Today is likely to be a historic day in the PC(USA) denomination. A measure called Amendment 10-A needs one more vote to be passed, and all indications are that the swing vote will come today. You can read the text of the amendment here. While the amendment stops short of condoning homosexual relationships, it removes the explicit ban on such matches for those seeking ordination. For what it's worth, the amendment also removes an explicit ban on any "self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin." This may seem kind of silly--we should all be trying to root out sin in our lives--but the rationale from supporters of the amendment is that the standing requirement is deeply hipocritical in light of everyone's ultimate sinfulness.

Many of you know that I'm a deacon at Blacknall (PCUSA), so our church will be affected by the vote--maybe in real and predictable ways, but more likely in strange, abstract, and unpredictable aspects of life as a church. I'm trying to pray through what this means for my walk with the Lord and his church, and I invite you to pray with me that His kingdom come, His will be done.

I've turned off comments for this entry. If you want to comment or connect with me on this issue, you can email me at miles@thetravisfam.com.

Recently, HJ has been a real challenge. She is very headstrong and she is prone to fly into screaming fits if she doesn't get her way. Most of the time she's great, but occassionally she gets into a pattern that brings Brooklynne and I to the end of our ropes and we find ourselves asking what else we can do.

This weekend, there was a night when Beau was crying (he is being weened off his binky) and HJ woke up kicking and screaming. It was not the first fit she had thrown that day, but this time, she was so worked up that she couldn't even stop crying and shaking to tell us what was wrong. I wondered if she saw that Beau was getting attention by crying, or if she had had a bad dream and was having a hard time separating her dream from reality, but whatever the case, the fit went on for 30-45 minutes without either of us being able to calm her down. Brooklynne and I were exhausted from working on the house, we had not had good sleep in the past few nights, and felt like we had twin infants on our hands due to the prolonged late night fits.

Anyway, in desperation Brooklynne and I turned to prayer. First, we prayed with HJ (though she would hardly calm down enough to do it), and then we prayed together for peace, patience, love, kindness, and wisdom.

The results were incredible. HJ calmed down and fell asleep. Brooklynne and I felt relieved. And despite the lack of sleep that night, HJ had a great day (behaviorally) yesterday. This made me wonder if prayer has not been central enough in our parenting process all along. We have always prayed for our kids and with our kids, but not so much as an intregral part of guidance, discipline, and care for them. Praying has been more about teaching the kids to share their lives with God and asking God to protect/bless them--but not so much about prayer as a tool of including the Lord actively while instructing and nurturing them. I'm starting to feel like I should shift my focus a little.

Did the magi wear mullets? (Via TSK)

I liked what This Classical Life had to say about Advent.

Our small group has been following up on the Sunday sermons, and this first week of advent, we studied Isaiah 11. My main impression from the passage was the image of the lion, lamb, wolf, kid, cow, and bear all laying down together in the peace that Jesus brings. I've always recognized this image for the absence of violence, but this time, I was struck by the absence of fear as well. The lion does not devour the lamb, and at the same time, the lamb rests without fearing that danger.

I'm going to mediate on that image this week. While we eagerly await the transformation that Christ will work in the world, how great would it be to share that kind of peace with our community today?

TWJ is not moving--at least not for now. I ran into some speedbumps moving my entries to WordPress, so I'll have to live with MT for a little longer. TWJ will still move eventually, but it will probably be more like October before that happens. Since I've wanted to start blogging again for a long while, I'm not going to wait for the switch.

Today's topic: ten thoughts for the day.

1. Reading Rainbow aired it's last show. I always hated RR as a kid, but I felt something sad while I was listening to the NPR story on why the show was being cancelled. It turns out that a big reason was that the Dept. of Ed. put pressure on programers to focus on shows that actually teach fonics and other reading skills, and not on shows that teach the enjoyment of or reasons for reading. What a sadly practical world we live in.
2. I am pulling for Greg Paulus at Syracuse. I know we (tarheels) are supposed to hate him, but I don't. I don't hate most Duke players once they're through, especially not the ones that seem to be generally disliked by their own fans. That's why I also pull for Jeff Capel at Oklahoma (besides that both have brothers who are part of the tarheel family).
3. Small group has been particularly good for the past few weeks. Last night we discussed the balance between expecting in faith that our prayers can change the world around us, and knowing that our prayers are not always in line with God's will and should thus change us instead. Thoughts?
4. Beau is as long and heavy at 4 months as Halleigh was at 8.
5. We're headed to New Orleans to visit Ben Sept. 4-8. Here's the list of things I hope to do (in no particular order):
• Eat muffuletta.
• Eat beignets.
• Eat crawfish.
• Eat gumbo.
• Eat jambalaya.
• Eat etouffee.
• Eat fried shrimp po' boy.
6. My favorite sports season is coming--the college football/baseball playoff season. The Dodgers are limping toward the playoffs and Carolina is looking good. I'm cautiously optimistic about the Heels because I'm hearing the right things from the coaches, and I think we're just enough of a darkhorse to play with a chip on our shoulder. The key to the season will be the O-line, which everyone says is a weakness. From what I can tell, the O-line is fine, but thin. If we avoid injuries, the young receivers will be good enough to keep defenses honest and Shaun Draughn should rush for 1,000 yards.
7. I bought a jointer off Craig's List and I'm ready to start churning out some hurricane furniture.
8. I have been running 4 miles 2 or 3 times per week this summer and I've brought my time down to a respectable 29 minutes. I plan to run in some road races this fall. Anyone up for training/running with me?
9. I've joined an African American history working group based at UNC.
10. The Mountain Cabin is coming along.

