Priorities

The front page of CNN.com's International site at 3:50 PM yesterday afternoon.


And the front page of CNN's main/US site.

The difference is very curious to me.

And, while I hate to add to the noise surrounding Michael Vick, I have found two very interesting items I'd like to share.

This is a piece from ESPN.com written by Wright Thompson before the Vick plea deal about why so many African-Americans in Atlanta support Vick and distrust the FBI.

And this from the Daily Show last night...

Splash Day

It's obviously very hot here in Nashville, so on Saturday we went to a little splash park out to the west of us with some friends from college and their children, some of whom go to school with Kinsey.

Here are some pics of the kids.

High School Musical 2: Behold the Cheese

According to CNN.com, High School Musical 2 was the most watched cable television show ever with 17.2 million people watching.

If they were anything like me and Sheryl, they were disappointed by it and immediately wanted to watch the original's songs. The fun thing about the first one was that it was cheesy and it knew it, but still had fun. For the sequel, it's like it was under the weight of the expectations for it and tried TOO hard to be the fun cheesy, and even making Troy the brooding hero in "Bet On It," while I'm sure it made the preteen girls' heart go a-flutter, just was laughably bad.

Oh well, the string of sequels not living up to the original continues, partially broken by Toy Story 2 and The Empire Strikes Back and a few others.

Here's some from the original to wash the taste out...

Jesus and the Atomic Bomb

Note: This post is a followup to the one I did last Friday.

As of right now in the history of the world, only one country has ever used a nuclear device in war. Us. The United States. And I have heard all the justifications about how using the devices saved American lives, and in fact, I have probably known (and still know) men whose lives were spared because we didn't launch an invasion of the Japanese islands.

I've stated before that I don't believe America is a Christian nation or ever has been, mainly because I don't believe that nations can be Christians. They can be largely comprised of Christians or even led by Christians, but nations are largely about self preservation and protection of its citizens. Whatever the cost. Basically nations believe that the lives of their citizens are inherently more valuable than the lives of people of other non-allied nations.

And that's what Harry Truman and his advisers decided in 1945. They decided that the lives of the American soldiers were of greater worth than the lives of the Japanese civilians, and so they felt that dropping two atomic weapons were the proper way to end the war.

Now from strictly a nationalistic perspective, this was the right maneuver. And it should have been an easy call for the Americans. Particularly because they felt that the Germans would have done the same thing given similar circumstances.

What it can't be called is Christian. Plain and simple. Doing something that takes the life of your enemy (especially noncombatants) is not how Christ enjoined us to follow him. Very simply put, the one time Jesus had someone fight for him (Matthew 26:50-54, Luke 22:47-53), Jesus not only chastised Peter for fighting for him, but then proceeded to heal the ear of one of the men that came to capture him. What do I think Jesus would have thought of Fat Man and Little Boy, the two atomic weapons? I can only think that he would have thought the same thing of them as he did of Peter's sword.

The only thing I can hope is that when/if our brothers and sisters 5,000 years from now (if the Lord doesn't come back and the creek don't rise, as my grandmother used to say) and wonder how God could have worked through such a people as us, that they will give us the same benefit of the doubt as we give the Israelites in the Old Testament who committed genocide on the Canaanites. That they will simply trust that God was able to work out His purposes, even through such broken vessels.

Digg This!

YouTube Thursday: Scrubs Music

To dovetail on yesterday's post, those of you interested can listen to Dr. Amy Jill Levine's talk at Otter Creek Church of Christ last night at ottercreek.podomatic.com

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One of my favorite shows in reruns today is Scrubs. It's a show that deals in absurdist comedy and one that seriously makes me guffaw out loud just about every time I watch it. One of the things I like the best about it is how it uses music.

For example, one of the first times I watched they did this incredible thing with Journey's Don't Stop Believing



And apparently in the first season, they had Colin Hay from the 80's band Men At Work perform the song Overkill acoustically and it was so good that I had to buy the song off iTunes.



All in all, it's just a fun show, that has incredible moments of pathos and then moments of absurdity that crack me up. And perhaps my favorite one is from "My Way Home." I wish I could post the whole episode here, but here's just the end.



Addendum: Scott Freeman reminded of me of this moment, which is one of the most beautifully sublime uses of music on the show. A woman has been asked how she wants to die, and she says that she wants it like a Broadway musical.

