Newbie

Because of my long week [which included a funeral and our Walnut Hills movie night] I haven't yet been able to recount any of my experiences from working at Cincinnati Christian University. Starting a new job is always difficult but this was probably the easiest experience I've had in first week acclamation because of working at the school before.*

First, let me explain my new gig: I'm an admissions coordinator for the College of Adult Learning. Also known as the CALL program [it's an acronym that includes the words "Christian" and "Leadership"], this college was started about six years ago under the umbrella of Cincinnati Christian University to allow non-traditional students [read: adults over the age of 25] to finish their college degrees through an accelerated program. It has somewhat rapidly grown to where it now has over 300 students; this is the program in which I've been adjunct teaching this past year. As the program now has three campuses [on the main campus in Price Hill, at Vineyard Community Church in Tri-County, and in Indianapolis at Indian Creek Christian Church], with another campus on the way [this spring, we'll open a greater-Louisville campus across the river in Jeffersonville, Indiana] it was critical to add recruiting positions to keep up with the growth. While I might have a little to do in Louisville, and since they're adding a recruiter for the Indianapolis area, I'll be centering my focus on the Cincinnati campuses.

As far as my specific tasks, I'll be assisting prospective students throughout the admissions process as well as spreading the word of our program throughout the city. Since the admissions department of the College consisted of just one person until I was added, I'll also be attempting to install some systems that will keep pace with the program's growth. I'll also be looking for opportunities to use my expertise in marketing and technology to enhance the selling of our program.**

In order to work around the schedules of adult students, the college operates classes at night. Thus, my "regular office hours" will be all over the place. This week, I tried to get in early just so I could get a jump on things. What I realized is that, while some things are different, some of them are very much the same. I'd like to think that this transition has provided me with a list of easy things and hard things.

EASY THINGS:

The people I work with are great. I seem to fit very well with our department's staff and am sure that I'll have a stapler in a Jell-O mold by Christmas.

Already teaching in the program has been a plus. I've taught about eight classes this past year in all three of the College's campuses. So I'm familiar with the students, their stories, and what makes the program so important.

The main campus looks much better than it did ten years ago. My first time around, I was selling prospective students on a hole in the ground. And the walls hadn't been painted a new color since they built many of the buildings. While every college campus has archaic buildings, there's certainly a fresh feel to things now.

I still know many of the faculty and staff. I left my previous job at CCU seven years ago. In the meantime, I've been in the city so I've maintained a working knowledge of who was where.

My current job is similar to my previous role here. There are certain procedures that are in place that haven't changed. In short, I know the flow.

The computer database is still the same. While I loathed the database when I worked there before, I understand the power in utilizing it in this job. I think my former co-workers would laugh that I'm going to play the role as advocate for this system.***

HARD THINGS:

Getting enough sleep will be difficult. I went three years without having to be in the office at a certain time. While I've tried to get in bed by midnight, I haven't been very successful yet. And this is in the summer when there's nothing on TV. I already took two naps this week when I've gotten home, so I'm going to have to readjust my body quick if I'm going to make it.

My workspace is incomplete. Since they're going to be doing some wall-building in September to give me an office with a door, I've taken up residence in a conference room. I spent most of the week with papers all over the place. It'll be tough for me to get organized until I get settled into a new place.

I have to use a PC. Seriously, this is the absolute toughest thing about the job. I keep forgetting that when I "Command" click as a keyboard shortcut, the PC looks at me like I'm an idiot. I'm probably going to bring in my laptop from home once a week to keep myself sane.

Bringing in my own Diet Coke. CCU is a Pepsi campus. It is the last remaining demon that ought to be exorcised. Until then, it's a BYOB situation.****

Still. It was a great first week. It's [almost] like I never left. I'd predict my blogging pace will pick up a little as I continue to get settled. Maybe I'll find some interesting things to say as well.

_______________

*By my count, I've now held seven different jobs in my life. I'm not sure if that's a lot or not, but I'm thinking I've set myself up so that I could make it to retirement without crossing the double-digit threshold.

**True, I don't hold any marketing or technology degrees, but I have started a church which has provided me a depth of experience in these tasks.

***Ten years ago, when I was prone to having more fun, I actually entered Tupac Shakur into the database. Sadly, as I scanned the system for him this week, his name had been purged. That's twice I've lost him from my life now.

****Bring Your Own Beverage, obviously. I read in the employee handbook something about not being inebriated on the job that leads me to believe alcohol is prohibited.

Clocking In

The blog has gone very silent during the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow morning I start my new job at my old place of employment. I had two weeks between accepting this job and officially starting, so I've been processing through my own personal "bucket list" which included:

• Shampooing all of our carpets.
• Washing, waxing, and detailing our cars.
• Preaching at two different churches, not including Echo.
• Doing some leadership training.
• Wrapping up a final exam and a twenty-five page final paper.
• Grilling out at our church picnic.
• Meeting with four different people about life and career decisions.
• Spending some time with the dudes at our church and talking Jesus.
• Replacing the large blinds in the windows that face our street.
• Running an equipment check for our community movie night.
• Attending a wedding reception.
• Helping three different sets of friends move.
• Spending two days exclusively with my daughter.
• Celebrating our anniversary [didn't even have time for the obligatory, "I love my wife" post].

Yeah, I was kinda busy. And I'm kinda tired now. Will probably be asleep by 10:30 tonight.

Someone at church tonight asked me if I was nervous about starting tomorrow, and I'm not at all; I'm more energized by it than anything else. But since Kelly won't officially wrap up her job until the end of the month, we'll be pressing to make it through the next four weeks. The temporary awkwardness surrounding this transition pales in comparison to the benefits of everything involved with it.

It will be awesome.

But gimme a chance to look in the rearview mirror. As I look back at where we've been during the past four years, I see the fingerprints of God all over it.

When we first moved to Walnut Hills, we didn't know how we were going to make ends meet. I was working at Panera, making very little money and feeling exhausted. When I went "full-time" with Echo in January 2006 we still weren't sure how we would make ends meet, and within weeks, we were in the hospital awaiting Kaelyn's birth much earlier than it should have been. The flexibility of my ministry allowed me the opportunity to spend all my time at the hospital with Kelly, helping us keep each other sane. Then, after Kaelyn was born, I got hepatitis, basically shutting me down for weeks. All in all, it was about two months where I was out of commission. What other job could I have held where I could've been there for my family [and still HAVE a job]? And when we finally settled, Kelly was able to work out of the house and it allowed our family to be together all the time. I cannot imagine a bigger blessing than these past few years for our family.

My family is the main thing. Ask anyone who's started a church and they'll tell you that their family time suffers. Mine actually increased. So even as things are changing, that foundation is there and I know for whom I am working. I love my girls, and this is only going to get better.

