NPR says Haters are gonna be haters

Well, not really, but. . .

I love NPR, no secret.

I also love Jay Smoothe of Ill Doctrine.

So imagine my delight when I found an "All Things Considered" story about Smoothe and Ill Doctrine. (This is the guy who brought us "How to Tell Someone The Sound Racist.")

Check out the story You will hear the word "hater" in a story by Neda Ulaby. WOW!!!!

el Shaddai - guest post by Bethany

Bethany will be leaving the Stevens House on August 17, to take a teaching job in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Below is a story she wrote connected to the garden we're a part of here and her teaching there.

The garden is a huge blessing in my life—it’s a source of recreation, fresh vegetables, green space in the city, and Christian fellowship through my friendship with L, another gardener. I had asked L to pray for me before and during my time in Tajikstan. About 10 days ago I was outside as she was walking by. The conversation went like this:

L: Bethany, I have to tell you something.

B: What’s up?

L: Well, I’ve been praying for you, and I couldn’t get the words “El Shaddai” out of my head. I did some research, and I think it may mean “God of the mountain.” Are there mountains where you’re going?

B: Yes, actually, Tajikistan is home to the 3^rd highest mountain range in the world, and it’s very mountainous.

L: Well, He’s there.

I found out later that Tajikistan is 93% mountainous, and that another meaning of El Shaddai is “the God who is enough.” That was a huge encouragement to me, and I thought about my conversation with L and El Shaddai for the rest of the week.

Then on Saturday I received a Tajikistan travel guide I had ordered. I eagerly began to read the section on Dushanbe, the capital city, where I will live. I was scanning the restaurant section for places I could go when I’m hungry for food from home, and I came across an entry for the Morning Star café, which according to the guide is a great place to buy American bakery items like brownies and cinnamon rolls. The guide goes on to say: “Run by customer friendly Americans and local staff. Café is a faith based partnership between local NGO El Shaddai and an evangelical Christian NGO. Their stated aim is to train impoverished young woman to be financially independent.” The guide also mentions that the café is located near the Pedagogical University where I will be teaching, which is also near my apartment. That was about as clear as God could get to tell me “I’m there, I will be there, and my people are there too.” I’m eager to see what God has in store for me there.

How does your garden grow

We're starting to have some success in our garden!


















Tomorrow there's a garden bbq/potluck/party. I'll have another update then, in the mean time check it out, we've got cherry tomatoes, cauliflower and purple and green cabbage thriving! The zucchini have blossoms. I had some of our basil and oregano on my dinner last night. YUMM!!!


We're so impressed with the garden community. Vietnamese American, African American, and European American. Young, not so young and old. Men and women.

Neighbors who we knew only by description (the guy who walks his cat each night) now have names (Dave).

I was nervous about not knowing how to do this gardening thing, but Luanne the garden coordinator offers her wisdom and reminds us that gardens need to be watered. Plus she shares produce from her garden (think the sweetest warmest sun ripened strawberry you've ever eaten).

Are you kidding?! I get to go to camp! Awesome!

This child is definitely excited to go to camp. Camp started last week at Park Avenue, and the summer staff has started a blog to share the story of what is happening at Park Avenue Youth and Family Services throughout the year. Check it out and pray for them.

Vacation part 3.2 Photos from DC

After our tour of the Holocaust Museum we hit the National Museum of American History, this probably was poor planning since we had just spent 4 hours reading and learning and feeling deeply the injustice of the Holocaust, but there are some really funny things at the American History Museum so we checked them out.

For example, here's Rosita with Oscar the Grouch and Seinfeld's "Puffy Shirt"

And, since word is (at the Stevens House at least) that I was raised by Muppets, here's me with my guardian/godfather Kermit, no offense to my actual Godfather, Wayne.


And this joke never gets old. (We're not actually related to them, we don't think, but if we were I probably wouldn't have to work anymore, those Matson's have money).

Vacation part - 3.1 photos from Baltimore

This first picture is me at the American Visionary Art Museum. A museum dedicated to artists with no formal art training, so Rabbis, engineers, surgeons, seamstresses and the severely mentally ill. Really really cool.

Here's the "Homicide Life on the Street" building, I wish that I was more familiar with the show, but I ate a crab cake and coleslaw across the street and it was delicious.


This is from the Basillica in Baltimore, it's done in a Neo-Classical style, like the Capitol and White house, which is kinda cool. This was actually the slave balcony, which struck me. I haven't ever considered the Catholic church's role in slavery but I guess on the Mason Dixon line at the turn of the 19th century this is an issue.
Here's Rosita, best hostess ever, grilling out by the pool at her apartment!


And finally, here I am in the Inner Harbor, by a Civil War era boat, very Baltimore, but I didn't pay the entrance fee, so I can't tell you much about it. :)

vacation - Part Two Washington DC

Oh DC!!!!!

