The God of Cake

This made me laugh. It also made me think of the Garden of Eden story - a modern retelling via a toddler's obsession with cake? :)

A Vaughan Williams State of Mind

When in grief, I go to music. I've had Vaughan Williams running through my head and playing on my stereo all day, back and forth between "The Lark Ascending" and "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis."

The former because Karen shared on the CaringBridge page that, as Rich was in and out of lucidity in his final days, when she asked him to recite a Sonnet, he went to Shakespeare's 29th:

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.


The latter because the St. Olaf Orchestra performed it the first Christmas Festival of my years at Olaf, and because the poetry associated with it, at least in the Lutheran Book of Worship, is

I heard the voice of Jesus say
"Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down
Your head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place
And he has made me glad.


Unfortunately, the piece is too long for one youtube video, so this gets broken up, but here is "The Lark Ascending" (apologies for the British commentator at the beginning and end)





The quality of the video on this one could be better, but the sound isn't too bad and it puts the whole Fantasia on one video

The Challenge and Promise of a Post-Christendom World

Thoughtful insights from Pete Steinke over on the Alban blog.

Nunc Dimittis

I find myself feeling sick at this news. Rich was my college advisor, one of my Great Con professors, and an incredible guy all the way around. A beautiful life cut far too short, and another heartrending loss in a family that has born more than its fair share of heartache. Pastor Benson's letter to the St. Olaf community said, "He was vintage Rich right to the end, with a head full of poetry, a heart full of love, and a spirit full of contentment and faith, not fear." Of the many things I will always remember and celebrate about Rich DuRocher, the strength and grace of his faith is foremost on the list.

A small glimpse of who the world has lost, from an April 22 entry in his CaringBridge page:

Spring thoughts. Watering my garden this morning and pulling a few weeds is about all I can manage today. Maybe that's all right. If we can only do a little, let that little go to feed new life, eliminate a few bad habits of ours, maybe encourage someone who needs our help. In the coffee shop and commons room for interfaith services at Cornell University, a saying of Daniel and Philip Berrigan was painted in big, 60s style fashion: "Be a little more careful about living things than about anything else." Thirty years after seing that sign, maybe I'm beginning to get it. Seize the day.

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace. . .may he rest in the wholeness of your eternal embrace, and may you comfort Karen, Mary Clare, and the whole DuRocher family as they grieve this tremendous loss.

Deep Thoughts

from the Missional Church Consultation at Luther Seminary this weekend:

The Bible does a lot of jobs. It serves best if we let it do all of them and let people find their place in the story.
(Allen Hilton)

Communal prayer as participation in God's descent, as Holy Spirit inserting us into God's mission whose boundaries we cannot define; always contemplation and struggle, deeply rooted in solidarity with the world. (Dirk Lange)

Church of the Apostles (Seattle) a church of "downward mobility," bores deep into tradition and takes it with radical seriousness, e.g. what would it look like if baptismal promises were actually true? (Karen Ward)

"Just to be a community is an apologetic for God in the world." (Karen Ward)

Find more great thoughts and quotes on Twitter: @LutherCML, #missional, or facebook: Center for Missional Leadership.

He Can't Stay Silent Anymore

In the wee hours of Friday morning, a bullied teen from western Snyder County, PA, left his home, walked over 10 miles in the dark to Hwy 11/15, waited by the side of the road for the next tractor-trailer to drive by, then jumped in front of it.

Andy is a pastor in western Snyder County. His sermon on Sunday was a response to this tragedy. He put the following comment up with his initial posting of the video to facebook:

OK here it is. It's hard to be an outspoken voice of moderation. This is a sermon to my congregations, with reference to our community tragedy this Friday. It should not be considered such a risky thing to do to proclaim God's love for gay teenagers, but I didn't have the guts until today.

He put additional comments up as he posted this to youtube:

In the wake of another teen suicide in our nation, this time in our community, it was time to finally say publicly what I have said privately many times: "God loves gay people too." This should not be so radical, but it is still eliciting resistance and hate. Due to the nature of many immature and anonymous youtube users, comments will be disabled. This video is on facebook already, but I hope that by using youtube, it may make its way to those who need to hear it. The voices of hate cannot be allowed to be the only voice heard, even and especially those who use the name of our Lord to justify it.

I have always been proud to call Andy my friend, but am especially proud of him for this particular witness to the Gospel. Preach it, brother.

WTF Has Obama Done So Far?

Find out here.

Click on the embedded link to find out more about the statement that comes up. Refresh the page or click on the sarcastic comment to move to the next accomplishment. Share on twitter or like on facebook via the icons in the lower left corner of the page.

Map of Gadamer

I have to do a presentation on Hans-Georg Gadamer for class tomorrow, and am trying to figure out how to get this map into my power point. I'm thinking maybe if I embed it in the blog, then I can copy it as a "picture." If anybody else has any great ideas, please let me know!


View Gadamer's Germany in a larger map