plodding through Bonhoeffer #4

Chapter Four "Assistant Lecturer in Berlin: 1929-1930" pg. 125-145.

This chapter covers the changing political climate in Berlin, new post-doctoral work, Act and Being, getting Sanctorum Communio published, and the opened opportunity of visiting America. In 1929, Bethge notes, "he took little interest in either right-or left-wing politics, but devoted himself solely to theology." (pg. 128) This lack of interest was bound to change after his trip to America. Even so something was developing here at this time: a relentless earnestness for his subject that he sought to wed with action and involvement. The theology itself related to praxis.

Bethge talks about how Bonhoeffer went about paying over one thousand marks to have SC published and subsequently lost interest in it for his work on Act and Being. It took three years for SC to be published from the time Dietrich first wrote it. Copies arrived to him just as he was departing by boat for America so he couldn't even give gratis copies to his friends and family. The book was all but ignored in its' field at the time and Bonhoeffer was himself quite frankly not interested in suggesting review possibilities to the publisher. As a publishing manager I sympathize with Trowitzsch in their frustration with having a writer lose interest in their work. Bethge indicates that this dispassion for his writings followed Bonhoeffer throughout his life. Even with Discipleship, his most well received book, Bonhoeffer showed little interest in revising it or dialogging on it. Contrast this with Karl Barth whose work it seems suffered from too much revision and dialogue! Could he maybe have finished Church Dogmatics if he hadn't spent so much time analyzing and conversing? I don't know.

Bonhoeffer's relationship with Franz Hildebrandt is highlighted here. I did some web digging and found that after the war Hildebrandt became a Methodist and headed a University in America until his death. Together Franz and Dietrich were envoys to Archbishop George Bell. They shared a feisty theological friendship in which they knew each other's way of thinking implicitly though they disagreed vehemently. In his book, Daring, Trusting Spirit: Bonhoeffer's friend Eberhard Bethge, (2006) John deGruchy notes that Hildebrandt was the closest friend to Bonhoeffer capable of doing a biography on him. But when queried Hildebrandt felt incapable of the necessary speculation involved or the connections needed.

Tags: Franz Hildebrandt, Eberhard Bethge, John DeGruchy, Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics

plodding through Bonhoeffer continued. . . #3

I have three books I'm using at the same time to get a wholistic view of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Of course the Biography, Revised Edition, 2000, by Eberhard Bethge.
Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality, Revised Edition, 1999, by Clifford J. Green
and Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Life in Pictures, Centenary Edition, 2006, Bethge and Gremmels.
The book by Clifford Green is indispensable for following Bonhoeffer's writings as they develop and intersect. I can't see understanding Sanctorum Communio or Act and Being without this book. That's not to say I am not going to actually read SC or AB too! I've just received the complete edition of SC through the public interlibrary loan. This is one of the greatest things about life in Chicago! Not only does the system have most everything a student could want, if they don't have it you can order it and have it shipped to the location nearest you! Just make sure you have the ISBN number and insist only on that particular edition. This time I received SC within two weeks. I'll be taking it with on vacation.

Chapter 3 "Assistance Pastor in Barcelona: 1928"
pg. 97-124

After his dissertation Bonhoeffer took an assistant pastor's position in Barcelona. Bethge relates the effect the removal from Berlin had on Dietrich:
"He is extricated from the academic world he'd become accustomed to.
His family communications aren't as frequent. The next step toward the "unsheltered" life he'd wished for. "Far from oppressing him this conflict between aspiration and realization spurred him on."
I'm impressed with the detail available for Bonhoeffer's time in Barcelona. There are more personal reflections, letters home and lecture notes here than with the trip to America which follows. I love the reflections on witnessing the High Mass at Sacre-Coeur Basilica:

"The people in the church were almost all from Montmartre, prostitutes and their men went to the Mass and submitted to all the ceremonies. . . one saw. . . how close, through their fate and guilt, these heavily burdened people stood to the essence of the Gospel. I've believed for a long time that Tauentzienstrasse in Berlin would be an extremely fruitful field for church work. It is much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer or prostitute than a vain person. Nothing goes more against prayer than vanity."(pg. 100)

It seems that the young assistant had to work to not be a nuisance to the head pastor. Everything Bonhoeffer did to increase membership in the church and connect with people the pastor took offense at. This chapter illustrates Dietrich's desire to give of himself and meet the felt needs of parishioners. Here was this little expatriate community of Germans who didn't really know why they needed the Church, and Bonhoeffer figured that instead of biding his time and being lazy he was going to do his best to show them the kind of faith he had worked so hard to develop in his writing theory.

