2:45 pm, Monday, October 27,2008

The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293) is a planetary nebula ) about 650 light years away in the constellation Aquarius.

It is 2:45 pm...

Steve just called to say his flight from Flagstaff is on time, and that if all the connections continue to be on time he plans to be home tonight before midnight.

It is 2:45 pm...

Dan Whitmarsh, pastor of Lakebay Community Church, is almost certainly being prepped for a corneal transplant to correct the pellucid marginal degeneration in his left eye.

It is 2:45 pm...

He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

Lord, here are two men who are precious to you. Keep them as the apple of your eye, and return them to their families and congregations, renewed and ready to serve you.

It is 2:45 pm...

What else is He seeing? Who else is hoping in Him?

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Reinventing Capitalism and being Reinvented Ourselves

©2007-2008 =lassekongo83

Tyler Watson has a great post today entitled "Greenspan's Assumptions on Self Interest." He agrees with Samuel Gregg who writes:

If the current financial upheaval teaches us anything, it should be how much market capitalism depends upon most people developing and adhering to some rather uncontroversial moral virtues.

Watson then writes, “I wish he would say more about what those virtues should be or from where they should originate.”

It will be interesting to see if the response to the current crisis will go that far, penetrating the very character of the persons and the economic community, or if it will settle for merely dealing with external constraints in the form of increased market regulation. One will result in lasting reform; the other will only inspire circumvention.

This blog has written previously about the virtues in question, and their sources:

here: Rabbi Jonathan Saks suggests those virtues originate in the following places:

1) Sabbath
2) Marriage and Family [but Christians can understand this also more broadly as Body of Christ]
3) Education
4) the concept of Property
5) tradition/Law [Christians can also understand this more broadly as Church and Scripture]

and here: Ken Myers, from Mars Hill Audio agrees with Saks, pointing to family and community as sources for virtues like "trust, goodwill, forbearance, self-restraint, compassion, and forgiveness."

Watson makes an important observation:

There is a feedback loop between our character and the systems we create. Yes, our values shape the market; we would do well to remember that the market returns the favor.”

Free market capitalism is a modernist phenomenon, and we ignore its metaphysical foundations at our peril. The challenge in the coming days will be to see if we can create a capitalist system founded not on individualism, autonomy and novelty, but on persons, relationships and respect for the traditions and practices that sustain us in our relationships with God, each other, and the earth.

However, the only way to do that is to acknowledge our fallenness, and find forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. But then-- ironically-- we will no longer be living for the sake of any economic or political system, but for the King and His Kingdom.

Luke 9:24-25

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for you to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit your very self?

Joanna writes a Poem for Lit Class

Joanna had to write a poem for her lit class this afternoon. Her teacher is a practicing Transcendentalist, so it may get her in trouble, but I was thrilled with her effort. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.

Psalm 24

3Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?

And who may stand in His holy place?

4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood

And has not sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

"It's plain that the same thing won't be willing at the same time to do or suffer opposites with respect to the same part and in relation to the same thing" --Socrates, The Republic (436B).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Untitled)

As Emerson sat thinking,
He looked up to the sky
And it seemed like the sun was winking
"Oh golly, oh gosh, oh my!

But of course I must be blinking,"
Thought he with a sad sigh,
And just as his heart sat sinking
He leapt up with a happy cry

"Whatever I'm feeling--
Whatever my heart might imply --
I can't get it by appealing,
So I'll just kiss reason good-bye!"

It may be contradicting
But Ralph Waldo cannot deny
He is part of God existing
But God's also up in the sky.

So if the sun isn't blinking
But Emerson's heart says "Try,"
For him it's not just wishful thinking
For the sun to wink way up high.

And although it's three in the morning,
Dear Ralph is still outside,
For even despite my warning
He feels the sun shines wide.

My dear you may be thinking,
"For what write this poem, and why?"
To warn you away from contradicting
For where there's contradicting, there are lies.

QUOTES: Augustine on Luke 12:12-21

Image by Hugh Dyer

Greed wants to divide, just as love desires to gather.

--St. Augustine, Sermon 265.9

My default image of greed is that of a miser surrounded by as many coins and dollar bills as he can get. But Augustine forces me to refine my image and my speech. Misers do not gather, they hoard. On the other hand, hens do not hoard, they gather their chicks under their wings.

