No, I’m not talking about Tracy Chapmen’s wonderful song. On my trip with the kids I found out something interesting. When I lay down to sleep on a wooden barn floor with a bunch of other fellow campers they can hear my heart beating through the floodboards… Very Poe-ish isn’t it? More than that my murmering heart may in fact actually change the rhythm of their hearts! Vik told me he could no longer hear his heart beating in his chest, only mine! Learn something new every day!
I'm off to Spring Harvest in the morning.
Peace,
Chris
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Yan and I (The Giant and the Dwarf)
Just thought I'd promote flatmate Yan's internet art over at Deviantart. Check it out!
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
The Phenomenon of Man
I finished The Phenomenon of Man, by Teihard de Chardin recently. A book that, in truth, I probably only fully understood 40-60 percent of. The reason for this is two fold, first Jesuit logic may work well for Jesuits, but I’m a Lutheran, clarity above logic! Second, while Anthropology is my science of choice Chardin, a biologist/palaeontologist, knows too many specific things for me to get it all, it is a very technical work.
So real quick who is Chardin? Aa French Jesuit as well as a scientist. Most of his work was only published after his death (1955) as the Catholic Church believed his ideas to be heresy. In The Phenomenon of Man he tries to unify Catholic thought with the theory of evolution. It’s an astounding feat. The two most impressive (not necessarily good, but impressive) bits were
1. His pronouncement that science and empiricism is flawed because it can only calculates the outside of things. He argues that if you look at man as just a phenomena, that is if you look at man empirically/objectively, you can simply deconstruct the hell out of it and we are just so many nuts and bolts, so many odd movements, nothing more. Yet! Yet! A third time I say Yet, as Teilhard is human he recognizes that more goes on in a human than is observable, and therefore he makes the leap and says, what about the rest of the world? Does not the ape have a within? Yes? Does not the fish have a within? Yes? Does not the microbe have a within? Yes? Does not the mountains and rocks themselves have a within? When I read this my heart jumped some when I thought of Romans 8 where the world/universe itself is groaning in expectation of the revelation of God’s Children. Also, as it is Palm Sunday didn't Jesus say the Stones themselves would speak of his enterance into Jerusalem?
2. Chardin’s second impressive bit is the bit that caused my previous caveat about the word impressive. Chardin sees the whole universe thing heading (consciously, because it after all has a within) towards a certain point. First there was pre-life, and then came life. When you might ask, Chardin responds, "can we draw (a line) between ‘living’ protoplasm and ‘dead’ proteins?" Basically that life was innate within non-life, that this change was a gradual thing, and that you can’t pinpoint when pre-life became life. Fastforward a bunch then came human-ish things, they only became fully human when they got scrunched together and began to perceive itself etc. Anyway at some point humans reached a point where they can effect their own destiny, that is they can point their evolution in a specific direction. This is where things get interesting, Chardin advocates eugenics. This is where Christianity comes in. He sees Christ’s entering the world as creating an almost subspecies of human, that is Christians, and the traits of Christians/Christ should be selected to catapult the human race into a new level of being. (he has seen Nazism and sees it as a warping of a genuinely good thing).
There are tons of other issues in Teilhard’s philosophy, the Noosphere (in my head this seems like an onzone layer of human thought)/the difference between individuality and personality (actually this is worth a mention, our personality only fully comes out in relationships)/Christian panthism (basically one maintains their own integrity within the system of relationship with all others in the love of God instead of loosing their personality as a drop of water in an ocean).
Peace,
Chris
So real quick who is Chardin? Aa French Jesuit as well as a scientist. Most of his work was only published after his death (1955) as the Catholic Church believed his ideas to be heresy. In The Phenomenon of Man he tries to unify Catholic thought with the theory of evolution. It’s an astounding feat. The two most impressive (not necessarily good, but impressive) bits were
1. His pronouncement that science and empiricism is flawed because it can only calculates the outside of things. He argues that if you look at man as just a phenomena, that is if you look at man empirically/objectively, you can simply deconstruct the hell out of it and we are just so many nuts and bolts, so many odd movements, nothing more. Yet! Yet! A third time I say Yet, as Teilhard is human he recognizes that more goes on in a human than is observable, and therefore he makes the leap and says, what about the rest of the world? Does not the ape have a within? Yes? Does not the fish have a within? Yes? Does not the microbe have a within? Yes? Does not the mountains and rocks themselves have a within? When I read this my heart jumped some when I thought of Romans 8 where the world/universe itself is groaning in expectation of the revelation of God’s Children. Also, as it is Palm Sunday didn't Jesus say the Stones themselves would speak of his enterance into Jerusalem?
