tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57192523064026089902024-03-08T04:34:40.240-08:00Seminary and StarsAbbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-62707777995038586562012-04-11T14:51:00.001-07:002012-04-11T14:55:18.743-07:00God–shepherding all of usOn the hills today in Morocco, Israel and throughout the region, you can see goats and sheep running about in combined flocks, looking for grasses to eat. They are not quite as abundant as they were in Biblical times, but they remind us of why the shepherd/flocks/sheep metaphors are so prevalent, especially in this week’s Bible Lesson titled “Everlasting Punishment.” Goats know where they are going and sheep are happy to follow them, but the shepherd is needed to protect them when animal predators approach. Biblical ‘flocks’ are often combined flocks of goats and sheep.<br /><br />As humans, we get ourselves into trouble when we think of ourselves more highly than sheep. The sheep are better off for trusting unquestioningly that their shepherd knows what’s best for them. He will always be there for them, guiding them gently or firmly in the right direction. When David was a shepherd, he fought bears and lions (Ezek 34:23-24 in the Responsive Reading and citation 19; see also I Sam 17:34-37). The job wouldn’t be easy for humans working alone, but it’s God’s responsibility to protect the sheep and us. In this week’s lesson, we have examples of God’s servants shepherding the people and of God shepherding all of us (Luke 12:32, Golden Text; Ps 23, cit. 1; S&H 578, cit. 1; Ps 95, cit. 6; etc). God is not just protecting us with a sling and a staff, but with immortal Mind, ever-present Love, omnipotent Principle and Soul-filled Spirit.<br /><br />When we follow God’s leadings, we will be taken care of, during times of both peace and punishment. Joseph was maligned by Potiphar’s wife after he refused to be seduced by her (Gen 39, cit. 8). Potiphar was the head of Pharaoh’s private guard, like the chief in charge of Secret Service. The word for officer is ‘saris,’ which can also be translated ‘eunuch.’ Because some men close to pharaohs and kings were castrated (so that they would wholly serve their leader), all officials were called by the same word, but not all of them had been castrated. Potiphar had a human position of power and authority, but God’s authority was much greater and God protected Joseph. When Joseph was in prison, he was well-treated, quickly rose in position and was eventually freed after correctly interpreting some prisoners’ dreams. He had not sinned, so there was no need for punishment. Later, when Joseph was reunited with his brothers, who had sold him into slavery, he forgave them, acknowledging that he had been able to do God’s work in Potiphar’s house, in prison, and later while helping to feed people from throughout the entire region, acting as a shepherd to them.<br /><br />In the parable of the Prodigal Son, he tries to run away from his father (Luke 14, cit. 14 and 15). He gives his father the most egregious insult possible in Biblical times, basically saying, ‘You are dead to me,’ as he insists on taking his inheritance. His father’s love is unwavering, though. When the Prodigal realizes his mistakes, repents of his sins and returns, his father runs to him and gives him the symbols of belonging to his family: his signet ring, a robe and sandals. The older son also has learning and growing to do. He becomes jealous of his brother’s treatment, wanting the Prodigal to be punished. His father has forgiven him, but he hasn’t. We never hear if he eventually comes in to enjoy the party and partake of the feast. “Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, — which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death” (S&H 242, cit. 13). <br /><br />God the father protects us all, forgiving us even when we act maliciously or turn away in a jealous rage. In this story, the father is shepherding both sons, showing them equal love and understanding. This week, we can look for ways that God is shepherding us, keeping us from harm and undue punishment. <br /><br />(This was published in the Christian Science Sentinel of April 23, 2012. It is related to the CS BibleLesson (lectionary) "Everlasting Punishment" for the week from Apr 23-29, 2012. These all used to be published online and freely accessible. Since you now need a paid subscription, I'll publish all of them here.)Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-1775471406686349672010-09-24T09:56:00.000-07:002010-09-24T09:57:47.288-07:00Homosexuality and self-love instead of self-loathingDisseria wrote (on jesushighforthegayguy.blogspot.com), on July 6th, (which I just read today) that there is a group that met at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (their biggest meeting, where they elected a new moderator, leader, for their church this year) to help people with ‘unwanted same-sex attractions’. I think that I would be fine with this if I believed that the organizers of this group wanted to help them learn to love themselves and forgive themselves for whatever they think they have done wrong (which is nothing). I have a feeling, though, that the organizers were helping them to go further in their self-hatred and self-loathing up to the point of denying who they are. There are certainly bi-sexual individuals who are attracted to both men and women, but many people are only attracted to one gender.<br /><br /><br />I knew that I was attracted to boys when I was four years old. I would chase them around the playground hoping to catch one and kiss him. <br /><br /><br />I think the inclination to keep individuals from embracing their true selves is destructive at best and homicidal at worst. Gay teens are 3x more likely to commit suicide than straight teens.<br /><br /> <br />There are so many ways that people are hurting in this world. Why can’t caring people work to stop the pain, instead of encouraging and exacerbating it?<br /><br /> <br />One of my favorite hymns starts this way: “Love one another, – word of revelation; Love frees from error’s thrall, – Love is liberation. Love’s way the Master [Jesus] trod; [Those] that love shall walk with God. Love is the royal way.” May we love each other enough to see past our own prejudices and self-limitations.<br /><br /> <br />I pray that we may all feel Love, an aspect of God, in our love for ourselves and each other. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” I think that a lot of people get tripped up because they don’t love themselves, so they don’t really have a problem hating others as well. Perhaps even for those people, through showing others love and compassion, they may learn to love and forgive themselves. That is my continual prayer.<br />Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-81314991312218422262010-04-17T09:58:00.000-07:002010-04-17T10:49:12.310-07:00Ups and downsRecently, my History professor talked to us about the interruptions to our lives that God gives us. We may think that they are inconvenient, but God certainly isn't worried about that. God's plans may or may not coincide with our own. It seems that I've been seeing a lot of the disruptions and fewer of the agreements with what my friends and I have had in mind lately.<br /><br />One friend was given the opportunity to preach for the school and found out after she had started planning the service that the things that she wanted were not going to happen. The location changed. A friend died. She had mourning to deal with (which surprised her in its intensity). A lot. The sermon and the service were beautiful and many people were touched by it. I laughed and cried, which seem to me to be signs of a great sermon.<br /><br />On Tuesday, I finished my taxes. I'm getting a big refund, which was nice and completely unexpected. I realized that I had really been worrying about money and future income. I'm glad that this coming check has alleviated that for a bit.<br /><br />On Wednesday, I had a massage, one of the luxuries that I allow myself. I think a lot during massages and in the shower. While I try to be environmentally conscious, it's really hard for me to take short showers, because it's an important time for me to think through things during them. Anyway, while showering after the massage, I had an awakening that was like I'd been living in a fog. I realized that I've been moody, perhaps even depressed for a while. I felt like all of a sudden the sun broke through and I could see again, where everything had been completely obscured before.<br /><br />I was so excited that I started calling people to tell them. I don't know if people had realized that I wasn't all that happy before, though, so I'm not sure how they took my news that I was now feeling much more alive again.<br /><br />I met up with a friend who is a Christian Science Practitioner, Lecturer and Teacher for dinner. I remembered that I had met him on 9/11/2001. Someone from the Mother Church had called another friend early in the afternoon that day. He was a member of the Christian Science Organization at UC Berkeley. They asked if we wanted to host a lecture that evening. We were able to get a few dozen people together and we had a prayer workshop, basically, helping us to look for ways to grow and learn from the experience. It was really powerful. I was so grateful that the Lecturer was able and willing to come on such short notice and pray with us that evening.<br /><br />I was glad to re-connect with this CS Teacher and Lecturer (jobs that I aspire to) and talk about seminary. We went to church afterwards. It was really great. The lesson-sermon was really in-depth about God's laws and there were lots of great testimonies. (Speaking of interruptions, though, the service started late because the organist never showed up. One of the members agreed to play the hymns with one note for the melody line, all that she could do. So, everyone sang loudly. It was almost an a capella sound and it was beautiful, adding to the feeling of intimacy in the service.) People spoke of healings that they had had of relationships in their workplaces and physical healings. (I'll have to write up my healing about my broken foot sometime, but I haven't done it yet.) I really appreciated one woman who spoke about concerns that she had had with trying to share CS with her family, including a sister and brother-in-law where he's a physician. One of her friends pointed out to her that it was not her responsibility to change his understanding about CS. God would take care of that. I needed to hear that. I sometimes feel like I am personally responsible for helping everyone learn about CS. God wants me to help teach people, but God does all the work. It's not my problem to change how anyone thinks. Also, I can't mess it up, either. I do my best, no more and no less and God works with us with whatever we bring.