Thirsty

Friday, October 6: First Dentist visit in over 3 years. Dr. Andrews cleans my teeth, X-rays reveal that I need my first root canal, a few cavities filled, and 4 wisdom teeth pulled. Thursday, November 2: Dr. Armstrong performs root canal and fills crown with temporary filling. Thursday, November 9: Dr. Andrews removes temporary filling, cleans remainder of decay in tooth crown, adds a steel post, and refills with temporary filling. Thursday, November 16: Dr. Andrews removes temporary filling, files down outside of crown, sets molds for an artificial crown (chose the alternative to gold), creates a temporary one, polishes it, cements it on with temporary cement, and sends order out for the permanent one. 10 business days. Thursday, November 30: Dr. Andrews will cement on permanent artificial crown. Note[1]: The temporary artificial crown I now have has already (1 day after) come loose, and today I've been taking it in and out so I don't choke on it. It looks like I will...

Please give a warm welcome to my lifelong buddy, Eric Bomkamp, who has decided to grace us with his presence in the blogosphere. His personal blog: It's a lot like having a job His blog about a new way to live : Household RULES! Both our dads were working for Ball Corporation, when they decided to go camping together. Pretty soon they were praying together. The Bomkamps lived in our neighborhood, and Eric and I got into way too much trouble together. We also camped and backpacked way too much together. They moved to Rockford when I started high school and our relationship has been a long distance love affair ever since. ;-) Every once and awhile I make it out there and he tries again to crack my skull open on the mountain bike trail.

.. we must open ourselves to the workings of reason. Maybe that can be our "common unchanging purpose" - the search for truth. If we maintain this as a great good in our dealings, we find ourselves able to more authentically communicate with people we thought we would never even understand or care to understand. Although POP does not enforce polygamy (that I know of), many of the rules were very similar. For instance, divorce is against the rules; women are supposed to submit to their husband and let him rule their life; and the women are required to wear a certain type of outfit. - a young mother who goes by Mrs. K, in a post titled Creepy . For a few months now I've been following her blog. It originally perked my interest because it showed up in search results for People Of Praise (POP), and it has been interesting for me to follow, she's at the dawn of life for a new family, and it's enjoyable to read about her encounter of motherhood as a brand new experi...

Courtesy of Mark Shea , some good thoughts on the recent elections. I didn't vote, I wasn't registered to vote, but I'd imagine I'll be registered by next time. "Happy now?" Several readers, who have somehow apparently convinced themselves that I am a liberal devoted to the sacrament of abortion and filled with hatred of Bush, America, conservatives, mother and apple pie, have been asking me this question. Perhaps it's to be expected in the Land Where There Are Only Two Sides to Every Question. Nonetheless, I'm not pleased to see the GOP take a drubbing, except in the very negative sense that I am pleased to see a drunk finish vomiting in the drunk tank and start to sober up a bit. If I had my druthers, the alleged conservatives in the GOP would not have become drunks in the first place and such interventions would not have been felt necessary by such a preponderance of voters. As for me: I did what I said I'd do and voted for an utterly quixotic ...

Testing a few different things all at once. Starting a communal running routes directory, showing off my account on JotSpot Wiki because they're temporarily closed to new users due to being purchased by Google, and also showing off a great Google maps mashup, the pedometer! Running Routes Please join in and throw down your favorite running/walking/biking/hiking routes. Wikis have version control - edit away to your heart's content, make it look completely different for all I care! Username : user Password : user01 I'll send you an individual login to use if I see you go in and start contributing.

I guess we could go back a couple weeks. Two weeks ago tomorrow, I left the house at around 6:45, having overslept and missed an early departure time to try to make it to Chicago before the marathon started. I discovered my dash kinda broken up and my cd player was gone (reminiscent of this happening 2 years ago and me not replacing it until 2 months ago). I stopped by Tom's house and picked up Bo and then headed to the train station. There were more people on there than usual (from the times when I used to commute), lots of excitement about the marathon. At some point we discovered that Sheila was on the same train so we went back and sat by her, and when we got into the city we tried to make it over to see the lead pack as they passed the 12 mile mark, but the timing was too close and they were too fast. We ended up seeing my roommate Pete, once in Chinatown, and I saw him close to the finish but the others couldn't pick him out. He dropped nearly an hour off his time...

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!" I'm whispering, "I get lost!" That's why I chose this way. When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride I'm confessing that I stumble and need someone to be my guide. When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on. When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt. When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught. When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it. When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of heartaches which is why I se...

(from Padre Stephanos ) (PS - speaking of Fr. Stephanos, I just came across a podcast of him and another guy talking about the original meaning behind having the priest with his back to the congregation during the Liturgy of the Eucharist in Mass. Might find it informative.)

Last night at men's prayer, Matt exhorted us to be cautious about having a "grass is greener" mentality. Sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it. And then Bill shared along the same lines, reflecting on the scripture about "where your treasure is, there will your heart be". It hit me pretty solidly, a little wakeup call about some of the things I've both consciously and internally been holding as treasure, and desires, that are not founded upon the action of God in my life. Even something as simple as reminding myself to first bring all my concerns to God, and not simply let them stew inside me. No matter how minor or major they may be, no matter what I think about whether I "should" be able to deal with these myself. That's pride. Anyway, today Calvin confirmed those prayers from last night. :)

"In our world today, religious, political, academic and economic leaders are being seriously challenged to improve the level of dialogue between peoples and between cultures. To do this effectively requires a deepening of our mutual understanding and a shared dedication to building a society of ever greater justice and peace. We need to know each other better and, on the strength of that mutual discovery, to build relationships not just of tolerance but of authentic respect. Indeed, Jews, Christians and Muslims share many common convictions, and there are numerous areas of humanitarian and social engagement in which we can and must cooperate." - Pope Benedict XVI

Hello World! Posting from docs.google.com ...