2. Chardin’s second impressive bit is the bit that caused my previous caveat about the word impressive. Chardin sees the whole universe thing heading (consciously, because it after all has a within) towards a certain point. First there was pre-life, and then came life. When you might ask, Chardin responds, "can we draw (a line) between ‘living’ protoplasm and ‘dead’ proteins?" Basically that life was innate within non-life, that this change was a gradual thing, and that you can’t pinpoint when pre-life became life. Fastforward a bunch then came human-ish things, they only became fully human when they got scrunched together and began to perceive itself etc. Anyway at some point humans reached a point where they can effect their own destiny, that is they can point their evolution in a specific direction. This is where things get interesting, Chardin advocates eugenics. This is where Christianity comes in. He sees Christ’s entering the world as creating an almost subspecies of human, that is Christians, and the traits of Christians/Christ should be selected to catapult the human race into a new level of being. (he has seen Nazism and sees it as a warping of a genuinely good thing).
There are tons of other issues in Teilhard’s philosophy, the Noosphere (in my head this seems like an onzone layer of human thought)/the difference between individuality and personality (actually this is worth a mention, our personality only fully comes out in relationships)/Christian panthism (basically one maintains their own integrity within the system of relationship with all others in the love of God instead of loosing their personality as a drop of water in an ocean).
Peace,
Chris
Friday, April 07, 2006
Class Warfare? You want Class Warfare!
Well then, I'll give you Class Warfare.
Days in the Cold a gripping online novel by Chris Halverson (yours truly) follows William and Frank, two angry liberals, outraged at injustice, inspired by Toni Morrison and 18th Century Anarchism, and unwilling to take prisoners, as they practice class warfare in the most classical sense, by becoming murderers.
Yeah, so here's the deal. I'm going to be writing this story in chunks, updating the site quite often, and when I get a chapter done I'll fit it together and link it to the side of Universal Bones, that means you will actually see the novel as it develops from thoughts in my head to words on the page, to polished piece of work.
Peace,
Chris
Days in the Cold a gripping online novel by Chris Halverson (yours truly) follows William and Frank, two angry liberals, outraged at injustice, inspired by Toni Morrison and 18th Century Anarchism, and unwilling to take prisoners, as they practice class warfare in the most classical sense, by becoming murderers.
Yeah, so here's the deal. I'm going to be writing this story in chunks, updating the site quite often, and when I get a chapter done I'll fit it together and link it to the side of Universal Bones, that means you will actually see the novel as it develops from thoughts in my head to words on the page, to polished piece of work.
Peace,
Chris
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The Foundation is back, this month Immigration!
This month's topic over at the Foundation will be immigration, a hot topic in the States right now.
Also I'm thinking of changing Universal Bones into purely an online serialized novel. What this would mean is I would be continuing Days in the Cold on a more regular basis, basicly you would be reading the novel as I write it instead of as I finish a chapter. This would also mean I am no longer accepting your creative writing submissions, then again I've yet to recieve a single submission yet. This would, of course, in no way effect the way I run The Foundation, as it is still a site driven by submissions by the reader. What do my faithful readers think?
Peace,
Chris
Also I'm thinking of changing Universal Bones into purely an online serialized novel. What this would mean is I would be continuing Days in the Cold on a more regular basis, basicly you would be reading the novel as I write it instead of as I finish a chapter. This would also mean I am no longer accepting your creative writing submissions, then again I've yet to recieve a single submission yet. This would, of course, in no way effect the way I run The Foundation, as it is still a site driven by submissions by the reader. What do my faithful readers think?
Peace,
Chris
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Religious Left, an article by Slate
I think this article does a good job defining the various factions of the Religious Left. Good reading, a little shallow, but a good introduction.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Drinking Europe
I've had a request from Dan to post about the beers of Europe. Here's what I've got.
Peace,
Chris
What even qualifies me to write about drinking in Europe? After all, I'm a product of Red State America (with a tinge of Blue State College). After all, I'm not a big drinker, in fact I actually waited until I was 21 before non-consecrated alcohol touched my lips.Maybe though, these facts are what make this interesting. After all my experience of drinking really has been shaped by and in Europe.
