December 29, 2003

home again

Hello all.

Trish and I arrived safely yesterday evening. I like traveling with her. That bodes well.

There is wondrous news at Domesticy Jane's. Everyone go and see. Now all I need to do is save a wee bit of cash and go to SF in August.

Other than that there is little else to share. I cannot blog from home for the time being. My former roomie finally removed all of his cable modem hardware from the apartment. Sigh. It is a sad thing, but there very well could be good news that comes from it. Can anyone say "wireless?" I think we may have to upgrade.

Yay!

In the mean time, I will eat Christmas candy, enjoy my new toys and look forward to my field ed placement starting on Monday. I will be at North Shore full time for a couple of months. It looks to be a good time.

Again...yay!

I preach Sunday. Here are the lectionary readings.

Jan 04, Epiphany of our Lord (Observed),
Is. 60:1-6.
Ps. 72:1-7,10-14.
Eph. 3:1-12.
Matt. 2:1-12.

(suggested colors)
Gold/White

This is a lot for a baptist preacher to get his head around. As it is communion Sunday and I have seen Return of The King twice now, this too is running through my head.


"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament....There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, that every man's heart desires," - J.R.R. Tolkien

Jeff has it on his site. I love this quote. I had a chance to speak with one of my cousins and Annie, my step-mother's sister about the films. They wanted to know the theology that is or is not apparent. I would never go so far to say that LOTR is a Christian allegory, but the above quote does gove a good sense as to what Tolkein was about. It explains the incredible drama that is in the films.

Do we think of Epiphany in this epic sense? How is our humanity brought to the table? Is it in the same way that the Three Wise Men approached the manger? Do we follow a star? Are we timid? Are we foolhardy? Perhaps brave?

There is a good sermon in here somewhere.

Posted by tripp at December 29, 2003 02:00 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Welcome back to the blog world.

If it is not a Christian fable, it is certainly a moral reflection on evil, an updated Pilgrim's Progress sort of road trip.

I read once that Tolkien denied that it was based on England in World War II, but it is hard to see how that did not inform his Ring books.

I haven't seen the third one, but will eventually. I hate the battle scenes. I never was much of a d&d kind of guy.

The readings look good. I am glad to be in a season where we say, "evil loses, the light/love wins."

Posted by: Don at December 29, 2003 02:34 PM

On The Verge is a fantastic play. Just as Mr. Coffee!

Posted by: justin at December 30, 2003 08:21 AM

That should say just ASK Mr. Coffee

Posted by: justin at December 30, 2003 08:21 AM

Justin, for a moment there, I thought you were
implying that you had played "Mr. Coffee."
I am actually fond of the Gorge Troll.

Posted by: Teresa Wimmer at December 31, 2003 10:02 AM

A friend of mine played all the men in a production in college, I just built the set. Cool Whip?

Posted by: justin at December 31, 2003 10:21 AM

Glad to hear you made it home safe and sound. It's always a plus when you and your spouse (or "spouse to be") can travel well together. As for your sermon on Sunday, too bad I won't be able to hear it. A lectionary, a feast day and liturgical colors, all in a Baptist church -- what IS this world coming to??

Posted by: Todd at December 31, 2003 06:46 PM