Truth Decay - the book

There are some pretty interesting philosophical theories out there. It seems strange, in a way, that anyone would buy into some of them.

Like the coherentist viewpoint — according to which T can be true under belief system XX while non-T can be true under belief system YY. Since T and non-T are mutually exclusive, they cannot in reality both be true.
Then there's the constructivist view, which states that truth is derived from what we experience, etc. This is in opposition to the idea that truth is objective, that it doesn't require experiences to be produced.

A belief system must be coherent in order to be valid — in other words, a logical belief system will not include two beliefs that are mutually exclusive. Strangely, one philosopher decided that coherence is the ONLY requirement for something to be true. For example, if a belief system stated that cats are primates and that humans must breathe water to live, it would have met all the requirements for a true belief system and would — gasp! — therefore be true. Of course, a belief system composed of abstract statements would not immediately sound that absurd, so it might be kind of easy for a person to convince themselves of the validity of such a philosophy.

Some Christian apologists think it necessary to evangelize using postmodern thinking. This might get sinners to agree that Jesus is Lord — but there happens to be more to Christianity than that one fact. Christianity encompasses the Truth of God, which is not to be understood by postmodern thought patterns. The Truth of God is objective, it can exist apart from the human mind and it exists whether or not we make statements that express it. (The whole idea that language is required for truth to exist just doesn't make sense — but that is another postmodern idea.) If you're gonna present Christianity, present it all and don't fudge.

I thought this was neat (it refers to Eph 4:15):
"'"Speaking the truth in love" is not the best rendering of this expression, for the Greek verb makes no reference to our speech. Literally, it means, "truthing (aletheuontes) in love," and includes the notions of "maintaining," "living," and "doing" the truth.'" (Pg. 151 of "Truth Decay" by D. Groothuis, copyright 2000, InterVarsity Press) There is no point to believing truth if you don't live it out.

There is also no point to beliefs that are not grounded in Truth. Holding to such could cheapen real Truth in the eyes of those involved. Along the same lines, it is important for parents to couple real Truth to the valid beliefs they pass on. Otherwise, their progeny may ignorantly throw out such beliefs thinking they are based purely on tradition.

Did you know...

...both podiums and pulpits are either lecterns or platforms for standing on. Seems like I've heard some controversy over the right word to use in regard to the piece of furniture preachers place their notes on, but maybe there has been no controversy at all and I have just been clueless this whole time.

...those nifty air pockets in the heels of some shoes (e.g. my running shoes) increase in size when the ambient temperature is up — like tires on a car. I thought maybe there was something stuck to my shoe this afternoon, the way the heel felt under my foot.

...I wish preachers would not feel compelled to quit when closing time is reached. I mean, it's good to be reasonable and not drag the sermon on really long. But if the fellow has good things to say, then let's hear 'em!

...living at J&O's makes me some minor portion of an aunt - it's great! Today their son David, his wife and three children are expected from Mexico (actually, they're probably at the house already), and they'll be around for a while. It'll be neat to get to know the family better, and have fun with the children.

...it would be good if I came to work earlier and/or worked more quickly so I wouldn't still be here at 7:37 pm. This sort of research involves a lot of start-this-process-and-wait-x-hours — so even though I've been at the college for over 10 hours, I haven't really done that much labor myself.

...PCs are sad sorts of computers because m-dashes are not easy to type on them.

...it's better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Maybe that applies to blogging, too... especially when the blogger hasn't eaten for 11 hours...

Poor in Spirit

Bro. Urie Sharp was in rare form Sunday morning. He preaches about once a year at Hopewell, and I behold his seated pre-sermon presence on the podium with great pleasure. If you have never heard Urie preach, well, you've missed out.

Sunday was no exception.

He stated (before the body of the sermon) that each of us is in essence writing our own epitaph, as we go about life in whatever way we do. What would you like to be truthfully said of you on your tombstone?

His main theme: Christians should be "poor in spirit." Now, that doesn't mean we should be depressed all the time - it's not "low spirits" (although Christians should definitely be "low in spirits" i.e. alcohol). Watch me get the real definition wrong, but I think "poor in spirit" refers to a proper view of ourselves - clearly seeing our need for Christ and the position we have in his kingdom. We have nothing to offer ourselves spiritually.