What were my first impressions of drinking in Europe? I suppose it was the shattering of a myth perpetuated by my High school German teacher. The myth being that Europeans drink, but never with the intention of getting drunk. One of the first weeks I was living at the Abbey I told my European co-workers this myth, they responded by "getting pissed" (pissed being British for drunk). My second impression of Europeans drinking was that everyone has their signature drink. The Slovakian plays to type by chugging Vodka, while the German and the Englishwoman disappointed me, as neither were big into beer, which I assumed would be their ethnic drink of choice. Instead they both go for fruity, but highly alcoholic, drinks.
Enough about the people, lets get to the drinks! Most of my drinks have came from the Temeraire, a Pub in Saffron Walden known for its good onion rings, its Sunday Roasts, and its cheep prices. There I've sampled many a pint. Each week they have a new "guest beer" on tap, I usually have a pint of whatever that happens to be. The highs and lows from these taste tests are as follows, Tangle Root on top and Efes Pilsen, a Turkish Beer, on bottom. As for the local stuff there is Guinness, which is extremely good, as well as Carling, which is (though an Englishman would throw a rock at me for saying this) the British equivalent to Coors. An interesting fact I learned about Guinness is that it was originally brewed in an effort to curb drunkenness, as it is made in such a way that it is actually quite hard to get "pissed" off of. When it comes to the subtypes of Guinness I have to say nothing beats Guinness Draft, its dark, like Black Hole dark, and that's something I appreciate!
There is another place I've encountered alcohol in Europe, my work, Saint Mark's College. These encounters have ranged from buying Tesco's Generic Beer (you get your money's work at 39p a can) to sampling the various spirits we sell from our "tuck shop" and serve to the Anglican Bishops. I've concluded Wiskey is a little too harsh, Sherry tastes like cough syrup, and Meade is divine. Yes, I've drank that honeyed liquor and felt is twist in my bones, felt it glom down my gullet, calling my back deep into some old unconscious bit. Back to where wolf's teeth gnaw on caribou corpse, where the Norse wind blows in billowed sail, dragon stern crashing through cracked ice, thoughts ofdistant lands to raid and plunder, where the ancestors lay entombed in helm and warring splendor, and are thrown upon the pyre. In short, Meade be a very fine drink, but one not to be taken lightly.
Finally there must be something said for sentimental drinking. When I want to think back to that loving continent I left behind I, strangely enough, don't grab a Budweiser, or a Coors, but in fact I grab something from a little farther south, a Corona.
Peace,
Chris
What even qualifies me to write about drinking in Europe? After all, I'm a product of Red State America (with a tinge of Blue State College). After all, I'm not a big drinker, in fact I actually waited until I was 21 before non-consecrated alcohol touched my lips.Maybe though, these facts are what make this interesting. After all my experience of drinking really has been shaped by and in Europe.
What were my first impressions of drinking in Europe? I suppose it was the shattering of a myth perpetuated by my High school German teacher. The myth being that Europeans drink, but never with the intention of getting drunk. One of the first weeks I was living at the Abbey I told my European co-workers this myth, they responded by "getting pissed" (pissed being British for drunk). My second impression of Europeans drinking was that everyone has their signature drink. The Slovakian plays to type by chugging Vodka, while the German and the Englishwoman disappointed me, as neither were big into beer, which I assumed would be their ethnic drink of choice. Instead they both go for fruity, but highly alcoholic, drinks.
Enough about the people, lets get to the drinks! Most of my drinks have came from the Temeraire, a Pub in Saffron Walden known for its good onion rings, its Sunday Roasts, and its cheep prices. There I've sampled many a pint. Each week they have a new "guest beer" on tap, I usually have a pint of whatever that happens to be. The highs and lows from these taste tests are as follows, Tangle Root on top and Efes Pilsen, a Turkish Beer, on bottom. As for the local stuff there is Guinness, which is extremely good, as well as Carling, which is (though an Englishman would throw a rock at me for saying this) the British equivalent to Coors. An interesting fact I learned about Guinness is that it was originally brewed in an effort to curb drunkenness, as it is made in such a way that it is actually quite hard to get "pissed" off of. When it comes to the subtypes of Guinness I have to say nothing beats Guinness Draft, its dark, like Black Hole dark, and that's something I appreciate!
There is another place I've encountered alcohol in Europe, my work, Saint Mark's College. These encounters have ranged from buying Tesco's Generic Beer (you get your money's work at 39p a can) to sampling the various spirits we sell from our "tuck shop" and serve to the Anglican Bishops. I've concluded Wiskey is a little too harsh, Sherry tastes like cough syrup, and Meade is divine. Yes, I've drank that honeyed liquor and felt is twist in my bones, felt it glom down my gullet, calling my back deep into some old unconscious bit. Back to where wolf's teeth gnaw on caribou corpse, where the Norse wind blows in billowed sail, dragon stern crashing through cracked ice, thoughts ofdistant lands to raid and plunder, where the ancestors lay entombed in helm and warring splendor, and are thrown upon the pyre. In short, Meade be a very fine drink, but one not to be taken lightly.
