Mountains

"Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said."

Caleb to Joshua on re-entry to the promised land. Joshua 14:12

Nutella running

I would like to be like my brother (who is in Medical school, and goes barefoot running !). I highly recommend reading this blog.

The unfortunate truth however...

... is that i'm a dedicated comfort-lover.

This is a shout out to those of you who, like myself, aspire to hard-coreness -- but are hopeless Nutellaphiles. Try Vibram 5-fingers!

Bread & Break

The bread turned out OK. I should have baked it a bit longer: the bottom half was a bit soggy. Also need to tweak my poolish schedule ...

Just got back from an incredible field trip to South Georgia and Florida with Vertebrate Natural History over Mid-Term Break. Will hopefully post more pictures later!

which is to be master?

Taken from Through the Looking Glass -- Ch. 6 , Lewis Carroll

" ...and that shows that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents --'

`Certainly,' said Alice.

`And only one for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!'

`I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'

`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.'

the icecream truck

On Knowing

Thoughts on knowing:

Microscope for freedom.

Telescope for people.

Death for life.

Tactical surrender for God.

God for joy.

Welcome to a Mac

Sleeping Sickness

Trypanosoma brucei : African Sleeping Sickness

Symptoms: Sore develops at the site of a fly bite -- heals after 1-2 weeks. Swollen lymph nodes -- neck, groin, legs. Winterbottom's sign (swollen cervical lymph node) is diagnostic. Intermittent fever, pain, weakness, cramps.

T. gambiense sp. : Chronic form -- central nervous system involvement, apathy, mental dullness, lack of coordination, tremors of hand/ tongue / trunk, changes in personality.

T. rhodesiense sp. : Acute form -- rapid weight loss, heart is affected, no extensive nervous disease (nervous system is invaded, but individual dies before manifestation of nervous system pathology), death occurs in months.

John Bunyan writes in Pilgrim's Progress about an "enchanted land" -- in which the pilgrims fight off extreme drowsiness on their way to the celestial city. I was struck (as I studied the above parasite) by the spiritual parallels. One of the most dangerous parasites -- one which can kill a person within months -- is one which literally makes them fall asleep.

I have found that fighting off spiritual stupor is a daily battle. I believe we're close to the promised land. Treatment for Trypanosoma brucei is very harsh -- and eukaryotic targets are difficult to treat differentially: what's hard on T. brucei is hard on us. The apostle Paul describes the treatment for spiritual sleeping sickness in Romans; it is so harsh it's lethal. Thankfully, God is more than able to recreate those He has redeemed into a newness of life that is fully centered in each moment.

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Ephesians 5:14

Here's a hodgepodge of pictures from the past week or so.

Gee Creek: Sabbath P.M. hike

Bird Banding at Whig meadows with Dave Voigt et al.

Reflections at Gee Creek

My lovely girlfriend!

Blue-ridge two-line Salamander: Biology trail

VNH!

Coming back from Indian Boundary Lake camping trip: L-R: me, martina, katie, josie.

modeling thought

East and West are both wrong. Or perhaps... both right.

Dating : MLH !

Martina agreed to start dating me this Sabbath morning. I'm a very fortunate man.

Praise God!

Goals:

1. Develop a strong friendship, centered on God.

2. Focus on outreach, not introspection.

3. Keep it simple and joyful.

The Slug

The Slug, he sat, and watched,

wept dry to see

his life.

His life, was crushed, and botched

for life sets free

The Slug.

The bier, was still, and nigh,

swept wet, too green

this death.

This death, too fast, and high

The bier.

The grass, it grew, some how,

poked sky, so grey

for God.

For God, wrought -- he thought-- now

The grass.

God ran, to help, his friend,

wept wet, to see

The Slug.

The Slug, sat crushed, at end

God ran.

The Slug, and God, they met,

at bier, to see

this Joy.

This Joy, is ours, is set,

for death set free

I am.

Conasauga

We just returned from our second field trip for Vertebrate Natural History. VNH is definitely my favorite class of the semester, and may become my favorite class of college. Today, we went snorkeling in the Conasauga river to look at fish. Last week, we canoed to Nickajack cave to watch (approx.) 80,000 bats swarm out to feed as the sun went down.

The class itself is incredible. I enjoy the group of friends in the class even more.

Synthesis

Romans 2-3

Justified by Grace

Judged by Deeds

Laurel Falls

My semester has started VERY well! I am especially enjoying Vertebrate Natural History, and working in the Garden.

Sabbath P.M. I went with a group of friends to Laurel Falls. Here are a few pictures!