Saturday, June 30, 2007

Lutheran Carnival LIII: Johannes Honterus edition

Welcome to Lutheran Carnival LIII! I'd like to thank everyone who sent submissions to help make my first time hosting a carnival successful. There are lots of submissions this time around!

The Lutheran I've chosen to highlight also highlights my cultural heritage. As regular readers of my blog may know, my grandfather was descended from the Transylvanian Saxons, and so was another Lutheran, Johannes Honterus, the Saxon reformer. He was born in 1498, in Kronstadt, Transylvania. Today, this is part of Romania. But Transylvania, called Siebenbürgen by the Saxons, was originally settled by Germans upon the invitation of Hungarian King Géza II. They had political freedom in their own sphere, and maintained their own traditions.

Honterus graduated in 1525 from the University of Vienna with a magister artium title, having started his studies by earning a baccalaureate degree there in 1522. Some of my sources describe him as a humanist, perhaps because of three years spent in Basel, Switzerland, one of the humanist centers of the day, and Honterus' works on cosmography. However, he is referred to here as “the Luther of Transylvania,” and he was instrumental in spreading the Lutheran faith in the region of his birth and establishing the Saxon Evangelical church. Returning to Kronstadt in 1533, he established a school in 1544, a library a year later, and shortly thereafter became a preacher. The school is known to this day as the Johannes Honterus school, and there is a statue of him in Kronstadt, with his arm stretching out towards it. Honterus wrote and printed schoolbooks for his educational endeavor, using the High German of Luther's Bible.

Just as bloggers of today spread ideas with current technology, Honterus set up the first printing press in Kronstadt and also encouraged the building of a paper mill there, the first in the area. Among many Lutheran publications, Luther's Small Catechism was published on this printing press, as well as Honterus' own “Reformationsbüchlein für Kronstadt und das Burzenland,” or “Reformation Pamphlet for Kronstadt and the Burzenland (the area surrounding Kronstadt)”. Concerning Honterus' work, Luther himself wrote to Mathias Ramser, City Pastor of Hermannstadt, a neighboring city: “Everything that you have asked me can be found in this pamphlet better than I can write it to you. It pleases me very much, because it is such a learned, pure and religious writing. Therefore read this pamphlet and sit down in an understanding with those who serve the church in Kronstadt; they will be the best to assist you with the improvement of your church. Because they have worked hard with this pamphlet to follow the set-up of our church, I draw your attention to these.” (The simple translation from German to English is my own; for the original German see here.) Melanchthon also arranged for a new edition of the Reformationsbüchlein in Wittenberg, with Melanchthon's own forward. Lastly, Honterus authored and published an Order of Worship for All Germans in Siebenbürgen. He held a position of leadership among his people until his death in 1549.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the work of a man instrumental in bringing the Lutheran faith to the region of some of my ancestors, and therefore helping to enable that this faith was passed down to me. Now on with the carnival!

Emily H. at The Children of God shares with us a Catholic religious tradition in Italy in Growing Up with San Gennaro. This post is a look back to her childhood and the annual festival of San Gennaro in Naples, Italy. She gives the details of and the over-looked popular culture surrounding the festival.

The Blair Church Project gives us the poetry of a native German, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in her post, 'Till the Night Be Past: The Bonhoeffer Antidote to Recidivist Christianese, where we read about praying... and living... and dying... like we mean it. Then she takes us to England via the film Becket, looks at the relationship between King Henry II of England and Thomas Becket, and encourages pastors and laypeople alike to find honor in their calling in Will No One Rid Me of This Meddlesome Priest?.

Ryan Schroeder at What Did Jesus Do? writes Dispensationalism: The God That Failed. Dispensationalism, in some form or another, is one of the most popular "Christian" teachings today. This is evident from the popularity of books such Left Behind and The Late Great Planet Earth. Yet, for all of its popularity, dispensational theology robs us Christians of much of our Gospel comforts. In this post, Ryan looks not so much at why dispensationalism is wrong, but why it matters that it is wrong.

In Angry Atheists, Ritewinger at TheoCon looks at two atheists who have recently gained publicity and concludes that these men are not really atheists, but instead are angry at God.