Dr. A.J. Levine

For those interested, Dr. Amy Jill Levine, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, is speaking at Otter Creek Church of Christ at 409 Franklin Road tonight at 7. I have heard her speak several times, including last year, and while I might not agree with her on all her points, she has much to teach us as Christians about Scripture and the approaches to it.

I'm very much looking forward to it.

First Day of School

Here are the pics from Kinsey's first day of first grade.

Kinsey in her uni... I mean, Standard School Attire.

Kinsey in the van on the way to school.

Kinsey and a friend sitting together in the class.

It was a good first day for Kinsey. She obviously has a new teacher and a lot of new friends, as well as several of her friends from her kindergarten class.

And here are a couple of blasts from the past.

This is Kinsey from last year on the first day of Kindergarten.

And Kinsey on the first day of preschool.

The years are just flying by. Incredible how it happens.

"Not of This World"

In John 18, Jesus and Pontius Pilate have a very interesting exchange.

33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

34"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"

35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"

36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

I think in some ways, what Jesus says in verse 34 has been interpreted in some ways that don't support the context. I've heard this passage used to talk about Heaven and how Jesus is waiting for us there after we die. Which might be true, but it's not what this passage is talking about.

When Jesus says that His Kingdom is "not of this world," what I believe He's saying is that His Kingdom is not achieved by the means that this world uses. In fact, the very next sentence Jesus speaks is about His followers fighting for Him if His Kingdom were of this world. In fact, at the crucial moment of His ministry, when the perfect time to break out the swords came, Jesus not only told Peter to put his sword away, Jesus healed the ear of the one that Peter had struck. In Jesus' Kingdom, in the Kingdom of God, the means by which we achieve the ends are just as important. To put it another way, in the Kingdom of God, a evil means does not justify a righteous end.

Next week: What would Jesus have thought of the atomic bomb?

YouTube Thursday: Hip-Hop Violin

I really, really enjoyed this when I first saw it and have continued to each time I watch it. Two very talented guys with very different talents.



btw, if anyone knows what the heck is going on with my Blogger template, please let me know.

My Celebrity Lookalikes

I have no idea who Jens Stoltenberg is, but I'll take Denzel any day.



I'm kind of surprised I didn't get Josh Charles.

I got him a lot right after Dead Poets' Society came out. Which by the way, was a great movie to watch while in high school, but when I became a teacher... wow, talk about unreasonable expectations on what I could do and who I could inspire.

When Inspiration Strikes...

Back when I was a teacher, ideas would occasionally strike me that I knew would hit a kid just right and I was glad when it happened. Friday night it happened with Kinsey.

We're going through a VERY selfish stage with her right now. I alluded to it in last week's post. Friday night, we went to a surprise teacher shower for a friend who is becoming a teacher. We brought some stuff for her classroom and were there to give her support (wish I'd got that when I was a first year teacher). Now, this friend is one we went to England with and generally, when she's around Kinsey, Kinsey gets her undivided attention. Obviously at this party, that wasn't going to happen and it just hit Kinsey wrong. She couldn't open the presents, she couldn't be right in front of everyone and she was pouting an incredible amount. I took her back to a bedroom and the waterworks and just SOBBING started. It was one of the most pathetic, attention seeking things she's ever done.

We immediately packed up to leave (with a 14 month old, it's a process), and when we got into the car, we started telling her how disappointed we were with her and how we knew she knew how to act, yet she wasn't doing it. And at this point, we got to the heart of why so much has been going on with her. She said that she worried that we didn't love her anymore because of Connor. So we re-assured her that that wasn't the case, but that that didn't excuse her behavior. She stayed teary all the way home and we sent her to bed as soon as we got there.

Sheryl and I talked about what consequence she needed to have, and she came out of her room claiming to need to go potty, so we let her. When she came out, I asked her why she washed her hands. She didn't know what I meant, so I said, "How did you know to wash your hands after you went potty?" She looked confused and said that she just knew that that was what she was supposed to do. I then pointed out that that was what we wanted selflessness to be for her. That it would be as natural as washing her hands after going potty. She nodded and I think she really understood it. The last few days have been better, although like any 6 year old, she's going to go in and out of them. I just hope that we can get her into a more consistent mindset of thinking about others. I think we will; it'll just take some time.

Random Post of the Day

Why is the soundtrack to High School Musical so freaking hard to turn off? No music should be this addictive.

What Does Grace Cover? or How Much "Bad" Doctrine Does Grace Cover?