Additionally, our church has benefited in having me fully devoted to Echo during the past three-and-a-half years. We haven't experienced huge growth, but we have definitely gained momentum. If I had to go bi-vocational the past few years, I'm not sure we're able to keep this thing going. Again, there is now a solid foundation underfoot, people are emerging as leaders, and we're finding our niche in this community.

So while I never could've imagined how things would've turned out, I couldn't have scripted it any better. Tomorrow we turn another page, but I really like how the story has gone so far so I'm not sweating it.

Hi-ho, Hi-ho . . .

About Preaching

In planning my transition to full-time employment, I've had to determine what tasks are critical for me to perform in my ministry at Echo; more specifically: what jobs can I give up so that I can be released to do those things that only I can do? The most critical thing for me to do each week is to prepare my sermon.

This is somewhat peculiar to verbalize, but it is very true: the most important task I perform every week is the forty minutes of teaching I deliver in the pulpit. It's here that I instruct, inspire, and pull-together our church so that we can be all that God needs us to be. It's a job I take very seriously, a craft I've been developing over the course of twenty years.* It's never easy, but it's something I absolutely love. That's why I try to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in preaching.

The state of preaching in the Protestant Church has changed greatly in the last two decades. A more "seeker-sensitive" approach has transformed the way that most pastors teach from the pulpit. Gone [for the most part] is in-depth biblical exploration, replaced by elongated metaphors, personal stories, and needs-based instruction. The result of this shift is that preaching has become less about content and more about delivery. Basically, if you are a good storyteller [even if the story has nothing to do about anything] then you can be anointed a good preacher.

Another trend that's emerged in the last ten years is the elevation of a certain core of speakers to the status of preaching superstars. Now this trend is nothing new, as there have always been certain preachers who have received national attention. The difference now is two-fold: 1) popularity is directly connected to church size, not necessarily content and giftedness; prevailing wisdom dictates that if you can draw a large crowd then you must have something important to say. 2) The iPod era has allowed churches to disseminate their sermons/resources with great ease. Add this to the fact that most pastors are bloggers, and these pastors name-drop other "cool" pastors, and an entire network of hip preachers are lauded for their contributions.

Finally, the megachurch era has proved that church expansion can be an incredibly costly endeavor. Constructing a building that seats several thousands is not entirely practical as the expenses are astronomical. With the development of better video technology, churches decided that they could simulcast [or multi-site] their services for the masses and the people would still show up. Since many larger churches used some video technology to zoom in on the speaker anyway, what difference would it make to watch an entire sermon on video? Video venues are the "it" thing among growing churches now, and it has enabled megachurches to grow much larger than they could ever have imagined. My prediction as a result of this video venue revolution: there will be an 100,000 member church in the USA in my lifetime.

While progress is usually great, it is sometime detrimental. These trends are transforming the act of preaching, raising the performance bar to a level higher than it has ever been. This, I assert, is not good. Preaching is an incredibly intimidating act: spending the week preparing a message that people need to hear [as opposed to what they want to hear], standing in front of the church and delivering it while some obviously couldn't care less about what you're saying, waiting after the sermon to hear feedback, and then receiving the random email the following week questioning your assertions, then doing the whole thing all over again the following week. It's a tough gig. While there will always be type-A personalities who are up to this challenge, some people who should be preaching are discouraged, feeling inadequate, and choose an entirely different vocation.

And this new era of superstar preaching has made this inadequacy even worse. Now, to hear an incredible speaker, I don't necessarily have to live anywhere near him to do so; I can just go to the nearest "campus" and eat it up.** And since people in the pews can go online and hear the best preachers from all around the country, they're better informed as to what "good preaching" sounds like. When the local preacher doesn't measure up, some will claim that they are not "being fed" and will go elsewhere.

This might sound like sour grapes, but I'm not convinced this is a good idea. And this is best illustrated by the recent unveiling of videoteaching.com. This website will provide free sermon videos of some of the best preachers in the country to be downloaded and shown in churches. They have a list of reasons why this is a great things for churches, but it's merely spin. I propose that, while it might fill the preaching time on Sunday morning, this is a horrible idea. A few reasons:

1. It restricts the act of preaching to a precious few. And the fewer people that are able to work on the craft and preach some terrible sermons, the less likely that they'll ever preach a good one. Preaching is trial and error; you don't become good at it unless you practice as you go. If we only let the superstars play, the minor league system will dry up.

2. It eliminates the important contexts of location and life. A friend of mine pastors a church that only shows videos of another preacher during the sermon time. He's criticized his "video preacher" for including information that could date the sermon he's preaching [ex: what if the minister remarks about a snowstorm that week but they don't show the video until summer?]. Additionally, a guy preaching to his church in a suburban city in the Bible Belt isn't necessarily going to be able to speak to our church in urban Cincinnati. One of tools that the local preacher can wield is a story from the headlines of the local paper— capturing a thought for Christ. This cannot happen over video.

3. It downplays the act of preaching. In 1 Corinthians 1, the apostle Paul discusses the foolishness of preaching. Yes, it seems odd to give so much importance to this act, but God definitely works through it. If we who pastor are content to pass off the responsibility to someone else, thinking that we can "put more energy into reaching [our] community by freeing [us] from weekly message preparation," then we have essentially given up on something God believes in. Sure, we might be horrible at preaching, but it's not about our skill anyway. It's about elevating Jesus so He shines above everything.

Unfortunately, it seems there's nothing we can do to stop this superstar/video movement  . . . for now.

Eventually, people will be overloaded on video preaching. One day it'll be novel to listen to an actual person preaching a real sermon that they themselves wrote. Things always come full circle.

So while popular preaching is headed in a direction much different from that of my own, I'm going to hang out and do my own thing. Plus, I have an amazing church who absolutely "get me" and always come back regardless of how harsh I can be while preaching.

And for you in the pews, cut your preacher some slack. When he lays an egg in the pulpit, show some sympathy. Try encouraging him a little. Let him know when he says something that challenges you. As I've previously stated, it's a tough gig. Before you run off to the next hippest thing down the road, be a little patient and see what God is saying through your very imperfect pastor.

That said, I really need to get my sermon for Sunday finished . . .

_______

*Yes, I delivered my first sermon at the age of 12. I'm not saying it was very good, but that's when I got my start. One of the blessings of growing up in a smaller church was the ability to hone my preaching even before I went off to seminary; by the time I went off to college, I had probably preached fifteen to twenty times. This opportunity gave me a head-start, allowing me to feel incredibly comfortable speaking in public as well as increasing my efficiency in preparation.

**Multi-site churches are starting to really take off, even outside of a church's city. There's a certain church in Texas that opened up a new campus last year in Miami, Florida.

