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On a beautiful spring afternoon, just a few weeks before we received our high school diplomas, my friend invited me to go flying with him. He had just qualified for his private pilot license. We took his green Chevy Vega to the small municipal airport. He went into the office to finalize arrangements and before long we were flying… MORE

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We might never have known about them had they not left sizeable gifts to a university, library, or nonprofit organization. But the institutions shared the good news. When a news agency picked up the story, the word spread quickly… MORE

From April to December 2008 I worked on a grant proposal for Nazarene Theological Seminary.  The Kern Family Foundation initiated the Leading Through Change: Innovation in Theological Schools program and invited NTS to propose a project.  We succeeded!  Kern announced that NTS was one of five schools invited to participate in the program, and they will provide $500,000 to help us achieve the goals we identified in the proposal.  Great news for NTS.  See our press release at the NTS website or at NCN News.  Over the next four years we will work the plan — The Re-imagining NTS Project: A Missional Seminary Serving a Missional Church.

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“I hate that picture!”

Stunned by the stark declaration, we stopped perusing old family photos and looked at my mother for an explanation. She kept flipping through the stack she held in her hands … MORE

The city of Portland is pretty much shut down because of snow and freezing rain. In anticipation of the storm, Jason, AJ, Judah and Abel came over to Karla and Grant’s place while the roads were still in decent condition. We had a sleepover last night.

Yesterday afternoon Jason and Grant built a snowboard run in the backyard. Using wheelbarrows to transport the snow, they started with a couple of deck benches and built a slope on the deck, went down the stairs and across the yard to the fence. Here’s a photo of Judah just starting down the stairs. The big boys took turns too. To see some video, click here and here and here.

I always seem to add another CD or two (or more) my Christmas CD collection every year.  Most of the arrangements are predictable and so very similar to the ones on the CDs I purchased last year.  This year is different.  I saw a recommendation in something from Christianity Today about the Annie Moses Band.  I listened to a clip online and made the purchase.  I’ve been very excited about this collection.

The Annie Moses Band is a family group.  The name comes from a great-grandmother.  Dad is a jazz pianist and does all of the arrangements.  Mom is a lyricist and vocalist.  Three of the six kids studied at Julliard.  They form a string quartet plus harp plus guitar.  The mix has a jazz base with classical flourishes.  The clip I’ve included with this post is a great arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” some of which is in 5/4 time.  There is a cadenza toward the end which features the violin and viola in animated conversation.  Take a listen.

We spent a week in Uganda, working on a project for GAP International.  Click here to read the daily journal and see a few photos.

When I awoke on this November morning, I pulled the covers up close as I lay in the warm cocoon.  I listened to the wind flex the fingers of winter, then rap on the window.  Glad that the alarm had been silenced the night before, I enjoyed the leisure of an unscripted Saturday morning.

My mind followed the path of the Friday just past.  On the way home from work, Judi and I made several stops so we could stay at home today.  Judi bought buttons to finish a craft project. We picked up a few groceries, some bargains anticipated because of the weekly ads, others serendipitous.

We stopped by a big box discount store on a whim, hoping to find Mario Kart for the Wii system we purchased earlier in the week.  I left Judi in the children’s department looking for real deals for the grandchildren and headed for electronics.  Several people stood in the aisle where gamers congregate scanning the goodies on locked shelves.  I wove my way past a teenage boy trying to make the demo work for him.  Another teenager was at the other end of the aisle.  A Hispanic family looked at items on both sides of the aisle.

I walked right to what I sought, drawn by the all-powerful Mario magnet.  I quickly scanned the other Wii offerings, but decided to only purchase what I came for.  I went looking for someone with a key to the treasure chest.  The first person that I saw in a blue vest was a man who seemed to be headed for an inventory assignment.  He turned my request over to a woman who stood behind the cash register.  As she came past me she said that she needed to help another person, “that Hispanic man,” before she could assist me.  I followed her back to the locked shelving and waited while she retrieved a video game for the other shopper.

That’s the part of the story that doesn’t seem right to me this morning.  This woman knew the Hispanic man needed assistance before hearing my request.  She was behind the counter.  I’m not sure what she was doing at the moment I was shuttled her direction, but there were no customers waiting at the cash register.  As I reflect on it this morning, it seems like my request motivated her to finally serve the Hispanic man.  Who knows how long she would have fiddled around behind the counter while he waited for assistance.

I watched the store clerk check out the Hispanic man before making my purchase.  He paid with a debit card, which indicates he has a bank account, and that implies a job and a permanent address.  The woman was polite in her interaction with him.  But she didn’t assist the Hispanic man until a white guy needed something.  It seems that my presence deflated a subtle discrimination.

Why did it even occur?

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The trip to the home improvement store could not have gone more smoothly. In one minute I walked from the car to the outdoor security light bulb I needed. Turning, I walked to the self-service checkout register to scan the item, slip the currency in the slot, pick up my change from the coin tray, and grab the receipt. About four minutes after I arrived at the big box store, I was back in my car headed home … MORE

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The gasoline nozzle failed to automatically shut off. Fortunately, I stood nearby and quickly clicked the trigger. Unfortunately, I stood nearby and had petroleum splatters on my dress pants and shoes. With the price of gas these days, I sure don’t want to pay for spills, too … MORE