Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday, or "Holy Thursday" or "Holy and Great Thursday" to some. This is the day the historic Church has chosen to recognize Chr-st's final celebration of Passover with His disciples. The word Maundy is derived from the French word mandé and the Latin mandatum, which is the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" ("A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you"), the statement by J---- in John 13:34 is how Jesus explained to the apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet.

On this day we remember the establishment of Eucharist and the urging to serve fellow Brothers and Sisters through the ordinance of foot washing. Both of these have been interesting topics in my Christian Worship class as well as in Sunday morning church the last few weeks.

Foot washing is not an ordinance to literally wash another's feet. It is an ordinance of service in humility. In our day, foot washing has lost this meaning. Many times, it becomes almost a flashy way of showing how humble we really are. My pastor several Sundays ago spoke of the shock with which the disciples would have witnessed J----'s actions during the Last Supper. In that time, Jewish masters could not require their Jewish servants to wash their feet because it was such a low and shameful act. Yet this is what Chr-st did for His disciples. The point is to do serve each others in shocking, scandalous ways.

Interesting, up until the 18th century, the English monarch would choose 12 of his or her subjects to wash their feet on this day. This is a little bit closer to what J---- was trying to communicate, but it still misses it because it became expected and ritualistic. So what is the modern way in which this should be done? I have to confess, I don't know. But the point is that the actions are not the point. The attitude is. G-d, give me attitude of love and service for my Brothers and Sisters!

Looking Backward

And now some pictures from some recent events. I've blogged about them in the past, but I just now got around to getting the pictures off of my camera.

The first group of pictures are from winter past. One day we had a lovely ice storm that encrusted everything in about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of ice. It was absolutely breathtaking. Even the blades of grass each took on a bit of individualism in their winter coats. It made me think that surely not even Solomon in all of his splendor could have been arraigned arrayed* like these. So for 2 days, our campus resembled a diamond mine in all its spectacular beauty.

*[edit] Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader who caught my humorous type-o. I suppose when Solomon, if he had been in court, would have been cold and nicely dressed. :)



Really, pictures can't do it justice.

The next group of pictures are from two different outings with friends. The first is at Panera Bread. The second is a late evening at McDonald's after opening night of Beauty and the Beast. We originally planned to go formal, but some people didn't quite make it, and others changed after the play but before McDonald's. Anyway, enjoy.

That's all for now. Pictures are a real pain at times.

Spring, Beauty, Sadness, and Summer

Sorry for the long wait since my last post. A lot has been happening here in the beautiful Ozarks as winter slowly gives way to the first whispers of spring. The two seasons have been struggling for the past month; at times it seemed that spring had finally chocked the last winter breath away, but then we would wake up to a winter wonderland of ice and snow. I shall try to post some pictures of some of our winteresque beauty. One day we experienced all four seasons in the full day. We woke up to birds singing and a light spring breeze. By noon the sun was brilliant and summer was in full bloom. Then it turned to an drizzly afternoon of autumn bliss and, finally, it froze before the day had ended.

Two weekends ago our local college theatre department presented "Beauty and the Beast", based on the old original Disney animated film from 1991 but expanded for Broadway in 1996. This play is one of my favorites for several reasons: the animated movie is one of my favorites. The characters are perfect: Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Babette, and Mme. de la Grande Bouche are adorable characters. The play is even better because it flushes the characters out and adds spice to the story. The play also has some fond memories for me because two of my best friends and I took a rode trip in the summer of 2003 to go see the traveling Broadway version in Kansas City. It was absolutely crazy because we ended up staying with people I didn't really know and my friends didn't know at all. But I also have some of my favorite memories from that trip. So here's to Joyous and Miss N!

But life can't be all interesting weather and happy memories. Last Wednesday my brother called from Texas to tell me that my grandmother (my mum's mum) had passed away. I left Thursday afternoon to avoid another big snow storm coming through and missed classes on Friday. All in all, it was a strange experience. My grandmother had an unidentified form of dementia, so it was almost as if we had really lost her several years ago. The whole event was somber but not near as sad as my grandfather's funeral (my father's father) last summer. Mum made the comment that she distinctly remembers going through the grieving process several years ago. The whole event was sort of surreal.

