Well, here it is, nearly one month into spring in Minnesota, April 11, and this is what things looked like out our window this morning:
Weather is not a bother to me. However, I can’t say the same for many others around me. Oh the complaining! The whining! The grumbling! It’s as if many believe we deserve better; we’ve suffered through a Minnesota winter (only about the 5th snowiest on record and definitely not the coldest by a long shot) and someone owes us an early spring…at least some warmer, sunny days!
I’m not sure we should start talking about what we deserve. Given the condition of our nation, the sad shape of the church and I can’t talk about anyone’s individual life other than mine…well, let’s just say we should put our hands over our mouths and refrain from speech for a little while longer.
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Family. For the Sorensens, it’s a delightful place, event, existence. Yet it does take time, doesn’t it. Yesterday, due to the icy forecast and nasty road conditions that were predicted to come with that weather, I drove Ann and our youngest, Elizabeth, to Winona State University so Elizabeth could register early for classes. She’d received an academic scholarship and was permitted to do this early. Just three days prior to this, we’d taken Elizabeth to Des Moines to see ‘our’ College & Career Counselor. We’d taken our older two there and she had proven to be a real help to each of them. It was no different in this case. When Elizabeth told her she’d like to pursue teaching Math to high school students, after thorough evaluation, Ramona’s advice was: ‘Well, you could do that…if you don’t mind shriveling up and drying up within a few years. Yes, you’re capable, but it’s not who you are and what you can do best.’
So, directions changed and E’s off to study Music Education (Vocal) K-12, emphasis upon K-7, with a minor in Arts Management. Who knew! And yet E’s so excited, it’s fun to watch. Yesterday, while at Winona State, she got to sit in with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and sight-read with them for about an hour. Plus, she got to sign-up for her fall classes and I’ve seldom seen anyone so excited just about the scheduling possibilities.
Well, at least this will make letting go of her a bit easier come mid-August!
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I came across this article the other day and you just know I’m not going to be able to leave this one alone. However, it will deserve its own post, not just fair mention.
The Outside View of a Former Church Insider :: 10 Honest Observations
Here’s just one of the ten observations the author makes: ‘This is going to sound terrible, but I’m surprised how little church means to me now that I’m not a church insider.’ Oh boy!
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Do you remember any of those ‘I’m a Mac vs. I’m a PC’ commercials Apple used to run? Well, this Apple fan-boy found a site that has’em all in one location (I think I’d already downloaded almost all of these a few years back, but it never hurts to compare and see if I really am missing something!).
Want to see’em all again? Well, head on over to ZAGG’s community site…here.
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Here’s something sure to generate some thought (disclaimer: I don’t agree with the entire article, especial some of the more Catholic emphases, but these early paragraphs are enough to stir up a good discussion the next time you hear someone say, ‘I’m not religious, but I am spiritual.’)
Religious, but not spiritual
Francis Cardinal George reverses the commonplace saying in a column entitled “I’m Religious, but Not Spiritual”:
It’s somewhat fashionable these days to describe oneself as “spiritual but not religious.” This is supposed to mean that one is open to an experience beyond the commercial or the political but not tied to “institutional” religion. One claims an experience of transcendence that is bound by no one else’s rules.
People can always make claims to any kind of experience. The question is always: Who cares? Why should anyone care where someone else gets a spiritual high? Because no one really cares, the claim to be spiritual but not religious is always safe. It’s never a threat and can be dismissed quite easily. The claim to be religious is different. It is a claim that God himself has taken the initiative to reveal himself to us and tell us who he is and who we are. Religion binds us to God according to his will, not ours, in a community of faith that he has brought into existence. Being religious can therefore be threatening.
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