Joshua Case

August 27, 2008

Atlanta, Emergent, and Historic Civil Rights Moments

Last night I visited my first Atlanta emergent cohort meeting. It was a pretty good time and we had a pretty lively discussion on Joe Myers book 'Organic Community'. As one who has spent more time with Myers' other book, 'The Search to Belong', I found this conversation as somewhat of an evolution on may of those terms and thoughts.

As Adam Walker Cleveland outlined:
Myers moves through a variety of changes in language that he thinks we should be making as we think about creating community in our churches and other places. Here are a few of his language moves that I particularly enjoyed.

PATTERNS | Spatial Observation: Moving from Prescriptive to Descriptive
Myers discusses the ways in which we begin to form patterns in our churches as we move forward with projects, and in a more general sense, discusses the power of descriptive language over prescriptive language for the church. Prescriptive patterns and ideas leave less room for change, for adaptation and for new ideas, than more descriptive ways of doing things.

MEASUREMENT | Recalculating Matters: Moving from Bottom Line to Story
Another issue he really goes after is that of measurement in churches - how do we measure success? Are we following the ways of corporations, or do we have a better, more Spirit-led way of determining whether or not we’re being “successful” in the church. And is that even a question we should be asking? He says that instead of a bottom-line form of measurement that includes numeric, linear and statistical evaluations (one that far too many churches most likely follow), we should be more interested in narrative measurement: “Stories not only inform how things are going, they connect with the stories of those who are leading and generate wise insights for the future. Stories enable leaders to form a better picture of the health of community than numbers alone ever could.” 2

POWER | Authority: Moving from Positional to Revolving
In this section, Myers looks at a different understanding of leadership, one that goes against the traditional idea of a hierarchical, positional understanding of power. He advocates for a more revolving understanding of power, one that lives by the motto, “the project holds the power.” The goal or project is what holds the power, and certain people are called upon to be stewards of that power from time to time - but those people will change. It creates a more dynamic power structure, than one that is static and leaves the same person in “control.”

COORDINATION | Harmonized Energy: Moving from Cooperation to Collaboration
This section may have been the most interesting to me, in that it really made me think about my understanding of the word “cooperation.” I’ve often thought of cooperation as a good thing - the idea of everyone working toward the same goal. Myers puts a different spin on it - he creates the image of a teacher in a schoolroom instructing her students, “Cooperate with me children. Cooperate!” 3 He writes about cooperation, “The trouble with this is that the spirit of cooperation is a rigid spirit, one that stifles creativity and discovery. It is more concerned with sequence than rhythm. It squashes the human spirit. The master plan becomes the master.” 4 Some would say that’s putting a very specific spin on the concept of cooperation, but I think it can often be like that. Someone calls a group together, presents a goal, and says, “Alright everyone - I’d love your cooperation with this.” Basically they’re saying, “Do this my way and we won’t have any problems.” However, the idea of collaboration is much different - it’s saying “Let’s actually work together, create together, come up with something new that really works together!”

By the time the meeting ended, I had a new feel for the group and its diversity. It is a very different group than I have experienced before, and I am very excited to see how I can participate in it in the months to come. I am so thankful to Troy for inviting my participation.

Also the last couple of days, I have been going through the orientation hoops at Candler. I am very excited to get started, and I think next week should be quite the experience. Tomorrow I get to meet the staff at the Genesis shelter and the other students who will be experiencing this placement with me.

And finally, I can not end the post without noting the historic nature of today in America's history. Today, Barack Obama got the necessary votes at the convention to become the first non-white to receive the backing of a major party in American politics. Tomorrow night, he accepts the nomination on the anniversary of MLK's speech entitled, I have a dream. Incidentally, Dr. King had planned this speech on the anniversary of the death of Emmet Till. If you don't know this very historic and tragic story in American history, this video and song by Bob Dylan about the killing of Till will shock you. But it is part of this story. Part the American civil rights story. And part of the historic nature of tomorrow night.

So yeah, Atlanta is good but we are here in America for some real historic moments. For this we are very excited. Watch tomorrow night if you can, where ever you are! As Spike Lee said tonight on CNN, "The great world athlete's always perform best on the biggest stages under the most pressure. Tomorrow night," he said, "Obama will pull a Michael Jordan."

wait for it....
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2008

Detox over..DNC Begins

Laura and I have finished our detox. I have to be honest, the details of it are not much different than the other days I posted about. While at times I wondered, is this really doing anything, I am sure it was. I could feel it not only in my body as the days would pass, but in my mind. Tonight we ended our fast with a home-cooked lasagna.

Tonight, however, we are celebrating more than just the end of a detox, we are also watching with anxious eyes the beginning of the DNC. Why? for many important reasons which I will put out over the course of the next few days.

Here are just a few:
1. The historic nature of this DNC and the synchronicity of it- Not only will Barack Obama except the nomination of the democratic party to be President (a first as an African American), but this is both the anniversary of the 19th amendment to the American constitution (giving women the right to vote) but also of the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I have a dream speech'. On the day of this speech, Obama will give his acceptance speech. AMAZING!! As I have done a couple of times before, at the end of this post, you can watch the I have a dream speech in full.

2. Ted Kennedy- As many know, Kennedy has been sick with brain cancer. However, in this historic election, some years since his brother's death, his appearance is pretty special. It may be his last. Not to mention, Barack will be the first to accept the nomination and give a speech in a stadium since Kennedy. Another of those crazy synchronistic moments of history in this election year.

At then end of the day, as most of the people say, the biggest part of this convention will be whether or not the democrats can come out of this unified after a long primary season. We can only wait and see.

Until then, watch this speech again, and listen up on Thursday night to Barack.

yes we can!
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2008

Recycled Thursday Thoughts

Back in November I posted these thoughts that came together for me by Greg Boyd and Thomas Merton. Since I am trying to figure out how to update my blog to a new one, I am going through old posts trying to see if there is stuff I don't mind losing in the process. It is a slow process, but in the end, I do like finding old posts like this one.

I hope you enjoy this recycled series of reflections:

Greg Boyd has been getting loads of feedback apparently about his entry entitled, "Washing Osama's Feet". Here is a link to his most recent entry, which is a follow up entry, entitled, "The Worst Heresy Imaginable".

On Tuesday I didn't manage to get up a Tuesday is for Thomas, but maybe, that wasn't so bad. The question of 'who is my neighbor' and 'who is my enemy' is one that Jesus continually wants us to ask. In fact, from generation to generation, the answer to this question changes quite often. The portrait and conversation that Greg is having is quite a tough one in light of the person that Osama represents; however, we must ask the question, who is my enemy and how would Jesus ask me to treat them?

Thomas Merton, in 1961, was facing quite a different enemy. In fact, in his journal entry of 12 November of that year, he begins to wrestle with the way the enemy is illicting response from people within America..where he is living as an monk in Kentucky. He writes:

"I must pray more and more for courage, as I certainly have neither the courage nor the strength to follow the path that is certainly my duty.

With the fears and rages that possess so many confused people, if I say things that seem to threaten their interests or conflict with obsessions, then I will surely get it.

It is shocking that so many are convinced that Communists are about to invade or destroy America: "Christians" who think the only remedy is to destroy them first. Who thinks seriously of disarming? For whom it is more a pious wish, beyond the bounds of practicality?

I need patience to listen, to learn, to try to understand, and courage to take all the consequences and be really faithful. This alone is a full-time job. I dread it, but it must be done, and I don't quite know how. To save my soul by trying to be one of those who spoke and worked for peace, not for madness and destruction."

Indeed, knowing how to love as Christ would in this age of madness will be confuddled at best. People who choose to follow Christ's call to love extravagantly will be persecuted for their sense of passionately offering grace as Jesus modeled. People who work to provide humanitarian kindness as Christians might be misunderstood as trying to replace the gospel with works. Neighbors will become enemies, enemies are already our friends, and maybe most confusing of all, which religion or nationality one possesses won't mean squat.

As we move increasing towards the advent season, I hope that we will rediscover a ancient way of active longing. A longing that is described in Isaiah 2 as 'for the last days'. A longing that led Jesus Christ to live in a particular way; a way which is a way of goodness, and mercy, and justice for all. A way of living which leads others to that discover that deep longing for the time when,

"The mountain of the LORD's temple
will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore."

Indeed, may we reflect this season how Christ's humble coming and practical demonstration has prepared us to live differently for our age. And how this living will call out to others, 'there is another way,' 'we can achieve peace for our time.' May we who can, do. May we who pray, seek. May we who love, love extravagantly.

may peace and grace be yours today as you seek to love all, and to serve all...
joshua c

Posted by joshuacase at 10:04 PM | Comments (1)

August 14, 2008

Back to blogging...for real!