I'm unsure about the submission by Bryce Wandrey, at Theological Inquiries, and whether he is coming at things from a confessional perspective in his post, Human Nature. Based upon a reading of Pseudo-Dionysius' work "The Divine Names" this post ponders the implications of “the Good” and “Being” in the human in relation to the doctrines of original sin and justification along with the Lutheran dictum simul justus et pecator. I'd love some comments on this.

Cheryl at A Round Unvarnish'd Tale gives a mother's description of her child's faith in Home.

For more on faith in children, Kelly Klages at Kelly's Blog talks about Our daughter's baptism, and other random stuff. After a lengthy hospital hiatus, Kelly takes a moment to announce her daughter's baptism, muse on a children's book she found on the Ten Commandments with the idea of receiving God's commandments simply for the fun of obeying rules... and mentions why infant baptism isn't like that.

At her other blog, CLEAR (Confessional Lutheran Ecclesiastical Art Resources), Kelly has a request as she works to create a Lutheran dingbat font! Got a fun idea for a character in a font that consists entirely of Lutheran-themed clip art? Please post your suggestions and ideas in her comments section! (The finished font will be made available for free online.)

Speaking of baptism, The Rebellious Pastor's Wife reminisces about one of her most rebellious times... when she used to hang out with the Baptists, in Me???.

The Confessing Evangelical gives us an entire series of posts responding to the suggestion by Reformed blogger Alastair Roberts that the Lutheran use of law/gospel terminology differs from the New Testament's use of those terms. Over the course of this series, John argues that the "secret Lutheran doctrine" of objective universal justification helps reconcile the "objective" gospel of "Jesus is Lord" favoured by the likes of N.T. Wright with the Reformation's emphasis on the "subjective" gospel of "Your sins are forgiven".

Over at Necessary Roughness, we move to another current event. The death of wrestler Chris Benoit and family shocked many sports fans, and emotions run the gamut. The suicide of Benoit precludes any justice by the left-hand kingdom, but is he necessarily excluded from the kingdom of the right? Dan asks Whether Benoit, Too, Can Be Saved.

Weekend Fisher at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength looks at a Litany: for our enemies. She starts with Jesus' words "pray for those who persecute you" and continues with a liturgical responsive prayer for our enemies... and wonders why there isn't a prayer for our enemies in our hymnals.

No small feat, Extreme Theology passes on to us The Most Amazing Sermon I've Ever Heard. This sermon preached by the Rev. Ron Hodel at the Installation of Pastor Jeremy Rhode on Sunday June 23, 2007. Taking as the text 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Rev. Hodel shares with Pastor Rhode how his task to preach the Gospel of Christ crucified will be seen as foolishness, and gives encouragement and Scripture verses for those dark times when the Gospel may seem foolish to him as well.

We get two posts from Random Intolerance, one from Dan and one from Elle. In News on Norman Nagel, we learn that Norman Nagel suffered a stroke. Your prayers for his recovery are greatly appreciated. In The Husband Difference, Elle discusses why men are a needed part of pregnancy.

At Ask the Pastor, we get to see some of the joys *after* pregnancy. Walter Snyder isn't only the Ask the Pastor guy or just the Lutheran minister in Emma, Missouri: God also gave him the blessed offices of husband and father. Fatherhood's joys are the theme of his Father's Day post, Lucky Dog. Pastor Snyder also answers a questioner who wonders, “Is it possible to speak of a dancing Jesus?

Last (although not alphabetically!), but certainly not least, are two submissions from Aardvark Alley. How could Aardvark Alley continue to call itself a confessional Lutheran blog if it ignored the chief Lutheran symbol? Not to worry, however; the Aardvark offered a commemorative post for The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession on 25 June. Among the recent commemorations, Cyril of Alexandria may have been least known by the readers, a situation that Aardie's post attempts to rectify.

Thank you very much for joining me here! The Lutheran Carnival is still looking for hosts, and I can now say from experience that it's fun, so go on over and sign up!

