Kim and Kipling

The other day I randomly picked up Rudyard's Kiplings somewhat famous book Kim. First of all, my copy happens to be an amazing hardback from 1901, with some beautiful artwork included within it and a very extraordinary cover. I bought it at a book sale for 25 cents a few years ago.

The story, at least 100 pages in, is about a young Indian boy named Kim who decides to join a Tibetan monk/yogi who is traveling through India on a pilgrimage of sorts. I am really, truly enjoying the story. Beyond the story itself, here are some of the things I have been thinking about as I read:

1. Kipling doesn't seem as racist as I had been told he was through the years. In fact, he seems far ahead of his time. There have hardly been any white characters at all!
2. It's so cool to see somebody writing about Tibetans at a time when few had heard or likely even cared about Tibet. There were no Brad Pitt movies about it yet, or Free Tibet stickers on the backs of cars. I can't help but think somebody like Kipling did a lot to open the eyes of people in the West to how vast our world really is.
3. There is an amazing sort of plurality in Kipling's India. Muslims and Hindus worship at the same shrines, and everybody is anxious to learn from a Tibetan holy man; especially the religious leaders! I'm fascinated by this, especially knowing how tensions have been high there for a number of years where divisions lie along religious grounds.
4. Last night an old friend was telling me how they are planning to go to India on a religious pilgrimage of sorts and it made me think of The Brothers K and The Darjeeling Limited, both of which bring up a lot of questions about spiritual seeking in India. I wonder if this book will do the same? I wonder what my friend will discover? I wonder what the Beatles really discovered when they went there?

I'll try to let you know what I think of the book when I finish... Maybe I'll read all the Mowgli stories afterwards.

Peace,
Matt

Martinson Church Tour '08 (2)

Last Sunday I finally bit the bullet and went to a Mennonite church service. Why am I saying "bit the bullet," you ask? I say that because I was very nervous that I would get together with my fellow Mennonites and discover that although I agree with them theologically, I feel weird or awkward around them. In a word, I was afraid of being let down.

Effie, Eleanor and I somehow managed to make it on time to Birch Bay Bible Church on Sunday for their one service. There were a lot of elderly people, but here's the thing: it actually had a fairly impressive mixture of young and old! Aaaaaaaand, the first thing they did was recognize a member of their congregation who was moving. She was not a pastor, elder or whatever, just a member of the family who apparently was worthwhile enough to stop the all-important Sunday service and recognize for who she was... What that told me: this church truly cares more about the people than the show.

The music, powerpoint and message were not as well produced as what I am used to, and I was thankful. The pastor who shared hit it on the head in his sermon: their priority is on following Christ, not entertaining themselves. Amen.

I really don't know if we'll find ourselves back there again, but either way I'm glad we checked-out our first Mennonite church. Who knows what next Sunday may hold...

Peace,
Matt

New Article By Me

I posted a new article on the silhouette website. Check it out.

Peace,
Matt

Odd Jobs

Being unemployed for more than two weeks now, I have started actually doing some bits of random work for friends. Last weekend I hosted at The Little Cheerful, an awesome little breakfast place in downtown B'ham, for one day. Today I sanded wood floors for my friend Colin, and am helping finish up tomorrow. I gotta say, I really enjoy this kind of living. These bits of work are a blast, and dare I say it, actual fun work! Too bad it probably won't pay for a house payment/insurinance for an infant. Alas.

Still...I am unemployed and loving it!

Peace,
Matt

Martinson Church Tour '08

Last Sunday Effie and I began our Church Tour '08. I decided just now (without consulting her first) that we needed to call it a tour, so it felt like we were cool rock stars rather than nerdy Christians. Anyways, for two Sundays in a row we have gone to church services in places that are not "our home church" as people would say, and it has been an thought-provoking experience already. Here's what I am discovering so far:

• I love getting up in front of people and talking, but am annoyed when I have to listen to somebody else do it. What kind of messed-up stuff does this say about me? Honestly, I just want to push back a little when other people are talking, to ask questions, throw in my two cents, disagree, or whatever. But when I'm stuck in a seat as a listener, I get frustrated. Worst of all is that this is partly for my own learning, and partly me and my ego wanting attention. Sad, huh?
• I am realizing that there is probably no church group that I agree with 100% theologically. Does this say something bad about me? About them? Or am I supposed to pull something else entirely from all of this? Or do theological opinions really even matter that much?
• I like being anonymous. I slip in, talk to a few friends, and slip out, without having any responsibility or conversations with people who corner me and want to talk about nothing for 20 minutes. This is a horrible thing to say, but I'm being honest at least.
• I really have no clue what the point of a Sunday gathering is! I am not bashing it, or even disagreeing with it, but honestly I am just kind of at a loss on the whole subject. I've heard the arguments (have taught them a million times), but am still a bit confused on all of this stuff.