[old post, just now publishing 10/24] In these past few days, I've been constantly realizing something about the "intentional community" life I'm experiencing anew, and the aforementioned Seven Levels of Intimacy. Kelly's label for the final level, Legitimate Needs, has been constantly popping into my head. That 's what community life is, that's what we're all about, and that's what has become such a commonplace here. We ask for help, and we offer help, and we encourage one another in doing so. Earlier this week I went to help an older couple with their laptop/printer/scanner, and got a nice homemade lunch after, something a single guy doesn't always get. I also got to learn more about the couple, she had once upon a time been a nun, and then taught for 35 years, and they have 5 grown children... all adopted at young ages. She has cancer and we've been praying for her for a month or two. Yesterday I drove out to another family's ...

Last night I went with a couple other guys to see a popular speaker from Australia named Matthew Kelly come to speak about a recent book of his, The Seven Levels of Intimacy. Here they are for your benefit, from lowest to highest. Get a lot of work done in your relationships by intentionally climbing this ladder: 1. Cliches . Typically, these are used to block intimacy. The absolute bare minimum gets communicated, and it can shut down the conversation. 2. Facts . How's the weather? How about that game last weekend? Guess what happened? 3. Opinions . 4. Hopes & Dreams . If we communicate these to each others, we find ourselves thinking about *their* hopes and dreams, and helping them with them. 5. Feelings . 6. Fears, Faults, & Failures . People accomplish great things because they are able to turn their faults into strengths. Michael Jordan didn't make his high school basketball team. 7. Legitimate Needs . He also spoke about how we human beings are ver...

Say a prayer for him, as he settles in for the toughest battle of his life. Father, show us where and how to devote our energy for your fullness of life.. channel our surplus into your many suffering.

April 25, 2005, Rome - Benedict XVI : I turn now to you, dear friends from different religious traditions, and I thank you sincerely for your presence at the solemn inauguration of my Pontificate. I offer warm and affectionate greetings to you and to all those who belong to the religions that you represent. I am particularly grateful for the presence in our midst of members of the Muslim community, and I express my appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians, both at the local and international level. I assure you that the Church wants to continue building bridges of friendship with the followers of all religions, in order to seek the true good of every person and of society as a whole. August 20, 2005, Cologne, Germany, World Youth Day - Benedict XVI : Dear Muslim Friends, It gives me great joy to be able to be with you and to offer you my heartfelt greetings. [ ... ] You, my esteemed friends, represent some Muslim communities from this Country where I was b...

September 19 is just around the corner. Prepare to be boarded!

These were people saying, essentially, In spite of my imminent death, my thoughts are on you, and on love. I asked a psychiatrist the other day for his thoughts, and he said the people on the planes and in the towers were "accepting the inevitable" and taking care of "unfinished business." "At death's door people pass on a responsibility--'Tell Billy I never stopped loving him and forgave him long ago.' 'Take care of Mom.' 'Pray for me, Father. Pray for me, I haven't been very good.' " They address what needs doing. - from I Just Called to Say I Love You , by Peggy Noonan. Read all of it, it's the stuff of life and the important things. Maybe it will help you a little. (Thanks, Roz )

Greetings parents and guardians! Welcome back to school and to an exciting year of learning! Before I tell you about the great things your child will be doing in kindergarten let me introduce myself to you. My name is Rebecca Walters and I have just finished 2 years training primary school teachers (as well as a variety of other activities) in Niamina Dankunku, way up the south bank, here in the Gambia. Previously I have trained primary school teachers in Namibia, Southern Africa for two years and also taught grade one and grade two in Jamaica. So as you can gather I am a primary School teacher coming from America but moving around to where I am needed. I am so excited to be the new kindergarten teacher at Banjul American Embassy School. I believe that kindergarten is really where the children develop the foundation for lifelong learning so I am honored to be asked to aid in this development. With hard work and fun times your children will not only learn the foundational skills for...

Just heard about Jesus People USA from a co-worker of mine, Tom, who knows a few of the people that were closely involved with starting it. They're a community of evangelical protestant Christians who live together in common, all ~500 of them at one address on the north side of Chicago in the Uptown neighborhood. Very exciting to discover them, though disappointing to also discover that with all their inclusiveness, they are explicitly sola scriptura (disclaimer: I haven't read through that wikipedia article, though I do lend the site some trust). Intentional community is the phrase that gets touted in groups like this and the People of Praise. It has intense meaning within it, first hinted at in the Acts of the Apostles, and still very much counter-cultural. It toys with your definitions of freedom and responsibility, ever whispering in your head, " Not enough! " That said, I google-datamined the site in an attempt to learn more about it's stance on othe...

The issue of justification, simply put, what Christians must do to get to Heaven -- was the central dispute in the Reformation that split western Christianity and plunged Europe into the Thirty Years' War. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict played a key role in drawing up the Catholic-Lutheran declaration that revoked heresy charges against reformer Martin Luther and said disputes that led to the Reformation over four centuries ago were null and void. Luther, a German monk who posted his famous 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg in 1517, held people could be saved not by faith and good works, but by faith alone. Luther was angered by the Catholic Church's teaching that good works could also lead to salvation, a view that was corrupted into the practice of selling indulgences to those seeking absolution for their sins. The 1999 statement satisfied both Lutherans and Catholics, saying that salvation is achieved through God's grace and this i...