The Flying ~E~ and a small announcement.

Just returned from a nice vacation with family out at the Flying E Ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. If you're looking for good food, riding, and desert scenery, look no further!

I used this vacation to get centered, to do some reading, and largely not to think a whole heck of a lot. The latter part, I failed, but some good things came of it. I am reading Marcus Borg's Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary and it really has helped me come to an understanding. I came in very progressive and was labeled "fierce" by my advising committee. Some of that edge has come off, and the passion has subsided for a while, but I feel it coming back, and that is an excellent thing! Borg's book has helped with that, and I'll provide a review later on.

Another thing to note is that I will be ending this blog in June 2010. I will leave this blog up for posterity's sake, but this blog is about my journey to and through seminary. That journey ends on May 15, 2010. So i have about a month left and need to focus on all of that. I'll be wrapping this blog up and providing some insights and some favorite posts over the years. I will continue blogging, but in another guise. I am taking the good advice of Sabio and my wife. See, an atheist and a pastor's wife do have something in common! :-) i'll be anonymous but i think y'all know who i'll be. i'm not too subtle. So keep your eyes peeled in the near future.

I look forward to catching up on the bloggings that have happened since I left, and i will leave you with reflection and prayer I gave on Easter morning in the desert at the Flying ~E~ but updated for this audience and format:

What is this Sunday about?

Well, if you're a naturalist, you see that the desert is starting to bloom. The hedgehog cacti are just starting to sprout their purple flowers, the ocatillo their orange flowers, and all sorts of little ones like the Chia are sprouting up. For those of us who go back east soon, we'll find that the dogwoods are out, the tulips and crocuses are out and spring has sprung, once again reminding us that the life of spring has triumphed over the death of winter. New life has come.

If you're Jewish, you are celebrating your week long Passover. This is a reminder that your ancestors threw off the bondage of their old life and took on a new one of being free. This life involved a lot of uncertainties, and Moses didn't even live to see the Promised Land--he only glimpsed it, but it was worth it. The new life of freedom is remembered and celebrated.

If you're Christian, well, have we got a story to tell you. This is where new life has triumphed over sin and death. Christians do not have to be afraid of dying anymore but can live a life of service and radical love, free from the fear of death and dying. New life is ours to have if we are bold enough to take it.

With this in mind, let us pray:

God, we thank you for the gift of new life. We thank you for the many chances we get, the opportunities to grow and change, to learn and re-learn. We look forward to your insights as they come to us or as we figure them out after long hard hours of studying. Guide us in our conversations, help our words reflect our intent and our meaning, may they be met with grace and love. Above all, we thank you for new life, and we ask for the courage and strength to take it and live it to the fullest, to the benefit of all we meet. In your many names we pray, Amen.

Out for a Few Days!

hope ya have a nice Easter/Passover/Spring Solstice, I am going to take a few days to rest up and collect with the family.

To set the mood, Sin Nombre by The Refreshments (one of the greatest bands of all time) always seems to be on my lips as i walk around. maybe because it holds the hope that i do in the line "You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground"



RAWK!

Seriously?

Greetings from Egypt!!! lots happening and i hope to catch y'all up on it when i get back around the 23rd or so.

all i can say now is, Steelers and Cardinals? seriously?!

what a lame Super Bowl.

i miss my wife and y'all... RAWK ON!

45th Class Reunion

This past week Kate, the in-laws and I journeyed up to Menominee Michigan for my father-in-law's 45th reunion. It was great to get to know my father-in-law more. Hard to associate him with this remote U.P. town as I've only known him in the context of North Canton Ohio. Really neat town filled with nice people, good, cheap food, and a TON of packer fans. (Take that SVS and John T! PACK PACK PACK!)

My father-in-law is remembered as nice, smart, and funny in his own way. That's a great legacy to leave to your fellow classmates... one i hope to have coming up on my 10 year h.s. reunion.

