I did promise to talk about my upcoming trip to Peru in a future post, and the future is now.
On May 7 I will be flying down to Lima, Peru for a week-long conference on confined masonry construction. I became involved in this back in 2005 after the Great Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, especially in the Aceh region of Indonesia. I felt like I had to do something more than just write a check, and I was fortunate enough to get in contact with the small NGO Build Change, who was just starting a reconstruction project in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and was looking for volunteer engineers to help with the design and construction of the new homes. I was one of many who answered the call.
In the summer of 2006, on my 40th birthday no less, I went to Banda Aceh to see the reconstruction in person and to assist Build Change in the projects that they were active in at the time. My chronicles of that trip are on my Aceh reconstruction blog, which I have kept up as an archive of the trip. One of the things that I learned while in Aceh was that I knew very little about the confined masonry construction that was being used to rebuild the homes there. I also learned that there were few others who knew much about it either.
Since then a group of engineers, researchers, architects, and other interested parties formed a network to learn more about confined masonry construction and eventually to try and promote it as a less expensive but more resilient form of construction than what is currently the practice in third world countries, especially countries that are susceptible to earthquakes like Indonesia and China. It is this network that is meeting in Lima and have invited me to participate. I have set up a new blog for this trip (assuming that my laptop will survive the trip) that I will also use to document other items of interest related to confined masonry construction as well as my possible future trip to China to assist Build Change's reconstruction efforts there following last year's large earthquake.
I must admit that I am as nervous about this trip as I was when I went to Indonesia. I must admit that I am not a third world kind of guy. I remember when I was at the airport waiting for the plane to Indonesia I considered turning around and leaving, and no doubt the same thoughts will cross my mind when I am at the airport waiting to go to Peru. However, this is a cause that I strongly believe in, which is what led me to board that plane in 2006 and will push me on board the plan to Lima in a couple of weeks. At least I can take comfort in that my Spanish is a little better than my Bahasa Indonesian and that I will be meeting with fellow dedicated people while I am in Lima so there is less of a chance that I will get lost or abandoned in a far away land. It is going to be interesting.
It reminds me of a conversation that I had with a couple of friends back in college. We were talking one night about the three of us taking over a small South American country, and after a number of alcoholic beverages we settled on Peru. One guy was going to be the figurehead leader with no responsibility but with big mansion privileges. Another guy was going to be the interior minister in charge of the intelligence service because he wanted to be able to spy on everyone. I was going to be in charge of the armed forces because in small third world countries that is where the real power is, since with just one order I could stage a coup and overthrow the other two. I have long since lost contact with those other two guys but I would imagine that they would find it amusing that I am traveling to the country that we once planned on taking over, assuming that they still remember the initial conversation after all these years and all those beers...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Good Friday Sermon 2
Now that I have a real life follower I suppose I should post more often to let them and you know that I am still alive, though I know there is at least one person who reads this blog who also reads my Idol blog quite regularly....
Back in 2006 in my past blog I posted a sermon on Good Friday that was critical of the church that I was born and baptized in. What prompted this was a delicious sausage that I had for lunch that day and the guilt trip that I went through afterwards, since when I was a kid I was told that people who eat meat on Lenten Fridays, especially Good Friday, were doomed to Hell. I still cannot understand how ignoring a meaningless rule established not by God but by mortal human beings was tantamount to committing murder or engaging in devil worship. I also still believe that the path to God is through a person's heart and not through their stomach.
Oh, BTW, I had a nice club sandwich with turkey for lunch today, and a beer.
One of the quotes that I found in my research for that post was this gem from theologian Grace McKinnon: "Not eating meat on Friday is but a small thing compared to the sacrifice He (Jesus) made by laying down His own life willingly so that we might live." This leads me to today's sermon. How exactly did Jesus' sacrifice allow me to live? I have been told as far back as I can remember that Jesus died for our sins but I have never really understood the logic behind this.
A few of you, including the affore mentioned follower (who I bet wants me to note that she is not the same person who reads the Idol blog), know that I attended a Catholic high school, and in my sophomore year there I had a priest for religion class that every once in a while would pass out index cards and ask us to write down any question about religion that we wanted to and that he would attempt to answer them. So one day I wrote down "how did Jesus die for our sins?" The teacher read this question aloud and laughed, then said that he thought it was a trick question and didn't answer it. "I think we all know the answer to that," he said. Thankfully we were not required to write down our names on the cards so I was spared the embarrassment of being exposed as an apparent heretic in front of my classmates, but I was upset that he did not answer the question. I did not press the issue, mostly because I was embarrassed to do so and also because the priest was pretty cool and would break up the lectures by showing us one of the Rocky movies. But to this day I wonder why he refused to answer the question. After all, it is one of the basic, heck the basic tenet of the Catholic Church but I was never given a basic, logical explanation for how it all works.
A few years ago one of my co-workers who is Hindu asked me what Easter was all about, which I thought posed an interesting dilemma, how do you explain Easter to a Hindu?
Christian: Easter celebrated the day that the Messiah Jesus rose from the dead.
Hindu: Like reincarnation?
Christian: No, Jesus came back as himself.
