I’ve added a new feature to the site, backlink previews!
What if you could see, not only to what places an article pointed, but also what other articles pointed to the current one? And what if, instead of opening an article from either direction, you could preview a snippet of its contents? That’s what display backlink preview on hover is all about.
I started Strange Rites by Tara Isabella Burton last night over ice cream.
She writes like a sociologist by exploring the history of religious affiliation and syncretism in the United States. Her sweeping review of a US which began pluralistic and intuitional, became more uniform and institutional after two world wars, then is shifting back to pluralistic intuition was novel and insightful.
Spirituality remixed is a fitting description of our day, both what I see in the world and my own inclinations, but a threat beyond our collective power, like a world war, will draw us back into the security and necessity of compromised individuality for the sake of peace and community.
Tim and John’s discussion about how the three major biblical roles (prophet, priest and king) are parts of the Genesis mandate was really helpful as I wrestle with what being the image of God means for life, work and rest.
The relevant parts are about halfway through Priests of Eden.
Last weekend Amie and I hosted a board game night for our upstairs neighbors, Maya and Mo! They brought a couple expansions to Dominion, a deck-building card game, and we had a blast. Amie crushed us the first round; particularly remarkable since neither of us had any experience with the expansion cards. We played a second round then decided to try one of the games we’d offered: Robo Rally. It’s a board game where you program robots to drive through checkpoints. Lots of laughter.
It was wonderful to get to know some new neighbors, and I look forward to future game nights with them after our vacation!
Kati Ray’s cousin Bronson and girlfriend Alexis were in town for a wedding over the weekend, so we met them in person for the first time! Since COVID we’ve been meeting on Zoom for DBS, but they live in Virginia so, even if we wanted to include them in our bubble, it wasn’t possible given their distance.
Sunday morning at the Evanston Vineyard we crept in and sat behind them. It was the first time we’d been in a service in over a year, so it was almost as new for our family to be in the church as it was for them. We headed out at the beginning of the last song to pick up our kids and head for the beach, so we hardly said anything to them yet.
We arrived at Lee St. beach, set up our new umbrella and our lounge chairs, and waited for Kati, Bronson and Alexis to arrive. Kati beat them there and panicked for a brief moment, but Amie walked up with the two of them (she’d stayed at the car while Royal slept).
Royal did his rounds, playing with each person in turn, and Graham was content to play by himself for the morning, so we had ample time to chat with our friends. Both Bronson and Alexis were playful and engaged with our kids and I enjoyed watching Graham and Royal have a wonderful time with them. I was overjoyed to hear that the DBS group they’d started is going well. Both Bronson and Alexis invited friends, many of whom don’t know each other, and they’ve met three times to read passages in the gospel of Mark. Bronson was particularly happy that friends who were skeptical at first were feeling more comfortable and getting a lot out of the group.
We headed home for lunch and naps, then over to Kati’s to hang out on her back porch. Graham loved showing his cars to Bronson and Royal snuggled with everyone. Suzy and Allison dropped in, and we enjoyed a little small talk and a beautiful day outside.
The next day, Amie took Bronson, Alexis, and the boys downtown to visit the Bean. They had scheduled an architectural boat tour, so Amie said goodbye took the kids over to Maggie Daly park after.
So happy we got to hang out with them in person!
Totally stealing Sarah’s mission statement:
My goal is to raise independent adults, not obedient children
At long last, everyone’s mostly healthy!
The worst streak was Royal. He drank pond scum a couple Sundays back and hardly slept that night. As the week progressed, he became worse. Intermittent fever, constant crying, and unable to sleep without being held. On Friday I took him to the Immediate Care - a double ear infection and croup!
Graham’s had a dry cough for even longer. It started with three days of coughing and boogers, but the cough hung on for weeks. When Graham has boogers he’ll randomly stop and wail about them. Like a storm siren.
I attended the 20’s and 30’s gathering at the Evanston Vineyard tonight. We ate Pita Inn and got to know one another.
I met Andrew Teague (spelling?). He’s a college student who enjoys comic books and video games and wants to try doing User Experience (UX) design. His older brother was also at the event. His father is probably Jim Teague.
Anna Herning is taking a year after graduation to serve in Palestine. She volunteers at a church summer camp and is going to Mafraq. Her older sister Sarah was present and just back from nine days at a wilderness campin the UP.
Amanda White is a schoolteacher of five years. She’s traveled to Spain and Brazil teaching English for three of them. Her father is a retired spec ops colonel, and her younger brother is studying pediatric medicine. She cares deeply about her students having cross-cultural encounters and forming relationships outside their home networks.
After we finished eating and chatting, we sat in a circle for prayer. Anosh led us in ten minutes of worship. Adama said the Spirit was on me, Paul (my left) and Amanda (my right). When he prayed for me my hands filled with something heavy. I went to pray for Derek but was led by Ted back to Amanda. We prayed for her for a while and gave prophetic words. Jess Sales prompted me to share, and I had seen bones being cleaned by a swirling sandstorm. I prayed for the Spirit to expose the true Amanda, the one He had formed from ages past, the Amanda with foundation. Adama asked me to pray that three times. My hands eventually emptied and, when we finished praying for Amanda, I went straight home.
What a privilege it was to meet with Neighborhood leaders last Tuesday in Reneé’s backyard. On the drive down I thanked God that I was invited to share in this community. As we shared our stories and thanksgivings with one another my hope in the future of our community ballooned. Even as we’re being scattered by the closure of the Neighborhood Campus, the kingdom potential is stronger than ever. I was reminded by Jesus' words about His death bearing much fruit and the growth of the early church after persecution in Jerusalem scattered the new Christians in the early chapters of Acts. May fruit be scattered across the land!
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (ESV, John 12:24)
Inspired by Maggie’s digital garden directory and the ideals represented by this eclectic group of digital gardeners, I have made a separation between Evergreen notes and family logs. I’ve also bucketed posts by type rather than category which may help visitors find what they’re looking for without reference to categories. This is a significant update and, while I’ve attempted to redirect every broken link to its new home, I may have missed a few.
Welcome to my newly planted digital garden.
I don’t remotely have time to peruse Brendan Schlagel’s canon, but I want to.
David Cole’s description of his childhood experience with video games, his insight into the hopes it stirred for his children, and the discoveries he’s made of his children via Minecraft is both enjoyable to read and very close to my own unexplored thoughts. Read it here.
That was the worst four-day weekend I’ve survived in ages.
I was stuck with my second COVID vaccine shot on Thursday and within hours was feeling all the worst symptoms of a fever: body aches, chills, sinus pressure. I went to bed early, hoping to jump-start the recovery, and took a Friday sick-day.
Friday was worse. All the pain, all day. The kids were miraculously good for Amie, so I was able to get hours of extra sleep, but there was no change.
Saturday the aches and chills lessened, but a new problem cropped up. Allergies. My nose ran and my eyes watered from the moment I awoke until late into the night. If I leaned over, the sinus pressure was so great I felt my head would pop like a balloon. This is with daily Claritin and two sets of Benadryl.
Sunday was not a whit better. Same symptoms, no relief.
By Monday, resentment was added to the mix. A long weekend wasted by allergies and sickness (huff).
The suffering wasn’t isolated to myself. Amie was only just beginning to recover from her own COVID vaccine on Thursday and was exhausted from Royal’s night-time wakes. Both Graham and Royal were sick all weekend; Graham with a hacking cough and both with runny noses. The icing on the cake? Royal drank some stagnant water on Sunday and spent all of Monday in wriggling stomach pain and a mild fever as his body fought all the bacteria he’d ingested.