Going to teach Down Under

I'm heading to New Zealand in less than two weeks to participate in the Creation Care Studies Program (CCSP) in Kaikoura (on the South Island). Kaikoura is located right where the peninsula in the picture attaches to the rest of the island. I will be teaching a week-long course on God and Nature, examining the Biblical and theological basis for Creation Care. We will be examining the ways that a broken relationship with the rest of creation breaks our relationships with other humans and with God. Likewise, a healthy relationship with God's creation cultivates right relationship with God and human. We will be looking at the ways that detachment from the land affect detachment from community and God.

The program is a strong program and here's a cool video showing more about the program. A group of 24 students are studying there all semester and several professors come through and teach one course at a time. Instead of meeting in a classroom, many of our sessions will be held out of doors--on a mountain lookout, or on a local farm, or around a fire on the beach. This semester's students also have a blog about what's going on so far.

Children Meditate

This weekend I took my two boys camping and we stayed on the Santiam River. Sunday morning as we were sitting by the fire with blue skies above and red trees around us, both boys were sitting on my lap as I read to them a few verses from Psalm 77. In particular, I read, "I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds."

I then asked them what it meant to 'meditate.' Jonathan said, "I don't know." Daniel stared at the fire. I said, do you remember that really good piece of chocolate you had last night after eating smores?" 'Yes.' "Do you remember how you ate that piece of chocolate really slowly?" (he had been very careful to suck on one small chunk for about ten minutes). "Yes." Well, that's like meditation. Instead of gobbling it up like Augustus Gloop (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), you took a long time tasting it and eating it.

Now look at that tree. To gobble it up would be to look at it quickly and then look away. But let's try meditating on that tree. What do you notice? Over the next ten minutes, they did describe all sorts of things about it--the moss hanging from it, the size of it's branches, the fact that it was alive and the one next to it was dead, etc. Until finally, Daniel said, "Can you go back to talking about chocolate?"

Well, we did go back to talking about chocolate, but even meditating on chocolate is meditating on God's deeds--God's good deeds. Taste and see that the Lord is Good (Ps. 34.8)

Leap of Faith

What would convince me to jump from a small platform 45 feet in the air? The fact that a bunch of my students were on the ground holding the rope in case I didn't reach the trapeze bar? Were any of them upset about grades? Now was their chance. But a group of about 20 of our philosophy majors went out to Tilikum for a retreat last weekend and this was part of what we did.

I did in fact miss the bar--though I got one hand on it--and they did in fact catch me before I hit the ground. But come to think of it, they also said 'farther, farther' when I asked them how far out I should ask to have the bar moved away from my little platform. But I did, and do, trust them--even if I may not have evidence to prove it. After hanging out in the woods with them all weekend, in fact, I trust them all the more. It is such a good thing to be out in God's beauty--it quickly convinces me that we are not as separate from the rest of creation as we modern folk pretend to be. And being out there with other people is a great way to realize that we are not as separated from other people as we modern folk pretend to be. Thanks to Tilikum for helping us to have that opportunity!

Garden Feast

Over 60 people enjoyed the celebration with live music, fresh organic food, drum circle, and some good earth stories from Native American Randy Woodley.













We served up a a pesto wrap from pesto that had been made the day before. On top of that were roasted tomatoes and roasted pumpkin and delicatta squash.

Lots of people pitched in to make this a really special night, and the weather was perfect, complete with a beautiful moon as the sun set. Anyone interested in the garden for this upcoming year, please let me know!