As I said earlier the notes from some of his Barcelona lectures are amazing! One in particular caught my eye. I had to read and reread it again and again. Though it is cryptic, and Bethge indicates he thought Dietrich went too far in this instance, I must say I heartily agree!

"The germ of hubris is contained in religion and morality. . . thus the Christian message is basically amoral and irreligious, however paradoxical that may sound." (pg. 117)

These little ideas contain so much and could go any which way.

Tags: Barcelona, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Bethge, Clifford Green

New folk as Americana?

I tuned into an Itunes radio station this morning. It promised "Americana" music. What I got was what I consider crappy New Folk. I can't explain the boundaries between quality old country, mountain music, bluegrass, and tra la la crappy new folk. Here are some turn-offs:
-Showboating as filler in a song with one verse with four riffs played repeatedly for six minutes. At least with punk when it's a ninety second song it's a ninety second song!
-Songs written in tribute to Starbucks customers or especially with them in mind.
-Songs that repeat I...E...I...E...I...E...I...E...I...E...I...E...I until I can't remember how the song started have no idea where it's going and don't care so long as I can reach the off button before it finally ends.
I could publish my list of musicians that fall into this camp but then I'd finally alienate most all my friends and be found out for the musical snob I am.

I have a photo book by Henry Horenstein called Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music 1972-1981. Though there are some new folkers in it I have to say it captures what's good about Americana to me. The ultimate irony is that while I love heart-break songs and tragic liquor soaked ditties I'm constantly applying them to something else, demythologizing them, looking for the hard lessons and morality plays. I feel none of the compulsion for drink that the songs imply. As a musician I'd be a terrible booze seller. That's the real heart of Americana I fear---another round, but I prefer to keep that truth at arms reach.

Tags: Americana, New Folk, Differences, Honky Tonk, music

this morning's thought

Which world view, Christian or Atheist, provide the social mores that
benefit universal human existence?
What a lousy question! That's gotta be another Elijah fire test that
doesn't work. Do we have sociological/historical examples to argue
sides? Let's be honest and say God alone could judge. Whoops!

Tags: world view, Christianity, Atheism, humanity, Elijah

Plodding through Bonhoeffer(continued): Student Years

Chapter Two: Student Years: 1923-1927
pgs. 45-97 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography, Revised Edition, by Eberhard Bethge, Fortress (2000).

I found parts of this chapter more difficult than the first to get through. Where the first chapter had many references to dates and people which are (to me) now inaccessible in history, these were at least names and places. The descriptions were sufficient to place me in some kind of proximity. While Bonhoeffer's journey with his brother to Rome were very important I'm not going to deal with them here. My impression of his journals and letters to home on this trip are that his initial introduction to the church were largely ascetic, but who can say that for sure? Bethge points out that Bonhoeffer was drawn to Rome's art and liturgy and that this was unusual given his upbringing. If someone has questions I'll go back and pay more attention here.

With this second chapter I entered the very esoteric and daunting world of Berlin University. The professors names and writings are far removed from my access at this time. Seeburg, Althaus, Harnack. The new theological world appearing with Karl Barth is only beginning to appear. Dietrich is only nineteen and yet he writes his dissertation, Sanctorum Communio, in eighteen months. Eberhard Bethge writes:

"[He] found himself dealing with too many issues when he tried to reconcile completely divergent disciplines like historicism and sociology on the one hand, and the theology of revelation on the other."(pg. 82)

