Midterm Report

image from here

The days are slow, but the years fly by.  We're halfway through 2020.  Each year, I set and present my goals for the year in January.  Today I look at how I'm doing.

2020 is, of course, much different than we all anticipated. In a nutshell, I made good progress on many goals until March, when COVID-19 shut down most of Europe (and the world) and radically changed our routines.  That said, I think things are still going okay, and the break from the typical stresses of life was, perhaps oddly, refreshing and welcome. That said, I hope and pray we are able to find effective treatments for this illness and resume some degree of 'normalcy' . . . though I also hope our new normal is healthier on many fronts. Sometimes severe disruptions illuminate what really matters in this life- does how we spend our time reflect that?

Anyway, here are the goals and how it's going.

Spiritual
- Continue to improve routines in prayer and scripture, including the family
- Finish planned readings related to church leadership
The readings are consistent and valuable; other elements started well, and have been consistent if not as 'quality' as they should be. Including the kids remains difficult- after a good start, things dovetailed rapidly in the pandemic.

Grade: B-

Nutritional/Fitness
- Lose 20 lbs
- Get a six-pack
- Eat no candy (baked goods are fine) except for 70% chocolate
- Drink sugary drinks only once/month
- Run 200 miles total
Over halfway to my weight loss goal! The first three months were great; I've since plateaued but remain hopeful that I can hit my target. The six-pack remains elusive but I see occasional promise; I have reduced my sweets (though COVID time has seen some mild slips in discipline). Bizarrely, I've taken to drinking a morning capuccino or latte in this time, and drink beer more frequently (I still can't say I enjoy the drink, but I no longer detest it. Hefeweizens and Kellerbiers are my favorites). But sugary drinks are non-existent, so there's that. Running has been an issue due to injury, but I have a new love: bicycling. I'm near the 700-mile mark on the year. Welcome, Shadowfax!

Grade: A-

Financial
- Track all spending, not just personal
- Get good budgeting system in place
This started really well, then COVID blew it away. Okay, I just lost discipline in the matter. On the plus side, we've used this time to reduce superfluous grocery purchases, and of course haven't spent much on travel. So things are going well in a certain way, but could be better.

Grade: B-

Reading
- Read 50 books
- Complete 80% of my German Reading List
Both of these goals remain on track to be met or exceeded. Reading is so valuable; use this gift.

Grade: A

Travel
- Take the kids to Belgium and France
- Plan a big trip (to Eastern Europe, Southern France, or Spain)
Well, we had plans . . . we've canceled two trips so far, and I suspect more are on the horizon. Highly unlikely we'll do much, barring medical miracles.

Grade: F

Fluency
- Learn 5000 more German words
- Complete the DuoLingo German course
- Read 5 books auf Deutsch
This is going pretty well. I completed DuoLingo, continue to practice German and increase vocabulary. My new goal here is to achieve "B2" certification.

Grade: A-

Games
- Host more game nights
- Play Magic: Arena no more than three days per week
Well, COVID struck again. I need to look into virtual game nights, though, and I've slacked in that area. I enjoy Arena and was disciplined until the virus; now I play it daily, though normally not for too long. I started a second blog, focused on Magic, in this 'social distance' time.

Grade: C

Overall

I can't be blamed for the travel failure, so this year is going pretty well- perhaps better in some ways than the past few. But there's always room for improvement. The challenge for what remains of 2020 is how to socially interact in meaningful ways.  And, honestly, I really wasted a lot of quarantine time- I could have used that much more effectively. Time is such a gift . . . don't squander it.

Grade: B-

The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game is the 2015 movie about Alan Turing, the British Mathematician who would be instrumental in breaking the German's 'invincible' Enigma encoding machine during WWII. Turing's work at Bletchley Park is widely credited as shortening the war by two years, as it gave the allies insights into German communications during the war. It also laid the groundwork for modern computers. He was also a homosexual in an era where that was illegal; he was convicted and forced to take hormone therapy treatments to 'cure' him. They didn't; he committed suicide at age 41.

I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the film, but it was done well. The story (idiosyncratic and difficult but brilliant person overcomes odds to to something amazing) and associated tagline ("Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.") were good, if familiar. It is sad how he was treated (he would be posthumously pardoned by the Queen in 2014).

Rating: B+

Animated Clone Wars: Volume 2

Volume 2 of the animated Clone Wars series collects the third and final season of the show on one DVD.  Lasting about an hour, it follows the final days of the Clone Wars. While is still surveys the conflict, it starts to hone in on Anakin (becoming a Jedi Knight and continuing to grow in the Force) and General Grievous's kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine.  It ends right as Episode III begins.

