GroshLink

Decades haven't dimmed the allure of the Hill District's Sugar Top

Although most black neighborhoods have been demolished for roads or left to decay, it is a blessing to see the strength of Sugar Top and the continuing work of God through Robert Lavelle Sr. who "considers this business to be a part of his ministry, i.e., the requirement to serve the needs of others in the total sense of human's needs…spiritual, educational, and economic... (for more see http://www.dwellinghouse.com/history.html)

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Be a Human, Not a Machine . . . I couldn't agree more. I wonder if Patricia Dalton has applied her clinical psychology in the setting of a technology oriented research university such as Carnegie Mellon University:

I love the opportunity to stay in touch with relatives and friends who live at a distance. We can get work done more efficiently. Huge amounts of information are at our fingertips. But the angst and dysfunction I've described are real. I can recall one family in need of time and togetherness who decided to take a hike, only to have the dad spend most of the time on his BlackBerry. The teen-age son muttered, "Some togetherness" . . .

Are we destined to be the driven in our modern world, or can we become the drivers? What we often forget is that we can make deliberate decisions to improve the quality of our lives.

The early-20th-century English writer G.K. Chesterton was probably right when he said, "New roads, new ruts." But we have more freedom than we realize to choose which ruts to avoid, given the changes that have already come and will keep coming in our high-tech world. -->

Here's a piece I've worked on regarding Spiritual Disciplines and shared within the context of InterVarsity's Staff Team. It refers to material from Dallas Willard, some of which was touched on earlier earlier

Came across Moses' Top Ten this morning, I find our desire to find our own way across the wilderness not just sad, but painful as it causes so much pain, suffering, death, and destruction. Come Lord Jesus, Come. Looking forward to the day when heaven and earth are remade and we can place our mixed bag of history behind us to live as we were created to be, not as we are at this time . . .

"The Supreme Court's ruling last month upholding the right of the Texas State Capitol to keep a Ten Commandments sculpture - sponsored by that great theologian Cecil B. DeMille to promote his Charlton Heston epic - on its grounds as an historical artifact is arguable from a legal perspective. But to the amateur historian and professional ironist, it's a delight. Because I've been to the Texas State Capitol, and that granite Moses movie ad is one of the least offensive things there.

To wit: there are two creepy monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, one of which features hand-carved testimonials from Jeff Davis and Robert E. Lee lauding rebel soldiers responsible for the Gettysburg deaths Lincoln would hope were not in vain [goes on regarding the Alamo, cowboy subculture] . . ."

My Father recently passed along to me Wagner College's, his alma mater's, Annual Report. He thought I would have an interest in their Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts, which seeks to blend the skill-oriented attributes of a liberal arts college w/the service/teaching elements of public universities. This hybrid model of the New American College, was attributed Ernest Boyer, 7th president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching (and a member of the Messiah College learning community). It's not surprising the presence of real world experience framed by a learning community of mentors emerges from a Christian intellectual. Let us hope that Wagner College at some point remembers its Christian roots in this application so that the faculty not only enter into dialogue but also have opportunity to profess the necessary truths to provide proper understanding of real world experience.

Interested in learning about the characters, issues, and situations which make up the People of God across the years? I'd highly recommend an e-mail subscription to the weekly Newsletter of Christian History & Biography Magazine. The July 9 piece linked to When Theology Comes Alive Living theology: that's what the 17th-century Pietists wanted to see. And so they invented church history

AND Victorian Visionaries: George MacDonald's friends worked to reform society, challenge the church, and inspire the imagination

Excerpt of some contrary opinions from within the Christian community below

Returning to the Design question, see Opting out in the debate on evolution

I found today's NY Times Op-Ed piece Finding Design in Nature by Christoph Schonborn quite good. Check it out. I don't have time to comment on it right now.

The work of Carnegie Mellon U's Entertainment Technology Center has been all over the news. The June 24 Chronicle of Higher Education, highlighted Hazmat Hotzone, a video simulation of hazardous materials incidents for emergency responders to practice their skills. This combines entertainment and training elements, thereby supplimenting live drills, click here for more info.

Last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette drew attention to "Ben Franklin's Ghost," a projection which answers questions in a 'synthetic interview. ' This tool is quite cool, as a number of us have interacted w/Valerie, an earlier form of this technology which serves as the Newell Simon Hall receptionist. Great to see this expanded application! Hope our kids can chat w/Ben sometime. A helpful tool to work alongside the direction we set for our family's learning community :-)

Moviemaking with a Purpose, an interview w/Ralph Winter, caught my attention this morning. This topic has been a long-term interest of mine, finding more development when Mike, Toby, and myself taught a Sunday School Class at Allegheny Center C&MA on Reel Spirituality (Robert Johnson, 2000). A handout in which I distilled some of the material for a graduate student retreat can be found here.

