Just one compact fluorescent bulb

I recently heard that “If every household in America switched out one [regular light bulb for a] compact fluorescent bulb it would reduce energy consumption as much as taking a million cars off the road.” -Rob Bell 7/29/07 brackets mine.

A million cars off the road! Imagine that.

I was introduced to these bulbs by my European in laws. Not only do they reduce your energy usage, they last longer, which means more for your money. Now, perhaps you’re like me, when I hear the word fluorescent I think of those long tubes giving off the nastiest, most unforgiving light. Not the case here. These bulbs actually give off light similar to a regular light bulb. We have switched out almost all of our bulbs for these. It’s really probably the easiest thing you can do to be more mindful of the earth we live on/with.

think about it.

cook out

So I promised Ben that I would upload some photos of the cookout we had outside of his home. Don’t let him fool ya, he can cook a mean steak for a Finn! we also had grilled figs filled with chocolate, very interesting. Oh and notice that even in Finland weber is the only way to grill.

for lent

So this past lent season I gave up morality. What a ride. More to come…

ikon website

f’n brilliant, I think. Have you seen Ikon’s website lately, the one that is modeled after wikipedia? It really says something, when a community allows their web-presence to be edited by the masses. But should we expect anything less from this group of createalogians. (I made that word up, let me know if you like it.) It is from this group that we get the fantastic book How Not to Speak of God.

tucson has an irish pub!

Okay I am a big fan of Irish Pubs, and most things Irish for that matter. However I have spent most of my days in Tucson, Arizona which until recently was desolate in the way of Irish Pubs. My favorite Irish pub is Molly Malones in Helsinki. Helsinki is undoubtedly one of my favorite cities, only its so far away. Oh the dilemma, where to find authentic Irish fayre, atmosphere and a cold glass of Guinness.

Now for the gospel- we have an Irish Pub, and, oh and, it is within walking distance of my house! Oh God loves me! It is true The Auld Dubliner has at last arrived. The entire place was crafted in Ireland and shipped over, no kidding. The Food? Well they serve among the traditional Irish fayre, Leprechaun Balls! Leprechaun balls are flash fried little potatoes smothered in hot wing sauce and blue cheese crumbles, the true food of the little people. The Guinness? Ice cold and well poured. And if you have a tmobile account you can mooch wireless off of the Starbucks next-door. Need I say more?

this post was written and posted from the auld dubliner. hooray.

if you like music…

I always liked going to the Barnes and Noble music listening stations, mostly because of the red dot net similar artists feature. This feature allows you to type in a band and find similar bands and to give em a listen. I thought, how great would it be to have this at home. Thanks to Pandora now I do and now, I am exposed to tons of artists I may have never been otherwise.

The way it works? You type in a song or artist you like and it creates a station of similar artists/songs. It’s free, all you have to do is create an account.

Pandora was created by the music genome project, this is what they have to say about themselves:

“Ever since we started the Music Genome Project, our friends would ask:

Can you help me discover more music that I’ll like?

Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.

We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you.”

So if you like music, I mean really like music…

Emergent conversation- a family matter

It is for the famous Smith family of the Calvary Chapel movement. A Friend recently sent me this LA times article. It is well worth a read. I think it paints a good picture of the chasms that need be crossed on both sides of the conversation as well as a solution, or rather an approach, that of love, love like we would have for a family member.

enjoy.

Update, New poems and some emerging/ent thoughts

Update, New poems and some emrging/ent thoughts

 

Wow, so much had been going on lately that I am really deprived of knowing where to start. So for starters, I am enrolled once again in an institute of higher education pursuing a degree in creative writing. As you can tell I need all the help I can get. This, in large part is the reason for the undue neglect to this blog.

 

I am also focused on a new gig, professionally. I was informed that the religious institution of which I have served on the global outreach team for the past six years is allowing me support, to work with a group of friends in the transition/ emergence of another faith community. For those readers who know me well, know what a privilege and relief this is. Not that my previous gig was bad, but it was pulling me into a black hole other than that magnificence to which I am otherwise gravitating toward. This all came about, in large part because of a miracle wrought by my friend Dave Fleming, but of course.

 

I am still overseeing the Living Room and that is as exciting as it ever was. Especially now that we have some momentum on a community development project that has been a heartfelt passion of ours for some time.

 

I have just posted a new poem and thought you ought to be the first to know, you can find it here.

 

 

Now some thoughts:

I was talking with a friend recently who is in the employ of a religious establishment of the rather contemporary evangelical sort. We have been dialoguing for some time, practicing the art of dipping our toes into the emergent conversation. That’s a mouthful right there I know. Regardless, my friend recently asked me to lunch for conversation, after having recently read a book that as Doctor Phil might say, dropped a hornet in his hanky. The book shook a lot of paradigms for my friend but was only really an entry point into the conversation.

 

I figured we were on safe ground so I started in with ideas, a thousand colorful what ifs. After about an hour my friend looking particularly bewilder, looked at me and said something like whoa, you are pulling bricks out left and right. He was of course referring to the building blocks of evangelical Christianity, of which many are made from the mud of a modern worldview rather than the heritage of faith Christianity owes itself to. I apologized, backed up and offered some comfort in the form of easy illustration.

 

I realized in that moment that I better take a dose of my own medicine. I have always said that it is impossible to get someone to leap from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other in a single bound. No, if we are to get to the other side without dying, or in this case shipwrecking our faith, we need to take the slow steady journey down (deconstruction) one side and up (emergence) the other. So a word to my emergent friends out there, lets help people take the slow and sometimes painful journey, often holding their hand and not push people off cliffs.

 

Good night and have fun….

Israel and Lebanon

Watching the BBC news this morning one of the reporters commented saying that the situation is beginning to get complicated. Beginning, I thought. Man where has she been?  A lot of people have been asking me what is going on over there, they have wanted my take on things. Perhaps it is because I have spent a small amount of time in that area of the world. Perhaps it is that they just wanted to talk with someone about this nonsensical mess. My take on things is that they really are complicated. You see it’s hard to say anything more than that when your in my situation. I have dear friends in both countries. I get a glimpse of each side of the story and both and neither make sense to me at the same time. It reminds me of a story in the bible where this angel shows up to this warrior and the warrior asks the angel, “are you for us or against us”, and the angel simply says no.

It’s real easy to have a strongh opinion when you are just talking about ideas. When it crosses the relm of ideas and comes down to people that you know, and love, it is quite another thing.