I currently attend Otter Creek Church of Christ, a "liberal/progressive/whatever" Church of Christ, which on the left to right scale of Churches of Christ, puts us way out on the left, but on the left to right scale of churches in general, puts us way out there on the right. It's an interesting dichotomy. One supposedly defining characteristics of these "liberal/progressive/whatever" Churches of Christ is that they have more emphasis on Grace than the "conservative/traditional/whatever" Churches of Christ. In fact, one person once thought that OC focused too much on grace and decided to leave.

One of the major tenants of the Churches of Christ is that there is a specific way to believe about God and faith. That revelation is given through the Bible and there is a specific way to interpret the Bible. If you don't interpret it the same way as the Churches of Christ do, then you're either being deliberately obtuse, you're mentally deficient, or you just haven't been taught in the right way.

Now, on one hand, that seems rather extreme, but in all honesty, it's the way that a lot of Christians believe. There are certain things that you have to believe in order to be a Christian and then to be saved from the everlasting sulfuric fires of Hell. Of course, we could debate what it means to be saved and how that plays out, but that's not what this post is about.

What I am wondering is this: How much bad belief does Grace cover? Is there a minimum that someone must believe in order to be considered a Christian and therefore saved? And if you don't believe that minimum of "orthodox" belief, does Grace cover that? Or does Grace only cover specifically repented-for sins of commission and omission? I'm really looking forward to hearing ideas on this.

The Porn Myth

It is critical that if you are a man or woman, that you read this article about pornography.

The Porn Myth: In the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing. by Naomi Wolf

Rowling Deathly Hallows Interviews

Deathly Hallows Spoilers below!

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I'm sure many of you have read or are reading the Deathly Hallows and you might be craving more information, like What did Harry, Ron, and Hermione do in their futures for work? What about Ginny? Did Luna and Neville end up together?

Well in a couple of interviews, JK Rowlings has been explaining herself and why she did the things that she did in the books.

This one is an interview that aired on NBC Sunday night, portions of which aired on Today earlier in the week. Some good info, but more about her and her writing process and feelings now that it's all over.

This one is a web chat transcript from Bloomsbury, her UK publisher, with questions asked by fans. This is where the really juicy stuff is. Lots of questions about why certain things happened, what happened in the future. Also, what about that person that Rowlings said would show magic later in life? What did Dudley seem when the dementor started to kiss him? What did Dumbledore see in the Mirror of Erised? Tons of great stuff, but a word of warning. In Word, it's 18 pages long.

And finally, did you not like the epilogue? Did you not like the epilogue because it was Ron and Hermione and not Harry and Hermione? Did you think Ginny had far too much happiness in her life? Then this fanfiction version of the epilogue should make you very happy! This is an example of one of those Harmonian types that just truly felt that Rowlings didn't know her characters well enough to put Harry and Hermione together.

Yes, I'm completely serious. Enjoy!

Anger

Sheryl and I have been working a lot with Kinsey recently on her behavior. She is at a stage right now (it seems permanent sometimes) where she will throw this little attitude around and disobey, or pretend she doesn't hear us, or even lie directly to us when we ask her what it was we asked her to do.

And it makes me so angry.

I'm not sure why. I know that she's only 6. That she's feeling out her little areas of defiance and such things. And that for the next 14 years or so, she's going to be testing me and Sheryl to see what we'll let her get away with. Sometimes I wonder if I get so angry because I have a lot of my second dad in me. I have two dads: my bio-dad and my mom's current husband, also confusingly known as "Dad'. I doubt that I've ever talked about them here on the blog. I don't presume to that much because whether it seems like it or not, I don't talk about every aspect of my life here on the blog. I rarely talk about work as well.

At any rate, Dad was a pretty stern disciplinarian. It was his way or the highway, almost literally. My mom had a say in that too, but I always looked at her as the safety net. Dad had very high expectations for how we were supposed to act and behave and complete the tasks he set out for us. And if we didn't, there were consequences for that. It wasn't that he didn't love us. He did, there's no question of that. He simply had high expectations about our behavior.

Where I wonder if I have a lot of my Dad in my parenting. I wonder if I have too high of expectations for Kinsey and when she doesn't meet them, I get angry and frustrated. I try to control that, but Sheryl has said that I can look furious when Kinsey does the things that she can do.

I don't want Kinsey to be scared of me. I don't want to frighten her, so I'm trying to work on my anger. I want her to respect and love me, and from those, to decide to behave as Sheryl and I expect her to. Kinsey is a sweet and beautiful little girl, who is also 6 years old. Which means that she can be snotty and a drama queen. She also has a little brother, which means that she's not the only child she was for five years.

