Tomatoes!

We've been eating heirloom tomatoes for a couple weeks now from the place in our parking strip where there used to be grass! Our tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes but larger ones) have ripened before most gardens I've seen or heard about in Newberg, and I was wondering why. Wayne Adams said it was because the street serves as a 'heat sink' which means our tomatoes have been exposed to more heat than most other spots. That has meant lots of 'Caprese' Sandwiches (basil, tomato, mozzarella--or sharp cheddar--and balsemic vinegar). We've also been having tomatoes in salads, tomatoes on pasta, and there's nothing like picking that tomato and eating it like an apple right there on the spot. So I just discovered one more reason to grow a garden in the parking strip!! Enjoy the taste of summer!

Agrarian Phenomenology

This May Term I taught a class called Agrarian Phenomenology and we spent a great deal of time experiencing the land and studying the various ways that humans relate to the land. This involved field study every day--everything from visiting big farms to small farms to family farms to wilderness areas to urban and suburban areas. Admittedly, it sometimes included field 'play' such as this field in which I required the students to run through with hands raised high. =) I really enjoyed teaching in this concentrated way--which involved meeting every weekday morning for three hours for three weeks. It was so good to have sustained attention on one subject, and to sustain our attention by immersing ourselves in reading and experiencing what we are studying.

One excellent work we read from was The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature by Erazim Kohak (a Czech Philosopher of Ecological Phenomenology). It is beautifully written and is a different type of philosophy. His goal is not to use arguments to reach a conclusion. Instead of seeking to argue, he seeks to "evoke a vision"--that is a different way of viewing the world and our place in it. There is a certain awareness of oneself and one's being that occurs when the embers are dying out in the campfire and one is gazing up at the stars--an awareness that is not argued TO (trying to prove or justify our existence in this world) but an awareness that argued FROM--or an awareness that helps us see our own reality differently.

NEWBERG FARMER'S MARKET IS HERE!

The Newberg Farmer's Market is here! Every TUESDAY from 1:30-6pm at the Cultural Center (next to the library and the park). And that means local Oregon Strawberries! Our strawberries didn't make it home before being eaten. That also means fresh organic asparagus and spring onions. We had some on the grill last night (a little olive oil, salt and wow--so delicious!) That also means fresh flowers--we got a huge bouquet last week for just $10 that are still on our table, and they are still opening up. That also means fresh eggs from chickens that are fed naturally and live a good life. And we can taste the difference! We had egg friitatta for dinner tonight--along with fresh greens and spinach (all fresh and available for great prices at the Farmer's market, too).

And here's a cool thing about Farmer's Markets. You run into really cool people! It's cool for kids, cool for parents, cool for students. Cool for anyone who loves fresh, organic, local food. And it's cool for June. Maybe next week, it'll actually be sunny! But all these people came out in the cool (and rain). Just think how many will be there when it gets sunny!

GOT WORMS?

Ten pounds of worm castings costs over $30 because it is black gold for the garden. One pound of red wriggler worms costs $20 because they are in demand--they can turn your kitchen waste into this black gold. They eat half their weight in food waste PER DAY! So, two pounds of worms can eat one pound of food in one day, or seven pounds in one week!

TONIGHT at 5:30pm at George Fox Plant Services, Clyde Thomas is giving a demonstration on how to worm compost and while supplies last, we will be doing a 'worm loan' program where you get a pound of 'starter' worms and a container. The goal is to have worms propagating (yes, having sex, and multiplying) so that we can get enough worms to compost all of the food waste that goes through the George Fox dining services. Denny Lawerence, the director of Bon Appetit is working with us on that but before it goes full scale, we need enough worms to handle the hundreds of pounds of food waste that is generated each week. SO, after the worms multiply (one pound of worms turns into two pounds of worms in a few weeks) you'll be able to give a couple pounds of worms back to George Fox and continue multiplying your own worms. If you are interested, come tonight, and get some worms! Start making black gold.

What is Earth Day, Papa?

On the way to his first T-ball game, I told my 7-year old son that it was Earth Day, and that it was great that he'd be playing on dirt and grass on this day.
'What's Earth Day?' he asked.
'Well, it's a day where we remember to take care of the earth,' I explained

'Why don't we do that EVERY day?'

'That's a very good question, son."
And a little child shall lead them.

FARM MEET 2010

This Tuesday (April 20) we are having a great event at the Cultural Center here in Newberg from 6-9pm. It's a follow up event to the FOOD MEET 2010 which had 23 tables (farmers, restaurants, organizations) and over 150 people who came to the event. Check out this COOL VIDEO on the Food Meet that was posted on YAMHILL TV.

