So – at some point, my mom handed me The Phantom of Manhattan on tape. It was an interesting new ending by Frederick Forsyth. I never would have read it if it wasn’t on tape because I have plenty of other books to read in real life, but the taped ones are a bit fewer on the shelves. One of the best parts was that it was read by different people – more of a readers theater version. And I did appreciate most of Forsyth’s theology. He had a priest talk to God with one of the main conversations being about humanity – and why life isn’t better. One of the best lines was God saying, “If humans were perfect, it would be a featureless bliss.” This is an image that I’d like to keep around for those times when having theological conversations with people who would like there to be no pain or anger or hurt or death. Yes, there is sadness and pain but also ecstatic joy. And we couldn’t have the happiness in the featureless bliss, either. And that would be tragic (and we would never know)…
So – for the last 2 days I’ve been at the Axelson Symposium at North Park University. It has been a great opportunity for continuing education. I have really enjoyed the workshops talking about creativity, innovation, and nonprofit management. The first day was spent doing a full-day workshop. It promoted organization change using assessment, visioning, and planning. I have tools that will be useful to any job or nonprofit that I’m involved with. The second day had several sessions throughout the day with the first plenary session talking about innovation in the nonprofit. I also attended a workshop on transformation that was just wonderful. She promoted creative thinking and spiritual renewal. And she gave me an idea for my sermon this week…always a bonus!
Henry and I went to see Mission Impossible 3. It was a great action flick. I didn’t expect highly intelligent or believable plot, so I wasn’t disappointed. As the boy behind us said, “That’s so unrealistic.” But, it was entertaining. I’ll definitely give it entertaining.
We went to the Pickwick in Park Ridge that I have heard good things about. It is definitely a beautiful building. Unfortunately, the day was cooler than I had imagined and the building was freezing. Next time I’ll remember to take my turtleneck and hooded sweatshirt. Even Henry was cold. That’s bad.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all who read this who are mothers!
I am happy to post that to honor mothers.
However, I also have some questions.
So – where did this “holiday” ever come from? I mean, of course it’s nice to honor mothers…but what about those who aren’t and want to be? What about those of us who don’t want children?
I don’t want to get too whiny, because the tendency recently is to go overboard on “political correctness” and whatnot. But it’s just an interesting day to balance.
How are you celebrating (or not) today?
So, I decided to go watch a movie in Wilmette last Monday - $3 there. Nice. So, I saw Friends with Money. I enjoyed it a lot and it even had some points. Nothing earth shattering, but always good to remember that money does not buy happiness. The cast is of course amazing with a ton of wonderful people. Some unresolved issues by the end that I’m getting better at dealing with in movies, but also a little bit of “too good to be true” to some of the points. A nice time to reflect on the decisions that you might make and why. Who do you give money to? How do you spend your time? How do your actions impact other people?
The world could definitely be spending some more time talking about environmental concerns – and living in community – how do we all work together to create a healthy world?
So – several students and I ended up in a conversation the other day about the immigrant marches, rights, solutions. (Keep them here? Send them away? Give them The mathematician and the economist were talking about how to solve the issues and how they can’t imagine how to fix anything positively for everyone.
I brought up justice – how is it that we can treat people with compassion and fairness? How do we do justice in this situation?
Ideas?