The Whole "25 Things about..." Shindig

Ok, so here's to jumping on the whole "25 random things..." bandwagon:

1. Brock wonders what this says about our culture, about human sociality, about personhood that people will find out these 25 things about him on a blog/facebook rather than in a real life conversation.

2. The first time he finally got the courage to drive a stick shift (the same car he still has by the way, 8 years later!) it was on the way to youth group on a Wednesday night. At one light he stalled the car some 8-10 times (he lost track after being stuck at the same intersection for three stop lights). Then on the way home, with his brothers and a younger cousin in the car, he ran over an opossum (which, seconds before, looked straight at his car), because he had no idea what else to do.

3. He loves using parenthetical phrases in his writing (as if #2 didn't already demonstrate that point).

4. He secretly (until now) mourns the fact that he was prevented by his parents from listening to any music growing up that wasn't "Christian." Many have told him, however, that he didn't miss out on much.

5. Brock used to be a Bible study fiend. Seriously. Throughout high school and college, he would write entire commentaries (we're talking 100+ pages) on books of the Bible for his personal devotions, quoting other commentaries, studying the original language, and the whole nine yards. He has kept these commentaries (which his wife has, at times, tried to throw away) which include studies on Judges, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Hosea, Zechariah, Matthew, 1&2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1& Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, and James. He used to have pompous visions that someday he would become a famous author in the Christian world (now, he's just shooting for "author" and of a different genre).

6. When he gets tired, he tends to get very emotional, and any question that appears remotely complicated or any remotely difficult circumstance will make him cry (he about had a mental breakdown last Sunday at the grocery store when his wife asked him to pick out a couple salad dressings).

7. He has had the same style cell phone for over three years.

8. During high school, Brock once worked at Lake Ann Baptist Camp in Traverse City, MI as "support staff" (aka janitor). An entire summer of cleaning toilets and emptying trash barrels (well, at least it builds character, right?). It wasn't so bad until the infamous "week of the yammy." Some parent let their kid come to camp even though he had the flu... and he gave it to everyone else. The camp had to quarantine 130 of the kids (and some counselors) into certain cabins. Yammy was everywhere. Then, one night, all the other campers were made to sleep outside in their sleeping bags, and Brock and the rest of the support staff team "quat-cleaned" every nook and cranny of the campgrounds using those weed killer sprayers.

9. Brock is the second oldest of five boys, all with names starting with "Br." Although, its a bit controversial, since his older brother is adopted, he considers himself the "firstborn" (and besides, all those birth order explanations are all messed up when one sibling is
adopted anyways).

10. On his high school choir trip to England, he was kissed in a bar by a drunk woman (it was a fellow choir member, but he doubts she remembers it).

11. As he writes this, Brock doubts he will have any good information left about himself to use for the game "two truths and a lie" with his friends.

12. Brock, his older brother, and a couple of his friends, were once being hunted by the local and county police in Lafayette, IN... for drive by shootings.... with cap guns (true story). His parents were not all that happy. He had to do a lot of cleaning around the house that summer.

13. In 7th grade, Brock rode his bicycle to school... 8.5 miles... without telling his parents... at 6:30AM. It was one of the only times he was ever early to school in his childhood. When he got to school, there was a sign posted on the door: "Brock, call your mom." All the teachers and parents thought he was going to be in REAL big trouble. Thankfully, he only had to apologize to his brothers for being a bad example.

14. Brock was a catcher for 8 years. He has bad knees as a result of it.

15. He didn't have a curfew until he went to college. Dumb Christian school....

16. Brock is pretty sure he'll never have a "most favorite" movie, song, band, book, etc. Can one really think about all the things they've ever watched or heard or listened to and make an accurate assessment of such things?

17. Brock has over 40 cousins on his dad's side of the family. He has two on the other side.

18. He's had a number of jobs over the years: Burger King, chauffeur (in high school, his mom paid him to drive his brothers around), janitor, camp counselor, landscape architect, church intern, a number of positions in vocational ministry, RA in college, library assistant, a secretary at Duquesne, and now an editor. In many ways, what he does now is his favorite job so far.

19. Brock is learning to cook. Most of the time, he is the "prep" cook for when his wife makes things, but now there are a number of things his wife defers to him to make including French Toast and Shrimp Etoufee.

20. He still brings PBJ for lunch sometimes - and likes it.

21. Brock has written over 40 songs that he (perhaps delusionally) hopes will someday be recorded.

22. The first occupation he wanted to have when he was a kid was a pediatrician.

23. Brock likes it when its cold outside (but not too cold) because he loves to wear sweaters. Fall is probably his favorite season.

