Posted By RichC on April 13, 2009
I’d like to think “oh, such a beautiful bird” … but that has not be my morning attitude since he has been rapping on the window for about a week now. I could probably handle the ‘pesky tapping’ of this northern cardinal if it were not for the early morning annoyance.
Posted By RichC on April 12, 2009
I’ve been looking for a few new ways to focus on Easter, so thought I’d take advantage of the Internet to gain new perspective. I started with listening to a bit of Glenn Beck audio with Pink Floyd as the music (seemed a strange choice) and finished up by reading a few newspaper articles. It seems pastors planning their messages are focusing in different ways, some traditional and some recognizing their congregations are facing “fears and doubts” in this recession. No doubt it is a challenging economy for many. An article in the Chicago Tribune focused on that topic. (article text included below)
Happy Easter.
Resurrection pastors rely on Mark to tell Easter story
By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter
April 12, 2009
When pastors gaze upon their flocks after sunrise on Sunday, many will see congregations cast in shadows—haunted by diminishing investments and the prospect of losing jobs and homes.
Amid this fear and doubt, the clergy must lead the faithful to a message of hope—the miracle of the Resurrection commemorated at Easter.
To do it, many will rely on the Gospel of Mark, a tale that embodies the anxiety of confronting the unknown. Mark tells the story of Jesus’ life and death, but it closes with a cliffhanger: Three women go to his tomb, only to tremble with fear at finding the crypt bare.
It is that sensation of emptiness, terror and mystery that is drawing pastors to this scripture.
“I think there’s a connection between those who have lost jobs or have had their hours cut or face medical uncertainties and these women who don’t know what lies in the future,” said Rev. Tony Dusso, pastor of Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Oak Forest.
“Today, I think the Resurrection is a story that reminds us that no matter what we face, no matter what our fears are, we can look forward and ahead with hope.”
Dusso’s congregation is one of a handful in the Chicago area whose marquees celebrate the Resurrection year round. Whether the Resurrection name emerged from consolidation of churches, or from ambitious plans to revive a ministry, the moniker symbolizes the hope of a new day.
“With the financial problems that many are experiencing, unemployment and fear of getting laid off, I think there’s more need for faith in Resurrection this year,” said Rev. Thomas Tivy of Resurrection Roman Catholic Church in Bucktown. “Hope is the main message.”
Four Gospels tell the story of Easter: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Tivy and others say the Gospel of Mark offers a particularly “crisp and stark” approach to the tale. Catholics often read it at the Saturday night Easter vigil as a precursor to the joyful resolution on Easter morning, recounted in the Gospel of John.
While the Gospel of John is a popular choice every Easter, Mark is another option this year for many Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches who follow the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of biblical texts. Churches committed to the lectionary rotate their focus on Matthew, Mark or Luke, and the most recent Advent kicked off the Year of Mark.
Rev. Brian Hiortdahl, pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lakeview, attributes that timing to divine providence. The Gospel of Mark reflects a universal state of limbo; like a season finale, it leaves the reader wanting more. The Greek translation of Mark even stops in the middle of a sentence.
“People are staring mid-sentence out into a future they can not see or predict,” Hiortdahl said. “It’s scary to think that God is alive and able to do things so far beyond our prediction and beyond our control.
“The future is wide open. We can participate in it, but we’re not in charge, and we are a people who like to be in charge of stuff,” he said. “We like to predict. We like to figure out when the economy is going to get better and plan for it. Resurrection just blows all of that away.”
In his 12 years as a pastor, Dusso said he has preached on Mark only occasionally and usually for shock value.
“This year, it’s not about shock,” he said. “It’s not about waking us up that this resurrection is more than chocolate bunnies. It really is a message for this year that transcends that. It’s about our conditions today in 2009.”
Dusso said each of the Gospels has a theme that captures the tenor of the season. John features a reassuring reunion between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Matthew and Luke emphasize the disciples and their doubt.
Beth Felker Jones, an assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College, said that diversity is an argument for preserving the canon despite movements throughout church history to synthesize the gospels into one book.