So, it begins. I am officially back on a schedule for blogging and writing. I love it!

I am also very much looking forward to beginning to blog about the people and opportunities coming to life here in Atlanta. These are of course, but not limited to: studies at Candler, Atlanta Emergent Cohort (and friendship with Troy), the Nick and Josh Podcast, The Genesis Shelter (my placement for contextual education for the next year) and of course the soon arrival of Little Bit Brown. I am also pretty excited about being able to be practiced on by Laura and others at the Atlanta School of Massage! YES!

Also, it is so good to have wifi at home again. And this time, its quick! Good news, good news!!

Be back soon...
jc

By the way, I hate to say it, but Michael Phelps is a machine! Tonight it happens again!

Posted by joshuacase at 01:29 PM | Comments (1)

August 06, 2008

On My Mind

So, other than having Georgia on my mind, Laura and I have really enjoyed listening to the new Coldplay Album. Specifically, I think this song has been on my mind.

enjoy if you haven't yet.

peace...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2008

5 Reasons to get an iPhone during transition!

So, you absolutely read it right. After saving and lusting and hoping to get an iphone since their inception, I have finally gotten one. And yes, it has lived up to the hype. In fact, during this time of transition, I can think of little else, other than my wife, and my zen-infused Anglican spirituality that has helped me more.

So, here are my: 5 Reasons Why I believe Everyone Needs an iPhone During Major Transition
1. Maps and Directions- When Laura and I were here pre-iPhone, we got really frustrated and lost. Atlanta ain't Geneva. Yep, you read it right, it says ain't; however, that doesn't even remotely diminish the fact that on our next trip, post-iPhone, we have experienced less frustration in transit and shopping.

2. Cuisine Options- I've added the program Loopt to my iPhone. o say the least its good fun. But more than good fun, it helps me find great food and read reviews of them. So, as in tonight, Laura and i wanted a good Indian. So, we jumped on Loopt, searched it out, and found one just down the road. We'll venture there tonight to see if it lives up to our famed Little India. Man I miss those guys!

3. Photos of randomnimity- Sure this may be petty, but if you like snapping photos of randomness, you can also use it do that and actually geo-tag your location. Memories mapped. Kind of reminds me of a great movie that I can not remember if I've ever plugged on this blog: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Must see for couples. Especially those together for more than 3 years. Required for those who've managed more than 10!

4. Knowing where your friends are..when they are few! Laura and I are adjusting and starting a new. YES we deeply miss our friendships in Geneva (more with everyday), but we are also meeting new people here. Many of whom, because of the afford-ability of the iPhone here, are able to have them. With that new program i mentioned above (loopt) we can see where each other are. We can connect if we are close, or even see if we are near someone we know. If so, we can drop a line or text or just give a call and see what's happening. If good!

5. You just feel connected! I have waited for a while to really try to find something that allows me to feel connected to all the apps on my mac. Closest I found recently was my Ipod Touch. But, as you mac enthusiasts would know, there are no phone capabilities there. Yet, with the iPhone I have been more than amazed at the way things just sync together and bring a since of macarmony. You get that: macarmony. You heard it here first: mac + harmony= macarmony.

So, if you know someone who is moving, or if you yourself are making a big transition, make sure you take care of yourself or your loved one, and reach for the iphone. You'll thank yourself, and they will thank you! Trust me.

Macarmoniously...
joshua c
(listening to iron & wine)

Posted by joshuacase at 06:10 PM | Comments (0)

"Home" at last

Laura and I have finally began the final settling process into Atlanta. Namely, we have began to buy and put together the furniture and rooms in our new place in Decatur.

Over all, the summer has flown by, but we are both very very ready to be settling in. The last couple of weeks we've also began to really miss certain things from Geneva, and Europe. The feelings of home are not here yet, and I suspect they won't be for some time, but we are returning as best we can.

Last night we had our first US grocery shopping experience and it was with great fear and trepidation that we ventured into the local Kroger. We decided to go up and down every isle. Man, what choices. Wow, what trip! Laura commented to me half way through that she felt like this experience was very similar to her first experience in Geneva as even though she could read all the labels, it remained deeply overwhelming with choice.

Thats about it from our side. Although, we are here, we are not yet home, except in our selves.

more to come..
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2008

Good Ol' Colbert

(HT: Brian)

And just in case you missed Bishop Tom on Colbert.

Fair? Balanced?
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2008

Brian McLaren at Lambeth

I've seen several people blogging about meeting Brian at Lambeth. Most have been, as they described, pleasantly surprised by this 'American evangelical'. For any of us who know Brian, the surprise isn't that surprising! Even if the irony is thick concerning his speaking at the American Episcopal church's Evangelism conference just a couple of months preceding this highly anticipated Lambeth (in the context of the global Anglican communion).

Here is what Fr. Lord had to say:
'I'm impressed that Brian McLaren was invited to speak at Lambeth on the subject of Evangelism. Here are his reflections about being at Lambeth and a snippet of his presentation.

"What a tremendous honor and pleasure it's been to speak on the subject of evangelism at the Lambeth Conference being held here in Canterbury, England. I know that most people think the "news story" here is about divisive controversies over sexuality, but my sense is that the real news story is very different.

There is a humble spirit here, a loving atmosphere, a deep spirituality centered in Bible study, worship, and prayer, and a strong desire to move beyond internal-institutional matters to substantive mission in our needy world. Most postmodern people don’t relish being far from God, bereft of hope and roots, isolated from loving community, part of the problem rather than the solution. But neither do they want to be religious fanatics, cultists, Us and Them dualists, Church hobbyists, Judgmental fantasists. They need authentic, sane, vibrant faith.

Anglicanism at its best is well placed to provide safe space to grow this:

1. A gospel which prioritizes Jesus and the kingdom more than institutional religion, with a servant concept of ministry

2.A safe platform from which to develop creative fresh expressions of Church

3. A multicultural family, with global flexibility
4. A liturgy that at its best exibits mystery, beauty, rootedness, intelligence and clarity, biblical coherence, as opposed either to absolutism or bigoted, mean spirited zealotry.

I find this very hopeful.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+'

Good for Brian. Good for goodness!
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2008

What a week, or two!!

Well, the last week or so has been quite amazing.

I've been in Tuscaloosa on the family tour, and maybe more importantly, my grand-father and I have been playing in the Member Guest Golf tournament at the Tuscaloosa Country Club. To make a long story short, we finished fourth out of 48 teams and it was quite dramatic and emotional.

On the final day we played in a shoot out with all the other teams and there were about 150 people following the groups around. Every time my grand-father would make a shot, the crowds would erupt in applause! Everytime I got out of the cart, I'd almost start crying. It was very very emotional to be playing together with him in this tournament at the age of 77.

Laura and I are now with my siblings and others at our house in Florida. We go deep sea fishing tomorrow and we are really looking forward to it!

I'll hopefully get some photos of fish and of our time with family up sooner rather than later.

Looking forward to being back at blogging soon!

Stay tuned..
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2008

Staying Alive & The Fidelity of Betrayal

Well, I am still alive after the majority of my time here with Laura's family. It has been a rich time of not merely getting to know family better, but of celebrating the life of our return with Laura. I do love my wife!

In other news, on Wednesday, Pete will hold a book launch for his newest book The Fidelity of Betrayal in Belfast.

If you haven't already ordered your copy, please please please get out there and check out the book. It is another fine piece of work!

Also, in case you didn't catch the taster on the podcast, you can check out our interview with Pete here. Its good fun, and a great interview. Make sure you listen.

I fly tomorrow to Tuscaloosa where I will finish preparations for a golf tournament this weekend with my grand father. We're playing together as a team and, well, I'm excited to get to spend this time with him!

Stay tuned...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few SGCs from the last few weeks:

Meg as Mom's 'Feeling a little uninspired today...'

Jim Wallis' 'Agreeing to Disagree'

the church and postmodern culture's 'Why being against metaphysics is so cool- a schoolyard explanation'

Next Reformation's 'subverting community'. Notice their mention of Pete Rollins and Ian.

Al Gore's '15 Way to Avert Climate Crisis' via TED.

Justice and Compassion's 'Garment ethics'.

Peter Rollins' 'Religion, Fundamentalism, and Christianity'

I hope you enjoyed them as I did!

in via...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 02:04 PM | Comments (1)

July 01, 2008

Newest N&J Podacast Interview is Available

Make sure to check out the latest podcast with me and Josh, plus an interview with my good friend Pete Rollins.

You can also check out some other fine folks that we support such as The Church Basement Road Show and The Homebrewed Christianity Podcast. The Homebrewed guys are recording some nice interviews so be sure to check out their podcast and subscribe to it. And check out the calendar for the Church Basement Road Show so that you can swing by and have a rip roaring good time with some crazy holy ghost revialists. They also have some good videos up on YouTube.

