a great many things...
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: the squirrels outside
Topic: Happenings

So it has been awhile and a great many things have happened. Here are the highlights:

-Sold my car, our bed, and a desk while in Seattle.
-We moved from Seattle to Pasadena, CA (my dad helped us in packing, driving, and unpacking).
-Christina received and accepted a job offer to work as a dietitian at an excellent hospital in Pasadena (she's filling in for someone on maternity leave).
-We flew out East to visit my Mom and some friends in Massachusetts/New Hampshire and Christina's parents and some friends in Maryland.
-Christina passed the exam to become a registered dietitian and can now put the letters "R.D." after her name.
-I stopped into the Student Health Insurance office at Fuller to ask questions about deadlines and forms and before I left they offered me a job to help during registration week (I guess I'm not done with health insurance!)
-Christina began her job about three weeks ago and is having a good time with it so far
-Fuller classes begin on Monday, September 26th, and I have some picked out, but I won't know for sure what they are until after I register on Thursday (the 22nd).

We have also been getting to know the couple with whom we're living and their family. For those reading this who don't know, Christina and I have found a wonderful living situation about 2 and a half miles from Fuller. We are living with an elderly couple, Phil (93) and Thelma (96), for very little money in exchange for some helping around the house. The apartment is worlds better than our small cookie-cutter apartment in Seattle!

One unfortunate thing that has happened is that about 2 weeks into our stay here, Thelma fell and broke her hip. Thankfully we were here for the fall and could do the best to comfort her while waiting for the paramedics. But she did have to go through surgery, which was tough. Things are looking better, though, and she is in a transitional rehab unit right now.

There are many more things I would love to say, but I think I'll stop here for now and continue later. By the way, the picture above is the house that we are living in!

Peace,
Pat

undercover at the bus stop
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: Barenaked Ladies: Maroon
Topic: Happenings
Today, for the first time in my life (that I know of) I saw undercover cops in action. It was at my bus stop in downtown Seattle (2nd & Pike, if you must know). There are all kinds of crazy things that happen at this bus stop. I once saw a man chased into the street, stopping traffic, by an older man who was menacingly waving his cane in the air and yelling "Nobody steals from me! You know who you dealin' with??" (while the fleeing alleged thief yelled back that he would come back with his "nine" and "bust a cap"). Another time two men made an obvious drug deal right next to me. Yet another, some teenage boys got into an all out physical brawl, while there were at least another 100 people waiting for their busses. Just the other day an interesting individual was walking down the street, opening his Pepsi, stopped in front of me and screamed at the top of his lungs, "I WOOOONNNN!!!" It is an entertaining place.

But today was, I think, the most intriguing. As I walked down the sidewalk, looking for a good place to stand and read my book as I wait for the 113, I saw what appeared to be a regular man patting down a teenage boy who was up against the side of the building. The one doing the patting was a white man with not quite shoulder length brown hair, wearing jeans, a white tee, a black Nuptse vest (you know, the puffy outdoorsy ones), and some cool shades. The boy against the wall was a composed African American teenager in baggy clothes, with boxers exposed when the white guy lifted up his shirt to check for things (drugs? weapons?).

I walked past them and stood nearby so I could inconspicuously watch while I waited (my book could wait for the bus ride). It was from this angle that I saw the white guy's badge hanging on a necklace. I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but after the teen boy turned around the cop was arguing with him about something the boy had just said earlier, which the teen denied. I presume the cop got the kid to say something without knowing he was talking to a cop. Then the officer told the kid to sit on the ground, while he talked into his handheld radio.

