April Showers

Happy Birthday, Father Aleksandr!

Today, January 22, marks what would have been the 76th birthday of Father Aleksandr Men', had he lived to see today. I have spent the last two years of my life dedicated to studying his life, and he has been a great inspiration to me. Thank God for his faithful service to the Soviet people in the face of difficult hardships, his courageous preaching of the Gospel despite opposition, and his absolute love for and dedication to Jesus Christ.

a tribute to my friend Harlene

A dear family friend, Harlene Roles, died Monday, October 11.  This morning, I sat down and penned a tribute in her honor.  Please pray for her daughters, Karen and Rebecca, and for Karen's 14-month-old, Caleb, as they grieve the loss of their mother and grandmother.

I have known Harlene since before I can remember.  She was a strong, quiet rock for my family during some very difficult times.  My friendship with Rebecca and Karen as a teenager and adult gave me the precious opportunity to get to know Harlene better.  Whether at a swim meet, visiting over Christmas and summer vacations, or around the table at Ray and Cherie Bieber's, Harlene was a steady presence in my life.  She was a strong woman with a soft heart, and she raised two daughters who have certainly taken after her in that respect.  One could even say she was a formidable person, in the sense that she inspired respect and awe. Her no-nonsense attitude, her love of beauty, and her love of and passion for her family all evoke my deepest admiration.  It was absolutely wonderful to witness and hear about the relationship she and Caleb shared.  She lived a full and ever-giving life, and she will be greatly missed.  I celebrate her life, and I am so grateful to God that I knew her.

Twenty years ago this week . . .

On 9 September 1990, Father Aleksandr Men' was killed on his way to conduct a Sunday morning service. This week marks twenty years since his tragic death. On 9 and 10 September 2010, a conference will be held in Moscow in honor of Father Aleksandr. Unfortunately, I was unable to afford the trip to attend this conference. This morning, as I read the titles of the academic papers to be read at the conference, I was exclaiming excitedly about various presenters and topics. Such good stuff! Although I am not at the conference, I am there with all the participants in spirit.

Father Aleksandr Men' is the topic of the thesis I am writing. The draft is nearly complete, after a difficult year that involved major setbacks due to back pain.

I am grateful for Father Men' and his influence on me and so many others. May his name be honored in these coming days.

morning prayer by Aleksander Men'

Lord, bless my prayer.

Help me to stand before You with all my body and soul, without distraction.

Teach me to pray to You.

Reinforce me in faith.

Give me an ardent love for You.

Sanctify, Lord, all my thoughts, feelings, and acts.

Teach me to discern Your will in every situation and give me the strength to fulfill it.

Close my lips to the evil or empty word and hold my hand back from the wicked deed.

If adversity comes, give me the strength to accept it with resoluteness and to turn it into a sacrifice for You.

Make me a source of good, Lord, for all who come my way today.

Accept my prayer for all, who do not know You, and deliver them from unbelief.

I thank You, Lord, for the essence of life,* for all that surrounds me, for those who are near and far, for heaven and earth,

and more than anything

for your life-creating love.

Help me, Lord, to remember You and thank You all day.

Amen.

[From Prakticheskoe rukovodstvo k molitve (A Practical Guide to Prayer), 2nd ed., pp 213-14]

* At this spot in the prayer, Father Men actually says, 'Thank you for the soul," but this sounds a little abrupt to English-speaking ears.  I'm not particularly pleased with the way I translated it, so I'll probably be coming back to this again. The question of what 'soul' means to a Russian is loaded, due to the richness given to that particular concept/word.

welcome home!

It's been a while since I blogged, but I think it is appropriate that the last post was partly about the birth of my dear niece, Elena Gail French.  She is now over two months old and growing like a weed!  I miss seeing her, but it was wonderful to be able to meet her when I did.

A few days ago, January 6, 2010, on Epiphany, Nathan and Bronwyn McLellan gave birth to Jonathan Ian Robert McLellan.  Claire and I had the privilege of watching him being born!  He was 6 pounds, 5 ounces at birth, a great weight, considering he was only at 36 weeks gestation!  Today, he is being released from the hospital, and I am getting ready to welcome him home (I live in a community house with the McLellans and seven others).  Below are a few pictures.  Other pictures will probably be on Flickr eventually.

