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rpdan
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Name: Dan
Location: Port Orchard, Washington, United States
Gender: Male
Interests: Hiking, camping, Jeeping, Jazz, eating blackberries from our yard, Chaim Potok, poetry, Karina's mom's tacos, The Divine Hours, bluegrass, Harry Connick Jr., Gualala, Cheese, Yosemite, Christmas music, playing the autoharp or the mandolin or the guitar or the trumpet or the piano, playing with my two daughters
Expertise: Writer, Musician, Thinker, Pastor, Peacemaker
Occupation: Consulting
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message me
Member Since:
1/7/2003
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| The switch is being made to the other blog.
http://danwhitmarsh.blogspot.com/
There may be a little life left in this one, but don't expect much.
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| I'm going to learn how the Mennonites are speaking to the issue of homosexuality and the Church. Should be an interesting read, since they always come at these issues from angles other than the normal ones.
From the intro:
"What this issue should be about is discernment: trying to discern the will and way of God on this matter at the threshold of the third millennium of the Christian Era. I know, others will disagree with this premise. For some, the issue is standing up for an oppressed minority; for others, it is standing up for the truth as they know it. (Is there any other? But if we can't step back from our own positions long enough to hear the perspectives of others, then dialogue, if not discernment, is foiled.
In many such cases, the schismatics are putting their own convictions, ideas, and religious experiences - egos, too - ahead of the unity of the body and this treasure we call peoplehood. Whereas I am not comfortable with the current struggle over the 'H-issue,' as one chapter in this book calls it, I am even more discontented with the flight option [running away from each other and the debate].
What I plead for, instead, is a commitment to the common struggle of discovering God's will for us. To do this, we need at least the following: confession, empathy, humility, patience, and prayer."
Whenever I read stuff like that, I'm convinced that the Mennonites and Covenanters are cut out of much the same cloth. So I think I'm going to get a lot of good from this book. I'll let you know.
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| Apparently Jorge, Karina's bro-in-law, has been offered a job a Boeing, so they are seriously considering moving up to the Seattle-Tacoma area. Karina's parents have been talking about moving up, too, so if Alex and Jorge decide to, then the parents probably become a done deal as well. Holidays are about to become either a lot of fun or a lot of juggling. Truthfully, it would be exciting to have "all the family" so close together - both my side and Karina's. I never thought it was even a possibility, always assuming we'd have to split our time between Seattle and L.A. Looks like life may turn out differently.
It also begs the question - if all the family is up here, will we ever have a reason to go back to California?
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| Yesterday was one of those days that make the rest of the world jealous
of us here in the Puget Sound area. Clear blue skies, Mt. Rainier
sitting like a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on the Cascades,
seagulls wheeling over the waters. I rode my bike around Pt. Defiance
park for awhile. I watched osprey diving for fish, eagles riding the
winds high overhead. I rode through the cool evergreen forests of Pt.
Defiance, I parked and watched a tug pull a barge down the Narrows
toward the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I rode the winding roads alongside
rose gardens and rhododendron gardens in full bloom, I whizzed past
sunbathers working on their early tans.
And I thought, nobody could ever convince me there is a more beautiful place to live. | | |
| Item #1: Spotted on the back of a pickup in Port Orchard approximately 2 1/2 weeks ago: One yellow sticker attached to rear window, with the following text: "Official Terrorist Hunting Permit/Serial #91101/No Bag Limit."
Four inches below said bumper sticker was another one: a bright, shiny, silver fish with the name "Jesus" inside.
Item #2: On Monday as I drove into Tacoma, a small green sports car with 3-4 younger people inside passed me by in the carpool lane, driving somewhere in the 90-100 mph range. As they got ahead of me they weaved in and out of traffic in order to maintain their extremely high rate of speed. Clearly visible on their back bumper was a bright, shiny "Jesus" fish.
Item #3: Early this morning as I made my way across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on my way to the Pierce County Prayer Breakfast, a silver Jeep Wrangler (Rubicon Edition) rode approximately 2 inches off my bumper, headlights brightly reflecting in my mirror. All along Highway 16 through Tacoma he remained approximately 2 inches off my bumper. As soon as the carpool lane ended and opened to all traffic, he shot into that lane and blew away at a high rate of speed.
No Jesus fish on this one. But 3 hours later, as I left the prayer breakfast and headed back to my car, I spotted the exact same Jeep in the parking lot, with the exact same driver inside. I guess tailgating is justified if you are A Really Important Person on your way to Really Important Prayer Meetings.
I was going to write a witty conclusion here, but I think you're all smart enough to get the point, right? So let me just say this:
If you're going to claim to be a follower of Christ, THEN DON"T ACT LIKE A BLOOMIN' IDIOT when you're out in public. Your actions speak much louder than your little bumper sticker.
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