Musings, podcasts, and spring!

There is someone playing guitar outside of my window.  I love it!  He or she is pretty good, too.  It's pleasant background music to go along with writing my last mini ethics paper assignment.  This week we're supposed to analyze our "personal ethical dilemma" from the first assignment and say if our views have changed at all from before.  Mine really haven't.  :)

The flowers are coming out all over campus, and they're beautiful.  I'm going to miss Lexington, but I hear Williamsburg is just as lovely!  I can't believe I'm moving there in pretty much exactly two months.  Absolute craziness.  Ashley and I are working on the flat situation so hopefully that gets finalized soon.  It should be fine.  I also found out today that the masters' project is being cancelled for C&I majors, so that's rather exciting.  I get to save about $800 off tuition!

Okay, so the real reason I'm writing a blog is because I discovered the wonderful art that is podcasting today.  I had listened to a few podcasts before but I hadn't ever really been absorbed by them.  My dad introduced them to me about a year ago.  He's fascinated with them, loves listening to sermons and other theological stuff, which is cool.  I had signed up for a couple of them, ones from our home church and also a Harry Potter one, but hadn't ever really listened to any of them.

Today I decided to listen to a couple while I was stuffing envelopes at Hill House and I really enjoyed them.  I listened to a couple from The Falls Church and a couple from the PotterCast and they were really interesting.  I learned about:

1. James 1 and hypocrisy: we need to be doers of the Word and not just listeners; the Word shows us who we are and if we hear it and understand but then turn away from it, we're like someone who sees themselves in the mirror and then forgets what they look like
2. James 2 and judging: placing judgment on others based on how they appear renders our faith ineffective and hurts our witness for the Gospel
3. PotterCast 131: Interview with J.K. Rowling: mostly stuff about horcruxes and wands
4. PotterCast 132: Interview with J.K. Rowling part 2: Neville!
5. PotterCast 138: SnoggCast: well, I'm still in the middle of it, but they're talking about Chapter 7 of Deathly Hallows and it's really interesting!

So podcasts are awesome.  :)

I need Thee every hour

This quote made my heart ache, so I figure it's a good one.  :)

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever wtih me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone." ~ Thomas Merton

A fitting prayer, for every day.

Brian Littrell

Rachel and I were listening to my iTunes library today while doing homework and the song "By His Wounds" just so happened to play.  If you don't know, the song is by a group called Glory Revealed, made up of Steven Curtis Chapman, Mac Powell of Third Day, and Brian Littrell (yes, of the Backstreet Boys).  They were all on tour together last year, and I assume that the group was made up when they were on tour.

Rachel and I got to talking about Littrell and his emergence into Christian music, and how we really loved Backstreet Boys when we were in middle school because of Littrell -- he always thanked God first on his CD thank-yous.  Well, Rachel mentioned that some of the songs he had written for the Backstreet Boys were glaringly Christian songs, and I was curious.  She claimed that "The One" from the CD "Millenium" was totally a Christian song, and naturally, she was right.  Observe:

"The One" by Brian Littrell

I guess you were lost when I met you

Still there were tears in your eyes

So out of trust and I knew

No more than mysteries and lies

There you were, wild and free

Reaching out like you needed me

A helping hand to make it right

I am holding you all through the night

I'll be the one (I'll be the one)

Who will make all your sorrows undone

I'll be the light (I'll be the light)

When you feel like there's nowhere to run

I'll be the one

To hold you and make sure that you'll be alright

Cause my fear is gone

And I want to take you from darkness to light

*bridge, chorus*

You need me like I need you

We could share our dreams coming true

I can show you what true love means

Just take my hand, baby please

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run to make it alright

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run

*repeat*

This makes us really happy.  :)  More evidence of Littrell's awesomeness:

"Welcome Home (You)" by Brian Littrell

When I left home to be who I am

Some people said no way

But I laid it all down, gave everything

In my head rang the words that my Father said

You're never far, I will be where you are

And when you come to me

I will open my arms

And welcome home you

I know you by name

How do you do?

