sacred journeys

Alison Krauss-Gillian Welch - I’ll Fly Away

Pretty good article on Tim Keller in Newsweek –

The Smart Shepherd. A New York pastor who says he thinks too much wants to bring his Christian message to the world.

A good quote from the article: “Keller is also reaching out to young, urban Christians around the world, offering to help them build churches like his….’It’s hard to say this without sounding snobby,” says Keller in an interview, “but some of what we do at Redeemer, we feel would be good everywhere … We want to, as humbly as we possibly can, renew churches.”

That is our hope in LA — to reach out to young, urban people — to build this church here in Hollywood.

HT: Tall Skinny Kiwi

There are surely much, much, much bigger things to worry about in this world however, when I read this LA Times article — I thought “No, tell me it isn’t so…. that some luxury houses might be built close to the Hollywood sign”

Homes could rise on ridge near Hollywood sign

” ….I am convinced there is no benefit in wanting things to be the way they used to be. God’s purpose and plan are always ahead of us. His grace is sufficient….” (from the book SELAH by Nancy Carmichael)

well, it is Caleb’s last game of the season today.

He made the JV team for the high school team, which was quite an accomplishment — considering there are close to 3,500 kids that go to that school. (and tons of kids play soccer!)

Speaking of the school (John Marshall High School) - from the outside, it is a beautiful school. Its claim to fame is that Leonardo DiCaprio attended there for a while…

But sadly, it is like most LAUSD school (Los Angeles Unified School District) . Under-performing, some gang issues, fights that break out sometimes, and kids just not passing their classes. We know a couple of great teachers there (there are probably tons of teachers there beyond what we know) — that really, really are trying to make a difference and doing a great job — but it is so hard.

Overall though — it has been a great experience for Caleb. And the best thing of all — he can walk to school. Who would have thought we would move to Los Angeles & live close enough for him to walk.

In the Christian context, we do not mean by a “mystery” merely that which is baffling and mysterious, an enigma or insoluble problem. A mystery is, on the contrary, something that is revealed for our understanding, but which we never understand exhaustively because it leads into the depth or the darkness of God. The eyes are closed—but they are also opened.- Kallistos Ware  The Orthodox Way

“The logic of the universe fell into place-the logic of creation and of Jesus’ coming, the logic of your life and mine, of babies and baseball, of work and fishing, of romance and sex, the logic of woodworking and running a Cash and Carry store, of laughter and fellowship, of human history of life: it all came together.  And I saw that it begins with the Trinity and the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit.  That is the rhyme and reason and mystery of it all.”  - Baxter Kruger The Great Dance

Not sure how much (if anything) that have I mentioned regarding this, but our local neighborhood (East Hollywood) had an election for the neighborhood council a while back.

There was the seat on the council for a youth representative, and Caleb ran for that seat & won! I was so proud of him, that he was so motivated to get involved with something like this to make a difference.

You can go to this site and page down & find his picture.

I have a thing for Tim Keller - a pastor from NYC.

He and his ministry challenges and inspires me like no other. I would like our ministry here at Kairos to hopefully (without emulating) — glean the best from what they do and try to put that into practice here in Hollywood.

Anyway, I read today again a talk he gave on “the why question in the face of relentless tragedies and injustices.”

He ended it with this quote:
Listen to how Dostoevsky puts it in Brothers Karamazov: “I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world’s finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, of the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood that they’ve shed; and it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify what has happened.”