((Darcy))
It's been awhile since this blog has been posted on, having seen the hiatus of the holiday hustle.
Personally, my holidays were amazing, the best I have had since my brother's passing. My fiance and I shared our first holidays as an engaged couple (and our last as we are married in May). Initially planning was intimidating and hectic. My parents wanted to visit New Mexico, Daniel's family was wanting to try Christmas at the new house his sister moved into, and my grandmother had bought every one of her 8 children, 19 grandchildren, and all the inlaws, plus my future husband, tickets to Florida for a four day Christmas trip starting the 26th. All this while we are trying to manage a budget during student teaching (which is a 8 hour work day with no compensation save a grade) and planning a wedding. Lets just say Christmas gifts this year received more attention to creativity then years passed as I searched for ways to share meaning without draining my bank account which has seemed to spring a recent leak...
My parents decided to wait on visiting my mother's family in New Mexico, which while unfortunate, allowed Daniel and I to spend time with his family in Kansas. His sister Katherine, who has three young children and one on the way who is also in the process of moving and organizing the photography for our wedding, volunteered to plan, organize, and host a two day Christmas celebration. Oh, and her and her husband were singing, directing, and writing their new churches first Christmas pageant. The woman swings her pendulum somewhere in between saint and clinically insane around this time of year! But with a little family help in the kitchen, she pulled it off wonderfully.
On Christmas day I got a microwave to replace the junker that has been shorting out for the past month, had a whole half yard of bubble gum in my mouth to blow a bubble with only to be outdone by Daniel's younger sister who managed the whole yard, played David and Goliath army men with a seven year old who knew the names of the story better than I did, and had my parents pick me up for Kansas City for phase two of Christmas.
There is something wonderful in those memories though. Daniel and I have been together four years this February, but only got engaged this last April on my 21st birthday (no alcohol involved). Spending time with his family and knowing they are my family to be is humbling, inspiring, and tiring! I had to cut the apples and the onions... cutting onions isn't a job you give to guests, its for family! I also changed diapers and had my flower girl sleeping on my chest.
I noticed something in the down time, sitting on the couch alone. His family never knew my brother, and the holidays did not carry the loss of one who was not there. While the realization was both painful and liberating, I embraced the moment as a transition of change, a positive growth that affirms I am not tied down by my past loss.
Seeing my parents at the door awhile after lunch brought back that feeling though. I try not to be separate from my parents on Christmas day, as losing a son is harder when the only other child is also not present. I worry about them, and they worry about me. We protect each other in the times where happiness flows but sadness lurks, defending against the creeping melancholy by being there for one another.
My father gets along rather well with one of Katherine's children who is a seven year old boy. I went with the two outside to play in the snow. My father is wonderful with children, and I am thankful he is able to share his passions for play with Gavin. My mother was talking to Daniel's mom; the two get along rather well. My parents were in good spirits, fortified by the company of family. We all spent another hour or two at Katherine's before my uncle showed up and we left for Kansas City to stay the night before catching the plane in the morning.
Staying in Kansas City was relaxing, familiar, and calmed my honest fear of the holidays. I love family, and I love Christmas, but in truth there has not been a Christmas since my brother passed that I haven't cried at least once in the week of the holidays. This time was different though, something has shifted, life is beginning a new phase. While the blessings and pains of my handicap brother's short life will never fade from my memory or heart, the shadows and fears are passing as I gain security in faith, hope, and love given to me by my wonderful family, both by blood and soon to be marriage.
.................................................................
Florida is a story for another blogging, but watch for it coming soon.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Technology and Faith
We watched The Nativity Story last night. It was interesting to use a high Tech DVD player with lasers and computer chips and watch a movie about people who lived a very low-tech lifestyle. Their style of life lasted a millennium or more without changing. People and news traveled by walking or horseback. Then the automobile and telephone were invented. Travel and communication speeded up. Now we have the computer and the internet and in some ways we can say that both "travel" and communication have gone light speed. I have read articles and insights from people all over the world from the comfort of my own home. I can log on and see what is going on in Grand Teton National Park or Yellowstone. And through the coaching of my wife and children, I have "chatted" with a young woman in Malaysia and even video chatted with her and her family.
In the title song of Jesus Christ Superstar Judas asks the question of Jesus
"Why'd you come to such a backwards place and such a strange land.
If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation,
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication."
In some ways Judas is right, but I firmly believe that the Christian faith travels best through relational paths. Technology can help, but whatever we do with our technology, I believe it serves us best when it helps us develop deeper and more authentic relationships. Speed isn't necessarily the goal.
