I'm sorry

for my unfaithfulness to this blog. I have made efforts to update; I promise. They are just always interrupted. So....in an attempt to summarize the past two weeks, I am going to post a lot of pictures. Prepare yourself for the beauty of Oxford...


The building on the left is called the Radcliffe Camera, and it is a part of the Bodelian Library (picture courtesy of Scotland Hubbard). You can only get into the Radcliffe if you are a student at Oxford...you have to present your id card at the front desk, and allow them to look through your bag before you leave to make sure you aren't stealing any books - you can't check out any books from this library. Actually, the library system here is really complicated. It involves ordering books online to your name. You have to specify which library you want the books delivered to, and half a day later they will appear, reserved in your name. They aren't allowed to leave the location.Also, they transport them under the streets on a river type thingy. Sorry for the poor description (I wrote my first paper last night and only got thirty minutes of sleep...the latest night pulled in my college history. Needless to say, my writing skills are a bit weary).


Here I am with Pearson, Jamie and Mikey in the oldest pub in England, "Ye Olde Fighting Cocks." Pub food is a bit tricky - some of it is warm and tasty, fish and chips makes me feel a bit sick, and after a bad experience last Friday, I now avoid all cottage pie.


<-- I love fall. Enough said.


I went to London, and I only took a picture of pigeons eating french fries.



<-- Here is Wycliffe College, where I spend about three hours a day watching British History videos and listening to lectures. We also have at least one tea break a day...


This is the sunset view from my window at the Vines. It is even more beautiful in the mornings, when the fog is still sitting on the city and I am sipping a steaming cup of coffee.


There are lots of bikers in Oxford. I have recently joined them.Unfortunately, I am not skilled in this sport. I spend most of my time running in to poles, getting lost (I think the count is up to four), violently jumping off it to avoid bees, and breaking traffic laws. A couple of days ago, I almost got hit by a car. I just can't get used to their reversed streets.

Well....that gives you a small picture of my first weeks in Oxford.

Until next time.

From Pacific to Atlantic...

Read these photos as you would a book and you will glean several bits of information:

First, my mom is a Pilates superstar. Though she was sad about my departure, and tired from helping me pack my suitcases all afternoon, her core is tight and her breathing right on.


Second, my parents have interesting ways of expressing themselves - they use stuffed rabbits (named Jack and Jill) to "personify" their emotions. Here it is clear that they love and will miss their daughter.


Third, my mom sadly, did not get to come to the airport. But more happily, Alex did. Observe the three of us standing there, with two suitcases.


Fourth...oh wait...is something wrong here? Why am I standing with only one suitcase? Why does my face look sad?


Yes, that is right. British Airways lost my suitcase -- it made it to Heathrow, but it didn't make it to the baggage claim.

I am still waiting for its return, and have nothing more to say on the manner.

Before [Note the lethargic facial expression]:




After [Note the "exuberance"]:





There you go, my hair all short and "sas-say" as Jenny Mo says. I'm pretending I look British. You always have to dress the part.



Speaking of dressing the part, about a week ago my mom and I decided to come up with a list of the top ten things we do that make us feel self-righteous. If you want to add, please do.


1. Returning the shopping cart to its designated area.
2. Recycling.
3. Remembering to pray for someone.
4. Doing chores without being asked to (especially taking out the trash or emptying the dishwasher).
5. Randomly calling a friend to see how they're doing.
6. Breaking down boxes before you throw them out.
7. Replacing the toilet paper for the next person.
8. Cleaning up the kitchen - thoroughly - the way mom likes it (this was my dad's).
9. Finishing your workout.
10. Having tea instead of dessert.

Pretty awesome, huh?

One final thought: I don't know how I am going to make it at Oxford when I am currently constructing sentences like the one above. I don't think it actually qualifies as a sentence, like with a subject and object and stuff. Shoot...I should probably know that too.

The Advent of a more-updating you on life, less-rambling about theology Blog

Good morning all.

