Last tuesday I went up to Stevens Pass. The snow can only be described as epic or possibly legendary. It had dumped the whole night before and was coming down hard the whole time that Davis and I were there. In some spots the the powder was literally waist deep. This was a day that snowboarders dream for but some seasons rarely get. Already, this year, I've been blessed with two of these days. But, alas, the very next day I had to go and sprain my ankle in a game of intramural basketball. For the rest of the week I've been trying to engage in less arduous activities, like the school's musical (I had to go for my theatre class, I give the production 6/10). The ankle does seem to be healing faster than normally, and I hope to be back to full capacity in a week or two.

the flag over the loop

This is something I jotted down last quarter as I studied. With the 2008 campaign in full swing, I thought some of you may like to see a bit of my political struggles:

So many complaints and controversies
Heaping blame on the old eagle
Her own nest is filled with condemnation
The world is tired of her oppressive claws,
And greedy beak.
She always thought these were just protective.
To provide for her family.

And I can feel my own egg cracking,
My complaining beak is starting to move.

Then I look out my window.
Red, White, and Blue bleeding from the tallest tree.
Glistening in the sunlight promising me hope, liberty, and protection.
It begs me to trust and to help fix the nest,
not tear it down.

Old Testament War and Politics-Yikes!

My family has always been pretty conservative politically. I adopted as much of the GOP's dogma as I understood at a fairly young age. However, since my senior year of high school, my political preconceptions have been challenged by Social Studies classes, literature, and the University Foundations classes at SPU. More recently, I have even felt that a same questioning politically is going through my whole family- Gasp!! Not anything like my mom is going to jump on the Obama wagon for '08, but I feel like we are all kind of rethinking what it means to be conservative and how God does and should fit into our political thinking. I know I certainly am. Today I had a particular lecture in my scriptures class that challenged my typical thinking of war. We looked at some of the war in the Old Testament that is often used as partial justification for today's current war. Professor Lim first gave us several ways to understand war in the Old Testament. He revealed that the purpose of war for the Israelites was to receive the land promised in 'Redemptive History'. Also that God would attack nations according to their wickedness not because of the Israelites rightouesness. This righteousness sounds to me a lot like the "perfect government" that America seems to want to give to Iraq. Are we attacking Iraq because of our righteousness or their wickedness?

My professor went on to argue that God is always at war througout the Bible. Throughout Exodus and the conquest of the promised lands, God fights flesh of the enemies of Israel. As they break the covenant, God then has to fight Israel. Jesus then comes to fight the powers and authorities of earth and commands the church to do so. The last stage of war described in the Bible is the final one in Revalation. He almost got to the point of arguing that this speaks strongly against the war but then he charged that of course the Old Testament is still important and applicable today. Anyway, I hope no one thinks I'm being completely indoctrinated and brainwashed. I am of course approaching everything slowly for fear of becoming the stuck college know-it-all that thinks his eyes have been opened from the oppression of ignorance.

Back in School

After an awesome summer I am finally back at SPU. The first week flew by as I met my new Moyer Hall floormates and reestablished relationships with my friends that had moved out of the dorms. Many of the freshman on my floor seem really into sports and it looks to ba another exciting year for Moyer athletics. However, we still have our share of musicians and gamers (myself included, we beat Halo 3 in 7 straight hours on its release date last tuesday) that give Moyer a unique flavor. As for my studies, I am taking a Christian scriptures class, a logic class, and a beginning biology class. So far I am loving the scriptures and logic classes. This week I have felt an uneasiness over the future of my studies. I feel that God may be telling me that a time for a decision is near. I am praying hard that God will help in this decision as I really do not know what I am interested in most. I am as the traveler in Robert Frost's poem, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ and sorry I could not travel both/ and be one traveler, long I stood".

The Grey Havens

Our last day in Norway was hard for all three of us to swallow. We were certainly not ready to leave yet, and were not looking forward to saying goodbye to our family and new friends. Luckily, we had a full day to keep our minds off our melancholic moods. We spent the afternoon on Uncle Mikal’s farm and got a tour of the pigs and cow that are raised and milked there. After attempting to get the pigs’ “special” smell off with a shower, we decided to head by train over to a mall near Stavanger. Mikal and Zac found a few things to take home to share with their families but I could not muster an impulse to buy anything. When we arrived back, we once again went over to Anders’ house and hung out for one last time. Our trip ended much like this last blog, abrupt and yet satisfying.

Land Of My Lineage

We woke up early this morning to help bring the tables and chairs from reunion at the school to another building. This caused us to have a little bit of a late start on our way to Ualand. Ualand is the home of the farm where my great-grandpa raised his family. The house where my grandpa and his siblings grew up is still standing and is in the care some of my relatives. Our visit included another terrific meal of Norwegian pancakes (sorry I still can’t get the real name right. I always say lempas but that is from Lord of the Rings). After this, we got a tour of the grounds including a look through the old house. Crossing the threshold into this place was a fantastic experience. We were given the opportunity to visualize the lives of our family from almost 100 years ago. For precious moments we were able to see our grandpa bossing around his younger siblings in their crowded upstairs bedroom. Able to see great grandma cooking in the kitchen while proudly watching great grandpa working on the farm. Able to see the entire family sit down at the table and dream about the great family that would one day spring from this small white house. After the tour, we were going to hike up the side of the hills and get some pictures of the whole farm, but it started to downpour and we left for Vigrestad. Later that evening, we drove down to Egersund to visit Marion, a friend of Alexander’s. On the way we stopped at the beach. After some volleyball and dune jumping we were on our way. At Marion’s house we hung out by a lake and sang worship songs and made S’mores on small disposable grill (apparently no bonfires in Norway). We then went into town and visited the harbor where the still, soothing waters were very conducive to conversation. Suddenly the cold night chill and body’s weariness told us it was time to head back to Vigrestad.

Preikestolen

Shhh don’t tell my mom about today’s adventure! One of the things I wanted to do while in Norway was to go on a hike and see some of Norway’s views. Peter suggested Preikestolen or Pulpit Rock as a place to get a great view. I’ll leave the words to Twain and Steinbeck and let my pictures describe this fantastic place, but it is basically a rock you can go out on and look over 2000 foot cliffs. I’ve seen this rock in movies and pictures and the real thing is very intense. The hike to the actual rock was very nice. Unlike monotonous switchbacks in the forest of hikes in Washington, this hike offered open view for the whole time. There were an incredible amount of people climbing the mountain, and I was amazed at how elderly people and children were climbing as it was quite difficult and pretty dangerous. When we got to the rock the tingle in the ankles immediately kicked in. We ate lunch first because we decided if we had to, we wanted to die on an empty stomach (just a joke mom). We then very carefully took our first peek over the edge by crawling on our bellies. The drop makes you feel sick instantly, and your whole body tingles. After many photos to prove our manliness, we were ready to head back down. The family was relieved when we finally arrived back at the house and we were quite ready for a delicious meal. We spent the rest of the evening at the house of Alexander’s friend who has a home theater. I am quite happy to be off the rock and sitting on the couch with a warm laptop on my legs.