I shine because of you today

So come and sit down

Tell me how you are

You know, son, it's good just to see your face

When I look at you holding my heart

I will give to you all that I am

Son, I know there'll be times

You will feel all alone

I will share with you the words my Father said

You're never far, I will be where you are

And when you come to me

You can bet I will open my arms

*chorus*

Bibles and basketball

I visited my sister at Georgetown this weekend.  My mom and I went with her to see her roommate's show ("Black Comedy" by the same guy who wrote "Equus"), which was excellent.  It was pretty much hilarious.  After that I went back to Caelah's flat and watched "Pride and Prejudice" (the Keira Knightley version) with her roommates and her.  We went to the Georgetown vs. Cincinnati game today, which was equally excellent.  Mom and Dad have season tickets, so I took Mom's because she decided to stay home.  I had a lot of fun with Dad, and it was cool having good seats in the Verizon Center.  Georgetown won the game by about 20 points, so it was really worthwhile.  :)

I also got to see Langley beat McLean in the District finals today.  That was pretty cool, especially because I know a lot of it has to do with the great coaches.  ;)  So, I watched a lot of live basketball today!

We also went to Saturday night service at TFC.  John spoke tonight on James 3:1-18 and Matthew 12:33-37 on "Taming the Tongue."  He noted that what we say is a mirror of what is in our heart, and our words can bring both life and destruction.  We have to remember that our words have power, especially because we will be held accountable for them.  It's a message I've heard before, but really need to keep hearing on a regular basis.  It's hard for everyone!  James acknowledges this in his book, and the whole point is, controlling our tongue isn't something we can do in our own power.  We need the Holy Spirit and the power of God, through salvation and belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13) :).

It's back to Lexington tomorrow.  It will be great to see everyone again, but I have to admit, this break was great and exactly what I needed.  These next few weeks will bring changes, but it'll be okay.  It was good to relax and wait and ponder.

Another good read

Two posts in 30 minutes, haha...I briefly forgot that I was also going to give a shout out to my friend Kate, who wrote this great piece for The Virginian-Pilot.  She made the front page!  Kate and I are sorority sisters and fellow journalism students.  We've had pretty much every journalism class together, and she's pretty awesome.

Kate got the idea for this piece from our copy editing class.  One of our fellow students is giving up Facebook for Lent and Kate wondered if this was a general trend.  She did some great reporting, so give it a read!

News: Some give up Facebook and MySpace for Lent

Letter from an Oppressed Minority

In light of the fact that I am on break, I decided to make a more light-hearted post than what I've been writing recently.  Sorry about that.  :)  If you look over at my "Perspectives" blog links, you'll see that the first one is a woman by the name of Anne Kennedy.  She is an ordained Anglican and her blog is great, but her husband, Rev. Matt Kennedy, has written something that I think is just brilliant.  He is a regular contributor to Stand Firm (can also be linked to in the "Perspectives" section) and he wrote this about a year ago.

*DO NOTE* this is a parody.  It's Matt's response to current issues being debated in the Anglican Communion, which you would have to live under a rock to not hear about.  So, he's not being serious.  Just want to make that clear.

Enjoy! An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from an Oppressed Minority, by Matt Kennedy, circa Feb. 8, 2007

My favorite line:

"Jesus spoke from within a primitive culture.  Had he known then what we know today, his opinion would undoubtably more closely resemble by own."

Williamsburg

I just got back from a weekend in Williamsburg with my parents.  We had been planning on going up to Ocean City, but the weather wasn't looking too great, so we decided that a trip to the birthplace of Virginia was a better idea.  ;)  We stayed at the Kingsmill Resort, which is really nice, I highly recommend it.  Besides taking advantage of the spa (massages) and sporting complex, we spent a lot of time reading in our suite and sampling the restaurants.  All good.  Mom, Dad, and I went to the Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg for dinner last night, which was great.  We didn't have a whole lot of time to explore, unfortunately.  Hopefully I'll have much more time to explore over the next year.

I got to go to church with Meghan at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Williamsburg and then have lunch with her afterward at the Caf in the William and Mary Student Commons.  The worship and prayer were both very nice, and everyone seemed friendly.  The pastor spoke on Acts 16:6-40 about how God's mission is to bring the Gospel to everyone, not just to people who have it all together or to people whose life is falling apart.  Paul and Silas bring the Gospel to three very different people in this passage: the widow and merchant Lydia, a slave girl, and a Roman jailer.  Each of them had different needs and different circumstances, but God worked in all of their lives to meet them where they were at.  It reminded me of IV Winter Conference last weekend when John Teter spoke about the fact that God is always at work, even if you can't see it.  He's at work in every person's life.