Well I know it has been a good three or four months since I posted on this blog, but I have recently been inspired to continue my posting. Part of this is because I will be leaving for Oxford in exactly two weeks, and I want to put up pictures and describe my adventures for all to see. But today I am going to start with summer adventures, or a summer "adventure" (by my definition).

The date was Monday, August 13th. The occasion: a lazy day off with my parents. The events: a trip to Balboa park, a stop at Barnes and Noble, and a home-made gourmet dinner.


Here is my mom, eating her vegetable soup on a lawn in Balboa. (For those of you who don't know, Balboa Park is a huge...park close to downtown San Diego. There are museums and fountains, rose gardens and stretches of grass. All of the buildings are graced by Spanish/Italian architecture. After lunch, we went to the Spanish village section of the park - comprised of small adobe shops surrounding a central square; the tiles of which are multi-colored. The shops are full of local art- paintings, ceramics, jewelry, etc.

After Balboa we moved on to Barnes and Noble, where I sipped on my Black/Green Iced Tea and read Real Simple. Bliss.



After a stop by Target and Trader Joe's, dear mother and I began our gourmet meal prep. Here is a picture of our appetizer: triple creme brie, currants and crackers. We also have the habit of sipping wine as we cook...and Norah Jones provides nostalgic background music.



Our meal turned out well. We made grilled garlic bread, topped with a Paprika Shrimp, Corn, Chorizo and Tomato Salad. Accompanying this was a mixed green, pear and toasted pecan salad. Yum. For dessert, we bought tropical fruit bars from Trader Joe's, and enjoyed them as we watched the "Deep Water" episode of Planet Earth.

Lastly, after dinner I opened the gift below from my Dad -- "Morning Thoughts" by Octavius Winslow. He bought it for me to read in the morning (hence the coffee mug) while I am in Oxford. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon's, and is apparently encouraging and gospel-focused. Oh...and the Calcium pills are in the picture because I am supposed to take one every morning. I figured you would want to be in on the whole routine.

Becoming Real

ATHANASIUS

A journal entry from my seventh-grade self:

“Yesterday was SO much fun. I saw *Shane and *Timmy at lunch, and *Shane said that I was one of the top 5 girls that he likes! Timmy said he likes Kellie more than me, but that’s okay because Shane is way cuter. And then when I was walking to band, *Drew pretended to run in to me. Maybe Shane will ask me to slow dance this Friday at the Halloween Dance!”

(*Names have been changed for self-protective purposes).

Conversation subject with young adults, especially between the ages of 12 and 14, may be stereotyped “shallow”. Now I am not saying that all junior high conversation is shallow, I am fundamentally pointing out that shallowness objectively exists. Further, if you talk to the same individual five or ten years later, it is likely that they will converse with you on a more adult level. Hopefully their worlds will not still be revolving around the next school dance, the next interaction with their crush, and shopping. Hopefully their education, work and social experience will have shed light on real life.

Once a person better understands the world around them, I would propose that he/she will live a fuller life—one that is not constantly looking forward to the parties on the weekends. Entertainment and self-indulgence will not need to be the highs of happiness; rather the now 24 adult may take pleasure in deepening friendships and exploring hobbies. His or her disposition towards the menial might shift from bored to content.

Summary: There are objective levels of “realness” in people. It seems that the broader knowledge and experience a person has, the more real he/she will become – and the more he/she will flourish as a human.

Now on to the next level.
It seems that these realities about people signify a deeper reality, one which is more philosophical. In other words, there is a reason that the above scenario intuitively feels and evidentially is true.
Here is the philosophy/theology, laid out in scripture, explored by Athanasius, and mediated to you by…well, me.

God, the Creator, made man with the purpose to know Him. He made us so that the extent to which we flourish (or are most “real”) is dependent on how much we know Him. However, because He is invisible, with out some self-revelation on his part we could not know him and so would be purposeless.

