Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

I’m not one of those people who wins things all the time.  You know, the people who put their names into contests at grocery stores and shopping malls and always seem to be winning TVs and DVDs.  That isn’t not me - I do occasionally put my name in those kinds of things, but never get “the call.”  So when I got a message from CoggieTM that I’d won, I almost fell out of my chair!

Who’s CoggieTM?  Well Coggie and Bams (BammerKT) are knitters who have recently started their own knitting podcast called The High Fiber Diet.  I’ve met them a couple of times - they’re a bit irreverent, a tiny bit snarky, and a lot of fun.  I think they have real names… Ok, I’m sure they have real names, I just don’t know what they are.

Anyhow, to the important question: what did I win?  A gorgeous hank of hand-spun, hand-knit merino!  Cool huh?!  And in colors that I would actually wear!  Check it out:

The hues are actually a lot richer than they show up on my pictures (I’m not very good at closeups).  But you get the idea.

Check them out at The High Fiber Diet, or on Ravelry at their forum, or go meet them at the Monday night knitting group in Holland (currently meeting at New Holland Brewery.)  Tell them “teejtc” (Tim) sent you!
Grace and Peace,

`tim

Cool, huh?!

Grace and Peace,

`tim

Ok.  Politics aren’t really my thing.  I honestly don’t believe my vote matters.  (You really don’t have to argue if you disagree, I sincerely doubt you’ll change my mind.)  If, however, I were one of those wealthy people politics actually cares about or one of the powerful people politics tries to appease, I would make it clear that meanness is not a virtue.

I watched bits of the Democratic convention and I’ve watched bits of the Republican one.  Neither one is completely guiltless on this front, but last night as I watched Guilliani and Palin I reached my limit.

Adults should act like adults.

Grown-ups should not act like bullies.

National leaders have no place engaging in teenage-style, snarky, half-truth-focused, almost-dishonest, cynicisms.

I think I could have liked Palin.  Her background is, in many ways, something I like and am familiar with, but last night she was just too much of a “mean girl.”  I didn’t like mean girls in Jr. High or High school.  I don’t like them now.  (And no, it’s not because she’s a woman - this type of behavior was as unappealing in Guilliani last night as it was in Palin.)

Somewhere along the line I remember being told that “you don’t raise yourself up by tearing other people down.”  That doesn’t mean that candidates can’t honestly argue and question one another’s positions (indeed, I hope they do!)  But it does mean a certain modicum of kindness should be maintained.  These people are hoping to be our children’s role-models.

Oh, and on an entirely different note - I just got the coolest yarn/knitting T-Shirt… after only a month and a half of being on back order!
Grace and Peace,

`tim

Ok, Let me be clear, first, I don’t think Palin was a brilliant choice for McCain.  Whatever.  It doesn’t really matter what I think (and I really don’t care, I don’t think McCain’s going to win anyhow).  Secondly, I agree with both candidates that (in general) candidates’ children should be off limits.  Children shouldn’t be punished by the fact that their parents have chosen to be in politics.

But this simply doesn’t pass the “snort test.”  The “snort test” is when something is so stupid that you immediately snort, rather than even bothering to argue with it.

Now that the public knows of Palin’s impending grandmother-hood, the “right” is desperately trying to spin the situation in a way that might help them.  I’ve already heard the argument that she’s ‘has lived out her pro-life credentials’ by deciding to have a baby whom she knew (prior to delivery) would be disabled.  Actually, I don’t think that gives her “pro-life credits” (but that’s a different story.)  Now the argument is that “the family lives its prolife credentials” (CNN.com) since her daughter is going to have her baby.

Here’s the where the snort test comes in.  A teenager keeping a baby that’s already 5-months along (well after the time when any doctor performs abortions) isn’t “living its prolife credentials” it’s living with the natural consequences of the decisions they’ve made (many decisions).  Come one.  We’re not that stupid.

There is a certain amount of “spin” that intelligent people will buy into (or at least not snort at) but this crosses that line.  How about leaving the girl out of the campaign (like both sides said they’d do - and Obama seems to have kept his word on) rather than trying so desperately to turn a difficult situation into a laughable political spin?

[Quotes and story-link from CNN.com]

Grace and Peace,

`tim

Do you know how difficult it is to find Greek and Hebrew alphabet fridge magnets?!  Let me tell you: it’s nearly impossible.  Hebrew has been easier than Greek (which I have yet to find - if you know somewhere please e-mail me).

