Why I Value The Traditional Church

I was riding home on a packed bus late one night last week. Bus rides are sometimes a battle against discouragement for me. The vast sea of lost humanity is shoved in my face as I pass sky rise after sky rise and the endless ebb and flow of people keeping traffic moving on the streets. There are just so many people and so few of them know their Maker. There are days when the reality of this city's brokenness seems distant and the hilarity of the bus brings me bubbling joy; but there are other days when poverty, physical disability and pain, perversion, arrogance, anger and temper, and so much more seem overwhelming. And in these times, I find myself crying out from the depths of my heart, wondering if such reality can ever actually change. I sit with people and talk all day, every day of the week, about an alternate Reality which can, does, and eventually completely will change life as we know it, but sometimes when I'm smashed up against the weight of sin on the public bus, that Reality can seem so far away and distant.

So last week, I put on my ipod to tune out everything around me. As I shuffled around, I came to a song by Rich Mullins called Creed and it reminded me why I deeply appreciate the centuries old church traditions. It makes me really sad when I hear people bash the traditions because they give me so much hope and joy. Mullins' singing of the Apostles' Creed reminds me that people have believed this crazy old story of a Reality with the power to change life for centuries, and they haven't just believed it, but these ancient generations have stood and died by it.

And yet, it's not just the ancients whose voices we hear in the traditions of the church. Mullins adds a chorus which declares:
"And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man"
By adding his own voice to the ancient words, he shows that this truth is not stagnant, but alive. He acknowledges the Truth makes him, rather than the opposite, but in doing so, he adds a contemporary voice and perspective to the wisdom of the ancients. What we believe is for all time and all people, shaping us, but allowing us to add our current experiences and discoveries to the story. Man does not create it, but man does live it and express it according to every generation's needs and yearnings.
I might be isolated in a random dark part of Asia, but the voices of the saints throughout time encourage me through that which they have left behind in their creeds. I can listen to their passion and desperate hope and know that I am not alone. The traditions and creeds of the church are the way in which I participate in something older and bigger than me. And that's often exactly what I need in the midst of life over here. When I'm in the middle of millions of people who don't know of, understand, or care about the call of eternity, I want and need something to remind that the Kingdom is alive and persevering. What better way to remember this than to hear the ageless cheering voices of my brothers and sisters and to stand with them in our timeless declaration of what was and is and is to come?

My Awesome Playlist From Last Year That I Just Rediscovered... I Promise It Won't Disappoint!

1. Meditation From "Thais" (Featuring Lang Lang) - Lucia Micarelli
2. La Valse D'Amelie (piano version) - Amelie Soundtrack
3. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World - U2
4. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
5. Sur Le Fil - Amelie
6. Blood On Our Hands - Aqualung
7. At Last - Etta James
8. Ever the Same - Rob Thomas
9. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
10. Let It Die - Feist
11. You Can Have It All - Yo La Tengo
12. Baby That's Not All - Josh Ritter
13. Save The Last Dance For Me - Harry Nilsson & John Lennon
14. You're Beautiful - James Blunt
15. Our Love is Here to Stay - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
16. You Don't Know Me - Jann Arden
17. Comtine D'un Autre Ete: L'apres Midi - Amelie Soundtrack
18. Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra
19. Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young
20. Tears Are In Your Eyes - Yo La Tengo
21. Come Fly With Me - Michael Buble
22. Questions - Jack Johnson
23. Samson - Regina Spektor
24. The Way You Look Tonight - Tony Bennett
25. Loving You - Elvis Presley
26. Le Moulin - Amelie Sountrack
27. Please Forgive Me - David Gray

100 Best Novels

So, I really like lists and recently got into top 100 books lists. I still haven't found any that are satisfactory, but here are two of my favorites.

X - I've read it
* - I want to read it
**- I really want to read it!

BBC's Readers' List:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien - X
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - X
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - X
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee *
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne - X
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell - X
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis - X
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë - X
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller - **
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë - X
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier - **
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens - Read half and couldn't get through the rest!
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - X
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy - *
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell - *
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien - X
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot - *
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck - X
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll - X
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez - *
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen - X
39. Dune, Frank Herbert - **
40. Emma, Jane Austen - X
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery - X
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams - Read half and forgot to finish, but I really liked it
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald - X
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas - **
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy - X
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky - X
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens - X
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins - X (Why in the world is this one on here???)
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar - X
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley - X
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Radcliffe Top 100:

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - X
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - X
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - *
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison - **
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell - X
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - X
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - **
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - X
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne - X
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - *
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - *
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - *
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - *
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James - *
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren - *
39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster - X
40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - X
41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally - *
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - X
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - *
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - **
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum - **
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather - X
52. Howards End by E.M. Forster - X
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger - **
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison - *
57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron - *
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster - **
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor - *
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - X
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - *
72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - X
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - *
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather - **
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling - *
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Wow, A Clear Day

I'm realizing just how bad the pollution in my city really is. Yesterday and today have been exceptionally clear and after almost 9 months of living here, I suddenly a) realized how close those big mountains are to my neighborhood, b) can see a tunnel in the hill just up the road, c) have a view of the downtown skyscrapers from the other side of the building. Crazy.

Technological Dislike and Responsibility

I tend to dislike technology. It's not that I begrudge the benefits it brings me, but rather I strongly disdain the feeling of being weighed down by it. It so often feels like a leash - one more thing to look after, to be responsible for, to be beholden to. It is expensive, easily stolen, and much to consuming. Most of all, I just don't "get it," failing to understand it despite the endless tutorials and lessons given me by those who do. As a result, I tend to be sloppy and careless with my digital 东西.

Last night, my hard drive crashed and burned. Luckily, I am laid back enough about this sort of stuff, that there were no tears or cussing, despite not having backed up since January. Some things are gone, true, but there is this part of me that almost feels freedom in knowing I am ruled by my computer. There's a kind of messed up pride in me that almost feels proud that I can be so unconquered by the pictures, music, emails, documents, whatever which has been lost.

But today, I started to think the whole situation through, and I realized this is not actually something to feel so unaffected by. Maybe it's true that there is no use in shedding tears over spilled milk; what's done is done. In the end, however, I've concluded that this is actually nothing other than a sign of immaturity and irresponsibility. Maybe I don't want to feel tied down by the things I posses, but if I truly desire this, then I shouldn't posses them in the first place. If I am going to invest money into something which I believe will enhance my life, then I must be faithful to care for it. Maybe I truly don't like the constant up keep and maintenance, but that is part of the deal.

It's been a good lesson in how you can have two opposing opinions or convictions and be completely unaware of it. In addition to my dislike of technology, I have a strong dislike of "throw away" culture. I live in a country where everything from buildings to text books are designed, manufactured, and sold as dispensable - use it while it's convenient and then move on. What is really different from this and my careless attitude toward the computers, phones, cars, ipods, etc. that I have owned? Maybe I make the excuse that is stems from my desire not to be leashed, but really, in the end, it's just an immature and irresponsible way of disregarding the idea of stewardship.

Check Out My Friend Eugene!

My friend Eugene just cut his first EP! It's really awesome! Check his stuff out at http://www.myspace.com/eugeneleesings or http://cdbaby.com/cd/eugenelee.

Heroes

A common question I ask students over here is "Who is your hero?" Of course, they usually return the question, so I've actually had to decide who my heroes really are. Here is what I've come up with:

1. C.S. Lewis
2. Hans and Sophie Scholl
3. My parents
4. Congressman Christopher Smith (NJ-4)
5. Rich Mullins
6. The Apostle Paul