The Rare Book Room

Did you know John Chrysostom was an early Church Father of Constantinople? Did you know he was called Chrysostom because he was such a good speaker?

Just try saying Chrysostom. “Chrys-os-tom.” Don’t you feel like a great speaker? Chrysostom essentially means golden-mouthed. It is a combination of two Greek words.

I learned this awhile back when I visited Powell’s Rare Book Room in Portland. I had picked up a theology book from the 1800s and came to this knowledge about Mr. Golden-Mouth himself. Just now I learned you can come to that same knowledge by looking at Wikipedia. But that takes all the fun out of it. What’s the story now? I was curious, so I clicked on Wikipedia. Wow. Amazing.

So let’s go back to the Rare Book Room for a minute. While I was there, I saw a set of books worth $350,000. It’s the complete volume set of Lewis and Clark’s expedition (along with the friendly Sacagawea of course). The Rare Book Room also had a book that was printed in 1480 (Josephus’ The Jewish War), but I missed it. I had picked up a book from the 1700s instead. I was trying to read it, but it was in Latin, so I didn’t make it very far. Then, I picked up a book from the 1800s. It was about education. I skim-read a chapter and at the end, I found a nugget. It said, “Happy is the man who can preserve activity without the excitement of ambition.”

Wise words.

Summer Update

Well friends…it’s been a long time since the last post. Here’s why:

  • Two weeks ago I was finishing finals at the seminary.
  • One week ago I was loading up the car with all of our belongings.
  • Then I drove 34 hours in three days.
  • Over the past few days, my wife and I have been surprising friends and family with our presence.

Here I am today, using the computer for the first time in a week. I have jobs to apply for, emails to send, blogs to write. So this is the first post of the summer, warning you that there will be many good things to come. Much will come from the 34 hours I had to brainstorm, listen to music, listen to the Bible on CD, and reflect on my time in Portland. After meeting with some good friends at Steak-n-Shake today, and after looking at my wife’s belly today, I must say…summer looks good. Very good!

Q (3)

This is my last discussion on Q, I think. There are two reasons I’ve given so much time to it: 1) it is a high-caliber conference that many people admire; 2) when you hear 40 presentations in two and a half days, there’s a lot to talk about.

What were some of the 40 presentations? Well, broadly speaking, they came from 7 spheres of culture: media, church, business, education, government, social sector, and arts/entertainment. More specifically, they included:

  • Donald Miller and Gabe Lyons alternating duties as MCs.
  • Tom Ritchey, mountain-biking phenom, talking about how new bicycle models are revolutionizing the way people in Rwanda haul their goods.
  • Jamin-Brophey Warren, founder of Kill Screen, captivating the audience with his discussion on the role and importance of video games in today’s culture and tomorrow’s.
  • David Kinnaman, from the Barna Group and author of UnChristian, categorizing the three movements of believers in our generation–prodigals, nomads, and exiles.

Now, I realize two problems in what I’m offering thus far. One is I’m identifying a person by what they do. Two is I’m giving a description of a person’s life in a sentence. I want to make sure we recognize these people have families and problems and schedules, and they are human beings, just like you and me. They are not on a pedestal or somehow super-human. May we keep that in mind as I share a few more presentations I enjoyed: 

  • Jennifer Wiseman, an astrophysicist whose done work with the Hubble Telescope, showing off pictures of God’s handiwork from a few trillion miles away (or light years away). I can’t remember when numbers get that big.
  • Mel McGowan, an urban designer, explaining how city layout can encourage or discourage community. We need to live closer together my friends!
  • Bob Goff, who could become the first American on the Ugandan Supreme Court, helping us rediscover true whimsy. Fascinating man with a fascinating approach to life.
  • Portland’s Mayor and the County Comissioner sharing how much they appreciate their relationship with Imago Dei and other churches in Portland.
  • Kevin Kelly, the maverick at Wired magazine, predicting the future of technology–like the possibility of our kids never learning to drive because all vehicles are robot-driven. Crazy, but possible.
  • Bobette Buster, the “story expert” for Pixar, Disney, and Sony, telling a great story about the role of story in entertainment and culture.

We need to tell great stories. May we write some together!

Q (2)

As I mentioned in the last post, Q was about asking questions.

In this post, I don’t want to answer the softball questions like, “Did you have a good time?” “Did you like it?” “Was it cool?” I want to explore bigger questions like, “What was the underlying message of the conference?” “What did I struggle with?” “How did people view the place of the gospel in society?”

First things first: The conference was cool. I liked it for the most part. I had a good time. 😉

Now, I must admit, when I saw the information on the conference, I was slightly upset. The entry fee was $650 if you signed up early, $800 if you signed up the week of, $150 if you were a student. Obviously, I had the student rate, but I still felt uneasy about the prices, because what that price says is that we only want high-rollers at this conference. People of influence, of power, of wealth. The average Joe doesn’t have $800 to fork out to go to a conference, especially when he considers that he’ll lose an additional $250 or more by not working those 2-3 days.

