GroshLink

Today I came across 2 pieces, the one asks Who’s Minding the Mind and explores the manipulation of social instincts by something as simple as handing a college student a cup of coffee and then observing the impact on their later interactions based on whether the coffee was hot or cold . . . The other piece from Nature, is an interview of the Simpson's Executive producer Al Jean Science in comedy: Mmm... pi:

The article on priming the mind ends with the following statement the new research on priming makes it clear that we are not alone in our own consciousness. We have company, an invisible partner who has strong reactions about the world that don’t always agree with our own, but whose instincts, these studies clearly show, are at least as likely to be helpful, and attentive to others, as they are to be disruptive. So I wonder how one will react to science and math today now that you've read some thoughts with regard to Simpson's or how you'll react to the Simpson's as a scientist. Yes, there is more to reality than can be garnered by the primary senses and the mind. There is a will and a soul. There are spirits, powers, and authorities. All of reality and our interactions in it cannot be explained only through the lens/framework of science (or research trying to take advantage of the tools of science). Enough for now. All the time I have to post at this time.  Anyone able to elaborate further? 

I've gone beyond the Chronicle of Higher Education to opening a facebook account.  Quite an experience, I now have 69 friends and a 221 book reading list. But it's time to take a rest and turn to some book reviews tomorrow for ESN.

[update: August 24, 2007 Fan of Froot Loops? Facebook Has an Ad for You . . . I was just waiting for more ads, BTW have you seen anyone driving an ad! Much more than bumper-sticker politics.]

For all my get back to the earth friends, check out the Books and Culture review of Think Globally, Eat Locally: Novelist Barbara Kingsolver and her family undertake a grand experiment.

Looks like a great book, maybe someone can drop a copy of it in the mail so I can turn to it after coming back from the Professional Recyclers of PA (PROP) Conference, where I'm intending to make contacts and go to seminars for ideas to increase recycling in Mt. Joy Township.  Here's part of the review: 

What's most distinctive about Kingsolver's book is that it is a family effort. Daughter Camille contributes her own college-age perspective and seasonal meal plans and recipes. Kingsolver's husband, Steven, an associate professor of environmental studies at Emory, provides hard facts in his sidebars, including oil use per year per citizen, food production and poverty, and the best way to find local farms that sell direct to consumers. One particularly good essay explains why buying from local U.S. farmers actually benefits rather than hurts farmers in developing countries.

Kingsolver stresses that her book is not a how-to aimed at getting readers growing and producing all their own food. Rather, her desire seems to be to promote greater understanding of our relationship with food, and of our food sources and food choices.

PS. As I prepare this post Theresa's picking carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes with Eden and Firas. The green beens didn't do so well this year and our strong crop of snow peas have finished producing. Don't think we'll plant radishes next year, they were a little hot for most of the family members :( Lots of squash and zucchini picked and more growing around the house, but we're still waiting on the pumpkins. Loved our digging into various backyard crops of our neighbors including: hull peas, strawberries, wineberries!  All the kids like collecting eggs at the chicken house . . . maybe someday we'll have some of our own roaming the back of 1834/1844, then again probably not.

1) One time going to a wall street church in NYC, they asked him “Bishop, why should we give you our money over other requests?” “Oh, I’m sorry.” He replied. “Had I known it was your money I would not have bothered to come. I thought this was God’s money I was asking for. I only want God’s money for God’s work.” He got the grant. (More)

Go to 'Star Trek' Earmarks A 'Hero' To Play New Spock In J.J. Abrams Flick to see a side-by-side picture of 30-year-old actor Zachary Quinto and 76-year-old Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy's comment regarding the new film applies just as well to the choice of Zachary, "People have asked me why I'm doing this movie, and I think it's simple: It's logical." For more go to startrek.com. I've been waiting for some news on this film since August, see Logging into Star Trek XI. 

PS.  Other posts referencing Star Trek include:  Moviemaking with a Purpose and Science Fiction, myth, Tom's favorites?