Enjoy watching and listening...
joshua c

Posted by joshuacase at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2008

Blogging Transition

Well, it has been a little over a week now since Laura and I have been back in the USA. Its been a literal whirlwind of activity.

So far, here is what is has looked like:
-Arrive on 20 June;
-23-25th- Look for apartments and visit ones we found online;
-25th- Sign on new apartment;
-26th- Travel to Tuscaloosa Alabama to look for a car & buy one;
-27-28th- Spend some time with family in Tuscaloosa, including new nephew Jake;
-29th- Drive back to Atlanta.

So yeah, nine days, one apartment, one car and today we should be able to pick up our shipment of stuff from Switzerland at US customs. They've been holding it! I can assure them, there are no terrorist manuals or stuff like that in there. Just a bunch of books and a few pretty decent movies.

On Saturday, Laura and I also celebrated the big 5. Yep, that right, it has flown by, but it has been five years now since we've been married. In many ways, it is hard to believe it has been that long, in others, it seems like it has been longer. But hey, thats life, right? We are very excited about the next 5 and really can not wait to see what will come!

As for our little puddle hopper, aka our car, we bought a 2004 Pontiac Vibe. Yeah, we are feeling pretty good about it. Gets a lot of mpgs and is quite comfortable.

So that's life here. Hopefully, more substantial blogging will return soon. But then again, even some of that will depend on wifi availability. Wait for it....its coming!

peace...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 07:32 AM | Comments (3)

June 27, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Since I am not sure how often I am going to have wifi, I am going to post a end of the week SGC. I am squatting on wifi at panera bread mostly.

Corey Hau's 'Sanity Amongst the Concrete'.

Phyllis Tickle's 'Pagans and Patriarchs'.

Per Caritatem's 'Begbie on Music as an Outpouring of Love'

Prodigal Kiwi's 'Interpreting Scripture, Mission and Layers of Significance'.

the church and postmodern culture's 'Charles Taylor, Pluralism, and the Postmodern Condition'.

Jason Clark's reminder and book recommendation 'Beyond smells & bells: the wonder and power of Christian liturgy'.

And finally, Peter Rollins' 'Batman as ultimate capitalist hero'.

The other good news is that Laura and I now officially have an apartment in Atlanta. We've also got a car just today. More on the new ride vibe soon.

peace and stay tuned! More updates on the transition to come!
joshua c

Posted by joshuacase at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas

Merton wrote:

"If you imagine the solitary as "one" who has numerically isolated himself from "many others," who has simply gone out of the crowd to hang up his individual number on a rock in the desert, and there to receive messages denied to the many, you have a false and demonic solitude. The true solitary does not seek himself, but loses himself. There is One solitude in which all persons are at once together and alone. The paradox of solitude is that its true ground is universal love -- and true solitude is the undivided unity of love. Hence, we live in a world in which we say, "God is dead," and do so in a sense rightly, since we are no longer capable of experiencing the truth that we are completely rooted and grounded in His Love. The answer is not found in words, but by living on a certain level of consciousness. These pages are, then, a landscape of the mind, a level of consciousness: the peace, the silence of aloneness in which the Hearer listens, and the Hearing is No-Hearing.

Where is silence? Where is solitude? Where is Love? Ultimately, these cannot be found anywhere except in the ground of our own being. There, in the silent depths, there is no more distinction between the I and the Not-I. There is redemptive Love. There we encounter God.

Unfortunately, modern man believes he is fruitful and productive when his ego is aggressively affirmed, when he is visibly active, and when his action produces obvious results.Their desire is only an illusion which cannot find fulfillment."

ouch...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2008

Safe and sound

Laura and I arrived safely into Atlanta. We are currently staying with Josh & Anna.

Be back in touch soon, especially about the recent news of Tiger's season ending surgery. Oh, and did I mention he is an absolute beast?!

Take care. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 03:07 AM | Comments (3)

June 18, 2008

Possibly a final blog..from this side of the ocean!

HI to all.

This is just a quick note that I will be away from internet until I get to ATL on Friday. The past few weeks have been quite a ride. More stories and lessons to share than I could have imagined. Also, as of tomorrow, no cell phone.

Please stay in touch via joshuacase (at) mac (dot) com. I'll be back around come Saturday!

peace in a time of transition...
joshua c

Posted by joshuacase at 02:53 PM

June 14, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few from this week:
Greg Boyd's 'What's Up With Nephilim?'

Jim Wallis' 'Two Firsts'

Brian McLaren's 'Note to critics and self'

the church and postmodern culture's 'A Gadamarian Critique of Hirsch’s Meaning/Significance Distinction, by Cynthia R. Nielsen' and 'Guess on Rorty: Pragmatism and (as?) Americanism'

Fernando Gros' 'Attention, Distraction And Interruption'

The TED Blog's 'The worldwide web of belief and ritual'

Doug Shaver's 'Can Reliable Knowledge Be Produced Outside Science?'

Also, a few months ago I blogged about a book by Parker J Palmer entitled, Let Your Life Speak. I am so happy to see that Palmer is getting around as Josh Brown just put this post up on his experience with the book. If you have not checked it out yet, please do yourself a favor!!

Enjoy this week's stuff.
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 11:44 AM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas

I haven't posted a Merton quote for a while because I have been wanting to make sure I posted good ones. And wow do i have one for you. This is one of the best quotes I have come across in a while!

Merton's journal entry entitled, Lost with the Lost, Desiring Lucidity:

"One only ceases o be absurd when, realizing that everything is absurd when seen in isolation from everything else, meaning and value are sought only in wholeness. The solitary must, therefore, return to the heart of life and oneness, losing himself, not in the massive illusion, but simply in the root reality, plunging through the center of his own nothingness, and coming out in the All which is the Void and which is, if you like, the Love of God.

One cannot cease to be absurd by dint of metaphysics, or concentration, or meditation, or study, or knowledge: only by experiencing the fact that there is now all between ourselves and others, in other words, by accepting the absurdity of our own life in terms of the suffering of others: no separating "my" pain, suffering, limitation, lostness, etc., from that of others. As long as a single person is lost, I am lost. To try to save myself by getting free from the mass of the damned (Augustine's massa damnata), an becoming good by myself, is to be both damned and absurd-as well as antichrist. Christ descended into hell to show that He willed to be lost with the lost, in a certain sense emptied so that they might be filled and saved, in the realization that now their lostness was not theirs but His. Hence, the way one begins to make sense out of life is taking upon oneself the lostness of everyone-and then realizing not that one has done something, or "made sense," but that one has simply entered into the stream of realization. The rest will work out by itself, and we do not know what that might mean."

be lost with the lost!
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2008

A good story about a good guy

So the Celtics and the Lakers are in the NBA finals. Here is a story about one of the Celtic players who had a great night last night. And the bottom line: when he was younger, he was homeless.

inspirational, eh?
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

So, while I have not posted what I would consider a seriously good one in a while, there are others keeping hope alive! I hope to rejoin the ranks when the transition dusts settle.

Jim Wallis' 'A Transformational Moment'

TED's 'The psychology of forgiveness'

Brian McLaren's 'What Do You Mean By Politics? 1 & 2'

Jason Clark's 'Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism & The Emerging Church'

Jonathan Stegall's 'Practicality of church and politics'

The Loom's 'A New Step in Evolution'

And just in case you missed it, make sure to check out this very funny video by jon stewart! Congrats Barack!

Finally, in case you were unaware, watch out for 9 June! WWDC?!

enjoy!
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

Loads of lasts..

Please indulge this personal journal. I need the space and community for it;)

As you will have read before, Laura and I are currently in the final stages of a transition from Geneva to Atlanta. It is a truly bitter sweet period for us.

This week especially is turning out to be full of several lasts. For starters, it is the last time I'll be on campus at any of the international schools. Next, I attended my last board meeting with YFC Geneva last night. I took my leave before the meeting ended, and well, that is that. Finally, we will be having a final team outing and student party this weekend.

Yes, change is in the air as is the genuine transition from one physical place to another. We're not sure what all the next season will have for sure, but we're excited for the space between knowing and doing.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week if you don't mind.

Thanks..
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 06:48 PM | Comments (2)

May 23, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few SGCs from this week. Do enjoy!

Desmond Tutu Urges Governments to Do Better for World Healthcare

Justice and Compassion's '10 Years'

Next Reformation's 'missional vulnerability'

UNICEF seeks additional funds to aid children affected by Ethiopia’s growing food crisis

Shane Claiborne's blog at God Politics entitled 'Holy Mischief: 40 Years after the Catonsville 9 and the 'Fracture of Good Order' (by Shane Claiborne)'

Mike Campbell's 'Finding God In The Homeless'

Paul Mayer's post at Jason Clark's site entitled 'Are we fundamentalist enough?'

happy reading...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 02:16 PM | Comments (1)

May 19, 2008

Newest Podacast Interview is Available

The most recent podcast is up at The Nick & Josh Podcast. Make sure to check out this interview with the Rev. Michael French. I promise, from a development and advocacy stand point, you won't meet a sharper guy!