 
 

On the thesis front, I am thoroughly enjoying the research, analysis, and writing processes.  I am working hard to get the thesis done in time to graduate on April 26, 2010.  Thanks for your encouragement and prayers.

celebrating life

Our family has welcomed a new addition.  Elena Gail French was born to Ryan and Jacque French (my brother and sister-in-law) October 22, 2009 at 4:07 pm!  She was 7 lbs, 9 oz and 21 inches long.  Elena is a good eater, a little bundle of beauty, and enjoys squirming, sleeping, and filling her diapers.  She truly is a beautiful baby and is deeply loved by all of us!  The picture below was taken the first time I got to hold Elena, the night I arrived in Denver to help her parents as I can.

 

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My mom's friend, Susie Knutson, passed away today, October 31, 2009, at 10:30 am.  She was a woman who, although her diabetes-laden body rebelled against her, was full of life and joy.  Her smile lit up a room, and she loved people deeply and was loved equally deeply by those of us, who were fortunate enough to know her.  The picture below is of Susie in 2006, during her final visit to the Angel Fire Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where she volunteered for several years.

09.09.09

Today marks the 19th anniversary since the day of Father Alexander Men's tragic death. It also marks the day I turned my thesis proposal in to be approved.

To learn more about Father Men, please listen to the radio sketch done by Canon Michael Bourdeaux last year at this time.  On the link, select the program from 07 September 2008.

In honor of Father Men, I will share two of his prayers:

My God, I love you more than anything in the world

Because you are the happiness of my soul.

You are the embodiment of kindness and perfection

and because of you, I love my neighbor as I love myself.

AMEN

-----

I believe, O Lord, that You will strengthen my faith.

I put my trust in You, O Lord, but I ask You to give me stronger hope.

I love You, O Lord, but purify my love and set it on fire.

I'm stricken with grief, but I will increase my repentance.

I honor You, O Lord, my Creator.

I long for You; I call upon You.

Send me Your wisdom and defend and strengthen me.

O God, take my thoughts and let them come from You.

Let all I do be in Your name; may my desires be in accordance with Your will.

Enlighten my mind, strengthen my will,

Cleanse my body, and sanctify my soul.

You can see my sins.

Let me not be tempted by pride.

Lead me away from temptation.

I will praise You all the days of the life You have given me.

AMEN

Introducing Father Aleksandr Men'

Father Alexander Men (1935-1990),* a Russian Orthodox Priest of Jewish descent, served in three parishes outside Moscow from 1960 to 1990.  He maintained a ministry to people of all walks of life in the Soviet Union during the regimes of Nikita Khrushchev (1954-1964), Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982), Yuri Andropov (1982-1984), Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985) and Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991).  The KGB often interrogated Father Men, especially during the Brezhnev and Andropov years.  In 1988, Father Men took advantage of the newfound freedoms under Gorbachev’s “Perestroika” to lecture to thousands of people in halls across Moscow and to speak on radio and television.  He felt an urgent need to communicate the Gospel message to people before the authorities clamped down again.  Father Men was murdered 9 September 1990.  Many consider him a martyr.  His murder is still unsolved.

I am currently working on a thesis having to do with Father Alexander's writings and how they were dissent against Soviet ideology.  I thought I'd take the time to introduce you all to him and to provide some links to websites that will help you come to know more about this man and his legacy.

The best site is the Russian site run by the Alexander Men Foundation (Fond imeni Aleksandra Menia), headed by his brother in Moscow. 

For sites in English, see the following:

A site that has many of the works that are available in English.

A site run by Bishop Seraphim (Sigrist) on Father Alexander.

Yakov Krotov's insights.

A series of pictures put together by Revd Canon Dr Michael Bourdeaux, the founder of the Keston Institute, about Fr. Men and his legacy.

Go here to see other things I have posted concerning Father Alexander Men.

More to be added later.