I could use your input on small groups as I prepare for a workshop on the “A,B,C’s of Small Groups” for college age to seniors as part of a Christian Educators Training workshop at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  Below is the description which I finished yesterday and emailed to the workshop director:

A,B,C’s of Small Groups” for college age to seniors

How does one sort through all the tools and fads to discern a Biblical purpose, structure and direction for a small group ministry which can be developed, launched, expanded, sustained, and reinvigorated over time?  While outlining a framework and recommending various resources to address the above question, the presenter will weave in personal reflections regarding: 1.  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's small group ministry, 2.  Elizabethtown Brethren-in-Christ's age range fellowship groups which meet every Sunday morning, 3. Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) [note to groshlink readers:  this will be from Theresa's recollections], 4. how a young couples small group incorporated singles and later children, lots of them.

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I just received word that Pastor Bak was the South Korean killed by the Taliban earlier today, see below.  Note:  My on-line scanning of news agencies did not confirm which South Korean had been killed, e.g., Taleban 'kill S Korean hostage' and Taliban kills South Korean hostage

Take a moment as you read this to join me in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ from Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, who came on a short term mission to serve the people people of Afghanistan and now are being held by the Taliban as instruments of political negotiation:

1.  that they would be caught up in the comfort and confidence given by the Presence of the Spirit of God, even to death
2.  for the Father's care not only for them, but for their family and friends
3.  the discernment of a healthy resolution to this situation which displays the Lordship of Jesus Christ, even in a fallen, broken world

note:  earlier posts Update II: Call to Prayer for 18 Koreans Kidnapped in Afghanistan and Call to Prayer for 18 Koreans Kidnapped in Afghanistan

Lest I be accused of unfairness I'll say a few things about Ellen and Hayley too.  They have had a full and exciting summer thus far.  After our family trip to Cedar Campus in Northern Michigan they came home to Pony Camp, a 5 day, 2 hours a day horsemanship camp held at the Elizabethtown Fairgrounds.  In scorching, humid weather they donned their bicycle helmets and long pants to learn about horse safety, anatomy, behavior and riding.  Each student was assigned to a pony, according to their size and that was the pony they groomed and rode during the week.  On the last day they were allowed to decorate their ponies.  These patient ponies tolerated feather boas, plastic tiaras, painted hoofs, ponytails (no pun intended), and braids.  Ellen and Hayley thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

   Click here for more summer pictures.   

I know many of you eagerly read the personal and family-type of blog posts (as I do on your blogs!) and I have not been consistent in posting updates.  I realize that Eden is learning so many new things and growing up so quickly I thought I'd share some things about her.

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Taliban extends hostage deadline by 24 hours

Link to original post Call to Prayer for 18 Koreans Kidnapped in Afghanistan

The exact deadline was 3:30 am (July 21) in East time.
But, it is postponed 24hrs.

Korean government announced that the Korean army would withdraw from Afghanistan within this year.

Taliban militants announced that they killed a kidnaped German.

Please continue to pray.

Just received an email from a Korean graduate student who brought to the attention of our CMU ministry the short time frame remaining for the Taliban militants's deadline for the Korean army withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for the 18 Koreans Kidnapped in Afghanistan.

 From the email:

Join me in prayer.

According to the Jock/Nerd Theory of History, most historical human societies bore a striking resemblance to K-12 education. In primitive tribes, for instance, the best hunters are on top. If the the village brain knows what's good for him, he keeps his mouth shut if the best hunter says something stupid. The rise of civilization gave the nerds a better deal, but as long as almost everyone worked in agriculture, brawn continued to pay well.

Want to understand how some nerds see the world go round?  Check out more at Redistribution: Blocking the Revenge of the Nerds.

This piece crosses my [Tom] purview in the midst of some reflections on how I wasn't plugged into social norms when I entered public high school from a small Christian school.  Over time I learned to better communicate the reality, encouraged by family and Franklin & Marshall College's Gifted Program, in which I inhabited . . . a place in which the value of education, identity, relationships, spiritual exploration, etc, could not be rocked by other concerns.   (More)

Just today my parents passed along the below clipping from a few years back ;-)  Interestingly enough, I was still using a handpowered mower at times until a few years ago, when our family upgraded to an electric/battery-charged mower (although I had plenty of time on a riding mower as I was growing up).