Friday, June 29, 2007

Chaste Thoughts

Since I've blogged here before about Dawn Eden and her book, The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On, I'm going to pass on to you this article that looks at women from both sides of the chastity spectrum, from a virgin who is saving herself for marriage, to a woman who claims to have had sex with around 180 men! A lot of the points Dawn makes in her book are brought up here, such as how women generally have a hard time detaching sex from emotion, how parental dysfunction can lead to promiscuity by their children, how having sex outside of marriage can actually derail a relationship. I also wonder if the abortion, which one of the women profiled had, was a further factor in her increased promiscuity, where she was shocked to realize that she had been with 90 different men. I find it interesting that the woman who is saving herself for marriage is quick to stress that she is not doing so for religious reasons, and the woman who has been with only two men and was brought up in a Christian household is emphatic that her parents were not strict. The stereotype still persists that people of religious faith, and specifically Christians, practicing chastity, are strict, no-fun types. Dawn sees herself, as a single woman living the chaste life, as someone who is developing her gifts, taking joy in everything life has to offer, and being a rebel against the current culture. She tries to define her life by what she has, instead of what she does not have. A good way to look at things, wherever you are in life.

Computer Update

I'm set up again with a "new" computer, hooray! I'm also using Ubuntu as my OS, although I haven't noticed much difference, yet. So, I'm thankful that I have reliable computer access again, with my bookmarks and things.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Now Is the Time When We Dance

Maybe we can at last stick a fork in this immigration bill. I find Bush's comments in the article to be annoying. Legal immigration *is* important to me. I'd like anybody to lives and works in this country to come here *legally*. Not sneak in. Get it?

My grandmother, great-aunt and great-grandmother were left behind when my great-grandfather first came to this country in the early 'teens of last century to try to make a better life for his family. I'm not sure if this was because of immigration laws of the time, of my great-grandfather having to prove he could support them before they could come over, or a simple matter of getting the boat fare together. However, World War I intervened when these three family members were still in the old country, and they ended up becoming war refugees in Russia, along with a great-great-grandfather, who died there. My family could have just stowed away on a boat and sneaked into the country, but they didn't, and they suffered a lot in pursuit of their dream. Yes, the living conditions in Mexico are horrible for many. Perhaps Bush should be putting pressure on his big-wig buddies down there to clean up the problems with their government and economy instead of just sending all the poor people they don't want up here. There's no reason why Mexico can't do better as a country.

Another happy thing, I've discovered via Ace of Spades that those good folks at Despair, Inc. have come up with a DIY parody motivator generator, good for laughs in all kinds of situations. In (dis)honor of Voinovich being one of the Senators from Ohio, and having the absolute last vote, probably the cause of his pulling a 180 at the last minute, here's one I lifted from Dave in Texas.

And this one is just too good not to share as well. Done by this guy. Yeah, I could just point you to the appropriate thread at Ace's place, but the last time I sent anyone there, Ace had just unloaded on a bunch of nasty people who were emailing him nasty things, and the person I sent there ended up needing to bleach his brain. So, you know.

And I'm just not feeling clever enough today to come up with my own. Sorry. I enjoyed being a recliner potato and watching the Indians win the series over the A's. And Jason Michaels is one of my favorite players, too!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Electronic Addiction

Like Marie, I've been having computer problems lately. DH has been working on putting something together for me out of salvaged computer pieces parts. He provides all the computer tech support around here. In the meantime, I've been going through withdrawal, not having access to a computer except when I borrow my husband's computer at night. Not only do I use it for blogging and reading other people's blogs, but I keep in touch with people via email, and I also love to shop online. I can find things online I can't find anywhere else, I can save time by looking at what's available online before I go to a store, I don't have to drag my daughters out shopping, the conveniences of online shopping are many. I've bought and sold things on ebay. I can also research things online, like the research I'm doing for the upcoming Lutheran Carnival, which will go up on time despite any technical difficulties! I think I'm really addicted to my computer!

Earrings

For those of you who are interested, here's a very close-up picture of the earrings my darling husband bought for me on his trip. They look like emeralds, or at least fake emeralds, but they're really crystallized volcanic ash. They're pretty.