Last week was also midterms! I really only had one major test, which I did quite badly on. I've emailed dear Dr. Zakariadze to see if I could possibly try for some extra credit to make up for my poor showing, but he hasn't responded yet. He's probably still translating my email into Russian. Another thing about midterms is that it tells me summer is almost here. And with summer comes Europe. Right now I've been switched (again) to Brussels instead of Paris. Every day I get a little more antsy as I watch the dollar lose value to the euro. Today it is at another all-time high of $1.55. By the time I get over there it could be over $1.75 or (Heaven forbid) over $2.00! At the rate I'm going I'll have to live in a cardboard box and eat out of trashcans just so I can go to work. :)

That's all for now. I hope you all have a faaantastic week!

The Middle Road

In our current environment of extremism, whether it be political, religious, or some other issue, I have found, and continue to find, C.S. Lewis’ following quote quite telling. You see, when we begin a new subject of study, if we are honestly seeking for the Truth, we do not enter into that study with a preconceived belief. However, after only a short amount of study, we become intimately familiar with a particular error on one side of the discussion or another. That error so consumes us that we often turn so passionately and so firmly against it that we have unwittingly embraced the opposite, equally malicious error.

I feel a strong desire to tell you–and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me–which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs–pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.

This applies to any subject one can think of:

• In economics, one may see the vast problems of communism and so embrace pure capitalism as if it were the perfect answer. Or visa-versa.
• In language, one may understand the idiocy of thinking that words have no meaning and thereby assume that words will always have the same meaning. Or visa-versa.
• In business, one may understand the importance of making a profit and conclude that he must make a profit at any cost. Or visa-versa.
• In politics, we may see the problems inherent to the Republican Party (Conservative) and so embrace the errors of the Democratic Party (Liberal). Or visa-versa.
• In theology, we may either reject God’s sovereignty or us it to blame Him for our actions. Or visa-versa.
• In doctrine, we may reject certain twisting of Truth in one denomination so hardily that we also reject the Truth that has been twisted yet remains in that denomination. Or visa-versa.

It would seem that almost anytime one is placed in the position of having a belief that must be either this or that, and this and that are complete opposites of each other, that neither this nor that are likely to really be the Truth, but instead are usually two equally evil twisting of what the Truth really is.

Busy Week 2

My last post seems to be the most popular so far, so I figured I should go ahead and continue with the rest of my week.

But first some clarifications. Panera Bread was wonderful, as was the tea and company. I tried the black bean soup and a French croissant. Both were amazing. I think my dad would like the black bean soup (so if you're reading, you should try it!). My friends (please note the plural) were also great company, and we enjoyed much interesting converation. To answer one commenter's question: I do occasionally go to restaurants with females. Yes, it's awkward and risky, and sometimes I'm just tempted to drop to one knee right there, but the other people with us normally do their best to keep me accountable. ;) I don't know why I experience such urges... maybe I've been reading/watching too much Jane Austin.

Fortunatly for me, I actually have until December before I finish with school and things get real busy...

On to my busy week:
Wednesday:
Up @ 6:45
Breakfast @ 7:20
Work from 8:00-10:00
French Through Popular Culture class @ 10:00
Study Break @ 11
Lenten Chapel Service (for Christian Worship class ) @ 12:00
Lunch @ 12:30
Study/Thursday Homework 1:00-3:00
Free Time!!!/Catch up on other Projects/etc. 3:00-4:45
Dinner @ 4:45
Work from 6:00-9:00
Finish homework for Thursday @ 9:00
Bed @ 10:30/11:00
Average Amount of Free Time on Wednesdays: 2.5 hrs.
So Wednesdays are my good day. Actually they are normally very relaxing.

Thursday:
Up @ 6:45
Breakfast @ 7:20
Work from 8:00-9:30
French Civilization class @ 9:30
International Economics class @ 11:00
Managment Information Systems @ 1:00
Study/Friday Homework from 2:30-4:45
Dinner @ 4:45
Truth Project (Bible Study) 6:00-8:30ish
Finish homework for Thursday @ 9:00
Bed @ 10:30/11:00
Average Amount of Free Time on Wednesdays: 1.5 hr.

Friday:
Up @ 6:45
Breakfast @ 7:20
Work from 8:00-10:00
French Through Popular Culture class @ 10:00
Lunch @ 11:00
Christian Worship class @ 12:00

And I'm done with the week's scheduled times until Sunday! Happiness and joy and bright sunshine!