony that I greatly appreciated the prayer we received from physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals while at Mercy Hospital (a Roman Catholic institution associated with Duquesne University) when we lost Elise Faith in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit). And which we continue to receive from Westview Family Health (a broadly evangelical practice which established a urban outreach office a number of years ago) as our family walks through the issues with health that have been presented in the lives of both Eden and myself. In both of the these health practices the Presence of God is noticable and much of the work is offered up in prayer as part of wholistic medical care.

Why pray? Because all of life is lived in relationship and conversation with God the Father. Through the ministry of His Son Jesus, we have received the ability to enter into His Precense and the infilling of His Spirit in daily life. I agree that prayer is neither a magic spell ensuring a change in condition nor a commercial enterprise, but prayer is an encounter with the Other that is beyond us and walks with us in the real world. God has given us the good gifts which we employ in healing professions and the insight/patience into the complex situations that present themselves to us hour by hour requiring not only quick decision making but also the consideration of long term consequences. Prayer is a healthy statement that we depend upon God for all good gifts.

Physicans and other members of the hospital staff with weak understandings of their own faith (or no faith at all) at times will come face to face with Presence of God in their vocation and in the lives of those with whom they work. It is a shame that this Episcopalian priest and the Presbyterian hospital at which he serves have not had such a moment. We have had a number of opportunities to give testimony to the fact that the People of God and the Spirit of God do dwell together in unity AND we will continue to do such as God does not disappear during our regular visits to medical facilities. Praise be to God! Maybe some day my path will cross with Raymond enabling me to share another story for him to consider.

Forward to Post-it Brand Ideas that Stick! Life without Post-It Notes? It's hard to imagine. In 1974, frustrated by bookmarks that kept falling out of his hymnal, 3M researcher Art Fry tinkered with a sticky coating that his colleague Spencer Silver had invented six years earlier. The result? The incredible, indespensible Post-it Note. How far those little canary-yellow notes have come since their debut in 1980! No longer confined to the office, Post-it Notes have become a global icon and a universal tool for fast and effective communication. These bold visual cues have revolutionized our lives, helping us manage, organize, and, of course, remember . . .

Little did I know that something so close to my daily spiritual exercises of reflection on the Word and various Christian writings was another another example of innovation by the People of God toward the end of worship :-) Really enjoyed skimming through this book and acquiring some ideas while visiting friends in D.C. over the past weekend. FYI: Keep tuned as this wasn't the only book I picked up at Marcy and Arlan's, some thoughts on Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything to be posted tomorrow. And if I have lots of spare time that emerges over the next couple of days with family, look for thoughts on The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. How the Culture of Abundance Robs Us of Satisfaction

Since we're mentioning book endorsements, don't miss mine for Keri Wyatt Kent's God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos: Bringing Peace Home. Theresa

Check out The Juice of Life written by Tom Long, an IVCF Volunteer who was in the Pittsburgh area when I started on staff. Lots of cool Hawaiian links and if you'd like to know my thoughts on the book check out my on-site review :-)

Below are some notes I took from a very articulate presentation on Prophet Muhammed in the Context of the Abrahamic Traditions given by Shaker Elsayed, Imam, Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center, Falls Church, Virginia. I have been greatly encouraged by the opportunity for further dialogue which has opened up with CMU's Muslim Student Association (MSA), in particular this evening some of our students will participate in a conversation on Similarities between Islam and Christianity. Please pray for an upcoming on-campus training event in which we will host David Hunter, an associate with WEC International, on the topic Church, Hear God's Message to You Through Islam.

Note: My response to the presentation was to share a Christian understanding of God based on John 14. More on that later as I have time.

The Imam began by affirming the common ground shared by the People of the Book, who bow down to God (Al Imran:64) and asserting All prophets are chosen by Allah, whether Arab, Christian, Jew, Muslim. They are sent by Allah to people. All prophets are humans. They don't prophesy on their own. They speak and do the Will of Allah. They are the best morally and intellectually. Divine miracles support their mission. Every prophet states clearly that what he receives is not of his own, but from God for the well-being of mankind. They confirm what was revealed before them and guide to what may be revealed after them (continued)

One of the grad students involved w/GCF forwarded College Admission Angst Finds a Forum on Web. I have to agree w/her thoughts Found this one to be entertaining, if a bit overdramatic. Teenage life is all about the angst and drama - college applications is just one outlet. And if it's overemphasized, well that's on the shoulders of the parents more than the kids themselves, in my opinion. Here's a selection,

On Web sites like lunch-money.com, gradschoolforum.com and studentdoctor.net, among many others, participants are Web-casting love songs to admissions committees, describing lucky meals to eat before the mail arrives, comparing SAT scores, typing through tears of rejection and rating the best and worst notification letters. Stanford was nominated for cruelest rejection. Rutgers got a mention for "best acceptance" because its letter came in a "really expensive-looking black folder."

Some writers make entirely unveiled cries for help, like this message posted on Tuesday on collegeconfidential: "I totally feel like I am a failure and I have failed my parents as a son ... o be honest, I feel like committing suicide."

P.S. Beware of what you learn on a blog :-)