So many takes on Batman. Now have we finally made his journey from childhood fear to adult superhero plausible? How he overcame fear, dealt w/the loss of his parents, wielded his fortune in a positive direction, maintanined a tight relationship w/his butler (or why his butler sought to do such w/him), became endowed w/so many gadgets that worked and seemed to have them in endless supply, has a predisposition to lacking friends (and significant relationships), etc . . .

Join me as over the next week, I'll share some thoughts regarding Batman and interact w/various on-line articles that seek to understand 'what he does,' even who he is as the 'mask of Bruce Wayne.' The purpose for this interaction w/culture, myth, and story is to help us process through living in the Biblical Story . . . to discern what we do and whether it emanates from who we say we are, take a look at what masks we wear, and remind us some of what faithful loving of God and neighbor in our day-by-day context in 'the real world' is all about.

For those of you wanting it stated more clearly, I find Mars Hill Audio has a similar vision and informs my some of my thoughts in this area (Note: If you have not, I'd recommend you check them out. Pieces by Ralph Wood, good stuff on P.D. James & J.R.R. Tolkien, and others on myth are quite helpful):

exists to assist Christians who desire to move from thoughtless consumption of modern culture to a vantage point of thoughtful engagement. We believe that fulfilling the commands to love God and neighbor requires that we pay careful attention to the neighborhood: that is, every sphere of human life where God is either glorified or despised, where neighbors are either edified or undermined.

More in coming weeks on the larger vision and passsion, but I'm getting ahead of myself . . . Tell me your thoughts on the dark knight.

This Sojourners piece considering Jesus' words regarding the woman who poured expensive perfume from a jar onto Jesus' head in the context of Deuteronomy 15 is 'Today's Thing to Think About'

by Bryant Myers, an author and the vice president of an international program strategy for World Vision International.

Taking off of Billy Graham's confession of Democratic Party affiliation, I thought this piece by a former Senator and current Episcopal priest would be a good read. Love to have your reactions to these words coming from the Republican side of the aisle and officiant for President Reagan's funeral . . .

Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers

By JOHN C. DANFORTH It is important for those of us who are considered moderates to make the case that we have strongly held Christian convictions.

Great to read of InterVarsity's commitment to address the 'Graduation Evacuation.' and see the development of the Youth Transition Initiative (YTI).

This is an area that demands much effort as we live among loose connections across the spectrum of our life endeavors. Much work to be done in this area. Material which I've used (or had a part in developing) can be found here. If you'd be interested in having a presentation at your local congregation for parents, youth ministers, and/or high schoolers let me know.

A grad student wrapping up their first year in Applied Linguistics asked for some book recommendations on contemporary worldviews in academia, with reference to postmodernism, critical studies, Marxism, etc. Below is an edited version of what I sent her, please post others that come to mind.

Opting Out in the Debate on Evolution

He added: "Evolution is not the only issue at stake. The very definition of science is at stake."

This is interesting. Would like to come back to it. If you have thoughts, please post them. Thanks

In New York, Billy Graham Will Find an Evangelical Force (note also covered in Christianity Today)

"Unlike most of the rest of the country, where the image of evangelical Christians is of people who are white and middle class, in New York City, conservative Christian faith has become quite polyglot.

Fueled by a large influx of immigrants, for example, there are more than 100 African churches in the city alone . . .

But the emergence of evangelical faith is not entirely limited to the working class communities outside Manhattan. Redeemer Presbyterian Church, started in the late 1980's, by the Rev. Timothy Keller, draws several thousand on weekends, mostly young professionals, to its services in Manhattan. The Journey, a Manhattan church that started after Sept. 11, 2001, now draws about 1,000 people to its Sunday services and Bible studies, and has many actors and artists in its congregation."

We've been on vacation, even from our blog? Yes, but we'll be back stronger than ever Monday morning as we have thoughts on

1. what vacation and valuing family really is after hearing a speel by Fairfield Resorts in Williamsburg

2. Rodney Stark's pieces exploring One True God

3. death and life stimulated by Tuesdays by Morrie, which we listened to while on the road

4. if we make it to the theatre: Batman vs. Anakin, w/o Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise at the Eiffel Tower making commitments to love and Scientology . . . Cosmic Struggles of Cultural Proportions

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:

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

the NY Times.

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.