My mother took a Spanish immersion class this past summer with some other students from outside Puerto Rico. Some of the students were from California, and for leisure one night they went out to Old San Juan to a dance club. At the club, the songs were all techno, and so one of the cosmopolitan students asked the DJ how come he didn't play any rap ( Read more... )

Puerto Rico is phenomenal so far. As you can tell by the time, I am not quite adjusted to the new time zone yet. Losing four hours plays with your inner clock quite a bit.

( This is a much different place than I remember... )

...just to say I did :oP ( Read more... )

*I leave for Puerto Rico in less than 24 hours. Someone asked me yesterday if I was excited; oddly enough, I'm not. I'm not dreading it or anything, but I'm just not worked up about it. I'm looking forward to it, certainly. I know that it's much colder in the Midwest right now, but it's cold enough here to have me looking forward to 80 degree ( Read more... )

"...by choosing what is good or bad we are men of a certain character, which we are not by holding certain opinions." -Aristotle, Nicomachean EthicsA great reminder from that sage of old...who we are is not determined by what we say we believe but by what we do. This is the difference between the faith that produces fruitful works and the belief ( Read more... )

"The line between worship and mission is so close that many prefer to speak of them in terms of each other...Mission can be conceived, particularly with Matthew 25 in mind, in terms of worshiping and serving the hidden Jesus one meets in the poor and needy. Thus, though I continue to speak of worship and mission as separate activities, I also ( Read more... )

Thanksgiving was good times. It was my first away from family and there was a strange corollary that occurred to me as we were lining up for the food--it was my first Thanksgiving with all white people. This should not be such a big deal as I have spent most of my life since I moved to Arkansas surrounded by primarily white people, but for some ( Read more... )

Over the last couple months I have missed two concerts by two of my favorite artists. First, I missed Anne Heaton a couple months ago, and then two weeks ago I missed Vienna Teng. Now, both times I missed because something else was going on, but it makes me feel like a pretender fan. *sigh* I guess the good thing is that living in Portland, there ( Read more... )

Wow, it's been a little while, huh? Thanks for those who sent emails and comments letting me know that I was missed online. I continually find myself amazed that people like reading what essentially feels like electronic vomiting at times. Thanks for boosting my self-esteem :o ( Read more... )

Went to a wonderful conference yesterday called "Building Beloved Community". It was hosted by Multnomah Seminary, but the people who spoke and participated in a panel afterward were from a variety of backgrounds. There were three professors from Multnomah, a Zen Buddhist abbot, an African American lady who hosts a conservative Christian radio talk ( Read more... )