SET YOUR HEART ON APILGRIMAGE INTO THE GLORIOUSFUTURE GOD HAS FOR YOU.

Facebook Post--May 26, 2013 "But Mary treasured up all these things and PONDERED them in her heart." Luke 2:19 NIV. 'Pondered'--I love that word. I love the look on the face of a pondering child. I love the words from the mouth of a pondering grown-up. Isn't it interesting that God chose a pondering heart in which to do such a mighty work? Is His Spirit searching the face of this earth right now for a pondering heart in which to do some mighty work? I suspect so. Could He do a mighty work in my pondering heart? I hope so. I need Him to. My God pondering goes on. Is that part of what God uses to see us through the heartbreaks of our lives--the ordinary? Is that how He brings peace and joy to a "peace and joy" starved heart--through the ordinary? Does He put us in a place, after putting us in THE PLACE where we can do something marvelous that we could never imagine of ourselves? I wonder how often Mary pondered the question: Why is this happening to me? Oh what a gift--a pondering heart. This is my story--my ponderings in script--my journey from the wilderness of an empty, pain-filled heart to the wonder even in the pain when I ponder the majesty of God, the mystery of God, and the mercy of God. Do come and ponder with me

In these several pieces I have worked to trace out possible interfaces between specific scripture references and matters at the forefront of our common social life. It is my hunch that, almost without fail, such an interface creates a very different angle of vision for any element of our common social life, because it situates such a topic in the context of the biblical narrative that is occupied by the holy agency of God. Such an alternative angle of vision helps to defamiliarize us from our usual discernment according to the master narrative of democratic capitalism that is most widely shared across the spectrum of conservatives and progressives. Because our common angle of vision shared by progressives and conservatives has a very low ceiling of human ultimacy, we (all of us!) easily come to think that our particular reading of social reality is absolute and beyond question, even if dominated by a tacit ideology. It is my bet that an interface with biblical testimony can and will deabsolutize our excessive certitude and permit us to look again at the social “facts” that are in front of us. I do not think and do not suggest that such interfaces with scripture are inevitable; they are rather suggestive, impressionistic, and fleeting, the kind of linkage that is available in the matrix of faith that is not fixed on certitude.

Committee Serial No. 12. Considers S. 174, and similar bills, to establish the National Wilderness Preservation System. Hearings were held in McCall, Idaho.

The Wilderness Within is a series of true adventures that decsribes man's journey into God's natural world. Author David Swendsen, having serves 21 years as a special agent for the Department of interior, amazes, edifies, and rewards readers; describing actual experiences and comic episodes that occured during his career as he dealt with all kinds of humans as they experienced their trips into Nature's outdoors. These actual wilderness journeys tell us of the interconnecting saga of all life on this planet. the author vividly describes some of the strange animal antics experienced; such as a loon that thought he was a fish, and a bass that flew out of water. When humans violate outdoor regulations, all their antics can backfire on them. Swendsen tells about the illegal hunter whose sweaty hads did him in, and the fellow officer who expected, and got, "special" treatment. To apprehend hardcore violators, the author says, "we win some, lose some", as he describes how dead fish can swim and how he is outrun by an old, habitual violator. Priceless deputies include fellow fish and game personnel, such as forest ranger Major (the real first name) Mellen and his 90 pound black lab Midnight.