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?

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

During this Christmas season, it seems appropriate to share about our final day in New York City when we visited the United Nations. I know many people have mixed feelings about the UN and its usefulness, but during the tour of the headquarters I was overwhelmed by the vision for peace that abounded throughout the placed. Of course, this is positive vision for humanity is a long way off, perhaps too idealistic to some, and has been thwarted even by some UN efforts, but the redemptive – and biblical – vision still exists there nonetheless.

As we walked to the building, we came across a wall with an engraving of a famous verse from Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” A few steps further in front of the entrance, we saw a statute of a revolver with its barrel tied into a knot, symbolizing what Isaiah’s vision might look like in our modern world of warfare. This is the vision of peace all Creation groans for, that our hearts mourn for with words that cannot be expressed (cf. Romans 8).

Inside the United Nations, we observed many pictures and works of art as well as plaques explaining the UN’s work on various aspects of justice throughout the world, problems that go beyond borders – like water conservation, AIDS, malaria, caring for endangered species, addressing the issue of youth soldiers, global warming, and a host of environmental issues. I was struck by one particular quote that I read:

“Protection of the environment is often treated as a low-priority issue when compared with more immediate concerns, such as domestic security or the economy. But a healthy environment is not a luxury – it is a prerequisite for human health. The rise of emerging or resurging infectious diseases threatens not only humans – and their food supplies and economies – but also the wildlife comprising the biodiversity that supports the infrastructure of our world.”

A healthy environment is not a luxury but a prerequisite. It’s a simple distinction in one’s thinking that has dramatic consequences, much like believing that education or health care are not simply nice advantages but basic human rights we are obligated to impart.

At the beginning of the tour – which included participants from Brazil, Germany, Finland, and France as well as our guide who was from Gambia – we were introduced to a wall of artistic inscriptions of the dozens of articles that comprise the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some of these include:

- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
- Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.
- Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
- Everyone has the right to education.
- All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection from the law.
- Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

I was impressed by the fact that all of these, and the many others that were listed, could find support from Scripture. Even more, I was convicted by the observation that the last three that I mentioned have been blatantly ignored by the U.S. in its treatment of U.S. citizens who happen to be Muslim who have been blacklisted since 9/11 as well as the horrible stories heard from Guantanamo Bay.

Next, we were taken to an area that talked about the trillion dollars being spent on weaponry in the world each year, the effects of nuclear weapons (aka the atomic bomb), and the serious problem of landmines throughout 1/3 of the world that mostly kill civilians (mostly children). In an act of resistance, perhaps we should turn our machine guns into… electric guitars.

We were then brought into the general assembly where preparations were being made for a session (had it been going on, we would’ve been forbidden to take pictures). Afterwards, we were led through a hallway of pictures of unidentifiable children separated from their families after war, pictures of the first meetings of the UN in the 1940s, and back out into an atrium where several works of art donated from various countries were on display. Finally, our guide explained to us an exhibit regarding the issue of Palestine, which the UN has been trying to address since the 1940s. To this day, there exist almost 4.5 million Palestinians living in nearly 60 refugee camps throughout the Middle East, people with no place to lay their head and call home until peace is made with Israel.

And so today, despite the UN's many efforts, we wait for that day when peace is made with Israel, when Rachel will no longer weep for her children and refuse to be comforted. We wait for the baby refugee born in a manger, for the Son of man who had no place to lay his head, for that lover of orphans and widows and aliens to come. We wait for him who will turn our military budget into a plan to feed the hungry and will offer a table for those poor, huddled masses rejected by our immigration laws. But we have more to do than just wait. We wait in hope for a promise already put into action. The spirit of Christmas lives in us. We are God's ambassadors - not to the UN, but to the world. God is making his appeal of peace and reconciliation through us (2 Cor 5:19). Creation groans waiting for the sons of God - that's us - to be revealed. Creation waits for us to act (Rom 8), which reveals that the correct contextual translation of Romans 8:28 is this: “And we know that he [the Spirit] works together with those who love God – those who have been called for the purpose of his plan – to bring all things into good.” May you work with the Spirit this new year to bring about peace and good in God's beloved earth.

Times Square the Sunday Before Christmas

Yesterday, we traveled down to Midtown Manhattan after waiting out the second snowstorm of the weekend. Our first stop was the world famous eight-story Macy's building on 34th Street. After braving the insanely crowded first floor, which staffs more security guards and perfume sales ladies than most malls' entire employee rolls, we traveled up to the eighth story to get a glimpse of Santa land. We didn't actually go through the entire wait to see Santa, but it did look like a neat experience. The window displays on the sidewalk outside of Macy's were just as good as the hype, but with all the reflection coming from the windows, it is impossible to get a good picture of them.

From there, we walked NE on Broadway past the Empire State Building to the frenetic lights and signs of Times Square. We went into a Hershey's chocolate where everything was way overpriced. We also went into one amazing - though horrendously crowded - Toys 'R Us that had a full-sized ferris wheel inside, an electronic T-Rex from Jurassic Park, and several large replica buildings made out of Legos.