Two people may clothe, feed and visit people for completely different motives and with completely different internal results. One may do it because he wants to think highly of himself - another because he loves and honors God.

I noticed this verse during one of the topics Sunday night. I cannot sit back and expect God to change my life without any effort on my part - it's a concerted effort: "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." Col 1:29

Just My Dad and I

Friday evening it was just my dad and I at home and he proposed that we go do something.
So we went to town and ate Mexican food, looked for an iBook power adapter in Fry's Electronics, played mini-golf, and ate ice cream. We both ended up under par overall, which I don't think is saying much since it was just mini-golf - but it was good fun anyway. It'd be neat to try real golf sometime. At home we listened to a CD or two produced by Erich Kunzel.
My dad is awesome - not strictly because he did all that with me, but because of why he wanted to.

I do not think sewing will be a lucrative way to diminish my anticipated college loans. Too slow and you can't sell the finished products for much.

Writing might be a better possibility.

Money, Wedding, Singing

Yester eve some Hopewell youth girls sang at V & E B's place. EB is a great encouragement to me - so upbeat in spite of her health. That's the way I want to be if I am ever elderly (that wasn't supposed to rhyme).

We also did some planning for BK's bridal shower (not BK from the town of Brownsville - don't want to be starting any rumors here).

It looks like I will be flying with some of the G family to BK's September wedding.

I have to get loans this year - sigh - but I want to do all within reason to keep my total loan burden low. Working at Subway (! - that'd be a first, but I don't think I would have to compromise any convictions), father-daughter bonding time as we clean out the barn and sell junk on eBay, sewing, etc - there are a few potential options.

Postmodernism

According to the book "Truth Decay" by D. Groothuis, around 1990 Russian literary critics were still interested in absolute truth while American critics had "moved beyond" such "outmoded" thinking.

Life is easy here in the US - at least with reference to political upheavals and physical comforts. Shakily grounded philosophies may often allow the justification of pleasure-seeking, God-ignoring lifestyles. When the populace does not see stark and awful results of such philosophies taken to the max, it may be easy for them to skirt reality and buy into the philosophies even if they are not logical.

I'm enjoying tracing the logic paths in this book. E.g. according to some postmodernists, "truth" is the result of language and does not relate to objective reality. Applying that to postmodern philosophies themselves, they cannot be reality because they are the result of discourse.

College Student Retreat

Anabaptist college students, Sibley Mansion, Franklin, PA
July 3, 2005
Double click to see a larger version.
(Thanks to Faith Builders for the picture.)

Salesmen

As I've written before, people can really make life interesting. No matter how hard you look, you'll never find two alike. And a given person is not usually like himself at all times. I really enjoy nature, but if I had to choose between living as a hermit (which is "a spiced cookie made with molasses, raisins, and nuts", as I discovered when I was trying to find out whether hermits are by definition male - which they are not) and living in Harlem - well, I'd choose Harlem. (Which is not to say that I wouldn't want to live in Harlem even when not presented with such a decision, but I'll leave that thought for now.)

The people yesterday were interesting... they were salespeople, and salespeople like I have never seen before.

I have not historically been one for using natural remedies (though I am intrigued by them). Some natural remedies are just as dangerous as their synthetic counterparts (just compare the plant section in a toxicology textbook to the shelves at a natural stuff store, and you'll see what I mean). There are some natural products that, if they work at all, likely do so by the placebo effect.