Lord, teach me the difference between hoarding and gathering, and help me to a person who unites, rather than separates or scatters.

Performative Utterances

Philosopher J.L. Austin pointed out that there are statements which are "performative utterances." That is, "there are there are certain things one can do just by saying what one is doing." For example, "I promise" or "I take Thee to be my lawfully wedded husband."

Today, at worship, we witnessed a performative utterance, one exhortation, and one "walk the talk."

Yesterday the papers announced the foreclosure of a multi-million dollar real estate development in which X had a large part. He has lost everything. Today X stood at the pulpit to read 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10:

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what happened when we visited you. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

My spine tingled. X was imitating Paul all right, and the gospel was coming full circle, in power through his reading of the Word. As the Lord's message rang out from X, he became a model to the believers in Eugene.

Then Steve preached on Matt. Matthew 22:15-22, "Tax Time."
It's that famous passage about "rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." IMO it was one of his more creative sermons, telling the story from the point of view of the denarius that Jesus held. The sermon concluded:

"This world is better when people like you remember what I learned that day in His Hand. When you remember how God owns you, how He both made you and then bought you again with the blood of His own Son, you will care much less about owning me. You will simply delight, like I did, to be used for His purpose, to answer His call and His desire.

So if, by His good purpose, I should come into your possession, do me a favor. Please don’t hold me tightly. That’s not His way. That’s not what I am for any longer. I don’t really belong to you. Nor do you yourself even truly belong to you. We are not our own. We are His. So do me a favor. Give me up. Give me away. Give me away for Jesus. And then we both will have known the joy of resting in His Hand for awhile. May that gracious Hand bless you.

But just before he got up to preach, someone handed him a card, and Steve announced, "Whoever has a white Honda, you need to go to your car. Someone has broken your front window has taken your purse from the front seat." Up jumped Y. and her son Z., and a couple of men from the congregation to accompany them. We all met in the parking lot, in front of her new Civic hybrid. There stood a neighbor who related how she saw a man on a bicycle come between the cars, smash the window and grab the purse.

"But it wasn't a purse! " Y. exclaimed. "It was Z's lunchbox! He was going to Mt. Pisgah to do his community service after church, and that was his lunch!" Broken safety glass glittered on the pavement. "Why would anyone take a lunchbox? And look--here's a shopping bag on the floor with a birthday present in it. Why did they take the lunchbox, and not the present?"

She stared in disbelief, then exclaimed, "Just think, of all the people that this could happen to, isn't it best that it's me" [she is a professional] "and of all the times that it could happen to me, isn't it incredible that it was today, when I am surrounded by my church family?"

S. and W. got a broom, dustpan and bucket, and began cleaning up the shattered glass. Someone else offered her a car to use until hers could be fixed.

And now as I reflect on the morning, I realize how blessed I am to live and serve with a people who are receiving God's Word and living Christ's life. They are choosing to be used for His purpose, to answer His call and His desire. They are letting Him sweep away their brokenness. They are seeking to have their words and actions form a seamless garment, so that the saying is the doing and the doing is the saying.

Just Wondering...about economics

Welcome to the U.S.S.A. !

Somebody please "splain" it to me.

When Hugo Chavez nationalizes oil, concrete and steel industries, it's a Bad Thing.

When George, Hank and Ben nationalize banks, its a Good Thing.

The new plan-- to currently fork over a $125 billion to nine banks and later another $125 billion to other needy banks in exchange for partial ownership-- is "not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it," according to our president. Hmm. We're supposed to shore up the Free Market by doing away with it. Capitalism will be saved by Socialism. Is this just a little postmodern irony? Or what?

Sorry, I'm just not tracking. Isn't it like saying, "we're going to preserve this marriage by practicing a bit of infidelity." Or "we're going to fix this decayed tooth by filling it with a sugar cube." It seems to me that all this is showing either that something is wrong with Free Markets, or that something is wrong with the socialist "bailout" strategy. Once and for all: is there an invisible hand, or isn't there? Paradox I can embrace, but contradictions drive me batty. Won't somebody please show me why all this isn't one immense contradiction?

Oh--what's that you say? It wasn't "nationalization," or "socialism;" it was a "capital injection."

Well there we finally have it!

Now would somebody please tell me how far $250 billion would go toward providing decent health care in this country? How do we go about getting one of those "capital injections" for the 44.8 million Americans who lack health insurance?

