Voodoo Doughnut

My time in Portland ended better than it began. The snow finally melted (off the roads, anyway), and that enabled me to get out and visit friends, do a little shopping, and patronize the world-famous Voodoo Doughnut & Wedding Chapel, where I enjoyed a Bacon Maple Bar. It was my first time to Voodoo Donut, but it won't be the last. Two and a half minutes:



Want more? Here's a 6-minute video that profiles several of the classics, including the late, lamented Nyquil and Pepto-Bismol Donuts:



http://voodoodoughnut.com/

I am Not an Imposition, Part 5

I’m still in Portland, and still snowbound until probably tomorrow. Now that Portland has officially recorded the snowiest December on record - 16 inches, so far (and a drift of 21 inches outside my mom’s front door) - it seems like a good time to continue my series on environmentalism, a series that obviously has relevance to global warming and how we talk about it.

I’ve been offering excerpts from the book, Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition. The previous installment can be found here.

Here’s the conclusion of the Jewish point of view:

If…there is a God, then everything changes. If there is a God who has created us, then each and every human person has infinite value, and none can be sacrificed for the sake of nature or some abstract cause. (p. 31)

The chapter on the Catholic view offers this:

Nowhere does revelation suggest (as do some contemporary religious and secular environmentalists) that creation, undisturbed by human intervention, is the final order God intended…. The human person and the natural world are never ascribed the same dignity.
…
Some would argue that if man refrains from exercising dominion over nature, nature would be better off. Yet the issue bearing the greatest importance is whether man would be better off. When man does not exercise dominion over nature, nature will exercise dominion over man and cause tremendous suffering for the human family….We alone, of all God’s earthly creatures, have the power, intelligence, and responsibility to help order the world in accord with divine providence and thus minimize the effects of natural evil. (pp. 39-40)

And this comes from the Protestant/Evangelical view:

Some environmentalists, especially those in the “Deep Ecology” movement, divinize the earth and insist on “biological egalitarianism,” the equal value and rights of all life forms, in the mistaken notion that this will raise human respect for the earth. Instead, this philosophy negates the biblical affirmation of the human person’s unique role as steward and eliminates the very rationale for human care for creation. The quest for the humane treatment of beasts by lowering people to the level of nimals leads only to the beastly treatment of humans. (p. 69)

In the three months since my previous installment from this book, it seems that the clamor about global warming has subsided. The current economic crisis has shown that the environmental “emergency” has become less of one in the face of joblessness and recession. But I have little doubt that the subject will heat up again once the economy does, too. Here are some of the key points I wish we’d keep in mind as the discussion continues:

• Man(kind) is the pinnacle of God’s creation.
• As such, we are superior to all plants and all animals. We have value, dignity, and eternal consequence that nothing else in creation has.
• We have been given earth to manage for the benefit of mankind; we do not manage the earth for the benefit of the earth, per se.
• All environmental discussions should consider the cost to humans of recommended policies.
• Some costs are in fact too much to pay.
  
  I’m sure that’s not all, but it’s a good start.

And since this is Christmas, let's consider: Does not the incarnation of Christ itself say something about the exalted status of mankind in creation?

Worse Before Better

It's still snowing in Portland. Amazing. Already it's a record (over a foot), with another 3 inches or so today. This evening or tomorrow, it's supposed to turn to rain. Who knows how long it'll take until all the roads are passable again?

So Much for Global Warming

I arrived in Portland, Oregon, earlier today (Saturday). I was supposed to arrive yesterday, but Delta cancelled my flight. They were nice enough to add a nonstop makeup flight this morning - and put me in first class - so I have nothing to complain about...except the weather.

It's snowing. And when it's not snowing, there's freezing rain. The temperature is 20 degrees and may not go above freezing until Wednesday. In my mom's neighborhood, the snow/ice on the roads is several inches deep, with drifts knee-high. The DOT requires chains on all state routes, but even chains aren't enough to guarantee traction.

So we're homebound for at least the next couple days.

.

(In case you didn't know, the typical highs this time of year are about 40 degrees. A little global warming right now would be nice.)

Photo: Found online on http://www.katu.com/ , taken in my part of town earlier this evening.

Crime Mashup

Sorry I haven't been posting much, lately. Things have been crazy busy. But here's something to keep you entertained for a while: a website that mashes up police reports with Google maps.

Just go to http://www.crimereports.com/, enter your address, and if your police department is participating, you'll see a graphic representation of what crimes have appeared where. You can manipulate the display to change time periods or types of crimes displayed. Very cool. And free.

So far, I've figured out that my part of Sandy Springs (GA) is pretty safe, but my mother in Portland (OR) seems to be living in mortal danger. Maybe I should get her a gun for Christmas...but considering she refuses to use a cellphone and doesn't know how to adjust her thermostat, that's not gonna happen.

Point - Counterpoint

John Donne (1572-1631):

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

.

Overheard at Tandem Coffeehouse, Portland, OR (12/28/07):

"You know what?
I really am alone.
I really am an island."

Why Bach is a Genius

If you've read my 6 previous posts about Bach, you know that he's the greatest composer who ever lived. As I listen through my 155-CD set of his complete works, I'm repeatedly impressed and often amazed at his skill. I'm only about two-thirds of the way through the set, and even hearing something once (or multiple times) hardly means that I understand all the mastery that went into a piece.

Which leads to last night, and the Bach concert I was able to attend in Portland. The Bach Cantata Choir, a local group of mostly amateurs, presented Parts 4-6 of the Christmas Oratorio, and a few excerpts from Parts 1 and 2. There were 200-300 people in the audience . . . not bad at $20 a pop. We got our money's worth.

Bach wrote these 6 cantatas for the Advent and Christmas seasons. Each one lasts 20-30 minutes, covers part of the Christmas story, and includes a mix of solos, duets, trios, quartets, and choruses/chorales. It's all in German, of course, but the program we were given provided both the German text and an English translation.

OK, that's enough background. Now, why is Bach a genius? It was most clearly demonstrated at the very end, the final chorus of Part 6. The orchestral part is festive, joyous, celebratory. The text rejoices at the coming of Jesus and remarks on how He has pulverized death, devil, sin, and hell and brought man to the side of God. Delightful, but what makes it genius? The tune the choir is singing is "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden," which we know as "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," a hymn that we sing around Good Friday. It talks about our sin and Jesus' suffering in our place (for example, "Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain").

So here is Bach, writing some of the most joyful orchestral music you can imagine, using a text of rejoicing, and yet introducing a tune that foreshadows the death of Christ. It is as if to say, "Yes, we're happy now because our Saviour is born, but don't forget that this baby is born to die . . . and don't forget that you're the one who will murder Him." That is genius.

You can hear a brief excerpt by going to this link, then clicking on Disc 2, Track 29.

So Merry Christmas. As we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior, may we also remember why this little baby took on human flesh . . . and how this innocent child, later to be an innocent man, will meet His death.

Unlucky Break

Life is fragile. So are hips.

Yesterday, Mom missed a step, fell, and broke her hip. I was actually with her at the time, though not in the same room when it happened.

We ended up in the emergency room, of course, and she'll be having surgery today or tomorrow. I'm - conveniently - at the airport waiting for my flight back to ATL. Thankfully, I have a sister, brother-in-law, and nephew who live in Portland and can help out with things. It'll take a team effort, but I'll be mostly on the distant sidelines cheering.