24. Brock is an addicted LOST watcher. He has even posted comments on the Lost.com forum.

25. For Brock, each day is a crisis of faith. Perhaps, one day he'll have an idea of what to believe.

Addendum to "Gifts and Awards"

So, its been brought to my attention that calling the baby shower gifts "crap" might come across as extremely ungrateful and belittling to those who provided us with the wonderful and most generous gifts that were given to us, for which we are very happy to receive and which have made the reality that we're going to be parents all the more vivid. Allow me to iterate that this was not my intent and to anyone offended by my poor choice of words at 11:30PM, my apologies. To me, "crap" is idiomatically used in our day as synonymous to "stuff" or "things" or "items" and need not necessarily carry any negative or pejorative connotation.

Nonetheless, such an example of confusion and misunderstanding that can occur in language - even within the same language which all those who read my blog have been educated and utilize in their everyday lives - bears testament to the fact that philosophers like Derrida, Gadamer, Ricoeur, and others need to be granted a hearing. We do not instantly understand one another; rather, everything involves interpretation, which makes charity all the more important when interacting with and speaking to one another.

Gifts and Awards

Well, this weekend was quite eventful for Amber and I. Actually, we're still pretty tired from all the eventfulness even after sleeping in today and taking a nap this afternoon! On Friday after class, I drove to West Chester, PA (about 4.5 hrs from Pittsburgh. ) for a philosophy conference I was scheduled to present at on Saturday at the University. I was set to stay with a friend of mine's in-laws, as he was also scheduled to present. So, after a long trek on the Turnpike, a brief drive through Lancaster (which, consequently is a much bigger city than I had ever imagined), seeing three Amish buggies (with flashing lights on the back!), and getting lost once, I was there. Unfortunately, I got there a couple hours before my friend, Greg and his wife. Not that his in-laws were scary or unfriendly or anything like that. Its just that there's only so much Bill O'Reilly I can take.

Anyways, on Saturday, I presented at the conference a paper which happened to be a further development of two blog posts I had written (see the posts "What is Hospitality?). In other words, this was not a paper I had written for a class but one on a topic that I was simply passionate about and decided I might as well try and turn it in as a submission for a conference. Well, needless to say, it went over extremely well. During the session in which I presented (if you don't know, philosophy papers are usually presented in groups of three, 20 minutes to present and 10 min of Q&A for each presenter), of which I was the first to go, the room was absolutely packed - which is saying something for a philosophy conference to begin with! There were even a handful of professors from the university sitting in. Now, let me point out that in all my other experiences of presenting at a conference this is, indeed, not what happens. In fact, the last time I presented, I think there were maybe eight other people in the room, three of which I personally knew.

So, I presented the paper. Yup, at philosophy conferences you just sit and listen to people read papers. However, I've realized that my previous experiences of preaching and speaking to people gives me the added benefit of knowing that projecting my voice, using hand gestures, and making eye contact are enough to turn a simple reading into a good presentation (afterwards, my friend Greg said, "wow, that was actually moving." Who knew a philosophy paper could be that!?). Even the Q&A time was quite different than my previous experiences. At the end of my paper, numerous hands shot up, all the questions were extremely relevant, and there was a lively discussion afterwards. But what was really odd was that after my Q&A was done, more than half the audience left before the next speaker got up. They all came to listen to me? I totally wasn't expecting that.

After the other presentations during my session, we went to a different building for lunch and the plenary session. Before the main speaker was introduced, they were set to announce an award for the best philosophy paper at the conference. While we were in line, I jokingly said to Greg, "Well, it would be nice if I win the award and the $100 that comes with it because I need the cash to pay the Turnpike so I can get home!" And well, twenty minutes later, they announced my name for the "Distinguished Philosophy Paper" at the conference. To be honest - I know this sounds ridiculous, perhaps even bizarre, but I actually had a feeling that my paper would be the one awarded. Perhaps it was the fact that several people came up to me and said that I really liked the paper or that several professors showed up for it...who knows... Nevertheless, it was nice to have enough money to get home (you should have seen the lady at the toll booth when I paid with a Ben Franklin in my beat up 95 Honda at 11:15pm)!