“The church has always resisted hammering it out into one story. They keep the four,” Felker Jones said. “All four of these portraits of what Jesus has done speak to different communities, different needs, different emotions.” Her husband, a Methodist pastor, will base his Easter sermon on Mark.
Scholarly debate about Christ’s resurrection has focused on whether Jesus really rose bodily from the dead or whether the story is more of a metaphor for personal, spiritual and community renewal. Congregants of churches named for the miracle recognize both. They especially recognize the restorative potential of their communities.
Gloria Thorne has been a member of Church of the Resurrection in Oak Forest ever since its inaugural worship service on Easter more than 40 years ago. Since then, cancer and other illnesses have claimed members of her family and threatened to take her. With each loss and struggle, the congregation has brought Thorne back to life.
“The name of the church seems to fit in with all the people,” said Thorne, 80. “When you see those people, you know there’s hope in the way they reach out to others in Christ’s name.”
Rev. Aaron Johnson of Resurrection Covenant Church in Lakeview said he hopes that’s true of his congregation as well. The church changed its name from Cuyler Covenant more than two years ago as part of a plan to reinvigorate its mission and reverse its dwindling rolls.
Members don’t just call themselves Resurrection, they practice it, Johnson said. The church opened a warming center in January to provide a haven for the area’s homeless.
Rev. Dayna Winke of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Franklin Park agrees that current events put the practice of resurrection in a whole new light.
“With our given economy, we must be reminded of the resurrection that says: ‘Go forth and do for your neighbor’,” said Winke. “Resurrection didn’t end the day Jesus rose from the dead. It ended when he said: ‘All right, go and do this.’ .”
Both Johnson and Winke said they will rely on Mark to remind their congregations that Easter is only the beginning.
“We don’t have a visual, accountable sighting of Jesus in the text we’re given for Sunday,” Johnson said. “So often, we celebrate Easter on Sunday, and we move on with our lives. The Gospel of Mark shows that’s not all there is to Easter.”
Posted By RichC on April 11, 2009
With the release of the Sprint only Palm Pre “in the first half of 2009,” Sprint and Palm marketing dollars are starting to show up in a hefty advertising campaign. Besides the television commercial mentioned the other day, I noticed a full page ad prominently displaying the Palm Pre in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.
Treo photo of Palm Pre Sprint ad
Posted By RichC on April 10, 2009
The good news that yesterday the gazebo project moved ahead as the pilings were sunk and cemented before the rain came. The bad news is that it is a damp day today, but ‘lo and behold‘ the construction crew is working this morning … according to the ustream.tv channel I’m broadcasting. Setting up a webcam and checking in is probably a little over the top, but since I have the video camera and the view, I thought it would be fun to set it up. (I also regularly check on another construction project, although it is a bit bigger – University of Akron stadium construction)
I’m embedding the live stream below for neighbors, or by clicking the photo a separate window should open with the ustream.tv live video stream.
Posted By RichC on April 9, 2009
Finally … we are moving ahead with the repairs/replacement of our homeowner association’s damaged gazebo. The lake was pumped down yesterday and the contractor is hoping for a few rain-less days in order to get the piling in place so construction can start.
The original gazebo stood for 15 years and was blown over by hurricane Ike last fall (link) and we have had a challenging time finding an appropriate contractor (and ‘acceptable’ bid) to tackle the project. I’m crossing my fingers that all goes well and am looking forward to having the picturesque structure back on our small lake.
Since I’ve been tinkering with some odds and end computer and video hardware, I also set up a ustream.tv feed.
Also, I’ve installed the WordPress plug-in called Lightbox 2 which improves the “enlarged photo” view when someone clicks on a photo on my blog. (click on the photo to try it out) So far it seems to work well.
Lightbox 2 allows you to present images in a slick window, while darkening the rest of the page. It makes your site look professional, and adds very little to page load times. It does not require any browser plugins to work, and works on just about every web browser out there! When a browser doesn’t support javascript, the code fails gracefully.