Greg
We watched The Nativity Story last night. It was interesting to use a high Tech DVD player with lasers and computer chips and watch a movie about people who lived a very low-tech lifestyle. Their style of life lasted a millennium or more without changing. People and news traveled by walking or horseback. Then the automobile and telephone were invented. Travel and communication speeded up. Now we have the computer and the internet and in some ways we can say that both "travel" and communication have gone light speed. I have read articles and insights from people all over the world from the comfort of my own home. I can log on and see what is going on in Grand Teton National Park or Yellowstone. And through the coaching of my wife and children, I have "chatted" with a young woman in Malaysia and even video chatted with her and her family.
In the title song of Jesus Christ Superstar Judas asks the question of Jesus
"Why'd you come to such a backwards place and such a strange land.
If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation,
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication."
In some ways Judas is right, but I firmly believe that the Christian faith travels best through relational paths. Technology can help, but whatever we do with our technology, I believe it serves us best when it helps us develop deeper and more authentic relationships. Speed isn't necessarily the goal.
Greg
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Darcy - Luke 1:37-38 verse of the day
Luke 1:37-38 :: Contemporary English Version (CEV)
37"Nothing is impossible for God!"
38Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." And the angel left her.
This one catches me at a moment of transition in my life. Coming up on a wedding and graduation can be a bit stressful, and life always manages to throw in extra unexpected events to sometimes add to things. But the affirmation in this verse is simple - "Nothing is impossible for God." I know that our family will be carried through the difficult times, that God will not bring us to something He refuses to bring us through. God is capable and willing to give us grace in every moment of our lives, all we have to do is give in.
"I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." These words are hard when we are accustomed to 'building' our own life, making 'life decisions' and 'preparing' for the future. However, who am I to know God's plans for me? What good are my plans? They are useful to make, but most likely they will change, I will change, and it will be because God's will is not something I can always guess at. Change is good, it means I become more of God's servant, that if I let Him move me in His way I will become more fufilled in my path.
Society will seek to move me, and it will always be tempting for me to move for myself, but at the root I am God's servant, and the only true movement is movement for him.
So where will my life go and what will I do? I will seek to allign myself as much as possible to God's calling and trust His benevolence and grace in my life.
It sounds good... and hopefully with practice it will do more then "sound good."
Here is to a journey.
Darcy
Darcy - reaction to our first session
Last night we met for the first time in our technology and faith session of our small group. Already someone had talked to one of our members about the blog before it had even been unveiled to all of our group! That was exciting and imediatly set us in the mood that technology could facilitate our faith by both helping us understand our own spirituality and God's grace along with inviting others to share in this exploration, even if only through reading the blog. I should mention that anyone in the area is welcome to come to our meetings. I put an age guideline up, but it really was a guess and I am going to add "the young at heart" or "pre family stage" to the listings. Besides, our pastors Kim and Greg are the proud parents of a junior in highschool and an 8th grader and they participate. Anyone is welcome :)
We also covered possible uses of technology to enhance our faith such as research on spiritual topics, which is suprisingly well facilitated by wikipedia, and GodTube, and google. There are plenty of sights that could start your intellectual and spiritual wheels turning. Also we discussed (quite a bit sense it is the biggest niche for our generation right now) facebook and how it can be used to read your daily Bible verses, converse about spiritual topics, and express a side of yourself that might not be seen in casual conversations.
However, it seems the bulk of our discussion centered on the difficulties that technology has brought to our generation including: desensitization, and the reversal oversenitization, distorted views of beauty and virtue, lose of moral sense due to anyonimity, time "killing", and having too much noise/busyness to "be still and know that I am God."
We considered how technology like the atom bomb have devestated humanity and still somehow allowed growth. But this was a tricky topic, because it is sometimes hard to see progress through extreme devestation, and even when progress is seen it is sometimes hard to see progress as God's plan so much as mans. An interesting idea we tackled: Is progress God's thing or is it the creation of man? Does God love us more when we create new things, advance our health systems, or are able to access more information? It is a hard set of questions that leads one to consider what are humanities goals for us and what are God's goals for us.
We thought about whether God forged a path of technological progress and if man were playing out God's plan, but I think most of us thought more that God's gift of free will has allowed this growth and whatever else it may be. However, one of the main ideas was that God would love humanity at whatever progress we were in our epochs or stages, and that humanity has covered some dark areas of history and that we generally do seem pretty well off in our day of age.
Our concluding thought was on the best possible way to use technology responsibly considering our spiritual self. We concluded that the internet would be responsbily used building real realitionships based in truth. And while 'real realationships' can be tricky, the idea that we are genuine in who we are and that we seek to connect on deeper levels then casual internet occurences made sense to me. We also decided that we should occasionaly take 'technology retreats,' having segments of our day, week, or life that we take a break from technology and try to still our minds and stimulus in order to be still and let God enter into our minds and hearts.
