It’s becoming clear to me, though, that I have a calling to another blog africancounselingcenter.org. When I set that one up, through blogger, I thought it would give my African family a voice of their own.

What I didn’t realize is that in the hustle of surviving there, they don’t have the luxury of sitting down and reflecting. Or if they do, the electricity isn’t on. Or the computer’s on the blink and can’t be repaired. Or….

So increasingly I’m feeling somebody else needs to tell their story. And I can’t really handle two blogs first class at the same time.

What it comes down to is that I need to focus on the africancounselingcenter.org. They’re getting ready to build their permanent home in Yaoundé, God willing in the next year. So it should be a pretty exciting process.

I think it’s against the rules of technorati or google or somebody to put the same content up in two places, so I guess I’ll have to concentrate on africancounselingcenter.org.

I love those folks so much. I know some Christians here with their kind of courage and total commitment, but not many.

So for awhile, I’ll be de-emphasizing I-YOUniverse.net. I hope you’ll follow the Spirit to africancounselingcenter.org, and pray for us as we undertake this incredible story. I’ve been mostly an observer. Sandy and Jean-Emile, Samuel and others have been the heavy lifters, with grace running the show.

I’ve been reading Dorothy Day and asking God to begin whatever God wants to happen in my life. Hineni! Here am I! as the old people of faith always said.

Well, africancounselingcenter.org seems to be it.

I feel some grief at letting go of the old “give ‘em Shakespeare” fantasy. But it’s just a fantasy, a pipe dream. At africancounselingcenter.org I’ll be reporting something real, something eternal.

There’s so much I can’t do. They say in the world of disability, it’s not what you can’t do that counts. What counts is what you can do. In the world of the Spirit what counts is what you do.

Well, this I can do. With God’s help I will. I hope you’ll join me: pray, stay informed, support as God leads.

Blessings. See you soon at africancounselingcenter.org!

Hmmm?!

I don’t know what to think about that. i-youniverse.net (and related others) is a pretty basic little blog with a very small community of readers.

The name comes from Walter Kaufmann’s translation of Martin Buber’s classic I and Thou. Buber’s family wanted “I-thou” changed to “I-You,” because they correctly thought “thou” language out of date and counter to the intimate every-day-ness that Buber intended the I-thou relationship to represent.

The idea rocks: relate to all humans and all else in creation (even matter) as “subjects” to be respected and loved, NOT objects to be manipulated and used; in so doing, we relate as the Deity relates.

Teilhard de Chardin, SJ,  a Catholic geologist, author of The Divine Milieu, believed even matter tingles with the Presence. The Chinese Sex Museum has nothing as exciting as Teilhard’s Hymn of the Universe, which you can read here.

How does it feel to be hacked?

I’ve been reading about how God wrote Ten Words on two stone tablets.

What would those be worth to a publisher?

A trillion bucks a word?

But Moses became so angry at the people’s idolatry, that he threw the tablets down and broke them.

Not hacking exactly, but equally destructive.

Jesus wrote, but in the sand. We don’t even know what. (John 8.6,8)

In comparison, the words in my blog don’t seem to be so important, do they?

I haven’t seen but have heard described how Tibetan monks will spend days making an elaborate, beautiful mandala of colored grains of sand. Then, after displaying their work, they sweep it away.

All things mortal so.

Except Love. The Love at the heart of creation which—who—we give many names.

Love is at the core of I-thou relations; it is the essence of an I-Youniverse, an I-You bond.

At moments of ecstacy, Buber imagined these bonds as though moving from Center to Periphery, forming a wheel of light.

John the Elder—the great author of much of the Johanine corpus (Revelation, Gospel of John, 1,2,3 John)—concluded one letter with:

“Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” 2 John 1:12 (NRSV)

The Apostle Paul described a kind of communication, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Cor 3:3 (NRSV)

This is Love, the ultimate language.

Against such wondrous Love as this, no attack will succeed, no weapon prevail.

www.e-thouencounter.net/

my first blog. Like

www.I-YOUniverse.net/

 it’s a tip of the hat to Martin Buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relations.

You’ll find a link on the right.

 One suggestion about successful management of disease  is to compartmentalize it, as you can read there. So I’m implementing that idea, and not writing a lot about it here.

Your prayers and comments are  extremely helpful. This is an emotional dance, and keeping a positive mental attitude pays off in real health benefits. Thank you for caring.

