Republican Health Care Plan

“Great physicians and nurses, skilled, caring and unparalleled in their training, intervened in my life and probably saved it. I was lucky but other Americans are not. It is time to speak again and stand again for the ideal that in the richest nation ever on this planet, it is wrong for 41 million Americans, most of them in working families, to worry at night and wake up in the morning without the basic protection of health insurance.”
Senator John Kerry

September 30th, Power Points and Lecture


Today we will be talking about about the relationship between God and humanity (and the whole of the created order). I know, it keeps you up at nights.

Soooo here it is... a rare occurrence these days, but here is the link to the lecture and the power points for Wednesday's class:


Peace,
Chelle

Insurance Death Panels


This is an outrage! Sadly, whatever health care that is passed, most likely a watered down pile of crap that Republicans will point to and say I told you so, even though it was their absolute NO to everything that caused the plan to fail. Just a prediction.

Why am I angry? I encourage you to read Alice's insurance story over at Through a Looking Glass. Here is a snippet:

Our system is broken, clearly, but I don't have much faith in so-called reform, despite being a yellow-dog Democrat. Even with "insurance," we already have rationed health care, and I can't imagine the next round will cover my health needs any better than the crappy system in which I am enmeshed.

One of my closest friend's mother was diagnosed with lymphoma last week. This week, she's already gone for round one of chemo. She is 80, and recently she said, "old age is not for the faint-hearted." Her daughter, a veteran of the cancer wars, is a great advocate for her.

For the rest of us, however, her mom would say, 'It's a great life if you don't weaken."


Our system is indeed broke, we don't need no stinkin' Death Panels, we already have the insurance companies for that.

New(ish) CDs

“Music is what feelings sound like.”

Some of the new music I purchased in the past few weeks include:

The Bright Mississippi by Allen Toussaint – A fabulously relaxing New Orleans jazz CD by an elegant artist. I discovered Toussaint through Elvis Costello’s CD with him “The River in Reverse.” Toussaint plays piano and I found his take on Duke Ellington’s “Solitude” to evoke a more pensive and less melancholy feel. Toussaint, 71, has been around for many years as a producer, musician, and songwriter. This is one of my recent favorite CDs. Songs include: “Egyptian Fantasy,” “Dear Old Southland,” “St. James Infirmary,” “Singin’ the Blues,” “West End Blues,” “Blue Drag,” “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” “Bright Mississippi,” “Day Dream,” “Long, Long Journey,” and “Solitude.”

The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again by John Fogerty – It just shy of being too much rockabilly for me, despite its country charms there are some very enjoyable songs, such as “When Will I Be Loved,” made famous by Linda Ronstadt, anyone still remember her? This version includes Bruce Springsteen, which adds a rugged touch, as John Fogerty said in the CD review in the Wall Street Journal. Other songs include: Credence Clearwater Revival’s "Change in the Weather," “Garden Party,” which features Don Henley and it’s not easy to tell the difference between this version and Ricky Nelson’s original; Paradise, Never Ending Song of Love, I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me), Back Home Again, I'll Be There (If Ever You Want Me), Moody River, Heaven's Just a Sin Away, Fallin' Fallin' Fallin', Haunted House, and Blue Ridge Mountain Blues (From the Concert At Royal Albert Hall "Comin Down The Road").

Monsters of Folk by Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward, Mike Mogis – This is a nice mellow, winterly collection of songs, it’s too bad we don’t have much of a winter in Southern California, but there will be plenty of fireplace nights of reading and doing puzzles in which to enjoy. I liked M. Ward’s solo efforts better, such as his last one “Hold Time," which came out in February. This is not bad, just not worth all the publicity it has generated. I would list the songs but it doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t know them anyway.

Hidden in the Closet

“Hot funk, cold punk, even if it's old junk, it's still rock and roll to me.”
Billy Joel, singer/song writer

I decided for no particular reason to not pull the car into the garage, thinking I might go out for some errands. The news was on and then I heard a massive crashing sound. I ran out to the garage and noticed that the shelves above my workbench had come crashing down.

In the cabinet were a number of my old records. As I picked them up many memories flooded back. Then there were the LPs that I had no idea why they were there and how they came into my possession.

I used the pool table to store everything until it was cleaned up. Obviously there were too many LPs stored in the little cabinet, I guess it was due to full apart.




This Frank Sinatra LP "Trilogy" was purchased because an excited call from OnTheMark raving about a great song called "New York."




