I should probably go back to the Lord of the Rings movie and watch this segment again before writing this, but I doubt I'll find the time, so if you recognize an error in this, send a comment to straighten it out.
In the Fellowship of the Ring, near the beginning, I think, either Frodo or Bilbo tries to give Gandalf the ring of power not knowing completely what it is. I think it's Frodo who know's enough to know he doesn't really want to be responsible for it. Anyway, Gandalf get's really angry and says something to the effect of "Do not ever offer me the ring, do Not tempt me to take the power even with the intention of distroying it" I don't think he says it like that because Gandalf seems to always say things with a bit more flare that that, but that's the basic gist of it. The point being that he's forceful in his rejection of the ring and that he sees the power of it at both extremely tempting and extremely dangerous simultaneously.
Flash back, now, to Jesus talking to his disciples about his death. Peter takes him aside and gets on his case for talking about dieing - that's just not the way to lead a revolution and change the world! Jesus very forcefully rejects Peter's statement with the familiar "Get behind me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the things of God but of men!"
I think Jesus' rejection of Peter's idea of how to change the world and Gandalf's rejection of the ring are very similar - both in power and reason. The ring of power in the hands of Gandalf - even if he intended to distroy it - would ultimately bring the distruction of the world because the ring itself was evil. And even in the hands of Jesus, the power would ultimately not work to bring God's kingdom to earth because it would not have been done God's way but satan's. Jesus was being tempted to take over the world (in a worldly sort of manner) right from the beginning of his ministry. Peter's rebuke and Satan's temptation to gain the world if he would worship satan, are the same temptation.
It's our temptation too. Not as strong, perhaps, because we lack the actual power to bring change about quickly in the world, but, still, it's our temptation all the time to pretend we are about God's business of restoring the Earth but trying to do it in the traditions of humanity - by force, coercion, condemnation (all sides of the same coin) rather than God's way of internal transformation of people's hearts and therefore their entire lives and ultimately the world.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Sausage Tortellini Soup
I made a new soup this evening which my friend, Annamarie, and I enjoyed so much, I thought I’d put it up for anyone else who would like to try it.
Sausage Tortellini Soup
2 Italian sausages (like the one’s that look like brats)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 a package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 hand full of baby cut carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups (approximately) of cheese tortellini (I used the fresh kind, but you could probably use frozen just as easily)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 Table spoon corn starch
Salt and pepper
Cook tortellini according to package directions and drain. While that’s going, in a sauce pan over medium-high heat, squeeze the sausage out of the casings, brown and chop as fine as you can. Dump the sausage into a bowl and return the pan to the burner, add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook until crisp-tender. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms are reduced by about half and are tender. By this time, the tortellini should be done. If not, turn off the heat and keep it covered until it is. Dump the veggies and all the grease, juice, and scrapings from the pan into a pot and add the tortellini and sausage. Add the broth and half and half. Bring it to a low boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add pepper and salt as you like (you won’t need much if any salt since the sausage, tortellini and broth all have salt in them), Mix the corn starch with about a 1/4 cup of water and stir until it’s dissolved. Add cornstarch/water to soup and stir until it’s reached a good bread-dipping thickness. Remove from heat and serve.
Makes enough for 3 or 4 people.
Sausage Tortellini Soup
2 Italian sausages (like the one’s that look like brats)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 a package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 hand full of baby cut carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups (approximately) of cheese tortellini (I used the fresh kind, but you could probably use frozen just as easily)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 Table spoon corn starch
Salt and pepper
Cook tortellini according to package directions and drain. While that’s going, in a sauce pan over medium-high heat, squeeze the sausage out of the casings, brown and chop as fine as you can. Dump the sausage into a bowl and return the pan to the burner, add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook until crisp-tender. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms are reduced by about half and are tender. By this time, the tortellini should be done. If not, turn off the heat and keep it covered until it is. Dump the veggies and all the grease, juice, and scrapings from the pan into a pot and add the tortellini and sausage. Add the broth and half and half. Bring it to a low boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add pepper and salt as you like (you won’t need much if any salt since the sausage, tortellini and broth all have salt in them), Mix the corn starch with about a 1/4 cup of water and stir until it’s dissolved. Add cornstarch/water to soup and stir until it’s reached a good bread-dipping thickness. Remove from heat and serve.