As soon as Rosita and I got off the train in DC I was smiling. Like not just my usual, positivity in my my top five on strengths finder smiling, like smiling to the point where it hurt. Like, where it required concentrated effort to stop smiling.

We were in DC!

You see these buildings on TV, or in text books, or even in movies your entire life, and then you come out of a train station and there they are, in front of you. WOW!

You hear about people making policy and making speeches, and there's the actual, physical capitol building. So cool. It sounds super cheezy, but I feel like I have a better sense of Politicians as actual people doing actual jobs after being there, and I have a better sense of our ability to communicate and contact and influence those actual people after being there.

The first thing that we did in DC was a trip to the Holocaust Museum. Because Rosita is a federal employee, we were able to enter the exhibit right away. (Tip, you should always travel with federal employees and students, lots of deals).

The Holocaut Museum was beautiful, educational, and so sad. I was struck by a couple of different things.

• The Nazi's didn't start out with much power, but once they got some power they took more. I'm not sure what the implications are for us today, but it seems that we ought to be very careful about allowing people who have a platform of hate to take any degree of power.
  
• The United States, and other countries had many chances to take Jewish refugees, they even held a conference in Evian France about what to do with the refugees. A conference which ended with all of the nations saying basically, "wow, this Jewish thing in Germany and Austria and Poland is really bad, someone should do something about it, but we can't" There's one tragic story of a ship leaving Europe with the promise of being able to settle in Cuba, but by the time they got to Cuba they were denied entry, they then sailed to Florida, where they were again denied entry, only to sail back to Europe. Again, I don't know what the right lesson is for us today, but it seems that history will judge those who don't take action and don't welcome those who are suffering injustice and I think that our immigration and refugee policies probably could use a little work to make them more just.
  
• Most of the churches became, or maybe already were tools to indoctrinate people in anti-semitism, but those Christians and churches that courageously criticized Hitler, or sheltered Jewish children and families are remembered well. Andre and Magda Trocme in France, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the confessing church in Germany. Once more, I'm not sure what courageous action we are called to take, but I believe that courage and resistance gives the world a more accurate picture of Jesus' heart than quiet acceptance of what is going on around us.
  
• I was there on Friday, June 5, I was back in Minneapolis on June 10 when Officer Johns was shot, but it shook me up a little bit. Between the murder of George Tiller and the shooting at the Holocaust museum, I worry that this may be the summer of hate crimes. Let's pray that it's not. Let's speak up when we hear hateful speech, let's make sure that our own language is "rooted and established in love."

Vacation - Part One Baltimore

Baltimore was relaxing. I stayed with my friend Rosita, who is perhaps the kindest soul that you'll ever meet and the best hostess. She showed me fun neighborhoods, fed me good food, let me swim in her pool and watch cable tv. I needed some downtime. I went to an art museum, ate crab cakes and sushi, toured a neo-classical bassilica, wrote in my journal, drank coffee, it was slow and peaceful and pretty much what was needed for the start of my time away.

One of the most startling things about Baltimore is the homicide rate, and how it almost seems to be celebrated. For instance, one of the famous "tourist" destinations is the building where "Homicide Life on the Street" was filmed. And have you seen "The Wire"? Wow!

The first two nights that I was in Baltimore the lead story on the evening news was that Baltimore was now the city in the U.S. with the highest homicide rate. The third night, they reported that Detroit had reported their numbers incorrectly, so actually, Detroit was number one, making Baltimore number two.

Someone, I'm guessing that it was Brian, Allison's old boss, once told her that each city has a sin that grips it. An injustice that pervades the culture and the landscape of that city. Whether rage, or greed, or arrogance, or sloth. If that's true, what would Minneapolis' biggest stronghold be? St. Paul's? Duluth's?

Soong Chan Rah!

Soong Chan Rah was here while I was on vacation :( I didn't get to go, but some of my coworkers went. He has two great new posts on his new blog this week, one on "the fatherless" and another on "new media and cross-cultural communication"

Martial's going to borrow my book and read it, and I'd like to read it when I get my second summer vacation. Has anyone read it?

Sound of Music

This has nothing to do with our house, except that we're often singing songs from musicals and that we're a little quirky. I like the joy, whimsy and spontaneity of this:




Happy Wednesday.

Does your hair feel like mine?

Check out this picture of President Obama with a little boy in the Oval Office. The little guy (whose skin tone is about the same as the President's) wanted to know if their hair felt the same.

I don't pretend to believe that Obama's presidency now opens the doors for every child to be
whatever he or she wants to be, BUT I do think that moments like this, feeling that the President's hair feels like your own hair, might expand the possibilities.

Speaking of the White House, tomorrow I'm off to visit my great friend Rosita in Baltimore and we're going to go check out the DC hot spots too. Don't worry, I'll tell Keith and Amy and Barack "What's up!" from Minneapolis!