<br /><br />My friend who was preaching in chapel later commented about her feeling of emptiness, of having nothing to give, except a willingness to show up. (I feel that she was selling herself short, but that's where she was mentally.) I used to be dismissive of the concept that showing up is the most important part. Now, I realize that sometimes that's very literally all that we can do. For whatever reasons, we sometimes don't have more (or don't think that we do), but a willingness to be vessels for God's use is important. It is not nothing, but something that some people are wholly unable or unwilling to give. Also, sometimes it's very hard to show up. I've been working hard at the showing up part.<br /><br />Yesterday, I found out that the internship (which I hadn't exactly been looking forward to, but which I was resigned to) is not going to work. I had been working hard at getting myself excited about doing it and I was disappointed and angry that it fell through. A class that I needed to do as an introduction to the work was canceled. They don't know when the next one is going to be, either. Then, I decided to look into a summer intensive archeological dig in Jordan through PSR (the Pacific School of Religion, one of the sister schools in our consortium with SFTS) that I had also been considering, but had not decided on, because I didn't know when this summer course for the internship was going to be offered. For whatever reason, the summer intensive in Jordan fell through, too. Instead of being in Jordan in early August, it is now going to be in Israel in late July. The timing doesn't work in July for me and I really don't have an interest in going back to Israel. While it's only a few miles (or a few dozen miles, depending on where it is in the tiny country) from Jordan, it's a totally different place. I much prefer Jordan.<br /><br />So, after having been really happy earlier in the week, I found myself very grumpy and frustrated yesterday afternoon. After having been excited about going to a birthday party, all of a sudden I really didn't want to go. I went to dinner with some other friends, got my frustrations off of my chest and went to the party. We all had a blast, lots of laughing and light-heartedness. Then, I went to a professor's house, where she was hosting a bunch of first year students, since the birthday party ended early. While I was sort of tired, I really felt that I needed to go, even though I hadn't been invited. That's rather unusual for me. In the end, it was about the showing up. Someone who did not know anything about CS was there and had a lot of questions after I had a question about why I don't drink from an acquaintance who only knows a tiny bit about CS. I was happy to teach them both about it. Occasionally I find such questions exhausting, but not last night. I was very happy that I had listened and showed up. We can never really plan out how God's going to use us, but if we're willing, God does use us, I believe. Sometimes we just have to show up.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-88161340207073534372009-10-27T12:02:00.001-07:002009-10-27T12:02:41.645-07:00Treatment - Emergency need to embrace God as LifeWritten in my journal 10/20<br /><br />God is All-in-all and all in space. The childhood rhyme is that 'there is no spot where God is not'. There is no need or place for fear. God is here, there, everywhere.<br /><br />God as Life embraces reality. God as Truth embraces openness and honesty. There is no space or ability for lies about ourselves or others in God. There is no place where we can be outside of God's realm. God is here now and every moment. We can rewrite our own sense of our histories by replacing painful-seeming experiences with acknowledgments of God's presence there. We look at places where we see only one set of footprints, where we felt the most separated from God and we remember - rewrite - our time then with the knowledge that God was carrying us. God carries us a lot. We don't thank Her nearly enough for what She does. He is always there, right where we are, whether or not we care or can acknowledge it.<br /><br />Help us to rebuke the sense of narcissism. We aren't in love with ourselves. We are doing God's work for God alone. The congregation in worshiping isn't the audience. They are part of the service. God is the audience.<br /><br />There can be no attraction to sin. Sin has no power of its own. Face down the demonic fears. Name them/ identify them as nothing. Unmask them and they will disappear, because they are nothing. Run away from them and they seem very real and frightening.<br /><br />When the light switch is turned on, the light immediately fills the room. There is no time required, because _time_ is a set of mortal measurements that have nothing to do with infinity. We are God's infinite expressions. Perfect. Whole. Complete. Mature. Able to deal with whatever comes our way, because it is God who is doing the work.<br /><br />Our only job is to clean the glass. God does the shining. We just have to help be better transparencies for Truth. And God helps with that, too. There's no burden doing God's work. God rests in action. The highest and sweetest rest, even from a material standpoint is in doing holy work (from Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy). We don't need to believe in the limitations of being introverted or extroverted. We don't need to believe we need to be with people or alone to restore us. God keeps us whole continually. Needing more or less energy is a human, limited understanding of our potential. We don't need to feel held down by anything or anyone.<br /><br />I do not nee to accept any baggage -- not my own, nor anyone else's -- nor do I need to carry my own weight. All of it we can let go of and give it to God. From the old joke, about what money to give to God, draw a circle, throw up the money and whatever's in or out of the circle give to God, or take the other perspective - whatever God wants, God keeps! We are all held in God's hands/arms. When we feel we're slipping, we could only fall into God's lap.<br /><br />----------<br /><br />Continuation on that theme<br /><br />God is here, now. Whether or not we realize it, whether or not we want it to be true, whether or not we feel that we deserve it, God is here with us, always. There is no judging, disappointment or suffering in God. God is there, with us, but God is not limited by mortal pain. God can lift us out of it, because God is not human and does not suffer.<br /><br />There was a motto on a t-shirt for a swim team where I was Asst Coach, "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is an option". I have to make myself realize that how I react or respond to a situation is a choice. We all can make better choices. Metanoia is a Greek term often translated as repentance, but it can also be recognized as an advanced knowing. Knowing beyond where we were before - now, we can make better choices than before. Choose Life! that you and your children may live. (Deut 30:19) Live into life. Don't let it pass you by. It's truly precious and a gift. The saying goes, that's why it's called the present.<br /> <br />Thanks for listening.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-33395038701797671142009-07-12T19:09:00.000-07:002009-07-15T13:38:36.031-07:00In Morocco, Itinerary and 1st blog, from the plane(From 06/15/09, written on the plane) Working up to today, I’ve had the gamut of emotions: anticipation, anxiety, fear, anger, excitement, relief, wonder, curiosity. I’m going to Morocco!<br />They say that the flight will be 9h29min in the air. We left at about 3:30pm PDT (as to when we really left – lift-off).<br />I did finally get my last email sent, about 10min or so before we started taxiing. I’m on a KLM Boeing 747-700. That’s a big plane! Being the geek that I am, I had been trying to estimate how much it could hold/ how much it weighed. I guessed that the plane weighed ~1000 tons and w/ people and gear, it could hold about a total of 2000 tons. I was rather awed by the thought of some 4 million pounds flying (if that were a true figure). Looking up the in-flight movie (it was supposed to be ‘He’s Just Not That Into You,’ but it wasn’t - I don’t remember now what it was), I found info about KLM’s fleet. 747’s can hold 35,000 kg (us and gear) for a max lift-off weight of 390,100 kg. So, I was off some.<br />Other cool stuff I didn’t know about my cool plane: 920 km/h cruising speed, 64.44 m across (wingspan), 70.64 m long, max 428 people, 12,900 km max range. The last one was the coolest to me – 8062 miles w/o refueling. For comparison, the 777-300 ER can hold 425 passengers, is 73.86 m long, can be 351,543 kg at lift-off and can fly 14,200 km w/o refueling.<br /><br /><br />Itinerary from 6/15 – 7/3: (written in several parts in mid-July)<br />We (my mom, dad, sister and I) started in Casablanca and immediately took the train to Rabat (2 trains, actually). They are both on the Atlantic coast. We stayed there for 2 nights and then quickly went to my sister's village by way of her souktown (overnight there). (My blogpost talks about this part.) We stayed in her village for 5 days, in the High Atlas Mountains, then went north to Azrou (2 nights) and Ifrane – day trip. Azrou is a nice, mid-sized Moroccan city, but Ifrane is a lavish, mid-sized European city, built by the French during their occupation (colonialization). Today, Ifrane is a fancy retreat for very rich Moroccans and for Europeans who want a cheaper vacation. There are some lakes in the Ifrane National Park just north and east of Ifrane where we spent a day looking at birds. (An upcoming post is about that day.) This was a really fabulous birding day. Birding is one of my dad’s favorite things. We also did a short part-day trip to Ain Leuh. (There are 2 dots over the i, and Leuh can be spelled Louh. The city is pronounced aye-n luh-hhhh – where the end is the sound you make when fogging up glasses to clean them.) This was the start of alternating between busy days and easy days. Driving around the lakes (Dayet Aoua, Dayet Ifrah and a few others), eating a heavy meal in Ifrane, then going to a Nature Preserve was a busy day. Taking just a 1-hr each way trip to Ain Leuh for tea (and a snacky lunch) for a few hours was a very easy day.<br />After Azrou, we went to Fes, where we stayed for 2 nights. We walked and walked and walked around the medina – literally ‘old town’ – in Fes it’s the huge maze of streets where lots of various stuff is sold. We went to a tannery in this area, too, and made some zween (nice, pretty, new, etc) purchases. If you’ve ever been to a bazaar or souk in a Middle-Eastern and/or North African country, you know about the hard sell, but there’s NOTHING like it that I’ve ever come across outside of that region. We were hard sold several times and we truly caved in the tannery’s sales area, because the quality of leather was like nothing any of us had ever seen.