Seminarian? More like Similarian

Time for my semi-annual post. I've been thinking about my education a bit lately. I'm wanting some different things. Last semester was the first time in my life to be taught by an African-American professor. Bob, you may be right about our misplaced unity scope. And here is part of my current plan to change this situation: invite Fred D. Gray to ASI or the Honors College Lecture Series. Dr. Gray was a lawyer for MLK and Rosa Parks. These are probably his best know cases. Politically, he's nowhere near the general consensus at Harding. But religiously, he's a shoo-in. Dr. Gray is a minister at the Tuskegee Church of Christ. As a fellowship, Churches of Christ have a deep sense of pride for those affiliated who rise to positions of prominence. Dr. Gray's voice may be just the one to bring black teachers and students to Harding. I've been a similarian long enough. Time for some differences. I just hope my school and my church agrees.

Christmas List

For those less-than-tech-savvy readers (Mom), the main stem is an iPod. It's perfect for the contextual priest--like myself.

Restoration 2.0

Greg brings some pertinent questions to my particular faith heritage. I like his term, "NeoRestoration." It speaks historically, theologically, and contextually. I thought I'd add a term to the mix (see open letter below). Open letter to all Users of Restoration services: Introducing an all new Restoration platform! We aren't just talking about a simple platform upgrade. . . like Restoration 1.1. We are seeking the face of God in light of our current situation (and vice versa). This is a whole new version--Restoration 2.0. Patrons of our previous system, please don't be alarmed. We are diligently trying to integrate OS 1.0 and OS 2.0. We are beginning to experience a few bugs (see Greg's initial outline) and plan to issue patches as problems are met. A great deal of hardware has changed since the launch of Restoration 1.0. World-wide connectivity, biblical scholarship, and anthropology (to name a few) have rendered a few of R 1.0's programs useless. In looking at a few other operating systems (Vatican 2.0, Emerging 1.0, Orthodox 4.3.1, etc.), we have noted some distinguishing and appropriate interfaces we hope to keep. We are quite dedicated to the Restoration platform. We believe that God has upgraded us in this system, and we hope that the system will continue to enhance with our programming. NOTE: Restoration 2.0 is currently available in beta form only! This is an effort to involve as many users as possible to participate in its construction. May Grace and Peace be yours in Gigabytes.

Transformation

I first heard about an MIT team building a $100 laptop a couple of years ago. At the time, the grandeur seemed distant. Distance is now dead. The second prototype has now been revealed to the public in a "One Laptop per Child" campaign. The goal is to put a laptop (like the one in the video above) into the hands of every child in the Developing World. Developers have already dealt with many obvious difficulties: 1) PRICE using free open source software flash memory (instead of a hard drive) cheap LCD screens 2) BLACK MARKET by framing this computer with a childlike color case 3) ETC. I'm tired of typing, so google it. But don't be fooled: *long range wi-fi capabilities *adaptable to several power sources *a writing tablet *ebook readability make this one amazing computer. Now comes the next question for me: is this really development? Most people are saying "yes." And so am I. But I am curious to see where this goes once it hits the ghetto streets of Lagos. No doubt these little computers will be the source of new sets of problems--education and technology have always done this to us. In what ways do we make this incarnational? Should we be writing Bible software to be included in these computers? Do we use churches as distribution hubs for these computers in Third World countries? Should we provide ebooks on how to dig wells and latrine systems, plant crops and irrigate, diagnose and treat disease? Making and distributing these computers is a monumental task. And it seems like we can ride this new wave of technology into the hearts of people all over the world. May God help us as we seek to serve.

Dirt

I'm not familiar with the etymology of "dirt." For some reason, the very thing--dirt--that God uses to sustain life has come to carry some negative connotations. Reporters often dig up dirt on politicians. We tell dirty jokes. People often have a simple, "dirt philosophy" for life. I don't like it in my house. I don't like it in my car. I don't like it in my food. But I often have moments in which dirt plays an important role. I spent all day Saturday tearing up my backyard. . . too many rocks as you can see piled up in the picture. Some old man retired a decade before he should have and decided to make up for all his free time by cementing rocks together in the backyard. Sorry this tangent should be saved for another post. Dirt was under my fingernails, in my hair, and on my knees. I could smell it. I scooped it, pushed it, raked it, tamped it, threw it. I noticed that some dirt was the home of grass and some was barren. Different colors, textures, density. Very diverse dirt. I spend most of my day on blacktop, carpet, wood, concrete--everything BUT dirt. But Saturday, I spent time with dirt. It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It is making me a better person. . . growing me, in a way. Dirt is good. Not to mention, our place of origin and our place of destination.

bobby the blogangelist

I recently noticed a spiritual (by "spiritual," I mean absolutely nothing. It's just a word that I'm supposed to use in sentences because I'm a follower of The Way) gift of myself: I am an evangelist. But not a typical evangelist. . . no. . . I bring people face to face with . . . blogging. I recently brought my friend Bob to The Web, and to show my effectiveness in the field--he has now brought Greg into The Web. Not to my own glory, mind you, but to Al Gore's. This is a recovery post. It has been a significant period of time since my last post. This relates to several factors: 1. Blogger.com deleted several of my posts. 2. I promised to delete blogger.com when Steve Jobs gives me his CEOship of Apple Computers. 3. After I realized I wouldn't get Steve's job or the ability to delete blogger.com, I decided to reboot. But I forgot my blogger password, and couldn't retrieve it. These three simple steps led to the demise of estrangednolonger.blogspot.com. That is, until my weblog disciple Greg commented. How sweet it is! I was encouraged to seek out the password. And I found it! How sweet it is to know my password. To login in the presence of the Internet. May the mouse and clickwheel be yours in abundance. Bobby the Ablogstle

a daylate & a dollarshort

There are moments in life when you feel slow, bored, and floating. Other days make up for this lackadaisical-ness with burdens of workload, clock racing, and a general feeling of overwhelmed. Today is day 2. So I decided to do what I should have done on one of those day 1 days--I'm officially entering into the world of blog. Life got too crazy today, so I decided to make the rest of it even moreso by taking the 15 minutes to sit down and type out life. I've decided that it is time to do some things. It is time to rearrange life and its priorities. Maybe I'm not rearranging Life proper, but I'm definitely working on mine. My mental/spiritual faculties need a good spring cleaning. I need to stop using so many fossil fuels. I need to shave the excess hair on the back of my neck. My wife needs to be happier with her husband. My eyes are used too much, I think I should start touching and smelling stuff more. I tasted kimchee yesterday. Family needs to know what I'm thinking/doing. Point made. Did Jesus of Nazareth have a dayplanner? Would Ghandi worry about keeping his coffee beans fresh? I wonder if Carl Marx ever vacuumed under the couch. All of the things I think I should be doing are none of the things that worldshapers did. I'm not so arrogant as to say that I am a world-class world shaper, but I do have aspirations. I have recently discovered peace--the same peace you had as a child on Saturday mornings eating off-brand Cheerios watching japanimation cartoons. Hope just recently got bigger than hoping to get out of school, in a good job, and for a winning lotto ticket. Even with all this stuff going on, and all these discoveries that I've made, I still get the feeling that I am a day late and a dollar short. People used to say that we are stand on the shoulders of those before us. That's probably true. But what about us? When do we start making headway for the next generation? I've decided that I'm going to start today. I'm looking for some people to go with. I think it's probably going to be hard to break new ground, so I'd like a few friends. Synergism is a powerful thing. In my few short years, I've decided that individualism is no longer as great as I thought it was. I want community. I want to be estranged no longer.