***Think about how dedicated Christians were in former eras. For centuries, people weren't nearly as transient as they were today. In most cases, you never left the town that you grew up in. And since denominational loyalty was firm, you'd get a preacher and be stuck with him. And back then, preachers stayed with a ministry much longer than they do today— sometimes for life. So if you're preacher was bad, there was no church-hoping. Of course, because you'd rarely hear another preacher, you might never know how bad your preacher truly was.

Additionally, the whole "being fed" excuse is incredibly ambiguous. It's the church equivalent to "it's not you, it's me."

Changes

In less than three months we will mark the fourth anniversary of Echo Church. This is exciting as new churches that survive through the fourth year tend to have emerged from the "newness" stage, tending to survive for the long haul. When we first moved to Walnut Hills in September 2005, we weren't sure of this. In fact, we [intentionally] stacked the deck against ourselves. Among other things:

1. We didn't give ourselves a proper incubation time. Within one month of moving here, we started having services. Most church planters [insider term for someone who starts a church] are on-site for well over a year before beginning their church.

2. We didn't raise any support for the endeavor. Yes, some family and friends contributed to give us our start-up funding, but it was totally unsolicited. Our belief was that we would do whatever it took to get this church started without fighting for funding with other works that desperately need missions funding in order to survive.

3. We meet on Sunday nights. This is still perhaps something that keeps our attendance lower than what it could be. I am aware of a few people who have loved Echo but no longer attend because it cannot fulfill their desire to worship on Sunday morning.

But all of these things were done deliberately so that we could be the best stewards possible. As a result of these decisions, we kept our overhead low and were faithful with our funds. If the people at our church stopped giving today [I would cry], we have enough in savings that we could function for an additional year.

As the minister, I am the biggest financial liability the church has. In order to offset this, I've fought to keep my income low and have hustled to make up the deficit. I've probably spent half the Sunday mornings in the past few years preaching at other churches to make some extra money. I've performed more weddings than I'd like to because it's an easy gig.* I've also been teaching in order to bring in some more funds. And when we started the church, I worked at Panera to make ends meet. The only way we made it through is because Kelly maintained her job with Standard Publishing. This brought us enough income to make ends meet and provided us with the all-important health insurance we needed.

The importance of having health insurance was demonstrated when Kaelyn was born prematurely. At the end of that experience, our medical bills totalled almost $200,000. Because of insurance, we payed only a small fraction of this figure. If we had not been insured, we would've been forced to declare bankruptcy and Echo would've probably ceased to exist.**

Over the past couple of years, the church has been able to pay me a little more, but Kelly has still had to maintain her job; since Kaelyn's birth, she's been able to work at home, but she's still had to work. Even though it has been an immense blessing— including the fact that we worked together and were able to have professional flexibility, it was not the arrangement I desired for her. I've desperately wanted Kelly's only job to be "Mommy." I sought to make this happen, having occasionally interviewed for jobs during the past couple of years but nothing emerged. As a result, we just went on with life.

So last Monday I got a potential job offer; basically, the position was mine for the taking. It caught us off-guard, because I hadn't been looking. But the more we thought about things, the more we decided that it was the right move at just the right time. After some back and forth, everything is finally settled. Starting in August, I will once again be employed by the Cincinnati Christian University working in their College of Adult Learning [where I have been an adjunct professor] recruiting potential students. It's a similar job to what I was doing the last time at CCU almost ten years ago.

It has been interesting to digest this move in such a short amount of time. Within three days we went from totally contentment to me taking a job while Kelly quits hers. Still, we see the many blessings that will accompany this change. Among others:

I can continue to develop Echo. I would never do anything that would detract from our ultimate mission in the city: to build a church that will be a blessing to our community. And I truly think that the church is in better shape than it's ever been. I'll be working for an organization that values ministry, so if there's some issue that demands my pastoral attention, I'll be granted some leeway. Campus is only eight minutes away from our house, so I won't be too far away, nor will I have to fight the commute. And it's close enough so I can occasionally catch the girls for lunch.

I'll be forced to play to my ministerial strengths. Since I was the only staff member at the church, there were many aspects of my job that were secretarial in nature. Additionally, if there was something that needed to be done, I rushed to do it because I felt obligated. This robbed others of the opportunity to contribute. I'm going to have to let some things go in order for the church to become what it needs to be— and I know people will step up. Kelly will take over those day-to-day administrative tasks for the church [our new church secretary?] and I'll focus on preaching, vision, and leading.

We can reclaim some semblance of normalcy in our family hours. Since Kelly had to assign hours that she worked to specific job tasks, there was little flexibility in time. Often, she/we had to work while Kaelyn slept, which made for late hours— working well past midnight. Now, we'll be able to get to bed earlier. We won't miss Conan, Letterman, or Kimmel [and if we do, we have DVR].

I'll be doing something I'm good at for something I believe in. I love my alma mater. It's changed a lot since I worked there last [this program didn't even exist when I was there], but it's all for the better. Some of my best friends work on staff at CCU so, in effect, I'm coming home.

And, finally, Kelly can devote herself fully to Kaelyn. This will make me incredibly happy.

I cannot stress how important Kelly has been to Echo; without her, the church doesn't exist. I'm so proud of her. She's sacrificed as much [if not more] as I have in this endeavor and it's time for her to take a breather. No doubt, the transition will take a little getting used to, but it will be great for our family, my new employer, and for our church.

In this instance, change is very good.

____________

*It's not the point of this post, but I know some ministers who are incredibly selective about whom they will marry. I, on the other hand, feel as if I am a better equipped justice of the peace. If I do a couple's wedding, they are forced to engage with their spirituality [or lack thereof]. So while I do get paid for the task, I figure that it's more benefical that I do the ceremony than some public official who has no spiritual dimension in their lives.

**It is absolutely shocking how cheap some churches are. I understand that there are pastors who take advantage of their position and make much more money than they ought. But I know more ministers who live near the poverty line than I'd ever like to admit. I have ministerial friends working two jobs, whose children are on medicaid, and the churches have money in the bank. No, ministers shouldn't make a fortune, but if a church thinks it deserves a full-time minister, it should pay enough so that their families don't have to suffer.

7 July

Wha . . . ? Back to back days of posting? What is this, 2005?

Anyway, I had a few more things that I felt like sharing today.

1. Sunday night I preached about people who tend to over-spiritualize their decisions, constantly stating things like "God opened this door for me." I suggested that we should be incredibly careful of trying to force God's hand, giving His endorsements to our decision. Anyway, I came across this cartoon that doesn't exactly speak to my point, but it's hilarious nonetheless.

2. Our city is facing a huge budget crisis. Just this past week two people were killed in a drug deal gone bad in my neighborhood. I'm thinking that honoring MJ is the last thing that our city council needs to do right now.

3. Kaelyn is taking swimming lessons right now. No, she's not really learning to swim, but she's inherited her mother's love of the pool and we're making good use of the benefit of having a community one nearby. Kaelyn, however, is afraid of the boy lifeguards, crying whenever they teach. While this is disappointing, I'd say it'll bode well that she's not yet enamored with boys.