Keep watch for other upcoming transnational interviews with Canon Ted Karpf, Pete Rollins and Kester Brewin!

peace..
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 01:37 PM | Comments (2)

May 18, 2008

Thoughts on Service, Farming and Intention

Here are a few thoughts I've been having lately:

By serving others we create space for faith by trusting that somehow by putting ourselves aside, we dismiss the power in the foolishness of today's predominant paradigm that says 'you are all that matters'. Yet, as we are each stewards of the mysteries of God, we serve not because by doing so we demonstrate that we have faith, but because it is our duty, our pleasure, our place as humans interconnected to a global ecosystem.

Acts of service are in many ways like acts of farming. For the most part, they are committed, and only small and momentary changes are experienced. For those who receive the service and aid of others, the relief is profound and often greatly appreciated. Yet longer are the days of service through which little seems moved, or through which the servant experiences the joy of transformation.

But who is to say which actually has had the most profound effect? Does not the harvest arrive after months of growth and watering and waiting? And a good film or book from months of hard work and editing?

Such it is with the movements of service in faith. That in their sowing, one intends that goodness should inhabit the space where injustice is present. That truth comes to life where deceit currently lives. That hope and peace will become alive where death and rupture dwell. But be not mistaken, these growths and hopeful transformations are not our doings, but our mere-intendings. What actually comes when they actually come, or how they come, are not merely up to the elements and the servants themselves, but also to the God of creation.

For in the space between planting, care-taking, watering, hoping, and waiting, Creator makes growth occur. For in the space between intentional action and harvested result exists ages of divine and natural interaction. Or maybe they are one in the same?!

What have you sown?
Where have you hoped?
For what do you wait?
How have you watered?

Trust. Wait. Act.
joshua case

Posted by joshuacase at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few good conversations, or conversation starters from this week.

There are three from the church and postmodern culture blog: Geuss on Rorty: Pragmatism and (as?) Americanism; Zizek, and the danger of Obama for the American church; Carl Raschke on Incarnational Ecclessiology

Pete Rollins 'More things Please'

Jonathan Stegall's 'Pentecostals and revival'

Fr. Geoffrey Hoare's 'Thoughts on Power'

Austin's 'Don't Take God Out of Schools: Evil Atheists Removed God and Prayer from Public Schools, Leading to Disaster'

And last but not least, thanks to the Diocese of Arizona for this link to the newest carbon footprint calculator at zerofootprint. DO take a moment to check out their "one minute calculator". It can be a bit shocking!

peace...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas

Merton wrote:

It is like an English summer day, cool and cloudy, with deep green grass all around the hermitage and trees heavy with foliage. Occasional slow bursts of gentle sunlight that imperceptibly pass by. Shafts of light and great rooms of shadow in the tall tree-church beyond the cedar cross. The path of creek gravel leads into the shadows and beyond them to the monastery, out of sight, down the hill, across the fields and a road and a dirty stream. All such things as roads and sewers are far from this place.

Knowing when you do not need any more. Acting just enough. Saying enough. Stopping when there is enough. Some may be wasted, nature is prodigal. Harmony is not bought with pasimoniousness.

Yet stopping is "going on". To cling to something and want more of it, to use it more, to squeeze enjoyment out of it. This is to "stop" and not "go on." But to leave it alone at the right time, this is the right stopping, the right going on. To leave a thing alone before you have had anything to do with it, if it is for your use, to leave it without use, is not "stopping," it is not even beginning. Use it to go on.

To be great is to go on.
To go on is to be far.
To be far is to return.

-----

good stuff....
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2008

A confession and a moratorium...

I have to come out on something. It may not be popular. I am taking a moratorium on Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I know I know. The guy is a bit out there, and he has not done much good for my friend Obama, but I think its ok for me to withhold judgement.

Just the other night a group of us were watching some of Bill Moyers Interview with him, and while there have been quite a few sound bytes taken out of context about Rev. Wright, a good bit of what he is addressing I think is so unpopular because it flies in the face of the mainstream.

As many of you may very well be aware, he is a black liberation theologian. At its best, liberation theology changes things at every level of a society on behalf of justice. At its worst, its gets labeled as that liberal jargon that just does social action stuff because its lost its evangelical heart, or wants to take over power from those who have it.

A couple of practical bits that reflect the liberation theology of Wright are below. Yes, admittedly they fly in the face of the mainstream, but are they really that wrong? Or are they just too close for comfort?

Rev. Wright from a sermon in 2003:
"Where governments lie, God does not lie. Where governments change, God does not change. And I'm through now. But let me leave you with one more thing. Governments fail. The government in this text comprised of Caesar, Cornelius, Pontius Pilate - the Roman government failed. The British government used to rule from East to West. The British government had a Union Jack. She colonized Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Hong Kong. Her navies ruled the seven seas all the way down to the tip of Argentina in the Falklands, but the British government failed. The Russian government failed. The Japanese government failed. The German government failed. And the United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed. She put them on reservations. When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly, she failed. She put them in internment prison camps. When it came to treating citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains. The government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton fields, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into position of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law, and then wants us to sing God bless America? No, no, no. Not God bless America; God damn America! That's in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating her citizen as less than human. God damn America as long as she keeps trying to act like she is God and she is supreme!

BILL MOYERS: What did you mean when you said that?

REVEREND WRIGHT: When you start confusing God and government, your allegiances to government -a particular government and not to God, that you're in serious trouble because governments fail people. And governments change. And governments lie. And those three points of the sermon. And that is the context in which I was illustrating how the governments biblically and the governments since biblical times, up to our time, changed, how they failed, and how they lie. And when we start talking about my government right or wrong, I don't think that goes. That is consistent with what the will of God says or the word of God says that governments don't say right or wrong. That governments that wanna kill innocents are not consistent with the will of God. And that you are made in the image of God, you're not made in the image of any particular government. We have the freedom here in this country to talk about that publicly, whereas some other places, you're dead if say the wrong thing about your government."

Rev. Wright about in the words of his first sermon after September 11th:
"In fact, September 11th, I was in Newark. September 11th, I was trapped in Newark 'cause when they shut down the air system I couldn't get back to Chicago. September 11th, I looked out the window and saw the second plane hit from my hotel window. Alright, I had members who lost loved ones both at the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center. So, I know the pain. And I had to preach to them Sunday. I had to preach. They came to church wanting to know where is God in this. And so, I had to show them using that Psalm 137, how the people who were carried away into slavery were very angry, very bitter, moved and in their anger from wanting revenge against the armies that had carried them away to slavery, to the babies. That Psalm ends up sayin' "Let's kill the baby-let's bash their heads against the stone." So, now you move from revolt and revulsion as to what has happened to you, to you want revenge. You move from anger with the military to taking it out on the innocents. You wanna kill babies. That's what's going on in Psalm 137. And that's exactly where we are. We want revenge. They wanted revenge. God doesn't wanna leave you there, however. God wants redemption. God wants wholeness. And that's the context, the biblical context I used to try to get people sitting again, in that sanctuary on that Sunday following 9/11, who wanted to know where is God in this? What is God saying? What is God saying? Because I want revenge.

REVEREND WRIGHT (SERMON TAPE): The people of faith have moved from the hatred of armed enemies, these soldiers who captured the king, those soldiers who slaughtered his son and put his eyes out, the soldiers who sacked the city, burned the towns, burned the temples, burned the towers, and moved from the hatred for armed enemies to the hatred of unarmed innocents, the babies, the babies . "Blessed are they who dash your baby's brains against a rock." And that my beloved is a dangerous place to be. Yet, that is where the people of faith are in 551 BC and that is where far too many people of faith are in 2001 AD. We have moved from the hatred of armed enemies to the hatred of unarmed innocents. We want revenge. We want paybacks and we don't care who gets hurt in the process.

