Author: Caroline

When I'm not riding in the backseat of my Grandpa's restored vintage car "Mable," I'm doing other things like... rising to most adventure occasions my husband proposes / chasing our toddler around Brooklyn / enjoying neighbors, strangers, and friends / making countless trips to the laundromat / writing for various publications and for personal reflection / loving and serving our local church / cleaning the bathroom / hosting small and big crowds in our home / meeting up with a friend for coffee / thinking Vocation is my strange frenemy. Though I have worked and existed in many stations/places, I am convinced that each day has good work to be done and that I am equipped and prepared to do that good work. This blog explores the tension and the intersection of a constant vocational call - to good work, neighbor love, and living in the kingdom come. My favorite things are coffee and creating and laughing (preferably with company). I love to listen to sermons and read biographies and make tea before going to bed.

classically inclined, a book club

Some may have already endured my excitement about the newest endeavor, but I’ll try to sum it up.

Awhile ago my friend Jared (also developer of Wi-Fam) started pursuing the idea that highest quality should not always be completely separate from “Christian.” Actually, he came to a quite opposite conclusion. Like others before him (among them Lewis and Schaeffer), Jared is convinced that Christians should be able to use their gifts at the highest level without compromising their love for God.

Jared did not have a vision for this idea to make ripples within Christian circles… no, Jared’s vision was way bigger than even himself. He wanted talented artists and intellectuals to have a space to bring God the highest glory by doing the best work. This space became the Renascence Project.

I say all that as an introduction, because just about a month ago I had an idea about what I could contribute to this space called the Renascence Project. Now, I get ideas a lot, but this idea seemed bigger than most. I guess it came two-fold: 1. creating a website with my sister to bring together art and intellect and 2. to create a book club

I’m jumping to number 2. The vision… the really big vision may not make a whole lot of sense right now. So, here’s the important part: I love books. A perfect day is curled up with a big, fat novel, a hot cup of tea, and any kind of weather.

I find myself drawn consistently to ‘classic’ literature (though I never took any courses), but I can’t quite shake the thought that I am missing out on a most essential part. I just finished the book “The Idiot” awhile back and was sad to see such a brilliant book given so little of my time. I really believe that so much about understanding literature is processing it with others.

So, to fill the post-college void of discussion groups and challenging conversations, I (with the help of an enthused handful of Austinites) have formed classically inclined, a book club! This club will be many things, but first we will be a group of people who want to read and discover together.

This isn’t a class, nor is it highly structured. The main goal is to use the minds God gave us and challenge ourselves through literature. We will read several books from classic authors to give us an understanding of both the writer’s perspective and common themes. We also hope to vary the books with short stories and films.

We are beginning with George Orwell and his book “Animal Farm.” Here is a tidbit:

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.”
– George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 1

I realize ‘classically inclined’ sounds ridiculous, but I’m severely ordinary when it comes to these matters and so I choose to be absurdly so. We’ll see how it goes over.

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Caroline 0

zonked and getting older

Man. I didn’t realize how many muscles a good game of ultimate frisbee really required. I was made fully aware this morning when I woke up to sore back, legs, arms, and abs. Yesterday, I celebrated Amy’s birthday at the park and we ended with a rousing game of ultimate frisbee.

Apparently, I felt like I had to show off some sweet catch-and-dive, reach-and-split, tuck-and-roll moves. I definitely didn’t think I’d be using the phrase, “I’m too old for this,” quite so fast!

Now, I can take this one of two ways: 1. I think I’m ‘over’ competitive physical activities or 2. Competitive physical activities should be the rule and not the exception. I guess you should ask me tomorrow when I have to walk again.

It’s been a rough couple of days, with many goodbyes on the horizon. But, as my dear friend Grace tells me, it just means there will be more hellos.

apologies for no posts… I have been, well, severely otherwise engaged.

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Caroline 0

Expelled

Here’s a shameless plug for a film that’s got me interested. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed stars Ben Stein (of “Bueller, Bueller?” fame), who “blows the horn” on the suppression of creation views in academia.

The sub-heading reads, “Big Science has expelled smart new ideas from the classroom. What they forgot is that every generation has its rebel…”

Like I said, I’m interested. My hopes for quality films from conscious producers have been dashed many times, but I am willing to try once again.

I speak with a lot of college students… I guess you could say it’s my job right now…. and, well, I am overwhelmed at what they are asked to consider fact. I hope this film dispels some of those myths.

Check it out – theaters April 18th. Be interested at least.

Here’s a little warm-up. A youtube video on atheism.

Posted on April 17, 2008October 6, 2010 by Caroline 0

"SCIENCE IS MY GOD"

I was pulling out of the parking lot with glazed, occupied eyes when I saw this bumper sticker in a series on the back of a jade green Honda Civic.

SCIENCE IS MY GOD

The sticker stuck beside another, which read

I’m a tree-hugging, dirt worshipper

I thought in layers and examined the silence between my steering wheel and the bumper ahead. What response have we? What discourse?

I found an extensive, intelligent response from Philip Vander Elst over at the bethinking.org resources website.

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Caroline 0

my outside weeps, too

Tonight, after hosting the first inaugural Community Appreciation Dinner, I was walking back with one of my favorite students. She is a joy; she is sunshine. I was burdened with bags and boxes, but somehow mentioned Bible study as my next destination.