Then I noticed that a much larger African American teenage boy and a shorter twenty-thirty something African American man standing next to the scene were, in fact, connected with the event. The older, shorter guy had been holding a nifty looking laptop and talking with the bigger guy, who had his hands behind his back the entire time. The one with the laptop was wearing baggy clothes and a tight fitting black cap on his head. He said something to the large teenager, to which the teen responded by turning and exposing his hands behind his back, which were handcuffed. The man with the laptop took out some keys and uncuffed the boy. He then went over to the white cop and showed him something on the computer. I noticed the same kind of necklace chain on the shorter cop, though I didn't see the badge itself. The white officer looked at the laptop for awhile, then spoke on his handheld radio again, then back to his laptop. He got frustrated and told the boy sitting down to get up and face the wall again. He patted him down again. It didn't look like he found anything.

It was then that the 113 pulled up. I hopped on, whipped out my book (Brian McLaren's The Last Word and the Word after That), and stared out the window for a few minutes. The kids seemed so complacent, desensitized. Were they used to this? If so, is it because they are black teenage boys living in the city wearing baggy clothes and are routinely treated like criminals? Are they victims of the racial stereotypes and fears of our society? Or are they really drug dealers or criminals in some way? And if they are, is it because of they grew up in a poor neighborhood which has poor educational opportunities? Have they grown up in a culture which expects nothing of them and offers no encouragement to reach for something beyond what they see around them?

If they are criminals in some manner, certainly it is still a choice that they make and the consequences of which they are responsible for. After all, I have a good friend who didn't have great educational opportunities growing up, went to about 13 different schools by the time he graduated high school, all over the poor outskirts of Boston. Yet, he's one of the sharpest and most driven people I know. And hey, I personally even spent the first 5 years of my life in the urban Brockton, Massachusetts (maybe that's what made me a delinquent pre-teenager). But really, I can never understand the circumstances of these young African American men. Maybe it was an isolated incident. Perhaps it was a glimpse at a systemic injustice. Or could I have witnessed a genuine act of justice in the works? Hmmm. Whatever it was, I have to admit that it appealed to something deep inside my psyche to see a guy in street clothes with a badge hanging on his necklace. Too many hollywood cop movies.

prison gangs
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: American RadioWorks: Locked Down
Topic: Social Justice
I have no idea what to think about prisons in the US. I'm sure that they are effective in many instances, but the system obviously doesn't work on the whole.

I just heard an hour-long radio documentary put on by American RadioWorks called Locked Down: Gangs in the SuperMax and it blew my mind! It goes through how going to prison is like going to college for youthful gang members, how gang leaders give orders for roberry, extortion, and murder from inside the most maximum of prisons. The website gives photos and lots of information, worth checking out. Wow. Good program... I'm speechless.

Bye Anthony and Vita!
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: the drip, drip, drip of the rain outside
Topic: Happenings

While we have been in Seattle, we have been warmly welcomed into our church (Bethany Presbyterian in Queen Anne). There have been many people that we've had a chance to get to know, but there is one couple we have been able to connect with here that certainly stands out: Anthony and Vita.

Anthony grew up in New Mexico and Vita is from Ukraine, but they met each other at Seattle Pacific University, a medium sized Christian university in Seattle. There are many ways that we've been able to relate with A&V, similar stories of meeting in college, passions about spirituality, social justice, a global worldview, and lots of laughs.

This Friday, June 3rd (also my Dad's birthday), our friends Anthony and Vita are leaving on a jet plane to begin a 2-year stint with the Peace Corps in Mongolia. We spent the day with them on Sunday and helped them clean their apartment tonight; we are already wishing that we could have many more such days and evenings (we'd clean their cupboards anytime!). We are wishing that we could confuse the Peace Corps bureaucracy in a way that they are forced to move to Pasadena and attend Fuller Theological Seminary with us this fall. Alas the red tape is just too thick, it would be very difficult. So we will just wish them the best in Mongolia and dwell in our self-pity for awhile. We will miss you guys so much!

border psyche
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: Marketplace
Topic: Social Justice
Marketplace, American Public Media's radio show on economics, is running a series this week entitled The Undocumented War about illegal immigration from Mexico and telling it from perspectives on both sides of the border. I've heard the first two installments of the five-part series and it is worth a listen.