I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday. Did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox news. This is a white man and he was upsetting the Fox news commentators to no end. He pointed out. You see him John? A white man he pointed out -an Ambassador! He pointed out that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true. America's chickens are coming home to roost! We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Arawak, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism! We took Africans from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism! We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel. We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard-working fathers. We bombed Gadafi's home and killed his child. "Blessed are they who bash your children's head against a rock!" We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback for the attack on our embassy. Killed hundreds of hard-working people; mothers and fathers who left home to go that day, not knowing that they would never get back home. We bombed Hiroshima! We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye! Kids playing in the playground, mothers picking up children after school, civilians - not soldiers - people just trying to make it day by day. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans, and now we are indignant? Because the stuff we have done overseas has now been brought back into our own front yards! America's chickens are coming home to roost! Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred and terrorism begets terrorism. A White Ambassador said that y'all not a Black Militant. Not a Reverend who preaches about racism. An Ambassador whose eyes are wide open, and who's trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised--"

-------

Again, I am not saying I endorse the guy completely or even partially, but I am saying that the kind of pro-testifying (as Marcus Borg would call it) to the practice and place of applied theology to context is deeply important to look at. If for no other reason, to understand where he is coming from. Again, he is probably hurt Obama in many ways, for me this is quite sad, but I am taking a moratorium on the man.

am I silly?
jc

oh, and by the way, he had connections to Billy as well;)

Posted by joshuacase at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2008

Can Atheists Be Religious? Are there Religious Atheists?

This was an interesting article posted of at About.com.

"Religion and Atheism Are Not Contradictory Or Opposites

Question:
Can atheists be religious?

Response:
Atheism and religion are often portrayed and treated as polar opposites; although there is a strong correlation between being an atheist and being irreligious, there is no necessary and inherent connection between the two. Atheism is not the same as being irreligious; theism is not the same as being religious. Atheists in the West tend not to belong to any religion, but atheism is quite compatible with religion. Theists in the West tend to be religious, but theism is compatible with irreligion."

To see the rest of the article, visit here.

enjoy...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 08:40 AM | Comments (1)

May 03, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few SGC's:

Firstly, let me highlight this Blogalogue between NT Wright and Bart Ehrman concerning pain and suffering. Is our pain God’s problem? If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow so much suffering? These kinds of questions—sometimes called the problem of theodicy—have long bothered believers (in Christianity) and nonbelievers (of Christianity) alike. These questions are especially pressing now as we face the AIDS pandemic, widespread hunger, and environmental degradation—not to mention the grief that humans can cause one another. Make sure to check it out here.

Paul Mayer's 'Jesus- the stud of God...'

Mental Floss' 'Why can't your tickle yourself'

Justice and Compassion's 'Does Anyone Want to Hear?'

Common Grounds Online 'The Church and Social Reform'

You may be aware that there is a major food crisis going on around the world. Mike Todd has been keeping things updated on his blog. I know there are lots of others blogging about it. But Mike is a trustworthy source with a reflection on what we can do to make a difference.

enjoy this weekend.
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 03:02 PM | Comments (1)

April 28, 2008

Rogation Monday Reflection: Needing Hope in a time of Drought, or was that Doubt?

"So now, Athenian men, more than on my own behalf must I defend myself, as some may think, but on your behalf, so that you may not make a mistake concerning the gift of god by condemning me. For if you kill me, you will not easily find another such person at all, even if to say in a ludicrous way, attached on the city by the god, like on a large and well-bred horse, by its size and laziness both needing arousing by some gadfly; in this way the god seems to have fastened me on the city, some such one who arousing and persuading and reproaching each one of you I do not stop the whole day settling down all over. Thus such another will not easily come to you, men, but if you believe me, you will spare me; but perhaps you might possibly be offended, like the sleeping who are awakened, striking me, believing Anytus, you might easily kill, then the rest of your lives you might continue sleeping, unless the god caring for you should send you another." Socrates; at his trial, February 15, 399 BCE

Rogation Days- A History and Introduction from Wiki:

“Rogation days are, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God's mercy.

The first Rogation was introduced as a Christian substitute for the Roman pagan celebration Robigalia, which was a special celebration to pray for crops. The second set of Rogation days, introduced about ad 470 by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne and eventually adopted elsewhere, are the three days (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday and Rogation Wednesday) immediately before Ascension Thursday in the Christian liturgical calendar.

The word "Rogation" comes from the Latin verb rogare, meaning "to ask," and was applied to this time of the liturgical year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage "Ask and ye shall receive" (Gospel of John 16:24). The Sunday itself was often called Rogation Sunday as a result, and marked the start of a three-week period (ending on Trinity Sunday), when Roman Catholic and Anglican clergy did not solemnize marriages.

The faithful typically observed the Rogation days by fasting in preparation to celebrate the Ascension, and farmers often had their crops blessed by a priest at this time, which always occurs during the spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Violet vestments are worn at the rogation litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what colour was worn at the ordinary liturgies of the day. A common feature of Rogation days in former times was the ceremony of "beating the bounds", in which a procession of parishioners, led by the minister, churchwarden, and choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their parish and pray for its protection in the forthcoming year.”

Rogation Monday Reflection: Needing Hope in a time of Drought, or was that Doubt?

It’s somewhat peculiar that amid this Easter season of the church we find ourselves on a global scale trying to figure out what it all means. Like the disciples in the days after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, we are surrounded by our own sets of famine, earthquakes, wars, financial instability, and food crisis all of which lead us to ask the questions, ‘can it really get any worse?’ or ‘Did God really mean to lead us here?’

Day in, and day out, the answer seems to be ‘YES it can!’ and ‘YES God did!’
But we are not the first who have needed hope in a time of drought. It seems as though for centuries on end, part of what it meant to be integrated into a community, and a community of faith, was to participate in days such as these Rogation days in order to remind ourselves, our communities, and the earth beneath our feet, that we are not alone. Indeed, that we are not even our own, but rather part of a cosmic relationship of mutuality and mercy.

In fact, as Luke’s narration of Christ’s teachings on loving your enemy seems to indicate, if we wish to follow in the way of Christ, we may even be challenged to question if we are owned more by those who would harm us, than even by ourselves. For it is by Jesus himself that we are reminded to “love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful” (Luke 6.36-36).

But what of our times, really? Where is mercy? Are we to look and around think that the signs tell us we have gone astray? Are we to wonder if like the people of Korah, challenging the leadership of Moses and Aaron, that we are about to be consumed by the earth because of our arrogance, because of our desire towards upward mobility? Are we daring to say that our wilderness no longer needs to be explored and that certainly slavery must be better?

It is doubtful to think that in 2008 anyone would prefer slavery to freedom. That anyone would negate the reality of our interdependence and need one for another. And yet, this is the cusp upon which we stand; namely that as stewards, co-creators, care-takers, enemies, and pilgrims, we must decided how it is that we will follow the way of goodness and mercy and justice for our age.

A mere three days before Christians worldwide celebrate the Ascension of Jesus, we are left to ask ourselves, is the ancient way of Christ still worth following? Is the way of Christ really going to bring streams in the desert or, ways in the wilderness. A mere three days before the remembering of Christ’s ascension to petition for the good our cosmos for ages on end, we remain with problems in hand, crisis aloof, scared for the survival of our way of life, and in desperate need of a new way home!

But maybe that is it. Maybe what we do not need is merely a new way, but a very simple and ancient one. Maybe what we need it is to gather together and march. In our doubts, in our desperation, in our faith and faithlessness, maybe what we need is to return to community and to march around our cities or villages or communities hand-in-hand, stride-in-stride, prayer-in-prayer declaring that this year things will be different.

Enemies on the one side, brothers on the other, we beat the bushes of our divisions and declare not merely to the systems which have made us slaves to our ideals, but to the leaders who continue to feed us the new dope of false hope, that we are not so concerned with ourselves as we are with those whose sheer existence is tied to ours. We declare that community matters, and that we are going to push pause on the narcissistic quest to make me happy, and try our hand at making others healthy.

2008 can be a year that is different. A year where a great comforter becomes known not because comfort is ultimately achieved in every nook and cranny of the cosmos, but because the wilderness was not avoided, slavery was not accepted, and violence was not the answer. 2008 can be different because we each chose to ‘do unto others, as you would have them do unto you’ (Luke 6.31).

Walk with me. In your hearts, in your communities, in your workplaces, and in your families, walk with me. And find others to walk with you. Let’s try to walk ourselves around this place, carrying those with us who cannot carry themselves, helping those who see no way of helping themselves, resisting those who think all should be like themselves, and hoping in the mercy of the One image at the heart of every self.

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle see His banners go!

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee; On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise; Brothers lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Like a mighty army moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

What the saints established that I hold for true. What the saints believèd, that I believe too. Long as earth endureth, men the faith will hold, Kingdoms, nations, empires, in destruction rolled.

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, But the church of Jesus constant will remain. Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng, Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song. Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King, This through countless ages men and angels sing.”

walk on...
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 12:40 PM | Comments (1)

April 26, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few SGC's:

Kester Brewin's 'Clinton Defaults to Conflict'.

Pete Rollins' 'The Leader is Needed to Refuse the Leadership'.

Josh Brown's 'The Indian Taxi Fund Update'.