I'll try to start giving weekly Church Tour updates, but no promises. And no, I will not be giving some sort of church review like somebody does for restraunts or movies. That is just wrong. This is more for me to explore my own experience and shifting views of Church as I visit different expressions of the Church throughout Whatcom County.

Oh, and PS, today I visited Ron's church (aka, the Brown Kid) and had some fun talking with him and a few other old friends. And last week we went to Oikos church, which was pretty cool, but is also an Acts 29 church, so I have a feeling I will not be calling it home.

Peace,
Matt

Current and Recent Reads

Although I have been trying to be more consistent with this blog over the course of the past few months, I realize that my posts can be somewhat sporadic. Although I now have more time on my hands (view last post if you don't know what I'm talking about), I will say as an excuse that my wife and I still live in the mid-90's, in other words...we use dial-up internet. Which keeps me off the "information superhighway" most days. But I do get on and do one thing all the time: I update the Current and Recent Reads section of this blog.

The CARR is meant to show you what is influencing me currently, to alert loyal blog readers/lurkers (you know who you are!) to books that they might find interesting, and maybe even to generate some discussion. Also, being the total spaz I am, it is there to give a shout-out (told you I'm stuck in the 90's) to some great titles and authors. Lastly, you might notice that there are always at least four books on the list. That's how I read. I love overlapping books and seeing the random interconnections between them. That is also why I read a wide variety of books.

Currently I am slowly moving through Prayer by Han Urs Von Balthasar. It is a profound work of spiritual contemplation by one the biggest Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Eugene Peterson and Scot McKnight mentioned it at different points in their works, so I figured it was worth a read.

At the same time I continue to slowly press through Gerhard Von Rad's Old Testament Theology. I became interested in this work after realizing how often Walter Brueggemann cited it. It has been intense, but worth the effort (though it will ultimately only cause me to sound even more heretical when pushed on my view of scripture).

I am also reading Martin Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics. I found this book cheap and used, and nabbed it right away. I first read Heidegger in a class I took from Carl Raschke, and realized that I needed to know Heidegger if I was ever going to understand post-modern thinkers. I started into this book as my last Heidegger title before I get into his major work, Being and Time. Yes, I know he was a Nazi. I'm not saying I like the guy, just that I am trying to gain some understanding of what he was saying.

In my spare moments I am also working through Indian Killer, one of Sherman Alexie's least impressive books, but still a worthwhile read. As always, I would say that every PNW resident should read at least one Alexie book. He has shook my world and my understanding of the compexity of dealing with the Other.

Welcome to the Desert of the Real is the first Slavoj Zizek work I have read. I am half-way through and I am amazed by it and very interesting in Zizek's work. Great...another person to read...

Deadeye Dick...is one of two Kurt Vonnegut books I checked-out from the local library. Vonnegut is quite possibly the best author from the second half of the twentieth century. I am working on reading everything he ever wrote. I honestly suggest you being doing the same.

Peace,
Matt

Unemployment

Today is day three of being without a job. The most commonly heard phrase in my house during those past three days: "this is great...we should never work again." I have gone for a long bike ride every day, went for long walks around Bellingham, watched two movies (including Juno, finally, which lived-up to it's praise), read, spent time with my wife and daughter, spent time with friends, rode my skateboard, taken both cars in for long overdue work, and did some bicycle repair as well. I feel as if I let go of the world and regained my soul. It is marvelous. Honestly I am tempted to get a part-time job, sell my house, and choose a life of freedom over work. It is great!

Peace,
Matt

Last Day

Yes, today is officially my last day of work. It is weird. I am trying to finish cleaning out my office, write a truly inspiring final message, and somehow process the strange reality that the last decade of my life is coming to a very definite close, with no idea of what is next. Wow.

Peace,
Matt