Photos

Darby
Pumpkin Patch
October 05

Ella
Pumpkin Patch
October 05



Mac and Chad
October 05

Finger pickin good

My Dad and I went to the Bluegrass Fan Fest, sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Saturday. In a word, wow.

He won tickets by calling in to WSM. He even won tickets to the Bluegrass awards show! He asked me to join him Saturday afternoon for some unbeatable music. They had workshops (we sat in on the mandolin and guitar sessions; he heard Bela Fleck, a classical banjoist on Friday!), display booths (I strummed a $13,000 Martin guitar, no melody mind you, but it still counts in my mind at least), and absolutely superb performances (we heard Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, J.D. Crowe and The New South, and Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time). That's just a fraction of what was available. Dad heard the really big names Friday night (IIIrd Tyme Out, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder and the Del McCoury Band). Need I say more?

While this may come as a surprise to many of my friends and an utter shock to some of my students, I love bluegrass. I'm not as up on the rising stars and new bands, but I love it nonetheless. I just about wore out one of Dad's Flatt and Scruggs tapes when I was a kid. When I was working at Hill's Grocery store in college (and opened the store at 5 am) I played the Early Bird Gets the Bluegrass on WSM AM over the PA system and drove the stockers crazy. Dad and I listened to a lot of bluegrass on little dinky low wattage Nashville area radio when I was in high school. We also listened to bluegrass while tinkering on cars. Saturday brought back great memories.

Dad played a little dobro for fun; I can play a dobro CD pretty well. My lack of musical ability does not hamper my affection for the genre. I suspect that it is the Ice West Virginia/Eastern Kentucky/Ohio River heritage coming through; roots that find a fine mate in my other set of musical genes - the middle TN Grand Ol Opry "Nashville Sound." How could I escape it? More than that, why would I want to???

There is an earthiness and simplicity in bluegrass (and in mountain music, yes, there is a difference, and the older country) that really strikes a chord (no pun intended) with me. I very much appreciate the fact that bluegrass is all about the music. I appreciate that these musicians have to be musicians. There is no glitz, glamour and image. No amount of smoke and mirror tricks can hide a sloppy bluegrass musician. Its just real a authentic soul experience. The music is real, the song-writing is real; and it certainly isn't edited, polished and packaged by record executives.

I love my NPR, my Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera and hard core bluegrass. Don't lose any sleep trying to figure it out; I just love what I love.

I see where ibma.org has something about podcasting. Check it out.

Finger pickin good, indeed!

This and that

I've got a few pictures that I'd like to post, mostly for the benefit of friends and family who check in on us through the blog. I'll get to it when I get to it.

Ella's surgery/procedure/whatever you want to call it went very well last week. Tests came back fine. We are relieved all is well, even in spite of the dr. reassuring us that it would be. Vanderbilt's new Children's Hospital is a sight to behold. I'm tempted to co-opt this into a sermon about how our churches ought to be as effective in spiritual healing as Vandy is for physical healing, but now that I've mentioned it, I don't have to mention it. Plus, better for us to just go be a healing presence instead of lamenting on our blogs how we are not. So let's do it.

At any rate, we are all well and ready for Halloween. Last night we all watched Charlie Brown's Pumpkin on tv. Brought back childhood memories for Laura and I. Great to share that with Darby. Ella just cooed and dozed off and on.

I deleted a few broken links (like Josh Graves and Scot McKnight) and reordered the links to your right. I've got more links I'd like to add. How much is too much?

You should read Larry Chouinard's new blog.

And so to bed.

Peace out.

Hurricanes and the 278th

Hurricanes:
To my friends who are convinced that God is judging our world with hurricanes: Yes, I understnad that gambling casinos (bars, etc. etc.) were destroyed by these hurricanes. So were churches. And synagogues. And day-care centers. And nursing homes. And schools. And businesses owned and run by God-loving folk. And the homes of disciples. And the livelihood(s) of untold thousands. And...and..and... Please, I'd like to hear your explanation of why the same God-sent-storm that ravaged a bar also ravaged a hospital. I'm not trying to be argumentative, and I don't have all the theological answers. I'm just saying, let's think through this a bit more carefully. I'm afraid you're digging a hole you don't want to be in. I'm really unconvinced, intellectually and theologically, by your pontifications. So are my Christian students from Louisiana, the ones living with relatives and friends in Nashville while their parents try to sort out how to rebuild life. There's a lot of help we can give in this crisis without playing the God's-judgment-on-the sinners-card.


278th:
The 278th National Guard Unit from Tennessee is mostly all back home (or at least on their way back, even as I type). Some will not return, ever. For them and their families I hurt the most. Come, quickly, King of Grace, Prince of Peace! Until then, teach us how to beat our swords into plowshares!

Grace and peace.

