flight 683

patchwork quilt
roads radiate
towns separate
slowly reconcile

whining engine
mouth cotton
vivid dreams
future forgotten

returning home
an illusion
beverly or tulsa
willful collusion

won't be long
don't get comfortable
the coup's a comin'
You're responsible.

more memorandum from captain random:

while riding home for lunch yesterday, n.p.r. talked about the conventions of american "contractors" which often meet at the Hyatt Amman Hotel in Jordan. this report follows on the heels of two years worth of discussions about the number of american "contractors" in iraq, the unfortunately tragic hanging of american "contractors" in iraq, etc. every time we hear reporters talking about american "contractors" we should remember that most of these men and women are former army rangers, navy seals and marines who are serving in highly armed security details and even occasionally interrogating iraqi prisoners. in short, most of the "contractors" are domestic mercenaries. i know this note may sound a bit like quibbling, but i believe that it is important identify a person and explain their function correctly. by referring to them as "contractors" we are insulating ourselves from reality. america has anywhere between 20 - 40,0000 domestic mercenaries working in iraq. my hunch is that these particular "contractors" far outnumber the plumbers, engineers and aluminum siders working to rebuild the country. i'm not looking to pick a fight, i'm just interested in accurate reporting.

i have a confession to make: i have an ATM handicap. i have left my debit card in a local ATM machine not once, not twice, but four times in the past six months. moreover, as much as i would like to blame my fiscal failure on the machine, the truth constrains me from doing so. i have not only lost debit cards to the beverly co-op bank, but have left them at the local bank of america branch as well. i am so ashamed! maybe i should go on oprah.

okay, i have two confessions. since taking the copywriter position here at lightway i've really enjoyed my job. my day has gone crazy, i have more responsibilities than i can manage and i feel like i am constantly working in areas that are outside of my actual skill set...and i am loving it. who knew that i could enjoy life at lightway?

to balance that last note, i would like to encourage those of you who currently hate your jobs. i personally know of two amazingly creative individuals, bill james of bill james' abstract and sabr fame, and harvey pekar, the author of american splendor, who have openly confessed to utilizing the lull periods at their daily occupations, bill worked for van kamp baked beans and pekar for the veteran's administration, as opportunities to write, create, study and explore their vocations. i am not encouraging you should read flaubert, edit your indie films or examine folios of abstract art while you're on the clock, but they certainly are.

okay, i'm off to indian territory. i'll try to provide periodic updates this weekend.

memorandum from captain random:

i am beginning to think that a number of my lightway co-workers do not share my sense of humor. a little bit of evidence that supports my assumption...

two weeks ago, just before our staff meeting, i decided to walk the diz in the rain. thus, when i walked into the conference room, my pants were sopping wet, but my torso was relatively dry due to the water resistant qualities of my long coveted, AA flight line jacket. anyway, when the manager announced that i was the new copywriter and asked if i had anything i would like to say, the following words tumbled out: "i'm so happy i just pissed myself." instead of laughter, i heard a literal "pip" squeak.

moreover, yesterday, about midway through my introduction to the new "sanctified spam" project, i encouraged the editors by telling them they no longer had to create a monotonous, time consuming, text version of the "spam" to stand alongside their html version. a few of them actually broke out into a cheer, that quickly subsided as soon as i told them that i was "just kidding" (e-i-e-i-o!). at that point, i almost had a mutiny on my hands. this morning, while reflecting on the failure of my humor i was tempted to think that i am not funny. but both of us know that's not true. the apparent failure of my humor clearly lies at the feet of the editors.


so i spent some time working with the dirty hippy down at vagabond records last night. about halfway through the tracy chapman disc, which was preceded by a marc cohn cd and a frantic search for a hidden bruce cockburn disc, i realized that i am going to be the most uninspiring music clerk ever. i won't have the musically inspired, manaical energy of barry at championship vinyl or even the artistic, detached, artistic cool of a.j. at the empire. the best i can shoot for is a second rate imitation of randall over at rst video. i've got the mixture of antipathy and anger towards the customers down. but, admittedly, i'd rather talk about the protest lyrics of tracy chapman than the ethics of the empire. so i'm still going to suck. oh well, if i'm not what vagabond is looking for i can always work at the virgin megastore.


