The South-East Asian Earthquake and Tsunami’s death toll has risen to 125 000. That’s like taking my entire county and wiping it off the map. There’s a little over 100 000 in Champaign-Urbana-Savoy, and about 25 000 in the surrounding few miles, our 30×36 mile rectangle of very flat ground.

This helps bring this all home for me. It gives me a handle on the magnitude of what has happened. The number of people homeless is approximately the size of the Chicago metro area - City (2.7 M.) and Illinois suburbs (4.3 M.).

Imagine finding homes for all of metro Chicago - on 3rd world income.

Wow.

First, the good stuff: Illinois Basketball is still undefeated.

Work Stuff:

It’s kinda complicated making a transition from an NT4 domain to an Active Directory Windows Server 2003 domain when you’re at a large institution like the University of Illinois. We’ve been running our own departmental domain for a long time; for a number of reasons it has become important to attach ourselves to the greater University domain.

Then, you move into the switchover phase. You’ve tested everything, and you think it works. But there’s always a lot you don’t know. So when you switch to “live production” you get interesting problems. Like, for instance, that passwords that should be synchronized aren’t always. Actually, it seems most of the time they aren’t. Or your computer cloning software gives strange error messages leaving computers in unbootable states. Or when people need something to be fixed “right now!” and you have to tell them that they need to take a number.

All in all, it’s been a long day. But we’re making really good progress with the transition.

What will Monday bring?

Jonny Baker comments on the new Banksy book.

And related to that, this makes me laugh. Out loud.

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

It almost goes without saying, but perhaps it needs to be said anyway:

Please pray for the situation in Tsunami-stricken SE Asia.

I’m not sure what to pray for; here’s where I’ll start; God will lead us beyond this humble beginning:

- That aid and comfort will come quickly to those in need;
- That the sorrowing, the mourners, will be comforted;
- That in lieu of fingerpointing and blaming constructive steps will be taken to design infrastructure means of attenuating future devastation in such cases as Tsunamis
- That God’s people will be the city on the hill: good deeds shining so brightly that glory to God is natural - amidst natural disaster
- That those who ask deep questions will find deep answers

Pax omnibus in nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi

Ah, the time of the week when I post my Blogger Idol Top 5…

Some diverse posts:

1. The Religious Duty of Travelling
2. Linus and Peanuts
3. Whoa…
4. Been there, done that…
5. I hate commuting too…

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And in fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of Kings yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth he stood,
Lord of Lords in human vesture,
In the Body and the Blood
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for hevenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of Light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At his feet the six-winged seraph;
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the Presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry,
“Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, Lord Most High!”

Keep Watch!

Our salvation draws nigh.

This is the night our Lord is born.

From Irenaeus:

Being thirty years old when He came to be baptized, and then possessing the full age of a Master, He came to Jerusalem, so that He might be properly acknowledged by all as a Master. For He did not seem one thing while He was another, as those affirm who describe Him as being man only in appearance; but what He was, that He also appeared to be. Being a Master, therefore, He also possessed the age of a Master, not despising or evading any condition of humanity, nor setting aside in Himself that law which He had appointed for the human race, but sanctifying every age, by that period corresponding to it which belonged to Himself.

For He came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are born again to God — infants, and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise He was an old man for old men, that He might be a perfect Master for all, not merely as respects the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an example to them likewise. Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He might be “the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence,” the Prince of life, existing before all, and going before all.

(From Adversus Haereses, II.xxii.4)

The Illini beat Mizzou (barely)… we’re still #1!!!

A real adventure awaited me while on a trip to Latvia (Former Soviet Union) during the summer of 2002. I was with the Xtreme Team, a short-term mission trip set up like MTV’s “Road Rules.”

There were rarely two nights in a row where we slept in the same place. During our second week, we biked over gravel roads (loose sand, really) for three days to get to a church camp on the Russian border.

The camp opened with a night of singing and a bonfire. A couple of other missionaries joined us, and we quickly discovered that they didn’t know how to roast sausage over the bonfire. Being a helpful sort, I assisted one Irish missionary in making his sausage, which we then shared. He spent the rest of the night with an incredibly powerful stomach bug - which erupted on 45 minute intervals.

I didn’t think any more of this until 4 days later, when we had moved on to Tallinn, Estonia. All of a sudden, while walking around downtown (old town) Tallinn, miles from where we were staying, this stomach bug hit me. Hard.

Less than 24 hours after arriving in Tallinn, we were on the hydrofoil to Helsinki, Finland. While this wasn’t nearly as disastrous an experience as it could have been, I was uncomfortable for the whole 45 minutes on A BOAT while nauseated.