<br />The second day in Fes, we went up to Volubilis (a large Roman ruins, which is ~1/2 excavated and protected by a fence and has workers who look out for it and guides to show you around) and Moulay Idriss, then took a taxi back to Fes, then took a bus (which, ironically took us up past Volubilis again) on up to the Atlantic coast, north of Rabat in Larache. We had originally planned on hiring a taxi/driver and car for the day, but the pension’s owner’s brother found us some yahoo who wanted an obscene amount, so we took the bus up to Lixus (only 3km). We had figured that we’d spend just an hour there and then continue south for the rest of the day to Merdja Zerga National Park, looking for more birds. In the end, it worked out much better that we took the bus to Lixus, since we spent 3 hours there, wandering around the mostly unexcavated Roman ruins. (There is no fence here and, while there were 3 men who wanted to be our ‘guides,’ none spoke English and my guess is that they didn’t know more than we could have ascertained on our own.) We had a fabulous time discovering stuff and tooling around.<br />We decided to go to Moulay Bousselham the next day on our way down to Rabat. (Moulay Bousselham is right next to the Merdja Zerga National Park). I was super sick, so we did less than I think that we would have otherwise. We decided to go w/ some guys on their little rowboat motorboat to look for birds. They ‘guaranteed’ that we’d see flamingos and said that they’d give us our money back if we didn’t find them. We thought that that was amusing, but they really wanted to show us flamingos. We knew that they were no longer in Morocco, but in Turkey. We just wanted to see what we could see in the marshy areas, by boat, which we wouldn’t be able to see just from the shore. At one point, we were in an area where the draft wasn’t enough to use the motor, so we were mostly floating, or being pushed by our guide. He insisted that off to one side, there were flamingos. We dutifully looked w/ our binoculars and Dad took some pictures, but we were sure that they were lying, mostly because they were all white birds and flamingos are at least partly pink. Also, the beaks were wrong, but we couldn’t get a really good look at them just then. After that, we headed back and took other taxis on our way down to Rabat. Later, at lunch, my dad was able to zoom in on his pictures of the ‘flamingos’. We had insisted that they were not flamingos, but were egrets, which we’d been seeing all day. It turns out that we were all wrong. They were not flamingos or egrets, but white spoonbills, which were a lifebird for most of us. (A lifebird is one that you’ve never seen in the wild before. While everyone’s seen flamingos at the zoo and/or in some expensive US hotel, few of us have seen wild ones. That’s why we would have been interested in seeing them in the wild.)<br />Back in Rabat, we went to the National Library and the Zoo. I strongly recommend the Library if you have any research that you want to do. Do not go to the zoo, unless you can bear to see tortured animals (you think I’m kidding). The only redeeming aspect was the majestic Barbary Lions, which are part of a breeding program where they are working to revive an extinct species by working from a ½ Barbary Lion crossed w/ a similar breed and have now gotten to an 80% Barbary Lion. They were truly magnificent animals, but they spend most of their time in small cages. They have access to a run part of the day, but all of them share the same run, so they only let out one cage’s worth at a time.<br />Then, we got my parents onto a train to Casa, while we got on a train to Meknes on our way back to Souktown and Berberville.<br /><br />GRAND TAXI explanation: (typed on 7/12/09)<br />To get to a nearby city, Fatima and I hired 2 spots in a grand taxi. While grand means large in French, they aren't necessarily really all that large. They are full-sized Mercedes sedans, mostly, although I've seen some that are station wagons. The Mercedes can hold 7, unless there are children, in which case more. Also, sometimes you can take one passenger in the trunk - or a sheep, although I<br />(Thank God) have never traveled with a sheep. (My sister has and has a post to that effect at innocentablogged.blogspot.com. If you think that I reference her site a lot, I do.)<br /><br />The grand taxi needs to fill to at least 5 or 6 passengers before it will leave. When my whole family was here, we would hire out the taxi, paying for 6 spots w/ *ONLY* 4 people. (These numbers don't include the driver. In the US, 4 people plus the driver would be a very full car. NOT so here.) We may not have to wait for the taxi to fill up, but we may well have to wait a while. Sometimes folks have waited for 3 hours.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-55744271914737745592009-07-12T18:38:00.000-07:002009-07-15T13:37:07.193-07:00Returning to the USI've been in Morocco for a month and will be returning in a few days. I have hand-written pages of notes about my trip, but I haven't been able to get onto blogspot in weeks and it's tough getting time on the internet, because I have to use my sister's computer. When we're home, we're generally sleeping, eating, watching a movie (also on the computer) or my sister's using her computer.<br /><br />There will be more stuff coming up online here and/or on astrotheophilus.blogspot.com as soon as I get home and can type it in. I promise. (And I take promises seriously.)<br /><br />Yesterday, I was starting to pack for home, remembering to take out stuff that I'd promised to leave in-country. (In-country means Morocco for me for now. It's one of those PCV (PeaceCorps Volunteer) things. If I forget to explain one, let me know. There are lots of PCV things. There are also lots of Arabic and/or Tam phrases that I like a lot which I may well take home to the States. I'm going to try to remember to explain those eventually, too.)<br /><br />I realized that I didn't know if my flight was on Monday morning at 10am or at 12 noon, since the time had changed once (or twice) and I couldn't remember which was the more recent change. We went online to Royal Air Maroc's (RAM's) website and looked up the schedule of flights from Casablanca (Casa for short) to JFK, the John F. Kennedy airport in NYC. There were one or two per day each day during this week except for Sunday and Monday, when there were none. We looked at this several times and then decided to call RAM. Because it costs 5dh (5 dirhams, where 8 dh = $1) a minute to make a phone call, we decided to use skypeout instead. My sister's internet connection is slow, though, so our connection wasn't great. Nonetheless, we were able to ascertain that, indeed, there was no flight on Monday and I was now booked on the Tuesday flight. We were quite amazed and disgruntled, flabbergasted, etc. Why hadn't I been told about this? When was I going to figure this out? RAM said that they didn't have any of my contact info, just my name and the reservation, so they didn't have a way to contact me.<br /><br />The original flight had been made through expedia.com by my mom. I had never used expedia before (and won't be again), so my mom had made a new username and pwd for me, but hadn't bothered to tell me the pwd. She had emailed once saying that I could call her for it, but back before I came in-country, it didn't matter. Now, when it really mattered, my parents were awol on a driving trip all over the US. We have their itinerary, but, again, it costs $$ to call the US and we didn't know if they were traveling in-between spots, etc. We sent an email and went to the next option: calling expedia. Being booked on another flight a day later wasn't a problem for me by itself - in fact, it meant that I'd be able to go to my sister's host-mom's baby's naming party, which was a big deal. But, the problem for me was that I had had two other flights booked to get me back to SFO. I needed to get new ones.<br /><br />Here are some of the notes that my sister took during the 45 minute completely useless waste of time phone call to expedia:<br /><br />'After explaining the problem, I sat on hold for 15 minutes while she ??talked to RAM??. She could not solve the problem. I asked for her supervisor, and sat on hold for another 16 minutes. At 37 minutes in, she said she'd transfer me to her supervisor. At 42 minutes, she said the supervisor would take over. At 49 minutes, the supervisor "Randy" said he could not understand me, due to a poor connection, and hung up on me.'<br /><br />We're going to send this to expedia. The people that we were talking to were obviously from India, so the fact that this guy gave his name as 'Randy' was nearly laughable and close to offensive. The fact that he then said that we had a bad connection and hung up on us was really offensive. Yes, we had a bad connection, but he just didn't want to deal w/ us, because expedia didn't know about RAM's cancellation of the flight and subsequent reassignment of my reservation, so they didn't want to give me different flights for the rest of the trip. I guess that they figured I was just jerking them around, but, no, in fact it was RAM and expedia had dropped the ball by not following up. I'd put money on the fact that RAM canceled the flight a month ago or more, but expedia figured that I had finished the first set of legs of my flight getting me to Morocco, so the rest didn't really matter. Or something.<br /><br />In the end, we resorted to texting folks we knew who were on skype. My dad's account and my aunt Glorious' account were open and we texted them. Also, my dad's sister's account was open on gmail and we texted her. My dad's sister got back to us first, so we talked her into calling Delta directly. After 3-4 tries (and hang ups) she was able to get me on a flight direct from JFK to SFO. Safi. (Enough. I'm done. etc.)<br /><br />Or so we thought. She told them to send an email confirmation (pretending that she was me). She gave them my email address ~4 times. No email. No email. This morning, we finally went online to Delta and I am confirmed on two flights on Tuesday. Safi. Finally. I've NEVER had a saga like this to fly somewhere and I haven't even left Berberville yet. (I call my sister's town Berberville in all public posts, as she does, for PCV safety reasons.)<br /><br />To get to Casa from Berberville will require an ENTIRE day's travel. I'm going to get on a tranzit at 5-5:30 am (it leaves somewhere in there, or, occasionally, if it's full, at 4:50 - like last time we took it. My mom nearly had a cow, because she was on it, but my sister and I were lagging a bit, but we got on it.) It's 4 hours to Souktown. I may well write an entire post about the Berberville-Souktown tranzit, but not today. It may hold as many as 30 people, though (some on top) and it's smaller than a full-sized van in the US.