But I received from my friend SS some first-hand anecdotal evidence that oil of oregano (I'm gonna call that "ooo" from now on) cleared up a sinus infection in a stunning fashion, and I (in a stroke of absolute genius, making a jump in logic that was founded on, well, not a great deal of concrete evidence) declared "I wonder if it would work for athlete's foot."
Hence, while my bacteria were growing and my plasmid + insert were ligating, I puttered down to Stoker's VitaWorld. Now, my tendency upon entering retail stores is to try to not make eye contact with anyone and head for some inconspicuous part of the store so I will not get pounced upon by an ever-watching salesperson. I was practicing my no-eye-contact and intent-looking technique, and wondering if I would be pounced upon, when this sales rep for Solaray approached me. Not even the owner of the store - he just happened to be there taking inventory on his products or something.
He showed me his ooo product and, upon my inquiring into literature on the subject, was actually pretty helpful. It so happened he had a booklet about ooo sitting on his satchel, so I got to read all these warnings about making sure you get the type with lots of carvacrol and not much thymol (thymol probably causes major liver damage or something similarly delightful) and got to chuckle to myself about the seeming lack of scientific knowledge behind the booklet. He was showing me some acidophilus products they had and, well, I wanted to let him know this wasn't just some country bumpkin who would believe everything he said because she had no knowledge to counter it. And I do really have an interest in alternative medicine for animals. I told him I was a vet student and asked if they knew about using natural products in animals - so he introduced me to some of those... (Here I will state that I was personally a large part of the "problem" there at the health store. I could have been tight lipped and unfriendly and have successfully curtailed the attempts at selling me on stuff. But I happened to be in a talkative, outgoing mood - in spite of - or maybe because of - my summer time ailment that I don't know how I got (maybe I was a bit delirious).)

The actual owner of the store had been helping someone else, but when that was accomplished he descended on me with eventual gusto. Wondered if he could help me or whatever. Now, to set the stage jist a bit, this fellow was slightly reminiscent of the 70's (though for all I know he attends the local Baptist church) - had been in the business 20 years - graduated from OSU with a degree in nutrition.
He knew I was looking at the ooo product...
"but here, see, I don't want you wasting your money - this is really what you want - this tea tree oil stuff - see, there's a brush inside and you gotta put in on the face of the skin. Really, there's any number of things you could use for the same problem. Some people try the ooo, and it doesn't work so they try the tea tree oil, and it works. It's like getting your vitamin C from guava vs strawberries - just a different plant for a different part of the world. Down in SA they would use thus-n-such. Over in China they use this-n-sich. Same idea, just a different product."

Later, when I was hemming and hawing (I stubbornly wanted to try the ooo and it was after all less expensive than the tea tree stuff - but I didn't want to go against what the guy suggested - it seemed unkind somehow) - "so you want to try the ooo. [He whips around to another isle and presents, with a flourish, a vial of ooo - not in capsules like what I had been looking at.] This is what you want then - just the oil, not in capsules."
Well that stuff was even more expensive than the tea tree stuff, and the bottle didn't say how much of the solution was actual ooo. So I'm like "Well, see here now you've mixed my stubbornness with my desire to get the most bang for my buck" (hm, I'm using a lot of writer's license in this post) "this stuff doesn't say how many grams of ooo it contains."
And here he produces a calculator, states there are 20 drops per ml, therefore 160 drops per vial - which shows how many doses the vial contains but not how many mg's of ooo. I'm still not convinced and the vial still costs way more than the capsule version.
So I hem and haw and he pulls out a card. Concealing its message with his hand he places it on the counter and asks "Are you ready?" Me: "I don't know." Him: "You've got to always be ready." And he reveals a 20% student discount card. "Does that help you?" And I'm thinking - 20% off the expensive stuff - it's still a lot more than the cheaper stuff - and I stand there.
I don't like to oppose the suggestions of others, and I don't like to appear to waffle in my decisions - so my tendency would have been to buy the expensive stuff and leave.
But I didn't want to give in to my tendencies, to be over come by the somewhat overbearing sales techniques. Allowing oneself to be pressured into a decision is weak. So I decided to be stubborn and stick with what I had originally wanted. I would have expected the man to be somewhat displeased with me, but he didn't appear to be. I think the decision was a good exercise for me.

He gives me the 20% discount, and he's talking about how you have to go the whole way (with relation to building up his business and giving people discounts), you've gotta persevere - like Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France however many times.
I was on my way toward the door, and another customer was waiting. The store owner was like "Bob [the customer], don't leave" and he accosts me even in my departure, handing me a couple freebie magazines and pointing out some article about blueberries improving memory and some other one about pet remedies. I thought he was done, but he went back to his desk and produced some other flier, sticks it in the magazines - and I'm gone, walking out the door. I was inwardly shaking with laughter, but consciously suppressed it until I was out of eyesight of the establishment. Whew! What a time. Guess I could learn to be less friendly...