* This is his name in Anglicized spelling.  The spelling in the title is the correct transliteration of his name (following the Library of Congress system).  For the pronunciation of his surname, you need to know that the 'e' is actually pronounced 'ye' as in 'yellow' or 'yes'.

the Hoffmann family pictures

As usual, I have so many things I'd like to blog about, but I somehow don't find or take the time to do it.

I did want to take this opportunity, however, to send you to another blog, where some stunning pictures of a beautiful family are shown.

Girl Heaven 1

Girl Heaven 2

Sam and Robin and I are from the same hometown (Powell, Wyoming).  I've enjoyed watching their beautiful family grow recently.

late Soviet ideology

During the course mentioned in the previous post, I was also attempting to get my thesis proposal written and approved.  In order to get it to the quality necessary for approval, I needed to know more about Soviet ideology from 1960-1990, the main years of Father Alexander Men's ministry.  My professor generously offered that I could write a paper for the course on that topic and time period, despite the fact that it was a major step away from the Inter-War time period.  When all was said and done, I was not able to get the proposal finished in time for approval (I will finish it this month and turn it in for approval in September), but I did write the paper on late Soviet ideology.

Question: What were the key characteristics of Soviet ideology, and to what extent did they change from 1956 to 1991?

My Thesis: This essay will first argue that the key characteristics of Soviet ideology, or Marxism-Leninism, were 1) Stalin’s role as the designer and sole arbiter of its external canon, 2) its three master signifiers (Lenin, Party, Communism) within a narrative structure, and 3) its theoretical foundation of dialectical and historical materialism.  This essay will then argue that, after Stalin’s death, Marxism-Leninism went through a “performative shift,” changing in three aspects: form, intensity of distribution, and reception.[1] 

Download Late soviet ideology

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[1]           Alexei Yurchak conceived of "performative shift" in his Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2006), 19-26.  This will be discussed in greater detail in the essay.

 

Essays on Inter-War Europe

This last semester (Winter 2009), I took a course entitled "Themes in Modern Historical and Political Thought: Europe 1914-1939."  The instructor was Sarah Williams, who is also supervising my thesis.  This was a small seminar course, with just four students, including my friends Nathan and Susannah.

Below, you will find five of the papers I wrote for the course, along with the question or task for that given topic and my thesis, or answer to that question.  

1. Russian Revolution

Task: Explain the success of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in seizing and holding power between 1917 and 1924.

My Thesis: The Russian peasantry played the decisive role in the success of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in seizing power in 1917, winning the Civil War by 1921, and maintaining power with the NEP.

Download Russian peasantry

2. Stalin's early reign

Question: Is the term 'Fourth Russian Revolution' a fair description of the events in the Soviet Union 1928-1938? 

My Thesis: The term ‘Fourth Russian Revolution’ is not a fair description of the events of 1928-38.

Read the paper to find out why I argue this!  :)

Download Fourth revolution

3. Italian Fascism

Task: Explain the rise of Fascism in Italy (until 1929).

My Thesis: Oh yeah, this is the one that begins with a run-on sentence.  Ugh!  Anyway, here it is:

"Italian Fascism, with its obsessive aim for national unity, rose to power primarily due to its timely and opportunistic dual opposition against the impotent “Giolittian” parliament and against the threat of Socialist revolution, since much of the Italian population distrusted the former and feared the latter in the years following the First World War."   

Download Rise of fascism

4. German Nazism

Question: Who voted for Hitler and why?

My Thesis: Christians voted for Hitler, because his party tapped into their nationalistic understanding that fused their Christian belief with their German nationality.

Download Who voted for hitler?

5. Inter-War Britain

Question: How did the Great War impact British society and politics?

My Thesis: The immediate, or “discontinuous,” impacts of the Great War on British social activity and political policy took place within the existing framework of long-term, or “continuous,” political trends and societal attitudes in Great Britain.  To demonstrate this thesis, three key areas will be discussed: class structure, gender relations, and politics.

Download Wwi impact on britain

Mary Magdalene and Yeshua

In July of 2007, I promised you all that I would share my reflections from my time meditating on John 20:1-18 during a course on contemplative listening.  I ended up writing a story from Mary Magdalene's perspective.  There was much I felt that I needed to research in order to post it here, but a few friends have urged me to share it with you.  So here we go!