My attempts at reading Sanctorum Communio are disastrous. I've never read any Hegel or Seeburg, Althaus or Harnack. I'm lost with just the simple reference to pro me or extra me. I think I'm not alone. When this work was published it was ignored. Bethge says that only in 1955 with the appearance of Letters and Papers from Prison and the interest in "worldly Christianity" was there any interest in this work. The highest praise came from Karl Barth in his Church Dogmatics,
"I openly confess that I have misgivings whether I can even maintain the high level reached by Bonhoeffer, saying no less in my own words and context, and saying it no less forcefully, than did this young man so many years ago."
I know where to read next. I have Clifford Green's, Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality. This work allows me to read all of Dietrich's works in context and progression from SC to Ethics. That doesn't make it easy.
Part of my personal problem with SC is Dietrich's decision to enter a pastorate rather than become a professor. I feel like this practical decision made his SC sheer conjecture in many ways. Why read it if Bonhoeffer grew beyond it? And yet in our growth as people we are always the sum of our learning and experiences. Are these feelings just clouding reality? I'm trying to ignore these and continue my reading work. It is hard work because I'm creating these reference points as I go along. I'm not prodded by anyone to continue at this time. I'm self-educated and that has definite limitations. Even so there is something in Bonhoeffer that is very fresh and relevant for today. Many schools are now recognizing this. I've been reading Dietrich personally for like fifteen years now on and off. I got into Karl Barth because of Bonhoeffer. But I just keep reading Life Together and Discipleship, selections from the reader A Testament to Freedom, and lots of books about him. If I'm really going to study him seriously I've got to start from the beginning and plunge into Sanctorum Communio and Act and Being and then finally Christology. I know God is using all this to form me. I don't know why. The hard work is for something.

Back to the book. In addition to the dissertation he turned in seven essays and nine drafts for catechisms and sermons and invested himself in a local church, principally in designing lessons for children. I am so delighted to read of Dietrich's fascination with children! What a paradox! Writing Sanctorum Communio and then painstakingly designing stories for children.
Bethge writes:

"Bonhoeffer preached to the children in his group as much as possible. He made biblical stories as exciting as sagas or as appealing as fairy tales. He went to great trouble to hold the children's attention, which is why he so carefully wrote out in advance what he proposed to tell them. He told them tales such as that about the king in his castle who sent out heralds who never returned; about the devil who stole a pot of red paint and painted the humble mushroom, bestowing upon it the poison of pride; about the old woman caught in a snowstorm outside a locked door (an Advent story); and he gave a dramatic account of the struggle for the people's confidence between the prophets Jeremiah and Hananiah. He had no qualms about tak­ing liberties with the text.
He discovered that when children expect something it is impossible to give only part of oneself to them. He also became aware of the role of psy­chological and personal factors, and appreciated the risk these could pose to the real purpose of religious instruction. He was disturbed when children began to flock to his group, and became so worried about developing per­sonal ties that he wrote for advice to Richard Widmann, who now led a parish in Wurttemberg." (pg. 92)

Even as he writes this hopelessly abstract and esoteric dissertation, Dietrich the barely adult man is spending himself on behalf of little kids. Is it too much to speculate that his work with the children affected SC? At this time in his learning he would sometimes just spit back what he was reading. But with this work he seems passionate understand all the social and historical ramifications of being the church and knowing Christ in it. At any rate, teaching these children while working on the dissertation illustrates that Bonhoeffer's interest in theology was always practical as well as academic.

Fighting my way through this chapter was rewarding.

Tags: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Bethge, Clifford Green, Student Years

Cracklin Moth/Bill Mallonee in Chicago

cure for depression

Skim through Tim Lahaye's book How to Win Over Depression (Zondervan, 1974) and then smile with the realization that his optimistic automaton way of life is not necessarily spiritual or Christian or helpful!

audio book heaven

In my ongoing carnivorous efforts to possess and eventually digest every free notable audio file in the known universe I found this link from CCEL. The greek NT, the whole Bible, the little flowers of St. Francis, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chesterton, Edwards, oh my head is spinning! Any veterans out there with more links or maybe symptoms of related brain injury I should be aware of?

learning about mental illness and being a friend

For the last week or so a good friend of mine who has a history of severe panic attacks has really been through the ringer. He and I have been close for about two years now. We share many interests, especially in spiritual and theological conversations. He has been a specific answer to prayer for me. Shortly before he moved here to JPUSA I asked God for someone who could come along side and really share in my conversations and interests. In this friend God gave me much more than I asked!

