A Day In The Journey

In contemplation of the sermon topic this morning, I thought I'd pose a few questions. The sermon is one in a series regarding true discipleship. Not the fill in the workbook and memorize some verses discipleship, but true, transformation as disciples of Christ. The spur for this study is a book entitled Choose the Life by Bill Hull. It's an excellent book that will entirely change the way you view what it means to be a believer--to be a disciple. Right now we're examining "Relationships and the Life," particularly what it means to foster an "environment of grace." Hull contends that an enviroment of grace is one that fosters trust--it is an environment where it is safe to be real and vulnerable, where you trust that you won't be hung out to dry for a mistake, where you mistake will be confronted honestly but with love to help you get up and move on with experience. The environment of grace is important because grace leads to trust which leads to communication which leads to vulnerablity/humility which leads to allowing another to help you grow. So, the questions are: have you had in your life (whether in church or out) an experience with an evironment of grace? would you say that your current church experience reflects, or is seeking to reflect, an environment of grace? how would your church experience be different or better if an environment of grace were fostered? how would your personal walk be affected by said fostering?

Posted by Renee at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I stayed up horrifically late the other night because I got completely absorbed in a
PBS documentary about the Hindenburg. Yes, I am an admitted nerd--this is further proof of said fact. At any rate, what do you think of when you think of the Hundenburg? My guess is something about the dangers of hydrogen as a fuel or the tragedy of using a flammable fuel in a passenger derigible. Guess what? You would be completely misguided. The tragedy of the Hindenburg was actually about rocket fuel.

Former NASA scientist, Addison Bain spent over nine years studying the science behind the Hindenburg disaster. Bain's scientific specialty--hydrogen, esp. as related to rocket boosters. After going over the eyewitness reports of the time, Bain realized that the fire being described was not a hydrogen fire. Watching the video, Bain was troubled by the fire's behavior and the extremely rapid consumption of the airship's cover. Neither thing was typical of a hydrogen induced fire. After years of research, Bain came up with the reason for the Hindenburg disaster.

To prevent water damage, hydrogen cell expansion, sun damage, the covers of airships were "doped"--painted with a sealing compound. As Bain researched, he discovered that the Hindenburg had been coated with a "new and improved" formula: powdered aluminum and iron oxide--what we know today as solid rocket fuel.

All aircraft gather static electricity as they fly. Because of this fact, the airships were grounded so that the electricity would flow through the landing lines as soon as they touched the ground. The methods used to ground airships weren't infallable, though, due to the materials that were used, thus several cells in the Hindenburg likely did not expel their static electricity when the landing lines dropped. Instead, a cell near the very back of the H. retained its electricity. Electricity must escape and it takes the easiest way out. The nearest way out was a spark to the girder which caused the cell to heat up. The heat ignited the "dope"--rocket fuel--and ignited the cover. Of course, at this point the hydrogen became fuel for the fire, but the rocket fuel coating is what consumed the ship. It would not have made any difference what gas was used to lift the Hindenburg--it still would have burned the same way.

Ironically, after he had proved his theory, Bain discovered the results of the German study of the disaster in the Hindenburg Library in Germany. The results of their study were the same that Bain had discovered--the iron oxide/powdered aluminum coating had combined with insufficient grounding to ignite the airship. The study had been buried to prevent any trouble to the Nazi government, and shortly after that WWII broke out.

I know, I know, this is all super-nerdy, but it makes me want to go back and re-teach that part of 6th grade history. :) And it certainly opens up interesting doors for the use of hydrogen in the future. So what do you think of hydrogen now?

And relatedly, how do you think this relates to new historical discoveries in general?

Posted by Renee at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

So I was reading this article in USA Today that was really an interview with Robin Williams. It's really a very good interview--I like Williams more and more, even if we aren't always on the same philosophical page. At any rate, what he said about the 2008 presidential race was just so priceless I had to share:

"The comic belives that 2008 could bring a female candidate into the president race. And who better thatn Oprah Winfrey.
"'It would be great to see her in a debate,' Williams says. 'It would be a pay-pr-view debate, har and Condoleezza Rice. And once the Stanford stuff drops ...' He holds out his hand, as if halting traffic. '"Girl, I tell you, mm, mm."' Two brilliant black women going at it. It would be amazing. And it they have a talent section, I know Condoleezza would win that because of the cello. No one has seen Oprah do an intretive ballet.'
Yes, but she could do a scene from Beloved.
'It would be great if she did a scene from Beloved while Condoleezza played the cello. YOu could pay for the whole election that way just with the CD, DVD, ancillary rights--and the sweater.'"

Now that would be fun!

Posted by Renee at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tonight I went to see The Centenary College Choir. One of my former students sings in it. If any of you ever have a chance to see this choir perform, take it. they were phenominal, and the repetoire was delightful. On song, in particular, was truly striking: Tenebrae factae sunt by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The melody was haunting and filled with glory, and the subject poignant--the sufferings of Christ at the ninth hour. Fabulous.

I was once again struck by the amazing beauty of music and of the human voice. A particular combination of notes, sometimes even a single note, has the power to fill your body and bring tears--a sense of wonder--to your eyes. I think there is little in this world that can touch our souls the way music touches us. The capabilities of human kind leave me at a loss for words. Yes, we are capable of creating great destruction, but we are also so capable of creating immense beauty. In this incredibly vast universe, God saw fit to put us here and give us such gifts of beauty. It's humbling.

I'm curious--what are some moments when you have been filled by music?

Posted by Renee at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Not too long ago, I watched an interview with this man, Alfie Kohn. He's just published a book entitled The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, which has brought the discussion about homework to the forefront again. He makes some very rational and compelling arguments for why the modern move to add more and more homework is actually harming children and their educational performance. In this article, he articulates the basic ideas of his position on homework. I tend to agree with him. In the interview, he stated that other than basic amount of math review, the most effective homework was simply reviewing or driling facts in the car on the way to school. It reinforces what they've learned without overwhelming them. Of course, high school requires more than that--usually a certain amount of reading, etc--yet, still not nearly as much as most high school students are being given. When I was teaching at BRCCS, the principal encouraged all the teachers on the grade school level to try to eliminate all but math homework as much as possible. It was not that difficult, and I really liked the results. The maximum we tried to give when homework was needed was about 30-45 minutes for gradeschool and an hour or so for upper school. I've also heard the idea of 10 minutes per grade: 10 minutes for 1st grade; 20 minutes for 2nd grade, etc. Personally, I think that may be too great of a steep as it leaves middle schoolers with over an hour of homework a night. But I'm wondering what you think. What was your homework experience like? Pros? Cons? If you could change one thing about the way homework was given in your school setting, what would you change and why? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Posted by Renee at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)