Download Rabboni!

I included some notes at the end of the story.  As you can see, I still view this as a work-in-progress.  I do hope you appreciate it.  Please let me know what you think!

Since I last wrote . . .

Hello, blog-reading friends;

I apologize for my four-month (!) absence.  The semester recently came to a close, and I finally have some time to catch you up quickly on my life (and to write some other posts I've been meaning to write):

Christmas, 2008

My dear friends, Nathan and Bronwyn, came to celebrate Christmas with me and my family.  Vancouver and Seattle were hit with an incredible storm, so they were stuck in Seattle for a few days while they waited for a flight.  They arrived on Christmas Eve and we spent a week together in Denver and Laramie (enjoyed the hospitality of Eric and Gentry Anderson).

Winter Semester, 2009

I had to write an exegetical paper on a few key verses in 1 Peter during my brief visit to Powell and my first few days back in Vancouver (I had gotten very sick at the end of the fall semester).  When I arrived in Vancouver, I was delighted to welcome back my friend Claire Russell, who had spent the last six months at home in New Zealand but is back to finish her study at Regent College.  

The semester began with a vengeance. Though I had fewer courses than usual, one of my courses was exceptionally rigorous: Themes in History--The Interwar Period.  The first paper was on the Russian Revolution [see coming post for this and other papers].  I realized very quickly that this course was going to test me in ways I had not been tested.  My perfectionistic desire to "get it all right" before putting pen to paper had to be dealt with, since I had a paper due every two weeks (a timeframe in which it is impossible to fully understand anything).  I thank God for working in me through this course, for my patient and wise professor who pushed me and cared for me, and for my friends Nathan, Susannah, and Brett who took the course alongside me.

In addition to that course, I also finished my introductory Greek course.  I've been asked to consider being a TA for that course in the coming year and am considering doing it.  I love any language learning, and it has been a joy to learn the biblical languages.

This year, I've been a TA for the History of Christianity course at Regent.  I learned so much during this time, and I once again found that I love teaching and history and interacting with students.  I was on a team of five other TAs, along with our professor (the same professor I mentioned above, Sarah Williams).  We developed a deep respect of and appreciation for each other, as we worked together to help our fellow students gain a deeper understanding of some beautiful and painful parts of Christian history.  One Regent student in his last semester paid me a complement by saying I was the best TA he's had.  What a blessing to hear that!

I attempted to complete my thesis proposal this semester, in order that it would get approved.  Alas, I had to postpone turning it in to the committee, as it was just not going to be done well by the beginning of April.  So I'll be polishing the proposal this month, in hopes to turn it in and get it approved in September when regular courses resume.  In the meantime, this summer I'll begin the  research and writing of my thesis.  I'm sure I'll keep you all posted on its development, but I can let you know now what I'll be working on.  in my thesis, I'll be looking at four of Father Alexander Men's key writings throughout his ministry to show that his writing was a form of dissent against Soviet ideology.

Last Wednesday (April 29), I moved to a new apartment in Vancouver.  Nathan and Claire helped me move as I finished packing up my big room at Menno.  Later that afternoon, when I was left to myself in the new place, I decided to clear the living room of my stuff.  Accomplishing that task meant lifting some huge boxes of books.  I had no earthly right to try that on my own.  By the second box, I knew something was wrong.  Twenty minutes later, I was on the bus to my chiropractor.  That first 24 hours, I was in excruciating pain.  I have visited the chiropractor five times in the last seven days (and again tomorrow).  My chiropractor rocks!  My back is continuing to get better every day.  The muscles still get stiff and tired fairly easily and I am trying to continue to rest, so I can start in on my thesis proposal by next week.

So, that's my story.  Sorry for neglecting you all for so long.  I'm back . . . at least for now!  :)

life in chelyabinsk . . . and thoughts on Christian unity

Last week, NPR's Anne Garrels did a five-part series on Chelyabinsk, an industrial city in Russia's Ural Mountains.  The picture she painted of life there is VERY SIMILAR to the Russia I knew living in Irkutsk and traveling to various parts of Russia from 2002-2006.