The Blues Brothers "A Briefcase Full of Blues." Coincidentally, Jack, over at Random Thoughts just wrote about this and then out of the blue it comes crashing out of my cabinet. This was a Christmas present either '79 or '80.




The Star Wars Story, I have no idea why I have this or where it came from.





This JFK Memorial was a freebie that my grandparents had, but I have not listened to it, yet.




Another from the hey day of Saturday Night Live. Anyone remember this?





David Bowie's "Space Oddity" became a big favorite in high school, but initially, I was a bit embarrassed to carry it home, so I hid it in my notebook. A great LP that I soon was not only NOT hiding, but telling people about it.

Hancock Metheny Juan-Les-Pins France 1990


Posted Before By Me Not Full Concert At 256
Here We Have Full Concert At 320 Enjoy

FM Broadcast

Lineup

Pat Metheny Guitare
Herbie Hancock Piano
Dave Holland Basse
Jack De Johnette Batterie

01- Cantaloup Island (H.Hancock) 12:21
02- Bat 9:21
03- Parallel 15:05
04- Hurricane 17:05
05- André Francis conclusion 0:34

TT: 54:35

Bitrate 320 CBR

Steps Ahead Umbria Jazz Festival Italy 1989


Duration: 45 minutes

Lineup

Mike Mainieri - Vibes
Steve Smith - Drums
Jeff Andrews - Bass
Rachel Z - Keys
Jimi Tunnel - Guitar
Bendik Hofseth - Sax

Tracks

1. Young & Fine (Zawinul)
2. The More Things Change
3. Well in that case
4. Steve Smith Drum Solo
5. Unknown

Source: SBD

Bitrate 320

Philip Catherine NDR Jazzworkshop 77


Philip Chaterine Quartet NDR Jazzworkshop
Studio 10, Funkhaus des NDR, Hamburg Germany, 15 Jan 1977
Mp3 320 kbps | Cover Art

Tracks

01 Announcement Michael Naura 0:28
02 Nairam 16:15
03 Sneezing bull 11:32
04 Homecomings 05:26
05 Harmonies 15:18
06 India 06:41
07 O Trenzinho do Caipira (*) 06:08
08 Les sept boules de cristal 04:31
09 Zappel-Philip 11:33

TT: 77:52

Lineup

Philip Catherine - guitar
Charlie Mariano - alto & soprano sax, flute
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - acoustic & electric bass
Nippy Noya - drums, percussion

Holocaust? What Holocaust?

September 23

Contested Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, in New York, where he spoke of the importance of peace, love, compassion, morality, justice and freedom.

[Source: npr.org]

September 25

Under fire for his repeated denials of the Holocaust, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the deaths of millions of Jews during World War II a "historical event" during an interview with NPR's Morning Edition to air Friday, but he quickly dismissed the accounts of Holocaust survivors as "claims."

"Why should everyone be forced to accept the opinion of just a few on a historic event?" he asked host Steve Inskeep.

Ahmadinejad stirred up controversy again last week by using a national televised speech in Iran to call the Holocaust a "lie and a mythical claim."

[Source: NPR.org]

Lecture Today: September 23rd, 2009

Here is a link to today's lecture.

This lecture is not as polished in written form, but has all of the essentials of what we talked about in class. If you more details about anything in this lecture, let me know. I have written about most of this in one form of another in other places.

Peace,
Chelle

Multimillionaire is the New 40

Happy 60th Birthday Bruce.

Chris Potter's Underground Jazz Open Stuttgart 2009


Chris Potter's Underground Jazz Open Stuttgart, 14 July 2009

The Music

1. Ultrahang 11:49
2. Viva Las Vilnius / The Single Petal Of A Rose 19:58
3. The Wheel 11:20
Total Playing Time: 00:43:13

The Players

Chris Potter - tenor sax
Adam Rogers - guitar
Craig Taborn - fender rhodes
Nate Smith - drums

Bitrate 320

Support Insurance Companies It's the American Way

Sept 23rd Power Points

Here is the link to the Power Points for today.

Monsters of FolkConsumer Alert



Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Matt Ward, AKA, M. Ward from She/Him; Yim Yams, AKA, Jim James, from My Morning Jacket have combined for a new CD titled “Monsters of Folk,” which is not particularly folky but a review may be forthcoming later.

If you are planning on purchasing "Monsters of Folk," Amazon has the MP3 for $3.99 compared with iTunes’ $9.99. iTunes offers one exclusive song that you can buy individually for $0.99, for a total for $4.99.

