Love Revolution

Mahatma K. Gandhi: Where there is love there is life.

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n his latest album It Is Time for a Love Revolution, Lenny Kravitz sings: “There ain’t nothing you can give me, I’m already there. I got love. I got love love. I got love love love.” It was released this year to mixed reviews.

Love. Many recording artists have written and sung about it; William Shakespeare and Danielle Steele have written about it; filmmakers have created beautiful love stories over the years; and many men, women and children around the world have professed their love for someone or something, somewhere.

I love my wife, Nancy. I love my daughter, Hannah. I love family and friends. I love God and the church family I’m a part of. I love the NFL. I love NHL, NBA, and MLB playoffs. I love movies. I love playing sports. I love reading. I love Jesus Christ. I love music. I love chocolate milk.

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Deeper shade of grey | ordination

Where has the debate gone?

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t seems interesting to me that within TSA we are keen to maintain a certain line that causes frequent periodic debate when it comes to our non-sacramental stand with regards to baptism and communion. Battle lines drawn between those that both argue that ‘to’ or ‘not to’ is essential to our essence of church.

I’m not sure if I have come across the same rigour of debate with similar issues. While the more contemporary sacramental debate seems more black and white - it is interesting that the whole emphasis of ordination of officers doesn’t receive the same intensity of attention.

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What we take for granted

The second in an occasional series by Grace Cheng 

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esson Number One for the person settling into a developing country for the first time: No matter how much you loathe to admit it, the first lesson will always be the humbling realization that you take many, many things about your privileged life for granted. This is the unavoidable, clichéd first lesson you must accept. You may not think of yourself as high-maintenance, but in comparison to the vast majority of people in the world, you most definitely are.

Here’s a list of things you currently take for granted:

• Thick walls
• Running water
• Clean water
• Personal space
• Pedestrian crossings
• Sidewalks (pavements)
• Clean air
• Dogs without rabies
• A police force that serves and protects
• Your elementary and high school education

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Ragamuffin: US politics

Racing to the finish line

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ell it will be the nominating conventions soon for our presidential candidates. I have mainly been a Republican and in recent years switched to being an independent. I lean right though.

Like most large countries we Americans come from a wide variety of races, ethnicities, economic, cultural and political backgrounds. It is great to live in Chicago metro area and see and hear the diversity every day. This also brings some conflict in views.

Sad to say, but true, that most of the time a low percentage of registered voters actually vote in the USA. In presidential elections like the one coming up in November it is higher than usual I suspect. Someone once wrote – “wonder if they held an election and no one voted?”

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Thinkaloud | the right time

… the time is at hand

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mpires have been won, cities have been taken and lives have been changed because a right decision has been made at the right time. Conversely, there has been personal and national tragedy because people have taken the right decision at the wrong time, or have taken no decision at all.

As Shakespeare wrote:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and miseries.

Even though we know there are just the right times to speak or to take action, the difficulty is in realizing just when these occasions are at hand. Is it a matter of good luck? Not for the Christian, who does not believe in luck. Is it simply that some people have a perfect sense of timing while others are prone to stumble? No, it is more than that.

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Double~take | fear factor

It saves time to create our own fear

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ut a meal in front of several dozen kids, and they will compete to outdo one another in feats of disgusting-ness. One hot dog with 21 pickle slices? No problem. Half a bowl of freshly sliced onions? You’ll have to confiscate it to stop them. Hide the food behind a sheet and call it Fear Factor? They’re practically barfing even when you say they just have to chug a can of pop, or eat half a dozen dry crackers. Psyche!

You can watch it happening, especially at the zip line (flying fox), or at the polar bear swim. Kids who leap enthusiastically into a freezing lake during afternoon swim time will cry and hide when you suggest they dip into a lukewarm lake at 7am to get cabin points. Why? It’s a polar bear swim. That means it’s cold…
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Vox populi | ECD

Alice: “words mean what I want them to mean”

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uphemism: A word or phrase employed to sterilize an emotive word or phrase thus making it fit for general consumption.

Luke barks his head off every time I open my composter or mow the lawn or walk near the fence.  Basically, he barks every time he hears a sound in our backyard.  Luke is a German Shepherd cross, as playful as he is loud, but his bark is driving his owner, my neighbour, crazy.  It is hysterical listening to my neighbour yelling at Luke to stop.  I’m not sure who is the one being trained.  The best is the threats, more idle than if they were delivered to children because Luke doesn’t speak English.  “I’m going to put a zapper on you if you keep barking like this!”.  By zapper he means the “Barkmaster Pro-elite”, a dog collar that emits a shock which increases in intensity every time Luke barks.  The collar is an Electronic Control Device.

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On inerrancy

by John Norton

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cannot accept that the Bible is inerrant, by any plain meaning of that word. I take inerrant to mean “without error.” The Bible cannot be said to be inerrant, either in its original or copied or translated form.

This is not to say that the Bible is uninspired. The Bible was inspired (enthused, stimulated, stirred, moved, motivated) in its creation. It continues to be inspired and inspire as it is read by faithful readers today.

I am not a biblical scholar but it became obvious to me as a young adult that the Bible is full of contradictions, internal problems or errors. Therefore it is not inerrant.

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Deeper shade of grey | gizzard gulp

culinary mysteries

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y first mistake was eating it, my second asking what it was, my third mistake was looking what I had eaten up in the dictionary.

I love multi-cultural diversity! The richness of the ‘lack of sameness’ is refreshing. I’m learning the importance of accepting hospitality as part of cultural exchange.

I only popped by to drop something off to Ade - I knew I would be offered something to honour my visit but nothing really prepared me for what I was about to receive. “Please have some pepper soup.”,

“Thank you” I reply, relieved - I’d just eaten at home… soup would be fine.

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What about the Christians?

The first in an occasional series by Grace Cheng

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ot long ago, I attended a lunch-hour panel discussion at my law school on the topic of international human rights careers. One of the speakers on the panel was a young lawyer who had done lots of policy work with NGOs in developing countries.

Yet while the calculated purpose of the panel was to assure students that there were worthwhile, paying careers to be found in human rights, this speaker’s cynicism suggested otherwise. She spoke jadedly about the non-existence of job security, citing her own experience of jumping from contract to contract to barely make ends meet. Then she observed, with more than a hint of bitterness: “99% of Western ex-pats in the developing world become one of two things. Either they become racists, constantly talking in terms of “us” and “them,” or they become alcoholics.”

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