The third part of the series, entitled "Orthodox Faith Crowding out Others," is especially interesting to me.  The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), under the leadership of recently-deceased Patriarch Aleksy II (about whom I've been meaning to write), has rebuilt and rejuvinated itself with astounding speed since 1991. Although 70% of Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox, however, regular attendance is quite low in most parishes.  In light of that dismal fact, the title of this report is not necessarily appropriate if taken literally ("crowding out" by sheer numbers), but when taken figuratively ("crowding out" with strength), it could be quite appropriate.  

The frustration of those Orthodox believers who commented at the bottom of the NPR report is understandable.  Garrels's reporting of the use by Russian Orthodox clergy of national television to decry "sects" (which include any Christian church or group that is not Orthodox) is true, however.  Their understanding of what is a sect is directly connected to their self-understanding as being the only true church.  While I understand that Orthodox believers would be put out by the NPR report, I can say (as a Protestant who has deep respect and love for the Orthodox faith) that what I observed in Russia is similar to what was reported.  

For local and national officials in Russia, the ROC is the only legitimate form of religion.  Since a 1997 ruling, which put stronger (and necessary, in many culturally-insensitive cases) restrictions on any church or missionary activity outside of the ROC, the disrespect for other forms of Christianity has increased in the public sphere.  

At one point, two of my friends and I were the subject of a libelous article in a local newspaper (admittedly known as a "yellow paper", the equivalent of a tabloid, but believed by many), in which we were labeled as American spies who were luring students to a dangerous sect.  Local Russian Orthodox priests were interviewed, calling our (supposed) practices evil and criminal.

Likewise, when NPR reports that some Russian pastors are afraid to do much in public, for fear that too public a profile would create problems with local officials, it is reporting something that is a reality for some Protestant believers in Russia.  Within a year of my departure from Russia, I received a distressed e-mail from a Russian friend, who is a part of a Protestant church in a Siberian city.  One evening, she and some friends were spending the night at the church.  Some thugs came in and beat up the men, stole computers, and threatened the women.  When they went to the local militsia (similar to police), they were held and questioned for hours, accused of the break in, and thrown out of the building with a threat that if they tried to report it again, they'd be thrown in jail.  No investigation of the incident took place.

Chelyabinsk in the next province over from Yekaterinburg, where, in the late 1990s, the Bishop publicly denounced John Meyendorff, Alexander Schmemann, and Alexander Men' as dangerous to the true Orthodox faith. Their books were burned.*  I am grieved by such tactics, as I am by the lack of respectful dialogue between Orthodox and Protestant leaders in Russia.  There are various layers of reasons on both sides for such lack of respect.  But is any reason good enough to stand against Christ's high priestly prayer (John 17) for unity, for love of one another with the love of the Trinity?

I believe that part of the call on my life is to serve as a bridge between Orthodox and Protestant believers.  It will take great courage to stand in that gap, and I could (and already have) experience misunderstanding and anger from both sides.  As my Greek Orthodox friend, Alexis, says, such unity can only be built "by the grace of God."

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us!

* Since first writing this post, I have discovered that, within a year of this incident, due to a very public outcry, that bishop was forced to step down.

on Milton's 400th birthday

Dennis Danielson, a professor at the University of British Columbia and frequent lecturer at Regent College, has produced a prose translation of John Milton's Paradise Lost, published by Regent College Publishing.  There will be a book signing at Regent's Bookstore on Tuesday, December 9, Milton's 400th birthday.

On Sunday, November 30, Stanley Fish reviewed the book for the New York Times. Word is that the day after the review came out, the book went from #30,000 on the NYT bestseller list to #300.  Mr. Fish must have some kind of sway!