I love Williamsburg, so I had a great time.  I'm really hoping to be at William and Mary for graduate school...so close to finding out!  Just a few more weeks to wait.  I know that God might have something else planned for me, but I really hope and pray that this is it.  Being there for the weekend really solidified that in my mind.

I also started reading "The Heart of Racial Justice" and "Finding God In Harry Potter."  More updates on those as I get further along throughout the week.  "The Heart of Racial Justice" is about "how soul change leads to social change," i.e. how the Gospel is the antidote for racial and ethnic barriers in the world today.  Christians should be at the forefront of breaking down stereotypes and bringing healing to this broken world.  

"Finding God In Harry Potter" was written by John Granger, an evangelical Christian father of seven who wrote the book after having to eat his words when he told his children they couldn't read the books, then discovered their spiritual content and got hooked himself.  Granger argues that while Rowling was definitely not trying to create a Christian masterpiece, her Christian faith (yes, she's stated in numerous interviews that she is a Christian) does provide a solid and very clear background for her books about Harry, especially evident in her themes of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, self-sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, love, community, communal sacrifice, etc.  He says that the reason Harry Potter resonates with so many people is because it is an echo of the Great Story, the story of Jesus Christ.  He also says that it's amazing that the books are so popular in this day and age when people are touting the notion that there is no universal truth or good and evil.  The popularity of Harry Potter means that people still believe in the idea of good and evil and in a story bigger than themselves.  It gives hope for the real story of sacrifice and love and its continuing impact in this world.  I met Granger when he spoke at W&L last fall, and I'm loving the book so far.

God send your mercy this way

News: Gunman targets students at Northern Illinois University
*note* if the link doesn't work, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/; it's their lead story. I'm sure every other U.S. paper is running it today

This breaks my heart. I found out about it last night when a friend invited me to a prayer facebook group for the victims and I literally started crying. There is no difference between 21 and 32. Those 21 have friends and family, as do all the other students at NIU who are dealing with this now. I would never wish upon anyone the fear that I felt last April when I first heard about Virginia Tech. I was in Germany, and I heard about 6 p.m., so noon in the States, and for fifteen mintues I felt sick to my stomach, completely terrified. Every person I knew at Tech flashed through my head, even if I had only met them briefly through my cousin Jesse. And Jesse...hearing my mom telling me that everyone I knew was okay was, I think, the most relieving sentence I heard all of last year.

Oh goodness, I'm going to make myself cry again. If you have any links whatsoever to someone at NIU, I'm praying for you. If you have no links to NIU or Virginia Tech and have no conception of what I am describing, I hope you never have to experience it. But everyone has lost someone dear to them, everyone has been afraid, and I'm sure everyone has, at one point, felt their entire world shatter in an instant. This song from "The Season," written around April 16, is what I have to offer:

"Forever Changed VT"

On just an ordinary day

A weapon drawn and lives forever changed

One act of violence made the world stop and watch

And on a drill field by candlelight we prayed

The questions on our minds

We wonder where the future lies

As we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

And to the ones who fell that day

In our hearts your love will never fade away

Picking up the pieces to build a better tomorrow

We'll find the joy, yes, to move on from the sorrow

By the colors of the leaves

You know God has us on His mind

So we look up to heaven

With hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here?
Can we overcome this fear?
And find healing through the pain

And see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure

And soon we'll feel more secure

In a world filled with hate

We need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way

For we're all Hokies today

The spirit lives on

Don't let it be gone

Let it shine forever

And through the heartbreak

For the lost and their sake

Let it bring us together

Where do we go from here?

Can we overcome this fear?

And find healing through the pain
And see the sun beyond the rain
We've got the strength to endure
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world filled with hate
We need to become something great
Oh God, send your mercy this way
For we're all Hokies today

From my copy editing professor

Prof. Luecke sent this to us today while we were creating our front pages:

"An English professor wrote the words: 'A woman without her man is nothing' on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All the males in the class wrote: 'A woman, without her man, is nothing.'

All the females in the class wrote: 'A woman: without her, man is nothing.'

Punctuation is powerful!"

I feel that this epitomizes our copy editing class of eight girls completely obsessed with design, grammar, and writing.

Yeah.

I wish I was here...

I miss London