It's a complex time and it's only sure to get more complex, but I love that little girl so much and I tell her that a lot of the time. Mostly it's for her, but sometimes I wonder if I'm telling it to myself as well, so that I don't forget it too.

Addendum: I just want to be clear that I understand that the majority of this is my issue. Kids are kids and every kid is different. I realize that I have to get over myself, and while still having great expectations for Kinsey, understanding behavior is one of those "baby steps" things, and rarely the lightbulb going off-epiphany things.

Just a note...

For those interested, Brian Littlefield has posted the following question in the comments of the Reactions post...

Okay.....

Based on everything I'm reading here, I'm going to do a little bit of extrapolation and assume that any/all of y'all would regard Mormons as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is that correct?

Just thought some would like to know, in case you don't check old posts' comments.

What is Church About?

Of course, the easy answer is to offer worship to God. However, if you were (or are) not a Christian, what would you think church was about? On the Out of Ur blog, I read this post: Razzmatazz or Ragamuffins? Two non-Christians paid to visit churches are impressed with charity not facilities.

A couple of interesting quotes. This one after visiting a "mega-church."

Why is it that I should not seek out possessions and money, but the church is permitted to do just that? Does taking 10% of every congregant’s income not count as seeking out money? Why should the institution be rich, and the congregation not? If you really believe you should be living the aesthetic life led by Christ and his apostles, why aren’t you doing it? If money and possessions aren’t important, why aren’t you meeting to discuss the meaning of Christ’s ideas and life in the local park? Notwithstanding the need to broadcast to your rather large congregation, and obviously you’d have to come up with a solution during the winter months, but really: why the son et lumiere ? I found the medium more than a bit out of whack with the message.

Which brings me to another point: all that razzmatazz kind of unsettles me. We live in a culture where distraction is often misdirection - like a magician who gets you to look at his left hand while he’s disappearing something with his right. I found myself wondering why a group that liked its preacher so straightforward felt most at home in a medium of flashing lights and sound.

And this after visiting a downtown church...

I could tell then and there we had found what this experiment was set out to accomplish, a church that saw past the money, power and the heighten sense of moral superiority that we have grown accustomed to. Charity, real charity. About time....

I was floored, for close to a month now I have been told of all the wonderful things the Christian church provides without any physical evidence of its truth, but here it is, in the flesh. I have to smile, we have traveled to the city’s massive churches where thousands worship and yet we find what we are looking for in a turnout of 35 on Sunday....

This is the only Church where the majority of time, finances and energy is NOT spent on the Sunday service. At Sanctuary, it actually would have been unfair to only score them on their Sunday service, the smallest part of what they do.

Now, it would be easy to write these reactions off as the desires of a youth culture that seeks substance over flash, or is seeking action without real meaning. In other words, these people might have found meaning in a Buddhist temple that engaged in social action.

What I think is more telling is that there are certain expectations built around what it means to be a Christian, and churches are falling way short. Maybe.

I grant that it is very, very possible that mega-churches aren't very involved in their communities. And it's frankly easier to believe that, which makes it easier to scorn mega-churches and their supposed corporate approach to doing church. (No really, I don't have a log in my eye, but thanks for asking).

Or maybe churches (even mega-churches) are doing good and the good that's going on isn't getting "publicized" more. Now that goes against some of our ideas about not letting the left hand know what the right one is doing, and humility in doing good works. Perhaps there will come a point that when you talk about how you're a Christian or follower of Christ, the natural assumption that someone will make is not about how judgmental we can be, but the good we're seeking to do in our communities, both those that come into our walls and those that would never think about darkening the door.

Craziness

So, I'm looking at my Statcounter yesterday and I see something weird happening. I'm getting a ton of hits. By the end of the day, my totals look like this...


Naturally, I'm wondering what's happening, and to my utter shock, if you Google Deathly Hallows Review, my blog is the third listing. No idea why or how, but I guess it's one of those interesting little algorithms that happens on the web.

Multimedia Family Post

Wilson Family News: Almost 14 months after he was born, Connor has cut his first tooth. Kinsey got hers at 5 months, so this felt like a long time.

In other stuff, he's also walking! Here's evidence...



And finally, one more reminder about the similarities between me and Connor.

Me at 13 months...


And Connor on a similar toy




He's so fun right now, just a wonderful joy in all of our lives.