The Ordinary Radicals

Friday night, Brooke and I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw speak on their Jesus for President book tour. While I don't agree with all their ideas (for example, Shane's pretty non-committal on voting), I think their priorities are straight. Their love for the poor and assertion that the state should take a backseat to faith are right on.

You can read a longer, more detailed post about the evening at FPL:
"Jesus for President" presents radical call

More posting

New blog post up on the FPL site. More on the Dobson-Obama jousting and how the media needs to figure out that James Dobson doesn't speak for the masses. Check it out, eh?:

900...is that all?

New FPL stuff

I wrote this: June is Torture Awareness Month for our homepage. Check out it when you get the chance. Also, if you haven't already, join Faith in Public Life's Facebook group. I just posted videos from several cool events FPL has been involved with.

We are all victims of torture

You can see my new blog post of the same name at FPL now:
http://blog.faithinpubliclife.org/2008/06/we_are_all_victims_of_torture.html

Check out this site as well (or you can just click the link in my post):
http://www.campaigntobantorture.org/

Heroes and wives

Just for clarification's sake, this post will be about one of each (I have multiple "heroes" but only one wife...everybody clear? Good.).

Today just about made my summer. Katie, FPL's Communications Director, took Stephanie (the other intern) and I to an awesome event at the Center for American Progress. They were launching their new book, Debating the Divine, a compilation of essays by leading thinkers in the field of religion and politics. As part of the launch, they held a debate/forum moderated by a previously alluded to hero of mine...the great E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and author of several books that have been extremely formative in terms of my political thought (Why Americans Hate Politics and Souled Out). I may be a journalism nerd but seeing Dionne up close and personal was a serious dream come true.

In other, less nerdy happenings: Brooke and I had a great weekend together. Saturday, we visited the National Cathedral which I would classify a must-see for all D.C. travelers. The craftsmanship that went into that building over 80+ years was remarkable to bear witness to. We topped the afternoon off with probably the best pizza we've ever had at 2 Amy's (I hope to be a repeat visitor before we leave). We drove around several neighborhoods before heading back to VA; before we made it home, I popped a kid's soccer ball with my tire (long story, ask me in person if you care and I only hurt the ball, not the kid).

Sunday, we had a pretty lousy day in terms of the places we visited, the service we received and seeing plans come to fruition. I won't trouble you with details other than to say that my wife is pretty great. By all accounts and from all angles, Sunday should have been a terrible day but it ended up being one of the summer's highlights to date. Brooke and I laughed off adversity and had meaningful conversation about multiple subjects. It's a blessing to be able to truly enjoy an abundance of life with your best friend.

I still intend to post about our visit to the Holocaust Museum two weekends ago but I'm still kicking around those thoughts. So, I'll save it for a future time...

I am a blogging machine

Two new posts up today:

"Greening" the faith: an ordinary revolution and

"Pew study is good news for the common good"

I promise I'll blog more soon because we have two weekends of fun to catch you up on. But I have to get up around 4 AM to take Brooke to the airport tomorrow (she's going on a quick trip to Chicago w/some of her family) so right now, I have to go to bed.

till then...

Back to back

I have now authored blog posts on the FPL site in consecutive days. Check it out by clicking on the link below:

What's the good word?

From one District of Columbia to the other

Friends...

My latest FPL blog post, "Creation care begins at home," is up. This one is a bit more special to me because it was inspired by the words of my pastor, Kevin Larson. I appreciate Kevin's willingness to let the Gospel speak to important issues of the day...and I appreciate FPL allowing me to blog about it. Check it out...

I Will Sing You Songs

The following is totally unrelated to being D.C. other than that I read this article while here in D.C. (and I'm typing this post while here in D.C.)...

In yesterday's New York Times, Ben Sisario wrote a great piece on one of my favorite bands, the stellar, transcendent and oh-so-fierce My Morning Jacket. This was actually one of the better pieces about a rock band I've seen in a non-music publication in some time. Check it out here.

And, in the event that you don't know MMJ, see what all the fuss is about...here is one of their new tracks and a sweet symphonic version of an old favorite.

Two things

Two things I learned on Friday:

1. Busboys and Poets on 14th and V is by far the coolest place I've been to in D.C. to this point.
2. Walking down the streets of D.C. on a pretty June morning with the Stones' "Street Fighting Man" blaring in your iPod is a pretty sweet experience. Doing so slowly or when entering the street from a building or off the bus makes you feel like you're a character in a Wes Anderson film. (Which I've always kind of felt anyway...)
   