The brilliant Lightbox 2 javascript/css was written by Lokesh Dhakar. I simply made it into a WordPress plugin. Krembo99 and Tanin added the beautiful auto-lightboxing code.
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Posted By RichC on April 9, 2009
The new VW Golf shows off its lines at the New York Auto show on April 8, 2009. The new looks is a tad bit more chiseled than the previous model, but retains all the functionality and sporty European handling known to Rabbit and Golf owners. All in all, its a good look.
Volkswagen also showed off a TDI-powered Golf that featured a few upgrades not seen on the North American models last year, including a Dynaudio stereo and automatic climate control. A DSG automatic transmission — with six forwards speeds — will be standard on all Golf models, except for the base vehicle.
Posted By RichC on April 8, 2009
According to an “Wheels” article today in the New York Times, Stefan Jacoby, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America talked and promoted clean diesel over electric and hybrid vehicles a the New York auto show. He was the keynote speaker at the annual breakfast for the press and took the opportunity to point to Volkswagen’s efforts in improving fuel efficiency and in competing to “find the fuel of the future.”
According to the article, ” Jacoby said that technological improvements in clean diesel “will improve miles per gallon” without incurring big expenses.” He commented that the VW Jetta TDI, which has achieved 58 miles a gallon in testing and believes we can expect to see “50 to 70 miles a gallon would be possible in the next 10 years.” The VW executive also said that “Some of the new technology is 20 years off,” he said, clearly meaning electric-battery power and fuel-cell technology. “And we may find better options.”
His real push is for tax incentives in order to encourage Americans to buy new cars, as well as additional incentives that will target the more fuel efficient clean diesel cars. “A cash for clunkers program, or “fleet modernization,” as Mr. Jacoby called it, similar to what Germany has in place, would go a long way to help consumers, dealers, suppliers and the environment.”
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Posted By RichC on April 8, 2009
Perhaps I’m offering up some free advertising to Sprint and their soon to be release Palm Pre smartphone, but I am pretty ‘geeky’ excited about getting my hands on this new gadget and don’t mind being used. Some expect it to show up this month (I doubt it), while others believe its release will be targeted just before the first iPhone contracts run out early this summer? It has been a closely held secret … that’s for sure. The new video ads (above) and the mesmerizing Sprint NOW site loaded with web widgets are certainly putting Palm’s live or die smartphone front and center. The way I see it, if this gadget can keep me from looking at expensive diesel cars, then it’s saving me money?
😕
Posted By RichC on April 7, 2009
Nissan announced a couple new 370Z models today in New York including the 2010 370Z Roadster. This impressive and affordable performance car is winning over enthusiasts and will by the end of summer have a top down sibbling. The 2010 Nizzan 370Z Roadster sports a no-touch convertible top will make for a very easy to operate soft top, while still retaining solid performance and outstanding styling. If I were not a diesel oriented sort, this roadster would be a sure fire replacement for our old ragtop MGB. See the video announcment published at 7:30PM Tuesday evening at the Nisson 370 website.
Posted By RichC on April 7, 2009
Although my confidence is low that I’ll be able to reduce the number of “junk faxes” being sent to me, I’m going through the procedure put in place by the FCC anyway. The steps are fairly straight forward in entering a complaint online, but I suspect results may not be all that forthcoming?
An online complaint can be filed with the FCC at this web address, but it will require a few bits of information: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm.
My suspicion: I believe that fax numbers are sold to different fax marketing firms who cater to the ‘cheap’ travel and boiler room investment types. Some may be pure scams and others may offer a product which I suspect is sub-standard. I’m also suspicious that just like the links on emails asking to be removed from an email list, that entering your fax number may increase the likelihood that you will receive more faxes rather than less (probably disguised as being from a different marketing firm). My advice is not to attempt to be removed from these lists but to ignore the marketing. I’ll update results from my complaint to the FCC here.
4/18/2009 Update: I received a letter from the FCC the past week:
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