Now it really pains me to see him in physical, emotional and spiritual torment. I've never been so directly effected by mental illness. His panic attacks and post-concussion syndrom have spurred on mental obsessions that at this time are leading him into an in-patient facility. We've been spending hours together daily. I don't think I've ever really known what it was to be a paraklete, a comforter and friend in a situation like this. My friend says all the time "this is scary as hell." He can't sleep, has little appetite and virtually no control of his mind. All I do is listen, remind him of our faith, and share the simple things that have helped me. Yesterday I was sharing something I received from Craig Slane's Bonhoeffer As Martyr and I began to cry. I realized that this kind of deep reflection and willing to belief was exactly what I needed to hear!

Jean Vanier writes about belonging in community with those with mental illness in Community and Growth. While I've leaned for years on these writings, only with my friend recently have I had the joy of experiencing just a bit of what he describes as it is specifically related! Mental anguish, obsessive thinking, the feeling of immanent peril and irrational fear are way beyond my human ability to really help. I am personally so prone to fear and rebellion. Over the last week I have seen God come through for us. Of course I should say we are not alone. Numerous others here offered constant prayer and reassurance all along. I would appreciate your prayers as well.

Tags: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, mental illness, Community, friendship, pain, Prayer

German, Bonhoeffer, and Dylan

Work has been slow on the publishing side, I'm waiting for my other editors to hand our book my way for layout and etc. In the meantime I've got three audio books in the kilter from the library. I'm trying to teach myself German with audio lessons. I'm listening to Bob Dylan's autobiography Chronicles Vol. 1 read by Sean Penn. Ready for later is the audio book of CS Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet.

I'm plowing through Eberhard Bethge's monstrous bio Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography (Revised Edition, paperback, 2000.). I'll try to blog my thoughts on it. So far I'm only up to the teen years.

On my first attempt I got stuck in this section. It's really hard to picture life in an area of Poland and Germany that are gone forever now. I was trying to look up the places mentioned (birthplace, lineage, early moves) on Google Earth. They're all gone! Its hard to find a frame of reference for my late twentieth century brain for these early twentieth century places. The fact that Dietrich grew up in a home-church type family is a point of departure. How many home-schooled Christian US kids have read this and identified? I'm not sure it applies. Dietrich's mother brought them up on the Bible stories and hymns of her learning--Moravian Brethren. He used these stories himself when he taught Bible. But it's clear that his family was bourgeious and very passive in their interest in the Church. They didn't attend and didn't really hang out with anyone who did! So Bonhoeffer's interest in becoming a theologian was rather mysterious even to him and he seems to have wanted to keep it that way! Bethge writes:

"When we turn to the motives and origins of Bonhoeffer's choice of career, it is hard to find any answer that is not somewhat speculative. Nowhere did Bonhoeffer offer an autobiographical account of his decision. But perhaps this omission itself points to something central: his belif that the roots of one's innermost vocation should remain a secret. Bonhoeffer sensed that the curiosity to make oneself sure of something was self-destructive. So we must accept a certain amount of uncertainty when we search for the decisive factors here." (p. 34)

Learning to speak German is a little dream of mine accompanied by a wish to visit Germany and Switzerland and see firsthand where Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth lived and worked. My wife and I are like fourth generation Germans (as well as other things). My grandmother on my dad's side speaks fluent German. When I get good enough I should be able to speak with other members here at JPUSA. A good friend just down the hall from me is German. We'll see how far I get with my short attention span. I tried Greek a while back as well.

Tags: Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bob Dylan

an update

Thank you for your prayers for Martha's dad, Aaron. He is doing well, the angioplasty revealed no heart damage. He is recovering for a few weeks and then will be evaluated again. Continue to pray for lower stress all around and God's provision. Thanks.