I find John Stackhouse's reference to campus ministry as paracongregational church, i.e., the church differently deployed, of great interest. He has a blog post on this topic at The Parachurch: A Parasite? In personal coorespondence I shared with him that I've begun referring to my work with IVCF's Graduate and Faculty Ministry as para-academic and considering IVCF's structure involving the leadership of students and faculty it's some of both paracongregational church and para-academic. He concurred. So let's keep this thread going w/notes from his presentation at Engaging the University: Student Mission and the Christian Mind.

John began with a list of ways in which University ministry has valued the mind:
1. the University has not been abandoned as apostates -- a place fit for ministry
2. provides the opportunity for credible speakers -- although not always followed up to well in North America
3. the encouragement of lyrics in song through Hymns/Hymns II
4. encouragement of good reading through IVP)

and has not . . .

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This evening at Mount Joy Township Board of Supervisors meeting, I shared concerns regarding 2 trash stream issues:  1.  a desire to see an expansion of Mt. Joy township recycling efforts when we transition our waste hauler contract and 2. the enforcement of the speed limit upon trash trucks in front of our residence on Cloverleaf Rd.

In preparation for the first, I've spent several hours on the phone over the past several days with representatives of Lancaster Solid Waste Management Authority (LSWMA) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) learning more about recycling in central PA. It's been good to hear that our township is on the top of the curve regarding recycling in Lancaster County.  My question has been, What would it take to get ahead of the game in renewing our resources, providing opportunities for future generations?

I recommended the supervisors (More)

It was a great joy to see Doris, one who has worked with Pricedale Union Church's Missionary Society through the years, this morning at our local assembly as she was visiting her daughter.  How fitting for her to hear Greg's challenge regarding witness from the example of Stephen. Pricedale's passion for mission was evident each time I spoke at their local assembly as I was reinvigorated not only by their support of our work, but also by the one wall of their sanctuary being covered by a map indicating the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. God brought good out of evil as Stephen's witness and death led to the Word moving out from Jerusalem and later at least one answer to Stephen's prayer of forgiveness for his persecutors was recorded in the radical change in Saul's life mission by the power of the Spirit, which led to an extension of the rule and reign of Christ in the known world.

What was it like to be one
-who gave impressive signs leading to opposition by Jewish authorities
-who could not overcome
-who was a humble servant to the people filled with wisdom, the Holy Spirit, the fulness of God?

Stephen was not involved in the battle of wizards at Hogwarts, but instead a confrontation with  (More)

I must confess that I don't find dressing well a significant part of Making the most of college. During my decade at CMU I noticed a significant decline of the proportion of the student body which dressed oddly and a movement toward the more socially acceptable.  Possibly there was a change in the available applicants, maybe it was the economic reality that computer scientists/engineers were no longer going to be handed jobs for sure, but the Goths no longer are spread out on the floor near the center stairwell on the second floor of student center.

In high school, I had issues with dress at a summer program and I confess that I had an edge to me during the program, my senior year in high school, and my freshman year at Grove City College.

 I desired to wear what I wanted to wear to make a statement (i.e., as an expression of my being/personhood/identity) and I don't have much a sense of what is socially acceptable, its not intuitive.  Now Theresa buys the clothes (giving me a limited range) and advises me how to enable people to look beyond my appearence in order to listen to my words. Yes, there is discipline in this embodiment, but I must confess that socially acceptable dress as a vehicle for being heard still rubs me the wrong way (although my range for public expression may be more limited than others). Every now and then, I get away with something more creative . . . that is becoming harder and harder to do w/Hayley and Ellen keeping their eyes on me also ;-) Here's a part I found of particular interest, I wonder whether this rings true to you:

Lots of needle crafts in our families.  I (Tom) appreciate the craft/art direction and the sense of community which some of these gatherings encourage (in our family, I think its more like calls for help and getting pointers in mending and completing projects . . . mind you I'm not the one engaged in this endeavors), but I don't see the need to go chic (of course I'm the boy living in the virtual world, maybe if I just got tactile my perspective would change). 

The mushrooming of the needle crafts, which extends even to arcane pursuits like shoemaking and hat design, is also driven by a growing aversion to cookie-cutter mall fashions, by a desire to connect with like-minded sisters and reinforce a sense of community, and by a wish to handle solid, tactile materials in an increasingly virtual world.