This issue is one that I think gets to the heart of America. There are, of course, concerns about homeland security and economics. Many people think that undocumented workers are a drain on our economy, that they don't belong here. Some argue that the loose Mexico-US border is a welcome mat to terrorists. I think it goes deep into the national psyche of the United States.

America began this experiment as immigrants. Our ancestors flooded the New World from across Europe. We viewed the native peoples as less than human, or at least not civilized enough to be included in proper society (a nice way of saying "less than human"), so we took their land and made it "civilized." There are certainly many heroes of early America, many dreams of democracy pursued, great open arms to religious diversity (read: different types of Christianity), and a general concern for the individual worker's dignity and potential. But in order to unify its people, the ruling elite made its own propaganda and demonized outsiders. The political system told us to hate the British, hate the French, enslave the Africans, and marginalize the Indians.

Europeans captured this land for themselves, using the name of freedom, and set up shop. In order to make "the people" (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant men) believe in their country, we had to glorify ourselves and demonize the rest of the world. Now we forget that this land doesn't really belong to us. As a Christian, I believe this land (and all land) belongs to God. And I believe God wants all God's people (every race, every nation, both genders, and all religions) to live off the land.

Latin American illegal immigrants are taking the jobs that 99.9% of US citizens won't take, no matter how desperate they are. When pundits refer to them as criminals, the only crime they have committed is the one we have against illegal immigration. For the most part, they are not in a pattern of illegal activity. If I speed or jaywalk or snag a hotel towel once, am I a criminal? What is a criminal? Who defines whom as a criminal? Are white European Americans all criminals for living on stolen land and benefitting from slavery? I'm not a policy maker. I'm not an economist. But I am an idealistic and proud American citizen who believes that we can at least attempt to be true to our ideals of freedom and human dignity. I believe our current policies and prevelant anti-immigration attitudes are a betrayal of these ideals, telling Latin Americans that they are less than human and that they have no right to be on "our" land.

(At this point, you may think that this is just a bunch of leftist tripe and I am some kind of liberal idealogue, but honestly, this is just something that concerns me deeply. I am always open to being corrected!)

Related links (trying to find a diversity of views):
~Minuteman Project
~US Citizenship and Immigration Services
~Center for Immigration Studies
~No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes
~Annunciation House (Sojourners Article)
~My friend Janna's pictures in El Paso

~For a Sports perspective on native peoples, listen to Frank Deford's commentary on sports team names.

~For an interesting story about one Guatemalan's experience in the DC area in construction, check out this Washington Post story.

Christian college with mixed feelings about Bush...
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: U2: Joshua Tree
Topic: News
Being an Anabaptist and coming from Messiah College, a small Christian liberal arts school with Anabaptist roots, a story hit the press this week which hits close to home (or at least close to college pride). President Bush, today, gave the commencement address at Calvin College, a small Christian liberal arts school in Grand Rapids, Michigan (see the full text of the address here).

Not every person from Calvin was happy about this, to be sure. Calvin's own website gives appears to give a balanced account of the event, acknowledging supporters, detractors, and those who don't really care about politics, but were excited by the visit anyway.

There is interesting coverage of the story in Christianity Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, and several stories in the Grand Rapids Press (the newspaper which ran an ad of protest).

As an aside, I also noticed a story from The Grand Rapids Press about Calvin College honoring Chuck Colson. I guess their trying to get more recognition. Are they attracting the right kind of recognition?