Afterwards, we walked by the Radio City Music Hall to the Rockefeller Center, NBC studios and the well-known ice skating rink and ginormous Christmas tree. The area was, not surprisingly, very crowded. And after braving the crowds this long, we were ready to go back to the apartment.

Lady Liberty, Mother of Exiles

Well, it was supposed to be sunny and in the 40s over the course of the weekend here in NYC, but alas, we've been given a weekend full of snow and cold winds. Nevertheless, our first day in the Big Apple included a train ride from our apartment in the Bronx to the famous Grand Central Station, where we saw a Christmas tree covered with 40 Aquos digital flat-screen TVs (there was a drawing for them, and Beckie entered all of us into it). From there, we figured out how to get on the subway to head down to Lower Manhattan where we walked around the building construction site for the new World Trade Center (which isn't much to look at as of now), the Dow Jones Building, the American Stock Exchange, the now famous Fire Department next to the WTC, and many other famous buildings we've often heard of but never seen. There was a moving memorial to the many firemen who lost their lives in 9/11 along with a Christmas tree full of ornaments with the pictures of the firefighters who died.

At the end of our walk, we came to the bottom of Lower Manhattan at Battery Park where the ferry leaves for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There, we saw men dressed up as Lady Liberty (does that qualify as cross-dressing?) with tourists getting their picture taken with them. In line for the ferry, we went through airport like security and had to remove all our layers of winter clothing, which we had to do all over again to go inside the Statue of Liberty monument (no one is allowed inside the actual statue anymore since 9/11, but I had the opportunity to climb those 300 steps eight years ago when I was here with my family). Inside the monument was a museum explaining the plans and process of building the statue, a chronology of the evolution of the symbolism the statue has undertaken (from being a symbol of progress and enlightenment, the subversive desire for liberty among the French people in the late 1800s, and a vision of freedom for the 14 million immigrants who came through Ellis Island from the late 1800s to 1924), and how the statute has been viewed in pop culture over the years. I was personally impressed by the vast amount of planning that was required to build the monument which was the tallest memorial of its kind for over 80s, as well as its inspiration which included the famed Colossus of Rhodes.

Our next ferry took us to Ellis Island, where over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry. I looked up my own family in the database and found a handful of Bahlers that came through Ellis Island from Switzerland in the late 1800s and early 1900s, one "Christian Bahler" who was most certainly a great-great grandfather of mine (there were about a dozen generations of "Christian Bahlers" in my family line). I was surprised to find out that Ellis Island stood desolate for several decades and wasn't turned into a museum until the late 80's. There still exist dozens of buildings on the island that are in disrepair with "no entry" signs over the boarded windows. I was also amazed by the evolution of the view of immigration that has occurred in America. In 1924, for instance, the "National Origins Act" limited immigration from outside the Western Hemisphere, thereby ensuring that the majority of immigrants to the United States were of European origin rather than from Asia or Africa. Then, in 1939, America refused entry to thousands of Jews trying to flee Nazi Germany. Many of these laws changed in the 1960s and so forth, but it is clear America has a long history of distaste for the "Other" when, ironically, nearly all of us were once immigrants to this land. Interestingly enough, while so many complain about the huge numbers of immigration going on today, it still pales in comparison to the amount of immigration that occurred during the early 1900s. During some years in the teens, over a million immigrants arrived to the American shorelines.

After Ellis Island, we walked back to the Subway, took a picture of the famous "Bull" that stood in front of Wall Street for many years, and then met our friends Ian & Kristy Laidlaw for dinner. After dinner at a great (and spicy) Indian restaurant, we took a long subway trip back to the Bronx. The trip was pretty much uneventful with the exception of one spooky transfer where we had go down steps to another level of the subway where the walls were peeling, the lights were dim, and the floors were extremely dingy.

Now, we're chilling in the room waiting for the snow and sleet to stop. Guess I need to sign off and go get dressed!

Our First Picture from New York

Yeah, that big blue dot - it followed us ALL THE WAY ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY, AND INTO NEW YORK CITY. Finally, after about eleven hours in the car, we made it to the Bronx. When I checked the weather at the beginning of the week, it was supposed to be in the low 40s all weekend.... ugh...

Cats, Car seats, Craig’s List, and Craziness

In my last post, I described how terribly sick I got last weekend. Well, it hasn’t let up entirely as of yet, which means I really am approaching “twelve days” of sickness! Indeed, I was just about getting over it – all that was left was a really annoying itch inside my throat – when, two nights ago, we went to my boss’s Christmas party. It just so happens she and her family have two cats. Amber and I are both allergic to cats, and it usually bothers her more than I. We had even been to their house before and it wasn’t a very big deal. Not this time. No joke, within five minutes of being in the house, I started sneezing and my nose didn’t let up for the entire duration of our visit. In fact, my head is still stuffy, and it feels like its going to explode at any moment. Not very fun, particularly given the fact that we’ll be walking around NYC over the next few days.