Weekend Events

Friday evening I played softball with a number of Hopewellites. Wow, some of them were in a really crazy mood. I don't know if it was somehow instigated by an SUV of girls who yelled "We're in a wedding!!" as they drove by, and it couldn't have been the moon, because it was only half full. But something got into my fellow Anabaptists - don't think I'd ever seen someone hit a ball one-armedly while talking on his cell phone. Or seen any number of other crazy actions which it would take too much verbosity to describe. Those people are priceless.

My youth group is practicing for another singing program - most of the songs are new-to-me, which is great.

It's great to have Sunday evening service at 6 pm.

It's great to work in a lab where people know what they're doing - it makes it a lot better for a summer student who doesn't have gobs of time for trial and error.

Give it a Chance

Never give up on a melted agarose gel. Just put it on ice 'til it solidifies and then take a look on the UV light. It just might be fine.

So Long

"I Kissed Dating Goodbye" - I tell you, it's impossible. For me, that is, because I've never dated.

Never dated, and never plan to take up a short-term dating lifestyle. The foolishness of fragmenting one's heart by a multitude of intimate relationships has been pretty well instilled in me. I've been convinced for a while of the wisdom of a hands-off courtship. Purity is not something to mess around with.

Though I figured I'd basically agree with the book's premise, I decided to read it anyway. Let's see if I can pass on a bit of the gold, mixed with my thoughts. (Some of the following may be direct quotes from the book even if not quotation-marked.)

Love before (and after, too, for that matter) marriage should not be superficial, but should "[abound] in depth of insight." A person "in love" should be able to analyze their motivations for thinking and acting the way they do in relation to the "loved."

Short-term dating is not sin, of itself, but it is not the best way. We should always strive for the best - we fail enough as it is, without knowingly inhibiting choices for the best.

A hands-off policy does not only serve to stop a downhill progression of behavior - it may be necessary to keep the lovers from impure thoughts.

If a dating relationship is unlikely to end in marriage, it is wasting much time that could be used to grow in other areas and serve other people.

I liked the concept of "obedience with abandon" - selling out completely on my self, giving God everything. If I've given God everything, then I will be content with my current lot in life, realizing it is preparing me for things ahead, realizing that if I knew what God knows, I wouldn't even want to be in the future at my current maturity level.

Waiting is usually required to obtain "things that are truly worthwhile."

It was interesting to think of singleness as a "seasonal" gift from God. For some reason, I used to think of the gifts of singleness and marriage as not occurring in the same person. I and most of my close friends currently have the gift of singleness, but God may grant the gift of marriage to many of them - hence both gifts in one life. I know that's not very profound, but I'd never thought if it in that way.
Dating can actually remove some of the gifts of singlehood by distracting our focus from God. It is probably (much) worse than marriage in that regard.

On page 83, Harris presents a quote by William Booth that sums up my concern for a lot of Mennonite girls. I have an aversion to the use of the word "fool," but here's the quote: "'Don't instill, or allow anybody else to instill into the hearts of your girls the idea that marriage is the chief end of life. If you do, don't be surprised if they get engaged to the first empty, useless fool they come across.'" Pretty sad, pretty sad.

"Living a pure life before God requires the teamwork of your heart and your feet." (p. 92)


One of my main challenges for the present is keeping God in the center of my attention, allowing His desires to direct my life. If I do that, it seems like everything else will fall into place.

Prison Ministry

After work yesterday I shot some baskets and went to Brownsville for church. Ron and Rhonda Yoder from Gospel Express were there - they did some singing and Ron presented information about the ministry. It's really neat how God can change lives, how he can take a criminal with a hopeless life behind bars and give him something worth living for.
If I was in a ministry like that, I wonder if it would be hard to care for the soul of each individual prisoner - I'd see so many of them and wouldn't really get to know many of them well...
Yes, I think it would be impossible to really care for them all... if I was only tapping my strength. But I wouldn't have any business joining such a ministry if I didn't intend to include God in the picture. (Rather, I don't have any business calling myself a Christian, period, if my "love" and "righteousness" are self-made.) With God in the equation, my concern for the souls of men is only limited by my failure to receive God's love for others and have faith in the truth of God's word.

Ory-gone, I Came

I flew home on Monday - Pittsburgh to Atlanta to Portland. The trip was mildly eventful. Hurricane Dennis altered the weather in Atlanta, so the flight from Pittsburgh was delayed about an hour. It didn't really matter to me - I didn't have any deadlines to meet in Oregon, and wasn't too worried about making my connecting flight (figured if I missed it things would still be fine).

So I was sitting there in Pittsburgh, next to an elderly lady, and we got to talking. She was worried about flying - her son-in-law had told her that the reason we were delayed was because airline workers were on strike, and she was worried that the workers the airlines had in place of the striking ones would be incompetent and increase the likelihood of a plane crash. She was really taking it pretty bad - couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and said she was breaking out in sores. She went off for a bit, and came back. I was hoping I could get her thinking about something nice... but she ended up telling me how daughter 1 wouldn't talk to her and daughter 2 had health problems. She thought the situation with daughter 1 would remain bad for a long time... I told her I would pray for the relationship, and encouraged her that prayer can do some pretty amazing things. She agreed, said daughter 1 had quit going to church - but also mentioned that she had quit as well and was therefore just as bad.
I think she appreciated the conversation... I hope she'll think twice about her life decisions and make a turn for the better. Lift a prayer for her if you think about it.

Yesterday I messed around at home - should have tackled my bedroom but found the dining room more appealing (that's really pretty bad of me). I returned to the bacteria and DNA today. This morning I went to a seminar - I got there late, and therefore missed the preliminary information. So this guy was up there talking about "quorum sensing" and RhlR and LasR (or some such) genes, and I was sitting there wondering what in the world quorum sensing was. Now, the thing about some jargon is that I tend to get a mental block when I can't remember having seen it before. But that isn't fair to the jargon - some of it can be sort of figured out if one will just give it some thought. Eg, for quorum sensing. First, the reaction is "Aaah! who knows?" Next, organize brain. Then, "Hmm, a quorum has to do with there being enough of something. Sensing means, well, to sense the presence of. The guy's talking about biofilms (which are bacterial communities that form on medical implants and c.), so maybe quorum sensing has something to do with determining if there's enough bacteria to form a biofilm." Not exactly the definition of quorum sensing, but such thinking can help decrease the "lost" feeling.

Indeed, it's good to be home. One of the great things about the trip was meeting new people - one of the difficult things about the trip was meeting so many new people, forgetting most of their names, and then running into them again. If I was around certain people enough, or if they were outstanding enough, I eventually got a feeling for their life, name, and place of origin. For other people, I would sometimes try to interact without letting on that I had forgotten their name and importance at FB. There were just too many of them to keep 'em all straight.
It'll be nice to return to Hopewell, the dwelling by the Big Muddy, my golden friends (here referencing a song I learned way back in Brownies, in 1990 or sometime: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."). Now, all you silver friends, don't feel bad, PLEASE. Silver friends can undergo some sort of time- and interaction-based alchemy and become golden friends whom one can feel very comfortable around. The reaction has already begun.

It's a Small (Mennonite) World After All

I have felt a little funny hanging out here at Faith Builders. "Everyone" else was busy and I? I was to be seen visiting classes, eating in the cafeteria and reading a book in front of the dorms. Basically, not being very productive, la, la.

On Tuesday it dawned on me that perhaps I could make myself "useful"... so Wednesday found me "sweeping" the personal care home (brought back memories of my old cleaning job - except that there were delightfully no elderly people sleeping in any of the rooms as I vacuumed) and chopping vegetables in the Faith Builders kitchen. So good to at least feel and look slightly industrious! Tuesday evening I also got to help weed Wilbur Graybill's corn patch - talk about getting dirty! The fellowship was good, too.

My friend DA had arranged her marriage for Friday, so the previous day my brother and I departed on a little road trip to Michigan. The travel time was good for talking and reading from "Our Mutual Friend" (book persists at being strange - I have yet to determine if the message of the book is of redeeming value). I am becoming old and boring, I guess, because an 8.5 hour trip is quite bearable compared to the torture it would have seemed in my younger years. It is good, however, that time goes faster for non-mobile elderly than for youth - maybe it keeps them from getting as impatient with their lot in life. Why does it go faster for them?