“You’re going there right now?” she said.
“Yes! You should come… do you want to come?” I asked.
“Oh, I have to write a paper for tomorrow. Shoot. Is it every Monday? What about next week?” she asked.
“Yes, it will be next week. Man! I can’t believe I haven’t asked you before!” I said.

And that was it. I made it to Bible study, unfashionably late, and looked at the scribbles on over-sized post-it notes. “Creation, Fall, Redemption, Our Response” it said.

The tears came – outside tears this time. I had just shared with my 6th grade girls on Friday that the most selfish thing we can do with the Gospel is to keep it to ourselves.

And what a fool I’ve been! These aren’t just words in Romans and John and 1 Peter. These words – these scribbles – are LIFE. God have mercy on me when I make life about less than the Gospel! A whole semester and only now the invitation is an outward, open gesture.

Lots of outward tears this time. Weeping for those without life.

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Caroline 0

art fairs and the greatest inheritance

It seems a week since I woke this morning! I woke up for morning church, greeted by the bright sun. I have been carpooling with my beautiful neighbor and her children Ingrid and Oliver. This Sunday was special because Bernardo, her husband, joined us.

We studied James 1:2-8 and praise the Lord! Afterward, Bernardo had so many questions about the pastors, the prayers, and the real-life application. I was praising God all the time for His tearing the curtain and allowing us to come into community with Him. How beautiful and glorious and dreadfully undeserved! But, every time I explain or hear our salvation my inside weeps with joy.

After church we decided to check out an art fair downtown and it turned into an afternoon event! We perused the artist’s tents lining the streets and lingered to stare at creativity in color and form. My mind wandered, danced across the poses of pain and pretense. I know little of art, except that my soul seems to sense beauty as it reflects my Savior… when I see before me a new window opened to breathe in even more of my Creator.

Yet, as I listened in the Gathering service, I settled down slowly, as a feather falls. Looking about I saw these gifts and reflections fall solidly in the periphery. My heart stretched toward the small gate on the narrow road because this is LIFE. Everything else – absolutely everything – is penultimate. Though beautiful reflections are indeed signs of an even greater and more glorious Creator, they are still merely signs. Every gift points not to itself, but to its GIVER. And how much MORE wonderful must the GIVER be to give such gifts?

Through the perfect sacrifice of Christ, we have been given an inheritance greater than any gift earth could ever hold. We have been given GOD. When I heard this tonight, all the gratitude and awe redirected to its rightful place, whirled up in exaltation to a throne on high where my Savior resides.

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Caroline 0

One Hen

This is the story of how one hen changed the life of a small boy, his family, his community, his country, and West Africa. The story of one hen. I shared this with my Student Service Council students this past Friday to help create a vision for next year… to challenge them (and mindself) to continuously stretch our idea of community and humanity outside borders. Did you ever think microfinance would make it into a children’s book? I certainly did not!

Well, last night after the 3-hour meeting with the Student Service Council I literally ran to the store to pick up a few things before jetting home to have a few minutes to breathe before the wonderful 6th grade girls started showing up. That’s right. We had a slumber party! I haven’t been around such screaming and laughing since, well, since I was their age. It was a headache easily endured for the sweetness of this dear group.

This morning we made cinnamon apple pancakes from scratch and they were delicious! I finally got everyone off in time to take a shower and meet up with my friend Joy, who was hosting a tea party for her birthday.

I. am. exhausted.

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Caroline 0

into the wild

Where to start? I can only say that as I flipped through the pages of this truly journalistic endeavor last January, I found (as many will and have) that place in my bones that thirsts for this freedom.

This book, Into the Wild, was written about a young man, Chris McCandless. This young man grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Virginia with parents whose lives succumbed to the ‘dream’ which kept them working into the morning when they would wake to start again. This young man seemed to develop at a young age a distaste for the unnecessary and a hunger for the most raw qualities of life. Only at his parents insistence did he consent to go to college, where he continued his pursuit of life in its mystical, raw form. But, after college he decided to adventure. An adventure (as I have gathered) about which many fantasize and few find.

It seems like Chris’ purpose was more in getting lost in adventure than finding anything at all. I got caught up in the intrigue, the shock of decisions that thrust a fist at culture – at norms and white picket fences. Intrigued… but sadly stirred by each desperate page of Chris’ story.

You see, at the end of it all, Chris McCandless found death in his adventure’s end in Alaska. The brilliant works of Tolstoy and Thoreau his only companions, this young man disappeared from this world.

Don’t we all wish we could ask him now, “Was it worth your life to go into the wild?” … but I would want to know, “Was it worth souls?” Granted, I have no idea the condition of Chris’ heart when he died. But, I would still want to know if he felt like his life happened for a reason beyond his desire to live it.

When we decide to give up everything for adventure – to live in the rawest form of life we can find – we are still no closer to true life. Unless… well, unless you purpose yourself into the wild for the sake of something greater than yourself.

For the sake of the Gospel, perhaps?

Posted on April 11, 2008October 6, 2010 by Caroline 0

MUSINGS IN THE MIDST

a study in good work, neighbor love, and kingdom come