L'shanah tovah!


What better way to wish you all a happy and sweet new year, than with a photo of our president wielding a lightsaber?

Joshua RedmanTrioTollhaus Germany 2009


Lineup

Joshua Redman, Tenor And Soprano Saxophones
Reuben Rogers, bass
Greg Hutchinson, drums

Recorded Live At Tollzeit Zeltival
Karlsruhe, June 17, 2009

Tracks

1. Blackwell's Message (Joe Lovano)
2. Trinkle Tinkle (Thelonious Monk)
3. Little Ditty (Joshua Redman)
4. East Of The Sun (Brooks Bowman)
5. Hey Mama (Joshua Redman)
6. Autumn In New York (Vernon Duke)

Bitrate 256 CBR

Mary Travers RIP

How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
Bob Dylan song made famous by Peter, Paul and Mary (Mary Travers 1936-2009)

Mary Travers was 72. among the groups big hits were: 'If I Had A Hammer,' 'Leaving on a Jet Plane,' 'Blowin' in the Wind,'and 'Puff the Magic Dragon.' The cause was complications from chemotherapy.

Lecture Today: September 16th, 2009

Here is a link my lecture from today: Trinitarian Creation. The first half is what we talked about today, and the rest I'll talk about next week; although I will most likely change some of it. So read as much as you want. If this is helpful to post my written lectures as well as the power points, let me know and I can do it whenever I have a written lecture.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides September 16th, 2009

Here is the link to the power point slides.

-Chelle

John Patitucci Group Ozieri Italy 1992



John Patitucci with Colaiuta, Beasley & Tav- Ozieri, Italy- 92'- SBD

John Patitucci Group
Ozieri, Italy
July 13th, 1992

Tracks

01 Change Of Season
02 unknown
03 Searching Finding
04 Wind Sprint
05 Unknown
06 Unknown
07 Unknown
08 Avenue D

Lineup

John Patitucci Bass
John Beasley Keys
Steve Tavaglione Sax
Vinnie Colaiuta Drums

Bitrate 320 CBR

Any Help With Setlist Would Be Great Thanks To All

John Patitucci Trio Live In Montreal 2005


Tracks

1. Evidence
2. Up with the lark
3. Jesus is on the main line
4. Purpose
5. Here, there and everywhere

Lineup

John Patitucci - Acoustic & Electric Bass
Adam Rogers - Guitar
Clarence Penn - Drums

Bitrate 320

Early Sources for Trinitarian Language

I was looking back over some of my notes and found the first use of the concept of "triad".

Theophilus of Antioch (180 AD), in his To Autolycus, discusses the shape of God's creative activity as Father, Logos and Sophia. Here is a quote:
  • "He is God, who heals and gives life through Logos and Sophia. God made everything through Logos and Sophia, but by his Logos the heavens were made firm and by his Spirit all their power [Ps 32:6]." Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, I.7.
In another place, he says:
  • "the three days prior to the luminaries are types of the triad of God and his Logos and his Sophia. In the forth place is man, who is in need of light--so that there might be God, Logos, Sophia, Man." (the footnote to this: "This 'triad' is not precisely the Trinity, since in Theolophilus' mind man can be added to it.") Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, II.15.
Though this is not a perfect articulation of trinitarian theology, you can see how Theolophilus is attempting to put words and concepts to something that was already actively believed in early Christendom.

Another source of early trinitarian thought is Irenaeus of Lyon (125-203). He also talks about God creating through the Logos and Wisdom (Sophia), but more specifically talks about the Son and the Holy Spirit as the two hands of the Father:
  • "It was not angels...who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things..." Ireneaus, "Against Heresies," in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Eerdmans, 1996, Book IV: chapter XX.1.
Well, I hope that gets you thinking about early sources of trinitarian language and theology. I find it interesting that the activity of creation is trinitarian in shape and motion for these early theologians of the Church.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Points for Sept 9th, 2009

Here are the ppts for last week (intro to theology lecture continued today).

Here are the ppts for this week's lecture on the Trinity.

-Chelle

Why Do Theology?

When we, as embodied human beings, experience the world around us, we tend to make certain assumptions or begin to ask questions. A few classic questions are: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” “What is the meaning of life?” or another way to ask this is “What brings meaning to life?” “Who are these people around me and what is my relationship to them?” “What is the definition of family in such a fragmented and alienated culture?”