If you liked Volume 1, you'll like this. Same approach, animation style, and overall quality.  There's more dialogue this time around (perhaps because the episodes were longer in length and fewer in number?). Another winner.

Rating: A

The Wall Jumper (Peter Schneider)

Told through an unnamed narrator's eyes as he goes between East and West Berlin collecting stories of the divided city, The Wall Jumper isn't quite a novel. But what is it? A piece of cleverly-disguised journalism? A commentary on, or criticism of, the entire situation? I don't know for certain, save that it succeeds in being a portrait of personal German-German relations and realities in the Cold War era. Through various personalities and anecdotes on both sides of the Wall, Schneider investigates life "where political continents collide," asking "where does the state end and a self begin?" while observing that "it will take us longer to tear down the wall in our heads than any wrecking company."

This style of writing isn't normally my thing, but I really enjoyed this. I found it fair to both East and West perspectives: a profound and poignant insight into life in the Cold War era (and humanity in general).  It's short and worthy of contemplation.

Rating: A

Animated Clone Wars: Volume 1

Before the 2008 Clone Wars CG-animated series, there was the 2003 animated microseries by Genndy Tartakovsky.  It aired on Cartoon Network back in the day, and was the first look (as it came out between Episodes II and III) of the Clone Wars.  Each episode was only 2-3 minutes long, and (confusingly) the first two seasons were bundled and released on DVD as Volume 1. This post reviews and reflects on this first volume.

I watched this DVD with my kids this week, and was surprised how much I recalled (I hadn't seen it in 15 years). The entire first two seasons last only ~2 hours, but are full of memorable sequences. The show is largely nonverbal- entire episodes can feature no speaking- and so this is highly reliant on visual storytelling. They did a great job. New characters (Asajj Ventress, Durge, General Grievous) were introduced, you got to see the Jedi and Clones in action against thousands of droids, there were large space and land battles, and some intrigue and foreshadowing of what's to come in Episode III (recall that this was released before that movie, so this was our first look). I think this was the first Star Wars TV show since the panned Ewoks, and it was exciting to see Star Wars in this 'new' medium.

Perhaps what surprised me is how much it reminded me of the 2008 Clone Wars series. That, of course, had much longer episodes, many more seasons, and much more speaking. But the essence of that show can be found here (in fact, this show's success inspired them to do the CG show a few years later).  The story arc is eerily similar in places, almost like the later show copied and expounded upon this one. Based on the wiki page, Disney declared this show non-canonical, which is probably why you can't find this on Disney+. But if you can get a hold of the DVD, check it out.

Rating: A

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

Christopher Boone has Asperger's. He likes maths and red and truth; he hates yellow and brown and crowds and France. He enjoys walks at night (when nobody else is outside). One night, he finds his neighbor's dog (he loves dogs) dead, with a garden fork stuck right through him. This is a puzzle; Christopher likes puzzles, so he's going to be a detective and find out who killed Wellington. And write a book about it. Along the way, he'll find out a good deal more than he ever anticipated . . . and enters into a nightmare.

Written from the perspective of someone who has Asperger's, this is a very different book. It's hard to put down- I read it all in a day- and done very well. You get insight into Christopher's mind- how he focuses (or can't), how he remembers everything (if he's not overwhelmed), what he values, and more. While billed as a mystery, and containing some of those elements, I would consider this more of a novel to gain insight into and empathy with people who have this syndrome. It's compelling yet heartbreaking, and not just due to Christopher's struggles.

Rating: A

The Little Ghost (Otfried Preussler)

A little ghost lives in Eulenberg Castle, and he haunts the vicinity every evening from midnight to one o'clock in the morning (the rest of the time he sleeps; haunting is tiring business).  History doesn't recall, but it was he who chased the Swedes away from the town 325 years ago.

One day, the ghost finds himself waking a noon instead. Initially delighted, he explores the town and sees sunlight for the first time. But some people get scared, and when the Swedes seem to show up again, the ghost goes to town on them a second time. But all this gets tiring, and when he finds he can't break out of the new routine, he grows dejected and longs to return to his nighttime haunting. He befriends some children to help . . . is he doomed to be a 'day-ghost' forever?

A children's chapter book, this story is by the same author who did the Robber Hotzenplotz, which I loved. So I put a second book on my German reading list. I didn't like this one quite as much- it wasn't as funny or original- but it was mildly interesting.