I mentioned the fact that I'm an Anabaptist because of the traditional struggle of Anabaptists to balance a separation from government and/or culture, with the desire to stay relevant to some extent (the most extreme on the side of separation, of course, found a la Amish). Many commentators have been talking about why the President would choose to speak at a place like Calvin College. My concern would be for the resoning behind why Calvin College would invite and/or allow the president of the United States speak at their commencement address. What message are they trying to send? Were they trying to get the most famous Christian in the world so people would take notice? Are they trying to announce to America that they support the president's policies? Not that a US president would do it, but I could see a seminar done with such a huge political figure, leaving room for discussion and debate. The choice of a commencement speaker, though, seems to make a statement about a school's values, the final piece of wisdom they receive while they are still students of this particular institution (my alma mater had senior NPR correspondent Juan Williams as a commencement speaker this year). And should a school take the risk of aligning their values with the president of the United States? They will probably get an influx of applications from a certain kind of applicant and donations from a certain kind of donor. Is that the goal?

On the other hand, I think the reason the school made so many headlines is because there was an element of respectful dissent. With the fact that "823 alumni, faculty, staff and students took out a full-page ad criticizing Bush's policies; about 100 faculty signed another half-page ad doing the same." According to Calvin's own newspaper, Chimes, Calvin also held an event hosting Jim Wallis who spoke about the then upcoming visit from the president and on Wallis's book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.

So while I think that it is a little disturbing that Calvin hosted the president as their commencement speaker (and if Messiah College did that, I would certainly raise a stink about it), it seems that they opened a genuine dialogue about different perspectives in Christianity. In fact, I think that the wide coverage of this dissent sends a message to the rest of America that Christians are not all the same, more nuanced than the media would normally portray us. And hence, they may get a more nuanced crowd of applicants and donors who are proud of a Christian institution taking up such an important discussion and handling it so well.

So there is good and there is bad. Whatever you think about it, you have to admit that it sure is thought provoking. Or maybe you don't. Maybe you don't care. And I guess that's okay too.

Peace, Pat

doing the online journal thing
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: NPR: All Things Considered
Topic: Myself
So I am joining the other 8 million Americans who blog. I have been told that it is a waste of time, so I feel like I must take this first post to defend my reasoning to join this new literary medium.

First, I view it as an art form. I have thoughts rambling about in my head, I wish to express these thoughts in creative ways. And while I enjoy my personal pen and paper journal, by tossing a few thoughts, links, and a picture or two online, I can pretend I'm reaching an audience who may actually be interested in what I might have to say.

Why should one more blog show up online? I'm sure that there are many who are more creative and well written than myself out there, but... how many are Anabaptists?? I haven't done a study on it, but would assume the number to be small. I'll use this as my excuse. Someone has to represent the radical reformers out there!

American Christians have a long tradition of expressing themselves through the journal, diary, or devotional writing medium, though they have been used for a variety of purposes. University of Chicago professor Catherine A. Brekus, in an article written for the Martin Marty Center's Religion & Culture Web Forum, suggests that early American Christian's used the diary to criticize or crucify the self, while modern Christians (or those who consider themselves spiritual) use the journal as way to discover and love themselves. "While early Americans were distressed by their inherent sinfulness, people today seem to be haunted by a different demon: a deep fear of the loss of authentic 'selfhood.'"

There are certainly issues of individualism, capitalism, postmodernism, etc. and quite a few problems with journals (both the ones at Borders as well as their online counterparts), but I will nevertheless use Dr. Brekus's words to help justify this, my own blog/journal:

"Journaling, then, can be understood as a protest against the dehumanizing forces of the modern world, especially the objectification and commodification of the self. Even the most superficial guides to journaling (and unfortunately, there are many) make a strong affirmation of human dignity and worth. According to these guides, every person is distinctive, and every person has an important story to tell about what it means to be human."

I hope to share my own voice as well as point to other voices I find interesting. I hope to laugh a bit and jump around from deep to shallow thoughts. And I hope to criticize myself as I am also searching my soul or simply speaking of anything silly. (I will also try to avoid the smugness and condescension I see in so many blogs, especially Christian ones.)

Oh yeah, and it will also allow friends and family to keep up with what's going on in my life. I will try not to ramble this much in every entry!