Cathedral of Lund, Sweden

In April of 2005, Dorothy and I travelled to Lund, Sweden where I lectured and served as a "Faculty Opponent" for a Doctoral Candidate (and he was successful). Here's a picture of the Lund Cathedral. Dorothy is barely visible at the entrance. If I remember what was said about it, this structure was lucky to escape the destruction of churches associated with the reformation in Sweden.

The more cathedrals you see, the more you want to see and experience. In 1999 I took some Russian colleagues around Germany and Holland and the was one of the main things they wanted to see.

Da Vinci Code Movie - About our Ancestors

Well, we saw the Da Vinci Code last night. Because of reviews I was prepared for it to be less good than it was. I'd rate it 4 stars.

Of couse the story line is baloney. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. About 15 years ago, I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail; the book from which Brown got many of his ideas. Those guys evidently really believed what they wrote. If not, I don't know how they could sleep at night. There are so many holes in their arguments, it is amazing anyone could be taken in by it. They pile on subjunctive phrase after subjunctive phrase. If such and such happened then we might assume whatnot and therefore it could be possible that blah blah blah. Given this then perhaps ....

Let us suppose that Mary Magdalene really did bear Jesus' child and that the line continued. Why keep it a secret for so long? I can see maybe for a generation or two. Hegissipus talks about two of Jesus' kinsman who were known during the reign of Domitian. (As everyone knows, Jesus had a brother named Judas. They were his grandsons. Domitian questioned these two grandnephews of Jesus but decided they were no threat to him. See Peter Kirby's fine website on Early Christian Writings for more information about these relatives of the Lord.)

What secret would we like to make up and send to our descendants in 4000 AD? Its hard to get excited about anything like that. Give me a reason I should dedicate my life to such.

I read a book about 20 years ago called the Mountain of Names. The author claims that any person of English descent has a 95% chance of being descended from Alfred the Great. I believe he was a 9th century king. More recently, in a newspaper article, it was stated that virtually all Europeans can claim they are descended from Mohammad. He married off one of his daughters to some fella in Spain. A mathematical statistical model predicts our relationship. I don't have a problem with that. Though Jesus didn't have any children, his brothers likely had several. If they and a sufficient number of their descendants got out of Jerusalem in time before its decimation in about AD 70, then it is likely their line continued and that nearly all Caucasians and many Asians and Africans are descended from them. If that isn't the case then we can move it back a generation or two to Jesus uncles and aunts. For sure, virtually all of us descend from David, King of Israel.

Berlin Trip Part 5: Pergamon Museum

Visited the Pergamon Museum for 1 1/2 hours before closing time. Could have spent all day. They have a fantastic collection of things from the ancient world. It is a wonderful thing to see the actual items in person that I've seen in history and religious books all of my life. Yes, those things are real.

















Assyrian Basrelief

Berlin Trip Part 4: The Berlin Wall

One of the biggest and happiest surprizes of my life was the tearing down of the Berlin Wall around Christmas time 1989. It was a wonderful thing to have my picture taken beside these painted remnants of the wall.

Berlin Trip Part 3: Street Scenes

Looking west on Ku-dam Strasse, standing in front of Gedachniss Kirche. After the war, this street in what became West Berlin became the main shopping street in Berlin. I walked up and down it and saw many cafes, department stores, and even museums.






This was a caravan of volkswagons with giant Red Bull cans on top. After I snapped the picture, he walked up to the nearest vehicle and received a free can. They were passing them out to whomever would ask.

I recall feeling elated for the guy. Why is it we get so excited over getting a free $2 drink?

Berlin Trip Part 1: Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church

I left Knoxville at 11:45 am Sunday May 21, flew all night, sleeping about 3 hours on the plane. Took a taxi, costing 40 eu (over $50), from Tegel airport in Berlin to the Dorint Hotel in Potsdam. After registering for my symposium, rather than going to bed, I asked a hotel clerk for directions to Kurfurstendamm Strasse. It is also known as Ku'dam.