And then could somebody please tell me where exactly the $250 billion for the "cash injection" is coming from?

I'm no economist-- I'm only a philosopher just trying to get along.
-------------------------------------------------------

See the USA TODAY article here:

The president recognized reality again this week when he signed off on a plan to buy up to $250 billion of stock in the nation's leading banks....

The latest venture into commercial banks — "capital injection" in White House lexicon — is but another in a series of philosophical concessions Bush has made when convinced that sticking to his principles would bring on economic calamity. On Tuesday, he vowed that the government's role "will be limited and temporary. … These measures are not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it."

The administration adopted the latest plan, however, after more than three weeks of proposing other actions, such as buying up toxic assets from financial institutions. The asset purchases are still planned, but they will take weeks to prepare.

Paulson and others initially rejected the capital injection plan, as was tried without much success in Japan in 1999.

"The right way to do this is not going around and using guarantees or injecting capital," Paulson told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on Sept. 23. Ultimately, the equity purchase plan became one option in the $700 billion rescue plan passed by Congress.

"I think they were opposed to the idea that someone would say it's nationalization," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., who said he first proposed investing in banks at a meeting with Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Sept. 18.

By this week, Paulson had come around to the idea. "It was Hank who came and said, 'Look, we've been assessing this, and we think that given current conditions … this will work,' " White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.

Bush "backed Paulson. Whatever Secretary Paulson said, that's what he was going with," Bachus said. He said Paulson called him Monday to apologize for his initial hesitancy.

Republicans and business leaders who have met with Bush in recent weeks describe a president who's not hesitant to act. His job approval ratings — 25% in the most recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll — can't sink much lower.

Bush told business leaders at the White House earlier this month he was glad the financial crisis happened during his presidency, rather than at the beginning of a new administration, said R. Bruce Josten, the chief Washington lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Bush said he told his economic advisers, "Get after it big."

End times economists?

Heard this evening on American Public Media's Market Place:

Sean Cole: When the financial crisis really started to take hold, I got to thinking what I often think in times of crisis: that people who already believe the world is coming to an end must be feeling pretty vindicated right now. So, I went to this Web site called Rapture Forums to check out some of the discussions. This was right after the House voted down the first bail out bill and the Dow tanked. Here are some excerpts:

First comment: People, I find it amazing that it would close 777 points down today. The biblical numbers of perfect completion. I pray we are out of here soon.

Second comment: I say praise God, bring it on!

Third comment: I second your statement to praise God. All this is just bringing us closer to being with Him.

The Rapture, if you're not familiar, is when all of Christ's followers ascend to heaven. This is supposed to happen before, or after depending on who you ask, a seven-year period of great tribulation. The Antichrist enslaves humanity. All sorts of awful things happen. That's a long way off yet, but supposedly we've already entered what's known as the end times. So, I thought I should talk to a couple guys who specialize in what you might call end times economics.

Norm Franz: I believe that the fact that the Dow was down 777 points on the eve of Rosh Hashanah it didn't happen by coincidence.

Continued here.

Personally, I wish Market Place had interviewed Eugene Cho. He has an excellent blog entry that deals with money and issues of anxiety, faith and trust in a far less sensational but far more convicting way.

Meditation for Worship: October 12, 2008

Adam and Eve wore fig leaves,
Joseph had his coat of many colors.
Pharaoh gave Joseph a fine linen robe and golden chain,
And Belshazar did the same for Daniel, only his robe was purple.
Jesus had a seamless tunic,
but they took that away and forced him to wear purple with thorns.
Jacob donned sackcloth when he heard his son had been killed,
As did David.
Hezekiah, Mordecai-- even the King of Ninevah--wore sackcloth;
woven of coarse black goat hair.
But John the Baptist donned camel’s hair and leather.

They wore many different garments, but garments made by human hands.
Garments that chafe, scratch, bind.
Garments that wear thin, fray, tear;
Garments not fit for eternity, muchless your wedding feast, Lord.