<br /><br />Then, we'll get two spots on a bus to one of the big-six cities in Morocco, either Mekne's or Fes. (The apostrophe is for an accent grave - downward facing accent.) That will be 4-5 hours. Then, my sister will say good-bye and I'll get on a train for the last 4-5 hours into Casa Voyageurs. (There are 2 train stations in Casa.) I'm getting a hotel right by the train station, since I don't want to have to worry about it the next morning when I take another train (this time only ~45 min) to the airport. If we can catch buses and trains in a timely manner, it's possible that I'll be able to see the sun set into the Atlantic ocean, which I may have done before from France, but I don't remember it. Anyway, inshallah (God willing).<br /><br />I'll have my phone on once I get to JFK (inshallah at 2:45pm local time) until I have to turn it off at about 5pm local time on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be able to say hi to some of you.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-91953908998170495912009-06-19T03:49:00.000-07:002009-06-19T04:17:08.148-07:00In Souktown, MoroccoFor those of you who haven't read any of my sister's blogs (despite my repeated requests :) ), Souktown is what my sister (Liz Fuller) calls her nearest city to her village, which she calls Berberville. She is strongly advised against revealing her whereabouts for security reasons. Unfortunately, sometimes PCVs (PeaceCorps Volunteers) can be sought out as targets. It's exceedingly rare, especially in Morocco, which loves PCVs (and has 210 currently, the second or third highest country for PCVs). Being that Morocco is about the size of CA, that's a bunch of Volunteers.<br /><br />We spent our first full day in-country in Rabat, the capital and home to 1.7 million people. It's not a tourist destination, so there weren't very many non-business folks there. Rabat seems like an Arabized European city, which sort of explains why they keep applying to be a part of the EU. Here out in the bled, though, (the country-side), I have no doubt by looking out the window or when I walk down the street that I'm in a foreign, non-European country.<br /><br />The big unique thing this morning were the trees full of cattle egrets in breeding plumage. (Specifics courtesy of my dad, an avid birder.) We have cattle egrets in the US, but they're pretty rare, I've never seen more than one at a time (not in breeding colors) and always w/ cattle, on a fence, a cow, or the ground. Below the trees were lots of Moroccan flags - pure red with a green five-pointed star in the middle. All of the buildings are this bright peach stone (sort of Spanish-style) with bright green tiles (Spanish-style, except for the color). I really like the color combos of the red and green flags and peach/light orange and green buildings. It's very bright and colorful.<br /><br />It took us all day pretty much to get from Rabat to Souktown last night. We were in a big hurry to make it to the train station, as trains generally run on a tight schedule (as opposed to buses, tranzits - vans holding ~20 people, and petit taxis - little cars that are only allowed to carry 3 passengers. (We're 4, so we need 2 petit taxis to travel.) We were planning on going to stay in the monastery with the monks (about 1 hour outside of Souktown) and we wanted to make it there before evening prayers. After a mad scramble w/ our ~250 pounds of luggage up and down some stairs, we made it onto the platform w/ about 10 minutes to spare. The train was about 25 minutes late. We ran into some of Liz's friends (other PCVs) who were on their way out. <br /><br />While we were in Rabat, we got to meet a bunch of Liz's friends because her cohort (stage - pronounced in the French way, 'staaage') were all coming in for a week of medical tests - their 1-year (and only) check-up. She was commenting that we got to meet more PCVs this way than any other configuration of timing for us to arrive. This timing also works well, since she now doesn't have to take as many days off for vacation. PC paid for the trip to Rabat (Casablanca, where we flew in is just a short 2 train-rides - a 2-hr trip - from Rabat). Her days in Rabat counted as work and, since she just had a few hours of meetings a day, we got to still spend most of them with her.<br /><br />We went to the archeology museum Thursday (yesterday) morning. It had a fascinating collection of pre-historic, Islamic, Christian (Roman), and medieval artifacts. The descriptions were in French, so we got to practice French.<br /><br />More soon! Send me emails if you like and I'll get them (and maybe even have time to respond to a few). :)Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-70359631825508741612009-03-20T07:56:00.000-07:002009-03-20T08:02:11.898-07:00Equinoxes<link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CAbby%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CAbby%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CAbby%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin val="0"> <m:rmargin val="0"> <m:defjc val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent val="1440"> <m:intlim val="subSup"> <m:narylim val="undOvr"> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" defunhidewhenused="true" defsemihidden="true" defqformat="false" defpriority="99" latentstylecount="267"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Normal"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="heading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="35" qformat="true" name="caption"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="10" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" name="Default Paragraph Font"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="11" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtitle"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="22" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Strong"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="20" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="59" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Table Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Placeholder Text"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="No Spacing"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Revision"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="34" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="List Paragraph"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="29" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="30" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“On March 20, 2009, at precisely 7:44 am EDT (March 20, 11:44 <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0850108.html">Universal Time</a>), the Sun will cross directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is known as the <b>vernal equinox</b> in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the <b>autumnal equinox</b>.” <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/spot/riteofspring1.html">http://www.infoplease.com/spot/riteofspring1.html</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I promised several months ago (on the <a href="http://astrotheophilus.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html">winter solstice</a>) to write about the equinoxes at some point.<span style=""> </span>As today is the vernal equinox, the official beginning of spring, here it is.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The term equinox is Latin for equal night.<span style=""> </span>On the equinoxes (both spring – vernal and fall – autumnal) there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness for every part of the planet from the North Pole through the Equator on south to the South Pole.<span style=""> </span>These are the only two days a year when that is true.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Sun’s apparent path in the sky, called the Ecliptic, is due to Earth’s orbit around the sun.<span style=""> </span>The concept of the zodiac is related to this.<span style=""> </span>The sun goes through different constellations (again from Earth’s perspective) during the course of a year.<span style=""> </span>The planets roughly follow this path, too, which is why you’ll never find Mars in the far north of the sky (as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere), but you might see it in Gemini, the Twins (a winter constellation), or Sagittarius, the Centaur archer (a summer constellation).<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The night sky has been mapped out like an extension of Earth.<span style=""> </span>A projection of Earth’s North Pole into the sky is called the Celestial North Pole; a projection of the Equator is the Celestial Equator, and so forth.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the equinoxes, the Ecliptic crosses the Celestial Equator.<span style=""> </span>This means that the Sun will rise due East and set due West on those days.<span style=""> </span>Because folks today do not pay much attention to where the Sun rises and sets, many may think that this is usually the case, but that is not true.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">From the perspective of the continental United States, the Sun’s path changes in the following ways over the course of a year.<span style=""> </span>On the winter solstice, the Sun rises the farthest south of east that it ever rises, goes up to the lowest altitude in the sky for the year, and quickly sets again in the farthest south of west position that it ever sets.<span style=""> </span>For a position with a latitude of 38 degrees North (where I live), the Sun rises to be about 29 degrees above the Southern horizon at noon on the winter solstice.<span style=""> </span>The Sun, during the next several months, seems to rise a little more north of its position from the previous day, until, on the vernal equinox, it rises due east, gets up to a middling height, and sets due west.<span style=""> </span>From 38 degrees North, the Sun rises to be 52 degrees above the Southern horizon at noon on the equinox.<span style=""> </span>That’s 23.5 degrees higher than it was on the winter solstice, because the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees.<span style=""> </span>Not surprisingly, then, on the summer solstice, when the Sun is the highest that it will be all year, it’s at a height of about 75 degrees when viewed from the northern US.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Having always lived in the continental US, it was a unique experience for me to be able to see the Sun in the north in the middle of the day when I visited Costa Rica.<span style=""> </span>The Sun had always been to my south at noon for my entire life.<span style=""> </span>In the summer in Costa Rica, at a latitude of 9 degrees North, the Sun passes through the zenith (a point directly overhead) during early summer and stays in the northern part of the sky during much of the summer.<span style=""> </span>The tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (at 23.5 degrees North and South latitude) are called that, because the sun passes through the zenith there one time per year.<span style=""> </span>The sun passes through the zenith only on the solstice in June for the tropic of Cancer (its summer solstice) and the solstice in December for the tropic of Capricorn (its summer solstice, our winter solstice).