And for Tribe fans, was tonight suh-weet or what?? A run-off home run in the ninth to win the game!! By a pinch hitter! Tied for first in the AL Central!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Bad Man, Good Man

So once again, a man is charged with two counts of murder in the death of the mother of his child (or children) and the death of an unborn child. When will it strike people as incongruent that right now an unborn child's death being called murder or not murder depends only on the desires of the mother? The mother's feelings change nothing about whether or not the unborn child is a living, feeling human creature. Shouldn't that be what matters? As an aside, it's pretty sad that Bobby Cutts Jr. is only believed to be the father of the unborn child he is accused of murdering. Did the mother not know who the father was, or had the father simply not stepped up and taken responsibility for this child?

On a happier note, my husband brought home a little gift for each of us from his business trip. He looked through an antique prints store for me, not only knowing what era of fashion I am most interested in, but also whether or not the prints he found would be interesting to me (they wouldn't have been.) Isn't he a great guy? I got a pair of earrings instead, made of green crystallized volcanic ash from Mt. St. Helen's. My first pair of earrings since I got my ears pierced!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Hey You Guys

If I start acting like a drunken and/or drugged idiot, do you think I can get my own documentary on cable television too?

Getting Back to Normal

DH is back after a week of being all the way across the country, for work. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when he is gone. Our whole family dynamic is changed; our lives are thrown off kilter. It's good to have him back.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Carny Worker

Hey all! I'm going to be hosting the 53rd edition of the Lutheran Carnival right here! Submissions are due by June 29th, I will get the carnival up by July 1st. You know you want to submit something! For instructions, go here.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Eight Things You May Not Know About Me

I got tagged by Laura of the Wide Awake Cafe.

1. I collect Cat’s Meow Village pieces. Cat's Meow pieces are generally wooden pieces painted to look like buildings, or landscapes. The pieces I have are generally of some meaning to me, like Lakewood Hospital, where I was born, or Jacob's Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. They are called Cat's Meow because each piece has a black cat somewhere on it.

2. I collect dolls and have dolls in several sizes. I also like to sew for them; I neglected to add doll patterns as part of my pattern collection in my pattern cabinet post.

3. I’m interested in the history of royalty, especially Queen Victoria and her numerous descendants. I got started with my interest in Victorian-era fashion and it grew from there. It's a window into a whole other life, in a different era.

4. I have lived in Ohio all of my life, mostly in the Greater Cleveland area.

5. I don’t like to cook very much. I do it because it’s best for my family, and the most inexpensive option for meals. I get into moods where I like to do something fancy, like a completely homemade apple pie.

6. I was in Spain for a week when I was in high school. My high school group visited Málaga, Seville, Córdoba, Granada, Toledo and Madrid.

7. I’m not very good at taking care of plants. I still like them. It’s kind of a sad thing.

8. In my former pre-mom life, I used to be a computer programmer for the Navy payroll system. I also have done copywriting and proofreading, and page layout on the computer. I’m old enough to remember page layout before computers, when pages would be printed out from a big old typesetting machine and manually laid out.

I'm going to tag The Elephant's Child, Jau at just muttering, and the Lutheran Hen.

I Have a Pattern Cabinet!


Okay, that's pretty funny after yesterday's post, isn't it? Still, when you sew clothes for yourself, your kids, and your husband, and when you sew other items for your home, you end up acquiring a lot of patterns. I've been sewing clothes for my daughters since they were babies, and I've kept all the patterns. After all, there'll always be babies to be sewn for, right? Also, with my interest in costume, I have some costume patterns, although I admit I haven't made up any of them yet. They take a lot of fabric, and a lot of time!

Anyway, when my sister-in-law asked me if I wanted to purchase a pattern cabinet from a sewing store near them that was going out of business, I said yes! I appreciate my brother-in-law hauling the cabinet by truck from where they live to our home.