This event is going to be even bigger with 30 vendors and over a dozen different presentations/demonstrations you can choose from addressing the following questions:
1. WHY get local food?
2. How to BUY local food?
3. How to GROW local food?
4. How to COOK local food?
5. How to PRESERVE local food?
6. How to COMPOST local food?
7. How to CELEBRATE local food?

There will be a variety of local music and lots of GOOD FOOD to sample or buy. Food brings people together. Local food is not only delicious--it helps our local economy, our communal health, our local justice, our environment. It's all good. So come check out the NEWLY remodeled Cultural Center (near the Newberg Library). Lots of great things are brewing in Newberg--come be part of the GOOD FOOD MOVEMENT! Click HERE to find out more about the FARM MEET.

Unplugged tonight!

Tonight the campus is unplugging from electricity (lights, computers, phones, etc) and joining in the Quad for home-made music and home-made smores. Bring a can of rocks to make music (or some other instrument) and join in the fun. It's not that we're against electricity or virtual reality; it's just that we are FOR real community. Please join in the fun! Tonight from 8-9pm.

Can you TASTE the TRUTH?

Can you TASTE truth? Can you SMELL truth? When listening to music, can you HEAR music that is true...or false?

In a book I'm writing on truth, I'm exploring these and more questions. MONDAY night at Quere Verum (8pm) I'll be discussing the ways that we might discern truth with our senses.

Philosophical views of truth in the last 300 years have often limited truth to something that we only say about sentences or statements or propositions. But can THINGS be true? Can PEOPLE be true? How do we live out truth? Does truth live in my BRAIN or in the rest of my BODY?

I'd like to know what you think--come join in a conversation about what is truth and how we encounter and discern it.

FOOD MEET 2010

Wednesday night was our first ever Food Meet at GFU. And what a lot of fun we had. We viewed clips from the excellent film FOOD, INC. and heard from local farmers and from local businesses and organizations--all doing great things to help us stay connected with our food by eating good, delicious, local food.

We had over 23 booths with everything from goat cheese, truffle oil and fair trade chocolate cupcakes to activities such as sticking your hand in soil, planting native flowers, getting jars with sprout seeds in them. There were books, coffee, many different colored eggs, more food samples and fun, easy ideas for how we can eat more ethically, locally, healthily--all while eating more deliciously.

There were over 130 people present and everyone I talked to spoke of the great energy in the room. I was inspired by it myself, and am looking forward to an even bigger event where we'll dig into these same things more deeply on April 22, 2010.

If you missed the first ever FOOD MEET, you can:
a) talk to others who went or ask me about it
b) visit the website, where shortly, we'll have a list of many good places to get produce, eggs, meat, honey, cheese, truffle oil, and much more from good, local sources.
c) come to the next Food Meet on April 22, 2010.
d) watch Food, Inc. yourself--find it at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, or NetFlix, or borrow my copy.
e) read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma which was the inspiration for the film.

Earth Angel and the Shepherd

What do angels look like? We had to face this question when given the assignment to come up with an angel costume (Gabriel, to be precise) for our son's Christmas program. Of course, they are usually depicted as wispy, white, and utterly detached from anything on this earth. But if angels are all around us and in our midst, then it's very likely that they are much more earthy than clouldly. We know that when they appear to people, usually people are afraid--thus the usual greeting 'Fear not!' But we don't know that the fear came from their appearing in wispy, gossamer gowns with tinsel on their heads. Stuck, then with how to give Jonathan some appropriate Gabriel Garb, I decided to go for ferns instead of tinsel. So here are Jonathan's fern wings.

And as for our other son, I was delighted when Daniel's Pre-K teacher told me that she gave him the option of what part he wanted to play in their Christmas play, and he chose a shepherd. He didn't pick a king or Joseph, but the shepherd. This kid is down to earth.

Seeing Newberg from NewZealand

New Zealand is nice, but Newberg is home--and it's good to be home. One question we spent time discussing in New Zealand is why we tend to have a bias AGAINST hometown. Why do we think success means moving away to some far away place? What do we do to foster this displeasure for being rooted? Wendell Berry says at some point we need to just stay put.

It's good to get away and get perspective on home, but I love that we are making Newberg home and that we are becoming rooted here. We're going on seven years being in this home in this place. And unless we're obviously told to go elsewhere, we look forward to being here for the long haul. By the way, this picture is from LAST year--nearly a year ago to the day. Right now, all we're getting is good Oregon rain. Maybe we'll go try to make some rainmen.