<span style=""> </span>That’s why the tropics are so warm.<span style=""> </span>The Sun rises to be very high in the sky there every day of the year and the length of day does not change very much there over the course of the year.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m beginning to realize that I have gotten so used to teaching this with pictures that it is very hard to describe only in words.<span style=""> </span>This all makes a lot more sense when there are pictures to go along with the explanations.<span style=""> </span>I don’t have more time just now, but please feel free to ask questions or make comments, especially with help in making what I’m trying to say more clear for a non-astro person.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks! And happy equinox!</p> Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-32610082742383978542009-03-18T10:32:00.001-07:002009-03-20T07:12:27.432-07:00Giving and ReceivingI have decided to try to share something of what I'm learning in seminary with others.<span style=""> </span>I like to talk, but I also realize that I don’t have the time to be able to explain everything that I want to say in ways that I believe others may understand.<span style=""> </span>I have to sometimes assume that people will see what I’m saying and wait for questions if that’s not the case.<span style=""> </span>Other times, I’m sure that I err on the side of over-explaining.<p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today, I’m pondering giving and receiving and hospitality, boundaries and propriety.<span style=""> </span>I think, due to time constraints, I’ll have to just do the first part today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I remember what Christine (Lane) Stonecliff said on a Valentine’s day several years ago about giving and receiving love.<span style=""> </span>She had been reading a book about how people have different ways that they give and accept it.<span style=""> </span>I don’t remember the order, but this is what I remember:</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style=""> 1) </span></span>Touch and physical affection</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2) Service – doing things for someone or having them do things for you</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3) Gifts – physical representations of how much you care.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]--> 4) Words – compliments and ways that you point out verbally how you care</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This book said that while these are the different ways that people give and receive love, not everyone sees all 4 as loving in the same way, or at all.<span style=""> </span>Often, couples will give and receive love differently.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This comes to an idea from Stephen Covey’s _Seven Habits of Highly Effective People_.<span style=""> </span>He speaks of relationships (of all kinds) as being like a bank account.<span style=""> </span>Everything we do with and for another person can be seen as a deposit or withdrawal to the bank account.<span style=""> </span>His point, which I try not to forget, is that the two people in the relationship may see these deposits or withdrawals differently.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A stark example of this was related as a story by Randall Williams in his house concert last weekend.<span style=""> </span>A man had told him about his regrets.<span style=""> </span>His wife had asked him to tell her that he loved her more often.<span style=""> </span>He gruffly said that she knew it and he wasn’t comfortable repeating it to her.<span style=""> </span>I think that he thought it perhaps was a feminine thing that wasn’t him.<span style=""> </span>He would do other things to show her that he loved her, but he didn’t say it often.<span style=""> </span>When she had lapsed into a coma just before dying, he repeated to her over and over, “I love you.<span style=""> </span>I love you.” She could no longer speak, but I like to think that she heard him and knew that it had always been true throughout their 60 years of marriage.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Often people give love the way that they receive it without realizing that for others that may be seen as a withdrawal from the bank account.<span style=""> </span>They want to receive love the way that is most comfortable for them.<span style=""> </span>I think perhaps, too, that some people like to give love in one way and receive it in another.<span style=""> </span>I am certainly fond of physical affection, which is why I give and receive hugs of friends whenever I can find an excuse to do so.<span style=""> </span>I like gifts at particular times, but I don’t necessarily receive them well.<span style=""> </span>I love giving gifts, but if I feel that people are overly generous with me, I’ll start to keep a tally in my mind and try to be sure to give back things of equal value.<span style=""> </span>Sometimes I don’t feel able to do that, so it can make me uncomfortable.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m beginning to realize that not all of my friends are nearly as hug friendly as I am.<span style=""> </span>I try to remember this.</p><p class="MsoNormal">My sister requested more examples, especially on the bank account metaphor. When you hug a nonhugger, you think you're giving them a gift (making a deposit), because you're expressing your love and affection towards them. For some, who even are huggers, there may be more going on. They might feel uncomfortable with where you are - is it a public place? is it too private? is it semi-private, but the wrong person may walk by and get the wrong impression? Sometimes they may worry that you're giving the wrong impression. Instead of being able to receive the hug, they see what you're doing as a withdrawal - perhaps taking out a large sum of the credit left in your relationship bank account with that person.<br /><br />When we don't know/recognize this, we can continue to try to put in deposits in our way (hugging) when the other person gets madder or more distant, because that is a withdrawal for them.</p>Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-5514717949944781982009-03-14T16:45:00.000-07:002009-03-14T22:51:12.827-07:00Poetry and Metaphors.<p id="msg_4003417_3744845319" class="p_self pic_padding">I go back and forth and across w/ being a stress case, not caring (procrastinating), loving, praying, working, stressing, not caring, loving, praying</p><p id="msg_4003417_3744845319" class="p_self pic_padding">and in the middle, there's the crying over stuff that my classes have been bringing up.</p><p id="msg_4003417_118638615" class="p_self pic_padding">Seminary is awesome and horrible and hard and great</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">and brutal and beautiful.</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">It's a gift and a curse. I listened to a sermon about knowing, not knowing and not knowing what you don't know. There's a great deal that I don't know, but much, much more that I didn't know I didn't know. That seems to imply that there are more things that I still don't know that I don't know. Sometimes it rather hurts my head to try to think about.</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">Have you ever tried to ponder God in many different ways all at the same time and then realize that you're going to be graded on how well you learned someone's perspective of who God is? It's not something that I can do dispassionately.<br /></p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">I'm not generally poetic, but seminary makes me want to try. I can't do the regimented rhyming or counting stresses in syllables, but I can work on using descriptive words and metaphors.</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">I was really moved by the paper by McFague about metaphors for God. All the words that we use to try to represent God are metaphors, since no human words can entirely encompass who God is.</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">An extremely effective metaphor for me about the difficulty of describing God and God's kingdom is about the fish in the pond. All of the other fish aren't interested in anything beyond the pond, except one. This fish swims around and around the very edges until he has enough speed to be able to burst out through the surface and jump up to see what's outside and above the pond. He sees trees and cattle grazing, but he doesn't know what they are. He sees birds flying and doesn't have words to describe what they are doing.</p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">When he comes back down into the pond, he is very excited about what he has seen. He tries to describe the trees without the words for tree or trunk or branches or leaves. He points to the marshy grasses that grow up from the bottom and continue up past the top of the pond. He says that these large objects are like this, but thicker and solid, not moving with the wind. They have more than one part, also solid, and end with rounded flat bits that move.<br /></p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">He has no words for the cattle, since there are no 4-legged mammals in the pond, and so on.<br /></p><p id="msg_4003417_1266829042" class="p_self pic_padding">It's difficult to describe what we have seen when it is so different from our experience that there are no words.<br /></p>Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-54912947597474979122009-03-10T10:20:00.000-07:002009-03-10T10:21:33.644-07:00Ponderings on the anonymity of cyberspaceI used to wonder about how individuals could pour out all of their innermost thoughts, struggles, desires into the world in a blog. How could people say what I didn't/wouldn't want to share with my closest friends and share them with innumerable strangers? I think that it is a part of our confessional collective American past (which has spread out into other first-world countries). We need to share our sins/ failings/ admissions of falling short of our potential with *someone* and that has been replaced by sharing it with *anyone* or *everyone*. I don't know that it's the same. I don't know that it is even necessarily always constructive, but it certainly seems to be cathartic.<br /><br />I've been asked/ it was recommended to me that I do journaling during this time of seminary.<br /><br />Why am I here? God sent me and I said yes. Isaiah 6 - "Here I am, send me!" It reminds me of Shrek, "Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" Well, I got picked and it turns out that I thought I knew what I was signing up for, but I didn't. Not at all. I figured that I would learn something about the Bible, learn the original languages of the Bible and take a few baby steps towards becoming a Bible scholar. My late friend, mentor, and honorary family member, Elaine Follis was a Bible Scholar. I am not. I may, by the grace of God, one day become one, but I wonder if I will ever accept that title in my own mind. People have already tried to bestow it on me, who are not taking Bible classes, but it does not, at least yet, belong.