These questions are inherently theological because they ask how we are in the world in relation to that which is not ourselves. In other words, is there anything beyond and/or outside of the individual self? And, if so, what is it?

We all ask these questions. The problem is, if we don’t take the time to explore and examine our presuppositions, then we are left with half articulated beliefs that seem proper or correct in the moment but doesn't have real substance for the long haul called life. So, when life happens and we come to the end of our understanding, we tend to either turn to anger and frustration or to simply reject faith all together; especially faith represented by the established church. I think that this is amazingly characteristic of our contemporary culture. How do we respond to this within our culture? Or, more honestly, how do we respond to this within ourselves?

Again, we ask the question, why do theology? Well, you are here at this graduate school doing a degree at this particular time and place. I assume that you are interested in theological questions or you would not be here because you would have gone to a different school. However, you are diverse in your goals. Some of you are counseling students, some are training to be pastors and some of you are not sure why you are here . (There is nothing wrong with not really knowing why you are doing a degree. That was me when I went to do my master's degree and now I'm teaching at a seminary. You never know where you'll end up!) In that context, the challenge of this class (which is my task as much as it is your task) is to learn to connect our individual questions about life, the universe and everything to the discipline and tradition of Christian theology. I will be honest. I don’t really know how to do that in a classroom, and I don’t know how to do that for each of you.

So, I would like to challenge you, to charge you with this task: work hard in this class to push your own questions outward in order to connect those personal questions to the wider tradition of theology. In the midst of this, it is OK to disagree with me, with one another and even yourself. (I saw a bumper sticker once that said: “Don’t believe everything you think.” It is a good philosophy when approaching theology!!)

I believe that theology should be transformative and even life-giving. But, in my own story, it wasn’t until theology was connected to my own questions that I could even understand the broader theological questions. In fact, it wasn’t until I connected theology and music that I became a theologian. Throughout my theological journey, I have worked to connect my questions and my ways of thinking with the traditional questions. It was hard work. I’m still working hard, and that is why I am here at Mars Hill Graduate School teaching. I want to understand how theology connects with life, with us as individuals and how the hard work of individual exploration can connect us back to a wider community that transcends time and space: throughout the world and throughout history. When we sing, when we proclaim and profess, when we preach and when we laugh and cry with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, we do so with Christians throughout the ages and the world. We sing “Holy, holy, holy,” together in the broadest sense of that word.

Therefore, as we start this class, we need to acknowledge that we are not the first people to ask the ultimate questions. We are also not the first ones to offer answers. It is the height of arrogance to say that we understand the relationship between God and the world better than those believers that lived 50, 150 or 1500 years ago. However, we do understand the world differently. We have a different context and a different Zeitgeist. But to answer these questions in isolation, ignoring the tradition, is naïve at best. Despite our attempts to answer these questions in isolation, we should acknowledge that we all have inherited many assumptions and beliefs, often unexamined. In this class, with respect I hope, we will work to question, critique, explore and sometimes even answer these inherited presuppositions.

So, why do theology? Because it hits us in the intimate places where we live. It shapes the way we are in the world.


To the Task!

Chelle

Vocab Quiz, Missing Words...

I have heard that there are a few words missing out of the Pocket Dictionary. Let me define them for you here:

Doctrine of God: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the study of God's being; e.g., God as Trinity or God as Creator.

Theological Anthropology: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the human person, in other words, in the light of who God is, who and what is humanity.

Dual Natures Doctrine: This doctrine articulates the paradox that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine; i.e., one person but two natures.

ex nihilo: literally, "out of nothing". This doctrine holds that God created the world out of nothing rather than out of some kind of pre-existent chaos or formless matter.

Heterodoxy: Other or different belief.

Transgression: Sin.

Hope that helps!

-Chelle

Reading Pods!!

OK. So...this was a little more confusing that I was hoping. Here are links to the readings for each group. If you are not sure which group you are in, email Jordan.

African-American Liberation Theology
Anabaptist Theology: Thomas Finger
Baptist: Stan Grenz
Baptist: Roger Olson
Mike Higton
Church Fathers
Eastern Orthodox Theology
Feminist Theology
South and Central American Theology
Jurgen Moltmann
Kathryn Tanner

Here is the the final syllabus (without proper formatting): Constructing the Theological Mosaic. There is an up-to-date syllabus in the Theology I folder found at our.MHGS. That copy has better formatting, etc.

Let me know if you have any problems opening any of these documents.

Peace,
Chelle