I guess the moral of the story is, write and do what you're passionate about not necessarily just what is asked of you or you're supposed to do in order to get a grade. Not that doing what you desire to do will translate into awards or that that should even be your motivation (although it is nice to get some affirmation every now and then that confirms that you're doing what you ought to be doing in life), but its a whole lot easier to be who you are and not someone else. And you'll probably do it better to boot. I, for instance, know that there are a whole lot of people a whole lot smarter than me, people who can talk about calculus and generative metaphysics and use symbols from logic to explain their work. On the other hand, I know I'm too intellectual for the common person or for what the stereotypical church expects from their pastor. So... I'm not sure where that leaves me or what that will lead me, but at least I'm enjoying it while I get there.

On the other side of things, Amber was thrown a baby shower at our church on Saturday. Yeah, she wasn't too happy my conference was the same day (I swear I told her the date!), but marriage is full of miscommunication (so you learn to be forgiving) and winning the award seemed to make things better. Anyways, she got a carload of baby stuff - clothes, baby toiletries, toys, and so forth. No diapers though, which we could definitely still use (and from what I've heard, LOTS of them). Our baby room is getting more and more ready by the day, but now we've got a bunch of stuff that we're not quite sure what to do with. Looks like we might have to finally purchase a real piece of furniture to store all this crap. So I'll have to post some pics in an upcoming blog of the baby room.

Why Its OK to Have Hope in Today's Inauguration

Today, along with perhaps a couple other billion people in the world, I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Afterwards, I watched the "facebook drama" unfold in much the same way it did the day after Obama won the election. And alas, after watching numerous Christians make naive or unresearched, I felt motivated to write a response.

Over the last couple months, and particularly today, I've seen this recurring line of thinking among Christians responding to the fact of Obama's presidency that goes something like (and no, I'm not making these statements up):

["You shouldn't put your trust in a man. Obama is not the Messiah. You should only put your trust in God. All this hype about Obama is a sure sign that we as a nation have forgotten God's Truths and no longer follow him, and we need to get back to the faith of our founding fathers who proclaimed 'in God we trust' and 'one nation, under God'."]

You've probably heard similar statements yourself. Now let's be straight here: I don't think one should place the kind of trust in a man that ought to only be placed in God. I'll go even further: I agree that there are issues in which it is right and proper for a Christian to disagree with some of Obama's positions (and I'll get to some of those in a second). But the trite, sound-byte comments swiriling around in Christian circles that I mentioned above need some critique because they're seriously problematic. Allow me to respond to these issues in the reverse.

One Nation, Under God?
People, before you make statements about the founding fathers, please do some researching first. "In God We Trust" was not something our founding fathers developed. Its not in our Constitution or in our Declaration of Independence. In fact, it didn't appear on a US coin until 1864 and wasn't our national motto until 1956 under President Eisenhower (who, by the way, was never a member of a church until he began running for President, because it was a sure way to connect with voters - cause who wanted a non-churchgoer to be President in the 50s?). Eisenhower was also the one to have "under God" inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance. Just think, millions of Americans said the pledge of allegiance before the 1950s without ever saying "under God."

America's historical trust in God is not as cut and dry as people want to make it. I wouldn't put too much bank in the faith of our Founding Fathers. Many of them were deists, secular humanists, and/or products of Enlightenment Rationalism. Jefferson wrote his own version of the Gospel account (removing the miracles and the Resurrection). Jefferson once wrote, "The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it... In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills."

Thomas Paine, one of the most influential figures of the American Revolution (his name probably sounds vaguely familiar to you as the author of the pamphlet, "Common Sense"), was a deist who advocated against Christian doctrines and once said, "There are also many who have been so enthusiastically enraptured by what they conceived to be the infinite love of God to man, in making a sacrifice of himself, that the vehemence of the idea has forbidden and deterred them from examining into the absurdity and profaneness of the story."

James Madison, the 4th President of the US and principal author of the Constitution, once said, "Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and all of which facilitates the execution of mischievous projects. Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise." Apparently, he didn't have much use for the Church.

Consequently, the "God" of many of our so-called founding fathers is not the God that the majority of Evangelicals have in mind in our contemporary situation. And the formidable documents of America make this very clear. The Declaration of Independence does not speak of the God of the Bible but of "Nature's God." And the statement, "We hold these truths to be self-evident," bears witness to the immense influence of Enlightenment Rationalism - and the philosophies of Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, and others - during the day. Man is at the center of such "self-evident" ideology, such trust in Reason, not God.