Coke is in Trouble concerning Dafur!!

Science Blog's 'Does counting your blessings matter?'

God's Politics 'Is Social Justice a Distraction?'

Jesus Manifesto's 'Buddist Follower of Jesus?'

Ryan's 'A Strange Salvation'.

Also, if you haven't already, make sure you check out the new and improved Everything Must Change site. Good stuff going on there thanks to Brian and others!!

enjoy...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 09:13 AM | Comments (1)

April 22, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas, the Earth, and Obama

In honor of Earth Day 2008, I have decided to post one of Merton's poems. In case you missed that today was Earth Day, as if everyday shouldn't be, you can read more about what others are doing here.

Of all earth days, I also suspect this is an important one. There is a perfect storm of global events happening right now which demand our attention. Most of these events and happenings, can be linked back to either a. something that comes from the earth, or b. the way the earth is responding to the wrongful exploitation of its resources by bad stewards. I'll blog more on this later in the week; however, buyer beware: there are many economists worldwide warning that we are only a few months away from feeling a economic recession worldwide, coupled with the largest food shortages we've ever known. This is not only bad news for those who have wealth to be concerned about, it is even worse news for those who can not afford bread or rice or medicine. The proverbial 'shit', could be about to hit the fan.

Oh that we might feel the unity and oneness as Merton sought to express it.

O Sweet Irrational Worship

Wind and a bobwhite
And the afternoon sun.

By ceasing to question the sun
I have become light,

Bird and wind.

My leaves sing.

I am earth, earth

All these lighted things
Grow from my heart.

A tall, spare pine
Stands like the initial of my first
Name when I had one.

When I had a spirit,
When I was on fire
When this valley was
Made out of fresh air
You spoke my name
In naming Your silence:
O sweet, irrational worship!

I am earth, earth

My heart's love
Bursts with hay and flowers.
I am a lake of blue air
In which my own appointed place
Field and valley
Stand reflected.

I am earth, earth

Out of my grass heart
Rises the bobwhite.

Out of my nameless weeds
His foolish worship.

------------------------

Also, as I am sure you will be aware, today is a very important primary in Pennsylvania where once again, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are vying for delegates. While Barack has already predicted he would lose today, the main issues is that Hillary should not win by big margin. If you know people in Penn, or are one of them, make sure, regardless of who you vote for, you at least get out and vote. It is your right.

When it comes to environmental policy, i very much favor Barack's. But hey, anything is better than the current administration.

Have a green day.
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Sorry I have been so bad a blogging as of late. I really hope I can get into a better rhythm this week. Transition, as you might imagine, can be very consuming.

Jason Clark's 'The Loss of Church as Public'. And here too.

Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis (video)

Purple State of Craig's 'Compassion Forum and the Gender Gap'.

Jonathan Stegall's 'The Idealistic Cynic'.

About Atheism's 'Rebooting Humanism' and 'Religious Terrorism as Symbol, Ritual & Performance Violence'.

Also, in case you missed it, part two of my interview with Jason Clark is up over at the Podcast. And so is Josh's interview with the guys at Purple State of Mind. Make sure to check them out. Good stuff.

have a great weekend.
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas

Here is quote from Merton for this week:

"It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God's will when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about the rent. But if you want them to believe you - try to share some of their poverty and see if you can accept it as God's will yourself!"

Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation, chapter 14, p. 107 (1949)

Here are a few thoughts from Austin Cline's Agnosticism / Atheism Blog

"Religious organizations have a long and complex history with questions about poverty, class stratification, and other economic matters. On the one hand, most religions have embedded within their traditions explicit statements about the importance of helping the poor and the dangers of too much accumulation of wealth. On the other hand, successful religions typically attach themselves to powerful political and social forces - forces which, almost by definition, value the accumulation of wealth and often do little to help lift up the poor.

Christianity has had an especially difficult time reconciling itself with this matter. On the one hand, the words attributed to Jesus are pretty unambiguous in their defense of the poor and their attacks on the wealthy. There is little room to argue that Jesus didn't really mean it when he is portrayed and stating that the rich wouldn't easily get into heaven and that the best course of action for a rich person is to sell all their belongings and follow Jesus.

Moreover, during its early stages Christianity was closely associated with the poor and other outcasts in Roman society. It is arguable that much of Christianity's success can be attributed precisely to the fact that it provided as stable social network for the poor, allowing them to survive such disasters as plagues while others died off at a precipitous rate. The ability of Christianity to attract and hold converts certainly didn't go unnoticed and, eventually, it became the official state religion of Rome - and that's when things changed.

Thereafter, Christianity was more closely associated with the rich and powerful in Rome, adopting many of the imperial trappings which it once would have shunned. It would not be entirely unfair to argue that Christianity become corrupted, but it also wouldn't be unfair to point out that this merger with the powerful state was also key in helping Christianity to dominate Europe. The most successful religions can't remain the exclusive ideology of the weakest members of society. If principles aren't compromised, failure looms over everything.

Such issues would have been keenly felt by Thomas Merton, a monk who is regarded as one of the greatest mystics of the 20th century. If any Christians continue to hold closely to some of Christianity's original ideals, it would probably be monks and nuns living in religious communities. These people are also often the source of some of the most trenchant criticism of trends in the larger Christian community to focus on material wealth and success.

In the above quotation, I suspect that Merton was singling out some of the rich and powerful Christians of the West - generally Protestants - who regard wealth and a sign of God's favor. It is strange that some have managed to link material prosperity with divine blessings in light of so many passages attributed to Jesus which argue against the exact opposite - but many Christians, it seems, have never let a little thing like that stop them - especially Christians in America. After all, the phrase "God helps those who help themselves" isn't in the Bible, but a lot of Americans think it is."

ouch...
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Ariah Fine's 'Waterboarding President Bush'

Scott Prather's 'Managerialism and the Gospel'

Per Caritatem's 'Scotus on the Moral Goodness of an Act'

Fernando Gros' 'Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change'

Emergent Village's 'Intro to William Stafford'

Jim Wallis' 'Is King's Complete Message Breaking Through?'

And last but not least, Josh Brown's 'My Proposal- The Indian Taxi Fund'

have a great week..
jc

Posted by joshuacase at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2008

Life between Anglican Spirituality, Modernity, and Church in the Age to Come

Recently, I have been introduced into a whole new group of bloggers, writers, thinkers and practitioners.

A couple of these people are Paul Fromont and Maggi Dawn. Below is an essay written by Fromont in response to Maggi Dawn's essay in the book Anglicanism: The Answer to Modernity.

Maggi Dawn, adding her voice to the mix of seven other Cambridge University deans or chaplains, has crafted a significant essay entitled - 'I Am the Truth': Text, Hermeneutics and the Person of Christ. Whilst not available on-line it can be found in the 2003 published book: Anglicanism: The Answer to Modernity (ed. Duncan Dormor, Jack McDonald and Jeremy Caddick, published by Continuum).

Dawn, writing this essay on hermeneutics - one would imagine during 2002 / 2003 - hopes that as a religion 'of the book,' Christianity will maintain 'confidence in its holy Scriptures,' and that rather than taking up defensive positions to protect the Christian tradition 'against the ingress of new and apparently dangerous ideas,' will choose instead to regard our Christian tradition as one that is living and growing. Dawn's hope is that we will adopt a position in which we 'focus our vision, not short-sightedly on the tradition' as it has been handed to us, 'but on the living God whom text and tradition convey (emphasis, mine).'

She encourages us to dare 'to step towards God on the shifting ground of intellectual enquiry,' and one could also add, upon the shifting ground of significant discontinuous cultural change. Dawn writes that 'for Christian hermeneutics to remain truly Christian, we must avoid treating [the] text [of Scripture] as a means of preserving a historical religion in terminal decline, and instead expect it to voice the living truth of Christ.' This is an important statement, one that for this reader highlights the necessary and important linkage between the serious practice of Christian hermeneutics, in which we engage with the living voice of Christ, and any talk of reforming and/or renovating historical models and ways of being church. How we both hear and enter into dialogue with Christian Scripture seems vitally important to how we are in turn the faithful people of God in our various contemporary contexts.

We must resist these positions for Descartes warns that they lead only to death. While we still have space to think and dream, we must still believe that change is possible. And while we still believe that it is both possible and necessary, we must urgently apply ourselves to the key question that springs immediately from it: how does change occur? It is a question that has taxed the minds of philosophers, politicians, scientists and sociologists for as long as thinking has been recorded.

In what will prove both timely and prophetic, given the great pressure currently being bought to bear on her denomination and academy, Dawn reminds us that 'it is essential for the survival of each that we maintain the advance of Christian theology as a joint endeavour. Academic theology that loses its connection to a confessional faith becomes self-consciously exclusive; Church theology, if it loses a rigorous approach to difficult questions championed by the Academy, will find its theology gradually reduced and simplified until it can no longer approach the searching questions of life in the world it inhabits (emphasis, mine).'

