Entries Tagged 'Other' ↓

I had a rather surreal movie watching experience this weekend.  When I first saw the movie Big I would have only been slightly younger than the main character so, naturally, I saw the movie through the eyes of the boy and his friend.  I imagined it would all be so cool…to be big, to get to do all the grown up things, but other than that it was just a fun movie.  Twenty years later I find myself watching this movie and suddenly I’m the grown up version and living in the world of all the adults in the movie.  What the freak happened to me!

Honestly it was one of the most introspective movie-viewing experiences I have had in a very very long time.  The movie is incredibly insightful into the coming of age experience and the beauty of the different stages of our lives.  It stirred such a mixed bags of emotions: a nostalgic sadness for the loss of innocence and unlimited potential of childhood, a desire to be Continue reading →

This weekend a constingency of us from Ashoka met with the folks at GOOD Magazine to brainstorm how we can inspire more people to become Changemakers for good.  A Changemaker is Ashoka’s language for describing someone who is self-actualized and views themselves with the power to change themselves, their families, their community, and ultimately the entire society of human kind.  We drew vin diagrams that blended idealism and pragmatism and talked about changing patterns in the last 50 years as a new trend in a large body of socially conscious citizens, etc.

As I listened to these discussions the expressions and language that I heard were, in essence, echoes of Zion.  These are elements that the Utopians have identified across the centuries.  The ways such a society are to be established have already been identified and successfully implemented for short periods of time.  Why short?  Because it is extremely hard work, it takes constant concentration, quick repentance, “prayer and fasting”, “meeting together oft” and the entire group must be fully committed.  But I say the more we can approach that ideal the better and it should be our endless goal, so I whole-heartedly endorse Ashoka’s vision of Everyone a Changemaker.  It is a matter of being and becoming. 

In my continued seeking for goodness Friday at work I had the privilege of sitting and listening to Betty Makoni, a reknowned activist for girls’ rights, as she was in the country to receive an award from Amnesty International. I was humbled as I listened to her matter-of-fact description of the problems facing young girls in her country and then completely humbled as I listened and observed her personal drive and remarkable capacity as an agent of change to drastically change the lives of thousands upon thousands of girls and eventually millions as her model is being replicated around the world.

2500 years ago a man named Jacob rebuked a gathering of men who had through their actions abused their wives and children.  He spoke in the name of the Lord saying “I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women and whoredoms are an abomination before me… I have seen the sorrow and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people [and can suffer it no longer’.”  In our modern day men continue to destroy these most precious and tender daughters of God.  Thanks be to God that He has raised up a woman named Betty Makoni to continue this battle for what is right and the only acceptable mode of behavior towards these most precious souls in the eyes of God.

In blogging fashion I will honor with her with links to her story–

Her official website

Her Ashoka Fellow profile

A speech she gave at the Global Philanthropy Forum

From the Global Fund for Women

From the United Nation’s Girls Education Initiative

From the BBC

A solemn reverence settled over the office recently as we received word of a tragic horseback accident in Afghanistan that prematurely took the life of a colleague.  Having only been with the organization for a few months I did not know this young woman personally but I was privileged to see the outpouring of love from her friends and hear of her wonderful person and personality.  She was clearly a person filled with love for her fellowman and the beauties and varieties of this world.  She had completely dedicated her life to serving the interests of the poor.

Such a moment inspires personal reflection and ponderous thought.  The questions are not academic: what’s it all for?  is that it?  does it have to be over so soon?  that person who loved and was loved, was she only a passing phenomenon?

As I listened to others reminisce and speak so beautifully about their friend I personally felt so restrained, I wanted to stand up and share the good news that I have found and sincerely believe, that death is not the end, that even in grief there is hope.

May her family be comforted in their loss and may I remember the thoughts I had that day.

Today marks the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is the day around which this entire human drama pivots.  If there were not an Easter, there would not be a Christmas.  Were it not for an empty tomb, there would be no meaning in the cross.  Take away the reality of the resurrection and Christianity  simply becomes a collection of stories for decent living.

Today it is in vogue within Christianity to deny the reality of the resurrection.  However denying the actuality of the resurrection yet still wanting to hold on to some elements of Christ’s teachings has been a point of contention within Christianity from the first century, so this is not a new development nor a matter of an ‘enlightened’ modern mind.  The report of a man who was publicly killed coming back to life three days afterwards, being touched and interacting with multiple groups of people, is indeed foolishness to the logical mind.

I think it is nearly impossible to explain or describe the mystery and glory of the resurrection in conversation.  Such a topic is best handled by the poet, artist, and musician.  I provide two pieces to ponder: Continue reading →

National Geographic Featured Article

If you were to dig a hole 300 feet straight down from the center of the charming French village of Crozet, you’d pop into a setting that calls to mind the subterranean lair of one of those James Bond villains. A garishly lit tunnel ten feet in diameter curves away into the distance, interrupted every few miles by lofty chambers crammed with heavy steel structures, cables, pipes, wires, magnets, tubes, shafts, catwalks, and enigmatic gizmos.

This technological netherworld is one very big scientific instrument, specifically, a particle accelerator-an atomic peashooter more powerful than any ever built. It’s called the Large Hadron Collider, and its purpose is simple but ambitious: to crack the code of the physical world; to figure out what the universe is made of; in other words, to get to the very bottom of things.

Read the full story 

In light of my post yesterday, I found this lecture by Peter Flint, posted at Summa Theologica, interesting about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The enthusiatic speaker’s main thesis being the Dead Sea Scrolls as the greatest archeological discovery of the last hundred years.  He does not go into much depth, it is more of a historical lesson about the Scrolls with a few interesting points at the end.