What is the value of this community?

It is hard to ask this question because our culture tells us to liberate ourselves? From parents, restrictions, rules, and just be yourself. But in our community we have been given a freedom that transcendences these temporal freedoms. It is the freedom that comes with belonging/security/ walking into a big old mansion and being able to call it home. Not because of the space but because of the faces, those bonds that we have made here. These bonds differ between all the members of the community but on a more general scale, we have lived together in community and there is no way to deny that we share something. The ironic part about the whole situation is that the sharing has made us richer – we have shared struggles, laughter, first-things thoughts. This sharing is the value of community.

The challenge to myself and to our community is to posture ourselves in a stance of gratitude for this experience. More than just the delight that comes from saying “I did this awesome program” but the gratitude that comes from sharing in the richness of God’s plan for his people. This is a mysterious thing but through our grateful eyes, we must realize its greatness.

As Wendell Berry once composed:

We live by mercy if we live.

To that we have no fit reply

But working well and giving thanks,

Loving God, loving one another,

To keep Creation's neighborhood. (1-5)

"...in order to detect divine agency, we need a larger number of events before a pattern emerges so that God's intentions become manifest". (Diogenes Allen 174 "Divine Agency in a Scientific World")

This happens in both the historic and present community/ individually. Some examples to think about - Israel, Joseph, Jesus, SSU, Forestview, most of us.

Wilson's Warbler

Yesterday, I joined my friends on a trip to the museum of nature. Best in this trip, was the final floor - BIRdS. Birds are symbols of the soul, freedom, and power.

These flying creatures seem to be a new trend these days but why? I think I can relate to those who buy shirts with birds designed into landscapes. It is a form of expression, one that shows our common longing for the symbols of a bird. What's more, I realized that there are hundreds of varieties when discussing just one bird. Just like youth who want to have their own identity, unique from the rest of their peers, so to birds have become one of the most diverse and distinctive creatures. Yet, their songs have the ability to unity them all!

• The Wilson's Warbler is found in a large diversity of environments in the winter. It is the only migrant warbler regularly found in tropical high plains (paramo).
• Identified by the black cap.
• The Wilson's Warbler trends toward brighter, richer coloration from the eastern part of the range to the west. The Pacific coast populations have the brightest yellow, even orangish, foreheads and faces. Western-central and Alaskan birds are slightly larger than the eastern and Pacific coast populations.
  

A small variety of Warbler's:

Bay Breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black Throated Blue Warbler
Black Throated Gray Warbler
Black Throated Green Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Chestnut Sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Golden Cheeked Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Ovenbird
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Yellow Breasted Chat
Yellow Throated Warbler

Dancing Beams of Light

Walking downtown streets is normally filled with the filing cabinet feel.

Paradoxically, looking uptown was the moment of beauty in my day today. The sun broke through branches and buildings. IN FACT, the beams of light were honest enjoyment for my eyes. It was magic as the colors merged and intensified.

God still fills the city with nature...

SWITCHTFOOT!

You guys seem to be always recording, always pushing toward the next release. Anything you can tell us about the next band album yet?

The reason why I love music is because it has this intangible spark, this once-in-a-lifetime urgency that breathes down the neck of my soul and makes me cry or laugh or throw something. So you dive into music and begin to learn how things work, the mechanics, the rules. And suddenly it becomes math instead of magic.

I feel like the most dangerous place for us to be as a band is to be comfortable. The rule for this record is that if you’ve done it in the past you can’t do it again. We want the music to move us. I heard somebody say -- “If you ain’t crying, why you playin’ it?” I like that…

We recorded 14 songs with Charlie Peacock [producer of Switchfoot's initial trio of indie albums] this summer. Our first approach was to take a song and play it for an hour or two and then listen back to what we achieved and move forward from there. It's completely new for us -- we've never "jammed" before.

To This Unique Country - Philippines


Where do I start a description of the past 7 days. It is impossible to put into words the many new experiences that I have been a part of for the last week. The Philippines and the Filipinos are beautiful.

Dave and I are living in an upper-class house with the Bareng Family. The father is a mechanical engineer and the mother a doctor. They own a number of clinics, farms, and a popular restaurant. We drive a Toyota Innova (the SUV of the country). This car is smaller than most North American cars but is HUGE for the Filipinos.

Every morning, Dave and I wake up at about 5:30 and are down for breakfast at 6:20. Showering here is a neat experience. Filipinos save water by using a bucket in the shower and pouring the water over the body, as needed - this is unique to this country. We travel to school with our entire family: the son (Arvin) is dropped off at school and the wife (Emma Joy) goes to her clinic and then the father (Rudy), Dave and I travel to Northwestern University.

Classes have been a great way to learn about the entire history, culture, literature, economics and life of the Filipinos. We need to drink many litres of water while in class. The other students think that we are Mormons because of our dress code (white dress shirt and black pants. We joke about this with our family; daily, they laugh at us because we look like Mormons.

Last night was one of the most unique experiences in my life. Picture this...two white boys step out of a Toyota SUV into a Filipino evening. The large, open windowed cement building is lit by green lights, Filipinos turn stare and the air becomes vacuumed. The strangers approach the place where the Filipino delicasy was originated and then they sit on patio chairs. Their host (Rudy) pays for the new treat as the travelers become more anxious at the sight and smell of new adventures. Then, the host says, "No, you just suck the juice out". Out of what you ask? Yes, none other than a chicken egg with a FETUS in the middle. It is a Filipino favorite called Ba lout. The night is capped off with Enpanada's and Coke.

To - South East Asia