Jacoby's Childcare Transition

Erin, Jacoby, and I visited the new childcare facility yesterday. It's a busy place! I was impressed by it, and we hope Jacoby is able to make the transition without too much trouble. We expect the typical first-week difficulties, but we think he might really enjoy this school. They give him numerous interests to choose from for his daily activities. (I'm guessing reading will come in first or second, but I could be wrong.) In addition, he will have other bambinos around to socialize with, especially as he gets a little older. (At his age, the kids tend to play beside each other not together.)

It's a difficult transition for his parents, but we expect it will work out well. I'll post more of our experience as he begins!

American Economy in Perspective

Here is a perspective-bringing, somewhat-scathing review of Christians' treatment of the American gas situation in view of the rest of the world's economy. I am often amazed at how America-centric American Christians are (I admit that I can be America-centric, too). Americans are often kind people, but they have little awareness of the outside world and the way they contribute to its problems and could positively influence it. I need to post more on economics and the Christian scriptures. I fear most American Christians see capitalism as a "Christian thing," but capitalism and the Christian thing, as it is expressed in the New Testament and early Christianity, are often (if not almost always) antithetical. Eventually, though, the economic system became very powerful, so Christianity gave in and blessed it and attempted to make it a Christian thing. This didn't happen until relatively recently.

Play

Play, play, play!

Applying Mark 14:52: Run Naked!

Here is a somewhat humorous anecdote concerning this verse and a priest running naked. (Note: Technically the young man "fled" naked, but I still found this blog entry humorous.)

Decision Making and Science

Apparently, there is a difference in mental processes between those who can make decisions quickly and those who don't. Scientific American has a couple articles of interest on the topic. One article suggests that quick decision makers rely on mental shortcuts more readily than slow decision makers. Slow decision makers have to test the validity of those mental shortcuts before deciding. The other article suggests that the brain's ability to decide worsens if the brain has already had to make numerous decisions, which is to say that the decision-making part of the brain tires.

I am, without a doubt, a slow decision maker! If the first article is correct, my slowness may stem from my distrust of my own intuition. Not only do I distrust my own intuition, but I also distrust others' intuition. I think the human being is amazingly adept at deceiving itself. But perhaps this merely demonstrates the nature of my personality.

Quotation of the Day

"Whatever a man's position may be, he is bound to take that view of human life in general that will make his own activity seem important and good. . . . Men who have been placed by fate and their own sins or mistakes in a certain position, however irregular that position may be, adopt a view of life as a whole which makes their position appear to them good and respectable."

-Leo Tolstoy, Resurrection (tr. Rosemary Evans; Penguin Books, 1966), 201.

I can think of a good many positions that might profit from being considered in light of this statement. (In fact, I do well to examine my own position in light of this statement.) For Tolstoy, there are socially acceptable forms and unacceptable forms of such positions. For example, Tolstoy likens the self-aggrandizing rich person to the robber, the commander of an army to the murderer, and the person wielding immense social power to the marauder (201).

I'm enjoying the book very much. (It was recommended to me by my wife and given to me by our good German friends.)

Justin

The Matthew 25 Network's Support of Obama

Not surprisingly, the Matthew 25 Network has chosen to endorse Barack Obama for president. Brian McLaren explains, "Based on these values [that is, the values delineated in Matthew 25:31-46], the Matthew 25 Network has chosen to support Barack Obama. Does that mean that every one of us is in full agreement with every detail of Senator Obama’s campaign? Of course not: we’re electing a president, not a Messiah!" You can read McLaren's entire letter here.

Justin

The Quest for Fame

Jake Halpern has a new book out that addresses America's obsession with fame. It looks interesting. Most people, it appears, would prefer being famous to being smart, strong, or anything else. Perhaps it still seems like fame will bring immortality, or maybe fame just provides a specious way to become important. Read the review of Halpern's book here.

Justin

Where We Hope to Settle

With approximately two years of the coursework phase of my program left, I've been talking to Erin about the next step. Below I have posted a tentative map with our first and second choices of places to settle. These are the places we think we would most enjoy living, although the location of family has also influenced our choices. (Although we enjoyed growing up in Montana, I'm not sure Montana would be on the map if we left family out of the picture. But family is very important to us both.)

Of course, we know that our predilections can change and that unforeseen circumstances can alter plans. Still, this map gives us some hope. (Does this mean I am still young? See my previous post.)

Here is the rough map (click on it to enlarge):


Justin

Quotation of the Day

"For the most part [the young] live in hope, for hope is concerned with the future as memory is with the past. For the young the future is long, the past short; for in the morning of life it is not possible for them to remember anything, but they have everything to hope; which makes them easy to deceive, for they readily hope."

"[The old] are little given to hope owing to their experience, for things that happen are mostly bad and at all events generally turn out for the worse, and also owing to their cowardice. They live in memory rather than in hope; for the life that remains to them is short, but that which is past is long, and hope belongs to the future, memory to the past. This is the reason of their loquacity; for they are incessantly talking of the past, because they take pleasure in recollection."

-Aristotle, Rhetoric 2.12-13 (transl. J. H. Freese)

Justin

Technology and Theology

Here is a wonderful little article on technology and theology (from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago). I enjoyed it.

Justin

Jacoby Knows How to Lock the Door

I ran out our patio door yesterday to put away the hose. As I walked back up the porch, Jacoby dropped the wooden dowel, which we use to secure our patio door, into the roller track. This had the effect of locking me out of the house. Within about 15 minutes, though, I succeeded in convincing him to pick up the dowel to let me back in. I'm glad he eventually decided to move it, or I would have had to call Erin in from Boulder! I had my cell phone but no keys.

Justin

An Interesting Article on Politics in Academe

Here it is.

Justin

America's Religious Landscape

I've been reading this report with some interest. The Pew Forum has done an outstanding job on a monumental study, although its most glaring weakness, I suppose, is that it is a poll. One of the most interesting findings is the political party affiliation of evangelicals. Republicans (and those that lean republican) make up just over half of the evangelical population, while Democrats (and those that lean democrat) and independents make up the other half. This gives a picture of evangelicalism quite different from the picture I have had during the last several years.

Check out this finding and other findings (along with maps and other resources) at the following address:

http://religions.pewforum.org

Justin

Summer Reading

I haven't read many school-related things so far this summer, but I have been dipping into other reading in order to provide myself a break. I've almost completed A. J. Cronin's The Citadel. It seems to be a pretty good book, although I think that I prefer his Keys to the Kingdom. (I have read the latter twice, and I've been impressed both times.)

While I was at my parents house, I also picked up Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. I enjoy Tocqueville's sociological perspective. This book is affording me the opportunity to read some political science. I hope to broaden my horizons with the classic political science and economic works over the course of the next year. We'll see how much time I have, though.

Justin