Warning: Half of these will start playing music automatically.

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she’s gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies [Album],
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,
That grow so incredibly high.
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,
Waiting to take you away.
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,
And you’re gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Picture yourself on a train in a station,
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties,
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstyle,
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes.

Lyrics from Lyrics Freak.

“I’ve always been skeptical of those television healers who are bald. I mean, if I had that gift, that would be the first thing I’d fix.”

He challenged the MB church to step up and welcome the many in this generation who are sick of war, and who would be drawn to our theology of pacifism. He too is a pacifist, putting it that

“When Jesus told us to love our enemies, I think that he generally meant to not kill them.”

Another quote I found of his, though not from that evening, resonates with what I’ve been thinking about for quite a while, but haven’t been able to put it as eloquently”

“I think that Christianity has two emphases. One is a social emphasis to impart the values of the kingdom of God in society – to relieve the sufferings of the poor, to stand up for the oppressed, to be a voice for those who have no voice. The other emphasis is to bring people into a personal, transforming relationship with Christ, where they feel the joy and the love of God in their lives. That they manifest what the fifth chapter of Galatians calls ‘the fruit of the Spirit’. Fundamentalism has emphasized the latter, mainline churches have emphasized the former. We cannot neglect one for the other.”

I get so frustrated with people who are too far on either end of that scale. I see way to much emphasis on the social angle coming from the Christian college-age crowd. It really all comes down to giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus(Matthew 10:42). If you just give the water, and leave it at that, you aren’t helping the person long-term. However, if you just tell them about Jesus, without caring for their physical needs, your words fall flat (James 2:15-16).

Anyways, all this to say that I was very impressed with Mr. Campolo.

1. Lifting barbecues, and placing them in boxes
2. Lifting barbecue lids, and placing them in boxes, on top of the barbecues
3. Placing cardboard inserts on a barbecue in a box
4. Putting grill racks on top of cardboard which is on top of a barbecue in a box
5. Screwing together the base of a barbecue
6. Aligning the gas assembly of a barbecue
7. Attaching a hose to the gas assembly of a barbecue
8. Checking for blockages in the gas assembly of a barbecue
9. Attaching a side burner pipe and another hose to the gas assembly of a barbecue
10. Checking for leaks in the gas assembly of a barbecue
11. Enlarging holes in sheets of metal which will become the frame of a barbecue
12. Lifting down the freshly painted lid of a barbecue
13. Lifting down the freshly painted bottom of a barbecue
14. Attaching an igniter to the front panel of a barbecue

Apparently, I am a talented fellow.

1. Baobab trees, which are common in Sénégal, are known for their large circumference. They are also hollow, and this particular tree was used to bury religious storytellers. Even with eight of us holding hands, we were not able to reach all the way around!

2. While visiting a small village in the Sénégalese countryside, some of my friends and I were left to play with the children. We introduced them to the game of “Duck, duck, goose”, but instead called it “Chien, chien, chat”, which is French for dog, dog, cat. They caught on quickly, and enjoyed chasing us around the circle!

3. “Les Elephants” is a unique statue in the middle of downtown Chambéry, France. It’s quite a surprise to see four elephant torsos in a quaint French town! The monument was erected to honour a local count who spent many years in India.

4. Though a camel ride itself is quite amusing, there is a funny story behind this one. If you look at me, the one in the red hat, you’ll see that I have my right leg up, resting on my left knee. This strange posture was brought on by the behaviour of my father’s camel, who took a liking to my foot. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a camel’s mouth and their greenish spit/foam, but having one nuzzle your bare foot is not a pleasant experience. Thankfully it lost interest when I removed my appendages from its reach.

5. Driving along the (one and only) Sénégalese highway, we came up behind this taxi, overloaded with supplies, and with an interesting slogan on its back window: “Sound Boy – Only God can Judge Me “. With the big pots tied to his roof, the whole contraption looks a bit unsafe to be driving, but I’ll let God judge him on that.

When I first calculated these statistics, I was a little blown away. I knew that I spent a lot of time online, but the raw numbers are a bit shocking! So, because of that, and the persuasion of some friends, I have decided to give up the internet in my room for Lent. So, I will still have access to email and such from the EBC library, but hopefully I’ll be spending much less time on the internet. So, though I will probably still post here a few times, I will have a limited online presence. I’ll be back in 40 days.