Writing about the Anglican Church's 'three-cornered foundation - an equal appeal to Scripture, to tradition and to reason' Dawn notes that a 'dependence on Scripture keeps our faith rooted in the faith of ancient Israel and in the story of Jesus Christ. The dependence upon tradition gives [the Church] continuity - a steady and measured development, in step with, but not eclipsed by that of the culture it is a part of. Its dependence upon reason - it's commitment to make the faith make sense in the light of human thought - prevents it from becoming a religious ghetto: the commitment to reason is a commitment to interact with the thoughts, ideas, and cultural development of [the] world we inhabit.' Further, 'the commitment to reason and to tradition means that our tradition must always be subjected to historical analysis.' Our 'commitment to tradition and to Scripture means that new ways of reading - new hermeneutical theories - are embraced, but always with an eye to the continuity of the faith we profess.' Finally, 'the commitment to both Scripture and reason means that we have to account for our hermeneutical method: we cannot simply say 'the Bible says'; we need to account for our interpretation, and its application to the life of the Church in its present setting (emphasis, mine).'

I hope you enjoy it. And I look even more forward to blogging about this subject in the months, weeks, and years to come.

at home in the world...
joshua

Much in this essay resonates with an equally significant earlier essay written by Dawn (You have to change to stay the same' - published in 1997 by SPCK in their book The Post-Evangelical Debate). Some will no doubt also read much in 'I Am the Truth' that resonates with the very recently published Windsor Report, particularly with its opening two sections, and certainly from within the sub-sections that reflect on 'the authority of scripture' and 'Scripture and interpretation.' Here, for me, are three good examples taken from the aforementioned report; they are illustrative of the kind of helpful resonances to be found in Dawn's essay:

Virtually all Christians agree on the necessity for theological development, including radical innovation, and on the fact that the Holy Spirit enables the church to undertake such development…

Healthy theological development normally takes place within the missionary imperative to articulate the faith afresh in different cultures…

A mention of scripture today can sometimes seem actually divisive, so aware are we of the bewildering range of available interpretative strategies and results. This is tragic, since, as with the Spirit who inspired scripture, we should expect that the Bible would be a means of unity, not division. In fact, our shared reading of scripture across boundaries of culture, region and tradition ought to be the central feature of our common life, guiding us together into an appropriately rich and diverse unity by leading us forward from entrenched positions into fresh appreciation of the riches of the gospel as articulated in the scriptures.

Dawn's essay is divided into six broad sections:

1. Introduction.

2. The Church, the Academy and the Written Word.

3. The Church, the Academy and the Anglican Tradition.

4. Coleridge: Romantic Inspiration for Postmodern Hermeneutics.

5. Dynamism and 'Voice' in Text.

6. Conclusion: Christian Hermeneutics is about Development, not Defensiveness.

Perhaps of most interest for Anglican and non-Anglican hermeneutical conversations will be sections 3, 4, and 5. These sections whilst drawing from Dawn's doctoral work have a more general audience in mind. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, through Dawn's interaction with him and our so-called postmodern or late-modern western context, proves to be a 'prophetic,' lively, and engaging conversation partner.

Dawn's longstanding "conversation" with Coleridge mines some important insights. Not least of which are his ideas developed in the posthumously edited and published Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit. In this work he addresses 'directly the problem of treating the Bible as a special or unique text;' doing so, he proposes, renders the text lifeless and voiceless. Coleridge's solution to this problem is to develop what he calls 'a dynamic view of the Biblical text,' challenging in the process the notion that the 'written word' was merely a container - a neutral means of conveying ideas' or doctrines.

'For Coleridge, the text had, in some sense, a life of its own - the text became part of the meaning of what was conveyed…How the text is presented has everything to do with the meaning it conveys, and this invests a dynamic quality to it.' Coleridge, Dawn notes, treated texts, including the Biblical text, 'as if it has some power for growth and creativity residing in it.' Further, she adds, for Coleridge, 'the written word has the capacity to "live" and speak, but it can be petrified into silence through a non-dynamic view of Scripture.' Coleridge's perspective is useful given the current prevalence of much naive fundamentalist and conservative thought that sees Christian Scripture as having been dictated word-for-word by God, its writers and their contexts having no part in the compositional process, and its meaning now unchangingly fixed, set as it were "in stone."

As Dawn notes, 'the opening up of a hermeneutic approach to Scripture allows the words the freedom to be interpreted, and in a sense, "written" by the reader.' Instead of 'a static view of text [which] restricts the possibility of [the] text to allow for the personal revelation of God,' Coleridge's hermeneutic 'enlivens the text - enables it to be the means through which God speaks again and again.' This hermeneutic approach recognises 'a dynamic relationship between the author, the text and the reader.' It recognises also 'that the role of God's Spirit is not to dictate the text, but to interact with human minds in the writing, the translating and the reading of the biblical texts. It restores a "voice" to the text, enabling it once again to embody God's voice.'

Dawn importantly recognises 'that the 'Word of God' is not primarily expressed in the words of Scripture, but in the incarnation of Christ. For the Word of God is not primarily the written word, but the Living Word - Christ himself.' With this view, Dawn adds her voice to that of Anglican Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, who has pithily written, 'the Word became flesh and the church has turned it back into words.'

At its heart then, Dawn's essay is both a call to serious Christian hermeneutical practice and an important plea to the Church that Christian hermeneutics should be about development, not defensiveness.' She emboldens us to agree.

While not setting out to provide practical guidelines as to how we might interpret and "read" Scripture (or for that matter, how Scripture might read us!), this essay, together with Dawn's earlier one, mentioned above, helpfully frames and points toward a number of practical hermeneutical questions many so-called mainline, evangelical, alt-worship, emerging, and missional church congregations are grappling with. Questions that might include, develop, and/or expand on the following starters:

If, as Dawn writes, 'since medieval times…reading has gradually changed, to become predominantly a solitary, silent and visual activity…' how are we practically, at the level of congregation, to "read" Scripture in ways that are communal, that are more than just a 'silent and visual activity'? How can we seriously and creatively allow Scripture to be 'heard' and engaged with in ways that encourage our communal life, ministry and mission to be Scripture shaped and nourished?

Dawn notes that 'while theology faculties wrestle with [the problems of doing theology at the turn of the twenty-first century] the Church, week by week, is dealing with another set of problems also produced by cultural shift.' One such problem is how, at a congregational level, we might practically engage (given low levels of biblical & theological literacy) in a vigorous hermeneutical conversation, such that Scripture and tradition are seriously heard, communally discussed, sifted, evaluated and beautifully woven into every dimension of what it means to be church in our various contexts?

There is much in Dawn's essay to reflect upon, discuss, and explore. Dawn's is a heartfelt, passionate little essay that deserves to be read more widely than the Anglican tradition out of which it emerges. The invitation to enter into dialogue with the text of Scripture and the Living Word, Jesus Christ himself, will prove to be a vital and necessary one for any congregation that takes seriously its vocation to be, through the work of the Spirit, what the Windsor report refers to 'as an anticipatory sign of God's healing and restorative future for the world.' I warmly commend Maggi's voice to that end.

Posted by joshuacase at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2008

Leaving on the midnight train to...

(in case he needs more work, THANKS TO Josh Brown for cards)

Well, the time has come for Laura and I to publicly announce the 'what', 'where', and 'when' of 'next' for us:

From Geneva, Switzerland to Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

Thats right, having been in transition for the last few months, a new season of life has opened up for us, taking us from the small, beautiful, international community of Geneva, Switzerland, to the heartland of America's diversity in Atlanta, Georgia.

What's next? In brief, Laura and I are beginning the next season of life by taking an educational sabbatical. After 10+ years in direct youth work, the last six of which have been in Europe, we are taking time to let the dust of our thoughts and experiences settle. While attending Emory University's Candler School of Theology, I am looking forward to spending time in the formal classroom setting while investing additional time in a few upcoming writing and other projects. Laura, who will be completing additional certifications in Massage Therapy at the Atlanta School of Massage (#3 school in America), is very much looking forward to learning more about caring for people in this very practical way.

As you probably already are aware, we have worked in the non-profit sector for a few years now. Our partnering organization fully recognizes this time of educational sabbatical as part of our personal and professional development. World Outreach is therefore enabling us to take this time as paid leave and will continue to receive donations on our behalf. If you are interested in partnering with the us financially during this time, please contact me at joshuacase@mac.com. All gifts and donations are tax-deductible.

Of the things which we will be excited about, you could imagine affordable golf is one of those things for me. However, photos, like this one from a grounds-keeper at a golf course in Georgia, doesn't necessarily make me too excited;) They don't have snakes like this in Europe!!