When Love Comes to Town – “Pentecost, Peace, and Grace.”

Theolog – Donna Schaper writes about a double miracle.

Reflectionary – Martha Hoverson is asked to do a funeral the week before Pentecost .

Don’t Eat Alone – Milton Brasher-Cunningham offers us a Pentecost poem .

Welcoming Spirit – Paula Jenkins struggles to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Just Words – Ed Sunday-Winters reflects on the age of the Church. Almost 2000 years old, and yet Pentecost reminds us that the present experience of the Spirit is the locus of our power.

Unorthodoxology – David Henson: “I wonder if they still continue to speak in the tongues of men and of angels, because that is the only language they now understand.”

Life and Faith – Ernesto Tinajero remembers a seminary professor who called the Holy Spirit, “Holy Breath.”

Everyday Liturgy – Thomas Turner: “The Holy Spirit is more than a placeholder to complete the Trinity.”

Where the Wind – Fiction by Adam Thomas: Davies writes a paper on the Holy Spirit.

Grounded and Rooted in Love – A Pentecost sermon.

Seeking Authentic Voice – Terri Pilarski reflects on Pentecost having grown up in a non-liturgical tradition.

Eclectic Faith – Christopher Keel reflects on Pentecost having been raised a Pentecostal.

Faith in Community – Diane Roth: Remembering Azusa Street.

I Thirst – Mark Hogg remembers Pentecost 2001.

Dancing on Saturday – Chad Holtz: Pentecost and the Ethiopian gospel choir.”

Today books, films, video games, websites influenced by Tolkien are legion. Andrews, however, is mostly out of print and unknown. Tagore is not hugely popular, as he was at the time.

Andrews wrote prolifically for magazines, journals and newspapers, recording and interpreting the struggle of India for independence from Britain. He introduced the English-speaking world to the thought of Gandhi. He wrote a number of books on Indian questions, and on his experience with Christ.

Tolkien has populated the modern imagination with balrogs, orcs, dwarves, elves, wizards and hobbits. His deeply held Christian faith provides the bedrock on which LOTR stands, but nobody I know sees it as an apologetic work.

So what?

I’m casting about for what to do with this wonderful tool called a blog. Shall I adopt a cause? Politics? God help us! Global warming? Justice in matters racial or economic? How about a devotional column about prayer? Or reading and understanding the Bible?

I really enjoy making the Bible come alive. Years ago I wrote a workbook called Touching Life through the Psalms, which pointed out the role of emotions in worship. Since then, a lot of my biblical teaching and preaching could be called Touching Life through the Bible.

In our culture we’re genuises at how? but, in George Buttrick’s words, we’re a “cut flower civilization.” We’ve lost our roots. That’s why I’m so interested in old literature and classics. We need answers to who? what? why? We need truth, not technology.

If I write about that, especially guided by the Word made flesh now Spirit, I won’t miss the mark by much.

BTW, if you are reading this, I’d love to hear from you either by comment or by email (see side bar).

I resolved, then, to read all the books I could, especially the great books, so that if the day came when I also didn’t read any more, I would have read as many as possible.

Reading the great books

I have in mind some of the classics. Homer, whom I’ve never read. The existentialists Kierkegaard, Dostoyevski. The great Russians. Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Of course, Shakespeare. I have him on audio CDs, and listen to one or two plays a week. Don Quixote has never held my attention for more than 100 pages, but one of these days…

I get distracted. I like biography. Bonhoeffer’s biography by Bethge is terrific. That led me to others of his works. The Cost of Discipleship. Life Together. Required reading for those of us who dream of a family-based monasticism. Mother Teresa’s Come Be My Light. Compelling, heart-breaking.

Distractions

At the moment I’m into C.F. Andrews. I noticed his character in the film Gandhi, and want to understand how this Englishman realized who Gandhi was and what was happening in India. So I read The Ordeal of Love by Hugh Tinker (Oxford, 1979), and I have Charles Freer Andrews (Harper & Brothers, 1950). The latter is more personal, lyrical, and more positive. I’m looking forward to two of Charlie’s books What I Owe to Christ, Christ in the Silence. These will shine light upon his religious quest, from High Church Anglican to some degree of Hindu and finally back to the person of the Christ.

I’m also reading Tagore. Gitanjali, for which he won the Nobel Prize. Sadhana: the Realization of Life. Selected Poems.