Therefore, he gave us a picture of Himself in us: “Upon men…He bestowed a grace which other creatures lacked – namely the impress of His own image, a share in the reasonable being of the very Word Himself” (3). God made us in His image so that we would know who He is, and flourish as humans.

When man disobeyed, he was ignoring this image of God in him, refusing to know God as He is. However, rather than giving up on man, God continued to manifest His invisible presence in the sensible world. He gave us creation, dictated a moral law, and spoke to us through the prophets: “[Men] could look up into the immensity of heaven, and by pondering the harmony of creation come to know its Ruler…or, if this was beyond them, they could converse with holy men, and through them learn to know God…or else, in the third place, they could cease from lukewarmness and lead a good life merely by knowing the law” (12You see, God provided further opportunity for us to know Him and so flourish.

Yet again men did not notice or know God. Though God had given them images of Himself, they refused to look up to heaven and acknowledge Him. Instead they looked down at the earth, forming idols, images in the shape of men. What else could God do to make Himself known?

He manifests himself in the form they are seeking; “He deals with them as a good teacher with his pupils, coming down to their level and using simple means” (15). In the person of Christ, God “moved as Man among men, meeting their senses, so to speak, half way. He became Himself an object for the senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might apprehend the Father through the works which He, the Word of God, did in the body” (15).

Now if the persistence and wisdom of God isn’t enough here, consider this: The person of Christ manifested the image of God to our senses, but the person of Christ also restores the image of God inside of us and frees us to imitate God, thus displaying his image for others to see.

Okay, so recap:
We want to be “real”, and we were created to be “real” by knowing God, yet we need an image of God to know him. God continues to manifest his image outside of us, yet we continue to miss it. When he sends his image in human form, he is providing an image we cannot miss. Christ reveals and reinstills God’s image in men, so that now we know God through imitation. We not only see him in nature or in scripture, we see Him in our friends, in ourselves. We become more “real” not only by knowing God externally, but by knowing him internally and through imitation.

Ocean-like Understanding

IRENAEUS

“Why do you believe in Heaven?”
“Because the Bible tells me it exists.”
“How do you know that divorce/homosexuality is wrong?”
“Because the Bible tells me it is.”
“Why do you believe what the Bible says?”
“Because the Bible tells me to.”

Enter in: A long discussed dilemma of the Christian faith. When we must give reasons for our various beliefs, we often reference the Bible. Yet, the authority of the Bible to dictate our beliefs comes from the Bible. This reasoning seems, and is, circular. It also raises others complications: What if the Bible was mistranslated? What if different books were included in the Canon? Wouldn’t that make Christianity subject to change, and so shouldn’t you be less confident in your beliefs?

As I mentioned, this question is not new. Consider how especially difficult these concerns would have been in the earliest years of Christianity – when there was no canon. A Christian still would have had to defend his or her beliefs, and would have wanted to know their foundation.

Irenaeus, who lived from 140 – 203, was one of the earliest Christian theologians. In his work “The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching”, he explicates the foundations and various workings of the Christian faith. He did not have a canon to work off, and did not have a creed to refer to. So how did he assert over 50 pages of doctrine?

Irenaeus’ first assertion of truth was not biblically based. Rather, he says, “it is necessary that, things that are made should have the beginning of their making from some great cause; and the beginning of all things is God” (sct. 4). He notices the world around him, and by his reason realizes that someone had to precede everything created. He formulates the following assertion from this: “And therefore it is right first of all to believe that there is One God, the Father, who made and fashioned all things, and made what was not that it should be, and who, containing all things, alone is uncontained” (4).

His next observation of God is not so naturally inferred: “And, since God is rational, therefore by the Word He created the things that were made; and God is Spirit, and by the Spirit He adorned all things…” (5). Irenaeus is here referring to the doctrine of the trinity, and as if to show that this is not understandable by reason alone, he follows with a verse from scripture: “…as also the prophet says: By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by his spirit all their power” (5).