We visited the town and local area, including Kitch-iti-kipi Springs, my FIL's old family home, and Alice. Alice is 92 and has lived 2 doors down from my FIL's old house. She's been there for a long time, her husband built the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house and did all the work himself. Pretty cool

Talking to her was great. She's 92 and doesn't look a day over 65. She attributes this to the fact that she's Swedish and the Swedes age extremely well and have excellent skin. I'll take her word for it. She said (when she learn i am in seminary), "I have family members who are every type of Christian. We Swedes came in has Lutherans but became Methodists, Presyb., Catholics, J. Witnesses and Mormons! We have all types here and I'm 92 and I don't think it really matters what you believe, just that you believe." Wise Words.

She spoke of her biggest fear. Her fear isn't that we'll run out of oil, or elect the wrong person, or how to pay her bills. Her biggest fear is being forgotten.

So dear reader... will you remember the well-preserved Swedish woman from the U.P.?

I hope so.

Her fear is my fear. Her fear is the fear we all keep but do not speak of.

Remember.

Remember God.

Remember your neighbor.

They will in turn, remember you.

Who will you remember?

Rolex 2008

We went down to good ol' Kentucky this past weekend to watch the Rolex Three Day Eventing. We went before in 2005 and I loved the weekend. I wrote about it twice, once here and another here... This year I went with Kate, my mom and sister. It was a change from last time as Puppet Nuts wasn't with us, although he was missed.

I really love Rolex. Lexington is a beautiful city, the land is breath taking, and the food is top notch. My sister lived down there as she went to UK. It's great driving in a city with someone who knows the in's and out's. we ate at Gumbo Ya-Ya and Warring Station... Cajun and awesome panini's delish!

Time with family is great. It is tense and hard sometimes as your dealing with ppl who've known you all of your life and have certain expectations of you to follow. When you break out of these expectations it can be traumatic and there will be some who will try to put those expectations back on to you... force you back into that box. My family has dealt with this and is still dealing with it on many levels i won't get into... but aren't all families having to deal with this? what junk does your family attach to you, dear reader? i'm sure you have plenty of examples.

i write this to say that not only am i the victim of this but also the perveyor as well. i wear both hats equally. what this weekend has shown is the dangers of this... of not really listening to one another, of just hearing what you expect to hear, not what is actually said. my family works to actively listen to one another, but it's a hard row to tow. it takes a lot of work.

what boxes are we being stuck with because of our gender, sexual identity, race, and ethnicity? we all get hit with this. as soon as i said KENTUCKY i bet some images popped into your head. even some that would say "of course he can go to Kentucky, he's a white, straight, middle-class male, he'd have no problem." that is boxing. so what boxes do you work to overcome? what challenges are you facing due to expectation?

i ask, and i really want to know, because i think what boxes we face have an affect on how we view God. i've been discussing with a fellow blogg'n seminarian about the pronouns we use for God. is it fair to God, that when i pray to God i picture a white male with a beard and call God "He"? How spiritually mature is this practice? I'm well aware that all the pronouns in the bible are "He" for God, but how fair is that? Are we boxing God? Are we putting labels on God that shouldn't be there in the first place?

I would say the answer is yes, we are. not only do we do it to ourselves and the ones we love... but we do it to our Creator as well. True love is seeing the other for what they are and responding to them out of compassion and empathy. expectations can be good as it's great to have goals... but they can be equally restraining. so just consider this... ask yourself what boxes are you using, and see if some of those would be better placed in your attic.

looking forward to your responses.

I Serve no Priestly Role

Kate's family has been going to the Flying ~E~ ranch since the late-70s.
This year was my 5th venture forth and it was just as awesome as the others.

but it was different. why?

we usually go the week after easter, but because of seminary, i had to go the week before.. so our family and friends weren't there as in past years. PLUS it was the first time at the ranch as a future pastor.

i didn't think it would have been as big of a deal as it was. people came up to me and would ask me about what i believed about this or that. what they really wanted to do is talk about what they believed, so i wouldn't answer and pose the question back on them. this worked great as they already had the answer! now most of these answers were the exact OPPOSITE of what i believed.

but i wasn't going to tell them that.

i listened nicely. added where i could, questioned where i should, and then let it ride. i learned that when it comes to meeting people, it's best to listen and be mush.

there's a King of the Hill Episode where Hank (the Dad) sends Bobby (the son) to Cotton’s (the crazy grandpa who was WWII) old military academy, where Cotton tries to break the boy’s spirit.