I think I mentioned before that our small group was going to begin a series studying the Apostles' Creed. Tonight we're going to discuss the statement, "I (or we) believe."

The book we are using encourages readers to think of the belief as analogous to "placing trust in," so when I think about the words "I belive," I try to imagine how I place my trust in each of the objects of belief that are listed in the Creed--and how I don't.

Do I affirm my belief in God when I plan my schedule in the morning? Do I affirm my belief in God when I spend my money? Do I affirm my belief in God when I talk to my coworkers? What about when I spend time with Brooklynne or Halleigh?

Is it different to place my trust in God than to trust in Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

And do I really place my trust in the church, the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting? I mean, trusting in the triune God is one thing, but when I say the creed, I say that I believe in (place trust in?) these things too.

I think some of these questions go beyond the scope of the first week of this study, but I would love to know your thoughts about the idea of belief in the Apostles' Creed. What does it mean to you? What ideas that should be discussed?

Last night at small group, Brooklynne talked about her experience coming to know Christ. I am well acqainted with the story, as I have heard it many times (and have actually lived through parts of it), but every time she tells it, I'm struck by how incrediblly God works through bad situations and broken relationships to bring about something beautiful.

Brooklynne, thanks for being such a reflection of Christ in this world.

Last Friday was "Grandmother Day," the day once a year when Grandmother takes me out on the town to do whatever I want. Since being married, she has taken Brooklynne (and now Halleigh) with us too. This Year we went to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Science.

There was no photography allowed in the exhibit, so here's a picture from lunch beforehand at the the Raleigh Times Bar. The food was pretty good, but the service was marginal and the atmosphere really was kind of bar-ish, which we should have expected from the name.

Anyway, the exhibit was great for making you ask questions about the scrolls, like where did they come from, were they related to the nearby settlement and how, why were they hidden, and how do we integrate them into our knowledge of our religion? But the exhibit was less good about answering those questions, or maybe explaining the options at least. I mean, I'm not looking for the museum folks to tell me how to interpret the meaning of the scrolls, but the exhibit mentioned several theories about the scrolls without giving a reasoned arguement for each.

In the reading group last night, we were discussing a chapter on the relationship between science and Christianity. I thought one of the most interesting points made in the chapter was that Jesus did not perform miracles to suspend or circumvent the natural order--instead, his miracles were intended to restore the natural order to the way it was intended to be. I think that way of looking at the supernatural events of the Bible places the focus on the person and mission of Jesus, where I think it should be.

When I was in high school, I dated a girl whose family was Catholic. Sometimes I went to church with them, and I always liked their services alot, and--I confess--I often "passed" as Catholic so I could take communion, even though I think that is a pretty big no-no in the eyes of that church. I watched everyone else really closely, but I never knew if I was going through the motions exactly right, and I often suspected the the priest knew I didn't belong. But he never stopped the service or anything, so I just kept on pretending that I knew what I was doing.

In college, one of my friends, Jamie Blosser, converted to Catholicism and then went on to graduate school at the Catholic University of American in Washington, DC. I think he is still there. That change struck me as somehow interesting at the time.

Now, I occasionally read the blog of Alan Creech, who I don't know and have never met, but I'm intrigued by his spiritual journey as he tries to rejoin the Catholic church (after leaving it for a period in a protestant church?).

I'm certain that I'm not called to be a member of the Catholic church, just as I'm sure I'm not supposed to be a member of many other churches. However, I do believe in one body, and I think there are things I can glean from other manifestations of that body, including the Catholic church.

As a kid, I remember being curious about the difference between the Catholic crucifix and the plain cross that is used by most protestant congregations. The answer I was always given was that the cross represented the resurrection, that Jesus was not stuck on the cross, that he had gone on before us, etc., etc.

But over the past few days I've been meditating on a quote that Alan Creech keeps in his blog's sidebar: 

"Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever."
Fulton J. Sheen

Right now, that makes sense to me. Today I can find comfort in the crucifix.