Temporarily in my temporal home

Well, I'm back. But not for long. I'm enjoying the dry heat (it's been in the mid-90s), the company (the wackiest family on planet earth), and the food (real home cooking, including my dad's incomparable hamburgers and bbq pulled pork sandwiches). Soon, though, I'll be back on the cool East Coast, learning possibly more than I did this school year. This summer, I have been entrusted with two important responsibilities. I'll be a counselor for 14-18 year old boys at PHC's Teen Camps, with the responsibility to keep them in line and help them learn and grow. While I'm there, I'll also be teaching the junior high boys' sunday school class at my church. I'm trying to work on the lessons now, so hopefully that won't take up too much more time than Sunday mornings.

Please pray that in these positions of leadership I will be a godly role model for these young men. I don't claim to have any special abilities on my own, but I think that God can use me to help these boys learn something about Him.

Randomness

Well, I'm done with freshman year. Had quite an interesting evening tonight. Went to a chili supper/contra dance in a barn near here, but didn't dance (there were far more guys than girls; must have been the promise of food). Climbed in the rafters a lot, climbed on an old stone wall, and climbed all the way to the top of a silo. Then went to St. Pete's with several friends for a bit of swing dancing and just hanging out, then went to McDonald's and walked up to the drive-thru window. Walked down to Food Lion, talked to the lady who was about to close up, then we all came back to campus. Watched a couple of episodes of Get Smart; it had been way too long since I saw that. Now I think I'm going to drag my tired self into bed for the first meaningful rest in a long time. Look for a thoughful post coming soon.

Free Indeed Concert Coming Up

(L to R: Amy, Hannah, Quinn, Kelly, Tiffany, Me, Michael Z. Not pictured: Michael F.)

We look depressed. Oh well, it's a good poster otherwise. You can click to see it full-size.

Of Espionage and Abductions

The chief problem with writing a history paper on Whittaker Chambers is that his autobiography, Witness, is so interesting that I get caught up reading the whole thing rather than focusing on the really important parts. One of the anecdotes reminded me of Benjamin Gibson. Chambers describes a time when he was in hiding from the Communist party and decided to buy a gun for protection.

As we entered Baltimore, I stopped at Montgomery Ward's and bought a shotgun. It looked big enough to fell an elephant and the clerk warned me that the kick might knock me down. "Just what do you want it for?" he asked me. What I wanted it for was so much in the front of my brain that I felt as if I had been caught with my thoughts down and fumbled "Well, I think there are prowlers around the house and a gun might come in handy." His reaction was completely different from what I expected. He was a Southerner with the fine abandon some Southerners have about firearms and related matters. "Well, sir," he said with immense pleasure, "you've bought the right gun. Just hold it in front of you, squeeze the trigger, and, brother, it will be fay-ya-you-well."

On a slightly related note, clandestine activities took place at PHC over the weekend. Five men abducted an unidentified young man to take him to his surprise 22nd birthday party. The abductors grabbed him from his room, duct taped his hands behind his back, put a pillowcase over his head, and stuffed him in the trunk of a black two door coupe. The driver then proceeded to peel out from the school with another abductor riding shotgun, wearing a ski mask and carrying an airsoft carbine. They took the victim to St. Peter's Episcopal Church where the party was being held, and cameras captured their arrival:

This man is believed to be the no. 1 wheelman of the operation:

No further clues as to the identity of the group have been discovered.

"Pray Without Ceasing"

This is a tough post to write. Most of you know the situation that's going on here right now. It seems to get worse every day. Today has got to have been the worst day of it all. The worst moment came this afternoon, but not in one of the announcements or anything like that. One of my professors who is leaving has a running joke in class about how he will pay $100 to the first person from the class to name their child after a certain grammar construction. The subject came up again this afternoon, and the professor glibly said, "Now it could be $500, because you won't know me then." Class went on as normal. But I couldn't help being hit hard by that statement. We won't know him. He's not only leaving, but it seems as if all ties are being severed. How sad.

It seems that through this all, there is almost no desire on the part of many people for reconciliation. I'm not blaming anyone in particular here, but I can't help thinking of what a horrible witness we're being. It's disgusting.

There are too many Christians/Who don't talk to each other/They're not acting like brothers/They're not loving at all/They refuse confrontation/They choose gossip and slander/For solutions meander/Well they're in for a fall

We can't keep going on like this every day/Hear what I say

Let's get together/Let's stop the fighting/Let's start uniting/Whoa, whoa, whoa/Let's get together/Let's stop the fighting/Let's start uniting/Whoa, whoa, whoa

There're too many people/Who don't know the Savior/They see our behavior/is not what it should be/So let's get together/No more fussing and fighting/We need love and uniting/To be one family

We can't keep going on like this every day/Hear what I say

It's time we stop the fighting/And start giving our love to each other/Oh don't you know that they're never gonna/See how we're lovin' our Lord/Unless we're givin' our love to each other

Let's get together/Let's stop the fighting/Let's start uniting/Whoa, whoa whoa/Let's get together/Let's stop the fighting/Let's start uniting/Whoa, whoa, whoa

--"Let's Get Together" by Keith Lancaster, Bill Spencer, and Rodney Britt

I'd like to ask you all to be praying hard. There are many scripture verses I could use right here, but I like the way the song "Let Us Pray" by Steven Curtis Chapman puts it:

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way/Every moment of the day, it is the right time/Let us pray without end and when we finish start again/Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray