A scene often repeated

more cat pictures

Study Aids for the Desperate

My Evidence prof showed this in class to introduce this particular class of hearsay exceptions. Laugh away, but this is actually the only reason I can remember them. So if you see me singing during the bar exam, you know I'm on a hearsay question.

Andrew Lloyd Webber - Requiem concert - Part 4

This has been my latest study music of choice. Couldn't tell you why. I'm especially fond of the Hosanna, beginning at about 3:00. Who puts a drumset in a Requiem, honestly? (Um... Andrew Lloyd Webber? Who else?) But it works. There's a joyful abandon to it.

T minus 5 days

Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu, qui tollis peccata mundi
dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
dona eis requiem sempiternam.

(Merciful Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.)

Share the Road

Bikes are a great way to get around, but South Bend and the surrounding areas could do more to make it less hazardous. Yesterday I biked to Osceola, about 9 miles from my apartment, and encountered not a single bike lane. I'm not above riding on a sidewalk if one is provided and the road is narrow and busy enough, but even the few sidewalks I encountered were in such bad shape I was better off on the road.

Last week a South Bend man on a bike was injured in a hit and run on Cleveland Rd. He died from the injuries on Monday, leaving a wife and four young children.

I hope his death wakes up locals to the need for better bike infrastructure, since it is a fairly popular form of transportation around here. Meanwhile, I think it's time I stop putting off the purchase of a helmet.

Fun with herbs

One of my favorite things about not winter is fresh herbs, particularly basil. Basil leaves make an excellent garnish on everything from fried eggplant (which I made last Friday) to corn from the frozen veggie section (a regular in my apartment). Once you get used to the full, sweet flavor of the fresh stuff, it's hard to feel the same way about dried basil. The problem with basil, though, is that 40 degrees and a strong breeze will kill it; it doesn't do winters (or even late falls) very well. This summer my basil plant is growing spectacularly (thanks to daily waterings and plenty of full sun), and I was trying to find a way to preserve some of that bounty for the winter. [That's the basil AFTER I cut off about a third of it. Also a zinnia--ain't it cute?] Here's one excellent method I came across:

Gather 3-5 branches of basil, 2-4 stems of fresh mint, a few sprigs of parsley, and a small handful of fresh oregano. Rinse them all,shake dry, and de-stem. Dump all the leaves in a blender and blend on high. Add chopped or crushed garlic to taste. Add extra virgin olive oil and blend until it turns into a paste. Add grated Parmesan cheese and continue to blend. You'll need a lot of cheese-probably at least a cup, and you may need to add some more oil to keep the consistency. I also added a bit of garlic salt, but I think I wouldn't next time. Some people also like pine nuts or other kinds of nuts, but I didn't have any. I'm sure it's good. I've also heard of adding lemon juice.[clockwise from top: parsley, catnip, thyme, oregano, garlic chives]

The resulting pesto is excellent over pasta or on just about any form of carbohydrate you can think of. I mixed mine with some vermicelli and topped it with a few of the cherry tomatoes off my tomato plant. It made an excellent side for the broiled salmon. I poured the leftover pesto into an ice tray. When it's frozen I'll remove it to a freezer bag and in the winter I can just add a cube to a pot of pasta for a taste of fresh summer! I can't wait for my basil plant to regrow so I can make another batch![To the left of the tomato plant is the mint that has crept in from the neighbor's yard. I'm not complaining.]

Pretty pictures

Go treat your eyes to the pictures at Light and high beauty, Brendan's photoblog. Seriously, it's good stuff.

The Best Advocate

I've taken to listening Tim Keller's sermons in the car and at the gym sometimes. Unfortunately they have to be purchased, but they are well worth the money. Lately I've been listening to Keller's series on Hebrews. This excerpt is one I listen to over and over again. I don't think it will ever get old:

When I first became a Christian, I heard of this, that Jesus Christ intercedes for us before the Father, and it was of no comfort to me at all, and one of the reasons was it sounded bizarre. And it was also of no comfort to me, partly because, I think, of some of the ways in which I had seen lawyers profiled in court. And because of what I saw in some of those high profile trials, I really misunderstood what this was all about. And here’s what I thought was happening, and here’s why it wasn’t any comfort to me:

I figured every day Jesus came before the Father with a kind of case load. And He’ll pull out a folder, “Keller.” So He looks up and He says, “Ah, yes, Father, You know all these promises he says he’s made to change and change, and he’s doing it again anyway… But please give him a break. For My sake… Give him one more chance. I know he means well. This one more time, this could be it, and You owe me—I went to Earth and all those things. So, pretty please, I ask for mercy for my client. I throw myself on the mercy of the court.”

And then I expected, I guess, that the Father would say, “Well, all right.”

And here’s the reason why that was of no comfort to me: Because I understood that what Jesus was doing—if that’s the intercessory work of Jesus Christ—spinning to get mercy out of the Father, I thought to myself, how long can He keep that up? Because why wouldn’t one day finally the Father—there’s no particular reason why one day the Father couldn’t just say, “Look, he’s a minister now! It’s too late. I’ve had it—he can’t keep doing things like this.”

But that’s not at all the kind of advocate Jesus is. You see, an effective attorney doesn’t just wheedle and cajole and emotionally manipulate the jury and the judge—sometimes that might work, but actually, frankly, how long can you keep that up? An effective attorney has a case. And according to this passage [Hebrew 7], Jesus Christ is not up there asking for mercy. When you ask for mercy, that means you’ve lost the case. Do you know what He’s up there doing? Look, verse 27 and 28: "Unlike the other high priests who does not need to offer sacrifices day after day first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, rather, He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.”

This is what Jesus is saying, as it were (it’s metaphorical, but I’ll get to that in a second): “Father, You demand justice. You are a just God. And my friends here, the people on whose behalf I’m speaking, are guilty. But I have made payment—there is my blood—and it would be unjust to get two payments for the same debt. Therefore because I’ve made payment for this debt, I am not here asking for mercy for my brothers and sisters. I am not here asking for mercy—I demand justice. Your very justice, Your very righteousness demands Your complete embrace and acceptance of them throughout eternity.”

That’s an infallible case! The book of Isaiah says that righteousness and justice, the divine justice and righteousness of God is inexorable so that the mountains are like dust in a scale by comparison.

Why she's named Athena

I have a new kitten. I have been told that it isn't quite appropriate to name such a cute little fuzzhead for the goddess of war. Ha! I'm sure Puck has a few thoughts on the subject.

REGULATION PENS AND PENCILS, July 1, 2008

Beginning with the July 08 bar examination, applicants may not use or have in their possession or at or near their testing seats pens, pencils, or other writing instruments, including highlighters and markers, OTHER THAN the pens and pencils distributed by the Board at the time of the examination. All other pens, pencils, and writing instruments must be placed away from applicants in the space designated by proctors at the front of the test room, along with purses, bags, backpacks, study materials and other personal possessions that are permitted in the test room. On Tuesday, each applicant will receive 2 pens for answering the essay portions of the exam; if both pens fail, replacements will be provided. On Wednesday, each applicant will receive 2 pencils for answering the MBE. Manual sharpeners will be available at the proctor table, and replacement pencils will be available as well.

Class, culture, and love. And good journalism.

This morning I got lost in a powerful piece of journalism that is both profound and horrifying. In a Plain Dealer (Cleveland) issue, Joanna Connors tells in raw prose the story of her rape. If the article stopped there, it would be sad, terrible, and perhaps a bit cathartic, but it doesn't stop there. It's really a story about her search for the meaning of it all--who her assailant was, why, and what the intersection of their lives reflects in American (and human) society.

The whole story is long, and several parts of it brought me to tears, but the following passage from is one of the most poignant. The writer had learned that her assailant died in prison, and she tracked down his sister to meet her. She had just explained who she was and why she was looking for him, and the sister reacted:

"I know what rape is," she finally said. "I was raped myself. But I asked for it, because I was on drugs and I was prostituting. It was just me, being stupid."

She said she never reported it to the police because, hey, what the hell, you're prostituting, what do you think you're supposed to get? Besides, the first time, the rapist was a white guy, and she knew the cops would never go after a white guy for raping a black prostitute. And the second time, she was trying to get crack.

"I asked for it," she said.

It was like a script from the hot-line training I'd done at the Rape Crisis Center.

"No, Charlene," I said. "You didn't ask for it. It was not your fault."

She shook her head, tears rolling down her face. "If I hadn't of been so stupid," she said.

"You know, that's what I was saying to myself for 20 years," I said.

She wiped her tears.

"Yeah, but it's different," she said. "I mean, you had a good job, and my brother had no right to do that to you."

I knew what she was saying: that I was not a drug addict or prostitute, and she was, so she deserved what happened and I did not.

But I also heard what went unspoken: I was white, I had money, I had an education, I had parents who did not hit me.

I had all the things Charlene had not had in her life. She was used to being a victim. It was her world. It was not my world.

"Charlene," I said. "Those guys had no right to do what they did to you, either."

She wiped at her tears again.

"It's terrifying," she said. "Especially when you think they're going to kill you."

"I know."

This is probably going to sound like a non-sequitur, but I'm going to say it anyway (because it's my blog, that's why): This is why Christians need to care, and care actively, about social poverty. They are the only ones who can really get it. I'm going to stereotype some political terms, and I know there are exceptions and nuances, but the terms are handy and I can't think of a way around it that's not unwieldy, so here goes:

Liberals do care about poor people. For that I applaud them. But they do so for the wrong reason. They help poor people because they believe that they, as people, have human dignity and are thus deserving of help. I'll accept everything in that sentence up to the "and." They do not deserve help. Many people who grew up poor do not make stupid financial decisions, work hard, and do not commit crimes. Ultimately people are responsible for their actions, and poor people are no exception. To say otherwise would be grossly disrespectful of their human will and moral autonomy.