We have forgotten God's Truths?
My beef with this comment is that inherent in the statement is a presupposition that before the majority of Americans (and the rest of the world) desired Obama to become President, the American people, generally speaking, did seek God's direction and wisdom in choosing a President - a presupposition that simply cannot be verified. Why is it, now that a Democrat is in the White House, that Evangelicals suddenly believe America is no longer in God's favor, no longer depending on God? The majority of people in America, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, don't vote based on "what God wants" (as if we were capable of getting into his mind and knowing for sure!) - they vote based on the economy, desire for protection from terrorism, or some other more practical, tangible reason. There is simply nothing to indicate that America is farther from God today than it was four years ago when it reelected Bush.

These comments assume that Obama is anti-Christian, that he's self-reliant, and egotistical, when in reality, he himself claims to be a Christian who seeks God's wisdom. At least give him the benefit of the doubt on this one as was given to Bush and previous Presidents - men who all made very dreadful decisions that would seem to lack any real seeking of the face of God. Indeed, we should be grateful for a President who has a wife that has told interviewers that she sees it as her job to help keep her husband humble and make sure he doesn't get too big of a head (a quality every wife needs to have).

Now, there are definitely some things about Obama that make me wary. When he spoke today about how "we will defeat" our enemies and all those who oppose democracy, I cringed, because, while I think its necessary for the President of a nation to be a proponent of bearing arms (when it is indeed necessary!), I do not feel that it fits within the spirit of Jesus who called us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. And when Obama said that "America is now ready to lead the world once more," I thought, "You don't get it!" The world is sick of us leading (although, because of our prosperity and power there are areas in which, unfortunately, we are the de facto leaders of the world). The world is sick of us thinking we have to be in charge. The spirit of humility is not to proclaim ourselves as the leaders of the world. Instead, America ought to now be ready to listen and learn from the rest of the world - two qualities Bush was notorious for not having.

The Hype and Hope
Now, to those who constantly remind us that Obama is not the Messiah, I agree with you - and I think most of those Christians who voted for Obama and Obama himself agrees with you. What gets me, however, is this presupposition that the hype/hope related to Obama is somehow worse than what has been placed in past Presidents. 4 yrs ago, I was working at an Evangelical church and when Bush won reelection, my coworkers danced in their chairs, wore American flag lapel pins to work (how's that for separation of church and state?), and hung on every word of his victory speech. How is that any different? How is the trust and hope Evangelicals placed in Bush any different - and where has it gotten them?

But we are called to trust people, to hope in people, to have faith in people. 1 Corinthians 13:7 reminds us that love "always trusts...always hopes." We place faith in people everyday when we trust that they will come through on their promises, when we believe that what they say they will do. We place faith in people every time we get behind the steering wheel of a car, that the people coming from the other direction won't swerve into my line. Life incessantly involves trust. And if Obama indeed pulls through on many of the promises and dreams he has envisioned, we ought to be hopeful about that. We ought to have hope that America will truly walk alongside the poor countries of the world, as he said today. We ought to have hope that the people held prisoner in Guantanamao Bay will finally be treated as human beings. We ought to have hope that Obama will help restore the reputation of America in the world that Bush and previous Presidents tarnished and hope that he will bring more justice and equality to the world. These are not bad things to hope in.

Furthermore, its hard to distinguish the hope "in the man" and the hope and awe and wonder people have simply in the event itself and the symbolism Obama portrays. Whoever you voted for, there is something good and true and beautiful about the fact that an African-American is now the President of the United States, that millions of people who would have not been allowed to vote 45 years ago were able to see this event come to fruition. There is something inspiring about that story, something redemptive about it that we should rejoice in. There is something amazing about the fact that we live in a country where Rick Warren and Reverend Lowery and pray for our nation. For all the atrocities that progress has brought, we can rejoice that America has progressed this far and hope that more success will be made towards the end of racism. For all the horrible events that have occured in our nation's history, all the countless minorites who have beem mistreated in the name of America's God, we can shed a tear of jubiliation for witnessing what has occurred today. Just think about all the African-Americans who were at the Memorial Mall today. Think about all the African-Americans who participated in the Inauguration festivities. Think about all the descendants of slaves who finally have a good reason to be excited about being a part of this country. These are not bad things to be thankful for.

And yes, in a way, Obama is a messiah, just like every person who follows Christ is called to be a messiah, a "little Christ," a liberator of the broken, a lover of the crushed in spirit, and a helping hand to those in need. God always loves to use people to make his presence known, to bring about his work, to achieve good in the world. That was his goal for Israel - they were supposed to bring God's hope and blessing to the world (Gen 12:2). And so too with all who are members of God's church - we are God's ambassadors and God is making his appeal through us (2 Cor 5:20). It just so happens that Obama has a tad bit more influence than most of us to bring about a spirit of liberation and justice in the world.

