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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
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Currently Reading
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold
By C.S. Lewis
see relatedlove in the time of blogging
okay, so i realize that by the very fact i am writing this on my blog, it will be quite ironic and possibly self-incriminating. but i was just kinda thinking the other day about how prevelant "the blog" and similar "web 2.0" phenomena (i.e. youtube, facebook, etc.) have become. suddenly everyone and their mom (but rarely their grandma) has become a published internet-author. and at the same time i began thinking about how everyone is churning out more and more "mass communication", reaching out to be heard and, more importantly, to be known. and yet it seems that all this mass communication has had a diminishing effect on individual communication.
maybe its just me, but i think that since the advent of blogging, the amount of personal emails that i write to people (and people write to me) has probably gone down. (i'd really love to see some kind of statistic on how blogs have affected individual emailing. anyone wanna take a poll?) at the least the size of the emails has gone down considerably. now its like: "doin good. how bout you? check my blog for more." maybe you remember back in the day when if you wanted to write your friends basically the same things about yourself, you would at least have the decency to copy/paste a paragraph into a personal e-mail and keep up a semblance of individual communication? (c'mon, you know you've done it. admit it! :) now there is this great big "digital, global village" where we all live right next door, but remain strangers... or at best just give a quick wave across the virtual lawn to one another.
its like we are willing to put effort into pouring out our hearts into cyberspace and can only hope that someone, anyone will listen or appreciate it (which really means appreciate us). some may say they just blog "for themselves"... i don't buy it. if that were true, there's this antiquated device called a journal/diary we'd be using instead. and though i have seen a few random blogs out there that really get "discussion" going on some controversial topic, i don't know that i've seen a comment that echoed back a deep, heart-pouring-out response. in fact, the public nature of a blog makes it near impossible. like lovers who whisper in seclusion, perhaps the intimate relationship of true friends is meant to be hidden from mere observers. its like everybody is out there in cyberspace trying to be heard and the more people talk, the more we forget how to listen. people are longing for someone to hear their heart and answer in kind. what i suppose is a little disconcerting about the age of blogs is that we think that we can actually do this outside of real, deep, one-on-one personal friendship. granted, i think blogs can maybe link people up, help begin new friendships (or rekindle old ones), but its deceptive to think that mass posting can replace good, old-fashioned, individual communication. it can't. not that any of us CONSCIOUSLY think that, but it seems that the very nature and popularity of the blog subtly imply it.
perhaps in turn we blog also to have a voice in the world, to matter on some universal level, to contribute something of worth. as a medium of information, a mass communication device, yeah, its great. businesses have caught on to it and are using it efficiently, as have churches and anyone that is trying to get some certain information "out there". that's lovely for the business world and to some extent for churches/ministries... in the case of individuals, i think it again boils down to the desire to be known; for someone to value what i have to say. to "matter" in that sense and even contribute something to "humanity". here's the problem with that last one though: "humanity" doesn't exist. you will never have a conversation with humanity, never meet humanity and shake its hand, because there is no "humanity", there's only people. which means that we're back to personal friendships.
i see this truth in Jesus' life as well. sure, there were times He preached to the masses and that's okay in ministry and effective to some extent, BUT most of His time was spent with 12 guys that He called His "friends". Jesus was under no misconception that humanity could be changed on some ethereal, global level. but He could and did pour out His heart into the lives of 12 specific men. humanity can only be contributed to by contributing to real people. Christ did not die for humanity, He died for all men, for each person, for me. and that brings me back around to the first point: that all this pouring out of our hearts into the dark void of cyberspace is really reflective of our deep desire to be known and to matter to someone. i love the lyrics of this song by don chaffer called the worst is my being alone about a conversation between two friends as they sit by the sea, and i think it nails this desire inherent in each of our hearts:he said, "kerri, i don't think i've ever wanted as muchand the song ends out:
to be free as i've longed to be known,
and of the things that i hate as i look at my life,
the worst is my being alone."but at the pulse of the waves, they both turned around
thinking someone was calling their name.
if only we really knew how we are known beyond all that we can hope for, how we matter to the God who created us, that we matter to death for Him. that He is the One who desires to listen to our hearts and answer in kind. that beyond the faint hints in the ocean's waves and sunsets and thunderstorms that He is calling our names, and that He calls us friends, beloved. we are completely known by Him who is. (see Psalm 139)
well, i suppose i'll end my rambling thoughts. i'm interested to hear people's opinions on all this (all 3 of you who read this blog, ha!). don't worry, i won't judge you for posting a comment (as long as you don't judge me for blogging :).
