WORLDS ARE FORMING

"Show me your glory..."

I am in the middle of writing two sermons right now: one for preaching class and one for my Field Ed church.  I am loving it.  My OT narrative sermon is from Exodus 33.11-23, where Moses is talking with God, wanting to know how he will know that God will be with him.  Moses is bold and Moses is persistent.  Sometimes I think he is not really listening to what God is saying.  He wants a clear answer from God, a promise of God's presence and protection. 

Moses asks of God, "Show me your glory..." (33.18)  My general reaction is to hear it as a plea of desperation for the intimate presence of God to remain with Moses, and when I pray that, for God's presence to remain with me.  (I have lots of other thoughts about what it could mean in Moses' context, but for now, I'll just say that I think it is a great plea.)

When you hear that phrase, or sing a song with those words, or pray a prayer like that, what do you mean?  What do you think Moses means?

Who needs a flu shot?

To flu shot or not...that is the question.  I haven't had a flu shot in years.  Get sick once or twice a season, nothing too life threatening, though. 

(Last year I only really got sick from Thai Chicken kabobs in the cafeteria...ugh.)

Have you had your shot this season?  Are you going to?  Should I?

I can't decide...

Yes, I am blogging about a cat.

My parents have a cat.  Orvie.  Originally, she was a barn cat, but our barn soon became the playground for coyotes, so, the cat needed a home.  They thought she was a he, and called him Orville.  But, the vet told them otherwise, and her name became Orvina, Orvie for short.  She's not the smartest cat, nor is she the most graceful.  However, she is very sweet.  When she is curled up and sleeping, she looks like a furry basketball.

I got two emails the other day.  First from my mom:

Oh, Josh ... if only I'd had the camera in hand as I'm washing the dining room window, and Dad's almost directly in front of me, putting up the icicle lights when all of a sudden, I see something coming up past him, and lo and behold, it's Orvie, climbing up the ladder as fast as she could ... I couldn't believe it ...

Then from my dad:

She actually climbed the extension ladder to get on the roof.  I was afraid she would tip over the step ladder trying to jump onto the roof, so took her off.  I never did find out if she could climb DOWN a ladder.

This may sound mundane to you folks, but really...this is quite a feat for this beast.  I imagine it took quite a bit of energy for her to sprint through the front yard to get enough momentum to get up the ladder... Sigh.  Look how proud she looks atop the ladder, and then, atop the roof.

"Blogs are still dumb."

All last year, my friend Dave said "Blogs are dumb."  Now he says, "Blogs are still dumb." 

Apparently, the boy has gone and got himself a blog.  I love it.  Dave is a stud.  He's taken the year off of school and is living in Scotland, serving in a church and living within the community there.  I bet he eats haggus and has tea all the time, too. 

Check out the blog.  I bet he'll never post, but still, check it out.

The vocation to which I have been called.

"That's the strangest thing about this life, about being in the ministry.  People change the subject when they see you coming.  And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things.  There's a lot under the surface of life, everyone knows that.  A lot of malice and dread and guilt, and so much loneliness, where you wouldn't really expect to find it, either."            ::Marilynne Robinson, GILEAD, 6.

SoupMan in Princeton!

"No soup for you!"  No more. 

The SoupMan has come to Princeton, NJ!  No joke!  It is a franchise, but it IS the store based off of this infamous Seinfeld character.  I had a bowl of Crab Bisque there last night.  A little expensive, but good!

The Christmas music season may now begin.

Thanksgiving is over.  The Christmas music season has my permission to begin. Growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was the day to decorate for Christmas while listening to Christmas music.  I LOVE Christmas music...both hymns and contemporary.  However, I do not endorse the playing of Christmas music any earlier.  When I heard White Christmas on November 1st, I thoroughly disapproved.  But now I am about to bust out my old school Amy Grant Christmas and my Nat King Cole Christmas CD's.  No stopping me now.  What are your Christmas music essentials?

And a happy Thanksgiving it was!

Spent the day with 19 other folks from Princeton, enjoying a veritable cornucopia of sumptuous food and desserts.  (I made my Dad's Apple Pie and my Mom's Grasshopper Pie.)  A friend is house sitting, and we spent the day at a crazy huge home, eating, napping, watching TV & "Can't Buy Me Love," playing games and eating.  A good day, for sure.  (More pics in East Coast 2005 album!)