So here's to hoping our brother in Christ, Barack Obama, comes through by making this world a better place, a more just place, a safer place, a more humane place, and an environmentally sustainable place so that there's something left for our grandchildren.

2008 Year in "weiveR"

Obviously there’s been a bit of an hiatus since my last post. Life has been busy coming back from Indiana over Christmas break and starting back up at work and school for the new semester. Nonetheless, I’ve also been feeling a bit uninspired lately as it comes to blog posting. So, garnering from the blog of a friend, I’ve decided to do a little bit of a “2008 year in review.” Besides, reminiscing is always good for the soul, and it might be of some benefit to reflect on what’s happened over the past year of my life and think about what I’d like to change, add, do better, etc etc….

Things I did in 2008 I had never done before…
Presented a paper at a philosophy conference, got a paper published in a philosophy journal, made a baby (but he’s still in production; release date is set for March 21^st, but is subject to change), voted for a democrat for President of the USA (which makes me [I confess] 3 for 3 in my votes for President), traveled to Mexico, went to the United Nations, got a job/boss that I really enjoy, went to Baltimore

Last year’s New Years resolutions…
To lose weight. Yes, I succeeded. Then I got vicariously pregnant. Looks like my new year’s resolution will be the same for this year as it was last…

Countries visited…
We seemed to keep to North America this year – Mexico, Canada, and well, the United Nations is kind of its own country, right (it’s not technically part of the US)?

Something I’d like to have in 2009 that I lacked in 2008…
Faith. The ability to put to action what I claim to believe.

A date from 2008 that will remain etched upon my memory…
This one’s tough. The day I found out Amber was pregnant. The day I preached at Amber’s grandma’s funeral. The day my brother Brant got married. The day (almost literally since it took 12 hours) Amber and I drove back from Pittsburgh to Montreal in horrible conditions. The day of Amber’s ultrasound. And of course, November 4^th. That was an awesome day.

All of these were memorable moments in my life that significantly shaped my life in some way.

Biggest achievement of the year?
Again, it depends on how you look at it. I became a father. That’s quite an achievement. I became an elder of my church. And I “officially” became a philosopher.

Biggest failure?
Hmm… not enough time spent loving God and loving my neighbor.

The best thing you bought…
Our new computer last January.

Something I got really, really, really excited about?
Carrying around and showing our ultrasound pictures to everyone. Definitely at the top of the list. The Ryne Sandberg Cubs jersey Amber got me for Christmas was awesome too – and on top of that, the 3-6mo’s Cubs tee she got for our little guy!!

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Hm… not sure… probably happier. I'm excitedly terrified to be a father, but I also wish I had a better idea of what I was doing with my life and what to make of God, life, who I am, etc etc...

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Blogged more. Although 49 times is almost once a week, right? Spent more time building deep relationships. Spent more time in the spiritual disciplines.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Incessantly checking my email and wasting time on Facebook. And watching TV… I’m beginning to think sports-watching is incredibly boring. Except the Cubs!

How I spent Christmas…
This was nuts. On the 19^th of December, we drove almost 12 hours in a snowstorm to NYC. On the 23^rd, we drove back to Pittsburgh. On the 24^th, we drove to Lafayette and had dinner with family at my Grandma’s. On the 25^th, we drove to Kentucky with Amber’s parents to have Christmas with her mom’s family. On the 26^th, we drove back to Lafayette and had Christmas that night with my family. On the 27^th we had Christmas with Amber’s dad’s side of the family. Craziness.

A Haiku that sums up my year:
Philosophizing
Trying to make sense of life
Living into Love

Books that I read (or listened to)...
The entire Harry Potter series (again!) [Amber and I listened to most of it in the car during road trips], The Birth Partner, Communist Manifesto by Marx, Being and Time by Heidegger, most of The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero, Totality and Infinity by Levinas, Islam and the West: Conversations with Jacques Derrida, and a boatload of other philosophy books.

Favorite TV program(s)…
LOST. That’s the only one I watch religiously. Its getting odd, but still very, very interesting.

Favorite film of this year?
The move I saw on Dec 31st - Slumdog Millionaire by far. You’ve got to see that.

What I did on my birthday?
Since it’s on December 24^th, it’s usually pretty lame. I was at my grandma’s house with family.