We’ve been working on all three alphabets with Phia and she’s finally starting to recognize the letters for the “English” alphabet so we figured it was about time to get her going on the others - a more difficult prospect that we originally thought.
I did finally find the Hebrew though.  At a website called OyToys - isn’t that great?!  I love people who have a sense of humor.

Grace and Peace,

`tim

The meetings are over for a few months, but the work is just getting off the ground. In any case, it’s fair to say that the project is “up and running!” If everything goes well, there will be a joint hymnal published by the RCA and the CRC in 2013!

I suppose some of you might be wondering “Why?” There is the (mis)perception “out there” that hymnals are a thing of the past and that “no one” uses them any more. Anecdotally, let me note that the congregation I serve is a fairly healthy congregation and we use a hymnal for the majority of our songs. (We also have a suppliment entitled “Sing! A new Creation” - which was the RCA/CRC’s first major attempt at song-book-collaboration.) A little less anecdotally, here is what the committee’s FAQ says:

Why another hymnal?

In worship one of the main ways we praise and honor God, give voice to our prayers, and communicate the wonders of God’s works is through song. Though the underlying gospel message doesn’t change from generation to generation, the concerns, prayers, and social context of each generation does. Since the publication of Rejoice in the Lord, and The Psalter Hymnal we have seen sociological change with a move toward postmodernism and witnessed the exponential growth of technology - our world is very different today than it was twenty years ago. The words we use for worship need to express these new realities that form the backgdrop of our worship - a new hymnal for a new generation.

The desire for a new hymnal for a new generation fits with the reality that a hymnal has a lifespan of about 20 years. The Psalter Hymnal and Rejoice in the Lord have both surpassed the 20-year mark. A new or revised hymnal about every 20 years has also been the practice of the CRC, with hymnals being released in 1914, 1934, 1959, 1976, and 1987.

Are there enough churches that use hymnals to make this project worthwhile?

Yes, there are. Before we began this process we did a survey of churches in the CRC and RCA and found that there are still a significant number of churches that use hymnals and will continue to do so. Also, many churches that rely primarily on modern presentation technologies anticipate keeping a hymnbook in the pew as a supplemental worship resource.

The “why” is pretty easy. The “how,” on the other hand, is a very difficult question to answer.

• There are differences in the way our denominations handle hymnals;
• there are differences in the way we handle music within each denomination, and
• there are differences in our approach to worship music between each denomination;
• there is a lot of “baggage” in both denominations about the most recent publications (RCA: Rejoice in the Lord, CRC: The Psalter Hymnal - that is, the grey “new” one);
• there are a variety of genres and cultures that must be reflected in a hymnal such as this that are not well reflected in any other hymnal (denominational or commercial);
• hymnals serve both a reflective purpose (they express who we are) and a pedagogical purpose (they lead us into greater faithfulness);
• the list could go on…

We have begun to answer many of these questions (as a thirteen-member editorial team) and will be interacting directly with a larger advisory committee (made up of about eighty people from both denominations). In short, this is not a “back room” process attempting to hijack the worship lives of the RCA and CRC, it is an open and collaborative project engaging people from…

• both denominations,
• multiple ethnicities/racial backgrounds/cultures/languages,
• a variety of education-levels,
• diverse geographic make-up, and
• different styles.

I can’t wait to share more as we get going… hopefully this gets you excited.

Pray for us…

Grace and Peace,

`tim

Some of you know that I’m spending Monday and Tuesday attending meetings for an upcoming hymnal (to be) published (in 2013) jointly by the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church.  In 150 years since our split, we have never participated in such a project together and are now in the early stages of pulling it together.  It is EXCITING!

I am one of the members of the editorial committee and we are meeting with a larger advisory committee today and tomorrow morning (and will be meeting as an editorial committee tomorrow afternoon and evening).  The groups are great; the presentations are wonderful.  The excitement is catchy, and I am increasingly looking forward to the continuation of the process (and, of course, it’s eventual outcome).

Perhaps the most exciting thing to take place today was a presentation on church history.  Yes, church history.  Bert Polman plowed us through over 2000 years of hymnology and biblical song in less than 2 hours.  Funny.  Powerful. Engaging.  Brilliant.  If you ever get the chance to her him speak/teach take it.  You won’t regret it.

If you’re from Dunningville, watch out: It is my hope to get him to do a similar presentation at our church some time… cross your fingers - you’ll love it!