Front: Carver, Lindsay, Emily, Becca, Jennie.  Middle: Patrick, Quinn, Matt, Josh, Chris, Jen, Geoff, Zach, Me.  Back: Jeff, Molly, Nicole, Jeremy, Andrea, Dean.

A day and a half of cheap(er) fun in NYC.

I just had the busiest day and a half of fun.  Plenty of time with friends, and plenty of "Josh time."  Perfect.  Check out pictures in the Fall 2005 album!

TUESDAY.
12:30...Left Princeton after lunch
2:30...Arrived at and walked up nearly 19 million flights of stairs at Metro Baptist Church (where we would later stay the night...for free).
3:30...Headed to H&H bagels to eat a bunch of magically delicious "Everything" bagels.  I think I could eat those bagels all day, every day
4:30...Headed down to try to win $25 Wicked tickets...perhaps we were too confident...none of the four of us won.  After a period of mourning, we headed to Starbucks to warm up.  It was cold. 
5:15...Made a new game plan, went to TKTS to see if there were any good tickets left.  Alas, no.  So, we went to see if there were any cheap tickets at theatres.  Meredith and Sarah decided to head back to the church, but Becca and I bought cheap tickets to The Producers.  They were front row, toootally obstructed view...we had to strain our necks.  Becca decided to get adventurous, and checked to see if there were any open seats in the box seats.  Indeed, there were.  Good-boy-Josh was nervous, but finally gave in.  AND IT WAS AMAZING.  We couldn't have enjoyed the second act had we not moved seats.  Scandalous, irreverent show, but all you could do was laugh. $26.50 for $111.50 tickets.  I'll take that.
9:45...After the show, we met up with the rest of the crew plus Babbs, and grabbed Sushi for dinner.  I was adventurous, ate some raw tuna, raw salmon, and drank some sake.
11:00...Got in line, in the freeezing cold to see the 12:01 showing of the movie version of RENT.  We were definitely some of the older folks there.  Sad.  Meredith and Sarah were the giddiest people ever.  We had been preparing for this day for a few weeks.  Listening to the soundtrack, quoting lines right and left.  It was worth it.  Overall, the movie did what it wanted to do: bring the stage version to film.  Some deeply touching moments, and some laughable scenes as well. 
3:15...Headed back to the dorms at the church to sleep.  Such a fun day.

WEDNESDAY
9:00...Woke up, parted ways.  This is the "Josh" portion of my time in NYC.  Headed to Times Square, wandered around, got some coffee, tried to figure out a game plan.   This is also where Josh looks more like a tourist than he ever had.  Upon my back was a backpack full of sleep stuff (in which you could fit a small child).  I carried that around all day.  Ouch.
10:00...Saw that there were tickets for Letterman, a lottery system.  Put my name in, just to see.  Walked down to Rockefeller Plaza.
11:00...Decided to try for matinee Wicked tickets...didn't win.  Sad.  But, just when I heard that I didn't win, I found out that I got in for the Late Show...free tickets!  That certainly made up for it my Wicked loss.
12:45...Bought lunch at Whole Foods, hung out in Columbus Circle, then spent a few hours exploring Central Park.  Ate my lunch there, then walked and walked.  I had never had a good photo journey through the Park, so I took the opportunity.  Got some good shots, I think.
3:30...Headed to get some more coffee (still cold).
4:30...Got to the Ed Sullivan theater, waited in line for awhile, and finally got in to the theatre.  Claire Danes and Big Boi were the guests.  Stupid Pet Tricks was the featured segment.  Hilarious.  Definitely enjoyed the experience.  It was tiring!  You have to clap and cheer alot.  The theatre is smaller than I had imagined, and it is cold inside.  If you haven't gone...go.
7:30...Got back on the train, exhausted.
9:15...Arrived back in Princeton.

A fun day and a half in the city.  Now, I am sore and glad to be home.

Death does NOT have the final word.

First Corinthians 15:55, 57

"O death, where is your victory?  O grave, where is your sting?"
"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Thanks be to God for the hope we have in the Resurrection.  The dad of one of my closest friends from college died unexpectedly this morning.  These verses have resonated in my mind all afternoon since hearing the news.  I wish I could be with my friend and his wife today to hold them, but I cannot.  Please pray for the Mitchells.  Thanks, friends.