Jeremy's World

“Wow, JD, your last blog post was back in July ‘07.  What’s up with that?”

I heeded some sage advice from someone I trust and hold in very high regard (my wife) during my recent job search and disabled my blog.  Why?  Her thinking was that if I was interviewing at some conservative/old school company and they read my blog posts where I lament about the problems with the search or frustrations with my work it might reflect as a weakness on me.  Would it?  Really?  I don’t know.  But, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Well, I now have a new job that is an amazing fit and is with a technically progressive organization: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  I would tend to think my blog (if anyone stumbled upon it) wouldn’t cause me problems there.  It’s not like I bash my employers or anything, and I like to think higher education institutions will be pretty hip to the free speech thing.  Besides, I moaned and complained much more about my job hunt saga on Facebook and everyone in my network could read that (oops on the privacy settings).

So my blog is back, and I hope to be writing again soon for both of the people who sometimes check in on my blog.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt.  Ever heard of it?  It tends to creep in with me during certain seasons of, well, fear, uncertainty or doubt.  Right now that FUD for me is my professional life.  My career is in flux right now and that can be pretty scary.  I thought I would have found the right position by now but I haven’t.  FUD.  “Did I really screw up leaving my last position in search of a good fit?”  “Will I find a better fit in this market?”  “What if there’s a gap…How will I pay the mortgage and feed my family?”  FUD.

But, that FUD seems to permeate other parts of my life with me.  If I’m facing it in one area, for some reason I begin questioning things even more.  God, faith, church, religion in general are usually the victims.

My latest doubt revolves around Biblical accuracy (again) and the nature of God (again).  I was watching a show on History International the other day covering historical Egypt.  They were finding and exhuming corpses that were reliably dated as being from around 3000 BC.  That’s certainly possible, even for Biblical literalists who scoff at the millions-of-years determinations by carbon dating.  So, these Egyptian people died in the middle of regular Old Testament times, right?  Here’s the rub…They mentioned one who died at “about 52 years of age, a relatively advanced age for that time.”  Contrast that with Biblical accounts of people living hundreds of years right around the corner from Egypt?  Smells funny to me.  And, the shorter lifespan version is more logical to me, and there is archeological proof.  Not so much with stories about Methuselah.  Why trust the Bible?

The nature of God…We’re beginning a new series this week at church called “Prayer (a quick-start guide).  In Christian circles (or other faiths, I imagine) I constantly hear, “I’ll pray for you about X” and “Prayer really is a powerful thing.”  I’m hearing that a lot with my job hunt and also with some potential family matters we are facing.  But does that matter?  I mean, is the nature of God such that he will make up his mind and act based on what people pray about?  Is he sitting there saying, “I know JD is looking for a job that’s the right fit…I’ll point him to it if enough people pray for it.”  Or, “I’d show JD the path to the right job but I have to hear the words from him.”  Does that sound like an all-knowing, all-powerful God to you?

I’m not buying it.  If God is an active participant in our lives (and I’m not convinced he is), is he really swayed by what we say?  Is thinking it the same as saying it?  Will he only act in our best interests if we ask him for it?  But I thought God always acts according to “his will.”  So…my prayers wouldn’t really impact anything if he’s going to act in his will anyway, right?  If that’s the case, then what’s the point of prayer?

I’ll let y’all know if they run me out of my church. 

Wouldn’t life be much simpler if we just accepted everything we have been taught and didn’t ask questions? Ah, but no. If you’ve read my blog you’ve seen that in addition to ramblings about music and sports, I have been periodically writing about my spiritual journey.

I met a cool guy last week who replied to my “Christian *In*clusivity” post with some interesting thoughts. One in particular was that my line of thinking reminded him of the faith in which he was raised: Baha’i.

I had read a bit about Baha’i once before and it seemed pretty compelling. But, having come out of Islam, well, my Christian background won over and I rejected it outright because of that. Silly, but true (and probably WAY more common than you would think). But, it’s continued to gnaw at me a bit and I’ve been reading some more. The basic principles & beliefs include:

• Unity in God (a monotheistic God)
• Unity of Religion
• Unity of humankind
• Gender equality
• Elimination of all forms of prejudice
• World peace (duh)
• Harmony of religion and science
• Independent investigation of truth
• Universal compulsory education
• Universal auxiliary language
• Obedience to government and non-involvement in partisan politics
• Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty

Like anything, I suppose some items may resonate better than others, and this is no exception for me. I’m not big on having to learn some new universal language, for example, nor do I think that’s necessary for effective faith communication. But at the heart of things, I see 3 basic repeating themes, all of which I can get behind: Unity, Equality, and Universality (is that a word?). Who can argue with that?