Please join with us in praying for my wife Martha's dad Aaron as he is now hospitalized for a heart attack. Please pray for complete healing and that God would give wisdom to the doctors to be able to diagnose the issues and help bring God's healing to his body. Aaron and Martha's mom Linda are full time missionaries to China. Please pray for their work and for dedicated laborers. Aaron's health is a real issue for the work now. Pray for provision in the department in his absence and wisdom for all those involved.
Thanks.

Why We Fight

This film on the military industrial complex looks really good! The site has lots of clips.
I wish it were showing here in Chicago.
Why We Fight: A film by Eugene Jarecki
A must see once it's portable.


Or view it here on Google's Video library:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1422779427989588955

Tags: Why We Fight, Eugene Jarecki, Documentaries, Politics, Military Industrial Complex, Eisenhower

response to a CT editorial

Christianity Today has an editorial posted on their website titled “Before the Next Sex Scandal: How your church and your pastor may prevent the predictable.” After citing examples of recent sexual scandals, the article very passively discusses the issue of temptation with examples of resistance and then curtly the way churches should generally handle disciplinary measures to restore or when necessary isolate the offender. While it is admirable to speak frankly about the ongoing issue of clergy sexual immorality, to me there is something apparently missing from this little information piece, namely a personal interest in the subjects themselves!

While reading this it occurred to me that we might just as easily be discussing preventive measure for a hurricane or a small pox epidemic. Sexual scandal is framed in terms of “the act” and its repercussions. What is not discussed are the act-ors or the root issues that led to the scandalous action itself. I know that only so much can be said in a piece like this. I also know that it is intended for a general audience or readers who themselves have (it is assumed) very little to nothing to do with sexual immorality. The real root sin involved in every sexually immoral action is lust. When it becomes a full blown sexual scandal, the roots of lust have most often had time to spread and furrow deep into every area of a person’s life. In order to grow and deepen a life of dishonesty must be nursed and rarely admitted. Along with that lust most often bitterness and resentment help to blind, deepen and deaden the spirit.

All of these sins are very easily hidden within a pastorate or respectable position within the church. The scandal began long before it came to light. It began with the repeated decision to foster dishonesty and ambiguity. How can the church fend off scandal? By becoming a community that fosters truth tellers. Truth telling doesn’t begin after we have sinned. It begins at the point of our need. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote his book Life Together as a model for being Christian in counteraction to German society’s way of isolating belief. It contains a way of confession and repentance that at first seemed impractical to its users. In time as they saw him practice it they realized it was exactly what they needed.

Instead of starting with the broken marriages and churches in the aftermath of sex scandal, let’s begin with the fragile sexuality these marriages and churches already contain. Invite real professional help for sexual and relational addictions. Don’t buy into the idea that Jesus instantly takes away any sexual brokenness at conversion or at the altar. He often uses the serious accountability and rigorous repentance of twelve step groups and counseling. Sexual sin reveals in the most intimate and vulnerable places of our psyches the utter frailty of our humanity. Christians can and are speaking honestly about sexual brokenness. We just need much more of it.

Tags: Christianity Today, editorial, sex, marriage, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

talk about sex

I spent some time today visiting the various xxxchurch.com web features. For those who don't know about it, 3x church is a ministry aimed at educating people to the dangers of pornography and helping porn stars get out of the industry. They visit churches and trade shows trying to bring the gospel to the industry. They have some insight into the fact that secretly many church members already know the industry and buy it's services. I've known about 3x church for some time but spent hours today trying to formulate my opinion on them. I downloaded a podcast episode. I downloaded tv evangelist James Robinson's interview with the two pastors and a former porn star.

My reason for reading and digesting all this material was a conversation I had with a friend today about their recent run-in with the American Bible Society over the cover art they wanted printed on 10,000 bibles. These were going to be handed out at Adult trade conventions. The cover simply read in 70's retro art "Jesus loves Porn Stars". ABS refused to publish, sent back their money and suggested various other titles. 3x church already sells t-shirts with this design and has booths with the design. It could have been a lot worse. They could have had Wally the Weiner, the giant blow-up penis on the cover. They use this gimmick with the sign in front "Do you have the balls enough to quit viewing porn?" The title cover is not so bad anymore huh? So anyway, as my friend and I were discussing this I laid out what I felt was wrong. Jesus doesn't love people on the basis of their profession right? So why give away a Bible on that basis? And then we discussed all the ministry aspects of how these folks are reaching people and how God alone knows the fruit.