We also covered possible uses of technology to enhance our faith such as research on spiritual topics, which is suprisingly well facilitated by wikipedia, and GodTube, and google. There are plenty of sights that could start your intellectual and spiritual wheels turning. Also we discussed (quite a bit sense it is the biggest niche for our generation right now) facebook and how it can be used to read your daily Bible verses, converse about spiritual topics, and express a side of yourself that might not be seen in casual conversations.
However, it seems the bulk of our discussion centered on the difficulties that technology has brought to our generation including: desensitization, and the reversal oversenitization, distorted views of beauty and virtue, lose of moral sense due to anyonimity, time "killing", and having too much noise/busyness to "be still and know that I am God."
We considered how technology like the atom bomb have devestated humanity and still somehow allowed growth. But this was a tricky topic, because it is sometimes hard to see progress through extreme devestation, and even when progress is seen it is sometimes hard to see progress as God's plan so much as mans. An interesting idea we tackled: Is progress God's thing or is it the creation of man? Does God love us more when we create new things, advance our health systems, or are able to access more information? It is a hard set of questions that leads one to consider what are humanities goals for us and what are God's goals for us.
We thought about whether God forged a path of technological progress and if man were playing out God's plan, but I think most of us thought more that God's gift of free will has allowed this growth and whatever else it may be. However, one of the main ideas was that God would love humanity at whatever progress we were in our epochs or stages, and that humanity has covered some dark areas of history and that we generally do seem pretty well off in our day of age.
Our concluding thought was on the best possible way to use technology responsibly considering our spiritual self. We concluded that the internet would be responsbily used building real realitionships based in truth. And while 'real realationships' can be tricky, the idea that we are genuine in who we are and that we seek to connect on deeper levels then casual internet occurences made sense to me. We also decided that we should occasionaly take 'technology retreats,' having segments of our day, week, or life that we take a break from technology and try to still our minds and stimulus in order to be still and let God enter into our minds and hearts.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Notes on faith and technology by Daryl Culp
well written outline to one person's viewpoint on technology and faith with Biblical references:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/darylculp/lectures/faithandtechnology.htm
Excerpt from Site:
"Thinking faithfully about technology
As Christians, we believe that this is God’s world, and everything in it should give glory to God. Even the things we make, and the way in which we organize our lives, should exhibit commitment to the source of all good. There are several aspects of our technological existence that should be examined through the eyes of faith.
Responsibility: Every technology changes the world, in ways the makers intend, and often through unexpected interactions with its environment. We have a responsibility, as God’s creatures, to look after our world. Technology is part of our stewardship, and can help us care for ourselves and our environment. It can also have harmful effects that we have to curb.
Creativity: Human beings are co-creators with God in this world. Our inventiveness comes from God, and displays the glory of God. We are not independent inventors, though. If our inventiveness participates in God’s great gift of creation, we should bathe our discovering in the light of God’s wisdom. No technology for its own sake, but rather making God’s good world come to fruition.
Identity: Our environment, including the artificial surroundings that we create, shapes us in many ways. Tools enable us to be different people, by giving us new possibilities for existing (think of how the car has made us mobile, or the TV has given us an eye on the world). What would it mean to subject technology to the mandate of love as displayed on the cross? Our identity as children of God, forgiven and sent into the world to serve, should not be displaced by a technological imperative.
These are general principles which we should consider as we encounter a world increasingly defined by our own inventions. In many ways, our environment is human-made, and reflects us to ourselves. When do we look up and out of this hall of mirrors, and gaze at the face of God in the other, in nature, in the imagination, in meditation?
Questions for discussion
How does technology change how we pray? (How do we pray for healing in the hospital? How do we pray for healing for the earth? Do we pray for God’s intervention in a human-made world? Or is prayer meditation on God’s wisdom, truth and creativity?)
How does technology change our church community? (Do we spend time with each other? Does the church building facilitate worship? Do we consider our spiritual life together as a problem that needs to be solved by techniques?)
Is our community life governed by norms “rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency?” Or do we take seriously the fallibility of human beings, the need for meditation on God’s word, and the communal discernment of God’s truth?"
taken from http://individual.utoronto.ca/darylculp/lectures/faithandtechnology.htm by Daryl Culp
http://individual.utoronto.ca/darylculp/lectures/faithandtechnology.htm
Excerpt from Site:
"Thinking faithfully about technology
As Christians, we believe that this is God’s world, and everything in it should give glory to God. Even the things we make, and the way in which we organize our lives, should exhibit commitment to the source of all good. There are several aspects of our technological existence that should be examined through the eyes of faith.
