tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562242009-08-27T20:26:51.807-07:00Going OnWhy shouldn't we write about home as if it were a foreign country? This blog started as ramblings on a study trip in Germany, but will continue as reflections on life in Madison, WI and environs.Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-1079730605649182342004-03-19T13:10:00.000-08:002004-03-19T13:13:25.030-08:00Journal of Lutheran EthicsClinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-893724972003-02-19T07:25:00.000-08:002003-02-19T07:25:38.930-08:00The visibility of stars on a cold winter night is one of the added benefits of the upper Midwest in February. If you head out on a run, as I did, with snowshoes on, and get out in the middle of a brightly moonlit field, the snow crisp and virgin under your tracks, remembering the blizzard you drove through on the way home now cleared away by the swift change in temperatures, you get both the Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-891473732003-02-15T08:43:00.001-08:002003-02-15T08:43:27.773-08:00Last weekend was my ordination. Anyone needing the full text necessary to print an ordination worship bulletin, I'm inserting here my stab at it. Unfortunately, I can't host it here as an actual file, so if you like it and need it, simply e-mail and I'll send it as a Word document. For those interested, followed the basic pattern as printed in the occasional services, used the LBW setting for Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-891473722003-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:002003-02-15T08:43:27.616-08:00Last weekend was my ordination. Anyone needing the full text necessary to print an ordination worship bulletin, I'm inserting here my stab at it. Unfortunately, I can't host it here as an actual file, so if you like it and need it, simply e-mail and I'll send it as a Word document. For those interested, followed the basic pattern as printed in the occasional services, used the LBW setting for Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-884487202003-02-02T18:30:00.000-08:002003-02-02T18:30:10.150-08:00 Kites on Ice
After a morning of worship leadership (Now the Feast and celebration) and an incredibly expeditious congregational meeting (finished in one hour flat, unanimous votes), Amanda and I hopped in our 1993 Ford Taurus (it's still green and has only a bit of rust on the driver side door) and rumbled over to Kites on Ice
What is kites on ice, you ask? It's something the Twin Cities Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-880065552003-01-25T07:15:00.000-08:002003-01-25T07:15:52.096-08:00 A New Job and the Peace March in Washington
The first week of new work at St. John's quickly coming to a close. Started on Tuesday with a full day in the office, orientation in the morning, unboxing and shelving of books in the afternoon, council meeting in the evening. This kind of a day at work at a church is not overwhelming- there's a kind of flow to it that allows moments to discover Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-871986772003-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:002003-01-09T19:19:48.363-08:00Vote No War on the People's Referendum to Stop the War on Iraq Submit a referendum... go to DC if you can!Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-871980792003-01-09T19:06:00.000-08:002003-01-09T19:06:32.113-08:00And this, a brief quote from a recent Christmas letter:
"The Son of God comes, and like any child, is a much less romantic gift than we make him out to be. At first adorable, but then voracious and demanding and helpless as any child is, it's a strange thing to realize God puts Himself into the arms of Mary and feeds at her breast. This baby demands something of us, for like any child, it is Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-871249732003-01-08T11:19:00.000-08:002003-01-08T11:19:26.760-08:00Below I've posted a brief e-mail I wrote recently examining the fair trade movement. There's a number of links here on this blog to Fair Trade organizations. Our family has increased the number of products we try to purchase that are "fair trade", and we also work to buy locally and from companies that handle their products and employees justly. We don't accomplish this always, but we try as Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-870451032003-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:002003-01-06T21:19:29.796-08:00Just outside of Madison is a small town called Cross Plains. Like a lot of other small towns surrounding Madison, there's a mix of communities. Some are small town old time Wisconsinites, therefore of German ancestory and rural demeanour. Others are "bedroom community" folks. Seems in almost every town outside of Madison, there's both the older small town homes and the newer suburban Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-867942362003-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:002003-01-01T11:47:16.500-08:00It's official. I received the official letter of call on December 31, 2002, which means that 2003 marks the year in which I finally begin, for the first time (sort of) a full-time job. Amanda and I spent three years working as "full-time" teachers in Slovakia, so I guess that should count, but in my mind that time doubles also as time away from, a break from, seminary. The rest of the past 30 Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-862907032002-12-19T14:53:00.000-08:002002-12-19T14:53:37.453-08:00End of the year book reviews, part III
Robert Fitzgerald's translation of the Aeneid surpasses anything else I've read that he has translated. I was forced to purchase and read his translation of the Odyssey the summer prior to my first year at Luther College. Ask any graduate of Luther in the past 10-15 years, and they will tell you the same. By and large, we come to the enterprise Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-861987202002-12-17T18:59:00.000-08:002002-12-17T18:59:21.510-08:00It's always harder to say positively what the alternative is to the dominant paradigm than it is to launch a critique of the same. Here are some quotes from Levinas in Ethics and Infinity that are "on the way" to a constructive alternative to virtue ethics.