Finally there must be something said for sentimental drinking. When I want to think back to that loving continent I left behind I, strangely enough, don't grab a Budweiser, or a Coors, but in fact I grab something from a little farther south, a Corona.
A really good defense of the Iraq war
In sum the Status Quo was too bad to do nothing, so Bush at least did something. We have to win the war there otherwise America might turn issolationist, as the cost of the rest of the world. We have to win otherwise conflict in the Middle East will increase. We have to win otherwise other countries, seeing our weakness, might do something rash. For example China might try to regain Tiawan, which would increase instability and could even touch off a truly great war.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Paris
Well, big E and I conquored Paris.
It was really fun, we saw EVERYTHING. Toured the entire Louve, went in Notre Dame, etc.
I'm quite sleepy right now.
Its interesting, returning from a vacation really cements England as home!
Peace,
Chris
It was really fun, we saw EVERYTHING. Toured the entire Louve, went in Notre Dame, etc.
I'm quite sleepy right now.
Its interesting, returning from a vacation really cements England as home!
Peace,
Chris
Thursday, March 23, 2006
My thoughts on Lutheran SpiritualityLutheran Spirituality
So often people say the words Lutheran and Spirituality are antithetical. To them I say, with St. Paul, "By no means!" Sure we don’t do "smells and bells" so well; sure Luther is very "earthy" preferring blood and mud to wine and spirit; sure we shun away from Rome’s mysticism as well as Evangelical fervor, sure we are called the Frozen Chosen, but that just makes for a very particular (perhaps peculiar) kind of spirituality.
I suppose to do this subject justice I should define spirituality. I will define it as a sense of the holy within the world. I think there are several places Lutherans find the holy in a way few others can. Of course there is the pat Lutheran answer that we find the holy in word and sacrament, though this is sort of like saying we find the holy in church. None the less lets look at this a little bit. In the Bible, and in exposition of the Bible, we find ourselves brought from our current world into a specific time and place where God acted. In this traveling of the mind this story becomes our story, our history, our memory, and we are in fact touched by God. In Sacrament we are brought in union with the Spirit and the Universal Church, a holy act yes?
A place where the Lutheran Church finds itself ecclesia par excellence is in the realm of paradoxes. Law and Gospel, Two kingdoms, Already not yet, Saint and Sinner… ah yes Simul justus et pecador that’s the ticket for me.
I own two pendants, a cross and a peace sign… Yes you heard me, a peace sign. I went to college in Eugene Oregon, where football stadiums are hotboxed, where reggae concerts turn into riots, where wearing hemp is the norm, and where a smelly man named Frog actually makes a living selling home made joke books (filled with 30 year old jokes about Nixon). So yes, I wear a peace sign.
Now what does this have to do with anything? Well, I originally wore these two symbols together with the symbolic meaning being that Christ was crucified for peace (yeah, there are issues with this interpretation) then one day I was told I was wearing the cross of the Anti-Christ. My Lutheran mind took flight, and I realized each time those two symbols clinked together that sound was the sound of Saint and Sinner smashing together. Each jingle against my chest is an affirmation of the fact that I can not not sin; each jingle is also an affirmation that it is God alone who saves me, it is God alone who is gracious. I am shit, yet covered in snow (I believe that’s Luther). I am dust, yet animated by the Spirit of God. So for me each step I take is an act of Lutheran spirituality, an affirmation of a holy truth within daily life.
A job I’ve grown fond of as a Lutheran missionary here in England is folding laundry. Yes, you read right, folding laundry. There are times when I just get into the grove, when the action of folding becomes a sweeping natural motion like a crane flying or a leopard pouncing. With the background noise of whirring washers my body too hums with a rhythm. As some hipsters would say "it’s a zen thing," though I find a more apt description in Daoism, that of cook Ding.
"Butcher Ding put down his knife and answered: "What your servant loves is the Dao, which goes beyond technique. When your servant began to carve oxen, what he saw was nothing but oxen. After three years, he saw no whole ox any more. Today, however, your servant meets the ox with his spirit and does not watch it with his eyes, as his senses know where to stop and his spirit desires to advance."