Makes enough for 3 or 4 people.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
How I met Jack
Yesterday I was driving home from the park with the kids when I saw a guy hitch hiking on County Road 30 just north of Stacy. I try to make a point of picking up hitch hikers whenever I have room in my car and I’m not already late for something important. Since I rarely have appointments that are that important anymore, it now only matters if I don’t already have a passenger. Anyway, that’s how I met Jack. He stands at about 5 foot 7 and couldn’t weigh more than 130 pounds soaking wet. He carries a big black back pack which he said is about 80 pounds and I don’t doubt it considering it’s size. It wouldn’t fit in my trunk because I had the double stroller in there, but he managed to squeeze into the front seat with the pack on his lap, and off we went.
I was figuring on just driving up to North Branch since he said he wanted to hook up with 65 and take that up to Hibbing (North Branch is where he could catch 95 to get him to 65) It was a smidgen out of my way but I didn’t have anything particular to do that afternoon, so I figured going home the long way wouldn’t kill us. On our way up to North Branch, I learned a few things about Jack. He’s from Kentucky, has been on the road since 1972, and alternately refers to himself as a professional hobo and a hillbilly. He usually travels around until he finds some work, then he’ll stop and camp and work for a while and then move on. He comes north in the winter because it’s easier to camp in snow than rain. At the time I picked him up he was out of money and hadn’t eaten for a day or 2. This is where my initial plan started to change. First we stopped at a grocery store and picked up a few things that would pack well and not spoil before they were eaten. Then I invited him home to use our shower and laundry and to camp in our yard if he wasn’t in too big a hurry to get to Hibbing. He accepted and we drove home.
Over a sandwich he told me more of his story. He was born in Kentucky in the late fifties but his parents soon moved to “Cinci-Nasty” and then put him in a children’s home because they were unable to care for him. He ran away from the children’s home at around 15, I think, and has been traveling ever since. He has some folks he calls his foster parents still in “Cinci-nasty” whom he stays in contact with. He buys most of his gear at a place in Iowa City called Active Endeavors and they keep a box there for him to store some of his stuff in when he doesn't need it for a bit.
He had story after story about being on the road. One about being hit by a semi truck in the 80’s or 90’s (I forget which) when the only thing that saved his life was his Dana backpack because the truck hit him there and cushioned the blow a bit. Still, he had a ruptured spleen and I forget what else for injuries, but he came through it alright. He’s been robbed a few times when people would pick him up or pretend to and then take off once he’d thrown his pack in their truck. “People have gotten weird,” he says. It sounds like it’s harder to hitch hike these days than it used to be. People make all kinds of assumptions about hitch hikers in general and then change their mind about Jack after they see what nice gear he has. Everything he had was top of the line outdoor gear. I think he spends all his money on gear and would rather go hungry than skimp on quality. As I expected he and Bob had a fine time yuckin’ it up about gear all evening. He wears everything out in about 2 years and what he can’t get replaced under warranty, he gives away to “homeless people”. He apparently doesn’t consider himself to be homeless.
After we had dinner and had put the kids to bed, Jack and Bob and I sat down to watch a movie – “The Outlaw Josey Wales” was Jack’s choice, which is one of Bob’s favorites and one of the few westerns I actually like. Jack didn’t actually camp in our yard but rather put his sleeping bag out on the couch. It seemed much better than having to take the time to set up his bivey outside for no good reason. This morning after breakfast, I dropped Nathaniel off at preschool and drove jack to just north of Cambridge to get him back on his original planned route. I had to drop him of by 10:15 or so in order to get back to pick Nathaniel up from preschool again.
All told, we only knew Jack for about 19 hours. Not much time considering he’s been doing this for the last 34 years. Not nearly enough time to really get to know a person. But I know some of his story now, and it’s made my life richer for it.
I hope he’ll be back someday.