"Ethics occurs as an an-archy, the compassion of being. Its priority is affirmed without recourse to principles, without vision, in the Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-860003452002-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:002002-12-14T11:45:41.876-08:00End of the year book reviews, part II
The ELCA has started a campaign on "discipleship" trying to address issues of ethics and spiritual practices in congregations. It is called, variously, teach the faith, growing in discipleship, living faith, or fanning the flames of discipleship. No matter what you call it, the basic idea is to encourage a third facet of congregational life.
Growing in Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-859613902002-12-13T12:45:00.000-08:002002-12-13T12:45:15.226-08:00TOMPAINE.com - On The Justification Of Civil DisobedienceClinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-859532852002-12-13T09:25:00.000-08:002002-12-13T09:25:31.560-08:00End of the year book reviews, part I
The official numbers are in, and the U.S. processed approximately 26,000 refugees in 2002. This is about 40,000 short of what George W. Bush had stated at the beginning of the year as our commitment (for more detailed info, click on the LIRS link on the right side of this page). This makes two years in a row where we processed far fewer refugees than we Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-856911612002-12-08T12:43:00.000-08:002002-12-08T12:43:02.290-08:00Reflecting on Vestments
A somewhat distant relative of ours refuses to attend churches where the pastor wears a robe. Actually, I think the relative in question called the robes "skirts". On the flip side, last night in a conversation with a friend, I heard dismay in his voice when I mentioned that in a Lutheran congregation I know, the pastors don't wear vestments; in fact they don't even Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-856273612002-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:002002-12-06T21:30:34.503-08:00Today I witnessed something amazing. Amanda is working on a project for one of her library science courses. In this particular case, she had to classify our kitchen. It started weeks ago when she opted for the project, continued last weekend when she went through every single cupboard counting what was there, and has come to a sort-of conclusion this weekend as she designs the classification Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-856177092002-12-06T16:56:00.000-08:002002-12-06T16:56:06.916-08:00The title for the blog has changed, as has the format, but the intent will be the same. A public journal, reflections on life, recipes (i've actually never thought to post recipes here, but it's as good an idea as any), and now, a links section! Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-855989262002-12-06T09:06:00.000-08:002002-12-06T09:06:06.783-08:00Perseus Digital LibraryClinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-831318092002-10-17T12:46:00.000-07:002002-10-17T12:46:34.886-07:00What a great interview! Of course, this is the way things always are, I'm finally getting good at the language (German) and can conduct interviews relatively productively, and now I'm leaving (have left) Germany. In any event, it was great to visit with somebody on a theological faculty of a German university. Quite a different perspective on issues from the pastors I have questioned over the Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-829628692002-10-14T06:32:00.000-07:002002-10-14T06:32:44.270-07:00Like Marburg, Tubingen has a sincerely fairytale atmosphere to it, with steep hills, narrow cobbled streets, and the Neckar running through with students punts lined up for Saturday races. What an amazing town at which to attend university. Had a great evening the first night here eating sushi with a group of international students invited by Mari, my host. It was the week prior to the Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-829624652002-10-14T06:20:00.000-07:002002-10-14T06:20:13.550-07:00Possibly one of the most intriguing responses I got to interviews while visiting congregations was to the Reformation/modern church question as put in Heilbronn. The pastor there responded that when he thought of the home of the Reformation, he thought, not of Germany and Luther, but rather of the Huguenots in France. These are his genealogical roots, many Huguenots fled to places like Swabia Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-829311622002-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:002002-10-13T13:06:30.313-07:00I'm jumping over a couple of blogs in order to let my "readership" know the following:
1) I'm no longer in Germany
2) the trip home to Madison was safe, uneventful, but happy, because I'm now back with my spouse
3) those of you who feel reading the blog was worth a subscription price can certainly pay a freewill subscription fee! :)
I'll be posting some remaining notes here in the next week Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656224.post-826861022002-10-08T06:08:00.000-07:002002-10-08T06:08:04.753-07:00Currently visiting a friend from Japan who is a student in Tübingen. Funny, but it turned out to be a Japanese fellow student who made me feel most like a missionary in my time here. We spent a number of hours back in Wittenberg talking about the church and the Reformation, and I had invited her one Sunday to a worship service. She had mentioned a couple times in passing that she didnt have a Clinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00707900080657719369noreply@blogger.com