Though Irenaeus begins his collection of doctrine with reasonable deduction and observation, the overwhelming majority of his work is held together by threads of scripture. He does not strive to understand Christianity independent of outside resources, yet neither does he toss around verses lightly. Rather, he brilliantly cross references, knitting together history and prophecy to illuminate the work of Christ.

Here is what I think can be drawn from Irenaeus: A person may understand that God exists by natural deduction, but this is like looking at the ocean from the beach. You see the blueness, but you cannot know how cold it is or how the tide pulls the sand from under your toes. You smell the salt, but you have no idea how far it is to the first iceberg, or how brilliantly the fish and coral are colored. If you want to swim in the ocean, to begin to plunge into its depths – if you want to progress any farther in an understanding of God, you cannot stand on the shore of your own reason and experience. Instead, you must be willing to believe and depend on God’s words, which He has revealed in the Bible.

a study in sustenance

JOHN

A variation of Carbohydrates: Bread and Water. Mac’N’Cheese. Steamed Jasmine rice.
Caffeine in various forms: Coke, English breakfast tea (cream and sugar), coffee (black).
Nutrition in varying levels: A spinach salad, thick clam chowder, vanilla ice cream.

The above list was compiled to represent the numerous choices humans make concerning food. Between two and six times a day we stand with an empty plate and a ravenous appetite, knife and fork ready to slice and spear our life source. We must first decide what to eat, factoring in taste preferences, nutritional value and availability. We must consider that our choices affect our moods, our figures, and our energy.

After we have chewed, swallowed, slurped, chomped, and ______ (Insert eating verb of your choice), we sit back and pat our satisfied bellies.

Okay, ending description now. What is this all about? Case and Point: Loaves and Fishes. (Didn’t that clarify everything?)

This is all related to the Sunday School Story – you’ve heard it. The crowds are hungry, but for a thousand people there are only a few fish and loaves of bread. Jesus multiplies this food, feeds the crowd, and even gathers leftovers. Jesus provided for their practical need in abundance, and then used this to point them to a deeper, less easily understandable truth.

The day following this provision, the crowd again comes to Jesus, likely seeking more nourishment. Jesus had satisfied their physical hunger, and they became hungry soon after. Yet, rather than giving them more bread, Jesus points to a different appetite, describing himself as “The Bread of Life”. He sets his nourishment apart from physical nourishment – whoever comes to him “shall not hunger”. His sustenance gives life, not for a day, or a few hours, but eternally. By believing in who he is and what he has done, we can partake of the feast which forever satisfies us.

This story was especially poignant in Jewish Culture. Their history was filled with wandering in the desert: worn out, hungry, and surrounded by sand, they did not know when they would eat next. When Christ described himself as the “Bread of Life”, he would have been associated with a recognizable, regular need.

On the other hand, in the affluent country of America, we are rarely concerned about our next meal. Personally, all I have to do is walk five minutes to the Cafeteria, slide my student card, and choose from the spread before me.

How is Christ “The Bread of Life” for a people not struggling with poverty, but blessed with abundance?

Despite the over-abundance of food available to Americans, we are not an altogether healthy people. Actually, around 66% of adults over 20 are overweight (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm). We have not learned to make good choices, and continue to eat beyond satisfying our body’s needs. Perhaps because food is accessible to us all the time, we think that it is meant to satisfy more than our appetite.

Every time we serve ourselves unnecessary seconds, we are acting as though we expect food to meet some non-physical need. We are spiritually starving, yet try to satiate spiritual cravings with food. It is insufficient, designed only to relieve our physical appetites.

Yet in God, through Jesus Christ, we can taste life, eat of it and partake of it until our souls no longer pant after meaning. We chew and swallow the bread of his body, offered to us through his death…we partake in his suffering…and then we taste the flavor of the rich, abundant life offered to us through his resurrection.