So clothe us, Christ, in your truth, your beauty, your goodness.
Wrap us with your patience and peace.
Outfit us with faithfulness self-control, and kindness
That we might be adorned in love and joy,
So when the feast begins we will not be speechless,
but suited to sing your praises.


cf Matthew 22:1-14. Sermon: “Party Clothes” October 12, 2008 - Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

A Poem for Economic Collapse

The Slip

by Wendell Berry

The river takes the land, and leaves nothing.
Where the great slip gave way in the bank
and an acre disappeared, all human plans
dissolve. An awful clarification occurs
where a place was. Its memory breaks
from what is known now, begins to drift.
Where cattle grazed and trees stood, emptiness
widens the air for birdflight, wind, and rain.
As before the beginning, nothing is there.
Human wrong is in the cause, human
ruin in the effect--but no matter;
all will be lost, no matter the reason.
Nothing, having arrived, will stay.
The earth, even, is like a flower, so soon
passeth it away. And yet this nothing
is the seed of all--the clear eye
of Heaven, where all the worlds appear.
Where the imperfect has departed, the perfect
begins its struggle to return. The good gift
begins again its descent. The maker moves
in the unmade, stirring the water until
it clouds, dark beneath the surface,
stirring and darkening the soul until pain
perceives new possibility. There is nothing
to do but learn and wait, return to work
on what remains. Seed will sprout in the scar.
Though death is in the healing, it will heal.

So when does the Embryo Tax take effect?

I'm from St. Louis, where every school child makes a field trip at one time or another to the Old Courthouse, overlooking the Mississippi River, under the shadow of the Gateway Arch.

"On these steps slaves were sold," our teachers told us. "And inside is where the two Dred Scott cases were decided, which eventually resulted in the Supreme court ruling that negroes--even free negroes--are 'beings of an inferior order' and thus not able to be citizens of the United States. In other words, slaves were not considered persons, but private property."

The Dred Scott decision marks one of the nadirs of our history. Now here's another, the latest step in America's continuing compulsion for commodification. Today the Oregon Court of Appeals declared embryos to be private property. So, does this mean that someday they'll be taxable? Kyrie eleison.

---------------------------------------------------------

from the Seattle Post Intelligencer website:

Oregon court rules frozen embryos can be destroyed

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ordered six frozen embryos destroyed after ruling they can be treated as personal property in a divorce.

The court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that an agreement leaving the final decision up to the former wife must be followed.

Dr. Laura Dahl, a pediatrician, and her former husband, Dr. Darrell Angle, an orthodontist, had attempted to conceive through a process called in vitro fertilization.

After several failed attempts, the couple gave up and left the embryos with Oregon Health & Science University under an agreement that spelled out how they would be stored.

Dahl decided to have the embryos destroyed, but Angle had argued they should be donated to other couples trying to conceive.

In an opinion by Presiding Judge Rex Armstrong, the court ruled there is a contractual right to determine the fate of the embryos as personal property.

But Armstrong noted there is little guidance on who gets to make that decision in a divorce, so the court relied on a 1998 New York state case that held agreements on what to do with embryos after in vitro fertilization are binding.

Armstrong noted the ruling in New York said that it should be the parents, "not the state and not the courts, who by their prior directive make this deeply personal life choice."

Angle denied that he had read the OHSU agreement he signed with Dahl, and opposed the destruction of the embryos or their donation to science because "there's no pain greater than having participated in the demise of your own child."

But Dahl said she opposed her ex-husband's recommendation that the embryos be donated to another woman for implantation because she did not want anybody else to raise her child.

Dahl was also concerned that any child born as a result of implantation might later wish to contact the son who she and Angle had previously conceived naturally.

The court noted that Angle "does not argue that the agreement itself is ambiguous or invalid for public policy reasons" and affirmed a Clackamas County Circuit Court ruling that he agreed his ex-wife would make the final decision.

"You are not your own. You were bought for a price."

Thought Experiment: First Person Plural vs. First Person Singular

Brad makes two excellent suggestions for how we can improve our worship here. His first suggestion is that we

1. Change the "I" to "we" in 90% of the music and spoken language

Personally I think this is an idea whose time has come. But in a culture of narcissism, it will seem totally off base, perhaps even missionally counterproductive. At the very least, it will feel foreign.

So, to demonstrate the power of first person plural vs. first person singular, let's run the experiment in reverse, and try editing some familiar scripture and lyrics that are currently in the plural to the singular:
------------------------------------------------------

My Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give me this day my daily bread,
And forgive me my debts, as I forgive my debtors.
And lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.
-----------------------------------------------------------

A mighty fortress is my God, a bulwark never failing;
My helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still my ancient foe doth seek to work me woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did I in my own strength confide, my striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on my side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo me,
I will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through me:
The Prince of Darkness grim, I tremble not for him;
His rage I can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are mine through Him Who with me sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

--------------------------------------

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him
Who brings good news, good news;
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness:
My God reigns, my God reigns!

