half done!

It feels good to be half done my current session of summer courses. Last Friday I wrote my Sociology of Youth final, and I tackled my Medieval Church History midterm on Monday. Between now and the end of August all I have to worry about is one paper and one final exam.

Without question, these have been two of the best classes I have had the opportunity to attend since coming to the U of L. They are both academically challenging and engaging in content. I am especially enjoying the research involved in my research project; I will be writing on the foundations of papal supremacy in late antiquity and the early middle ages (particularly from the 4th to the 6th centuries).

Since I have less school work to worry about, at least for the next few weeks, I am kicking around the idea of signing up for casual labour at the student employment office. Making a few extra hundred bucks will go a long way toward buying some more books in the fall.

reflections on my father

Jayson's recent post intitled The Guitar has inspired me to make some similar reflections on my weblog today. He poses this question:

Do you ever have those moments in your childhood that you wish you could just keep in your pocket and pull it out and experience it whenever you need it, like putting on a warm comforter that your grandmother made on a cold day? Times when just think about it, and you feel warm inside even to your very soul and being?

In response to that question, my answer would be: "yes, but...". Like Jayson, I must confess that I don't have an abundance of memories to draw from that fit within the category described above, but I would also like to add that new experiences continue to be added to my list of treasured memories. Just yesterday I spoke with my father on the phone for over an hour (which is a first in and of itself), but even more significantly, it seems to me that we are starting to connect on a level that I never would have hoped for or even expected - we are becoming friends.

In this post I may very well have crossed over the line into the realm of "after-school special cheese". However, I would like to elaborate on the steps I have been taking in my relationship with my father. Our relationship has never been characterized by closeness in a conventional sense. My father is a man of few words and a character that is demonstrated through hard work and personal integrity. He never sat me down to lecture me on his philosophy of living, but rather this was something he demonstrated through his actions. As such, our conversations have almost always been to the point, and our extended discussions have typically been centered around work, sports, weather, and the like.

This is what makes our conversation on the phone yesterday stand out to me. We touched upon issues of hope, pain, personal identity, loneliness, and our dreams for the future. Perhaps it is just me, entering a new phase of growth within my own life that I can now appreciate a conversation of this nature, or perhaps we are both growing. Whatever the case may be, I look forward to building new memories that will be a source of comfort in days yet to come.

faith expressed

In recent weeks my faith has been challenged and inspired by the example of a young man named Shemelas, who recently immigrated from Ethiopia to Canada. Without question, in his fourteen years of life he has endured challenges far beyond my comprehension. After having been separated for about five years from his father, who is also a recent immigrant to Canada, he has finally been able to join his family in a new and distant land. Not only is he starting a new life here in Canada, he is also taking profound steps in his Christian journey.

Below you can see a picture of Shemelas along with Pastor Wes who baptized him.

These are Shemelas' own words that he shared with us before his baptism:

Today is my second birthday that means I born from spirit and water. My baptism shows that I believe Jesus died and buried to my sins and then he rised from death. I was waiting to see this day for such a long time. To me this day is great, and I will celebrate this day as my birthday.

Jesus is my Lord, Saviour, and I believe and love in him. Before Jesus came to the world we were out of the Kingdom of God, we did not have right to have eternal life. But after Jesus came to the world this things are changed. Jesus is bridge that connects God and humans, he is also the one who makes us to be called children of God.

I am so happy and proud to be with you and to have fellowship with you in Jesus' name. And I just want to say thank you to our pastor and to all members of Central Church of Christ. Thank you and God bless you and our church.

hopefully I am not selling out, at least not too much

I am relatively new to the blogosphere. The uninhibited nature inherent within this venue of communication is especially significant in my mind. The thoughts we share are published in the public domain without having been filtered by the commercial interests of the world in which we live. So many of the messages we see and hear every day have been crafted with the purpose of fanning the flame of our addiction to consumer goods; however, in the blogosphere we have the capacity to step outside the boundaries in which the corporate elite would have us live.

Having said all this, I realize that it is hypocritical of me to place a link in this post to a website that is selling a specific product. (In fact, when I look back to many of my previous posts I make direct reference to consumer goods, but I digress...). I wanted to share this link because it contains an offer for three free audio books. Not only do I love the format, the price couldn't be better.

In order for you to get these audiobooks without being on the hook for purchasing future volumes you need to cancel your membership within 14 days. There is a wide range of titles to choose from, and I can't think of a time in my life when I ever turned down three free books.