So anyway, the conversation caused me to further education myself about 3x church and its tactics. Here are some observations: the whole thing is very market oriented. They use trendy advertisements to get to know people and strike up conversations. They use Christian and secular media to get their name out there. They rely on other ministries for the follow up work with individuals struggling with pornography. Generally their approach seems to suggest that while pornography is addictive, Jesus is the miracle cure. On a podcast they ask a former porn star whether all the sex scarred her toward future relationships. Her answer was no, and that the whole experience was only one step in a better life direction. Those seem like conflicting messages. Which is it? An addiction or just a hole anyone can get out of? I don't want to discount miracle cures but it seems to me that if porn is like heroine these guys should be looking to something like the 12 steps and 12 traditions of AA. Finally, it is interesting to me that two pastors who don't seem to have any real background using pornography could develop such a burden for it. If you look at other ministries like Exodus International or Love in Action, the directors are usually people who were directly influenced and effected by the disease. In this case these guys were just called.

All in all I'm thankful for the work 3x church is doing to talk about pornography where it is needed. Most of all I'm thankful that they're putting their money where their mouth is offering a way for those trapped in the industry to get out and find work and a better way of life. All that said, it would be very easy on every level to wonder how an industry built on deceit and conning could find insiders willing to stop right away and finally get completely honest. I will be praying for these guys and their work in the future. I'm glad they're shedding light on the topic of our frail human sexuality. Pornography thrives on silence and secrecy. It is readily available and easily hidden. Faith is only possible in lives capable of rigorous honesty.

Tags: sex, pornography, xxxchurch.com, bibles

A chorus

How I wish you could see things
my way Lord
and take my problems all away
If I praise you in this instant
give me just what I want

Ch:Lord you didn't die for me alone
You're not my sugar daddy savior
you are Lord
of time and all people
and I must find myself in You

I've got expectations
for the way things need to be
and there's a god out there somewhere
ready to promise them to me
I know in my heart
they won't bring satisfaction
You are bigger than my ego
and you are greater than my heart

between my earbuds

You just never know what's going on between those earbuds. Yes I bought
a refreshed (but not refurbished) ipod mini. A friend asked what sort of
hillbilly hootenany music I had on it. In truth I now have sorted the
following:
A Knock At Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr (original recorded sermons).
morningprayer's podcast: daily readings from the Book of Common Prayer
Books(!): George Orwell, 1984.
Carl Sandberg: Chicago Poems.
TS Eliot selections from Wikipedia.
And yes there is the hootenany music: I select downloads from
NoDepression.net each time they're posted.
Also: Son Volt, Okemah
Dylan, Blood on the Tracks
and I still have half the ipod free for other stuff when I need it. I'll
be using it as a flash drive for files at work as well.

So I've been asking myself am I a yuppy yet? The earbud is a yuppy
signifier. I could spray paint or model paint or nail polish paint them.
Or I could just leave it alone. Also included in the box were two apple
stickers. I won't be using those.

It is profoundly ironic that the Apple symbol is somehow a felt symbol
for bucking the system. I see them on cars next to punker bumper
stickers. The other day I went down to the Apple store because I was
impatient with the shipping time on my ipod. I walk up to the Apple
store on Michigan Ave. and am startled to notice that the front plate
glass window looks broken from the corner of my eye. As I get closer its
not really broken but an advertising stunt for their new radio ipod
service. Sickening. And I don't mean that in the old "cool" vernacular.
(Now I sound like Montgomery Burns.)
I'm always sensitive to feeling controlled by advertisers. Since when
did "smashed" turn yuppy? Maybe I just haven't noticed.
So I step inside this expensive box with a bitten apple on it and am
taken back by how packed the place is and yet how nothing these folks
are touching or viewing is the actual product they buy. They mingle with
store employees and discuss the merch. I overhear one geek correcting
the employee on his obvious technical "yesterdayness."

