A parenting day

I am the only male over 3 years of age in the nursery during our church's worship services on Sundays. This is sort of awkward--I'm pretty sure I'm cultural crossing a line--but I'm okay with that. My wife is with the kiddo all week, and (usually) gets more out of sermons more than I do.

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My little almost-7-month-old has his army crawl down pat, and moves with remarkable speed. My sister-in-law (in jest) suggests we enter him in one of those baby races; he would probably have a good chance of winning, if there was a cell phone or camera just beyond the finish line. Today in the nursery he weaseled his way around the whole room, his beautiful eyes wide looking up and down, carefully inspecting the place. He is becoming a little adventurer.

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He and I were hanging out on a blanket on the porch this afternoon, while Mommy was still napping. He was sucking on his thumb*, and then started sucking on my knee, so we went inside and I dug out his pacifier. He has heretofore shown disdain for the pacifier, but now that he's learned to suck on a bottle, he found it rather interesting. He sucked and played with it for about fifteen minutes. I was amused by the way the pacifier absorbed all his attention, as he proved unable to suck on it and handle other toys at the same time.

*He doesn't habitually suck his thumb, but was rather sucking on it just then.

Bread and wine

This is my favorite song from my favorite CD from last year, appropriate for a Maundy Thursday

This post was going to be longer, but instead I'm going to watch a movie with my wife.

Behold! March 2012

Spirituality
I really appreciated this piece by Russell Moore; oh that all Christian writers was so skilled in combining sound theology, pastoral wisdom, and vivid expression.
I also really appreciated DLM's piece on friendship as advocacy.


Technology
McSweeny's has some good parodies of social media and blogging.
NPR uncovers one reason Facebook is in some ways anti-community: it helps make the popular more popular and the lonely feel more lonely.


Random
M. Nenadov summarizes a seminar which concludes that "there are basically no compelling economic reasons for development aid to be successful."
NYTimes writes up on Guaraní, which--according to my New Years Resolutions-- I am learning this year.
The Amazing Race passed through Paraguay.
Eric Peters hosted a listening party for his new CD at the Rabbit Room: there were some really nice songs, and Eric's barren honesty is so heartening.

Philosophy of a five-month-old

Well, this is my best description of my five-month-old son's philosophy of life, divided into some of the major branches of philosophical study.

Metaphysics - What is real?
That which is real is that which I can grasp with my hand. Toys and mommy's hair and daddy's hands are all real. A stream of running water may or may not be real; I'm still trying to decide.

Epistemology - How is knowledge acquired?
Knowledge is acquired by inserting the object of study in the knower's mouth.

Ethics - What is good?
That which is good is usually that which is colorful and/or shiny; that which smiles; or that which tastes like breastmilk.

Aesthetics - What is beautiful?
The most beautiful part of any given object is the while silk tag. Some other extraordinarily beautiful things include my parents' faces and feet.

Logic - What arguments are valid?
Valid arguments are those which take into account my need for food, a clean diaper, physical affection and sleep.

Behold! 3-3-2012

Behold!: some noteworthy pieces over the last couple of weeks:

Parenting

• Pamela Druckermann writes at the WSJ about the importance of educating children in patience. There's also an NPR interview.
• NPR reports on why it's a good thing that I talk to myself and why I'm glad we don't have a TV (and how those might be related).

Religion and Society

• M. Nenadov reminds us that Rick Santorum is obnoxious and wrong and why the current party system is obnoxious and wrong.
• In a NYTimes piece, the Amish of Sugarcreek, Ohio, in the light of betrayal, remind us what the Sermon on the Mount says.
• TGC reports that California judges are now required to reveal their sexual orientation. A very bad idea, as the piece points out, and strikingly discriminatory it would seem.

Las preguntas de Dios by Emilio Castro

The third book I read in 2012 was:

Las preguntas de Dios: la predicación evangélica en América Latina by Emilio Castro

[The Questions of God: Evangelical Preaching in Latin America]

This is a book about preaching from a Latin American perspective. The first section is a brief theological discourse on preaching; the second part consists of fifteen sermons based on questions in Scripture. Overall, it is a satisfying book, but I was expecting more after having read the back cover. In general it shows considerable influence of Barth, who by me is a welcome voice in moralistic Latin American protestantism. There was a strong parallelism between Castro's first section and Barth's "The Preaching of the Gospel" (which was the last book on preaching that I read). His description of the elemental content of Christian preaching is summarized as follows:

"referencia a lo que está sucediendo en la vida del pueblo, referencia a lo que ha sucedido en la vida del pueblo, referencia a lo que ha sucedido en la historia de la fe cristiana y del pueblo de Israel, conjugación de las dos vertientes en una explicación del propósito de Dios para el momento, y culminación en una exhortación al arrepentimiento, al cambio de vida, a aceptar el mensaje del evangelio, la oferta que Dios hace" (p. 11).["reference to what is happening in  the life of the people, reference to what has happened in the life of the people, reference to what has happened in the history of the Christian faith and the people of Israel, conjugation of both stories in an explanation of God's purposes for the moment, and a culmination in a call to repentance, change of life, to accept the message of the gospel, what God is offering"]

The second part is divided into sermons based questions which God poses to humanity (1-10) and questions which humanity poses to God (11-15). The most compelling sermons were, in my perspective, No. 6 "Why do you look for the living among the dead? "--about our tendency to hole God into preestablished categories-- and No. 13 "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" about the Christian hope of a new future. I was a bit disappointed by No. 11 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", which ended up emphasizing the doctrine of the humanity of Christ rather than approaching the human experience of loneliness before a seemingly distant God (which it proposed to do).

I appreciate Castro's emphases and expressions, and I would consider using the book as a supporting text for a class on preaching. I give it three and half stars.

A prayer for our son

This is the prayer my wife and I prayed when we presented our young son before our church family (translated from the original Spanish):

B: Lord Jesus, we bring before you and your people our little son, T. B. We recognize that he belongs to you and that you have every right to his life.
V: We rejoice in your goodness demonstrated through his life, and we pray that his life would be a testimony that you are good. We are glad at the love that fills our hearts, which is but an outcome of your love, Jesus.
B: And yet, Lord, we acknowledge our sinfulness and limited perspective. So we plead for your wisdom and grace as we care for him. We marvel that you know not only the child T., but the man whom he will be.
V: Grant us the joy of guiding him in the knowledge of you as Lord and Savior, that he would be our brother in following you. Bless him with health and contentment, that his heart would always turn to you in gratitude.
B: And make him an agent of peace and reconciliation, that your name would be honored through his deeds. Be his refuge and hope, guard him from wicked men and women, and place him in communities where he can experience the grace and justice of your Kingdom.
V: We have full confidence in your good will for his life, and we will always hold high your name in our home. It is in this name we pray, amen.