HANK: I told you it wasn't easy. You didn't believe me, did you?
COTTON: I guess he was just born a pile of mush.
HANK: Well, I guess you could say that, but maybe mush isn't so bad. You can keep stomping on it, but it's all give. It just stays mush. You can't build it up, but you can't break it down either. In a funny way, mush has the edge.






mush gets all the chicks.






Mush also doesn't have stress nor does it judge others for holding particular views. Mush bids its time, listens, and if people want to actively investigate their theology, tell ask you. Kate and I made some great friends who did just that. they bid their time and asked as well and didn't get hyper or offended.

imagine a world that didn't get hyper, didn't draw boundary lines, that listened to each other's wisdom and views on the world. imagine, it's easy if you try.

Wook at dat Face

hey y'all! we're off in AZ for vacation, i'll see ya on the 24th. i leave you with this moral: Don't Be Evil.

Rawk!

Fearless With Some Loathing in Las Vegas

Oh holy crap! We went to Las Vegas the last week of Feb. with Kate and the inlaws and man o man did we have an adventure!



The first time I ever felt like a wide-eyed country kid in the big city was the moment we walked into the Vegas airport... where they have slot machines! In the airport! I didn't know what to expect from Vegas... well, that's not true, you, imaginary reader, know my imagination. I was expecting Elvises to be walking around with nakkid robot showgirls.

Anway, while we were waiting for the In-Laws, we were treated to a nice view of the strip at night where we could see the Luxor and a few others. On the whole, my fav. building at night is the Luxor... it just looks freak'n sweet. like some pagan Alien signal beacon thingie... it's just bad assed.



So Papa Bob, Kate and I ate while mai gambled. This is a re-occuring theme throughout the trip. mai would gamble and the rest of us would get frustrated at lose'n $5 we'd head to see a show or chill out at one of the many bars in a casino. Papa Bob and Kate have no stomach for gamble'n, although Kate is pretty luck at the slot machines. mai on the other hand is tenacious and i believe walked out of vegas with some serious coin by just play'n the slots. i on the other hand am a sore loser. the feeling of winning a few bucks is totally trumped by the awful feeling of lose'n $.05. i'm awfule. maybe if i tried a table game like poker or blackjack... but the slots seemed like a waste to me.

Vegas is over the top. It's like Times Square times a million. So the first day out walking around to Ceasar's Palace and the Venian was all really cool, but once we had time to think about it, it seemed like such extravagance. i mean, that's the point of Vegas, but it seems like they'd have a little more love for the public systems and schools. My friend Katie is out there (from the Armbruster days) and she's working on getting school kids health coverage. Pretty crazy from places where the casinos make $40,000 just out of their fountains! So the second day we headed out to the 8th wonder of the world, the HOOVER DAM!

THEN! We were stranded for 48 hours by snow storms back in DC... so that's two more days off work wondering around Sin City. THAT was the hardest part. We ran and did the super-whirlwind tour and thought we had nothing else to do and then BAM! two extra days. of nothing to do. we should all be so lucky! it wasn't actually too bad, but we were just ready to leave, and one can only wear the same pair of undies for so long.

so here's some pix of me and my smoke'n hot wife!

Our Pix: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatWTZszctGwz

In Laws Pix: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOW7dk5ZNFF4A

The worst part is that even with the 48 extra hours we couldn't see the Treasure Island Siren Spectacular because of high winds... that's 5 days in a row with no sexy pirate girls... so here's the video:



We did see the volcano at the mirage and the belagio water show and the ceasar's palace animatronic dudes... all and all, i'd do it again!