Monday, June 18, 2007

I Thought I Had a Lot of Sewing Stuff

until I saw this YouTube video. Wow! I don't ever want to acquire that much stuff!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all my readers who are fathers. My husband had an enjoyable afternoon with his daughters, seeing the Fantastic Four Two movie with them. Tonight he leaves for a week on a business trip. :(

I have a meme I need to work on later, when I have the time to sit down and think about it.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Real Life

is interfering with my blogging, at least for the next day or so. Yes, I do have a life! :) Hope you all are doing well and enjoying summery weather! If you're interested, swing over to JunkYardBlog and check out Peter Robinson at the Hoover Institution interviewing Fred Thompson.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

My Husband

Fourteen years ago today, my husband and I were married. It's meant so much to me to have his strong support and love. We've built a wonderful life together, with our two beautiful daughters. Happy Anniversary, dear.

Monday, June 11, 2007

I've Become a Cat


At least temporarily, with this cold. I get bouts of energy for fifteen minutes or so, then decide it's time for another short nap. Meanwhile, nothing much is catching my interest. I'm glad the weather is pleasant, not too hot, and sunny to keep my spirits up.

The above pic is a little old, from last year, but it seemed suitable. I was sleeping on the recliner overnight for some reason, I think because I was sick (!), and one of our cats decided to take up residence near my head. A cat we used to have, named Hobbes, would progressively push mine or DH's head off the pillow as we slept, and we'd wake up with a paw in our faces.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

A Little Sparkle

Hey ya'll! I've been down with a cold the last couple of days, feeling achy and sniffly, and coughing. Tonight the weather was cool enough that we had a fire outside. We also cooked dinner in it. Throw some marinated chicken in a foil bag, place the bag in the fire, let cook for 30 minutes or so, and voilá!, yummy dinner! With some coleslaw on the side.

Before and after dinner, we had fun with sparklers. We tested out some colored ones, but they weren't that exciting. The only colors were red and green, and they smoked a little and didn't give off sparks like the regular ones do. It was still all fun.



Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Reminscing

At my (husband's) nephew's graduation party on Sunday, I got the chance to see a little bit of the "cycle" that Presbytera blogged about recently. Like watching a cousin's daughter as she ran around grabbing candy off of the tables, and remembering that when the Scientist was a flowergirl in this same cousin's wedding, the Scientist went around taking candy out of the favor boxes on the tables. Looking at pictures of my nephew in a little white tux at my sister-in-law's wedding, and a little black tux as a ringbearer in mine and my husband's wedding. And now he's graduated from high school, and my own daughter will be the next one in the family group to graduate, albeit seven years or so from now. Will they go as fast as the last eleven have? Probably.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Weekend Doings

This was the busiest weekend I've had in a while. Saturday we hung out at our church garage sale/get-together. Yesterday after church we went to the high school graduation party for my husband's nephew. Here's a picture of him opening our gift, a refrigerator for his college dorm room. That should work out well, since he apparently eats enough for several normal people. :)

I am hoping that my sister-in-law will email me some of the pictures that her husband took (hint, hint!) :) We finally got to meet our great-nephew, and I held another one of the babies who were there, a cousin's daughter.

I wasn't entirely happy about being out all weekend, but I think it was good for me all the same. I feel better about tackling things here at home now since I've had a couple of days break.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Technology Rocks


The item on the left in this picture is a bottle of nail polish. The item on the right is an MP3 player. No, really! It's specifically marketed for kids, even coming with stickers which Wildchild has already used to decorate it. It's the Sansa Shaker, and we bought it especially because it's made for kids and therefore sturdy, and therefore likely to survive Wildchild for a reasonable time. Plus, it's got the cool feature that if you hold the play/pause button and shake it, it will go on to the next song. A cute little idea for kids, and a great way for them to have music to listen to. When I was only a little older than Wildchild, the Sony Walkman was All That. Quite a difference!

Friday, June 01, 2007

Hot Friday Night

Nothing says fun like playing miniature golf on a Friday night. They turned off the lights right after we left! :)


Of course, we missed the Cleveland Indians' big comeback tonight. When we left the golf course the Indians were down 11-7. I turned on the TV at home right after the Indians won the game in the 9th inning, 12-11. Oh well. At least we keep beating Detroit. And speaking of, the Indians are playing the Tigers at home again tomorrow night, and there will be big screens outside the Q right next door showing the Cavs-Pistons game, as the game is played inside. Cleveland should be hopping tomorrow night. Go Cleveland! Beat Detroit!