Making Room for the Chicken (Holy Spirit)

I went down under to teach, and ended up learning a lot. Teaching for this intensified period of time, and teaching in an embodied way helped me see a lot of these concepts that I've been teaching in a new way. I've read the story 'Watch with Me' by Wendell Berry many times, but after the class acted out the story on the beach (as the sun set--left), 'making room for the chicken' became my new picture for how to teach. In the story, a whole group of men start following a crazy, suicidal guy in the community since he was carrying a shotgun. If they had followed too close, he probably would have shot someone. But they didn't just ignore him either, because he would have shot himself. Eventually, keeping their 'not too close, not too far' distance, a chicken--who represents the Holy Spirit--the mother hen--flies into his face. Had they been too close, there would have been no room for the Holy Spirit. But if they had ignored him, he would have killed himself before encountering the chicken. The guy swatted at and hit the chicken (instead of the 'watching guys') and at that moment finally woke up out of his crazed spell. The fight has to be with God, not the people who are helping. This right space is difficult to keep, but it has inspired me. I love it when students help me learn what I'm teaching. When that quits happening, I quit.

On the left are the guys keeping watch at the right distance leaving enough space for 'Thatch' to encounter the Holy Spirit (Chicken) and have his awakening fight with God. The chicken flies in his face, he hits the chicken (instead of his friends) and he then snaps out of his crazy spell realizing where and who he is.

Outdoor Kiwi Classroom #3

On Wednesday, we met for class on a local farm. Half the students worked on the farm, while the other half talked with me about the reading, and then the two groups switched. Is work a blessing or a curse? We were called to be keepers and tenders of the earth BEFORE the curse, so when is work a blessing? What makes for meaningful work?

Marcel (below) is playing Gloucester in King Lear who goes from pride to despair (which Berry identifies as the two false feelings) and finally ends up in hopeful healing (after surviving an attempted 'jump' from what he thinks is the top of the cliffs of Dover). His son made him think he was committing suicide, but when the attempt failed, he awoke to a new apprec- iation of his life--neither proud nor in despair. How do we build hope in the face of either pride of human achievement or the despair of failed achievement? Wendell Berry and Shakespeare have some pretty good ideas about that. (hint--it involves others helping us realize how big life is and how small we are in comparison--and it results in us engaging in good, meaningful work).

Outdoor Kiwi Classroom #2

This was another location for one of our class sessions (below is a shot from a distance with us on top of the rock next to the ocean). This session was on the GOODness of all God's creation (and what implications that has for how we understand evil). This has to be one of the best class settings I've ever experienced--I was a bit nervous about falling 50 feet if I got too excited about what I was saying and took a step backwards. But it was worth the risk.

One sometimes has the fear that meeting outside will be too 'DIS- TRACTING' but to be sure, some- times our insulated ideas and sterile classrooms can also distract us from the overwhelming goodness of God's creation. I also liked getting to continue discussing these ideas as we continued our walk along the peninsula.

Outdoor Kiwi Classroom #1

Tuesday morning instead of being in a classroom, we hiked around the peninsula, over white limestone rocks, walking in silence 'reading nature' while stepping over the many shelled creatures and trying to keep our distance from the ripe-smelling seals sunbathing on the rocks. Finally we came to our first spot to talk about that morning's reading and this was our classroom. I've taught this material before, but for some reason, being out there discussing these things made a much deeper impression on me, and the discussion went in directions it had never gone before. For example, these great students were giving me all sorts of Biblical reasons why I as the "Stick Man" should relate to the earth differently. That is, why should a person who is convinced that it is 'my God-given duty to dominate, control and use the earth as I please' stop beating the earth and start relating to it as a fellow creature who is put in charge of caring for it? Let's just say 'stick man' was not easily convinced. Good understanding of Scripture was needed, for sure, but it would take more than that to convince me to change the way I relate to creation. Stick man remained stick man for the day.

Arrived in NZ

The good news was that I got to the airport on time (thanks Tim).
The bad news was that the airline said I didn't have a ticket or a visa.
The good news was that they realized I didn't need a visa, and I indeed had a ticket.
The bad news was that the flight to LA was almost 2 hours late.
The good news is that after running and rushing through security, I made it onto the flight to the Air New Zealand 747.
The bad news is that the people with my luggage did NOT run (and so it didn't arrive for another two days).
The good news was that I didn't have to spend the night in LA (because I made my flight).
The bad news was that I was stuck in the middle seat in the middle row in the back of a section.
The good news is that I'm not claustraphobic.
The bad news is that after the person in front leaned back, and those on both sides fell asleep, I became claustraphobic.
The good news is that the flight was only 12 hours long.
The bad news was that the flight was 12 hours long.
The good news is that I made it there.
The bad news is that I was still two hours from where I was headed.
The good news is that I finally got there, and on my first full day got to climb up Mt. Fyffe (see picture--and thanks Curtis for hiking with me).
The bad news is we didn't leave in time to get up to the top and back
The good news was that hey, I'm in New Zealand near the top of a mountain looking at the sea.
Good to be here.
I'm pointing to where the site of the school is located--at the Old Convent. We then hiked down the mountain and biked back to where I'm pointing.

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!