GroshLink

Do you find yourself in such a place? Then take a moment to read Who is My Neighbor? Here's part of the piece:

What can we do when compassion burnout sets in and numbs our good neighborly sensibilities?  Is there an antidote?  ...

Some suggestions to help us avoid compassion fatigue:

1) Choose your news source wisely.  Avoid watching too much TV. ...  

2) Pray with others.  Join with others in your church, community, city or campus to pray for the needs of those involved.  ...

3) Get Involved Where you are Able. ...

The key here is the human connection.  This is what keeps our hearts soft toward God and others.  Compassion is not just dropping a few coins in the can of the homeless woman.  That’s pity.  Compassion is bending down, making eye contact, exchanging names, touching, valuing that person as made in the image of God.  Real contact.  Real compassion.  May God help us in this electronic age to touch the human soul.

 

So I do have more to say regarding Ratatouille. Here's the helpful confession from the food critic Anton Ego:

So the critic comes to Ratatouille with some serious concerns, but leaves a new person ;-)

What do you do when you're waiting for a baby?  One reads Confronting the Dark Lord from the May issue of Wonder time:  celebrate your child's love of learning and is inspired regarding the possibilities.  In our household, Narnia has become more of a legacy than Star Wars.  What childhood adventures stories have you invited your children to inhabit with you?

Last Friday I had a night out with some guys from our fellowship group (go Disciples!).  We went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Although the film has had a strong showing in the box office, I am disappointed in the reopening of the series, after such beautiful closure in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (was it really 19 years ago?).

The below reflections On the Possibility of Miracles from my friend Miller corresponds with some of my thoughts regarding the loss of wonder in the modern era, even in the making of films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia:  Prince Caspian which should open the eyes of faith.

Serina's post of her recipe for baked oatmeal received my immediate attention.  Why?  Because when I meet together with some men from our local congregation over breakfast at the Etown Diner I always order it.  When I meet at Eric's with some men from our local congregation over breakfast, it's always our main dish.  But alas, even though Theresa's dad prepares an excellent baked oatmeal for our trips to the cabin, Theresa's not a fan.  So it's never in the house.  Theresa was willing to give it a try in order to use up some raspberry sauce, left over from our French toast ... And how did the experiment turn out this morning? 

Another visit to the doctor this morning showed a little bit of progress. She declared me at 3cm (which is up one since Friday). Yesterday and a little bit today I've been having contractions, though nothing regular. Not the labor kind. But apparently they are doing something, so that's good. I don't have to go to the doctor on Friday, but I'm scheduled for next Tuesday, if I need it (here's hoping I won't!). At that visit they will do an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid level and I'll have a non-stress test which is where they compare the baby's heartrate when she moves to when she's resting. I had a lot of those with Hayley and Ellen. And I'm on the schedule for a c-section for June 13, just b/c it's easier on the hospital to have it on their schedule. If I get that far (a week late, heaven forbid!) and everything still looks fine, I can still wait. And unless I'm going insane, I intend to wait as long as possible so as to avoid the c-section. A c-section recovery would make caring for Eden much more difficult. In case you're wondering, they will not induce me because it increases the risk of complications due to my previous c-section. So, that's the story from the Land of Waiting.  Stay tuned :)

PS. This baby has hiccups.

As some of you may remember, I keep track of Jesus Creed conversation, see The Death of Blogs. The recent exploration of Christ-and-culture through interaction with John Stackhouse's, Making the Best of It, has been excellent and I would commend it to you, see Christian Realism 1 (note: which gives significant attention to Anabaptists) and Christian Realism 2. One comment refers to Mirslav (sp?) Volf's Soft Difference:  Theological Reflections on the Relation Between Church and Culture in 1 Peter. Wow! Soft Difference is well worth prayerful consideration. Has anyone previously come across this piece? Would love to have the reactions of others.

Thank-you to Andy for referring me to Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. What a text or should I say what a comic (or should I say both) which attempts to define comics (going all the way back to pre-Columbian and Ancient Egyptian picture manuscripts, not to be confused w/hieroglyphics which are the precursors to some written word), decifer visual iconography, explain the relationship of writer-comic-reader in the unfolding of story/meaning/time!