The easier thing to do would have been to take a taxi there. But, I felt I needed a labor, or task, if you will. So, she wrote some notes for me with info on which bus and train to take to my destination. I felt discomfitted, nervous, and uncertain. I was afraid of making a fool of myself, afraid I'd mess up and get lost or something. I watched as the bus having the proper number came and passed me by. I was at the wrong stop on the opposite side of the road. Then, I crossed the street and waited another 20 minutes for the next one. I tried to pay the bus driver since I thought that was my instruction. He motioned for me to sit down. I then tried to put paper money into the automatic ticket dispenser. But it wouldn't work. Things were not going well. Thankfully a young man asked if he could help. I explained where I was hoping to go and he kindly assured me he'd show me what to do. When we arrived at the main train station of Potsdam, he showed me how to read the train schedule and showed me where to stand for the next train. Looking around, we didnt' see a ticket machine. He told me to climb on board anyway and to ask to buy a ticket if I was questioned. When he left, I went upstairs to the Reisezentrum (trip center) and bought an all day ticket. I preferred to have a ticket in hand rather than cause a possible problem. Later, while waiting for the train, an oriental man was asking people for help. I took him upstairs and showed him where he could buy a ticket. I climbed on board my train and two stops later was at my destination.

My first stop upon exiting the train station was the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniss Kirche. This church, built in the late 19th century, was bombed and severely damage during WWII. It has been partially restored. Shrapnel wounds to the structure are apparent. The tower to one side in the left hand photo is a chapel where one can take a few moments to meditate, as I did. Musical programs are also presented there. I don't know why the background turned out pink. I must've accidentally set a weird setting on my camera.

Gone to Berlin

For my dedicated readers, all two of you if there are that many, I will be out of town till next week end.

The Beauty of Truth

Len L. Hjalmarson whose blog is Next Reformation always has thoughtful things to say and says it so well. This is from his post on The Beauty of Truth.

Ultimately I think this relates to the incarnation itself, where Word and Spirit embrace. Word.. the logia, the rational dimension.. and Spirit.. the power, the energy, the life. When these two embrace, we have something qualitatively different than when they stand alone.

Isn’t it interesting that much of our Scripture is written in poetry, and nearly all the prophets are also poets?

De-Pathologizing Doubt

Here's a great post from Richard Beck about having religious doubts and how acknowledging them can be a good thing. It is part 9 from a series of posts on the psychology of belief. They are really good.

Out of the Question ...Into the Mystery

Here are a few quotes from Leonard Sweet's book Out of the Question ...Into the Mystery. This book has had an immense effect on me.

"The way to save the world is not through more rules to live by, but through right relationships to live for." p 1

"We have much to learn about the truth of God that is revealed only through relationships." p 9

"Ultimate reality can be experienced only in relationships...Christianity is much more than a wisdom tradition or a moral system or a path leading to higher states of existence." p16

"Few were so careless of orthodox formulas as Jesus, and there is something more than a little precious in affecting a greater concern for orthodoxy than his" p 17 (he quotes this from C. K. Barrett from The Signs of an Apostle, the Cato Lecture p88)

A Church Splits?

It appears that our church will be undergoing a split. I am 55 years old and have never seen such a thing first hand before. It appears to me that it is a matter of good people having honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion. I've always thought that many congregations in our fellowship separated over rather minor things and that breaking up and forming separate groups was always wrong. In this case, though, I think it may be best for all involved. Time will tell.

Church Singing

Anne Lamott describes church singing, when it's done right.

Then the singing enveloped me. It was furry and resonant, coming from everyone's heart. There was no sense of performance or judgement, only that the music was breath and food.

Its a pleasure to say in this instance "been there done that", one of life's great joys.

Traveling Mercies, Anchor Books 2000 edition page 48.

Cleveland Here I Come

I travel to Cleveland Monday for the 52nd International Instrumentation Symposium. Will give a tutorial on phosphor thermometry and other sensor applications, along with two of my colleagues. Its a great town. I've been to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame already and NASA Glenn as well. This trip we'll get to visit a local brewery when the conference breaks for tours on Wednesday afternoon. Will be back Friday evening. Next trip: Berlin.

Unconscious Assumptions

Something else from A. N. Whitehead from the book Science and the Modern World (chapter II):

Each generation criticises the unconscious assumptions made by its parents. It may assent to them, but it brings them out in the open.

My generation of moderns will probably continue to duke it out over a liberal/conservative divide. It's my hope the younger crowd will move beyond this and get to the real business of saving the world.

And check this out too, its a list of ANW quotations.

I didn't rig this

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