7 Quick Takes Friday!

-- 1 --

Two weeks ago we brought the Burmese refugee couple a computer to learn to use. Since the first lesson included learning how to move and click on a mouse, we assumed that two hours worth of instruction wouldn't be enough to prepare them for .... dun dun dun.... error messages.

We were correct. When I called last week from Chicago to see how it was going, Tee Reh hesitantly told me he had a virus (they don't have internet). I told him to hold on and we'd check it out next week. This week when we turned the computer on a message popped up saying "your virus protection is out of date". Hah! We attempted to explain what "antivirus software" is, and how when he gets the internet, he'll need it, but right now he doesn't and he doesn't have a virus. WHEW.

-- 2 --

I was struck by the public call from the Catholic Church to conservative Anglicans. I don't know if Anglicans will accept and join the RCC church, but what I find really surprising is the unusually generous concessions from the Catholic church. What is the significance of them being willing to absorb whole dioceses of Anglicans and allow them to continue in the Anglican rite with married priests, etc. Does this mean the Catholic church sees no theological differences between them and Anglicans other than the acceptance of the authority of the magesterium? I wish I could hear from a conservative Anglican how they articulate their theological differences with Catholics.

-- 3 --

I have been so so fascinated by this series called Talking to the Taliban on The Globe and Mail (Canadian News), which has 30 video interviews with Taliban fighters asking them all the same 20 questions. Some of their responses I expected, some of them totally shocked me. You should check it out. Or check out my thoughts about it over at my politics/theology blog.

-- 4 --

Working with freshman girls is never boring. This week my girls got into a discussion about homosexuality, and actually I thought it was great. I guess this week on Grays Anatomy a lesbian character was featured in an angry arguement with her judgemental Christian father who quoted scripture at her and condemned her life. In the end I asked my girls (who are mostly pretty sheltered at this point) what they would do when they met and talked to a gay person. How would they respond? What would they say? I think those discussions are healthy and needed, and most of all I wish for them to first see the PERSON as a child of God in need of love as much as everyone else, even if they disagree with their lifestyle choices. It was a great discussion! I asked them not to think about what Christians would do in a situation, because Christians often make mistakes - what would Jesus' approach be?

-- 5 --

I finally watched The Proposal while I was in Chicago. It's always fun watching movies with single college girls. I might have drifted off in the second half (dang it, that happens more and more often!) but I did like it, it was cute. I would say though, that it wasn't really strikingly better than New in Town, which I also thought was cute.

-- 6 --

I am still fascinated by the Whitehouse Photostream on Flikr that I discovered a month ago. Of course the photos are still somewhat staged, but because they are updated daily it does give you a little bit of a sense of the flow of life and what the President has been up to. Basketball photos come up constantly, and I think that Obama plays regularly with some of his staff, especially his personal assistant Reggie Bush who used to play in college. Reggie looks fun and chill... good choice for a personal assistant to a very busy man.


Photos like this one below always make me nervous - it's from a briefing on Pakistan and Afghanistan. I always think... please oh please oh please don't be deciding something rash and disasterous!

And on a random side note, these are the White House butlers.

When I was a kid and got a tour of the West Wing from a relative that worked in the White House, we met the butler for Clinton and he was a big jovial black guy that had been on a first-name basis with three Presidents. We met him when we peeked into the White House kitchen, which is surprisingly small and utilitarian. It's in the basement, and right near it our guide pointed out an old doorway that showed charring and smoke damage in the wood at the top of the doorway. The guide says it's the only think left from when the British burned the White House.

-- 7 --

Isaac's birthday is next week, so we'll probably celebrate this weekend. Woohoo!

Head over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!