Once I arrived at Q, I watched fellow brothers and sisters engage in one of the most disgusting acts I know of. What I mean is this: I sat in my chair and listened as people all around me introduced themselves to one another, asking the basic questions, “What’s your name? Where you from? What do you do?” No problem there. The problem came with the answers to the third question. All of the sudden it was, “I’m Ted and I lead a youth group of 589 kids, at a church of 2373 people.” “I’m Pete, the CEO of Blah, Blah, Blah International and author of 17 books.” “I’m Kristi, founder of the nonprofit Mission Awesomeness, with stations in Guatemala, Thailand, India, and Texas.” It was posturing to the max! Christians seeking the glory and affirmation of others, comparing themselves with themselves. And we all know what Jesus says about that–it isn’t wise.

But I must stop before I lead you into thinking this conference was just a bunch of big-shots trying to prove who was the most relevant and popular in Christendom. What I will say is this–I like Rick McKinley. He loves Jesus, he doesn’t like to brag, and he has a great understanding of the gospel and culture. He says that the gospel is this Jesus who comes in and changes the church and the culture. The church doesn’t hold the gospel and run away from society, nor does it hold the gospel in its hands and hit culture over the head with it, nor does the gospel blend in with culture so much that Jesus just becomes our home-boy and his followers become cool hipsters like everyone else. The gospel confronts both the culture and the church. It brings new paradigms and new life to whatever it touches, whatever He (Christ) touches.

And many people at the conference are operating with that understanding, and for that, I am thankful. I pray I do the same.

Q

Q is a letter. Q is also the name of a conference. The leader of the Q conference said that Q stands for questions, because the focus of the conference is asking questions, not giving answers. It’s not called A. It’s called Q. 

So I went to the Q conference, and I asked people questions.

I don’t like crappy questions like, “Where are you from?” “What do you do?” “Is this your first Q?”

No, I like big questions. So I gave my first big question to Donald Miller. I asked Don out to lunch.

He turned me down. He already had a date with his girlfriend and friends from out of town.

No big deal. I grabbed a bite at Noodles & Co. and went on an expedition at Powell’s.

Later that evening, Imam Feisal (the Ground Zero Mosque Imam) showed up at Q. After his interview on stage, I went over and talked with him. The crowd had emptied out, so I had his full attention. I asked if he had any advice for me.

He said to learn to love God, develop my relationship with Him, and everything I do will come out of that. Not bad for a guy that is often viewed as a terrorist.

I asked Imam Feisal how long he had been traveling and speaking. He said since 2001. I asked if he was drained yet. He said it can be tiring, but it is also very fulfilling. He said when you’re doing the work God has called you to do, it feels like fun. More fun than vacation.

I liked that. I think it’s true. When I write, or teach, it’s more fun than vacation.

(More about Q? Just wait for Round 2.)

Werd Plae

 

wer-dz

r

fuh-knee.

Wii yous th-m ev-re-dae butt rair-ley due wii cun-sid-r wat wii r due-ng. Hear, eye hav maid cent-in-ses whith tha saym s-ow-nds butt dif-r-int spel-ngs. Thadz ahl wii due wen wii reed, iznt iht? N-tr-prt sownds? Hoo cairs abowt tha spel-ng? Englsh teechrs?

Reeding stuph lighk thiz iz’nt az difi-colt az eye im-ahjind. Ihtz a phun x-ersize doughn’t u thnk?

Lan-goo-ige iz pha-sin-ate-ng.

We just keep putting one word after another after another, and suddenly life starts to make cents. since. sense.

A Thought on Forgiveness

I have a friend–well kind of a friend, more like an acquaintance, who if we had more time to get to know each other, would be a friend. A person like that. In my life. Every other Monday.

Anyways, this friend wrote a poem. It’s a really beautiful poem, but I can’t post it here because it’s too long and it would be a nightmare to try to format. But the point is, she wrote this poem. A really beautiful, really haunting poem. And I can’t stop thinking about it.

She wrote it from the perspective of a young woman, who had been sexually abused in her past. The poem describes how the abused girl sees the perpetrator later in life. Now, he is living as a happy, Christian man. He was never caught or punished for his crime; it was one of those things that happened in the dark. And now, he is married, enjoying his life, his wife. Guilt-free. Forgiven.

The poem brings up a huge issue. Sexual abuse.

And it brings up another huge issue. Forgiveness.

I cannot comment on the first because I have never experienced it. But I can comment on the second. And I wonder, along with the author…

Is there a dark side to forgiveness? Is there a sense in which we may experience forgiveness, but the people we have wronged have not experienced the same? And if they haven’t, are they wrong for harboring bitterness? After all, they were wronged by us. They simply want justice. And what’s wrong with justice?

Anyone? Thoughts?