Weekend wrap-up

Despite some pretty oppressive temperatures (heat indexes reached triple digits), we had a sweet time exploring Washington D.C. last weekend. After sushi and Indiana Jones on Friday night, Brooke and I woke relatively early on Saturday and headed toward the Metro.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Newseum, 25,000 square ft. of news built for just a journalism nerd like me. The museum was devoted to the technologies, personalities and events that have made the news so very vital to our lives. An added treat was our chance to sit in on the taping of an interview with Frank Mankiewicz, who reminisced about his time as Robert F. Kennedy's press secretary. After making it an end-all, be-all type destination in my mind, I was a bit disappointed but there was enough there to keep my attention and it made for an enjoyable afternoon.

We grabbed the green line and headed over to Nationals Park to meet the Reeds. I had the opportunity to watch the Nats play my all-time favorite time, Los Gigantes. The game was a true pitchers duel, knotted at 0 until the top of the 8th when the G-men came to bat. I leaned over and told Brooke, this is our inning. We'll score 2 here and win 2-0. I was almost right. The Giants quickly scored two runs and had the bases loaded when young John Bowker strode to the plate. I told Brooke Bowker would mark the end of the inning as he's disappointed me most of the season. John Bowker had just two words for me. Grand Slam. Giants win 6-0. On a stormy night when lightning flashed all around the yard, John Bowker brought the lightning to the Giants' offense. I will now and forever call him Zeus.

Sunday, we fit a bunch of sight-seeing in between attending two churches. In the morning, we visited Capitol Hill Baptist Church as their pastor, Mark Dever, wrote a book our church studied during the past year. We had a nice time though Dever was out of town. In the evening, we visited Grace Presbyterian, a really cool multi-cultural community in the heart of Chinatown. While we are slated to visit other churches, Grace will definitely make the short list of possible temporary church homes.

In between, we visited the house where Abraham Lincoln died, Union Station, The Smithsonian Museum of American Art and a cool little coffeshop/record store/bookseller. It's been fun to just stretch ourselves throughout the heart of the city. I'm not necessarily in love with Washington D.C. yet but we have really enjoyed all the city has to offer.

So, now it's another week of hard work before getting to play next weekend. We've already had a fulfilling experience and we look forward to what's ahead...

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Post haste

With the help and great edits of my friend Dan at FPL, my first post is up on their blog. Check it out here.

I promise tomorrow night, when I'm not so tired, to offer up a longer post about our long, hot DC weekend.

Cracking the whip

Last night, we spent some quality time with our friends (and generous hosts) The Reeds as well as another old friend, Dr. Jones. Dr. Jones was a lot older and a little more ridiculous than the last time we saw him, but he still proved to be as entertaining as always.

Today, Brooke and I really get out and explore the city for the first time. More to come...

Observations: Day 1

After a 12+ hour trip which included passage through 7 states (three of which I'd never visited---Ohio, Pennsylvania and W. Virginia---), we arrived in N. Virginia yesterday afternoon. Over the course of the summer, I will be working here and will eventually learn to help create this as well as this, among other things.

After a day of work, I'm still a bit nervous but also very hopeful. I like the people I'll be working with and have been excited (already!) to see people hard at work for the sake of serving and improving the lives of others (which they do for the sake of the God they believe in). To have an opportunity to partner with others in earnest effort to both honor God and improve the lot of man is something I find both noble and humbling.

This summer will be, in many ways, a challenge. Not the least of these challenges presented itself to me today as I walked to and from work/the metro station at McPherson Square in downtown D.C. I will work this summer in the midst of important people, in the shadow of glass and steel and concrete erected for the purposes of punching clocks, making money, being important. In a diagonal line across from my building is a park filled with homeless men; in the metro station I will use every day is a makeshift home constructed using a tarp, various blankets and scraps of luggage, cardboard, etc. Items cast off by a consumption-driven world ready to move on and consume the next thing, having given little or no thought to the type of person who might retrieve and depend on their garbage.

I believe this summer will test a way of thought, a worldview I've held now for years. A view that says there must be duality in our approach to mending the world. There must be, as Dr. King once said so well, "a true revolution of values" which ensures "the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway...that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." Policy changes, advocacy, petitions, protests...these essential tools.

There must also be feet pounding asphalt, hands reaching out, coats placed on the shoulders of men and women whose shoulders ache for human kindness...policy alone doesn't change our cities, our park benches, our metro stations...our petitions must be married to our willingness to bring the Gospel to bear in a very real and tangible way.

This summer, it will be easy for me to do the first. I already find myself lacking when it comes to the second. My need for security, for comfort, for a sense of protection is overwhelming and, at times, sickening. It may take a while but I want my walks to work to begin and end with love for my fellow man, with compassion even if it's just in a look of kindness given, a small sacrifice that I still find hard to make. For me, a "true revolution of values" will likely mean a true revolution in the day-to-day and that's what my first real, heartfelt prayers of the summer are for.