Last night, Amber and I went to check out an amazing find on Craig’s List to add to our growing list of baby stuff: a car seat. Now, I know what some of you’re thinking – you’re not supposed to buy used car seats – but first of all, it’s actually a baby carrier (infant car seat), so we’re only going to use it for about a year and we’re going to buy another car seat that’s convertible later on. The owner even showed us that it doesn’t expire until 2011 and it hasn’t been in a wreck. So, we got a Graco Snug Ride, which isn’t rated as high as a Graco Safe Seat or a Chicco Key Fit 30, but for only $25 (instead of paying $110-140) I’m not complaining! It is actually one we were thinking about our registry, whereas a lot of the other car seats on Craig’s List were pretty ugly or older. And, given that we both drive Honda Civics, we were happy to go with one that’s a bit smaller so it actually fits in the back seat. We also bought a co-sleeper off a Craig’s List a month ago and got a pretty good deal but not as great as this. Apparently, the lady was selling the car seat so cheap because she had twins and didn’t think she could get rid of both of them – the seats, although she did offer to sell one of the twins that was crying for $50. Obviously, that was a joke, but I think the kid started crying because he thought we were the babysitter and mom was going to leave because as soon as the mom said she wasn’t going anywhere he stopped – or maybe that was because she said she was going to sell him!

Oh yeah and the “craziness” – She asked Amber when she is due, and Amber replied, “In March.” The woman responded, “What day?” and Amber said, “March 21st” (at least that’s when we think she’s due). The woman exclaimed, “That was the day my twins were born.” Whoa, major bizarro. That is just creepy (Amber says it was cool and like a divine appointment). The odds… I’m still dumbstruck. I mean, we’ve had a dozen people or more who have March birthdays tell us we should try to have our kid on such and such a date (as if we have much control in that) so it would be on their birthday or anniversary or whatever, but to purchase a car seat from an absolute stranger and for her twins’ birth dates to be same as our due date is just amazing.

Anyways, in two days, we’ll be roaming the streets of NYC, watching people ice skate at Rockefeller center and looking at all the pretty Christmas decorations. Perhaps I’ll post some pictures in the coming posts.

The 12 Days of Sickness

It's beginning to look like people are ready to keel over and die everywhere you go. Take a look at the stress of work (or school), compounded by the Christmas search [for presents], and add to that the cold air and the snow - and well, it's beginning to look like flu season.

Anyways, it hit me pretty hard over the weekend, and I don't get sick very often. Thankfully, I had a three-day weekend to recover (gotta love going to a Catholic school that celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception!). What started out as a sore throat in the mornings turned in to an all-out war for my immunity system, including unending coughing throughout the night and that lovely goo that shuts your eyes shut by the time you've gotten out of bed (that reminds me, one time, when I was a little kid, I woke up and both of my eyes were sealed shut with eye boogers and I tried to feel my way to the bathroom. Needless to say, I smashed my forehead into the doorframe!).

Finally, I'm starting to feel better after a "witch's brew" including:

12 Ricola lozenges,
11 [more] Ricola lozenges (which just about finished off the bag),
10 Halls cough drops,
9 tablespoons of Theraflu (or 2/3s of a bottle),
8 [more] Halls cough drops,
7 [more] Halls cough drops,
6 Sudafed PE pills,
5 Mucinex tablets,
4 Vitamins,
3 Cups of tea,
2 Bowls of Chicken noodle soup (note to self, when you have a sore throat, don't add pepper to your soup),
And a trip to get a Douglas Fir Tree.

[Did I mention zero trips to the doctor??]

Thankfully, I had my papers all out of the way before all of this hit. Now, I just have a Latin final exam on Thursday morning (and I must say, its extremely difficult to study Latin while drugged up!). This semester has been a good one, although it didn't turn out entirely how I had expected. My two philosophy classes, Islamic Philosophy and African-American philosophy, were both very interesting although not exactly the subject matter I had assumed beforehand. Hopefully, in the coming days, I'll have the opportunity to share some year-end thoughts on the subjects that will be of value to whoever is out there reading this blog.

In other news, Amber and I crazy busy these days. If there's not a Christmas party we have to go to each night of the week, its something else. Last night, for instance, we had a "meet the Midwives" where we got a chance to ask question and get a tour of the hospital, so, whenever this baby is born I'll have some clue as to what to do when my wfe is in labor (I can see it now...). Tonight, we have a church leadership meeting, tomorrow a Christmas party at our house for our small group, and two parties on Saturday night! Somewhere in here I'm supposed to finish applying to PhD programs, do some Christmas shopping, and finish planning our pre-Christmas trip to NYC with Amber's parents. Whew!