Hindu: Why is that important?
Christian: Because Jesus died for our sins.
Hindu: How?
Christian: Uhh..... did you notice how cold it was this morning?
I suppose that it is not a coincidence that my confirmation name was Thomas, not in the sense that I am a doubter but in the sense that I find it difficult to accept things on faith alone. OK, maybe I am a doubter. This may also explain why I was such a bad Republican and had to leave the party and the county that I was raised in. Why can't the church that claims to speak for God on matters of faith and morals offer a rational explanation for a belief that goes to the core of the religion? It's like getting into a taxi in a third world country, they ask you to just take it on faith that you will end up at your hotel with your wallet still in your pocket.
Which, BTW, I will find out about in about a month when I go to Peru. More on that in a later post.
So here I was a couple of months ago with all these doubts about the religion that I was raised in talking to my 6-year old niece about that same religion. She goes to Sunday school and on this occasion she told me all the things she is learning in this school, and I find myself encouraging her to continue and telling her how important it was for her to go to these classes. I thought afterwards about how odd this was and whether or not I was being a hypocrite, but I think I have come to terms with this. The faith that I have and the questions that I ask come from all those years in church and religion classes. I'm not looking to tear down the house, just remodel it. The foundation is still there, and I think it is important for my niece to get that foundation before she starts asking the questions. Does this make any sense?
I still wonder what the connection was between the New Testament and Rocky Balboa, but I guess some mysteries are better left unknown....
Back in 2006 in my past blog I posted a sermon on Good Friday that was critical of the church that I was born and baptized in. What prompted this was a delicious sausage that I had for lunch that day and the guilt trip that I went through afterwards, since when I was a kid I was told that people who eat meat on Lenten Fridays, especially Good Friday, were doomed to Hell. I still cannot understand how ignoring a meaningless rule established not by God but by mortal human beings was tantamount to committing murder or engaging in devil worship. I also still believe that the path to God is through a person's heart and not through their stomach.
Oh, BTW, I had a nice club sandwich with turkey for lunch today, and a beer.
One of the quotes that I found in my research for that post was this gem from theologian Grace McKinnon: "Not eating meat on Friday is but a small thing compared to the sacrifice He (Jesus) made by laying down His own life willingly so that we might live." This leads me to today's sermon. How exactly did Jesus' sacrifice allow me to live? I have been told as far back as I can remember that Jesus died for our sins but I have never really understood the logic behind this.
A few of you, including the affore mentioned follower (who I bet wants me to note that she is not the same person who reads the Idol blog), know that I attended a Catholic high school, and in my sophomore year there I had a priest for religion class that every once in a while would pass out index cards and ask us to write down any question about religion that we wanted to and that he would attempt to answer them. So one day I wrote down "how did Jesus die for our sins?" The teacher read this question aloud and laughed, then said that he thought it was a trick question and didn't answer it. "I think we all know the answer to that," he said. Thankfully we were not required to write down our names on the cards so I was spared the embarrassment of being exposed as an apparent heretic in front of my classmates, but I was upset that he did not answer the question. I did not press the issue, mostly because I was embarrassed to do so and also because the priest was pretty cool and would break up the lectures by showing us one of the Rocky movies. But to this day I wonder why he refused to answer the question. After all, it is one of the basic, heck the basic tenet of the Catholic Church but I was never given a basic, logical explanation for how it all works.
A few years ago one of my co-workers who is Hindu asked me what Easter was all about, which I thought posed an interesting dilemma, how do you explain Easter to a Hindu?
Christian: Easter celebrated the day that the Messiah Jesus rose from the dead.
Hindu: Like reincarnation?
Christian: No, Jesus came back as himself.
Hindu: Why is that important?
Christian: Because Jesus died for our sins.
Hindu: How?
Christian: Uhh..... did you notice how cold it was this morning?
I suppose that it is not a coincidence that my confirmation name was Thomas, not in the sense that I am a doubter but in the sense that I find it difficult to accept things on faith alone. OK, maybe I am a doubter. This may also explain why I was such a bad Republican and had to leave the party and the county that I was raised in. Why can't the church that claims to speak for God on matters of faith and morals offer a rational explanation for a belief that goes to the core of the religion? It's like getting into a taxi in a third world country, they ask you to just take it on faith that you will end up at your hotel with your wallet still in your pocket.
Which, BTW, I will find out about in about a month when I go to Peru. More on that in a later post.
So here I was a couple of months ago with all these doubts about the religion that I was raised in talking to my 6-year old niece about that same religion. She goes to Sunday school and on this occasion she told me all the things she is learning in this school, and I find myself encouraging her to continue and telling her how important it was for her to go to these classes. I thought afterwards about how odd this was and whether or not I was being a hypocrite, but I think I have come to terms with this. The faith that I have and the questions that I ask come from all those years in church and religion classes. I'm not looking to tear down the house, just remodel it. The foundation is still there, and I think it is important for my niece to get that foundation before she starts asking the questions. Does this make any sense?
I still wonder what the connection was between the New Testament and Rocky Balboa, but I guess some mysteries are better left unknown....
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