4. Another huge problem in our community, as is all over our country, is absentee fatherism. It was definitely tragic that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was killed this past week, but sports writer Jason Whitlock says the thing that most of us our afraid to say: the true victims were McNair's sons.

5. Reciprocating the blog love, my friend Dan and I are working on developing a new Architreks tour for Walnut Hills. Who am I kidding? He's developing it, doing all the deep research, and I'm just a sidekick. Still, he's done a great job lately advocating my 'hood, and you should check out some of his latest posts.

6. The Reds lost 22-1 last night. Yes, this is depressing, but this is also baseball not the BCS; there are no weighted victories. The team went out there tonight, broke a tie in the 8th inning, and picked up the 4-3 win. At the end of the year, losing a game by 21 runs is no different than losing by 1.

7. So I've been reading this blog for a few months now. This guy is doing a rehab of an old house off Harrison Avenue on the westside of town. He makes some incredibly persuasive points about Cincinnati's lack of vision concerning abandoned houses; they usually bulldoze them, leaving empty lots. It is pretty ridiculous considering . . .

8. . . . this article and these pictures about the abandoning of the suburban landscape. No, this isn't the end of the 'burbs, but it will be amazing to see what our country's definition of housing is in another ten years.

9. It's been too long since I've linked to this. Trust me, turn down your volume if you're at work.

10. Tomorrow we'll hit the once a century moment where the clock/calendar will hit 12:34:56 on 07/08/09. Go ahead and live that second up.

6 July

Now I'm back.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, jumping from my grandmother's funeral to my friend Larry's wedding. Larry and Kristen got married in Branson, Missouri. Aaron and I rented a car, left at 7am Friday morning and drove the 9.5 hours to get there. Within a couple of hours of arriving, we had the rehearsal. Not much time to check out the Branson scene because the wedding was the next afternoon. Then, after the reception, we got back in our car and drove through the night (hit an opossum and almost hit an unknown werewolf creature) making it home by 7am Sunday morning— a blur of 48 hours.

Anyway, I'm experiencing a travel hangover but thought I would run down some items of interest.

1. Fireworks are interesting. Since we drove through the night on July 4th we witnessed firsthand many redneck usages of pyrotechnics, including someone who thought it would be a good idea to set them off next a gas station. FYI, the urban celebration of the holiday lasts much longer; I guarantee I'll hear fireworks throughout the week.

2. Not only did I perform Larry and Kristen's wedding ceremony but I went Adam Sandler/Wedding Singer at the reception. Of course, Bon Jovi supplied the soundtrack.

3. The final trip related note: Missouri's interstate system sucks.

4. So, yeah, Michael Jackson died. In the past I probably would've devoted an entire post to the topic, but I just didn't feel like it. It's truly sad that it took death to transform him from societal pariah back to musical legend. It's also sad that he's worth more dead than alive. Now begins the parade of those who will capitalize on his death, including legions of people who will claim to have always have been fans.

6. We have new neighbors on each side of us. After almost four years of living here we are finally feeling completely settled but all the people we've met keep transitioning out. Such is city life.

7. When will people learn never to mention the accomplishments of Hitler? It is never helpful, so don't be like this guy and avoid mentioning it at all costs. No, not every one of Hitler's acts were evil, but after attempting to systematically eliminate and entire race of people all his other exploits, even if positive, are overshadowed. I'm sure this isn't the first time "big misunderstanding" has been used to defend positive Hitler comments [a little web search yielded this, and this and this] nor will it be the last.

8. Crossroads Church just started a sermon series entitled, "We Love Cincinnati." If you're a local, I hope you can agree. The messages are/will be available online. It also makes me feel good about Echo Church, because I know are folks have been living this out as well. In case you're wondering, our new teaching series is from the Old Testament books of Jonah and Nahum. Both books deal with the Assyrians, whose army is considered one of the most diabolical in human history. I'm calling it, "An Assyrian Summer." Here's our introduction slide, definitely worth a look.

9. Kaelyn's getting older. This is no secret, but she just continues to show it. Today she was constantly singing various songs she's learned while better articulating the words. No preschool next year, as she's still under my tutelage.

10. Not sure if you've heard of The Holy Land Experience, a theme park in Orlando dedicated to the Christian Biblical story. Apparently, it's actually registered as a church giving it a huge tax break. As a result, the park is supposed to allow free admission one day per year. The catch: the owners are secretive about letting the public know this date. Sneaky, sneaky, people. I actually think it's unethical for them to operate as a church. If you're going to be in a for-profit business as a Christian, you shouldn't expect the government to give you competitive advantages because of your faith.

11. Firefox Verson 3.5 is now open. There are a lot of good features, and one you should be careful of using. There's a privacy mode that, when enabled, keeps all your browsing secret. So if you're looking at sites you don't want other people to see [do I need to spell this out: P-0-R-N] no one else will need to know. While there could be other useful reasons for using this feature [ex: checking email on someone else's computer] it's still a good rule of thumb is never to mess with your history settings. Keep your integrity in tact and steer clear from private browsing. Nothing is ever truly secret, anyway.

12. Still knocking out my summer to-do list. Almost finished the first website redesign, so I thought I'd let you take a look. This will be the official Walnut Hills website. It's nothing special and still under construction, but feel free to leave me some feedback: www.walnuthills.us.

About Grandma

My Grandmother died last Friday.

It's been a bizarre week dealing with this reality. It was not entirely unexpected; she had congestive heart failure and has been deteriorating throughout the past year. She had also been struggling with dementia the past few years, not knowing exactly who I was for almost a year now. I saw her a few Wednesdays ago and when I next saw her, one week later, she had lost almost twenty pounds. I knew as I left her then, kissing her on the forehead, that this would be the last time I saw her. She passed away in her sleep early Friday morning.

These times are difficult for anyone but I then transition into "pastor mode." I knew I would be conducting the funeral, so I begin to assess what needs to be said. This is always a challenge, as it becomes my duty not only to summarize the life of a person who means much to me, but to do her memory justice to the rest of my family as well. This is why it's difficult to perform the funeral of a family member— you have to create some space to ensure that you can do your job. Fortunately, the memorial ceremony is Sunday, almost eight days after her passing, which has given me time to get this accomplished.

I suppose this is why I've been in a funk this week (duh). While I was extremely productive last week, I got very little accomplished since Friday. In addition to regular tasks, I've been putting together the slide presentation of my grandmother's life, as well as trying to craft the right words for the ceremony. Not arduous work, obviously, but my mind is working overtime. I'm so immersed in the situation that I don't deal with it.