I spent the entire next day recovering. After that, I was fine. I really enjoyed the rest of the trip - seeing Lithuania and Sweden as well as Latvia, Estonia and Finland. It is a trip that I will not soon forget.

When I got home, I met with some people from my church. One of the first things they asked was, “How was Hong Kong”?

Thinking that there was some confusion, I said, “I was on a mission trip to Latvia. Was someone from this church in Hong Kong?”

The response was even more confusing than the first question: “But weren’t you sick and airlifted to Hong Kong?”

Evidently, the church’s “Prayer Chain” ministry, where people call down a “chain” of people relaying prayer requests had had a minor breakdown. Somehow Tallinn, Helsinki, hydrofoil and stomach flu had become so jumbled in the literal game of “telephone” that the story became Hong Kong and airlifted.

No, I was not airlifted from Latvia to Hong Kong.

Ok, here’s my top 5…

1. Darren, your humour is very similar to mine: First Dates
2. Well-written, powerful story: Pearls and Dreams
3. Interesting, different perspective: Biscotti Brain
4. Classy guy - like something I’d do…: In that Number
5. Similar experience: Oblation

Why do some of the world’s most creative, intelligent people spend all their time writing computer viruses, adware and hacking? I’m not sure I understand the mentality.

Most of the last week has been consumed fixing problems caused by the above activities; it is distressing to me that so many (it seems) very gifted and creative people choose to use these gifts in ways that harm others. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Well, on the other hand, it does. It makes a lot of sense. Contrary to popular opinion and current American educational philosophy, to know the good is NOT to do it. In most instances that I have seen, despite Rousseau’s protests to the contrary, “The Good” is not so compelling in any given situation as to induce favorable behavior in people and lauding of “the good” as virtuous. Teaching people rules does not mean that the rules will be followed or enforced. Nor are rules really the point, after all.

In most cases, we are satisfied with keeping behavior within certain boundaries. We do not expect everyone to be happy with how things are; but as long as they do not violate the behavioral standards, we permit attitudes, worldviews and thought patterns to crash about unchallenged in social interactions.

What we find, however, is that those attitudes, worldviews and thought patterns do not remain internal. They find expression in behaviors - some minor, some major. Thus, it should not come as a surprise to us that people do whatever they can get away with. We are looking for something deeper: the transformation of the heart.

But how does this come about? Certainly, it does not come about by coercion. That is one of the least effective means. Nor does it really come about by transferring information, or education. In that case the attitudes remain largely the same, but are expressed within the informational/educational paradigm available. We can try reasoning with people: but people can rationalize just about anything.

We can lead by example. Yet even this cannot convince someone to care. This is the most likely scenario to build transforming relationships, but it is, by nature and necessity, non-coercive. We cannot force ourselves on anyone. We cannot enforce transformation. So what can we do?

We begin with a loving invitation for them to experience life beyond themselves. This requires us to actually love them ourselves - not for our own sake - so that they might be better people and thus make our lives better by being less annoying: no. Neither do we love them for their sake: in that case, they become our project, and we their patrons. While that works to a point, even such attitudes build resentment. A patron/client relationship can never develop the closeness that will tranform the heart.

We have to take them beyond themselves, beyond ourselves, beyond their community: we have to invite them to a kind of life that is lived on an entirely different plane. We invite them to experience the love of their Creator - who is tickled with delight over their very existence. This love will so transform those who choose to let him love them that the attitudes and behaviors will become naturally good. Moreover, they will begin to experience life on their Creator’s terms - thus becoming resonant with who they were made to be.

So let’s quit fooling ourselves. Teaching people that they should act nicely toward others does not mean that they will be good. Only a love that goes far beyond us and far beyond them will be able to make up the difference.

From last week…

1. Buzzcrash
2. Cliff Between The Lines
3. Tom Mohan
4. Pearls and Dreams
5. Katie

Yeah, that’s them… sorry they’re so late!

Ave Maria!

So the Blogger Idol topic this week is, “First Dates.”

I know I didn’t post my top five from last week; I’m sorry… it’s been a crazy week. I’ll try to get that done soon!

First dates for me are always a time of finding out whether I actually want to date the person. In most cases, the first date does not lead to a second. Something isn’t quite right. Usually, the first date is very informal; both parties are struggling to determine if this is really a date or if we just like hanging out. Maybe that’s why second dates don’t happen all that often!

So far, most of my first dates have been fix-ups. I’ve required a lot of help getting them to happen. So if one happens, I ought to stand up, like an Oscar speach, and thank my best friend, my Mom, Jesus and anyone else involved. They usually do play an integral role.

Right now, I’m looking for another first date… any takers? I’m a single male, mid-20s, Master’s degree (pastoral career), outgoing, love the outdoors, love academics, and enjoy starting new stuff. Availability? Now…