Opening Night at the Blanton Art Museum

Tonight was the opening of a new museum of art. The Blanton is on the south side of the UT campus. I went with Pepa and Patrick and we ran into some other seminary folk like Deborah and Kathleen. Some very cool art and some modern stuff that I am not overly fond of, but it was a great evening. I will definitely go back, Thursdays are free...very cool. I highly recommend it as a cultural outing!!! 4 of 5 stars!

Mountain Wings daily devotional today

Sometimes they speak to me and sometimes they yell.....

A Full Day
===========

This is a response from a MountainWings subscriber. I emailed
her with a suggestion and she responded with the details of her
typical day.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the demands of the day.

Don't you?

It helps to keep our day in perspective when we get a glimpse
into someone else's day. I felt her description might just give
us a little more appreciation of our own day.


from Zelda:

I barely have time to read MountainWings.

I am 65 years old, work full time and do my own housework,
which becomes more of a challenge all the time.

My husband is disabled and unable to help me.
Right now I am picking up walnuts outside, to sell.
I am slower than I used to be at this, because this makes my one
whole leg and hip hurt.

My youngest son and his family were here for about 6 1/2 hours
tonight. Their children are 5, 3-1/2, and 1. The two oldest
are boys. They helped me pick up walnuts, water flowers, etc.
while they were here.

I fixed supper for 8 people tonight, fixed my grandsons' plates
and ate with them while other people did their own thing.

I have cooked three meals today, cleaned up the dishes and done
laundry. I also read to my grandsons and helped to keep my
year-old granddaughter occupied.

I've also had help to takes clothes out of the clothes dryer,
etc.

In my spare time, I make the greeting cards that I send, I am
working on my husband's genealogy, and am now working on a
calendar to give people for Christmas.

I have just completed a book "A Lifetime Together," covering the
46 years my husband and I have known each other. I also handle
the family budget and correspondence.

Now I must finish on the computer, so I can get to bed and get a
little rest before I must get up in the morning and start
another busy day.

Zelda

We all work so hard, often without a break.

We need a day now more than ever. Impossible you say?
Too much to do.
Can't rest, can't stop, can't slow down.

Get real sick and see if you don't slow down.

At my company, I had to force employees to take their vacation.
I passed a rule that if they didn't take their vacation time,
they would lose it.

Some griped at first, they would rather keep working and get
paid for those days, but many came to me afterwards.
They were so thankful that I made them take a vacation.
They said they didn't realize how tired they were.

It's just good business sense. We perform better refreshed than
burned out. A constant grind wears us out and breaks us down.

Maybe we should listen to the 4th Commandment.
Virtually every religion incorporates a period of rest.
Even farmers know, to get the best production out of the soil,
the soil needs to rest one year in seven.

There is a sermon on www.AirJesus.com on that very thing called,
"The Fourth Commandment." If you are tired, go to AirJesus.com
and listen to it.

The 4th Commandment of the Kings James Bible was simply to rest
one day a week.

Even dirt needs rest.
So do we.

~A MountainWings Original~

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

Cyber Scream! I feel better, at least a little bit, for now.

a few days later and a big dose of humility

Well.....I still am stressed over the school work that is looming the next few weeks, but reality came screaming into the picture today. To find out some of the stories of classmates and what is going on in their life outside of the classroom. Prayers go out to lots of my classmates and to those back home in Oklahoma affected by the latest round of storms.

Not Triumphantly but somehow

This has become my frame of mind. School is overwhelming and the stress is mounting. Two weeks of class then reading week and finals week, not sure how everything is going to get done, but somehow...just not sure triumphantly. AAAAHHHHHHHH!

You learn something new everyday

Today, what I learned is that me and contemporary worship on big liturgical Sundays don't mix. I played trombone at a local church for 2 contemporary services with a seminary friend of mine. The services were well done, well attended, good lituragy, good preaching, good music, nothing wrong with the service...it's just that it wasn't a fit for me. It was weird as I drove away from the church to realize that I didn't feel like I had truly celebrated Easter.

Now part of this is my traditional upbringing, part of it is the fact that for the last 21 years I have played in a brass ensemble at my home church, and part of it is I get very stuck in my own sense of tradition.

Upon further reflection, and driving in my car listening to a CD of the home church service from last year, I realized that I had several church members come up to me and comment on how much my playing added to their worship, that it made it more special. Perhaps that was the Easter message I was to get today. It perhaps is not about me feeling like I have celebrated Easter, but instead, helping others feel like they have celebrated the risen Lord.

I have the opportunity to be in classes all week and wonder in amazement about this thing we call religion. To stop sometimes in utter disbelief at what we profess as Christians. After all it makes NO logical sense, it's not like I was one of the women at the empty tomb thousands of years ago, but yet, I believe that Christ is Risen, Christ has conquered death and has descended into hell (can't stand that descended to the dead stuff...another story) and has risen and sits at the right hand of God.

Maybe, just maybe, because I believe...God was using me to help someone else believe today. Maybe.

HE IS RISEN!!!

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark is a most puzzling Gospel and the end is no different. The women go tot he tomb to find it empty. Theya re told to go tell the disciples and Peter (whose last words in this Gospel account are his denial of Christ) that "he is going ahead of you..." Christ always goes ahead of us. Endures the road that we walk before we even get there. He knows where the potholes and obstacles are. The women were in shock and said nothing. This is the day that we celebrate in terror and amazement that our Lord has indeed risen and He goes ahead of us. Alleluia! Amen!

An Old Farmer's Advice:

Some are better than others....

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen, anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'."
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. AMEN TO THIS!!!!