My grandmother lived in the same house as us most of my childhood. She remarried when I was ten and it was two years later that my mom's parents moved in with us. So throughout the formative years of my life I always had grandparents around. I never knew how much of a blessing this was. They ate with us daily, took us places, and were practically second parents to us. Sure, it made the relationship a little more complicated than your average grandparent/grandchild relationship (we were never spoiled by our grandparents because they always saw us) but it is an experience I would never give back.

And, finally, I'm facing the fact that all of my grandparents are now gone. While many reading this might already have this situation (with some friends my age already having lost their parents) this is new to me. My mind wonders towards future losses and what the future holds.

All in all, it's a fascinating intersection of life, death, my psyche, and my vocation. I'm mourning, but I also need to lead people out of mourning to celebration of the life that was lived.

And the final blessing her is that my grandmother made the most of her existence, making my job much easier. So while she helped me throughout my life, she's still helping me when she's gone.

Don't P*** On the 'Nati

I know quite a few people that read the blog live here in Cincinnati, many in the suburban parts of town. Still, you've tolerated the past four years of my pro-city polemic, listening to me laud the benefits of Cincinnati on a constant basis. So as not to disappoint, I felt it was necessary for me to at least use this space to comment on the recent study naming OTR [a nearby Cincinnati community] the most dangerous neighborhood in America.

My verdict: this is the dumbest thing I have perhaps ever read.

I wish I had more time to deconstruct this article [although you can find some good efforts here, here, and here], but it is flawed beyond belief. All over talk radio and local media people are relying on the claim that "the numbers don't lie." But it is not the numbers lying, rather that the math is an absolute failure. A study is only as good as the academic integrity upon which it stands. There is an inconsistency in number crunching here that should be criticized and yet the media here in Cincinnati is too lazy to do that work.

Why wouldn't the local media try to refute this? Because it enables the stereotyping and demonization of the city that many in the suburbs eat for breakfast— feeding the "thank God I don't live there" mentality. This bad news is what sells, so the local press will avert their eyes to the truth and focus on the money. It's truly sad that many residents of the Greater Cincinnati area, those who would have nothing apart from the past 200+ years of our city's existence, choose to ABUSE IT and PILLAGE ITS ASSETS rather than acknowledge it as a blessing. Is this city perfect? By no means. But are there people here worth fighting for? Without a doubt.

If you care to disagree with me and are falling for this "study" hook, line, and sinker, I would suggest a wager: I will stand out on a street corner in Over-the-Rhine at night and you can stand out on a corner of my choosing in another major metropolitan area [currently, I'm leaning towards some neighborhoods in urban Detroit]. We'll see who fares better. I suspect I'd live to tell about it.

Look, I'm not saying OTR is the safest place to be, but it is improving. Over the past four years I've met scores of people in tough neighborhoods throughout our city who are trying to make their communities safer. It does a major disservice to their commitment to allow a ridiculous statement like this to stand unprotested.

Finally, if you can't stomach my rhetoric, let me give a personal example. Numerous times this past year my wife and daughter have ventured into this "worst neighborhood" without me. In the midst of this "warzone" is Findlay Market, one of our city's best treasures. As they were there, I did not fear for their safety but was grateful to live in a city where they could have such a unique experience. And I'm sure they'll go back again soon. I wouldn't put my family in harm's way. I wouldn't let my family venture into the worst neighborhood in America without me.

Just because you don't live here doesn't mean you have to hate it.

Open Letter to a Car Thief

Good morning!

I hope you slept well last night, but I'm sure you lost a little sleep when you were up at 2am trying to break into my car. I should've let you know earlier that my driver's side door lock is broken. So even though it's actually open, enabling you to access my Explorer by just opening the door, the alarm is actually on. That's why while you thought you were being sneaky, my rather obnoxious horn started blaring at you. Too bad you weren't actually able to take anything in the excitement. You did succeed at getting me out of bed, but I was pretty ticked so I wouldn't have been to congenial in my introduction if we had met.

Actually, the main reason for my correspondence it so ask: what were you trying to take? A couple of years ago I learned the hard way by leaving some church equipment in the back of the Explorer where someone performed a smash and grab. Through that experience, I paid my "dumb tax" and learned that you never leave anything of value in your car overnight— ever.

Since you might be thoroughly disappointed this morning, thinking of what you might have taken from my car, I've decided to give you an itemized list of what was up for grabs. For your convenience, I've added the approximate street value to the items so you can see your potential losses.

Child's Car Seat
Condition: New.
Notes: By far, the most valuable thing you could've scored
Approximate Street Value: $10.00

Baby Stroller
Condition: Slightly Used.
Notes: Just too bulky for you to carry away. You want take this.
Approximate Street Value: $8.00

Soccer Cleats
Condition: Used.
Notes: They're just a junk Nike pair I purchased at Play-It-Again Sports I leave in my car just in case.
Approximate Street Value: $3.00

7-Iron
Condition: Used
Notes: Just in case I want to hit a couple practice balls.
Approximate Street Value: $4.00

Stuffed Ducky
Condition: Slightly Used
Notes: My daughters' companion for our road trips.
Approximate Street Value: $1.00

Car Air Filter
Condition: New
Notes: Only fits 1996-2001 Ford Trucks.
Approximate Street Value: $4.00

Restaurant Napkins
Condition: New.
Notes: In the glove compartment in case there's a mess.
Approximate Street Value: $0.00

Beyond my stereo** there's honestly nothing left in there worth taking. I guess you could've stolen the vehicle itself, but that makes no sense; it is, by far, the least desirable car in our parking lot. So the whole take would've netted you $30.00. Is $30 worth the possibility of getting caught and imprisoned (not that we have any room in our jails to keep you)? When I ask that, I assume that this wasn't your first attempt at theft and that they would find other stuff on you as well.

And if it was, by chance, your first attempt at breaking into cars, I'd say you're off to a bad start; you're clearly no good at this. Might I suggest some other method of fleecing the general public, such as TV weatherman?

In closing, thanks for nothing. Now I'll be tired all day and both of us leave this experience empty-handed.

Sincerely,
Steve Carr

___________________
*If, by some chance, it was you who broke into my car a couple years back, then I am grateful that you didn't break any windows this time. But, seriously, aren't there other cars that are more likely to have better stuff in them?

**It's my understanding that not many thieves try to steal factory installed ones. I'm not sure the 1999 Ford Explorer stereo has any street value, hence, it was not included on the list.

A Word to the Wise

Just a thought . . .

This morning I read an article written by a PhD discussing the psychological nuances surrounding how children learn; his column included how kids should properly be reared through various childhood situations. As I read the article I laughed to myself thinking that the person's analysis was off-base and somewhat subjective. Still, the author wrote as if he/she were an expert so I read on until the end.