Continue reading…

I read late last night that one of Steven Curtis Chapman‘s daughters was killed yesterday. Little 5-year old Maria was hit by a family car driven by one of her older brothers.

Steven Curtis Chapman has probably been the single largest influence on me in the Christian music genre. An absolutely amazing songwriter, singer and guitar player, his lyrics and songs touch my heart more than those of any other. And now he and his wife, Mary Beth, are coping with one of the most difficult pains a parent can have.

The gut-wrenching coincidence in this is that his big hit right now is a song called Cinderella, a song about a daddy dancing with his princess daughter from childhood through her wedding. I even posted about this song in October as it brought out some pretty strong emotions for me in listening to it. And now the Chapman family has this tragedy.

Whether prayer is something divine or as Jennifer says, may be more for us than for God, right now would be a terrific time to pray for comfort and healing for the Chapmans.

Despite identifying as a Christian for most of my life, there are a few questions about faith, God and Christianity that I don’t have good answers for. As a kid and young adult, “God is bigger than us so we can’t always understand him” was an adequate response. For the skeptic in me, that is weak and insufficient.

I can manage with the argument of not being able to prove God exists. I’ve come to terms with the whole “Jesus-is-the-only-way” thing (I’ve written about that before here and here). But this is still troubling, and it isn’t a new question. Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (not David Hume, who I originally attributed this to) summed up the question very well with:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

I can’t answer that well.  Ugh.

Ok, it’s been forever since I’ve written anything. And now, all I have is to share this kick-ass picture of Rob at a recent gig. Almost makes me have a man-crush on him…He does have a purdy mouth.

We love you and know you are in a better place with Grandma now.

 
Wayne Eldred Colglazier
January 4, 1926 – March 6, 2008

Wayne E. Colglazier, 82, of Mount Vernon, WA died peacefully Thursday, March 6, 2008 of respiratory illness at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, CA.  Wayne had family at his side when he went to be with his Lord.

He was born January 4, 1926 to Jesse and Helen Colglazier in Farmersburg, IN.  His mother passed away when he was young, and he was raised by his father and his mother’s sister, Delphia.

Wayne and his wife, Shirley K. Colglazier, lived in Washington state most of their adult lives.  After marrying on April 6, 1946 in Seattle, WA, they lived in the Seattle area, Skagit County, and the Yakima area before retiring and traveling the US for 12 years.  After completing their travels, having visited all 50 states, they lived in Redding, CA for 6 years before returning to Mount Vernon, WA in 2003.

Wayne proudly served in the US Navy during WWII, assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS Essex in the Pacific.  After the war, he worked as a Seattle area transit driver.  Following his passion for caring for people – a passion he shared with his wife, Shirley – Wayne then worked at Northern State Hospital in Sedro Woolley, WA and Yakima Valley School in Selah, WA caring for and nurturing physically and mentally challenged children.

He will be remembered most for his care of and dedication to his family.  Wayne was the father of five and was always proud of his kids’ achievements.  He was very dedicated to his Christian faith, active in his church community, and was always good for a deep, passionate conversation on religious and political topics.  Wayne loved the adventure of meeting new people through his hobby as a ham radio enthusiast, known by his call letters K7RKR.  He was also a model train enthusiast and held a private pilot’s license.  Wayne also loved history and relished the time he and Shirley traveled throughout the US.  He is remembered by many in his family and community as a truly good man who loved his family.

Wayne is preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Shirley, a brother and two sisters.  He is survived by two brothers, Wendell and Nelson, and his 5 children and their spouses: Doug & Kathy Colglazier, Debbie & Sherley Buchanan, Brenda Chesnut, Brad & Shelly Colglazier and Scott Colglazier & Pauline McKenzie; 15 grandchildren and their spouses: Jeff & Gina, David & Jody, Joey Colglazier, Amanda & Chris Raymor, Daryl & Shinni, Jesse, Jayme, Chelsie, Deriane, Katlynn Colglazier, Shelley & Matthew Janes, James & Jessica Buchanan, Bradley & Crystal Buchanan, Jeremy & Jennifer Davis and Andrea Chesnut & Christopher Behnke; and 21 great-grandchildren: Levi, Camille, Annalise, Kellen, Tyler and Rio Colglazier, Sarah, Khalie, Rhiley, Matheline and Molleigh Janes, Jayme, Ray, Lily, Jolia and Isabella Buchanan, Emily Davis, Christopher, Faith and Destiny Behnke, Kristopher Kintner and several beloved nieces and nephews.  He is also survived by Jody Colglazier-Wolff, Tammy Colglazier and Mack Davis.  Both Wayne and Shirley were also especially close to Chance and Charlie McKenzie.