Rating: B

Shadowfax

Shadowfax enjoying Idstein

Last month, I mentioned bicycling as a new-found hobby and delight.  On 5 June, we welcomed a new bicycle to the family: say hello to Shadowfax, a Trek Checkpoint AL3 gravel bike.

A gravel bike is (basically) a road bike with forks that can accommodate wider tires (for better off-road riding), and a more upright/comfortable sitting position. They're slower than road bikes (but can handle more varied surfaces), but faster than hybrid/mountain bikes.  Several friends recommended this type of bike to me, and (thus far) I've been extremely happy with the choice.  I'm mostly on the road or paved surfaces, and enjoy going as fast as I can, but also didn't like the riding position of road bikes, and wanted to be able to take on the myriad trails in Germany that suddenly switch from pavement to macadam to gravel to dirt to cobblestone and back again. The gravel bike is the answer.

You may note from the above that the tires look more suited to roads than gravel. You're right.  I'm thinking of swapping them out for wider ones, but so far they've handled well.

Initial tests (on my familiar circuits) indicate that this bike enables me to go 15% faster than my 2003 Jamis Aurora touring bike. It's 5 lbs lighter, too, which certainly helps.  As of this writing, I've done 6 rides for 74 miles. Shadowfax has done a great job on all surfaces- pavement, gravel, dirt, cobblestone.  Here he is in Idstein, on my longest ride (25 miles):

A final note on the name: Shadowfax is the name of Gandalf's horse in The Lord of the Rings.  His film entrance is splendid:



If only I could train my bike to come at my summons.

Welcome, Shadowfax. "Show us the meaning of haste."

Christ and Culture Revisited (D.A. Carson)

How should Christians interact with (and within) the various cultures in which we live?  Jesus says "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21). And it's clear that the world (since the fall) is opposed to God, and yet Jesus reigns over all and is putting all things under His feet- and at His name, every knee shall bow. So Christians live in tension- we serve God who will one day transform all, but much brokenness and evil remains. So what do we do? Do we try to transform culture into what God says it will be? Do we separate from culture because there's so much evil in the world? Is the truth somewhere in between? It's a question we've grappled with for ages; the Bible has much to say, and D.A. Carson looks at this against the backdrop of preceding influential works in Christ & Culture Revisited.

Summary
Carson starts by discussing the meaning of culture- something that has been much debated.  He aligns with Clifford Geertz's thoughts (summarized here). He then summarizes the foundational and influential fivefold typology of H. Richard Niebuhr concerning the options Christians have as they think on how to live in the world:

• Christ against culture
• Christ of culture
• Christ above culture
• Christ and culture in paradox
• Christ the transformer of culture

These are described more here.  Carson then offers a critique of Niebuhr's categories, claiming that the second has no biblical warrant. But for the others, he argues that "Christians do not have the right to choose one of the options . . . as if it were the whole." Taking the whole of Scripture- all of the "great turning points in biblical theology" (including creation, fall, Jesus and redemption, the future new heaven and earth)- means our approach must be flexible. Not because the Bible is unclear, but because it, too, is flexible in this matter.

If such massive biblical and theological structures control our thinking on these matters, and such revelatory categories are worked out in our lives in adoration and action, then various ways of thinking about the relationship between Christ and Caesar may prove heuristically helpful but will not assume canonical force. We will be much better able to be as flexible in this regard as are the New Testament documents, without undermining such absolutes as "Jesus is Lord!" The same fundamental structure of biblical theology will speak as powerfully to Christians under persecution who cry for release and for the dawning of the consummated kingdom as to Christians whose love for their neighbors drives them toward heroic efforts on behalf of AIDS sufferers. It will embrace the exclusive claims of Christ and the uniqueness of the church as the locus of redeeming grace, and yet it will demand of believers that they recognize their creaturely existence in this old, fallen creation and reflect on the ubiquitous commands not only to love God but also to love their neighbors as themselves. Instead of imagining that Christ against culture and Christ transforming culture are two mutually exclusive stances, the rich complexity of biblical norms, worked out in the Bible's story line, tells us that these two often operate simultaneously.

Indeed,

To pursue with a passion the robust and nourishing wholeness of biblical theology as the controlling matrix for our reflection on the relations between Christ and culture will, ironically, help us to be far more flexible than the inflexible grids that are often made to stand in the Bible's place. Scripture will mandate that we think holistically and subtly, wisely and penetratingly, under the Lordship of Christ . . .  the complexity will mandate our service, without insisting that things turn out a certain way: we learn to trust and obey and leave the results to God . . .

