Parables
#1 A man went up to a farmer and said to him, “Farmer, I see that the seeds you have planted in your field have produced many good plants. May I plant my seeds here as well?” The farmer said to him, “I am sorry, but there is not enough space in my field for both of us to plant our seeds. However, there are few farmers in this area, and the land is vast. Why not choose another field and plant your seeds there?” The man said to him “I do not know if my seeds will grow there. Perhaps the soil is bad, or there are many vines and birds. But I know your soil is good. Please let me plant there.” The… Read more >>Into the Wild Blue Yonder
This is a poem that I began a few days before I left for Berlin, and just finished this past Wednesday in the middle of my orientation. I wonder if that progression can be seen or not. Anyway, I think it is a pretty good encapsulation of my feelings as I begin my ministry assignment in Berlin. Into the Wild Blue YonderIs a phrase that I borrowed from a songAbout the U.S. Air Force which has very little to doWith my present circumstances but which fitsSort of like an edge piece of a 1,000 piece Safari puzzle that also happens to work as an edge piece of a 1,000 piece puzzle about… Read more >>
Entering Berlin Well
As the summer has progressed and my departure date has approached, I have thought more and more about how different things will be in Berlin as compared to what I am used to in the United States. Some things are really obvious, like the dominant language being German rather than English. But other things are not so obvious. Standards of modesty, behavior in public, work ethic, etc. might all be different. For example, in Germany it is not uncommon for strangers to share a table at a restaurant if it is crowded. The very thought of doing this myself or having a stranger suddenly sit down at… Read more >>
Climbing the Mountain
Last summer, I got really hooked on the Tour de France. Like, really hooked. Each stage of the 21-stage race starts around 8 AM, and last summer I was more of an 11 AM-Noon kind of guy. But I was getting up to watch most of the race each day, if not all of it. I was kind of surprised that this had happened. Prior to last summer, I had never had any particular interest in competitive cycling. Like most Americans, I would vaguely hear about Lance Armstrong doing his thing every year, but once he retired and was subsequently stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles due to performance-… Read more >>