What a time of seeing people from auld lang syne. We met up with a couple who stayed at our place 7.5 years ago in CA. It was sort of like turning the clock back as we visited with the bride's family, near whom we lived in CA. It was good to hear the parents' hearts for God - it's encouraging to see people who are still pressing on toward the mark.

At the wedding reception there was a sizable quantity of the typical Mennonite "oh, you're from Oregon? do you know... Marion Schrock, Nolan Bechtel, Esther Wolfer, Carol Shank..." One lady said "I'm curious about you" and asked who I was. I disappointed her a bit, I guess - wasn't who she expected me to be - but I asked who she had thought I was, and turns out I knew the family (even though they live in Tennessee, not Oregon) and my dad used to refer to one of their daughters as my separated-at-birth twin.

We may have set a new Varney record Saturday when we departed at 6:20 am.

The Lancaster County youths at Faith Builders had planned some activities for Saturday evening. The most hilarious was water balloon/sheet volleyball. For the uninformed (as I was before yesterday), there were two groups on each side, one sheet per group. A water balloon was placed in one sheet and the group was supposed to use their sheet to toss the balloon over the net. The opposing groups were to catch the balloon in one of their sheets.

When that was completed, we took our somewhat hoarse voices into the science lab and sang out of "Songs of Faith and Praise." It's been fun learning new songs in the last week and a half - great for my sight reading practice (which contributes to one of my goals from May), especially when the songs are in round notes.

One more day in PA - and then I'm back to good ole' Oregon.

Life = Worship

Yesterday afternoon I went to visit Rebecca Sauder (wife of a summer term teacher at Faith Builders) in her apartment. Before very long her husband Jonas came along and we engaged in an invigorating conversation about Christian life.

The idea of separating the sacred from the secular aspects of our lives is apparently a Greek idea (as per Jonas). As Christians we should not attempt to intertwine them, but should rather regard them as completely inseparable - which would actually eliminate the secular entirely. The whole of our lives is an act of worship.
Whatever I enjoy may be an indication of a good way I can serve God. Some people enjoy working with their hands, and can worship God in that way. Others of us enjoy working with their minds and can worship God that way. There is a place for both because each demonstrates some aspect of God - neither should be left by the way side.

Mennonites tend to be very practical people. This is good to a certain extent, but they may often take it too far. If an activity does not accomplish something good that can be visualized, or if they cannot see how the activity will spread the gospel, they may tend to downplay its value. This is especially true if it is engaged in as a full-time occupation as opposed to a pastime. Take, for example, scientific research that is not aimed at curing any particular disease; painting a landscape; or investigating a mathematical theory. We often miss the inherent value of "thinking God's thoughts after him." A great way to experience part of who God is, a great way to develop a love for the good which he has created, is to experience the beauties (visual, auditory, and scientific) he has created. We know we are to love God - but that should go beyond an abstract view of a spirit. God's creation (including scientific and mathematical laws) communicates a bit of who he is. I'm not advocating pantheism - God is not nature - but we should recognize the Creator's attributes in nature. Consider the Fibonacci numbers, the order of atomic and crystalline structure, etc. Knowing about those things may do very little to end world hunger, they may not be the crux of the gospel message, but that's really okay.

(The above ideas must be maintained in their proper balance. We can follow a life of worship through creating art and music that mirror God's attributes. Thinking with Francis Schaeffer, however, we must be careful lest our pursuit of such becomes humanistic. It is incredibly important to grant meaning from God to the particulars created on earth - otherwise we could end up "[worshipping] the creature more than the Creator.")

Jonas wondered what purpose some Christians would have in life if there were no more people to save. He thought their lives might seem empty. Yeah, I know we will never be faced with that on this earth, but his thoughts brought to mind some thoughts I've had in the last year or so about heaven. We will lack nothing in heaven, which suggests there will be no certain goal that we will be striving for. From where, then, for us practically minded people, will come our fulfillment? That fulfillment will come, it seems, from experiencing attributes of God in their fullest sense... Since earth is to be a training ground for heaven we should "labor" here to develop a deep love for God's attributes. When I was younger, I identified very little with verses like "O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Sure, I knew, factually, that I was supposed to think that. But to actually love God's law? to regard it as "sweeter... than honey"? "more to be desired... than gold?" I was too immature in my faith and the concept was too abstract - and I hadn't really come to appreciate (appreciate = "to recognize the quality, significance, or magnitude of" in this sentence) the opposite of God's law. It's good to have time on earth to develop more fully a love for God and who he really is.