<br /><br />Sometimes I wonder if I'm taking the nudge, well shove really, that God gave me to go to seminary and if I'm running in the right or wrong direction. (What would the right direction be? The wrong one? How would I know?) In my theology class this semester, I learned that it is very common that people worship something other than God, while they say that they are monotheists. Few, really, would like, even, to worship God, even though many say that they would/do. (This is Richard Niebuhr's work). There are many distractions that are easier to worship - money, clothes, intellectualism, etc. Some are more insidious - church, my religious concepts, how I worship - my routine. That's the tricky part. When we are not wholly willing to change what we believe, how we act, indeed, who we are, when God tells us, then we're not truly worshiping God. While I can intellectually accept this (which is a step (or many) in maturity from where I was a few years ago), I don't really know where I fall in all of this. I suppose, as Ben Franklin said, If I were to say that I had succeeded in becoming humble, then I should not have done so. He left humble on his list of traits that he was working on after all of the others had been marked off.<br /><br />I think that we cannot really judge if we are worshiping God or not. Only God can do that, and I haven't heard how I'm doing. We have a directive that I am working on/towards in the meantime: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. And love your neighbor as yourself." I've spent a lot of time and energy in the beginning and the middle. I'm going to work on the end this week.<br /><br />That's enough for today. I wonder if there's anyone out there. If not, that's fine. :) God bless, nonetheless.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-26150184877206361612009-01-31T11:23:00.000-08:002009-02-27T00:40:50.075-08:00Combining Math, Science, Astronomy and GodThis follows from a note that Elizabeth Campbell wrote. Since I worked on my 25 random things this morning, I'm in a writing 'zone' or something, I guess. That's probably good, since school starts Monday. Before I get to my subject, perhaps part of why I'm writing is to take my mind off of what I'm in Madera to do. My friend's mom just passed and we are going through her mom's house, helping her keep what she wants, getting rid of junk, figuring out what to sell, etc. (This was part of my hoarding comments in the 25 things.) It's one of those things that must be done and which no one enjoys. I'm very grateful that I have a few days to be able to help her through this ordeal, hopefully helping her make it more manageable.<br /><br />I have always seen God in the universe (and in big numbers, which directly follows for me). I think that that was/is a big part of my interest/attraction to astronomy. I feel like I have a small glimpse of what infinity means, because I have spent years contemplating the immensity of the universe.<br /><br />Earth is small, as far as the universe (or even our own solar system, for that matter), goes, but it is, as far as we know yet, the only place where intelligent folks live. (I actually include dolphins in the 'folks' category. They have language, community groupings, etc.) I hope to be alive when we find other folks. We are each unique, though: number 1 in our own way. Even twins who have the same DNA are not even physically completely identical.<br /><br />When I teach astronomy, I talk about the very big and the very small. Stars, immense as they are, use the energy of fusion - protons combining with protons to make Helium from Hydrogen. God is infinite, yet He knows each of us intimately. God doesn't forget anyone or anything in Her entire creation. This is actually why I think that there has to be intelligent life outside of Earth. If God truly is infinite, why would there be just one planet w/ sentient beings?<br /><br />My astronomy mentor, Laurance Doyle, once gave this really great analogy to describe smallness versus uniqueness:<br />If all of the humans on the planet held hands and jumped into the ocean, it would rise 0.1 mm. Physically we are completely insignificant.<br />If you had a diamond that was the only one in a room, that might or might not be seen as important. If you had the only diamond in a city, perhaps that would be notable to some. If you had the only diamond on the planet, you would be seen as rich and special. You are the only you in the universe. You are truly blessed, interesting and important, because you are truly unique. Scripture says that the very hairs of our head are all numbered. God cares not just about us as individuals, but knows about the minutiae of our lives. God shows us what to know when we need to know it (if we're listening) and puts folks to help us along our path when we need it (often even if we're not listening).<br /><br />I studied astronomy because of the glimpses of God's diversity and infinitude that it allowed me. After enough years, though, I realized that I just wanted to know God better, so I'm pursuing other paths that, I hope, will help me along that way. I still have a great deal to learn about how to go about sharing my experiences with God with others, so that they feel free to share theirs with me. I get confused about my purpose, sometimes, though, and start to try to get others to think like me. While I think that my path is right for me, who am I to try to convince someone else to take my path? (Hmm, things to ponder.)<br /><br />I've got to go, but hopefully I'll come back to this subject - a bunch. It's one of my favorites, combining my two academic loves (and my soon to be two masters' - go figure).Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-21079648740658359612009-01-31T10:49:00.000-08:002009-02-27T00:39:01.990-08:00The 25 random things (sorry, I waxed verbose)At first when my friends tagged me on this, I thought that it was highlighting things you have done or not done (which I’m considering doing). When I started reading them, though, I was impressed about the openness and sharing that they did in these 25 things. I figured that I would try.<br /><br /><small> [The chain-letter part: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.<br /><br />(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people [in the right hand corner of the app] then click publish.)]</small><br /><br />1) I hate writing (or think I do). It’s not a passionate feeling, but enough that I continually have to talk myself into it. When I start, though, sometimes I really enjoy it. I’m not sure why I forget that. My favorite teacher in HS said to my HS class something like, ‘Writing is really difficult for Abby. When they talk about blood, sweat and tears, that’s true for her.’<br /><br />2) I sometimes really enjoy lots of attention (I’ve taught lectures with 160 students at once for years and conducted church services for 3 years), but sometimes really hate it. 1) , while true, was rather excruciating to have my classmates hear. Ask me about ‘peculiar beliefs’ some time.<br /><br />3) I’m not that into music, except hymns, which I have a particularly strong affection for. People always give me music and that’s usually what I like. Often, though, if there is a piece playing during an important event, I’ll have a strong emotion connected with it. That doesn’t mean necessarily that I’ll feel like I ever want to hear it again.<br /><br />4) K, I’ve decided that 3) isn’t entirely true. I prefer performing music to listening to it. I like listening to live music, too. I won’t listen to jazz unless it’s live.<br /><br />5) It’s too bad that I don’t have enough money to pursue many of my hobbies. I love going to concerts/musicals/plays. I’ve only ever been to the opera once, because it’s too expensive. I love skiing, too, but it’s way too expensive to do regularly.<br /><br />6) My parents taught me at a very young age to save money. Somehow that turned into hoarding (money and things). I really don’t know why, but I am a terrible packrat. I’ve even seen it in much more extreme forms with some people, but I still haven’t really been able to shake it, even though you’d think that would help. Hmm.<br /><br />7) I love to learn. Some of my most influential role models have been my teachers – 8th grade science, HS English (see 1) ), Pastoral Care, Intro Physics (freshman year undergrad), Grad Physics. I’m on my second master’s, which, I guess, follows.<br /><br />8) I never thought that I’d make a good teacher, because I can be very impatient.<br /><br />9) I have issues with missing meal-times. My sister and I are completely opposite on that. More than once, we’ve expressed chagrin that we couldn’t balance out my crankiness with not eating when I’m hungry to her complete disregard for food. She truly doesn’t get hungry. I get stomach cramps if I go too long w/o food. Lame.<br /><br />10) I talk too much, when I’m comfortable, but sometimes I’m completely silent/mono-syllabic if I’m not.<br /><br />11) I take openness to an extreme, same with frankness. I’m working on balancing those out. Many, many times I’ve gotten into trouble for speaking my mind too freely.<br /><br />12) It’s sort of odd, given 10), that I would like to go into a profession where people share private experiences with me and I’m bound to not share any of it. Perhaps that’s why I chose seminary, even though it’s not needed, to help with the confidentiality part.<br /><br />13) I used to be something of a gossip, but I’ve gotten a lot better at that (I think).<br /><br />14) When people ask about favorites, occasionally I have an answer, but usually not. I like diversity – in everything. I don’t have a favorite food, because I love different kinds: Mexican, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Persian, homemade favorites – especially mashed potatoes and gravy and Baked Alaska.<br /><br />15) I guess I really love food. My family has had many important times associated with food. Both sides of the family love to eat when they get together.<br /><br />16) I love, love, love family. And friends that are like family. I have lots of both. I’m very blessed that way.<br /><br />17) One of my friends wrote in this list that she misses people not places. I thought that that was interesting, because I’ve never thought a lot about it, but I guess that it’s true for me. I have had a list of places that I’d like to visit and Morocco was never on it. Now, though, it’s at the top of my list, because my sister lives there. (I’m going in June with my parents.)