Of course, we are also excited about getting connected to life with Josh & Anna Brown, the Atlanta Emergent cohort, and anyone else in the area interested in connecting. If you are out there, and reading, do drop me a line.

stay tuned for more...
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few from this week:

Josh B..welcome back from all your work! 'The Feasibility of Non-Industrialized Food'

Jason Clark's 'Get your head around philosophy for theology'

Elizabeth Palmberg's 'A Time for Jubilee'

Andrew Jones' 'Proper Confidence and the Place of Certainty'

Maggi Dawn's 'The Tortured Christ- Guido Rocha'

Also, here is a freebie.> Peter Rollins has posted a free 'taster' of his upcoming book entitled, The Fidelity of Betrayal. Tragically, it seems like Pete is having a bit of a battle over the title. And knowing him, this isn't an easy thing. Poor guy! Pete, you are in our thoughts!!

Have a great week...
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 01:13 PM | Comments (1)

April 01, 2008

Tuesday is for Thomas

Merton wrote:

"The misdirectedness, the folly, the inanity of all that seeks anything but this great return (to the Father), the whole meaning and heart of all existence. The absurdity of movements, of the goals that are not ultimate, the purposes that are "ends of the line" and, therefore, do not even begin.

To return is not to "go back" in time, but a going forward, a going beyond. To retrace one's step is nothing is nothing on top of nothing, vanity of vanities, a renewal of the same absurdity twice over, in reverse.

To go beyond everything, to leave everything and press forward to the End and to the Beginning, to the ever new Beginning that is without End. To obey Him on the way in order to reach Him in Whom I have begun, Who is the Way and the End- (the Beginning)."

return...don't go back...
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2008

Our wounds, His body- By Ted Karpf

The following is the text preached by my friend Canon Ted Karpf yesterday at Holy Trinity Geneva. Like re-watching Children of Men, it was a shot of the arm of thinking about how life, faith, and hope come together.

I hope you enjoy it as I did...

"Our wounds, His body

Fear, disorder and distrust of their senses filled them. They had seen him executed as a criminal. Now word had come by one of the women, and their shattered new leader, Peter that somehow, he had was no longer in the tomb. Somehow, he had been raised.

They didn't comprehend what this strange news could mean. The dead don't walk. Locked away in their Upper Room for fear of more killings at the hands of a crazed mob; ashamed of returning to their hometowns in Galilee in disgrace; they waited in that room for something to happen. And it did!

He appears among them showing them his hands and side. His wounds. He breathes on them, some calling it the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Life and Truth. He pronounces a word of peace on them: Shalom. For the most part, it quells their fear and releases their joy. By showing them his wounds, he reminds them of the reality of his death. By his wounds they are halted in any retreat from reality into an ecstatic fancy, and rescued from reverting back into complacence from which they had come. This encounter with the wounded risen Lord does not end in passivity.

As we have seen, Easter brings together the images of our woundedness; our longing for peace; for home and safety; and, for glory. When Jesus appears, showing them the wounds in his hands and his side, he greets them with words that speak to the depth of their souls: Peace be with you! What they would have to learn and what we will come to know is that there is no peace without wounds; there is no peace without responsibility; there is no peace without accepting risk; there is no peace without the challenging, irritating urgency of the Spirit. No peace without judgment and forgiveness!

In this one appearance, Jesus empowers this rag-tag band of followers to heal the wounds of others by forgiveness and faithfulness. This is an outrageous claim and unabashed reality, if you think about it. For the risk here is that not only will they be responsible for healing one another but, by this action they will participate in creating a new order of reality, extending care and compassion to the rest of the world. They would now have to be about living life as God intended it to be lived—redeemed and wounded—as a sign from God that the wounds of Christ are the means of forgiveness.

This showing of the wounds raises the discomfort of awe, wonder and even disbelief within us. And it should. Yet as any one of us knows from the experience of been forgiven or of forgiving another, it is filled with that same awe and wonder. By freeing others of the burden of their guilt and shame, and by being freed from it ourselves, we enter into the unfathomable mystery of the Reign of God in our lives and especially over our hearts.

It is not a matter of forgive and forget; rather it is a matter of forgive and remember: who you are-a child of God-and whose you are-God's own; and, who forgives and brings you peace.

This kind of recognition sets our lives free in radical ways. To extend forgiveness to another is to release new possibilities for life in another--it is to fulfill the promise of God to love us where we are. To withhold forgiveness and acceptance is to effectively consign another to the hell of guilt, shame and separation.

As we are coming to know, Easter is the radical explosion of the NEW into our lives. The Love of God is indiscriminate, out of control, and relentless. This means that you and I are freed to being whoever God calls us to be, but above all, free to be inclusive. We need no longer fear our differences. We may be fully alive, aware and awake to the subtle nuances of creation; we may see the creation whole instead of fragmented. But as you might guess this is not always Good News.

Many of us may not believe that real forgiveness or acceptance of another is desirable, possible, or even valuable. Some of us have chosen forgetfulness; others dullness of spirit; and still others are wrapped in fear. For if the creation is NEW and the re-ordering of life, a reality; then life lived under the shadow of unbelief is a life of despair: a life of forgetfulness of what God has done and skepticism of what God can do.

Thomas is one of these. He withdraws from the possibility that the Lord is among them. He withdraws from the peculiar pain of the challenge to live life to the full. He hesitates if living life to the full means putting his hands into life's wounds. And so do we, at least the first time. Thomas raises the eternal questions which haunt us, such as: What in me today most needs to be touched? What do I fear most: life or death/crucifixion or resurrection? What in me needs to be raised from the dead? What part of me, long since rejected and forgotten, needs to be touched and restored to life?

So how do we live out this kind of Resurrection Life: this Easter Faith in a Good Friday world?

Jess Trotter, the late Dean of the Virginia Seminary, was in his earlier years professor of Apologetics—defense of the faith. Late one spring, when the world had come alive after a long and dreary winter, his son committed suicide. Trotter numbed, bewildered, and stricken with grief in the face of such a tragedy was, in every way, hopeless. As any parent would be. He went through the self-recriminations, self-flagellation and self-doubt of what he might have done to cause the death of his son or prevent it.

It was also earlier in this same year that Trotter had been requested by the senior class of new clergy to give the commencement address in May; you know, the kind of speech that sends the eager forward into a brave new world. He didn't deliver the address as planned, but did attend the senior farewell dinner and this is what he said:

I thank you for your understanding. I thank you for your presence. Your prayers have made a difference. Where I've been and where I am, I can tell you but a little. I've been to the bottom and found it firm.

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, many of us here have also been to the bottom and we've found it firm; some of us may be heading to the bottom and hope its firm; and, still others have never been to the bottom, but trust its firm.

It really doesn't matter where you are in that particular aspect of the journey today. What does matter is that you are in the midst of the community....this community. Our Lord only asks that you look at the wounds of the family of God around you to see the face of your humanity and Remember. For the transformation wrought at Easter is that the Body of Christ—you and me—is Christ's body.

Just as the Risen Lord sees into Thomas' heart thus enabling Thomas to see the Lord, we are called upon to look into the hearts of each other and see the Christ. The response is always the same: My Lord and My God! For what compels Thomas to belief is what grips us: the signs of God in human suffering.

Hear the Gospel again: Peace be unto you! And he showed them his hands and his side. It is as if God in Christ is saying to us, Hesitate no longer! Receive the Covenant of Reconciliation. Receive the wounding of my peace! Receive the Resurrection! Receive yourself, ALIVE NOW. For Easter is Now! Alleluia, Alleluia! Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia! AMEN.+"

Preached on 30 March 2008
Holy Trinity
Geneva Switzerland

Posted by joshuacase at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2008

Children of Men...again!

(Trailer)

Last night I watched the movie Children of Men again. Every time I watch it, something new comes to me about the film and about the way the movie speaks so graphically with wisdom about the folly and tragedy of our age.

One of the things which I discovered on the DVD after this watch however, was a short film done by director Alfonso Cuarón entitled "The Possibility of Hope". It was hidden with the extras. In it he has numerous philosophers, scientists and futurists giving commentary on the film. One of the most notable voices, at least to me, was Slavoj Zizek. Throughout the years, my friend Peter Rollins and others over at the church and postmodern culture have engaged with Zizek's teaching and thoughts. So for me, it was a fun find.

Below is part one. There are two more parts online: Part Two, Part Three.

I have also blogged about Children of Men here and here.

To quote Zizek from part three, "The magic is to turn a desperate situation into a new beginning."

have hope?
joshua

Posted by joshuacase at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2008

Seriously Good Conversations

Here are a few SGCs from this week. There have been some good ones out there!