Quotes by the clock

I have two small posters by the clock in my classroom. I put them by the clock so that they will be seen and seen often. What student doesn't look at the clock? (How many more minutes before I am tardy? When does this class let out? When do we go to lunch? What time is the pep-rally? Why does time drag soooo slooooow?)

The notions they reflect represent well a good deal of what I value as a teacher. I think you'll enjoy them:

"There are many who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge: that is curiosity. There are some who desire to know in order that they themselves are known: that is vanity. Others seek knowledge in order to sell it: that is dishonorable. But there are those who seek knowledge in order to serve and edify others: that is love."
--St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"Our life is full of brokenness: broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives?"
--Henri Nouwen

Bernard's comment is well-put and ought to be by the clock in every classroom. What I try to instill (even in the midst of my relentless notes; I have been called a Note-Nazi) in my students is that we apply the very best of our thinking to scripture because it deserves no less. I tell my students early on that they are not to check their brains at the door to Room 152: rather we check our assumptions, our traditions, our biases, our prejudices, our arrogance, our hard-headedness and hard-heartedness. We will explore, we will read, we will think, we will re-examine, we will learn, but we will do so to serve our churches and the world because we love God with our minds.

Nouwen's comment is well-put and ought to be in every Bible classroom. I try to instill in my students that Scripture is more than mere recitation of historical events. Scripture is the drama of God's pursuit of his much-beloved creation. We are part of that story and live in that story daily. God is present to us in ways beyond the sacred page; but my class is a text-based exegetical/theological academic class. I want my students to see that scripture gives us a lens through which to see God and his work in our lives and a grid in which we see meaning in our lives. So I want my students to see our academic investigation of the sacred page as one way in which we explore God's marvelously sustaining and faithful presence.

Grace and peace.

I'm no fan of bumper sticker theology

but Laura and I saw this one in St. Louis over the weekend and thought it appropriate:

When Jesus said 'Love your enemies,' I think he meant, 'Don't kill them.'

Well put, for a bumper sticker at least.


Grace and peace.

Update from the Ice's

This cool middle-TN Saturday night finds us well-fed and warm, for which we are grateful. We had friends over for a meal (although they brought the food, does that still count?); more in a later post. And a picture or two if I can figure out the camera and the software.

This week is the mid-point of the fall semester. Time flies. I'm teaching in 1 Samuel now, having finished Judges and Ruth. In case you're interested, I've posted my PowerPoint slides to my page at the EHCS website. The link is to your right. Click on "Students and Parents: Click here first" and follow along. I'll post more as we go. I love 1 Samuel, especially having finished Judges (which makes all the difference for understanding Saul and Samuel and David).

I'm getting into Genesis 12 at Central. Podcasts are available at the Central site. Somehow Cole and I will figure out how to post the PP slides to the Central site. Thanks to the Carter's I'm enjoying Sufian XMas right now; groovy.

My course in NT World at Lipscomb goes well. It has been a full 10 years since I had Mark Black for NT World as an undergraduate. The material is as fascinating now as it was then. Ted Carruth is doing a good job introducing us to it all. I've got papers to complete in a couple of weeks. I want to post them to the EHCS site as well; I am writing on the Synagogue, Crucifixion and Tax-Collectors (three papers). My topic selection is intentional: I'm taking advantage of the reading and research in order to prepare for some in-depth teaching in the spring. Up for the spring is Luke's Gospel. This school year is one of my favorites to teach. I'm looking forward to Luke.

Darby enjoys school and dance lessons. She is a big girl and often I notice changes from day to day. She is growing up! The same is true with Ella, who is growing by leaps and bounds and pounds and pounds! She's up to 11-12 pounds now and is getting a bit of personality. I suspect that that will kick in in a few more weeks as she gets to the 4 month mark. Then another spike at the 9-10 month mark. By then she'll be walking (or close to it)! Wow.

Laura's piano lessons will start up again in November. She will teach again in the spring at a Mother's Day Out program. She's enjoying two small groups this year: one with friends from college on alternating Thursday nights and another with a neighbor of ours at First Baptist in Smyrna.

Some time ago, as the new school year started up I commented how I would blog about some teaching stuff. Looks like I'll be doing a practicum in the spring and for it will likely be evaluating/establishing/teasing out a theological rationale for teaching ministry in an academic setting. I've not forgotten about it; just the opposite, I've thought about it so much that I'm going to fold it into my last practicum and do it up right.

Hello to Travis Stanley: I did get your message, sorry to have taken so long to get back with you. I'll email you. How have our paths not crossed before now?

Hello to Mark and Lori Manry: I've been keeping up with you through your site. I think of you and the kids daily. More about the Manry's in a future post.

Hello to the few Ezell vassals who have stumbled across the blog. You should be studying for your quiz Monday! Off the computer and back to the books! :)

And so to bed.

Grace and peace.