Theo van Gogh

Does anyone know who Theo van Gogh was? I'm interested to see if he made it on anyone's radar.

Immigration

The recent demonstrations in Dallas over new legislation about immigration (running the gamut from a general amnesty to "guest-worker" status to stricter enforcement of already existant laws) come right when we're discussing immigration in my French culture class.

After Algerian independence in the 1960s, and after a civil war there, and after a return to fundamental Islam, and after another civil war (and maybe another one after that, I get lost), 1 in 3,000 people leave the country every year (net migration rate: CIA WorldFactbook), which is 11,000 people total every year (I think, my math is none too good). That's not that many, but the influx into France from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and the other former colonial countries in the Middle East and subsaharan Africa adds up to something of a deluge of people coming in. This wouldn't be such a problem if France assimilated people as America does, inviting people to come as they are, bring their culture with them, and learn English and engage in our culture. Unfortunately, France seems to shuffle immigrants (especially those of Middle Eastern background) into the HLMs (habitations a loyer modere - low rent housing) that surround Paris and other large cities. In a film entitled "La Haine" (The Hate) the film-maker takes you into this world of poverty and oppression and shows the dark reality of France's inability to assimilate its immigrants.

The inhabitants of these high-rise villages speak Arabic at home, a Franco-Arab dialect with each other, and French at school. They go to secular schools where the veil is not worn and laicite (secularism) is taught as the norm and civilized way of life; they go home to fundamental Islam. Because they don't speak proper French, they are not viewed as truly French people. Many were born in France to immigrant parents. They are the amphibian people, living somewhere between North Africa and France, but not in either of them. As France's unemployment is at 10% in the country and even higher in these areas, the HLM districts are full of young men, full of confusion and frustration, with nothing to do. Thus, cars get burned and neighborhoods riot, as happened last fall.

It is amazing to me that we don't have the same problem here. The recent demonstrations have been peaceful, with the American and Mexican flags flying together during the marches. I'm not completely up on all that is behind the marches or what exactly they're protesting. But it is very telling to me that even my French French teacher (meaning that he teaches French and is from France) thinks that France assimilates immigrants poorly and Americans do it well (he also thinks Americans are very hospitable and nice, which may play into that as well).

My personal thoughts: laws concerning immigration should probably be reformed. Illegal immigrants should be encouraged to self-identify and be processed, in this country, to obtain legal status. The borders should have tighter control now and we should insist that those not already illegal in country should go through 'proper' channels to obtain a license to live here. Economic arguments, etc., don't interest me (ask Norman why).

Has anyone else been thinking about this topic or just the poor French students?

God the Immutable

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.


In researching for Zgroups on Tuesday (I'm presenting on the immutability of God) I've discovered amazing and fascinating things about our God. Truly - awesome. In almost every reference to his unchanging nature that I've come across (Ps. 102:25-28; Malachi 3:6; Num. 23:19-20; Ps. 33:11-12; Hebrews 6:17-20) God's immutability is tied to the covenants, generally giving assurance of God's faithfulness to his covenants.

What I've found even more amazing is that the references to God changing his plans or "relenting" from a course of action are all couched in covenantal language as well.
Noah
"The Lord was sorry he had made man on the earth": from this comes judgment of the unrighteous, but also a covenant with Noah and his offspring.
Abraham, Isaac and the ram
The Lord tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, indeed the promise of the covenant. Abraham does not hesitate but shows his faith in offering up even his son. "Abraham must learn that the promise does not depend on Isaac, but on God alone" (Bonhoeffer). God ransoms Isaac and provides the offering himself and then reaffirms his covenant with Abraham and his offspring.
Golden Calf episode
Ex. 32 "The Lord said to Moses, 'I have seen this people and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.'"
Here we have the Lord wanting to destroy the people of Israel, in order to make a great nation of Moses. I'm seeing another covenantal test, like with Abraham.
Moses is faithful, however, and replies, "Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them 'I will multiply your offspring." "And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people".
Again - disaster and covenant. This time, the Lord chose not to destroy the people - but I think that this is an example of his long-suffering and not him changing his mind. Indeed, the wicked shall be judged. The Lord allows the world time that he might draw his own to him, but this period will end in judgment of the world.
Finally -
Jonah and Ninevah
The people of Ninevah repent of their wickedness and (Jonah 3:10)"when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it".
This one is quite a bit more difficult, as there is no covenant with Ninevah, but I think a principle from the preceding example: God does eventually destroy Ninevah, that wicked city. His 'relenting' at this time is merely him holding back his wrath in his long-suffering in order that the righteous may be called to himself.

2 years, 4 months

That's how long I've been single. It seems a very long time. It sometimes seems too long, sometimes not long enough. With friends getting married, I've been thinking about maturity and its impact on relationships. Do you reach a critical mass point where you are mature enough to commit to marriage? If so, I think I'm doomed to (blessed with?) singleness for the long haul. But I don't think that's the case. I've seen friends grow inordinate amounts of maturity up to and in marriage; and in other cases I've seen God give huge amounts of grace to the partner to deal with the lack of maturity in the spouse.
On a side note, I've been thinking about love and what it's supposed to be like. Each person's expression of love is so different from the next person. I've seen people totally gaa-gaa for each other - in the moony, lovey-dovey way. And I've seen people who are just super comfortable with another that turns into tenderness. And I think I've seen love where it was only in the negative where love was appreciated - only when the relationship was in trouble did expressions of love come about.
I don't think I've ever been in love. I wonder if someone can articulate what that feels like for me, or if I just have to wait and see for myself.
Sorry for the very girly post. I'll try something more interesting next time.

My new book list1

Here's my to read list for the rest of the school year and into the summer:
Cost of Discipleship (Bonhoeffer)
Down-to-Earth Discipling (Morton)
Enduring Community (Newsom and Habig)
Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan)
The Call (Guiness)
Altogether Lovely (Edwards)
Fabric of Faithfulness (Garber)
Stepping Heavenward (Prentiss)
In the Beginning (McGrath)
The PLeasures of God (Piper)
Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther (Bainton)
Bondage of the Will (Luther)
Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
Amusing Oursevles to Death (Postman)
He is there and He is not silent (Schaeffer)
Perelandra (Lewis)
The Consequences of Ideas (Sproul)
Orthodoxy (Chesterton)

We'll see how long it takes!

Sartre and Camus answered

Sartre: (No Exit) "Hell is other people"
"When I say I'm cruel, I mean I can't get on without making people suffer. Like a live coal. A live coal in others' hearts. When I'm alone I flicker out."
"Are you sure [I] look all right? ... But how can I rely upon your taste? Is it the same as my taste? Oh, how sickening it all is"

Bonhoeffer: "We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempts to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union. There is no way from one person to another. However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however sound our psychology, however frank and open our behavior, we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul. Christ stands between us, and we can only get in touch with our neighbors through him. That is why intercession is the most promising way to reach our neighbors, and corporate prayer, offered in the name of Christ, the purest form of fellowship." (The Cost of Discipleship).