What kept me sane?
The friends in my Bible Study and at the Open Door, my wife, and the hope that some day I’ll no longer see through a glass darkly.

A quote that sums up my year:
[Harry] “One last question: Is this real or is it just happening inside my head?”
[Dumbledore] "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A song lyric that sums up my year.
“Oh it’s hell to believe there ain't a hell of a chance…
And angels everywhere were in my midst
In the ones that I loved in the ones that I kissed
I wondered what it was I'd been looking for up above
Heaven is so big there ain't no need to look up
So I stopped looking for royal cities in the air
Only a full house gonna have a prayer”
– “Thin Blue Flame” by Josh Ritter

Well folks, that’s all for now. It’s been a long December and there’s reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last. May you all have an amazing 2009 and remember "the last enemy to be destroyed is death"!

The Wisdom of a Saint

On the day of Brogan’s wedding (this past Saturday), several of my family members spent some brief time going to the nursing home to visit my Grandma & Grandpa Bahler since we were all in town together for once in what may be a long time. Our grandparents moved to a nursing home in Lafayette early in 2008 because of my grandpa’s failing health (he, for example, couldn’t even remember who Amber was over Thanksgiving) while my grandma is now more healthy than she has been in years. It was a difficult move, as is so often the case with going to a nursing home. When Grandpa got pneumonia and was in the hospital, they headed right to the nursing home afterwards without ever going back to the place where they lived for decades. Grandpa’s car keys were taken away. There’s no kitchen for them to cook their own food. On the plus side, there is a cafeteria so they don’t have to cook their own food.

Grandma has always been one to write letters to us and the rest of the family with brief words of encouragement, a poem she has written, general questions asking us how we’re doing, and a check close to Christmastime. And with 92 members of the Bahler clan – including children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, and now grandchildren – and another five grandchildren on the way, that is a pretty big job in itself. The fact of her letters came up in our brief visit with all of my brothers expressing thanks to her for her vigilant letter-writing. I made a summary comment saying, “Yeah, Grandma we all really appreciate your letters.” To that she said, “I appreciate them too; without them I’d be lost.”

I’ve pondered that statement a lot over the past couple days. It’s a very revealing comment, one that expresses a sense of purpose and a desire for significance. Through writing these letters, my grandma finds sustenance, support, and stability amidst this new, frail stage of life comprised of a whole new set of fears and responsibilities and problems. Those letters are her connection to the “outside world,” to the people she loves, perhaps even to sanity.

But I was told when I was in Christian school that one should only find his significance and purpose in Christ. At Cedarville, we sang an old hymn called, “Christ is all I need.” It was hammered into my mind that nothing could satisfy me, that I would always be searching, until that “God-shaped hole” was filled, until this sheep who was lost was found by the Shepherd. But here before me was an eighty-(some odd)-year old saint reminding me that we are made for community, for interaction with one another, for sharing our souls and dreams and hopes and feelings with humanity. Here was a dear woman, who has walked closer to the Lord than I ever will and has gone through more trials and hardships than I probably ever will, who freely admitted that at least some aspect of her significance and identity in life comes from what she does, what encouragement she can offer, what redemptive work she bring about. And the Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

I also told my grandparents about my experience of finding my great-great-grandfather, Christian Bahler, in the online directory at Ellis Island. At this, my grandma shared a story about her own experience at Ellis Island: “Oh, I remember going there years ago. Now, you know my maiden name was Frey, so we looked up all our ancestors by the name ‘Frey’ that came through Ellis Island while we were there. Well, it just so happened that I had one relative who came over from Switzerland that we simply could not find. We searched and searched, but we couldn’t find his name there anywhere. And I know he came through that way because he didn’t have a dime in his pocket when he left home and never went back. So, the people at Ellis Island looked through a secondary source to try to find some information on him, and they still came up with nothing. And the only thing we can figure out is, because he was known for being a good swimmer, that he jumped ship and swam to shore.”

I come from a line including illegal immigrants (which isn’t so bad I guess. Jesus came from a line involving incest, fratricide, and womanizing and composed of liars, thieves, and prostitutes). Makes you wonder how many of us are children of illegal immigrants, how many of us “didn’t come here the ‘right’ way.” Besides we are all to be as “aliens and strangers in the world” (2 Pet. 2:11) anyway. So it ought to give us some empathy to those who find themselves demeaned, mistreated, and dehumanized for being labeled as such today. “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34). To that I must ask myself, why aren’t Evangelicals trying to pass this verse from Leviticus into legislation as adamantly as they are certain other passages?