Honoring Wayne’s wishes, the family will not be holding a public funeral service.  A private family celebration of Wayne’s life was held.  Inurnment will take place at Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, WA.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Wayne’s name to a charity of your choosing.  Arrangements by Kern Funeral Home in Mount Vernon, WA and Allen & Dahl Funeral Chapel in Redding, CA.

Both of you who read my blog know that I play drums in my church worship team.  I enjoy it and sometimes sing (though I drum better than I sing which isn’t saying much).  I was recently made aware of some feedback on our music.

"The band is really great.  But all you do are songs written in the 90′s."

Certainly that can’t be true, right?  It’s not really true.  We do a lot of Chris Tomlin, Tim Hughes, etc. stuff written in the early 2000′s.  But I guess because it’s done so much it just feels old?  Well, and of course those are mixed in with the "Trading My Sorrows" and "Better is One Day" classics.

So last night I stayed up scouring for good worship music written within the last couple of years.  That proved to be a bit of a waste of time.  See, there is a big difference in "good Christian music" and "good worship music."  So much of what I found (and listen to) like Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Building 429, Kutless, etc. have some really great songs.  But, they just aren’t worship songs.  Performance?  Yes.  Worship?  No.

Sadly it seems that good worship music generally has repetitive sections and few, repeated phrases so that they are "easy" to sing.  A lot of Hillsong, Matt Redman and other "usuals" are exactly that.  So what is a worship team looking for something fresh, new and contemporary to do?

Interestingly, nobody seems to have a good answer.  There are a few gems that will come out (and as mentioned above, "all in the 90′s" is an exaggeration) but for the most part, churches who actually report to CCLI on what they are using in church are doing "the usuals."  (No, the irony of me swiping the CCLI logo from their website without express, written consent is not lost on me)

The February top 25:

1. How Great Is Our God
2. Blessed Be Your Name
3. Here I Am To Worship
4. Open The Eyes Of My Hear…
5. Shout To The Lord
6. Holy Is The Lord
7. You Are My King
8. Forever
9. Lord I Lift Your Name On…
10. Come Now Is The Time To …
11. God Of Wonders
12. Everlasting God
13. You Are My All In All
14. We Fall Down
15. The Heart Of Worship
16. You’re Worthy Of My Praise
17. Breathe
18. Trading My Sorrows
19. Beautiful One
20. In Christ Alone
21. I Give You My Heart
22. Days Of Elijah
23. Friend Of God
24. Better Is One Day
25. Above All

Yep.  "The usuals." (and I’m too lazy to link them all for your listening pleasure)

That said, Jennifer’s insight last night was, "Yeah, we’re used to them, but that’s part of what makes them good worship songs.  I want to be able to close my eyes and know the words or be able to catch on the words after one or two times through."

Is familiarity the enemy of creativity?  Or, is it simply a matter of preference?

Have you ever seen the CBS show "NUMB3RS?"  It’s kind of fun – FBI agent solving murders who has a math-geek-university-professor brother.  The math guy applies all of his seemingly superhuman understanding of math, patterns, statistics, algorithms, etc. to find things that otherwise would not have been seen using "pure" police science.  Yeah, it’s often silly but can be entertaining.

I came across the reverse tonight.  Netflix is hosting a contest for people to come up with a movie recommendation system that is 10% better than the one they currently use.  I think it’s brilliant on their part to get ingenious output from people for a relatively low price ($1 million prize) in a method the article calls "crowdsourcing" (very clever).  Anyway, if you can make it through the 4 pages, it’s an interesting read on how a psychologist is applying human psychology to the problem rather than "just" mathematics and computer science…with astonishing results.  Read it from Wired Magazine.

So, I posted a few days back about how I don’t "get" Twitter.  Let me clarify…I understand what it does and the technology behind it.  What I don’t get is WHY?  I’m a technology nut but man, who has time for this?

That said, I decided to dip my toe in the water and I signed up.  My goal is to "meet" people who fall into the category of caring about kids from preschool age to 3rd grade.  That’s the age group we’re focusing on at work for a new product we’re incubating, so I hope to see if I can build relationships and conversation with people close to those kids.

My predictions on the subject:

1. Between email, IM, office phone, cell phone, MySpace for the band and well, "real" work, I’ll discover I don’t have time for this.
2. I will jump too quickly into trying to spark professional conversations that people will be turned off thinking I’m doing it just to "get something" out of it.
3. More conversation on my Twitter list will be social in nature and not really valuable from a purely professional perspective.
4. I won’t get over the cheesy vernacular associated with it ("Tweets", "Twitterverse", "Tweople").

We’ll see how it turns out.  If you’re interested in my progress, follow me on Twitter: @jeremymdavis.