Conservatives frequently don't care about poor people for just that reason. If people are in trouble, it's often their own fault and we are under no obligation to help them. And they are right. Sort of.

But here's what they miss: There is only one thing separating "us" from "them." Grace. We mess up too. Hopefully we mess up in less drastic (and criminal) ways, but we mess up. Had we harder lives and less fortunate backgrounds, it is possible (and statistically likely) we'd mess up more. That doesn't mean we should excuse the messing up, big or small. But it does mean we should be compassionate because we, of all people, should understand grace more profoundly than anyone else, right? We've tasted it, benefited from it. It is only right that we should extend it. We don't help people because they deserve it; if they deserved it it wouldn't be grace. There is inherent good in reflecting the qualities of God: We have been filled with grace, and His grace in us should not help but overflow. Being tightfisted with grace raises a serious question about whether we have really understood it--or received it.

HT to Ryan for the article. I highly recommend reading it, but do so only when you have some time and emotional energy to spend on it. It's well worth it.

Pronto.

I need a Neil Diamond LP. Do they even make those?

More on Carbon Footprints

Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller

in which Africa is noticed

Wondermark by David Malki

Wheaton fires a prof over his divorce

Apparently the prof declined to share details with the administration, so they couldn't evaluate whether or not the divorce was biblically justifiable. Story here. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I'm all about private, religious colleges sticking to the standards they had the profs sign. I don't question their "right" to do this--employment is at will, and even if he had tenure, I'm sure there was a clause in there that allows this... freedom to contract and all that...

But on a more pragmatic level, the quotation from the prof, "I also don't want to be in a position of accusing my spouse, so I declined to appeal or discuss the matter in any way with my employer," strikes a chord. We paint Joseph positively for wanting to put Mary away privately rather than publicly accuse her, right?

Maybe this is a disciplinary matter that would be better left to the church? Perhaps the school would be wise to alter their employment terms to "in good standing with a local church that holds to _____ confession." Wouldn't that take care of their concern about their professors being of good moral character without having to involve them in these kinds of situations?

Of course, the prof could as easily object to "publicly accusing" his wife to the church [leadership]. But I might have less sympathy for that. If you can't be transparent with church authority, maybe you need to reevaluate the extent of your individualism.

One account of Fundamentalist history

I came across this entry defining and describing Fundamentalist Christianity and found it really interesting. I can't tell who wrote it--it looks like a wiki-style encyclopedia, and there's a link to Christianity Today, but I haven't poked around enough to figure out who this guy is or if it's a group (I suspect the latter).

Anyway, history can be told from many points of view, and this guy has his own, but I find the history he presents really interesting. The "five fundamentals of the faith" were actually promulgated at a Presbyterian conference. Hmm. Dispensationalism really didn't become a part of the Fundy movement until later, but some leaders still adhered to Princeton Theology instead. I confess I don't know what that is. I guess I have some link-clicking to do.

After finals, though. Meanwhile, any thoughts?

random unsolicited update

I've not posted in a while. Sorry. Update:

Spring is trying to come. A couple days ago it was 83 degrees. It is supposed to snow tonight. This morning I saw a pair of baby bunnies and a goldfinch in my back yard. I moved the basil in so it won't freeze. Welcome to Indiana.

Thanks for kind inquiries about my cat. He got a thumbs-up from the vet today, and I think he'll be fine. Whatever was wrong with him seems to have passed, and he is back to chasing the dog and invisible carpet demons like his old self.

No, I'm not sure what I'm doing next. There's a possibility I'll be in the Chicago area. There is an alternate chance I'll be in Bethel, Alaska. If neither of those happen, there is a possibility (a slight one, mind you) that I could go to Rwanda for a year. But don't hold your breath. International Justice Mission is a neat program, but the fellowships aren't funded, and I'm not sure where the money would come from. I'll keep you posted. For now it looks like I'll be in South Bend for the summer to study for the bar.

Indiana Earthquake

I was awakened early this morning by my bed, which was creaking and swaying a little bit. My first groggy thought was "hmm. Must be earthquaking." My second slightly-less-groggy thought was "It's Indiana. They don't get earthquakes. Must be the dryer or something." But it didn't feel like the dryer--it was too strong and the pattern was all wrong. Also, even if the dryer had been inexplicably running at about 5 am, I would have heard it.

Vindication: There was a fairly strong-ish earthquake centered near Evansville early this morning. People reported feeling tremors as far away as Georgia.

See, I'm not losing my mind.

A call long overdue

We're finally marching. Concerned alumni of Bob Jones University, unite!