I also love liberation theology. We Drink Water from Our Own Wells I carry around with me. And I found Liberation Theology Resources Online.

Deciding what not to read

You realize that I don’t have all that much to do but read.

I’ve gotten to the time in my life when I realize doing one thing means not ever doing ten others.  Younger people think they’ll get around to everything. But decide comes from the same root as suicide, a root that means to cut off.

I feel conflicted. On the surface are the waves, the winds; in the depth is the Gulf Stream. You get to do both. Read the acknowledged classics and also read the blogs, some of which are emerging classics.

How do you decide what to read?

I upload this Russian icon, the first image of the wp2.5.1 upgrade. There’s a new upgrade tool that literally reduces the process to a few clicks. Thanks be to God! I feel like a time of desolation is passed.

According to Martin Buber, the more It, the less You-the more preoccupied you are with technology, the less open to spirit. In the past couple weeks I’ve been working on the computing side of my bog-uh, blog. But I’m spiritual, not a computer person.

 I feel like The Shipping News‘s Quoyle, who kept saying “I’m not a water person.” The end credits roll over footage of him expertly manning his sleek craft built by master builder Alvin Yark.

I migrated from blogger (simple, beautiful, working) because people tell horror stories of how bots spammed their site with so much stuff their free host shut them down. I imagined a thousand bots out there looking for my site, to shut it down.

I chose wp 2.3.3. That’s what most of the expert, informed, professional bloggers at CCblogs use. I clicked “give permission,” then “migrate blog,” and watched in astonishment as the counter ran from 1 post migrated to 50 in less than 60 seconds.

Then, wp released 2.5. Matt Mullenweg recorded the demo having just had five teeth pulled. At the top of each antiquated 2.3.3 screen was the plea “please upgrade now.”

Using outdated software poses security risks. Hackers could be lining up to break into my obsolete software. With trepidation I read the upgrade instructions. No way could this be actual English.

But nobody’s gonna tell this boy he can’t do it! Right?

After a couple weeks of fear and trembling that make Kierkegaard look like a Valium zombie, I decide to take the plunge. I upgrade. Ba boom!

Everything goes flawlessly. Breathless with anticipation I open my blog: blank header and first post “Hello, world!”

Seriously fucked up.

I shoulda noticed when the techs at bluehost.com said they haven’t gotten full instructions on 2.5 yet. (They’re great, they answer the phone quickly, and never laugh out loud at my questions which are -1000 on a scale of 1 being most computer-challenged to 10 being most geeky.)

So I spend the next 24 hours using an advanced program to transfer all my posts to the new blog. It’s called “cut and paste.”

I don’t have copies of some. Others exist in various states of undress. But I can’t sleep. I gotta get my blog up and running.

My loyal readers are clamoring. Where’s the guy with the golden tablets!

(Advil.)

Reminds me of presenting at my first case conference. One item in the complete write-up of a client is a diagnosis from the DSM-IV. As far as I knew, DSM stands for Damn Sophisticated Material. It’s actually the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and contains all the diagnoses mental health professionals use in their work.

I felt inadequate because I hadn’t mastered the thing prior to my first presentation. I did the same thing in grad school. Only the subject matter was the Hebrew language. I’m a fast learner.

 Now I devote several weeks adding a plugin so I can add photos and images to my blog. In blogger this was a two click operation. I had three courses at the post-doctoral level in two click operations. I am prepared.

I add zenphoto. It takes a call to bluehost.com. But when I activate the plugin through wp, I get a message accusing me (I think) of hacking in without a password; it sounds ominously like it’s about to crash my computer. The wp documentation may say, if the plugin shuts down your program, delete it from your server.

I can’t tell exactly what it says. So I delete the uploaded items from the server and my computer.

The thing about computing is, the simplest instruction can become a monster, as in the Lord of the Rings I episode, the bridge at Khazzad duhm (I make no assertions of correct spelling). The script read, “they cross the bridge.”

But the CGI animators kept throwing in complications, resulting in a 20-minute sequence that’s one of the most dramatic in the film.

I do all this stuff (I tell myself) to create the most beautiful, witty, spiritually insightful, hugely successful, yet elegantly unself-conscious holy blog in the history of the planet.

As far as It vs. You goes, some days it’s all 1s and 0s. Take a deep breath and try to keep up with the divine Blogos.