He also discusses common related topics like "pressures that force thoughtful Christians to wrestle with how we ought to relate to the broader culture of which we are a part . . . [like] secularism, democracy, freedom, and power."  And also the relationship between church and state, where he claims "the New Testament documents regularly distinguish between what Christians are doing in the outworking of their faith and what the church as church is mandated to do."

Review
Carson's book is excellent and a worthy read, if a bit heady at times. I came away with an appreciation of the nuance and complexity in pretty much every aspect of this topic: the difficulties in forming common definitions, reductionisms inherent in most debates or demands for a 'one size fits all' approach, the nuances between the role the "church as church" vs. individual Christians play in relationship to the state, and more.

Carson is as professor and at times assumes a familiarity with certain scholarship, historical events, and terminology that I didn't always share.  And it felt like much of the book was more about looking at the nuances and complexities involved rather than drawing conclusions.  In fact, if you want a prescriptive conclusion, this book is not for you. Indeed, Carson's conclusion is almost the opposite: that there are a range of ways Christians should expect to interact with culture, highly dependent upon situation because of the nuances and complexities involved. As I quoted above, we have a responsibility to think critically, in light of the entire Bible and under the Lordship of Christ, about how to act within and respond to the culture around us.  It's easy for Christians (and humans) to reduce life to a series of rules to follow at all times, but we can't do so and remain consistently faithful to the Scriptures.  The Lord's great commandment to love God and neighbor cannot be reduced to a one-size-fits-all guide. It's complicated, messy at times, and humbling always.

Rating: A

The Philosophy of Tolkien (Peter J. Kreeft)

In The Philosophy of Tolkien, Professor Peter Kreeft presents the worldview behind The Lord of the Rings through the lens of fifty philosophical questions across eleven areas of the discipline (like metaphysics, cosmology, epistemology, linguistics, and more).  Questions like "does God exist," "are we both fated and free," "is death good or bad," "what do we most deeply desire," and so on. For each question, in Kreeft's words,

This book presents four tools for understanding each of the philosophical issues The Lord of the Rings treats:

•  an explanation of the meaning and importance of the question [defining the philosophical terms and general concepts involved];

• a key quotation from The Lord of the Rings showing how Tolkien answered the question  . . .;

• a quotation from Tolkien's other writings (usually a letter*) that explains or comments on the theme in The Lord of the Rings;

• a quotation from C.S. Lewis, Tolkien's closest friend, showing the same philosophy directly stated.

Across them all, Kreeft argues that "though Tolkien's philosophy can be gleaned from the story, the story is not simply a vessel for philosophy. A true work of art, as opposed to a work of propaganda, never is." So things are (or can be) subtle, but they are present.

I have a page dedicated to The Lord of the Rings for a reason; I love the stories and have enjoyed the wisdom therein. Kreeft's book was somewhat helpful in unpacking more of this great work; I learned some new things, had others reinforced, and look forward to reading the books again with a more informed perspective (I'll be on the lookout for these topics). And it was a nice (brief) introduction to many aspects of philosophy. That said, my disagreement with some elements of Catholic theology tempered my enthusiasm in places, and he didn't quote the books as much as I thought he would (though he does include a concordance that I could use to look up many passages). In other words, a reader should be very familiar with the books already to get the most out of this analysis. In the end, it was pretty good, but there may be better out there.

Rating: B-

*The three works most frequently cited are The Silmarillion, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, and On Fairy-stories.

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (D.A. Carson)

Professor D.A. Carson argues that "the love of God [in our culture] has been sanitized, democratized, and above all sentimentalized" in his book The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. He then offers five different ways the Bible speaks of God's love:

1. The peculiar love of the Father for the Son, and of the Son for the Father
2. God's providential love over all that he has made
3. God's salvific stance toward his fallen world
4. God's particular, effective, selecting love toward his elect.
5. God's love is sometimes said to be directed toward his own people in a provisional or conditional way- conditioned, that is, on obedience.

And cautions that "if any one of these five biblical ways of talking about the love of God is absolutized and made exclusive, or made the controlling grid by which the other ways of talking about the love of God are relativized." In other words, "what the Bible says about the love of God is more complex and nuanced than what is allowed by mere sloganeering." He devotes the rest of the book to unpacking these different aspects.

It was good book and a fast read (just 84 pages). Hard for me to follow in places- I can't always track the scholarly background, vocabulary, or perspective that Carson brings- and based on a series of lectures, which isn't inherently bad but can make it seem . . . different than content prepared for the book format.

Rating: A-