Rod and Books

Monday I attended a child development class taught by Jonas Sauder. Toward the last he spoke about using the "rod" in child training. I am personally in support of such training measures, if used properly - I am likely the better for its use on me. I do however think it is wrong to use a "rod" method that creates physical damage.

I started reading "Truth Decay Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism" - I think it will prove to be a very timely read - both for my interactions with non-Christians and my attitude toward media.

Also in progress is "Our Mutual Friend" (Charles Dickens), which has been rather strange so far - talk about character sketches and strange metaphors (e.g. likening a man to a table, and additional guests to leaves placed into the table). Perhaps Dickens had a sort of fascination with undercover occupations involving cadavers - take for example Jeremiah Cruncher in "A Tale of Two Cities," who was a "resurrection man," and a fellow in the current book who (as far as I can tell) seems to get his living by taking money from corpses floating in the Thames. Somehow, that's not quite down my line of work.

FBCR - Passionate Belief

Once again, maybe was just in a gushing mood, but I could really identify with Steve Brubaker's sermon Sunday morning. He presented a pathway to passionate belief based on Matthew 13:15. First comes the studying, or gathering of facts; which is followed by the struggle to understand how to fit those facts together; which should result in following the truth decided on as a result of the struggle. He referred to "belief forged in the crucible of struggle" - imagine the intensity of the process - and stated that there are no shortcuts to passionate belief. He quoted an aged theologian who said, after his many years of study, that "Jesus loves me" was the greatest truth he had learned (or something like that). Compare that to a child who says the same thing, and then consider the following quote: "I wouldn't give a single thing for the simplicity on the near side of complexity. I would give my right arm for the simplicity on the far side of complexity."
It seems like I have gone through a fair amount of struggle in my history, trying to discover for myself what the Bible teaches. I have felt in the past that such struggle would not be necessary if I was firmly grounded in Scripture, if I read the Bible like I should... I still think there is truth in that, but it may take certain challenges from outside Scripture to make me even realize there is an issue to be struggled with, or at least to give me the urgency to engage in the struggle with gusto.

FBCR - Skits and Taizé Chants

Each small group did a skit Saturday night - there were a couple about explaining nonresistance to our fellow college students, a number about responding to social invitations (e.g. to go drinking), one or two about church responses to college attendance. I don't think I had been in much of a skit since grade school, but that sort of thing is rather down my alley. I more or less assured my group that I would laugh in the middle of my part (keeping a straight face is not one of my gifts). They thought I would be too nervous to laugh, but I (sort of sadly, sort of humorously) proved myself to be correct. I'll have to work on controlling my smile muscles...

Brandon Mullet (from Faith Builders) led us in some Taizé chants, which I happen to enjoy pretty well. I was first introduced to them by my analytical chemistry professor, Michael Everest (George Fox University), who had us sing one in class.

FBCR - Mennonite Empire?

Let's see... Saturday's talk was about, um, er, creating a Mennonite empire. No, really, it was about Mennonites getting training to fill needs in Mennonite circles - e.g. accounting. The American economy will probably become more service oriented and it therefore makes sense for Mennonites to increasingly fill such positions more than being farmers. However, while it's nice and all for Mennonites to learn to be accountants to help their churches out, by no means should that be the life goal of Christians. It is much more important to be "set on a hill" and not hidden away under the bushel of Mennonite culture and businesses and mini-empires. Just don't see how that helps spread the gospel.
Today's Mennonite church was likened to the Russian Mennonite church of some time in the 1800's - this should make us trepidate. Based on my extremely limited knowledge of Russian Mennonite history they did not take their affluence outside their communities in a major way. They eventually became materialistic and many lost their Christian values. Money is not bad of itself, but it seems we could use our vast amounts of Mennonite money to really go places in outreach. Maybe we could work less and evangelize more, open youth centers and rescue missions. And maybe we could improve the quality of our church schools by paying teachers more and thereby attracting more qualified people.

