I saw that George Carlin passed away yesterday from heart failure. I loved his sense of play on words, ideology and social commentary. Even though I didn't always agree with him on certain issues, I always appreciated what he brought to the conversation. Here is one of my favorite (non-vulgar) rants from George:
June 23, 2008
June 21, 2008
What They'll Remember
I just got back from an exciting week at Camp Emmaus. I was a counselor for 3rd and 4th graders as well as helping to teach nature stuff to them. These kids couldn't get enough of me teaching them tracking, fox walking, wide-angle vision and much more pertaining to the natural world. At our closing circle, when the kids were asked about what they liked and will remember about camp; more than half the kids talked about tracking, fox walking etc...
I was blown away!
I didn't know if these kids would really get some of the things that I'd learned at Tracker School but they just ate it up! I was talking to one of the camp board members and mentioned the possibility of doing a wilderness camp next year, one for elementary kids and one for high school youth. She was instantly excited about those ideas and asked me to submit a summary for those camps at the next camp board meeting in July!
Some good things are happening here in Illinois and I saw this as an opportunity to test some of the things I would be teaching the girl scouts this coming week as well. Maybe this is part of what I'm supposed to be doing... helping others to be more connected to the earth and ultimately to the Creator.
This looks to be a very good summer, if the past two and a half weeks have been any indication. Trust me, you'll be hearing much more to come.
I was blown away!
I didn't know if these kids would really get some of the things that I'd learned at Tracker School but they just ate it up! I was talking to one of the camp board members and mentioned the possibility of doing a wilderness camp next year, one for elementary kids and one for high school youth. She was instantly excited about those ideas and asked me to submit a summary for those camps at the next camp board meeting in July!
Some good things are happening here in Illinois and I saw this as an opportunity to test some of the things I would be teaching the girl scouts this coming week as well. Maybe this is part of what I'm supposed to be doing... helping others to be more connected to the earth and ultimately to the Creator.
This looks to be a very good summer, if the past two and a half weeks have been any indication. Trust me, you'll be hearing much more to come.
June 16, 2008
Where the action is
I joined facebook today and will probably close out my personal myspace account since nothing really happens there. I will keep my myspace music page though. Seems to me I know more people who are on facebook and they are more active than myspace as well.
June 09, 2008
Severe Weather
This picture was taken by my wife about 7:30 last night as we drove back home from Indiana. It was some of the darkest clouds I've ever seen. We had some severe weather last night and into the morning here in NW Illinois and SW Wisconsin.
June 03, 2008
A New Venture... New Name
Tomorrow I start working with the Girl Scouts Camp in this area as a naturalist. Ever since returning from Tracker School last September, I thought that I might enjoy working in nature education. I am slightly nervous about what I have to offer but excited about the possibilities of passing on knowledge about our natural world. The irony in the whole matter is that I am strongly interested in male spirituality and find it humorous that I will be the only male at camp this summer!
I was informed that we do not go by our real names at camp, rather by a nickname, so you can guess who I'll be addressed as this summer... Wolf.
Makes me think of Vision Quest, where you are given a new spirit name or Rev. 2:17.
I was informed that we do not go by our real names at camp, rather by a nickname, so you can guess who I'll be addressed as this summer... Wolf.
Makes me think of Vision Quest, where you are given a new spirit name or Rev. 2:17.
Nostalgia. Grief. Hope.
There was an interesting reflection in this month's Messenger by Guy Wampler. The reflection dealt with how we tend to favor nostalgia instead of grieving about a particular era gone by. He notes that "Saying goodbye to that which is past makes room for something new to happen. Grief while painful, has the potential of becoming more liberating." And he invites the reader to move beyond the notion of nostalgia which (I believe) elicits worry about the present circumstances with this great little quip "Worry will not free tomorrow of its troubles; it only robs today of its strength."
The reflection spoke to me because I tend to be a nostalgic person. I often long for the "way it used to be" and I'm in my late 20's! Maybe its because I have this idealistic notion of how when we had to work harder at something it required a bit more intentionality than we give to things nowadays. I would say that the reason I tend to be nostalgic is because I seek to discover how we might return to that way of intentionality only knowing more because of of our hindsight.
Then Guy goes on to say "Nostalgia is to romanticize the past and to long to recover it. Grief is to mourn the loss of that which was once cherished, but to let it go and allow something new to come into being."
Maybe I should learn to treat those moments of nostalgia much more like I do when I grieve the loss of my mother. It is easy to remember the good times and love that she shared with us while she was on this earth... but instead 0f getting caught up in that emotion, I think about how she continues to live in me and the things I say and do in the smallest of ways points to her life and her influence on me.
I need to be less nostalgic... only then can I begin to hope. Hope that my life does reflect what my mother taught me. Hope that for such a time as this, God is doing something new and wonderful in my life and in the church. After all, why should I think about the "good 'ol days" then and miss the goodness of this day!
The reflection spoke to me because I tend to be a nostalgic person. I often long for the "way it used to be" and I'm in my late 20's! Maybe its because I have this idealistic notion of how when we had to work harder at something it required a bit more intentionality than we give to things nowadays. I would say that the reason I tend to be nostalgic is because I seek to discover how we might return to that way of intentionality only knowing more because of of our hindsight.
Then Guy goes on to say "Nostalgia is to romanticize the past and to long to recover it. Grief is to mourn the loss of that which was once cherished, but to let it go and allow something new to come into being."
Maybe I should learn to treat those moments of nostalgia much more like I do when I grieve the loss of my mother. It is easy to remember the good times and love that she shared with us while she was on this earth... but instead 0f getting caught up in that emotion, I think about how she continues to live in me and the things I say and do in the smallest of ways points to her life and her influence on me.
I need to be less nostalgic... only then can I begin to hope. Hope that my life does reflect what my mother taught me. Hope that for such a time as this, God is doing something new and wonderful in my life and in the church. After all, why should I think about the "good 'ol days" then and miss the goodness of this day!
June 01, 2008
If only a little room
From a letter written by J. Heinrich Arnold:
A simple reminder of how we must constantly empty our hearts and minds of things that keep us from living an abundant life in Christ.
I thank God that you feel an inkling of the reality of Jesus in your life.
Nourish this small flame and let it grow. Jesus can come into your heart only
insofar as it is emptied of other things. If a bucket of water is full, you
cannot add to it; but if it is emptied, it can be refilled. You must become
empty. Jesus will touch you even if there is only little room for him.
A simple reminder of how we must constantly empty our hearts and minds of things that keep us from living an abundant life in Christ.