It was at the conclusion of the article that I discovered the person's academic credentials: their doctorate was in theology. I'm not saying a theology degree is worthless [cough, cough] but it is somewhat disingenuous to speak as if you're an authority on a topic when you're merely a hack.*

This made me think about the voices to which we listen. Apparently this PhD has quite a following— there are people who lap up his/her opinions like a thirsty dog in the middle of summer— even though he/she is frequently misguided. This reading experience leads me to offer two observations for you.

1. Not everyone is an expert on everything Just because someone SPEAKS authoritatively doesn't mean that they ARE an authority. When you read a column or listen to a personality, there's a good chance that they have absolutely no significant knowledge about what they're talking about. Sure, there are people who know a little about a lot [Steve raises his hand], but I'd rather hear from those who know a lot about a little. As someone whose expertise is rather small, I try to know the limitations on my experience and knowledge. I'll offer up my opinion freely, but I watch myself so that I don't claim that they're anything more than opinions.

By the way, this is why you should beware of only reading books by certain authors or listening to certain speakers. A little diversity in your diet will do you well.

Still, there is another point that we need to grasp:

2. Not no one isn't an expert on nothing I'm sure my more grammatically-minded readers just stopped reading this post but for those left behind, stick with me. My point is that there is knowledge in our world that can be obtained. There are people out there who have devoted lifetimes studying certain subjects. Sure, there is always a subjective element to each person's epistemology [that's not a cuss word], but you cannot dismiss it altogether. I know some highly skeptical people who refuse to listen to anyone other than themselves because they're deconstructionist. I don't want to go all philosophical/X-Files here, but the truth IS out there. We should be on the lookout for wisdom wherever it might be.

Of course, I guess you could dismiss the whole post as coming from someone who has no idea what he's talking about.

Do as you must.

__________

*I should say, in case you're wondering, that the PhD was not expounding the biblical method of child rearing but was spouting off pop psychology, so he/she was way outside of his/her expertise.

11 June

A collection of links, personal tales, and such:

• Attention Facebookers and Twits [or whatever they call those who use Twitter]. This article is probably talking about you.
• A lady who was late to the airport and missed being on board the doomed Air France from Brazil was killed the next week in a car accident. <insert your own observation as neccessary>
• I am all over Manchester Orchestra right now, and not because the band name sounds like Manchester United. Speaking of international football, Real Madrid is spending like they won the Powerball.
• According to a blog I frequent, the way I preach at Echo would not be acceptable in a Catholic Mass. To be fair, I'm sure the whole "me not being Catholic" wouldn't be acceptible there either. I understand the objection that you don't want to make worship service into a classroom but, to many people, learning more about God IS an act of worship. And it's hard for me to imagine the downside to getting people to know more about the Bible.
• Kelly's iBook decided to die this week. Logic board failure. I was stoked because, even though it was a brick, I was get it to boot up by shoving some quarters under the keyboard. I . . . AM . . . McGRUBER!
• I'm focused this summer on fixing up our condo. Since the housing bubble has burst, we've decided that we'll be in our place for longer than we originally imagined. So since we're here, we have to fix up the cheap paint job on our joint. We'll just slap up the same color, but use a better brand of paint. We're just getting started and Kaelyn already likes the concept of spackling.
• Additionally, we're finally committed to filling the empty wall space. I designed some art pieces that we were able to print out online onto canvases. I made three pieces to hang on our tall wall between our two lower floors. I took some pictures of local landmarks and made them look "artsy." They turned out really well and I finally hung them this afternoon using a ladder on our kitchen table. Stop by if you want to see them sometime, or you can check them out here.
• In a related note, the fact that $75,000 was spent to develop a new logo for our city is ridiculous. Fortunately tax-payer money was not spent on the project, but this is still absurd. If they were smart, they would've made it a contest and given a $1,000 prize to the winner. In today's world, you shouldn't have to pay that much for something so lack-luster.
• And speaking of design, my friend and tech advisor Brian got all my new web domains set up so now I can start knocking out some of my website designing.
• The advantages to having a DVR and cable stations you rarely watch? MTV2 is showing episodes of The State at 2am.
• Best commercial song right now: the group in a cab singing Biz Markie. "Oh baby you . . . " [I had no idea it was Heineken commercial. Again, when I pay no attention to your product placement, how effective is it?]
• I have a lot of pots on the fire right now. It's very . . . interesting.

More later.

Still Content

When I was thinking about a title for this post, I figured "Contentment" would be a good summary. Then I realized that I just wrote a blog post with that title back in March.

I guess I've been thinking a lot about contentment this year.

Just this past Sunday I concluded my sermon from Paul's letter to the Philippians where he offers,

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Paul unveils this secret in the next verse:

I can do everything through [God] who gives me strength.

They say that you can always tell what a minister is struggling with by what he preaches, so you might assume that I'm haven't a hard time with contentment right now. But that's not the case.

Actually, I'm more content than I've ever been. But even when you're content, you must constantly remind yourself of it. Otherwise, you may begin to replace the ultimate source of contentment [read: God] with other things. And almost always, the replacement is detrimental to our ultimate contentment.

Yesterday I read about another high-profile minister who had an affair. This guy had a national audience who was held captive by his every word; he was seen as the measure of success. And yet this wasn't enough to make him content— he had to have more. Unfortunately, the result of his drive cost him his job, perhaps will cause Christians to lose faith in the church, and will be a scar on his family life the rest of his life.

I'm not saying this to kick a guy when he's down, as he's obviously not the only person this has happened to. Examine any recent major scandal [Berlusconi, Madoff, steroids] and you discover that it's usually the result of someone trying to manufacture contentment. It would be foolish for us not to heed these examples as a warning in our own lives.

Ask yourself what you're chasing in this world and why. It might seem antithetical to the American dream, but maybe you need to find a pace where you can just be happy with what you've got.

By the way, it's things like this that make it easier for me to maintain my level of contentment.

All Talk

I have these ideas, see. Lots of ideas.

But they don't always come to fruition. For instance, about three years ago I had this idea about a Tetris book. Unfortunately, they owners of the franchise didn't see the vision. But that don't stop me [grammatical mistake intended] as I'll keep the ideas a comin'.

My problem is that I sometimes view these ideas as long-term projects and, every once in awhile, someone else beats me to the punch.

Case in point: I read today about a new documentary entitled Google Me. The creator Googled himself, making a list of people who share his name so he could interview them; it supposed to be a journey of discovery. Nice idea.

I swear, I had it first.

But since I'm not a film-maker, my idea revolved around a book with the same premise. I had a bookmark folder in my web browser with a collection of other Steve Carr's around the globe [the soccer player, the movie producer, and the atheist are a few examples] for awhile. Occasionally, when I was board, I'd search deeper in my Google searches so I could identify better candidates to interview.

You might counter that it was my apathy that kept it from actually happening. I offer that it's just not the kind of book someone would pay me to do without a successful track record. And since I haven't had a lot of down time, it was one of those shelved ideas. I guess I can de-shelve this one.

