I had my first day of orientation for my new teaching job today. So far so good. I especially liked one of the quotes they shared with us:
“Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”
Valerie, Liam, and I drove 80 miles southwest to visit a church called The Well, in Feasterville, PA. This young community meets in a warehouse outfitted for their gatherings and for the local concerts that they host. The walls were adorned with artwork of various kinds. The band was made up of two acoustic guitars, bass, drums, and percussion. There setup was nothing particularly fancy, but they seemed to have their act together in terms of tech stuff.
The sermon, preached by Todd Hiestand, included a great quote from Jurgen Moltmann:
We need nothing so much as the mission of life so that we can affirm and love life so much that we protest against death and all the powers that disseminate death. What we need is not a new religion, or new peace between religions. What we need is life - whole, full, and undivided life. Isn’t this the essence of the gospel? God, the eternal, infinite God, is so close to you that He loves you, and in His love accepts you just as you are? People who feel the faintest spark of this love become conscious of their own dignity, get up and walk upright and live with their heads held high. Even when we are loved by another person, our energy for living awakens, and we trust ourselves to do more than we would have ever dared before. How much more is this the case when God looks at us with the “shining eyes” of his love and his pleasure is in our lives! That is why part of this message of life is the comforting of the sad, the healing of the sick—the healing, too, of memories—the welcoming of strangers and the forgiving of sins. That is to say, the message of life means saving threatened and impaired life form the powers of annihilation.
I don't think we could make that trip every week, but it was nice to visit. Actually, we almost didn't make it there. We were close to the Pennsylvania border when Val asked me if I had any money for the toll. I didn't and neither did she. We didn't have a single cent between us! Figuring it was worth a shot, I asked our 5 year old son if he had any money. Sure enough he had a dollar in the new wallet he got for his birthday! Way to save the day, Liam!
Akeelah and the Bee had a great message and some good actors. I appreciated the heart of the movie, but it was unfortunately too cheesy at times. The movie contains a great quote, though. It apparently comes from a book called A Return To Love by Marianne Williamson:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
I'd be interested to read some reactions to the quote.
...more theology is conveyed in and remembered from one hour of television than from all the sermons preached in a given weekend. (Phyllis Tickle, God-Talk in America, 126)
What do you think about the quote above? Are movies important? Why or why not?
Sarah, over at serendipity, has posted a wonderful Fransican benediction here.
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that."
G.H. Hardy
English Mathematician (1877-1947)
...prophecy can consist not just in a commission to speak but in the adoption of a certain style of living that dramatizes the rejection of what passes for reality in the society as a whole.
(Joseph Blenkinsopp, A History of Prophecy in Israel, p.61)
A table is not blessed if it has fed no scholars.
I love this quote from Hans Zimmer that I just found:
"Never let your wife prevent you from buying equipment. A house will not buy a synthesizer, but a synthesizer can buy a house."
A conversation with Karen, over at Raw Faith, just reminded me of a quote I used to have on some "sticky notes." I didn't realize it at the time, but apparently it's by Kurt Vonnegut. Get ready because this is deep:
"To be is to do"—Socrates.
"To do is to be"—Jean-Paul Sartre.
"Do be do be do"—Frank Sinatra.
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