In honor of Milton's 400th birthday, here are a few lines from the original poem:

Paradise Lost, Book 12, lines 524b-551

What will they then
But force the Spirit of Grace it self, and binde [ 525 ]
His consort Libertie; what, but unbuild
His living Temples, built by Faith to stand,
Thir own Faith not anothers: for on Earth
Who against Faith and Conscience can be heard
Infallible? yet many will presume: [ 530 ]
Whence heavie persecution shall arise
On all who in the worship persevere
Of Spirit and Truth; the rest, farr greater part,
Well deem in outward Rites and specious formes
Religion satisfi'd; Truth shall retire [ 535 ]
Bestuck with slandrous darts, and works of Faith
Rarely be found: so shall the World goe on,
To good malignant, to bad men benigne,
Under her own waight groaning till the day
Appeer of respiration to the just, [ 540 ]
And vengeance to the wicked, at return
Of him so lately promiss'd to thy aid
The Womans seed, obscurely then foretold,
Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord,
Last in the Clouds from Heav'n to be reveald [ 545 ]
In glory of the Father, to dissolve
Satan with his perverted World, then raise
From the conflagrant mass, purg'd and refin'd,
New Heav'ns, new Earth, Ages of endless date
Founded in righteousness and peace and love [ 550 ]
To bring forth fruits Joy and eternal Bliss.

Luxon, Thomas H., ed. The Milton Reading Room, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton, December 4, 2008.

Dorothy Marie Rowe French (April 4, 1927 to November 28, 2008)

My paternal grandma died yesterday afternoon, a week after suffering a stroke in the right side of her brain.  She had been living in the nursing home in Powell for the last five years, in the same room as Grandpa.  Each time I said good-bye to her over the last five years, we both knew it could be our last time seeing each other, and both our eyes teared up.  I'm glad Grandma is no longer having to suffer through pain and weakness.  Update: There will be a public memorial service for Grandma in Powell on December 19.

Below, I have written some of my initial memories of this strong woman, who survived the Great Depression as a little girl, married Grandpa during World War II, homesteaded in desolate Wyoming after the War (at the foot of Heart Mountain), and raised five wonderful kids.  Her 13 grandchildren were the pride of her life, and she loved the seven great-grandchildren she knew.  Her eighth great-grandchild, Taylor Rebecca Peters (Update: Born November 23, 2008 at 3:52 p.m., 7 lbs. 10 oz. 21 inches long; mother and baby both doing well), the daughter of my cousin Carrie, was born at the Powell Hospital while Grandma lay non-responsive in a hospital bed down the hall.  A new generation is ushered in, as our matriarch has been ushered out.

Grandma, we will miss you, but we thank God that you are at peace now in His presence!

Things I remember about Grandma:

* her bright smile

* her sense of humor to the end (I loved spending time with her in the nursing home, as she would say something she knew was funny and an impish smirk would come across her face)

* her capable hands, whether it was snapping beans from her garden, or tending her flowers (she had a major green thumb!), or cooking delicious, greasy meals for her family, or delicately embroidering a pillow case

* her strong work ethic (something we've all acquired from her and Grandpa in our own way)

* her love of Easter (she took great delight in setting up an Easter egg hunt in her huge yard and setting the grandchildren loose to make their discoveries--plastic eggs filled with candy)

* her great pride in her children and grandchildren (newspaper clippings adorned her fridge and bulletin board for years)

* her sternness

* her common sense

* her 25 odd years' fascination with salt and pepper shakers

* her dedication to 4-H and the Park County Fair

* her dedication to First United Methodist Church

* her patience, yet assertiveness, with Grandpa's moods

* I remember staying with them on Friday nights (around the time my parents divorced) and being allowed to stay up late to watch Dallas and Dynasty on their little kitchen TV

* her love of playing games with her grandkids (Triple Yahtzee, Crazy Eights, Uno, SkipBo, a dice game called "Chicken")

* her mashed potatoes, baked beans, lemonade, and yummy green beans

* her desire for the family to get together and get along

* her way of saying things the way she sees them, which often meant putting her foot in her mouth or keeping factions festering in our extended family

* her sharp memory (to the end, she would keep us all informed of what various family members were up to; she seemed especially proud of my cousin John, who is getting his PhD right now)

* her gift of hospitality

* her insistence that I would not be an adult until I married, but her willingness to eventually come to an understanding that my singleness does not make me less human

* her unswerving devotion to Grandpa

For more about my grandma, see these posts:

Time with Grandma Dorothy

Full circle

interesting news this week

On Wednesday, a new Metropolitan was elected for the Orthodox Church of America.  He has oversight over the OCA in all of the US and Canada.  One of my Orthodox friends in Canada was quite pleased with this news.  The new Metropolitan has a difficult job ahead of him, as the laity seems to have lost trust in the former Metropolitan and many bishops, due to issues in leadership and corrupt use of money.

