Central Park

I just finished watching a special on Central Park in NYC, and I had no idea all of the cool things it has. Suzy and I have been there so many times, even to the places they talked about, but it was like a whole new park. Sometimes it's really cool to live here!

• All of the lakes, reservoirs, and streams are artificial - they get turned on by faucets - all 150 acres of it.
  
• Wildlife seen recently - a turkey, great horned owl, red winged black birds (and these are the unusual one in addition to the 100 other bird species).
• There is a "Whispering bench" in the Shakespeare Garden shaped like an ionic capital.
• It even has a police precinct.
• They have an ambulance staffed entirely by volunteer medical professionals (with an average 5 minute response time).
• The park is divided up into 49 zones, each with a zone gardener and an entire team to assist them. (I wish we had some volunteers to help dig up wild onions in our yard in TN!)
  
• 26 baseball fields, with 10,000 games played each year.
• 58 miles of paths and 7 miles of benches!
• It costs $25 million a year to maintain - all by a nonprofit - The Central Park Conservancy.
  

Next time you come and visit, we'll take you on a tour!

A new read on fantasies...

Lately I have been lamenting that fact that I haven't taken much time to just sit an read. I have been constantly on the go and just seem to fill up my hours with actions rather than thoughts. So, in an effort to remedy the situation, I ordered a new book for myself - The Truce of God by Rowan Williams. The book is an older one, but was recently rewritten almost entirely last year by the author. It is his effort to help us understand what peace means in today's world, both as a society and as an individual.
In the first chapter, he suggests that the proliferation of fantastic novels and films over the last twenty years or so is indicative of a deep seeded problem. In all of these works, the catastrophes are things that happen to people, whether it be a natural disaster, alien attack, or the actions of a sociopathic killer. Since people in these works are made out to be victims, we associate ourselves with them. We always seem to identify ourselves with the innocents...and here lies the problem.

We are intensely aware of danger, of the real and potential violence in our environment; and we are deeply determined to imagine violence as something whose origins lie outside ourselves so that we can maintain some belief in our innocence.

The problem with this is that Christian theology constantly keeps two contradictory truths in the front of our minds - that we are somewhat dependent, not fully in control of our circumstances and that we are also free and responsible for the different environments in which we live.

In the face of denials of guilt and fantasies of innocence, the gospel tells us that we have to repent, to take responsibility for what we have made of our world and beg for the vision and strength to do better.

This constant disavowing of our responsibility in the present state of affairs is an indication that we try to keep the pain, sickness, horrors and destruction of the world apart from our true selves. The tragedy is that by trying to protect ourselves from these atrocities in life, it actually prevents us from using the spiritual resources we have to confront the pain and guilt that we cannot bare alone and try to avoid. Williams sees a tendency in our culture that allows ourselves to be overcome with all of the troubles and injustice, to fall into hopelessness - but to mistake this for a false sense of peace.

It [hopelessness] absolves us from facing the humiliating picture of ourselves as idle, self-indulgent and culpably ignorant - when we take our freedom seriously. We do not have to think about guilt. Yet this means that repentance is not a possibility: and if repentance is impossible, so is grace, reconciliation, hope. So this is a 'peace' which must be unmasked for the lie it is - peace bought at the cost of reality, at the cost of human dignity. Our evasive fantasies must be brought to judgment before we can be brought to grace.

This is only the first part of the first chapter...I'm a little concerned that I bit off more than I could chew with this "little" book. He calls so many assumptions into question - opinions on violence in the media, belief in my efficacy in society, the nature of a common humanity...you get the idea. Any thoughts?

I've been tagged!

Well, I have been chastised by my wife for not posting...so in an effort to redeem myself I am undergoing the ritual of responding to a "tag." (At least this way I don't have to come up with something on my own to say.)


How did you get the idea for your profile name? This is where I am - Limbo, and these are my thoughts.
What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? "She's a Rainbow" by The Stones
Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Not to my knowledge.
What color underwear are you wearing? Green and white plaid.
Do you want a baby? One of these days.
What does your dad do for a living? He is a field engineer for a railroad company.
What does your mum do for a living? She is a high school registrar (basically, she runs the place).
What is/are your pet's name(s)? Pan and Juno
What color are your bed sheets? Caramel (I got that from Suzy)
What was the last concert you went to? The Chieftains
Who was with you? Suzy-Q
What was the last film you watched? City of God - a Brazilian movie, in the style of "Snatch"
Who do you dislike most at this moment? A particular co-worker.
What food do you crave right now? Ribs
What was the last TV show you watched? Seinfeld
What is your fav piece of jewelry? My wedding ring
What is to the left of you? A bottle of Newcastle
What was the last thing you ate? Jumpin' black bean soup.
Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Suzy-Q (imagine that!)
Where is your significant other right now? On the other computer, working photos from our trip to the Bronx Zoo with the Tudors.
When was the last time you had your hair cut? 3 days ago.
Do you have a history of mental disease? Not that I know of, but isn't that usually the case?
What shirt are you wearing? A green, blue, and white striped oxford.
Are you sexy? You would have to ask my wife that one...
What's your favorite store? Mr. K's (used book store in Johnson City, TN).
Are you thirsty? Not anymore.
Are you married? You better believe it!
Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Zach - teaching English in Poland and just got married to Viola, his Polish princess.
Where do you work? The Storehouse of World Vision in the South Bronx, NY.

I guess that wasn't too bad...