I wish for a day that we can look back at ‘chemotherapy’ as archaic we do now as the efficacy as ‘blood letting’ of the 1700s.
Taking ‘poison’ to cure cancer seems ridiculous.
Reflection on 1 Peter 1-11
- Devo: I Peter 5:1-11 (Devo from Marc Rutter: Cru LDHR: 8/13/19)
- What are the perceived enemies within Cru or what are the targets?
- Constant attack on moral failure (risk)
- Having the ethnic/cultural piece explode in our face (?).
- What are the perceived enemies within Cru or what are the targets?
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- Where is your weakness:
- Is my pride preventing me to risking failure?
- Conflict avoidance
- Not taking a significant leadership role.
- Fear of being criticized for my writing.
- Resistance intimacy /attachment issues /fear of loss (transparency vs vulnerability)
- Image management (Arrogantly ponder even after I die: will I have the same impact/imprint that my dad and Mike did when they died?)
- My mind…”CRS”
- Is my shigata ga nai (it can’t be helped/what can you do), fatalism, preventing me from seeing the intensity of situations?
- My MI, stents, (impending) death of family members,
- Is my pride preventing me to risking failure?
- Where is your weakness:
The Camp Directors During the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans
Need to research of who were the camp directors their background and why they took these jobs.
- Who they were: qualifications and backgrounds
- Benevolent or malevolent
- Were they there because they were conscious objectors? What is a CO during war time and what did they do when they were conscripted
- Who were the stand outs and why
- Theory; many directors were CO’s and many have had spirutlal (Christian) backgrounds, thus benevolent. Need to explore this more
Kisses and Claws: A Perspective Raising An Adolescent Daughter
A book that needs to be written…: Kisses and Claws: A Perspective Raising An Adolescent Daughter
Why Kisses
Why Claws
Physiology: Cycles and Zits
Developmental Factors:
Influencers: Friends, Church, Parents and Social Media
Parental Perspective: Slow the reaction and response
This Too Shall Pass: What goes around comes around.
Mansplain
Mansplain “(of a man) explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing”
My take: A feminist term that is use to squelch communication of a man to a woman.
Deepest Worry: Where are you?
This is just an outline:
That terror call at night…informing of an accident
Where are you going? Parents asks child.
When a parent dies, children as Where are you going? To answer this as a parent is one of the most loving things a parent can do for their child.
CEO Compensation
I am a capitalist to the core. I believe in free market. I understand that this is not a ‘perfect’ system, but I do not see any other system that does the most good for the most people and gives incentives for those to create and prosper.
What I do not understand is how many CEO’s can make millions of dollars AFTER they drive a company into the ground. I believe in rewarding profit and positive performance (yes, even in the millions) but not rewarding poor performance.
Furthermore how do BOARDS allow this to happen while shareholders are getting the short end of the stick? Boards who give incentives for performance is appreciated, but in times of loss, how do they have the conscious and lack fiduciary responsibility to shareholders for these atrocities . I’ve heard the argument that ‘we won’t attract the best talent if we don’t offer these incentives.” I call that total bull shirt! There is no way the managers of a company would allow their underlings to get paid a bonus if they screwed up!
Something needs to change! I’m pissed. This is NOT a free market capitalist concept to reward failure.
Rights of Passage: Cultural Comparisons
This is my book idea: Looking into different Rights of Passage in several different cultures.
Overview: Distinct cultural praxis and nuance are most often apparent in commemorations of life stage transitions. Ritual, artifacts, and beliefs can overtly manifest at a birth of a child, birthdays, coming of age, graduations, anniversaries, courtship, weddings, retirement, funerals, etc. Each culture has its own expression during these milestones.
It would be a fun study to bring these to the light and also help serve as a guide to become more culturally proficient.
Normalization of Praxis
One of my oldest friendships asked me a profound question: “What has been normalized in your church that might not be Christ-like or biblically based? And, do you feel free to question those practices, values, structures, and traditions? (This is an open-ended question that has been heavy in my heart for decades.)”
I’ve been pondering this since you sent it and as I saw your email and FB post. I am just putting down some bullet points because each of the thoughts but could become a book if thought through. I’m not sure what your objective in this is, but I would like to dialogue with the points if you’d like… I kind of like this stuff!. As I got into this list and thought a bit more about it, it feels like I could be posting on the new 95 Thesis on the Wittenberg Door!
I get to openly and freely question and dialogue about these issues with friends, colleagues, and within the Church. Some areas of personal theology and praxis are continuing to evolve in my own life. I have seen some of these issues change with in the church. Here are a few of my thoughts…This list may grow (on my blog)
- Churches as buildings. I get that we need places to meet and gather, but I think we have been too absorbed and vested in funding buildings that are under-utilized most of the week. I totally get the stewardship/investment argument but we may have been sucked trap. If we must build a building, maybe create a space that the community can use the rest of the week.
- Musical Worship: I see many people connect deeply through musical worship, but sometimes this has become so formulaic that it almost becomes an idol. Pretty songs, pretty stage, pretty lights, pretty people…sometimes this makes me gag. When we come together as the church, I appreciate being intentional and deliberate, but sometimes I feel disconnected in the flashy and cheesy. I understand people have differents ways to connect…so I am not throwing all of this out, but we have to evaluate what we do.
- Ordination: I affirm having some standards for elders, teachers, and apostles, etc., but the process of ordination and the term ‘Reverend’ have been usurped by human made institutions. Even though the US prides of self on the separation of church and state, ordination has been closely associated with who is allowed particular benefits from the government (ie. taxation issues). Ordination has been used to filter who gets privileges and benefits.
- Denominations: I can live with the freedom to associate (congregate) with like minded thinkers, but when those become siloed, the turn into denominations that flaunt distinctiveness.
- Sunday vs Sabbath: Do I need to say more?
- Dropping of a liturgical calendar: sounds contarty to my comments on denominations/ordination, but the Bible celebrates a seasonal rhythm of life. The protestant church has really left this behind.
- Value of independence vs interdependence: This is a western and especially a US value.
- Para-Church vs Church: there really is no distinction
- “Appropriate age for marriage”: I still believe Scripture still teaches ‘keeping the marriage bed Holy,” but our biological clocks do not match with societal views on marriage and family. We applaud the western notion of a nuclear family, but Scripture seems indicate more an extended family model. I am in favor that we reaffirm kids getting married earlier and restructure households to become multigenerational again.
TahmiJoh 