My God reigns!
My God reigns!
My God reigns!
My God reigns!

He had no stately form, He had no majesty
That I should be drawn to Him.
He was despised and we took no account of Him.
My God reigns, my God reigns!

Refrain

It was my sin and guilt that bruised and wounded Him.
It was my sin that brought Him down.
When I like (a) sheep had gone astray my Shepherd came
And on His shoulders bore my shame.

Refrain

Meek as a lamb that’s led out to the slaughterhouse,
Dumb as a sheep before its shearer,
His life ran down upon the ground like pouring rain
That I might be born again.

Refrain

Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty;
He is alive, He is alive.
God loves me so, see here His hands, His feet, His side
Yes I know, He is alive.

Refrain
_________________________________________

This is "me and Jesus" theology at it's finest, but doesn't it become immediately obvious that something big is missing?

Perhaps Robbiemuffin's graphics can make the point even better. (If there's such a thing as juridical parables, perhaps there can be juridical illustrations!) Which picture is more like the kingdom of God which we have been taught to pray for and to incarnate? First person singular...

or first person plural?

Political Playtime

via Joanna, The Obama Llama Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxVZi1-kUvM







via Brad, Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBaX9GPSaQ



The Sarah Palin Wink Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28yBI-rEqak

and finally, from LNN: Llama News Network

Learning Mandarin

Yesterday, Joanna was off school, so she had her first Mandarin lesson with our new friend David Yu, who has recently begun attending VCC. Joanna has always loved anything Asian--especially little Asian children. When the opportunity arose to join West Hills' (Portland) month-long trip to China next July, she was ready, and eager to learn the language. David has graciously offered to tutor her.

Since yesterday was a vacation day, we spent five hours with David, learning a little about Chinese culture and beginning to master the four tones, the basic sounds, and learn to count. You don't speak Mandarin, you sing it. I have a good ear, so I got the high, bright first tone down pretty well; Joanna has more of a struggle with the tones. But she has always been able to make amazing mouth noises ...explosions, animal sounds, you name it; so some of the sounds that we lack in English but that are essential to Mandarin come much easier for her.

David tells us that the Chinese have much more respect for someone who can pronounce just a few phrases perfectly, than for someone who speaks paragraphs which are mispronounced. So we spent an hour just trying to master "xiexie," or "thank you." If this is any indication of the sort of concentration Chinese students have, the U.S. is in big trouble!

Mandarin is one of the five "exceptionally difficult languages" in the world, says the Foreign Service Institute. According to this article that appeared in Time Asia a few years ago, it's never too late to try learning:

Our ability to effortlessly absorb a new language—any new language—begins to decline by age six, according to Robert DeKeyser, a professor of second-language acquisition at the University of Maryland. By the time we are 16, we have lost just about all hope of being able to speak a second language without a telltale accent, DeKeyser says. The reasons why children have a remarkable capacity to absorb new languages that adults generally lack are unclear. Some researchers studying the brain believe the answer may lie in a fundamental process by which grey matter develops. As we age, nerve fibers in our brain become sheathed in a protective coating made of fats and proteins. This coating, called myelin, boosts the speed of signals moving through the brain, but it also limits the potential for new connections. "It's as if you have a lot of tracks where people walked around the countryside and somebody came down and put asphalt on them," says Mike Long, who also teaches second-language acquisition at the University of Maryland. "Those roads are stronger and better, but they also limit possibility." In other words, adults find it difficult to alter the way they communicate because they become wired for their native tongue.

Difficult—but not impossible. In some areas, such as vocabulary memorization, older students can actually outperform younger peers. "Adults shouldn't say 'I'm too old to learn,'" says Long. "All over the world, millions of people have become extremely good in a second language, even when they started in their 30s and 40s." You can't expect to soak up Chinese like a sponge, but you do have the ability to concentrate and to study for hours on end. Unfortunately, if you want to learn Chinese, that's what you'll need to do.

Well, if nothing else, it will keep my neurons firing! "Ma, ma, ma, ma...."

Debate Fact Check

Look here to check some of the claims Biden and Palin made at their debate tonight.