While the investigation concerning what REALLY happened between Georgia and Russia (including the question of who started it?) continues:

Last week on the day after the US election, Dmitry Medvedev gave his state-of-the-nation address and claimed that Russia would send missiles to be set up in Kaliningrad (a little sliver of Russia situated on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland) in response to the U.S. missile system proposed in Eastern Europe.  He had some very strong words of critique against the U.S. during this speech.

By this Friday, his tone had changed, so the thick tension between two countries I love is letting up a bit.

For anyone interested, Obama's plan concerning Russia is on page 75 (38 of pdf file) of this document.

please vote informedly, not fear-mongeringly

On October 22, 2008, the Focus on the Family Action Group wrote a hypothetical Letter from 2012. The letter is sixteen pages laden with the most blatant fear-mongering I have ever read or heard (and I've heard a lot in my short life)!  

One of the more ridiculous hypotheticals presented is that, should Obama be elected as President of the USA, Russia will invade Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Poland, etc., etc., etc.  This is just out and out ignorant and fear-based foreign policy thinking.

On November 4, America will vote.  Please, my American Christian friends and family, vote informedly (from a well-thought through standpoint) and not based on the manipulation and propaganda of such fear-mongering tactics.

Letters written like this (and I've seen plenty of fear-mongering through the years from other organizations) reflect a pattern of thinking that is based on fear and anger, rather than on love and justice.  I, for one, am tired of such words coming from people who claim to follow Christ.  I cannot stay silent; I must make my stand be known.  

Much American Conservative Evangelical thinking is driven and motivated by fear.  Fear, unfortunately, is a great motivator, but it motivates people toward sin, anger, hatred, suspicion, and pride.

I pray that we as the Body of Christ will learn as a community to be motivated by His Love, and that our lives would reflect Him in self-sacrifice, joy, love, justice, and humility, regardless of who ends up to be the President of the USA or the leader of any nation.

For some reactions to this letter, see the end of the Christianity Today article.

For a thoughtful response, see God's Politics blog.

Best in the last six months . . .

I wanted to share with all of you some of the better blogs and blog posts I've read in the last little while:

* Claire's post on living wisely in a topsy-turvy world.

* Nathan's sermons on Mary and Simeon.

* Introducing you to Bronwyn's food blog!

* Kara's kids crack me up: Danya, Tima, and Ella.

* Chris and Kristy introduce us to their baby, Ava.

* Petya and Angela introduce us to their baby, Kostya.  Lots of fun videos on this blog!

* Gina writes on the attitude in academia towards evangelical believers.

* Professor John Stackhouse on the New York Times Bestseller, The Shack:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

* Dan Brennan, considering something Eugene Peterson said about cross-gender friendships in the Christian community.

* Carrie's Confessions of a French Fry Junkie, and the following amendment.

Happy reading!

wading through the conflict in Georgia

I am truly distressed at the whole situation going on between Russia and Georgia: 

* at Georgia's incursion into S. Ossetia on the eve of the Olympic games, 

* at Russia's knee-jerk reaction within 24 hours, 

* at the U.S. throwing their weight around and making things worse, rather than better, 

* at the spin in Georgian, Russian, and U.S. media, not to mention European media.  

It's difficult to ascertain what's really going on, and as in most situations involving international conflict, there are various sides with various good reasons to behave the way they are behaving, while not taking into account the human casualties on the way (or saying they are, but they're really not).  Ugh!  

Part of the reason I haven't commented on this yet on my blog is that I have a lot of emotions, and I'm trying to wade my way through the news to find some kernels of truth.

For a Russian perspective (in English), check out this site.

Q & A on BBC's site.

CNN articles.

For a Georgian perspective (in English), check out this site.

Radio Free Europe's page on the conflict.  Interesting articles here and here.