Thursday, March 06, 2008
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Currently Reading
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)
By G.K. Chesterton
see relatedhappily behind the times...
i've recently listened to and read a number of works on the emergent church and the infiltration of postmodernity into the church. statistics that churches calling themselves emergent are the fastest growing "movement" in christianity today speak volumes about the current state of the philosophical fabric of "the west".
the trend towards postmodernity in america and europe (aka, "the west") is evident in just about everything. i thought the other day about all the recent films i have seen that are as blatantly post-modern as a hammer to the forehead. the sheer amount of them is staggering. (must be part of that whole life-imitates-art-imitates-life thing.)
perhaps you're asking yourself, "what exactly qualifies a movie as post-modern?" well, the way i see it, the first conspicuous sign of a post-modern (pm from here) flick is that you get an overwhelming sense of the movie having no real plot. there's no flow of events, just chaotic happenings. there's no real climax to the film; people kind of do whatever they're doing for an hour and a half or two and then it stops. next, everyone in the movie looks like they're on prozac for most of the duration of the film (or like they ought to be). there is an overwhelming sense in the characters of purposelessness and loneliness. and as the characters have no purpose, hence the absence of actual plot. (the best, or worst rather, recent example i can think of is "friends with money". if you were unfortunate enough to see it, you know what i mean. if you didn't see it, i DON'T recommend it.) the overwhelming message is "life doesn't have any meaning (and so neither does our movie)". the literary critic fredric jameson says of pm art (film and other mediums) that it is "the transformation of misery into beauty" and that it contains a "deathly quality… in a way that would seem to have nothing to do with death ... on the level of content." good description. even in a pm film that has nothing to do with dying, the viewer is still left with the feeling of emptiness or death.
the whole pm system of thought (which i am not about to attempt a summary of in a blog entry) has slithered its way into the christian community as well. hence, the birth of the "emergent" movement. now, i'm not saying that EVERYTHING put forward under the "emergent" label should be tossed out. the emphasis on cultural relevancy (or "contextualization"), personal relationships and actual experience of God (juxtaposed with mere ritual) are truly positive things (none of which, however require adoption of pm thought, merely acceptance of Biblical teaching). the sad part is that the emergent movement in typical pm fashion, cuts the boat loose from the anchor of the soul, Christ. the emergent movement promotes deconstructionism, redefinition, removal of what in the philosophical world is called a "meta-narrative" (what we'd simply call one objective truth for everyone), and a bag full of other problems. (for a pretty good summary of the emergent movement, listen to this teaching by mark driscoll (formerly a leading member in the emergent community): click here.)
in contrast, ukraine is currently very much in the "modernism" mindset (which has its own problems, of course... materialism being one of the greatest ones.) we've not caught up to the west in that area, thankfully. ukraine is an odd mix of old and new. in many ways this country is much like america in the 40's. people are much more interactive within society (think like open markets, public transport, and neighbors borrowing things from each other like matches or sugar). most everyone is convinced that there is an objective truth (though they certainly don't all agree what that is). they are struggling to find an acceptable order in areas of politics, family, work, etc., rather than the trend to reject order. there is, in general, an accepted understanding of moral absolutes, and even the existence of God. at the same time, just about everyone and their mom has a cell phone, mp3 player (younger generation) and a dvd player at home. the younger generation (30 and under) are starting to catch on to many of the techno-trends of the west as well as the philosophical propaganda of the west. the moral/spiritual climate will likely change very quickly as the younger generation grows and the older generation dies off. well, all that to say, it makes me really glad that we here in ukraine are way "behind the times".
on a completely separate note, me and lena, and the navarros and two married couples from our church were able to go up to kiev for a married couples' retreat in feb. it was a great, refreshing time. pray for God's strengthening of all the marriages in our church (i'm counseling with one couple currently and Jesus is definitely doing great things). here's a pic from that retreat.
from left to right: igor and anya dikiy, lena and tom navarro,
grisha and valya yaromenko, ben and lena morrison
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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Currently Listening
Forest
By George Winston
see relatedteaching from john 15
i was finally able to upload a teaching (my connection is faster now but still not that fast). this is from when i shared at cc in east albuquerque, nm this jan. while back in the states (no, not the "big one" but another one there that is involved the work here). its half testimony about the church here and half sharing out of john 15 on Jesus as the true vine.