“There is a natural need to do something low tech, to get your hands involved,” said Ms. Falick, the crafts editor. Ms. Stoller, an advocate of pleasure for pleasure’s sake, added: “It’s so nice to have something in your life that’s not just about self-improvement — that is, losing weight or advancing your career.” -- The Knitting Circle Shows Its Chic

Lots going on last night as I moved the sprinklers, cleaned up after supper, tucked Eden into bed, posted material on IVCF's internal website, caught up on scores of emails which continue to pile up, and then hulled peas while watching Little House on the Prairie w/Theresa (I still haven't sat through a whole episode. It's a classic I avoided in childhood and continue to do such as an adult. But maybe I'll be broken sooner or later).

Just before going to bed, I turned on the TV to hear the commentators discuss just how good Cordero was and see Crawford crush the ball over the fence. Theresa, who was near when I called out the home run, wondered why the crowd wasn't cheering louder. I replied that TV didn't have the audio from the stands turned up, they were more focused on the commentators. Then she wondered why the commentators weren't shouting and I responded that they were disinterested professionals who had just been shown-up by Cordero's miscue.  When the inning ended, I turned the game off and went to bed with a fair amount of confidence that the AL would continue its recent (and might I say bizarre) dominance of the All-Star Game. Where has the power of the NL gone? No comment on Bonds, Griffey, or Wagner.  Their performance speaks for itself . . . ouch. I need to go back to bed and get some rest as I'm too fiesty in blog this morning and I haven't even shared thoughts on the commodification or entertainment aspects of baseball, let alone moving onto the university. 

One brief thought, when would I have imagined the day when I would enjoy moving the sprinklers, cleaning up after dinner, tucking Eden into bed, posting/emailing, and hulling peas w/Theresa (even if its in the context of Little House) much more than intently watching the All-Star game with ice cream and soda in hand?  A transformation in my life, even a gift of grace to walk in the Presence of God toward those things which are of greater value.  And what a blessing/joy to have one's family as neighbors, a place of hospitality and play for Ellen and Hayley after a full day for Theresa and myself.

Andrea Sterk and Howard Louthan presented 4 historical vignettes on this topic at Engaging the University: Student Mission and the Christian Mind.

They began their presentation by placing some of their own story as Christians in higher education in the context of the ambivalent relationship between followers of Christ and philosophy/culture.

On Saturday night I returned from Engaging the University: Student Mission and the Christian Mind at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto.  On the way into Toronto, I encountered traffic like I've never before . . . even worse than leaving NYC around Christmas!  It was a combination of rush hour, construction, and an accident.  On the way out, I sat through border crossing for quite awhile, although I kept moving to the new lanes as they opened to the far right.  But I would have sat through more traffic as the gathering was such an encouragement as ideas were exchanged by delegates from a number of countries and speakers gave strong challenges with regard to engaging the whole university.  I'll start with my notes from The Last Word given by Daniel Bourdanné, the newly appointed General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).  Note:  Daniel spoke in French, so what is below is my best rendering of what was given by the translator.  Looking forward to when audio is available!

This conference is the beginning of a rebirth of our [IFES'] responsibility to the University, to education in general . . . our century is typified by the loss of thought (e.g., genocide) . . . thinking needs to find its place again among intellectuals.  Thinking Christianly is not doing nothing.  We've lost our place in the heart of the University, which is a strategic location.  We need to reinvest in the University and education, take the road which is harder but more stable to Christian thought (note:  contrasted with politics) . . . 

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Continuing our prayer theme, www.wqotw.org/ highlighted Romans 8:26-28 (& encouraged the reader to open up the Scriptures to continue in Chapter 8):

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. --  The English Standard Version 

I would ask you to continue with our family in intercession for Anna Fleming and her family.  Also join us in prayer for God's grace in granting a work Visa to IFES' incoming General Secretary Daniel Bourdanné in order for him to be present at the IFES World Assembly, July 11-19, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  And if the work VISA does not come through, for clear and helpful communication to occur throughout the conference and in follow-up.

Here are a few more WORSHIP QUOTES on prayer:

Catechism: What is prayer?
Scripture: Invited to pray
Tozer: Scripture or prayer?
C. S. Lewis on intercession