FBCR - Small Groups

We were each assigned to a small group on Friday evening. Mine was led by Andrew Schmucker, who plans to teach science in a Kansas public school; and his wife Jolynn (sp?), who supported my notion that some wives get bored from the lack of stimulation at home. The group contained a couple nursing types, a paramedic, and a highschool girl interested in animal training. I really appreciated how A & J interacted with us, and was encouraged by our discussions. We were each allotted something like 15-20 minutes to talk about issues we face at college, etc. I ended up going first, contrary to expectation - really, it was fine over all but I don't think well and deeply on the spur of the moment, and felt like I hadn't come up with much of import. But interestingly a couple of those who spoke after me mirrored some things I have experienced but hadn't thought to say - so they got mentioned nonetheless. Some general topics of discussion: relating to irrational bosses, making our beliefs deeply personal such that we can speak from our hearts instead of the surface, God's guidance for our lives (that's an ongoing issue, and actually maybe that's the way it should be), how to deal with classmates who cheat and how to approach rules that the authorities don't really expect to be followed (a non-school case in point is online agreements that we are to read before signing up for blogger, website space at 50megs.com, etc - it may only be ultrasensitive Christians who read them or feel unethical if they don't).

It was refreshing being around people of similar belief systems with (roughly) similar goals who spend much of their lives in environments similar to Oregon State. It's not like I'd strongly felt the need for such interaction before, but I did always enjoy it and having now experienced the concentrated electricity of an assembly of such people I may seek small amounts of that current more often (I hope that sentence made sense to someone).

It was also really neat to meet two Mennonite girls aiming to be medical doctors and one studying chemistry. The MDs didn't surprise me, but the chemist was a definite and very pleasant surprise. If I hadn't been going to vet school I might have majored in chemistry, and as it was got to enjoy the puzzle-type funness of organic synthesis. Yay for chemistry!

FBCR - Weekend at the Castle

Last weekend was fantastic.

Friday afternoon I went with the previously mentioned girls to the Faith Builders College Student Retreat. Our route was amusingly undirect - we could have gone almost directly south from Guys Mills to Franklin, but ended up heading west to Meadville and then curving back east. We got to know Franklin better than we would have otherwise, as we got discombobulated about which bridge we had gone over, etc.

The retreat was held in the Sibley Mansion, a.k.a. "the Castle," which is within a deciduous forest east of town. This house was built by the oil magnate Joseph Sibley, whom it seems may have drilled for oil in the surrounding area (there were pipes running through the forest along the nearby road).

That evening we were encouraged to know who we are and where we are going before entering college. That's good advice, as long as it is not taken to an improper extreme. A person should never be entirely closed to incoming ideas - at the same time they should be willing to analyze and capable of analyzing those ideas from different angles before attending college. Furthermore, as one man said, college may awaken in us things we never knew existed. There is no way to perfectly prepare for such things apart from college, but we can develop a heart after God and a steady, mature mind that is willing to think.

Knowing (to a reasonable degree) who one is and where they are going is certainly an important condition before deciding on something that may permanently lock them into a situation for many years. It's more important for marriage than for going to college.

Lake Erie Escapades

Yesterday afternoon, my brother Matt and I drove off to Presque Isle (Lake Erie) with another brother/sister pair, a brother/sister trio, and a couple other girls. (Three of the girls came to go to the college student retreat this weekend.) We played volleyball in the sand and ate some food. Some of us skipped stones across the waves, one studied algebra, and four of the girls climbed atop the lifeguard chair to visit. Shortly before they descended, three of them sang a song they wrote - about how they were studious, plain nuns who disliked volleyball and loved big words (it was, of course, somewhat tongue in cheek).
We were trekking "home," plenty of time to return before curfew at 10:30, when AK sighted an ice cream place and we added an extra stop to our journey.

A delightful evening - I felt a little like a college dorm-dwelling student and saw a little more why my brother likes it so well here.

(And don't worry, we still made it back by 10:30.)