i just had my workday rudely interrupted by a publisher's meeting with a certain southern baptist publishing house that we could abbreviate with a B and H but, as per larry cannon's request, i am not going to identify here. anyway, at the end of the long-winded meeting i made a point of shaking hands with donald smith, the sales rep for the aforementioned company, and saying, "i interviewed the C.E.O. of your company last month and i told him what a helpful and attentive sales rep you are." at this, he smiled and thanked me. "no problem," i responded, "i just affirmed that even though you voted for Kerry, the folks at lightway still love ya." once again, no response.

more to come...

my soul? soluble

universe? permeable

sleep still eludes me

overheard

"How tempting it can be - and how distracting from our primary mission - to devote so many efforts to rehabilitating society at large, especially when these efforts demonize the opposition. (After all, neither Jesus nor Paul showed much concern about cleaning up the degenerate Roman Empire.) As history has proven, especially in times when church and state closely mingle, it is possible for the church to gain a nation and in the process lose the kingdom."

~Philip Yancey - musing about the cultural influence of evangelicalism in USAmerica and making me wonder, yet again, how he keeps his job - on "the back page" of the most recent Christianity Today

theological jargon, the South Hamilton Institute of Theology and banal conclusions born of bowel movements

for those of you who haven't noticed, it is now november and i am well into my sixth year at the South Hamilton Institute of Theology.

i am currently taking a class on the life of jesus with dr. colin nichol and, since it is a 500 level class, i often find myself quite bored with it (though i am thankful that this life of Christ class does not require me to utilize my mad coloring skills).

anyway, at some point in every single class dr. nichol is somehow loosed from the fetters of his outline and really starts to preach. this past week he preached on the economic demands of discipleship that are highlighted in the gospel of Luke. that lead to a good bit of discussion that i am too tired to recount here.

the week before that, nichol started preaching about the gospel. in the midst of his sermon he commended evangelicalism for emphasizing the substitutionary atonement (read: efficacious sacrifice, Christ's death for our sins, etc.) of Christ, but he bewailed the fact that we have often ignored Christ's call to obedience. a full orbed understanding of the gospel, nichol argued, must emphasize the grace that is offered upon the cross and the life of obedience that is demanded of those who follow in the way of the cross. to ignore either of these emphases in our preaching and teaching, he suggested, is to leave the church with an anemic gospel.

in the midst of nichol's homiletical moment, i was engaged enough to ask him, "if we (evangelicals) have traditionally overemphasized substitutionary atonement and disregarded Christ's call to obedience, isn't it reasonable to assume that we have misunderstood the gospel?" after a brief pause, dr. nichol answered in the affirmative.

this is the point at which i am supposed to revel in my cleverness and disembody my straw man of evangelical orthodoxy. but i think we'll both be better off if we let this point pass.

what i would like to say is this: if obedience to the demands of Jesus (the god-man who called us to "be perfect as his heavenly father is perfect," embrace a righteousness that "exceeds that of the pharisees and sadducees," and "lose your life so that you can save us") plays a bigger part in my salvation/reconciliation/renewal than i originally thought, then i have some serious work to do.

obedience hasn't traditionally been my cup of tazo, but as i think more often and a bit more deeply about it, i think i'll find a way forward. here's what i'm thinking at present: if salvation/reconciliation is the result of God's grace, and the purpose of such work is to lead me into the eternal quality of life, then obedience is simply living in rhythm with this quality of life instead of unraveling in the despair, monotony and unoriginality of death. if i put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad.

in short, if i'm really going to receive the reconciliation that God has offered and be the reconciler that he intended, then i need to be a more obedient disciple. i'm starting to think that obedience isn't such a bad thing. of course, that thought as well as this untidy, rushed conclusion might be the result of the bowel movement that is about to begin. now, if you'll excuse me...

overheard

there are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge;
that is curiosity.

there are those who seek knowledge to be known by others;
that is vanity.

there are those who seek knowledge in order to serve;
that is love.

-bernard of clairvaux as quoted in frost and hirsch's the shaping of things to come