TOOTHFACE VACATION RATING FOR LAS VEGAS: 7 out of 10 Teeth

~E~ 06

Ah yes, it was that time again... Time to head out to where the deer and the antelope play... Time to russle up some grub and corral some cattle... Here's the pix to prove we were at the Flying E in 2006.

This year there were two cookouts.. the second one had a cowpoke that knew every cowboy song there is (tumble'n tumbleweeds to red river valley to folsom prison blues!) he also recited this poem called Reincarnation, that i thought was this side of awesome.

It was great to spend time with the in-laws and kids... you gotta see that Eleanor.. she's sooooo cute! And Clare can play checkers and chess... she's a MASTERMIND!

We also walked around downtown Tempe, AZ, home of Arizona State University and Sparky the sun devil who is the best mascot ever... esp. since the school is deep in mormon country. Tempe is also home to one of my alltime favorite bands... THE REFRESHMENTS!

This band only had two cds before they split up, but there is not one bad song betwixt the two of 'em. Two masterpieces... but the second one wasn't as well received, so the record company pulled the plug. The lead singer Roger Clyne has started up another folksier band called The Peacemakers which I will check out and get back to you.

Knowing you, dear imaginary reader, you'll want to know which record you should immediately run out and buy... and dear sir/madam/Liz Hurley, I say you should buy the poppy first cd Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy...

this came out when i was in 8th grade and it blew my mind.. i had just come over to the dark side of rock and was listen'n to weezer and the pumpkins... although my sister and ma didn't see the light and were listen'n to country (but GOOD country, albeit i didn't know it at the time).. this band seemed to be a good compromise and they didn't mind listen'n.. and listen they did.. this cd was on repeat all summer '97.

so the ranch is good... cowboys are good.. and sing'n cowboys KICK ASS! i shoulda been a cowboy.... oh toby keith... what a great song from a huge douchebag.

til next time...

Rolex!

and it's not like the ones they sell in D.C... this one is real! All day it was horsies, italian sausages, and deep fried everything! i tried a deep fried snickers and man... instant death never tasted so good!



here's sort of what went on all day... this is the "wang-and-balls" view favored by the breeders and not anyone else. eventing is seriously the coolest thing you can do on a horse... seriously. it's not what you're thinking, cause the horse usually spooks with all the yelling and such, but cross country is the closest thing to sex on a horse you can do! it's also just as cool, but more socially acceptable to watch(i was brought up on charges last time i tried to watch people bang'n).

Cross country is sooo cool, i hopped on one of the horses and tried to do it myself.. here's the picture!



it's also been great talking with the sis and cuz... although i learned that Garry drives around OU's campus... so here's your mission! go to his blog and harrass him on his tag board!!!

and call him 'puppet nuts'.

like a cheap shirt at walmart, i'm out.

Kate In Kentucky

This weekend is the Rolex, the biggest and horsieful event in the entire universe. Kate (my wife for those who i despise) went down there for the week to cover it for her job (which is manage'n Equisearch.com once again for you losers who can't keep up).

This is how i envision her arrival to look like:




Apparently she broke her leg since last i've seen her... i should send flowers.

But this weekend will be completely awesome cause i get to see my sister and where she's been living for the past year! Check out her blog on the side... and if you can't guess which link is hers, you're no longer allowed to read this site. My COUSIN is also coming. So it'll be completely awesome even though it's supposed to rain and be freeze'n out.

Phavorite Phrase at the moment: "...like a zombie to a brain."
Random Rants: "We prayed at first base and i wondered... did i just get to first base with God?"

Listening To:

Just Finished:


OH! and apparently my wife also did a photo shoot for UK's hockey team... my only thought is, where does she get the time?

Arizona Extravaganza

This is our lovely trip to Arizona! complete with captions and everything!

We went on Kate's family's annual trek to the Flying E Ranch in Wickenburg, AZ, last week for 9 tough days of riding horses, eating, lounging by the pool and playing with our nephews... vacation rules!

Friday through Sunday we went to visit Sedona, the Grand Canyon and Montezuma's Castle. Here are our 127 photos of fun.

Kate's family has been going to this ranch for 20+ years, so I guess this makes me official!