Monday, February 11, 2008
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Currently Reading
The Problem of Pain
By C. S. Lewis
see relatedthe works of His hands
the Word talks about how God's glory is visible in creation around us. after my trip to the states in january and getting the awesome blessing of seeing some of God's natural wonders, i'm so reminded of that. i was able to go to carlsbad caverns in new mexico (thanks, loque!) and death valley in california (thanks, fenya!) i just wanted to share some photos of those places and a couple of one of the most wonderful creations of all, little abby.
the first set of pics is from carlsbad caverns. unfortunately, you can't tell from the pictures how massive it was. there were rooms that were multiple football fields in length and width (and at one point something like 300 ft. floor to ceiling).
an empty cave pool
looking back at the entrace we came down into the first chamber
gypsum crystals catching the light
sunset at newport beach, california
mosaic canyon, death valley, ca
a lizard in death valley
a joshua tree (yeah, like the U2 album)
zabrieskie point, death valley
badwater basin, death valley - lowest dry elevation in the western hemisphere
desert plant in bloom
moon rise over death valley
salt crystal formations at the devil's golf course, death valley
amargosa chaos, death valley
daniel and janette carter and me in a tux!
(i was a groomsman at their wedding jan. 19th)
beautiful winter mo-mo
she is so much fun now!well, that's that. hope you enjoyed the pics!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
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Currently Watching
Syriana (Widescreen Edition)
By Kayvan Novak, George Clooney, Amr Waked, Christopher Plummer, Jeffrey Wright
see relatedmo-mo's first blog entry
adoinweoiwepowe... just kidding. were not actually gonna let her type. we just thought we'd write down some of the things she's saying at 15 months old. granted, this will probably only be interesting to our relatives and other young parents. so here goes...
da/yeah - she says both pretty efficiently
no - just started saying it.... wish she didn't know that one quite yet.
eyes - sounds like ice
ears - sounds like eews ... and ushi (russian for ears) - sounds like ui
hair - sounds like care (only the r is more like a w)
nose - sounds like no (with a long o at the end)
toe - sounds like it is
pupik (russian for bellybutton) - sounds like poopa
sisya (russian for "boobie" or the equivalent thereof) - she's good as saying that one... especially when she wants to drink.
close - sounds like kwoze
open - sounds like opay
up (when she wants to be picked up) - sounds like hhhap (really aspirated)
down (when she wants down) - as is, sometimes without the n
help (when she needs it) - sounds like hewp
cuckoo (the russian version of "peekaboo") - sounds like cakoo
more (when she wants more of something) - says it like she's british (just say it like you're british and you'll understand)
vot eto (russian for "that thing"... when you are asking what someone wants) - teh to
hello (specifially when answering the phone) - awo
bye-bye - pretty much as it is. in russian (poka-poka) it comes out like "ptaka-ptaka"
cheese - sounds like chees (with an s sound at end instead of a z)
chai (russian for tea) - sounds like kai
kashka (russian for cereal) - sounds like katka
banana - usually comes out as nana
waffle - comes out like dapple
chicken - sounds like chicka
vitamin c - usually sounds like minamina or just C
cookie - sounds like cooky (with a long oo like in moon)
juice - sounds like chooce
light (the kind you turn on) - sounds like aight
car - sounds like she's british
phone - sounds like pho
mama - got that one
papa/daddy - daddy (sounded like daduh) was her first word! papa came a bit later
poo-poo - she's got that one down... and touches her heinie and says it when she's done it
kolyaska (russian for stroller) - sounds like kaka
ball - sounds like baw
shoes - shoo
bible - sounds like bye-bow
multik (russian for cartoon) - sounds like mooti
lopatka (russian for paddle) - sounds like WAAHHHH!!! just kidding.
sounds like "wapat"
she can also do some animal sounds:
barks like a dog "woof woof!"
trumpets like an elephant - don't know how to write how that sounds... just turn on the discovery channel
meows like a cat "neow!" (that's not a typo... she says neow)
used to roar like a lion (only small and cute).
way to go, abby! you can say over 40 words! here's a picture of the sweet little monkey for the new year. happy holidays to all! (i seriously hope to put out an update on us before i leave for california next saturday).
benjamin_morrison
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- Name: benjamin
- Birthday: 7/15/1981
- Gender: Male
- Member Since: 7/8/2007
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