Driving -v- Riding

I read, with interest, the Vatican’s ten commandments for drivers. I suppose that they all mostly come under the 5th and 10th commandments of the originals as handed down by Moses.

 But the discussion of these commandments started a thought process begun a few few weeks ago in Tokyo. In Tokyo, all of the travelling that I do is via mass transit. During my latest visit I ruminated on the difference between mass transit and personal transportation.

The travel experience, for me, is significantly different in mass transit than it is in my personal vehicle. In many ways I prefer mass transit over driving myself. If I lived in an area with a good transportation infrastructure, I would willingly give up some convenience that personal transport offers in exchange for the benefits of mass transit. What are the benefits?

The biggest benefit is the social factor. In public transportation we’re in it together. When we drive in our separate cars, everyone else is a competitor. (At least it often seems that way!) In public transportation, the passengers are peers with no competing interests (outside of a few lines while waiting for the next train/bus, whatever.)

Adding to the social factor, it is possible, even likely, to communicate verbally with fellow passengers. In cars, the communication is limited to the horn and hand gestures.

In cars there is a sense of chaos–everyone is going their separate way. On the train, there is a sense of common destination–even if that destination is merely a waypoint on a greater journey.

In short, I find public transportation more human. I wish we were less beholden to automobiles!

Public transportation is like the front porch of yesteryear–it encourages social interconnectedness. Even if such interconnectedness is really superficial, it’s still magnitudes better than what we experience in our cars!

Sailing!

I’m really blessed to have finally hooked up with our yacht club! (The biggest yacht may only be 16 feet long but I’m looking forward to hoisting some canvas!)

One visit and I realized what I’ve been missing here in Japan–a guy place. In Tucson I had the race track and the r/c flying field, in Oklahoma City I had the ham radio club, in Rockport I had the fire department. I had nothing to really do with my hands here (excepting mowing the yard.)

Now I have something I can work on (sailboats require a lot of work!) And the benefit will be getting out on the water with good friends.

That’s one of the things about ministry, it’s very easy to let it become a white collar job, but that’s not the example given by Jesus!

Front Page News!

The local Stars and Stripes reporter did a story covering a radio show I and a Chaplain Assistant host on the local AFN radio station. We made the front page of the Japan edition! I was quite surprised to unfold the Sunday paper and find myself staring at myself!

The story was included in the Pacific edition. It’s on page 31 of the 20 May 2007 Pacific Edition. You can look at it through www.estripes.osd.mil

This radio show has been a lot of fun and an excellent community outreach!

Greater than Faith

I heard a great sermon today! I think the title was "Greater than Faith". The point was, God’s response is always greater than our faith. How true! Our doubt doesn’t modulate God’s response to us. Rather our faith is built from God’s love — we love because He loved us first!

I don’t think the preacher mentioned it, but I recalled Jesus teaching that faith the size of a mustard seed can do mighty things!

Home Alone!

Alicia went to a spiritual retreat this weekend. Thankfully, I and the boys seemed to have survived! (She’ll be home soon.) This was an excellent follow-up to mother’s day! We all appreciate mom that much more and will be glad to have her home!

It didn’t help that it has rained heavily most of the time trapping us indoors. Our biggest challenge now is getting the house back in shape!

Now for a big picture

The small file worked great! This is so much better than blogger!

Here’s a bigger pic:

Now, here’s a link from Smugmug:

Testing

I couldn’t get blogger to let Contribut put in photos. Let’s see how it works here!

This is a super lo-res file so file size shouldn’t be a limitation!

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Blog Entry dated 5/19/2007 11:37 AM

This is a test using Adobe Contribute CS3. I’m wanting to see how to upload a picture.

It would’nt let me upload a local pic. So now here’s an attempt from my SmugMug site.

This is a picture of cherry blossoms in Hirosaki, Japan.

Lutheran Carnival XLVIII

We had a healthy number of submissions again! (It took me awhile to digest the last carnival—good stuff!) I don’t really have a post of my own. I just returned from a quick trip to the states. I always resolve to do a lot of work on the 12-14 hour plane rides but often don’t do more than catch up on the in-flight movies! (We miss out on a lot here, it’s inconvenient to go to movies so I hadn’t yet seen the latest James Bond—fun stuff!)

I planned to do some good blogging but ended up focusing on the tasks at hand. It was a good trip!

I will commend my Good Friday service to your viewing pleasure. The actual conversation with the devil starts about 6 minutes into the video.

Enjoy the Carnival!

Since When Did Divine Service Need an Appetizer?
Don’t leave the steak in the freezer! Dan at Necessary Roughness challenges conventional LCMS wisdom that there is a time when a new mission church should only hold Bible studies without participating in actual Divine Service.

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like …
What does an herb garden have to do with salvation? Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength remembers that Christ portrays the kingdom of heaven like many of the things around us. This is considered as a reminder of creation, a foretaste of heaven, and a blessing on the things around us.

A Trip Down Aardvark Alley
After setting up hosting for Lutheran Carnival XLVII, the Aardvark found plenty of work to do in his congregation but still had time to update the Big Blogroll O’ Vark and cobble together a few posts on a various topics. Two of these touched on abortion, and Supremes Singing on the Babies’ Side lauded the Supreme Court upholding the federal ban on partial birth abortions. Of course, whenever there’s a commemoration from the LCMS calendar, Aardvark Alley tries to make sure we remember it, so we also get to read about Luther’s pastor and fellow reformer Johannes Bugenhagen.

Why Aren’t Christians Jews? and More!
The Rev. Walter Snyder of Ask the Pastor provided a pair of posts this time. In one, he responded to a person who is being drawn toward the Christian Faith but struggling to comprehend parts of Scripture, particularly the Lord’s claim of being A Jealous God. He also examined Christianity, Judaism, and the Scriptures to answer the question Why Aren’t Christians Jews?

Be A Saint: Donate To The VA Tech Memorial Fund

jWinters reflects on the Virginia Tech tragedy with a short devotion along with a way for people to act out in sanctification.

The Jesus Three
Nurse Ratched provides a modern parable in an unlikely place and circumstance.

Abduction?Confinement?Torture?Termination?IRRESPONSIBLITY
Spotlight on misplaced priorities and how several horror fans revolted against public snuff-movie imagery. Smoking is the least of my concerns. With photo editing lulz.

Talking About Death
Even though we are saved from sin, death, and the devil, Christians can still be uncomfortable when discussing death. Dan uses an Athanasius quote on incarnatus est to illustrate that Christians need not only not fear death but “tread it underfoot as nothing.”

Commentary on an Old Favorite!
We were referred to a post at Susan’s Pendulum wherein Susan makes the point that the song “This is the Day that the Lord has made” is more than a statement on how good today is.

Bibliography

http://necessaryroughness.org
http://weekendfisher.blogspot.com/
Aardvark Alley
http://xrysostom.blogspot.com/
http://nurse-ratcheds.blogspot.com/index.html
http://www.carolrutz.com