Brian and I surprised Jay and Joely last week and made a trip to Phoenix to see our new nephew, Jalen Allen O'Neal. He's so cute and sweet. It was a great trip filled with time with friends and family as well as an ASU game. Here are a few photos from the trip.
it finally happened. something i have wanted to do for years, & a dream was realized. i was in the land of my ancestors. finally, i was in the netherlands! you've probably already read julie's post about the paris portion of our european vacation. i thought i would share about our trip to the netherlands. for me, one of the highlights was definitely our trip to see the amsterdam ajax, one of the top 3 football (i.e. soccer) clubs in the netherlands. we had a tour of the stadium prior to the match, which included a visit to the pitch (soccer field). that's me, ecstatic, on ajax's pitch. we also saw the press room and the practice field for the team during the tour. the game couldn't have turned out better. ajax won, 2-0, against nec nijmegan off goals from klaas-jan huntelaar & luis suarez.
we also took a day-trip to volendam, a fishing village outside amsterdam. we saw how they still make clompen (wooden shoes), we sampled some cheese, & wandered on the shore of the Ijselmeer. i realized why so many dutch people settled in the midwest. the climate & landscape are very similar to that of the netherlands. we also saw many very round cows & sheep. our trip also included visits to several museums. the rijksmuseum and the anne frank house proved to be wonderfully interesting. but the best was the van gogh museum. which, of course, focused on vincent van gogh.
van gogh's story proved to be quite interesting to julie & i. we saw some parallels between his life and mine, which i will get to in a moment. van gogh started his painting career painting in a very traditional dutch manner. still life paintings using a lot of dark colors, which create a melancholy & somewhat depressing mood. he then moved to paris & realized that he needed to paint in brighter colors, hence paintings like "starry night" and "sunflowers".
the part of his story that i found i related to was that he struggled with his father over his religious beliefs. his father was a pastor & believed the bible to be the only source in which you could be inspired by god. van gogh disagreed with this, & found inspiration from his creator in books other than the bible. it was this struggle that led to the painting of the crumbling church, known as "the peasant's churchyard". for van gogh, this represented the disintegrating influence of christianity. van gogh said something interesting regarding this in a letter to his brother about the painting, “Les religions passent, Dieu demeure” [Religions pass away, God remains]."
i found that i related to this because my parents & i clash on our beliefs. i don't believe, as they do, that the bible is the inerrant word of god. which is why when i see someone quoting scripture as a method of proving something as absolute, my 1st thought is, "so?". for me, it's the story of our fellow christian brothers & sisters and their struggles as they marched through history, as well as how they connected with their god and what that relationship meant to them.
needless to say, our trip to paris & amsterdam was amazing. we created some wonderful memories, learned more about each other, & saw some wonderful sights. we definitely hope to go again.
I love Paris! I love Paris! I love everything about it! Well, almost everything. The smoking can go. But other than that, I love the Metro, I love the cafes, I love the madelines, I love the cosmopolitan feel of the city, I LOVE the food, I love the monuments and museums, I love the Seine, I love the bridges, I love the cobblestone streets, I love the fashion, I love the little teacups, I love the parks. I love paris.
Directly from a friend's blog...
To Set at Liberty Those who are Oppressed...with Liberty and Justice for All.
Fighting for justice and against oppression is what we're SUPPOSED to do, right? As Christians, as Americans, as Humans. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, right? Is there anybody who doesn't agree with that?
Liberating the oppressed, reaching out and responding to the marginalized, showing hospitality and kindness to the outcast, is how Jesus defined his own ministry and the kind of ministry to which he called the disciples.
Instead, certain people in certain churches in certain contexts have decided, and continually decide, to be the oppressers. I'm trying not to generalize. I recognize and affirm the individualilty and particularity of each human person.
But there are A LOT of people who seem content with their oppression, even comfortable with it, even proud of it. Building fences, building fences to bolster the fences, denying people communion, denying people the right to worship where, when, how, to whom/what, they please.
Here it is, folks. I have to say it. It might trouble some of you, it might get me in trouble. But right now, I have to say it:
1. Saying that women don't have the right to preach is oppression.
2. Saying that homosexual persons don't have the right to preach or marry or even become members of a church is oppression. And a church, say the United Methodist Church, that does not allow ANYONE to preach and proclaim the gospel is a participant in oppression.
3. Denying anyone communion EVER is oppression.
4. Thinking your tradition's baptism is better or, um, more official, is oppression.
5. Building fortified fences on our borders is oppression.
6. Calling to claim English as America's official language is oppression.
The ultimate oppression is the idea that one person, one group of people, one tradition, one nation can have complete and sole ownership of truth (or of God, which might be six and one). If you (I) ever, in any way, think you (I) are (am) better than anyone else or have a clearer understanding of the mysteries of life than anyone else, you are (I am) wrong and you are (I am) oppressing.
The questions:
1. Knowing this, saying this, believing this, how do we claim Jesus Christ as the way to salvation?
2. How do we show tolerance to the intolerant? Kindness to the unkind? Love to the hateful? Are we supposed to? Aren't we supposed to hate what it is evil and cling to what is good?
3. How do we teach "liberty and justice for all" to the affluent, the liberated, the powerful?
4. How are we, individually and collectively, participating in oppression and what are we doing, individually and collectively, to set at liberty ALL those who are oppressed?
The answer, always: grace.
Your friend, brother, partner, collaborator, Brad-owner of one microscopic atom in one grain of sand of the vastness of the truth of God.
An unexamined life is not worth living.
(Courtesy of Brad Bryan: http://zepplinrules.blogspot.com/)
in just a few short weeks, julie & i are making our trip to paris & amsterdam. i am exploding with excitement. which may make those weeks seem to take longer. this is going to be my 1st international trip, so it's perfect that part of it involves going to the country of my ancestry (the netherlands).
we're in the process of narrowing down what we want to do while we're there, how we're going to get around, along with all the other details that go with international travel. there are things we're definitely doing. in paris, things like the louvre and the eiffel tower are among the places to experience on our list. in amsterdam, we plan on going to an ajax match (1 of the biggest soccer clubs in the netherlands) and the rijksmuseum...among other things. one other thing that i'm excited about is the opportunity to go into buildings that have been around since medieval times. i can't wait to experience history like that.
i saw this picture and couldn't stop laughing. if you have any concept of "emo" music & the hipster scene that surrounds it, you'll get it. if not, well let's just say this may take some explaining. let's just say the swooping hair over the face is what makes this pic work. click on the pic to see a larger version.