While I could stop by simply saying, "I’ve found a sense of Daoist spirituality in my work as a Lutheran missionary," I think I can go a little deeper. I believe the oneness of action, the "methodless method," that the Daoists talk about is vocation!
Luther disliked the hierarchy of Catholicism, specifically the idea that somehow the job of Priest was more laudatory in the eyes of God than other jobs. So when Luther thought of vocation he thought of it within the paradigm of the priesthood of all believers. That is God sees all jobs that are "useful to his fellow" as actions of priestliness. So I think when I finds that zenlike spot within my work it is because I am acting in such a way that I am living into my vocation. It is the same feeling a Pastor gets while performing word and sacrament, and the same feeling a parishaner gets when receiving the Eucharist. It is a feeling of God’s kingdom and the kingdom of man existing simultaneously in one space.
This is obviously a less than well thought out look at possible Lutheran spiritualism, and it is very centered on my own feelings and experience, but that tends to be a major thrust of spiritualism.
I suppose to do this subject justice I should define spirituality. I will define it as a sense of the holy within the world. I think there are several places Lutherans find the holy in a way few others can. Of course there is the pat Lutheran answer that we find the holy in word and sacrament, though this is sort of like saying we find the holy in church. None the less lets look at this a little bit. In the Bible, and in exposition of the Bible, we find ourselves brought from our current world into a specific time and place where God acted. In this traveling of the mind this story becomes our story, our history, our memory, and we are in fact touched by God. In Sacrament we are brought in union with the Spirit and the Universal Church, a holy act yes?
A place where the Lutheran Church finds itself ecclesia par excellence is in the realm of paradoxes. Law and Gospel, Two kingdoms, Already not yet, Saint and Sinner… ah yes Simul justus et pecador that’s the ticket for me.
I own two pendants, a cross and a peace sign… Yes you heard me, a peace sign. I went to college in Eugene Oregon, where football stadiums are hotboxed, where reggae concerts turn into riots, where wearing hemp is the norm, and where a smelly man named Frog actually makes a living selling home made joke books (filled with 30 year old jokes about Nixon). So yes, I wear a peace sign.
Now what does this have to do with anything? Well, I originally wore these two symbols together with the symbolic meaning being that Christ was crucified for peace (yeah, there are issues with this interpretation) then one day I was told I was wearing the cross of the Anti-Christ. My Lutheran mind took flight, and I realized each time those two symbols clinked together that sound was the sound of Saint and Sinner smashing together. Each jingle against my chest is an affirmation of the fact that I can not not sin; each jingle is also an affirmation that it is God alone who saves me, it is God alone who is gracious. I am shit, yet covered in snow (I believe that’s Luther). I am dust, yet animated by the Spirit of God. So for me each step I take is an act of Lutheran spirituality, an affirmation of a holy truth within daily life.
A job I’ve grown fond of as a Lutheran missionary here in England is folding laundry. Yes, you read right, folding laundry. There are times when I just get into the grove, when the action of folding becomes a sweeping natural motion like a crane flying or a leopard pouncing. With the background noise of whirring washers my body too hums with a rhythm. As some hipsters would say "it’s a zen thing," though I find a more apt description in Daoism, that of cook Ding.
"Butcher Ding put down his knife and answered: "What your servant loves is the Dao, which goes beyond technique. When your servant began to carve oxen, what he saw was nothing but oxen. After three years, he saw no whole ox any more. Today, however, your servant meets the ox with his spirit and does not watch it with his eyes, as his senses know where to stop and his spirit desires to advance."
While I could stop by simply saying, "I’ve found a sense of Daoist spirituality in my work as a Lutheran missionary," I think I can go a little deeper. I believe the oneness of action, the "methodless method," that the Daoists talk about is vocation!
Luther disliked the hierarchy of Catholicism, specifically the idea that somehow the job of Priest was more laudatory in the eyes of God than other jobs. So when Luther thought of vocation he thought of it within the paradigm of the priesthood of all believers. That is God sees all jobs that are "useful to his fellow" as actions of priestliness. So I think when I finds that zenlike spot within my work it is because I am acting in such a way that I am living into my vocation. It is the same feeling a Pastor gets while performing word and sacrament, and the same feeling a parishaner gets when receiving the Eucharist. It is a feeling of God’s kingdom and the kingdom of man existing simultaneously in one space.
This is obviously a less than well thought out look at possible Lutheran spiritualism, and it is very centered on my own feelings and experience, but that tends to be a major thrust of spiritualism.
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