So there's another idea that I missed out on. But the well's not dry, as I've got plenty of other ideas. Feel free to offer up those ideas you had that would've made you rich.

I won't be losing sleep about it.

Don't Say Anything!

I'm not exactly sure when it happened— most likely, sometime in the last week or so:

We have now reached the point where we cannot have adult conversations in front of Kaelyn.

During the last 40 months of parenting much about our lives has changed. But one thing that wasn't affected was our ability to openly talk freely in front of the little girl. I could rant about anything, indict anyone, and even freely offer up borderline words while driving and she'd be oblivious. It was a good life.

Sometime last week I said something under my breath [for the life of me, I can't remember what but it was definitely PG, if not PG-13 (at the very least it wasn't Disney material)] and Kaelyn repeated it verbatim. Apparently this wasn't an aberration as tonight, while Kaelyn was with us in the kitchen, I told Kelly I was going to give her some potato chips. Kelly, in a low voice, responded, "don't say anything about that because she doesn't need it." Although she missed my earlier mention about the chips, Kaelyn heard everything her mother said and repeated, "Daddy, don't say anything!"

It's all different now.

Sure, we'll continue to spell out words in order to throw her off the scent, but at the rate she's learning her letters we might not have much longer until I'll have to learn sign language.

I guess I'll actually have to start watching what I say. Perhaps this discipline will benefit my life in other ways as well.

27 May

'Bout time for an update. I thought I was up for some more frequent blogging, but a vacation got in the way.

Yeah, we were on vacation last week and didn't blog/Facebook/Twitter about it. I don't want people knowing what I'm doing all the time anyway. Kelly posted a synopsis of our getaway here. Much thanks to my in-laws who watched Kaelyn while we were gone so we could celebrate our 10th anniversary [um, one year late].

I do have some more posts in the queue but, because I'm catching up from the short week, it'll take me a couple of days to get them out. Until then, chew on this:

1. Want to learn a little something about my neighborhood? Join me this weekend for a preview tour of Architreks in Walnut Hills. I've been a tour guide for Architreks for three years now and was thrilled when they said they were interested in doing a tour here. Find out all the information over at Dan's blog.

2. My summer to-do list is growing. Unfortunately, I have a lot of computer work to do, including the design and redesign of four websites. Oddly enough, I'm sorta excited about it.

3. Jade Kendall preached for me this weekend, becoming the first person outside of Echo to speak at our church. I love Jade and his ministry, as they're dedicated to my dad's old neighborhood. He's also teaching an urban ministry class this week at CCU. I'm meeting them in Walnut Hills tomorrow so they can observe our neighborhood. The class is eating at the local soup kitchen and then walking over to the church building where I'll tell them about our ministry. I'm really looking forward to it.

4. A couple of Sundays ago, we said bye to Tye. Tye VonAllmen has led worship at Echo since a few months after we started up. He's now on staff [along with his wife] up the street at Crossroads Church in Oakley. Since his schedule is now so packed, he's stepped down as our regular guy. Fortunately, Tye'll be back every once in awhile to fill in for us. In addition to their weekend appearances at Crossroads, you can always catch Tye and Andrea playing around town.

5. Random thought: the movie Drag Me To Hell looks like the absolute dumbest plot for a horror movie ever. Loan officer who refuses mortgage extension is cursed by witch? Sadly, it will gross millions this weekend.

6. Picked up my diploma at Xavier yesterday. I'm now officially finished there. I'm still trying to figure out how to get those ridiculous parking passes of my windshield.

7. How 'bout those Reds? This could be a very fun summer. Even though I could tell you all about their play this year I have yet to see a game in person. Even though it's only a half-hour walk to the stadium, I enjoy being able to watch the game on TV while getting some work done.

8. Keeping with the sports theme, how hilarious will it be when Denver and Orlando play each other in the NBA Finals? Not exactly the Kobe-Lebron final that everyone wanted.

9. One last sports comment, I was thoroughly disappointed that Manchester United lost to Barcelona in the Champion's League Final this afternoon. Even when they were down two goals with ten minutes left I thought they could win it [they did it in '99].

10. Today was Kaelyn/Daddy day in the Carr house. It's usually a wonderful time of daddy and daughter bonding. Unfortunately, today Kaelyn cut her own hair with her new kiddie scissors, face planted into the sidewalk roughing up her chin, and fell getting out of the Explorer hitting face first into the grass. And somehow, she was absolutely wonderful all day. These are the days I'm glad that she won't remember anything that happens before her fifth birthday.

Fin.

X'd Off My List

I graduated from Xavier today.

Didn't go to the commencement ceremony, though. I've been there and done that and had no desire to do that again. The Xavier registrar called me yesterday afternoon to tell me I could walk and I said I wasn't. She sounded disappointed. I hope she gets over it.

Yesterday afternoon I had my thesis defense. It went very well. The professor in whose class I received my worst grade was one of the readers. The first words out of her mouth were that mine was the most compelling paper she's read since she's been at Xavier. That made me feel good [and vindicated?]. All the readers suggest that it should be eventually published and perhaps the topic of a dissertation. Again, I felt very good. Sometime this summer, I'll post the summary of what I wrote about on the blog.

Overall, my experience at Xavier has been quite positive. One of the main reasons I went to school there was to be challenged— both academically and philosophically. I've emerged from the other side emboldened, better prepared to do the work set before me. I interacted with a diverse collection of views and individuals and appreciate what it's meant to me.

Thanks to all for the encouragement you've given me throughout this experience. And a shout-out to my brother-in-law Josh who received his Masters degree this weekend as well.

So now, a little breather, then back for more this summer. As I said earlier, I'm returning to Cincinnati Bible Seminary to begin work on yet another Masters Degree [I figure third time's a charm]; this time, I'll be exploring Church History. Never thought I'd be going this far in academics, but I feel like I'm hitting my stride. And I love being an adjunct professor, so the more education, the better opportunities I'll have to keep teaching. In the immortal words of Billy Madison, "Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight"

Preferring Bats in the Belfry

Here's a follow-up post to yesterday's pandering for someone to buy Echo a school building.

When I was a child, our church met in an old building on the corner of Price and Grand Avenue in Price Hill. The Westminster Presbyterian Church sold the building to Cincinnati Bible Seminary [now Cincinnati Christian University] in the 1940's for use as a chapel. This purchase allowed for a new church to be started in it: the Price Avenue Church of Christ. Once the college built their own multi-purpose facility, they gifted the building to the church. Unfortunately, the building was not properly maintained and the church couldn't afford the upkeep on the facility, so it was razed. Here's a picture I found online from the Cincinnati Public Library:

I loved that old building. We [the people of the church] actually tore it down by hand; our family spent every Friday night there for years doing demolition. I believe it was finally leveled in 1988, nearly 100 years after it was constructed. That was, for me, the end of an era in worship.