<br /><br />18) Also in line with 5), I’d love to travel more. Fortunately, my parents like to take my sister and me on trips with them, so I’ve been able to see many neat things. Also, my sister will go with me, when she can, even if our parents don’t. Outside of North America, I’ve been to Costa Rica, France, England, Scotland, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel. Sometimes that seems like a lot, but usually not nearly enough. Oh, I’ve also been to all but 5 US states: Mississippi, Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.<br /><br />19) I definitely want to see Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia/the Philippines, Japan, Kenya, Italy, Germany, Guatemala (cool ruins). I’d also like to visit Antarctica, the Moon and Mars, but who knows? I wouldn’t go to any of these exotic places without going with someone (or several someones) who I love, though, because the places aren’t as important as the experiences of making memories and being w/ people.<br /><br />20) I sometimes have a tough time going to do activities on my own, because I want to share them with others.<br /><br />21) I prefer to clean other peoples’ places than my own. Perhaps I’ll work on a trade sometime.<br /><br />22) I’m not afraid of many of the standard things. I let small spiders live in my room and take big ones outside. I have had lizards as pets and enjoy them. I like rodents, but prefer that wild ones stay in nature, not in my house. I LOVE heights and I’m going to do wind-tunnel sky-diving next weekend. (Again, with the money thing. I’d love to jump out of ‘a perfectly good airplane.’)<br /><br />23) I’m a hugger and I think that today we don’t allow ourselves enough physical contact. It’s been a struggle as a teacher, but I try my best to be prudent and give people their space, even when I’d like less.<br /><br />24) I don’t mind crowds, if they are calm. I was in the middle of the largest (perhaps) collection of Americans ever (Yeah! President Barack Obama!) and it was cool. I wanted to go more quickly to leave, when it was over, than I could, but I was extremely impressed with how amenable everyone was to the situation and to each other. I’ve literally never been so close with such a large crowd, but I got through and it was fine. OK, it was better than fine. I loved it. The inauguration itself was so great, that I even enjoyed being physically moved around by the crowd because it was so big and dense at one point.<br /><br />25) Hmm, thinking about 22) and 24), I’m not claustrophobic in the usual sense, but I don’t like super-large department stores, like Ikea or Walmart, by myself. Small spaces don’t bother me, but if I can’t see an exit or a window in a building, it creeps me out. On the other hand, if I’m crawling through a cave, spelunking, and I can’t see an exit, there’s no problem.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-29033616457120944002008-12-22T09:47:00.000-08:002009-02-27T00:36:07.261-08:00The Winter Solstice and why Christmas is on Dec 25Being an Astronomy teacher and a winter solstice baby, I enjoy solstices and equinoxes, but the winter solstice is my favorite. I have taught some 2000 students about these days over the last 8 years. I just did a rough count (not going back to look at resumes) and that's what I came up with. My dad mentioned that, in his 20 years of teaching, he's had many fewer students than I have in 8. Anyway, back to astronomy and ancient cultures.<br /><br />The word solstice means 'sun stands still' from Latin - sol = sun and sistere = to stand still (thanks for this root word from wikipedia). If you mark where the sun rises every day and/or where it sets every day (and different cultures did one or the other or both), you will notice that the sun does not rise or set in exactly the same place every day. Today many people do not realize how much farther north the sun rises and sets in summer (in the Northern Hemisphere) as compared to the winter (in the NH) where it sets south of west (and rises south of east). (I'll just talk about the sun setting from now on, but the same principles apply to the sun rising. Also, I'm going to assume we're in the Northern Hemisphere, since everyone I know lives there, but the seasons are the opposite times of year in the Southern Hemisphere.)<br /><br />As you get towards the winter solstice, Dec 21 or 22, the sun seems to slow down in its path towards the south. What I mean by that is that if you marked the position of the sunset every night from the autumnal equinox (Sept 20, 21, or 22, depending) through the winter solstice, you would notice that the sun sets farther south every night, but that the distance between the positions gets smaller and smaller. Finally, on the solstice, the sun seems to set in the same place for several days in a row - it is standing still. On about December 25, a careful observer will be able to notice that the sun has started moving north again from its 'winter house'. This is a reason for celebration for those who worship the sun as a god. (I would love to learn more about modern celebrations of this pagan holiday.) The ancient belief was that sun was happy with the people and had decided to return to the north. This meant that there would eventually be a thaw and springtime would come again. Without the thaw, there would not be a chance for planting again and the people would die. (Clearly they didn't live in CA, because people living in CA would not have died if spring never came again.)<br /><br />The Christian celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25 probably came about as one of the two following scenarios: 1) early Christians, fearing persecution or death from being found out, celebrated quietly while the surrounding pagans celebrated loudly and they blended in or 2) early Christians wanted to convert pagans to worshiping Jesus from worshiping the sun, so they convinced them to worship the Son of God instead of the Sun on this day. In any case, there is NO archeological evidence that Jesus was born on Dec 25, or even in winter at all. The shepherds certainly would not have been standing out in a field with their flocks in freezing weather.<br /><br />The 'star' that is glorified in modern Christmas carols, some going so far as to say that it shone day and night and told individuals about Jesus' coming, was probably not a single 'star', but a conjunction of planets gathering in the constellation of 'the people.' The ancient Israelites, like many peoples, had a set of the signs of the zodiac (groupings of stars that the sun and planets travel through). Having more than one planet in a single constellation at a time is noteworthy. Having two or three together in the sign of the people was important enough that even the 'wise men,' probably astrologers from Persia, would have recognized the significance. If there was a 'star' that shone day and night, King Herod, even being a bit slow, would have been able to find it on his own and would not have had to consult with the foreign astrologers (see Mark 2 in the Bible). No conjunctions have been found (using software that can replicate the motion of the planets backwards and forwards for thousands of years) that occurred in the wintertime, or in 1 BC. The probable dates for Jesus' birth are between 4 AD and 6 BC, probably in the springtime. Here's one article from earlier this month saying that it was June 17, 2 BC: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1093053/Cancel-Christmas--Jesus-born-June-17-say-scientists.html" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http://www.dailymail.co.uk</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>/sciencetech/article-10930</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>53/Cancel-Christmas--Jesus</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>-born-June-17-say-scientis</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>ts.html</a>.<br /><br />That's enough for today. I'll do a piece on equinoxes soon. <br /><br />Merry Christmas! (Does it really matter what day we celebrate it? There's plenty of archeological evidence that Jesus certainly existed and the Christ-idea is with us always.)Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-29584942186191885682008-11-23T19:23:00.000-08:002009-02-27T00:33:58.649-08:00Abby's Psalms, for my Old Testament ClassThe assignment is at the end. I have included the full text of Ps 23 and Ps 146, then my versions of them. I welcome any and all feedback. The assignment is due at classtime tomorrow morning (8am PST). This is a first draft.<br /><br />Psalm 23 – Individual song of trust<br /><br />1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.<br /><br />2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.<br /><br />3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.<br /><br />4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.<br /><br />5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.<br /><br />6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.<br /><br />Abby’s Ps 23<br />1 Father-Mother God is my guardian. She provides all I need.<br />2 He gives me a soft featherbed in a safe shelter. She shows me fresh spring water where I can fill my water bottle.<br />3 He creates great beauty in sunsets, forests and mountains, which enrich my experience. She shows me the way of life that I can follow to glorify Her.<br />4 Even when I am depressed or feel that death is approaching, I am not afraid, because You are here. Your security alarms and healers remind me that I am always safe.<br />5 You have set up an all-you-can eat buffet for me where I can find fellowship even with those who hate me. You have publicly chosen me. I am filled up full.<br />6 Your grace and lovingkindness will always bless me. I will stay in your home for all of the days of my eternal life.<br /><br /><br />Psalm 146 A communal song of thanksgiving<br /><br />1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.<br /><br />2 While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.<br /><br />3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.<br />4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.<br /><br />5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:<br /><br />6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:<br /><br />7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:<br /><br />8 The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:<br /><br />9 The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.<br /><br />10 The Lord shall reign forever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.<br /><br />Abby’s Ps 146<br />1 Sing to God, “Halleluiah!” I sing to God, “Halleluiah!” 2 I will praise Him all the days of my life. For as long as I take breath on this earth, I will praise Her.<br />3 Do not put your reliance on the leaders of the world. They live such a short while and cannot help you. 4 When their hearts stop, they will be buried or burned. Their edicts will die with them.<br />5 Those individuals who rely on God are blessed. They have faith in Her 6 who created the universe with galaxy clusters, all their stars, all their planets and all of the life in them. He is Mind and Truth.