If this sounds interesting to you check out the offer at audible.com

bachelor for a weekend

I just got back from taking my wife to the airport in Calgary. She is traveling along with her three sisters to her cousin's wedding in Port Elgin, Ontario this Saturday. I wish I could have made the trip with her; but alas, finances and summer courses at the U put a damper on idea mighty fast.

(I just had to insert this picture of lovely bachelor cuisine.)

All things considered, I don't think I will be getting into too much trouble this weekend. I will be writing my Sociology final tomorrow (I'll be hitting the books as soon as I am done this post), I have a games all nighter with the youth group Friday/Saturday, and another little mid-term to prepare for on Monday.

fun with leadership/personal growth cliches

Rye Shy had something like this posted on his blog not too long ago, so I thought I would share in the laughs

cultural insight

I can't help but agree with this cultural insight that I encountered today:

The present reality is that modernism is not being replaced by postmodernism… rather the two are like tectonic plates which continue to rub against each other.

Sociologist David Lyons

The question is, on which tectonic plate do you make your residence? Or do you find yourself caught upon that distructive, and hopeless, faultline that runs between these worldviews?

an interesting little survey

This is my theological worldview according to a survey I took, that was created by someone who I don't know. While this is by no means definitive, it is certainly interesting.

You scored as You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavily by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 68% Emergent/Postmodern 61% Modern Liberal 57% Neo orthodox 54% Reformed Evangelical 46% Roman Catholic 39% Classical Liberal 36% Charismatic/Pentecostal 29% Fundamentalist 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

When I took this survey I didn't spend a lot of time "thinking" about my answers, I went with my "gut" response (what does that say about my theological worldview???). I thought that the results were interesting and not all that surprising. In this are reflected both my more "conservative" roots at the very top of the list and my more "liberal" experience since that point in time.

391 days too long

I have mixed feelings about the end of the NHL lockout. On one hand I am elated, because I really did miss watching the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames; but then again, I can't believe it has taken this long to come to come up with an agreement that doesn't look all that different than countless proposals that could have saved the 2004/2005 season. It is difficult to pick sides in an argument between billionaire owners and millionaire players, especially in light of the fact that the fans are the real losers in the end. Ultimately, I am just glad to see that we are going to have hockey this fall.

I must confess that there is one potential situation that will get me very excited about the coming NHL season, if the Oilers win the draft lottery and pick Sidney Crosby in the first round. It might almost be like taking a trip back to the mid-80s.

the intensity of a three week course

When was the last time you finished the third of a course in five days, wrote a mid-term on the sixth, followed by a group presentation and a term paper all before day eleven? Thankfully, all I have left to do is the term paper at this point, and then the final - of course!

Whew! Now that I have that off my chest, I must confess the good advice that my wife gave me the other day,

"Don't complain, you wanted to take summer courses!"

P.S. I must also say how happy I am that the term paper in my 6 week course (Medieval Church History) has been moved back from August 3rd to the 8th, which means I will be able to enjoy the long weekend!

a small move

Some time ago I published a post about the desire Wesla and I have for finding a new place here in Lethbridge to hang our hats. Living on campus at the U has some perks, but it has really been our desire to find something a little bit cheaper. Over the course of the past month or so we have looked at a number of different places, but the difference in expense really wasn't a big enough incentive for us to go through the painful experience of packing our stuff up into small containers.

Until recently, I thought we would be signing on for another year long lease at the student family housing (yes, they make you sign another year long lease at the U of L, even after you have been living there for a year), but fortunately another opportunity presented itself. A friend from our church who owns a house is looking to rent out some space in his house, and he offered to rent us the upper floor. The only drawback is having a shared kitchen and bathroom, but on the other side we will now have access to a dishwasher and a washer & dryer! All this for a price that is in the range of what we were looking for when we starting looking for a different place. We are going to be making the small move at the end of July.

spin and statistics

So far, I am really enjoying this new round of summer session courses. I am only two days into the summer semester II, so there is no pressure - yet. Sociology classes are always fun because you get to look at stats, spin them different ways, and see what kinds of conclusions you can draw (based upon your assumptions, your methodology, and the like).

When you are looking at stats it is also healthy to be a little bit cynical of the conclusions that are being drawn, but I have never heard it put in quite this way before:

"Statistics are like pornography, they give you a sense of intimacy you don't really have."

(Professor James Penner, quoting an associate)

I believe this is true of so much of the "scientific" data that we rely upon in the social sciences. Without question, there is value to be found in the research and findings, but there are also so many variables that cannot be controlled or measured when we turn the microscope upon ourselves.