After the uniqueness of that century old building, the rest of my church-going was unspectacular. The rest of my church attendance throughout my childhood took place in a bland annex building constructed on the plot east of the old building. While in college, the chapel services I'd occasionally attend occurred in a gymnasium. My first ministry was at a church whose building resembled a UFO [use Google Street View for full effect]. Our next church was a boring 1970's sanctuary originally built for Jehovah's Witnesses. And the inside of my last church's building could easily be mistaken for a convention center. All these buildings were functional, but far from impressive.

Hence, my current love for the building Echo rents— pictured above, it's over 80 years old, filled with beautiful woodwork and stained-glass. Overall, it has a certain character that I hadn't enjoyed since my youth attending church in Price Hill. I used to think my affinity towards the building was only about my personal taste, but it might more indicative of the trend in our country.

A recent Southern Baptist survey discovered that people who don't go to church prefer older, "churchy" buildings to more contemporary looking ones. To be fair, this wasn't an exact survey, as it asked opinions about aesthetics. Regardless of the legitimacy of this sampling, I do think the message to be true. And I think it has something to say about Americans' conceptions of church.

First, these older sanctuaries immediately convey a link to the past; it gives people a sense that this faith has roots. I'd propose that people of "my generation" are not quite as enamored with the newness concept in architecture as previous ones were. Sure, you might have a bookstore and a coffee bar, but can the new structure offer history?

Along those same lines, I'd say that older church buildings, especially those that pre-date World War 2, are a unique experience for Americans. This isn't Europe where ancient cathedrals abound. Walking into an older church building separates the worshipper from our fast-paced society. These buildings were built before air-conditioning, before television. Heck, the church we rent has fewer bathrooms than some houses. It's not normal, and sometimes a departure from normalcy helps us clear our minds.

One of the benefits of doing ministry in the city is access to these old churches. Fortunately, it seems that more people actually prefer them. We're just trying to take advantage of it.

If You Want To . . .

I have all these dreams about ministry in Walnut Hills. Since we're on a thirty year plan, I don't get "over-visionary" about things we HAVE TO do right now. I like to think that God provides in response to our faithfulness— so our job is to be patient and trust that God will give us what we need. The timing thing shouldn't be rushed.

One of those dreams I have is for a permanent facility to call our own. I know it'll eventually happen, so I try not to worry about it.

That said, perhaps God will use someone else to assist us on this journey. For example (off the top of my head), in the second week of June, Cincinnati Public Schools is auctioning off the old Windsor School* in our neighborhood. It's a gorgeous structure that needs to be used for something positive— why not a church/community outreach center?

So if you're feeling a little generous (perhaps even a tad guilty— with the kind of guilt only a significant financial donation could resolve), you could go ahead and buy the building and gift it to Echo Church. I'm sure it'll cost less than $500,000. And I bet they'll even take a personal check. We'd gladly name one of the bathrooms after you.

I'll clear all lines waiting for a response . . .

. . . waiting VERY patiently, that is.

UPDATE: I recently learned that the roof of the older part of the school is in horrible shape. The cost of repair would be so ridiculously high that you'd have to raze the whole complex. Too sad that such a beautiful structure wasn't properly maintained.

___________

*Dan has some brief information on the facility at the bottom of this page if you're interested.

Who's The Baby?

I really don't care for the Celtics. Yeah, I liked Larry Bird and appreciate what Bill Russell was able to accomplish, but the old Garden is gone and Kevin Garnett annoys me.

So when Glen Davis (a.k.a. Big Baby) hit that dagger to beat the Orlando Magic the other night, I was disappointed; the sooner the Celtics are out of the play-offs, the better, I say. However, the lingering moment of that incident was, after hitting the shot, when an exuberant Big Baby accidentally knocked the hat off a teenager as he ran back up the court. You really have to see the video to understand this. The kid was seated right next to the Magic's bench on the sideline. And in order to see better, the kid was less than a foot away from the line so, when Davis avoided knocking into a ref, inadvertently made contact with the kid.

No harm, no foul, eh?

Apparently not, because kid's father had to be "that guy" and demanded Davis and the NBA apologize for the contact. My sympathy is non-existent here for numerous reasons:

1. The kid was practically one foot off the court, closer than many coaches or players stand. His position opened him up to getting touched. He should be thankful it wasn't Shaq barrelling down the court.

2. The actual contact was minimal. Yeah, it was enough to knock the kid's hat off, but you get more contact than that making your way to the nacho line.

3. It wasn't as if it was a toddler getting plowed over. This kid is probably bigger than I am.

4. The kid's dad has to be loaded; you can't sit that closely to the sideline in an NBA play-off game without mucho dinero. Am I supposed to feel bad for a kid who has better seats than many of the bench players?

No apology is needed here. No matter how much I dislike the Celtics, I declare that Davis did nothing wrong. Anyway, that's not even why I brought all this up.

What really set me off was the language that the kid's father used in order to make this demand. Davis, the kid's father claimed, was acting like a "raging animal with no regard for fans' personal safety."

Now I'm not Al Sharpton, but that's downright racist.

You might say I'm being incendiary by calling this, but I can't avoid seeing it. Throughout our country's history, the common degradation of the black male is that he is nothing more than an uncontrollable animal. This is the rhetoric that was used to prevent African Americans from home ownership, employment, voting, and even freedom. Making a connection to Davis' euphoria to animalism is ridiculously irresponsible. Is this kid's dad a racist? I have no idea. But that is indeed a racist statement. It goes to show us that even electing a black president isn't enough to cure our country's race issues.

I know some of you might be turned off at my pointing this out, but living for almost four years in a predominantly black neighborhood should make me more aware of this kind of thing. Do not be deceived: language is powerful. Even if it's a simplistic "those people," it testifies to how we view the world. We all have issues with people, but having issues with peoples is out of line.

Dumb can be forgiven. Prejudice needs to be purged.

UPDATE: Apparently the father finally realized how amazingly ridiculous he reacted and apologized.

My Moms

The longer I live, the more I appreciate the role that mothers play in this world.

No matter how hard I try, if it comes down to me or Kelly, Kaelyn is going to want her mommy. There's a certain nurturing aspect that I will never obtain that is inherent in mothers. It has to be a gift from God in exchange for the whole pregnancy/childbirth thing.

Mother's Day is always an excellent opportunity for me to reflect on the wonder mothers in my life:

My mother who is absolutely amazing and one of the most godly women I've ever known

My grandmothers who were nothing alike but who created the family structures from which I benefited.

My mother-in-law who is ceaselessly giving and constantly blesses our family even from far away.

My wife who is the perfect mother and example for our daughter who will one day [WAY in the future] be a mother herself.

To all the mothers in my life and all those reading, thanks for your most valuable ministry.

Happy Mother's Day!