*<br />7 She brings justice to under-represented and ill-served individuals. He feeds the hungry. She frees those who are in bondage. 8 He opens the eyes of the blind and ignorant. She takes the load from those who are burdened. God loves those who stay on the path. 9 He houses the strangers. She comforts orphans and the bereaved. He derails those who are on the wrong track.<br />10 God is omnipotent and omnipresent. She will be our only leader forever. Sing to God, “Halleluiah!”<br />* The seven synonyms for God are Life, Truth, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle.<br /><br /><br />Assignment: Two of the critical features to paying attention in the reading of Psalms as poetry are parallelism and form. Parallelism stands as the distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry and replaces the rhyming words at the ends of lines that define English verse. For Hebrew the rhyme, contrast, extension, illumination, clarification, intensification is in the ideas of the line. Coogan provides an initial exploration of this on p. 461. However, his categories are too restrictive and if you study the relationships you will see that the lines connect in several different ways. The second feature to pay attention to is the form of the Psalm or the type of Psalm. This tells us about the content of the Psalm and helps us anticipate how the Psalm will develop and its major structural features. A classification of all 150 Psalms by their forms occurs on p. 462.<br /><br />Using the above information, select two Psalms of differing forms (i.e. one can be communal lament, the other individual song of trust). Write a contemporary version of each Psalm. In rewriting the Psalm you need to preserve its form. That is if the original has 12 verses, yours should have 12 verses. Where the original shifts its concern and focus, yours should make the shift. For every step in the structure of the original Psalm yours should follow the same steps. So it is important to get a sense of how this particular Psalm's structure fits the overall structure for that type. An example of structure for a lament Psalm is provided for you on p. 463. You will also need to preserve the parallelism of the verses. You do not need to create the same relationships that the original Psalm has in each line, but your lines need to reflect an understanding of this feature of Hebrew poetry. In effect, your version of the Psalm will show a grasp of the issues raised by the original Psalm and how this may be voiced by a 21st century person. Be sure to communicate this in the type of Psalm you select as well as the issues you choose to focus on. Indicate what your original Psalm is when you rewrite it.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719252306402608990.post-89031969605765421702008-10-31T07:18:00.000-07:002009-02-24T14:04:25.337-08:00Life in SeminaryThe following shows a slice of my life. We have an assignment due at 8:10am this morning. I took this list off of our online submission site. If I had waited until right before class (when I will be IN class in a place with no internet), you would see submissions up to the minute that it was due. The part that surprises me, though, are the ones at 4am. I stayed up until 1am, but then got sleep, woke up, ate breakfast, reread the assignment, then submitted it.<br /><br />I spend more time in this class than any 2-3 others that I am involved in (some as a student, some as an instructor). At the bottom is the text of the assignment that we were working on, interspersed with my answers. Be sure to note the chapters that we would need to read to do the assignment. Be aware that these are above and beyond our regular readings for today's class and that we also were 'encouraged' to respond to a reading forum online about our readings for this week. ('Encouraged' means that participation is graded and we are expected to participate at least 10 times throughout the semester.) I wrote 4 pages of outlining to keep track of all of the interesting characters in these passages and how they were similar. While writing 100 words may seem easy, it's much harder than you may think. You ONLY get 100 words. Try saying something substantive with 100 words. It's a real trick.<br /><br />Assignments submitted:<br />30 Oct, 22:03<br />B.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />30 Oct, 22:23<br />J.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />30 Oct, 22:58<br />P.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />30 Oct, 23:33<br />H.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 00:01<br />A.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 00:24<br />E.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 00:28<br />V.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 00:40<br />C.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 01:41<br />M.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 03:00<br />K.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 04:06<br />E. D.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 04:24<br />S.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 06:14<br />A. W.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 06:36<br />H. L.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 07:08<br />A. F.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br /> 31 Oct, 07:15<br />[updated after class]<br />K. S.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 07:43<br />N.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br />31 Oct, 08:02<br />C. L.<br />Chronicler Worksheet<br /><br />In order to appreciate the distinctiveness of the Chronicler's work, it is best to compare it with its closest source document the Deuteronomistic History. One area of difference between the two histories lies in the portrayal of the monarchy and specific kings. Read the following passages that deal with the various portrayals of David, Solomon and Manesseh in the respective histories.<br /><br />For each king write a short biography representing the views of both the Deuteronomistic History and the Chronicler, i.e. a total of 6 biographies. Each biography should be no more than 100 words. Remember the biographies do more than state facts, so repeating the details from the text is not necessary. Biographies convey opinions, strong ones at times, and provide critical views on the life of the individual not so much as a product of his/her times but for the readers of later generations to appreciate those individuals. Be sure, therefore, to capture the thrust of the historians view of the particular kings in your biographies.<br /><br />David<br />• DH -2Sam 6-23 (scan 9-10; 16-19; 22-23 more focused reading on other chapters but pay attention to major contours of these chapters)<br /><br />King David of Israel was unusually blessed. He had God’s repeated promise that his kingdom would last forever and God’s steadfast love would never be turned from him. He was a righteous king, moving the ark into Jerusalem. He subdued many kingdoms, but only his son would be allowed to make a house for the ark. David and his sons were promiscuous, causing death and strife. The Gibeonites were awarded seven of Saul’s descendents in exchange for peace, but not Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s lame son, who was restored all of Saul’s lands. David was the best king Israel could have.<br /><br />• Chronicler - 1Chron 16-28 (scan 16-18; 23-28, more focused reading on other chapters)<br /><br />David was an outstanding king, nearly perfect, except Satan tempted him to count the Israelites, when no one had that right. David was blessed with God’s promise for a never-ending line of Israel’s kings. He wanted to make a house for the ark, so he bought the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite and drew up plans for its creation, arranging for the materials and the laborers, for when young Solomon would be able to build it. David even gathered an assembly of Israel to prepare the way for Solomon’s reign, to make sure that there was a smooth transition.<br /><br />Solomon<br />• DH - 1Kings 1-11 (you need not read 3-7, 9-10 in great detail but the other chapters require much sharper focus)<br /><br />Solomon, David’s second son by Bathsheba, widow of Uriah the Hittite, became king through the intervention of his mother and Nathan, the prophet. He had his brother Adonijah, David’s second-born son, and Joab, David’s general, killed to secure the throne. His wisdom was world renowned and he had Hiram from Tyre build the magnificent temple in which to worship God. God promised that David’s line would continue as Israel’s kings forever, so long as the Israelites worshiped only God. Solomon had many foreign wives, though, who were eventually his undoing, encouraging him and others to worship their gods.<br /><br />• Chronicler - 1Chron 22:2-16; 28 2Chron 1-9 (scan 2-5 but more focused reading on the other chapters)<br /><br />Solomon was an unusually wise king, following David’s plan to build the temple on Ornan’s threshing floor. He made sacrifices and prayers for God to hear those from far and near, foreign and Israelite alike, who prayed to God towards the temple. God showed pleasure by sending down fire to consume the sacrifices. Huram from Tyre, who supplied temple building materials, gave extravagant tributes to Solomon and sought out his wisdom, as did all other kings. Solomon sent away Pharoah’s daughter, his wife, to live in her own house, because the places where the ark had been were holy.<br /><br />Manasseh<br />• DH - 2Kings 21:1-18<br /><br />Manasseh, son of Hezekiah and Hephzibah, was not yet a man, only 12, when he began his 55-year reign. While Hezekiah had effected important reforms, Manasseh, unfortunately, seemed to have learned nothing from him. Manasseh defiled the temple by putting altars and statues to abominable gods worshiped by the foreigners who God had righteously thrown out of the kingdom of Israel. He single-handedly brought idol worship back into Israel, which his father had eradicated in his righteous reign. Manasseh had a reign of terror where many innocent lives were lost. Understandably, all of Israel was punished for these wicked deeds.<br /><br />• Chronicler - 2Chron 33:1-20<br /><br />Manasseh, Hezekiah’s 12-year old son, began his reign inauspiciously, bringing idol worship into the temple and the high places. He even made his son pass through fire and consulted with wizards. God’s wrath came down upon Manasseh and Assyrians took him captive. Manasseh prayed, repentant, and was allowed to return to Israel. He then re-enacted the reforms that his father had done: tearing down the high places and breaking down altars to idols, making sacrifices to God of thanksgiving. By the end of his 55-year reign, Israelites still worshiped God from the high places, but there was no more idolatry.Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00194309612570826301noreply@blogger.com0