Maundy Thursday

John 13:1-17, 31b-35
1Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

12After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

31When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

May we all pause and remember the selfless act of Christ as he washed the feet of the disciples. We have all been called to serve and to love one another.

Election Results are In

And...Josh Gahr is the new Student Body President. Congrats to Josh. Thank you to fellow students who voted and supported me. I plan to run to be on the Worship Committee (where I currently serve). Oh well. Best of luck to Josh in his year in office and good luck to all those running for Student Senate and for committees.

Holy Week Begins

John 12:1-8

Mary Anoints Jesus Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

golf and a day off

Yesterday was spent doing nothing, that's right, nothing. After several days of pure insanity trying to get things done, I did nothing...productive. I spent the day playing golf with Carter and Kelly, hanging out over good brisket, and watching a movie. Golf on a gorgeous day like Saturday is 4 hours (or longer) of pure paridise. The course was packed, so the play was slow. Very relaxing. Then iet was off to the Brundeen's for food and fellowship. It was nice to chat with friends and see all the relatively new babies who aren't so new anymore.

Then I came back and watched "Brokeback Mountain" with some friends in the dorm. That was a rather odd movie, and I am still not quite sure what to think about it. Then just some hanging out. There is so much left to be done for the semester, but I most definitely needed a day off. Another busy week lies ahead, more papers due, more to read (there is always more to read), and less and less time for sleep. Not many weeks left in the semester, this is the downhill race to the end. Big fun! But at least for one day, there was nothing to do.

Theology has taken over my brain....

Okay, I am the theology nerd! I spent the better part of the day struggling with Jurgen Moltmann. We are reading "The Way of Christ" and I am presenting part of it with a fellow classmate. At one point today, I was overwhelmed by so much clutter of life, I honestly didn't know where to start. I get the chapter on Apocolyptic Suffering. So, I went to see the Professor. Dr. Cynthia Rigby, who I truly think could walk on water.

We set a time later this afternoon to meet. I went back to struggling through the chapter for the millionth time, went to choir rehearsal, then back to laboring over the chapter. As I took notes on what I had previously underlined in the book, Trinity stuck out of the text, I found it really odd that it kept coming up as this is a book on Christology. Well, lo and behold, when I met with Cindy and talked about the opening sentences of the chapter which put the cross at the heart of the passion story, which is at the heart of Christology, which is at the heart of Christianity...The Cross then stands in the center of the Trinity as the Trinity is the perichoritic nature of the 3 in 1 that is the Eternal Godhead. The cross is representative of the self giving love not only of Christ, but of the Father and the Holy Spirit as well. Christ suffered on the cross, the Father and the Spirit suffered as well. These were the sufferings not of the particular man of Jesus Christ, but the sufferings of all of creation as well, they are apocolyptic. It was like a light bulb came on. Now I am still not done unpacking the whole chapter, but at least got started. Cindy helped me in finding the path that I need to pursue and helped me see that I did actually understand this stuff.

The overwhelming task of the semester caught up with me and stress has taken over my brain. Cindy suggested golf or a movie. So heeding the advice of a trusted professor, I headed to the movie with Jensen and Papps, 2 of the Ryans. We went to V for Vendetta. Very theological movie. Purifying through fire, baptism, Christ within all people, dying to self, saving your life by losing it...we had a theological chat afterward. Nuts that you can go to movies and find theological themes in them because that is now the pattern that your brain takes on. YIKES!!!

On another note, the run-off election started today between me and Josh Gahr. We had to give 2 minute speeches. My platformless campaign changed to Academics + 2. Study, that is why we are here plus a way to feed yourself spiritually and a way to engage with the community through service and/or fellowship. We'll see what happens.

Peace,

RUN OFF!!!

Well, as expected with 5 candidates for President, there is a run off election starting tomorrow. It is me and someone else, I know not who. My campaign is still kinda the non-campaign. Vote for me if you want, or don't, whatever. I am still not overly sure what to think about this whole Presidential campaign thing. Another week of waiting,

Retreat!!!!!

Just came back from a weekend spiritual retreat..it was much needed. One of the things we did is read an article on Temptation by Henri Nouwen. It is based in the temptations of Christ in the wilderness. It discusses the temptation to be relevant, to be spectacular, and to be powerful. What I took away from this is that none of these 3 temptations are in and of themselves evil, it is our motives behind them that make them so. If my drive to be relevant is based on wanting appreciation from people, then it is not done in the right spirit. If I desire to be spectacular, it is about my glory. If I seek power, it is about me lording over someone else.

Nouwen talks about the "downward way."
"Just as we came to see God in the downward way of Christ, so we will become truly sons and daughters of God by becoming participants in this downward way, the way of the cross."

When we do not seek to be relevant, spectacular or powerful except in and through Christ then we truly are living for God. This is how we become counter-cultural. We do not seek the praise and glory of this world, but of God alone.


The downward way, the way of the cross, struck me this morning as we were closing with worship in the outdoor chapel at John Knox Ranch On the left side of the chapel, toward the front there is a stairway that then leads to a rocky path down to the road below.

The first few steps are wooden and not that difficult to traverse. Then the path is steep and rocky. There are logs in place as steps, but it is a difficult trek. The path then leads out of the trees and into a clearing. There in the sunlight is a road. Our downward way is like this too. The first steps are easier. There are habits and parts of ourselves that we can give up for Christ without too much trouble, but then the path becomes rockier and more difficult. Once we have traversed the path, the ground becomes level as we approach the foot of the cross. There, in the light, we walk the road which is not always smooth itself. We walk, like Jesus, on the road with fellow travelers, we meet people where they are.