Responsibility: Every technology changes the world, in ways the makers intend, and often through unexpected interactions with its environment. We have a responsibility, as God’s creatures, to look after our world. Technology is part of our stewardship, and can help us care for ourselves and our environment. It can also have harmful effects that we have to curb.
Creativity: Human beings are co-creators with God in this world. Our inventiveness comes from God, and displays the glory of God. We are not independent inventors, though. If our inventiveness participates in God’s great gift of creation, we should bathe our discovering in the light of God’s wisdom. No technology for its own sake, but rather making God’s good world come to fruition.
Identity: Our environment, including the artificial surroundings that we create, shapes us in many ways. Tools enable us to be different people, by giving us new possibilities for existing (think of how the car has made us mobile, or the TV has given us an eye on the world). What would it mean to subject technology to the mandate of love as displayed on the cross? Our identity as children of God, forgiven and sent into the world to serve, should not be displaced by a technological imperative.
These are general principles which we should consider as we encounter a world increasingly defined by our own inventions. In many ways, our environment is human-made, and reflects us to ourselves. When do we look up and out of this hall of mirrors, and gaze at the face of God in the other, in nature, in the imagination, in meditation?
Questions for discussion
How does technology change how we pray? (How do we pray for healing in the hospital? How do we pray for healing for the earth? Do we pray for God’s intervention in a human-made world? Or is prayer meditation on God’s wisdom, truth and creativity?)
How does technology change our church community? (Do we spend time with each other? Does the church building facilitate worship? Do we consider our spiritual life together as a problem that needs to be solved by techniques?)
Is our community life governed by norms “rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency?” Or do we take seriously the fallibility of human beings, the need for meditation on God’s word, and the communal discernment of God’s truth?"
taken from http://individual.utoronto.ca/darylculp/lectures/faithandtechnology.htm by Daryl Culp
Video - How Technology Distorts Our View of Beauty
Godtube link to video which shows process a woman goes through to be featured on a billboard -
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5a2ccb30e7bbafc011b0
link from where the video came from: the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty -
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/flat2.asp?id=6960
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5a2ccb30e7bbafc011b0
link from where the video came from: the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty -
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/flat2.asp?id=6960
Friday, November 30, 2007
Darcy - An off-topic poem "Impact - Harmony"
I wrote this poem during my Creative Writing Club meeting last night at Bethany and feel inclined to post it... so here goes :)
Impact – Harmony
In the world we have two natures –
the voice that says “mine”
and the voice that does not speak because presence is unified
so that there is no one
to speak with.
‘mine’ carries a hammer
building bridges, wonders, and junk –
striking against the nail,
moving the object to its will.
The voice that does not speak,
in a paradox of voice…
Sings.
humming and buzzing in Tune
Producing a Harmony not often Heard
Within Identity;
Stroking piano keys inside a symphony.
The hammer seeks to mould;
the piano seeks to meld.
The impact of nails leaves scars in the wood.
The piano produces, is heard or ignored, and fades –
Enhancing the player through Practice.
Perhaps our builder screws into the wood
and realizes he has made a mistake…
he releases his binding
and has left:
a Screwed Board
-- too flawed for the next attempt.
Our musician plays his keys
and perhaps misses a note, but
his impact lacks destructive force.
He is now more practiced,
better equipped to once again try for Harmony
more able to contribute his Art.
so in Life I Choose –
I am not a builder hammering
out my vision
I am not a screwed board.
Rather I am
I am learning to play my notes,
Practicing my harmony production,
Gaining experience from the missed notes
Adding to the collective
Creative
And Malleable
Symphony of Life.
by
Darcy
Impact – Harmony
In the world we have two natures –
the voice that says “mine”
and the voice that does not speak because presence is unified
so that there is no one
to speak with.
‘mine’ carries a hammer
building bridges, wonders, and junk –
striking against the nail,
moving the object to its will.
The voice that does not speak,
in a paradox of voice…
Sings.
humming and buzzing in Tune
Producing a Harmony not often Heard
Within Identity;
Stroking piano keys inside a symphony.
The hammer seeks to mould;
the piano seeks to meld.
The impact of nails leaves scars in the wood.
The piano produces, is heard or ignored, and fades –
Enhancing the player through Practice.
Perhaps our builder screws into the wood
and realizes he has made a mistake…
he releases his binding
and has left:
a Screwed Board
-- too flawed for the next attempt.
Our musician plays his keys
and perhaps misses a note, but
his impact lacks destructive force.
He is now more practiced,
better equipped to once again try for Harmony
more able to contribute his Art.
so in Life I Choose –
I am not a builder hammering
out my vision
I am not a screwed board.
Rather I am
I am learning to play my notes,
Practicing my harmony production,
Gaining experience from the missed notes
Adding to the collective
Creative
And Malleable
Symphony of Life.
by
Darcy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