I was figuring on just driving up to North Branch since he said he wanted to hook up with 65 and take that up to Hibbing (North Branch is where he could catch 95 to get him to 65) It was a smidgen out of my way but I didn’t have anything particular to do that afternoon, so I figured going home the long way wouldn’t kill us. On our way up to North Branch, I learned a few things about Jack. He’s from Kentucky, has been on the road since 1972, and alternately refers to himself as a professional hobo and a hillbilly. He usually travels around until he finds some work, then he’ll stop and camp and work for a while and then move on. He comes north in the winter because it’s easier to camp in snow than rain. At the time I picked him up he was out of money and hadn’t eaten for a day or 2. This is where my initial plan started to change. First we stopped at a grocery store and picked up a few things that would pack well and not spoil before they were eaten. Then I invited him home to use our shower and laundry and to camp in our yard if he wasn’t in too big a hurry to get to Hibbing. He accepted and we drove home.
Over a sandwich he told me more of his story. He was born in Kentucky in the late fifties but his parents soon moved to “Cinci-Nasty” and then put him in a children’s home because they were unable to care for him. He ran away from the children’s home at around 15, I think, and has been traveling ever since. He has some folks he calls his foster parents still in “Cinci-nasty” whom he stays in contact with. He buys most of his gear at a place in Iowa City called Active Endeavors and they keep a box there for him to store some of his stuff in when he doesn't need it for a bit.
He had story after story about being on the road. One about being hit by a semi truck in the 80’s or 90’s (I forget which) when the only thing that saved his life was his Dana backpack because the truck hit him there and cushioned the blow a bit. Still, he had a ruptured spleen and I forget what else for injuries, but he came through it alright. He’s been robbed a few times when people would pick him up or pretend to and then take off once he’d thrown his pack in their truck. “People have gotten weird,” he says. It sounds like it’s harder to hitch hike these days than it used to be. People make all kinds of assumptions about hitch hikers in general and then change their mind about Jack after they see what nice gear he has. Everything he had was top of the line outdoor gear. I think he spends all his money on gear and would rather go hungry than skimp on quality. As I expected he and Bob had a fine time yuckin’ it up about gear all evening. He wears everything out in about 2 years and what he can’t get replaced under warranty, he gives away to “homeless people”. He apparently doesn’t consider himself to be homeless.
After we had dinner and had put the kids to bed, Jack and Bob and I sat down to watch a movie – “The Outlaw Josey Wales” was Jack’s choice, which is one of Bob’s favorites and one of the few westerns I actually like. Jack didn’t actually camp in our yard but rather put his sleeping bag out on the couch. It seemed much better than having to take the time to set up his bivey outside for no good reason. This morning after breakfast, I dropped Nathaniel off at preschool and drove jack to just north of Cambridge to get him back on his original planned route. I had to drop him of by 10:15 or so in order to get back to pick Nathaniel up from preschool again.
All told, we only knew Jack for about 19 hours. Not much time considering he’s been doing this for the last 34 years. Not nearly enough time to really get to know a person. But I know some of his story now, and it’s made my life richer for it.
I hope he’ll be back someday.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Short Take
I have recently discovered something about myself that I think might be true for others. I have 2 kids under 4 years old and another one on the way by the end of the summer. I work outside the home about 2 days per week. All told, I'm pretty tired most of the time. That probably goes without saying. Too late. What I've found is that if I make time to do something for someone else, I find energy I didn't have before to get the things done for me and my family. One could just chalk it up to me being an extrovert and so being around people is what energizes me, but I really think it's something different - more than that. I think this is God's plan for his people and that he designed us to be that way. I think there's a parallel to the ideas of tithing our money to God. If I spend some of my time (not saying I'm measuring out 10% of my time - I'm not that skilled in math actually) doing for others, I'm spending that time doing for God which means for at least that amount of time I'm not thinking about myself. I think that is God's design - to give us ways to not think about ourselves and to think about and do things for other people not expecting them to return the favor. And he blesses that with providing the energy, and then some, to get done what we need to get done, kinda like how people always report financially being taken care of when they are obedient with tithing their money.
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