We started our day today visiting Powdermill Nature Reserve, which is the research arm of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In particular, we heard a presentation from Amy, a scientist who is studying bird calls–not songs, but the short (1 second or so) flight calls birds make when they migrate. So, they use micronets…… Continue reading Bird Calls at Powdermill Nature Reserve
Category: Uncategorized
Old Growth Forest
Here are some pictures from an old growth forest we hiked today, as well as a “wilderness area”–that is actually a specific designation, by legislative action, which means that humans can’t manage the land at all: the natural life and death cycles of the animals and plants are allowed to take their course. Somehow to…… Continue reading Old Growth Forest
Terra Dei
This is “Terra Dei,” a sustainable house here on the camp campus. They have solar panels, a compost toilet, and the walls actually are straw bales–very cool. I also loved the bike hooked up to a battery–twenty minutes of biking can power a tv for 2 hours! (I wonder if I can get little Henry…… Continue reading Terra Dei
"Earth Your Dancing Place"
I think I have mentioned before that poetry is not my favorite literary genre. Sure, there are certain poems and poets I love [Gerard Manley Hopkins and Mary Oliver are at the very top of my list], but I’m pretty conventional in my tastes, and I don’t have the sophisticated tools I would need to…… Continue reading "Earth Your Dancing Place"
Things That are Hidden
I am here in Vancouver–spectacularly beautiful–for a conference on Pure Land Buddhism; and before the conference started this afternoon, my friend Richard and I visited the Museum of Anthropology. It was a gorgeous, interesting museum–most of it devoted to First Nations peoples. I am still thinking about all I saw, but this piece stayed with…… Continue reading Things That are Hidden
God "with," not "for"
My friend, Robin, alerted me to this great article by Sam Wells in the journal Cresset: http://thecresset.org/2013/Easter/Wells_E2013.htmlIt’s titled “Rethinking Service,” and there are two issues in particular he raises that I think are really important and interesting for both individual Christians and the church today. The first is the question of what the current “problem”…… Continue reading God "with," not "for"
Rejecting the Dead?
Did you see/hear this story on NPR? http://www.npr.org/2013/05/06/181678766/in-boston-a-rare-rejection-of-the-deadThe body of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev languishes in a funeral home because no cemetery will accept it for burial. Interestingly enough, the story quickly notes that this impetus for “justice” and punishment is an old one, and it begins with the following example: “The notion that…… Continue reading Rejecting the Dead?
The Power of "Story-truth" for Understanding the Bible
A post in 50 words or less:Read this little piece, from a great website you should be reading regularly: http://www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/?p=17399And then think more deeply and creatively about what it means when we say something is “true” in the context of our faith! [More Christians should think about this when reading Scripture!!]
My Bright Abyss
I was at Virginia Tech last weekend as the visiting theologian [sponsored by Luther Memorial Lutheran Church], and I got to spend some time with the college students there. They were GREAT–mostly engineering majors, actually, with one interesting organic farmer-to-be and a few other majors, too–none religion. They all were very active in the campus…… Continue reading My Bright Abyss
Happy Lutheran 