The sick brand-as-life feeling permeates everything. The only way I know
this is a store is that the security guard knows I'm there to buy and
not mingle. He eyes me as I flit from place to place just looking for
the actual product to buy and not a store sample. I head upstairs. Oh,
here we go, earbuds and cases. I can actually hold and view these in
attempt to buy!
I head back downstairs and ask an employee where they keep the ipods. He
says they're behind the counter in back. Ok. I stand in line and then
ask the clerk (wondering what sort of appley name they have for that
position) for a refreshed (not refurbished they don't sell refurbished
products) Ipod nano. How much are they by the way? She can't tell me the
price. She must ring it up. She goes in the back room then calls a
manager. "Do we have refreshed nanos?" "What color?" "Black." "Step
aside and let me help the next customer while you wait." "OK." "Yes we
have a black nano."

I look at it and am a little satisfied. No the truth is I hate it. It's
the size of a large stick of gum. I'm sure I'll smash it with my keys in
my pocket. If I'm forced to wear this large tongue depressor/stick of
gum on my arm as an ad I'll walk around feeling like an idiot. "Go ahead
and ring it up." Its way over what I thought. "Do you have any 4G
nanos?" Now the woman flashes that "You annoy me. You know you don't
belong here. Let me drop everything to help you with your problem."
winning smile and for a second disappears behind the back door. "Nope no
4G nanos!" "OK, sorry to bother you." "Next."

That was the most silly hour and a half wasted in my recent memory. And
if you've actually read this whiney rant and identify I pity you as well.

Tags: ipod, Apple Store

On Play

I love country gospel music. But I also love good satire. In the early 1990's a band called the Sanctified Glory Mountain Revival Festival played Cornerstone Festival. Their ep was a hit in my circle of friends in Bible college. (That tells you something about my circle of friends. I dug up the old cassettes this morning and played them. Terrible music. (But that's the point.) But delightful lyrics.

Here are my favorites:

I'm So Glad For The Preacher

When I was just a little child, I was very young.
I used to do some awful things just in the name of fun.
I'd break up all my crayons, I'd write upon the wall.
What was the reason for such wickedness. I was the product of Adam's fall.
Then one day I went to church out on the edge of town.
The preach in' heard, the singin' loud,
when they shouted their hair down.
My eyes were big as saucers as I did hear and see,
it was in that country church where the preacher scared he--
­out of me.
(Chorus)
He spoke of fire and brimstone,
I felt the flames so hot,
it's a place of awful torment, where the worm dieth not.
He said to miss this awful place from sin you'll have to flee.
I'm so glad for the preacher, who scared
he- - out of me.
iI you go your way, and do your own thing, you make your boastful claims.
You wear your shorts, smoke cigarettes, and you go to them old ballgames.
You watch that one-eyed devil that we call the old boob tube.
I hope you find a preacher, who'll scare he- - out of you.
(Chorus)



If Your Hair's Too Long

A rich young ruler came one day
To ask about the narrow way
But his hair was long and he couldn't be saved
The preacher looked at him through tears
And said the problem's on your ears

If your hair's too long there's sin in your heart
If your hair's on your ears, there's sin in your heart
Get it cut today and make a new start
You'll live a life of fear and dread
With that tangled mess upon your head
If your hairs too long there's sin in your heart

My friend if you will enter there
You'll not go there with your long hair
If your hair's too long, there's sin in your heart
They'll be hell behind with those I fear
Who wear their hair upon their ears
If your hair's too long there's sin in your heart

From the album Polly Ester Heaven, Mootown Records.

If anybody knows what ever happened to these folks, I'm interested.

On Play

Cracklin Moth/redbird ep

go away sun!

AAAAHHH! My eyes!!! The sun is glaring off a van across the street and I
don't have a shade on my window! Its been so cloudy, gloomy, wet and
cold lately. I know its been Spring officially for weeks but every time
I start to believe it's true I get proven wrong by another 30 something
degree cold snap with heavy winds. My friend Anthony enjoys wonderfully
warm California, having shunned the weather of his Indiana youth. He
would. I'm not happy enough to enjoy the sun out west and I refuse to
wear shades. Finally. The sun moved. All it takes is a diatribe.