Grace and Peace,

  `tim

Occasionally I have people ask me about the blogs I read.  I try to keep up on about 35-40 of them at any given time.  I used to look at people who did that and think they were crazy - flipping back and forth from blog to blog… spending immense amounts of times simply figuring out whether people had updated their blogs or not (let alone reading them and occasionally responding).  If that image pops into your mind, I have a little secret to share with you: People who follow a lot of blogs almost never go to the actual blogs they’re following.  Yep - you read that correctly.  If you want to follow more than one or two blogs, you need a blog reader.

A blog reader is a program where you make a list of all the blogs you want to follow and it checks them for you.  In other words, I may follow 40 blogs at a time, but I do it by logging into a single program and it tells me the two or three that have posted new entries since I last checked.  It’s a great concept.  This way, the program remembers everything I’ve already read and keeps me up on anything new to check out.

If you don’t use one… get one.  You’ll thank me for it some day.

I use Alesti.   Why?  Mostly because (1) it’s free (why pay for something if you don’t have to?), (2) it’s web-based (I can check my blogs at any computer and don’t have to download anything), and (3) it requires very little bandwith. It occasionally has trouble finding the “feed” for a blog, but I can usually figure it out.  Besides, it’s incredibly web BASIC and even works well on the internet I have.  As you many of you know, I live in “internet no man’s land” - high speed has not yet hit Dunningville.  I’d love it… I’ve tried pretty much every option (outside of dish, which I’m not willing to pay for) but we live in a glorious dead-zone.
There are others besides Alesti, all you have to do is search for “blog aggregator,” “blog reader,” “feed reader” or something similar.

So there you have it… and internet public service announcement.  You can thank me later

Grace and Peace,

`tim

I figured some of you might not know what a lucet looks like.  Well, here it is:

You see it surrounded by several lucet cords.. The curl that extends on the right-hand side of the picture is made with a double-strand of worsted weight yarn.  The bigger “chunk” on the left-hand side is a chord made out of a single-strand chord.

Essentially, a lucet is used to make a 4-sided cord that’s incredible strong and (depending on what material you use) much less stretchy than other types of cord-making (i.e. a knitted I-cord).  It’s VERY fast and very easy (once you figure it out).

Grace and peace,

`tim

JJ worked today so Sophia and I had the perfect opportunity to head down the the Allegan fairgrounds for the Michigan Fiber Festival (warning, their website isn’t very good).  I attended the festival a couple of years ago but didn’t attend last year so I was anxious to see how it has changed over the past couple of years.

First, it’s a fun festival at a great price.  It cost $5 for the day ($8 for the weekend) and parking was free.  We had a great time checking out the Angora Bunnies, the LLamas, the Aplacas, the Sheep and the Goats.  We watched an overly anxious dog give his try at herding a handful of skiddish sheep, and we checked out a lot of booths.

Rule Number 1: Walk through the whole festival WITHOUT buying anything.  Yep.  That was my rule.  I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy ANYTHING the first time through.  And yes, I kept that promise.  Amazingly, I didn’t buy much at all.  Indeed, I only bought 1 thing: a Shedua wood Lucet.  Lucets date back for a handful of centuries and are a convenient way to create a cord (similar to an I-cord but less stretchy).  Actually, I bought two of them (but I’m not going to say much about the second one since it’s a gift and the recipient occasionally reads this blog….)

The only other goal I had was to check out some spinning wheels.  I’d like to get a wheel eventually and want to be prepared when the opportunity arises.  I checked out a Louet S51 (liked it), and Ashford Joy (didn’t), a Ladybug (ok), a Babe’s (the one made out of PVC… less expensive but not very attractive) and… to my great surprise, fell in love with the Lendrum Double Tredle.  Honestly, I’d never even heard of the Lendrum.  I was walking through a booth and saw a woman spinning on a “different” looking wheel and asked her about it.  She chatted about it for a while and sent me to the booth right next to her where she’d purchased her wheel almost 8 years before (Maple Row Stock & Wool from Sherwood, MI).  Turns out they still sell ‘em.  They’re a hair more expensive than the unfinished version of Mach1 (which I’ve also fallen in love with although I’ve never seen one in real life) but similar to the finished Mach1 and Lendrum has been around a LOT longer so I know their history and have been assured (by someone who doesn’t sell them) that replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to get.  Anyhow, I’m still not buying one right away, but I do have a favorite right now!

We also had the chance to meet up with a handful of other Ravelry members.  Fun!

If you’d like to see some pics, I put a few up at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24266318@N00/sets/72157606765395698/detail/

What a great day!  Still can’t believe I only bought 1 (2) thing(s)!
Grace and Peace,

`tim