Blogging in April

I'm not even going to try to lie and say that I'm going to quit blogging. It would be a too obvious April Fool's Day joke. However, I will say that a friend of mine expressed her grave disappointment in me joining the blogosphere. She said that blogging increases anti-socialism. People don't see each other anymore, people don't talk. I guess the same was said of mobile phones too? We all know how that turned out though. People, at least in Finland, began to see much more of each other as a direct result of smoother communication. But I don't know if similar researches have been conducted as regards blogging.

That said, as March comes to an end, I will not blog on a daily basis in April - rather, on a every-second-day basis. (Radical change, I know.) I have an important deadline on April 18th (prayers requested). But if I feel confident that this blog won't turn into an "extension of ”ego” (my phrase, by the way), I might resume daily blogging in May again.

Happy April everyone!

Eat My Grandma?

In many Eastern religions meat-eating is prohibited. Even more so if the animal in question is a cow. Many who endorse samsara (the belief in a cycle of re-births) believe animals can be human relatives and loved ones incarnate.

It’s no surprise they follow a vegetarian diet. Everyone can understand the dislike of the idea of eating your relative, say, your Grandma. And if you believed that any given animal can, in fact, be your Grandma, abstaining from meat seems a rather reasonable option.

But what about the fact that in the animal kingdom some animals eat other animals?

I would like to find an answer to these two interrelated questions: (1) If meat-eating is so strongly prohibited for human beings, how and why do our reincarnate friends and family pick up the habit of eating one another? (2) Why is it prohibited for a human being to eat meat, when his reincarnate friends and family do the same every day?

Perhaps in the Hindu “hierarchy of animals” the “less holy” animals are carnivores and omnivores? I don't know.

Raining in Africa, part 2

During the rainy season, driving can be difficult. The roads, most of them muddy, flood with water. We saw a sedan wholly submerge. Thankfully the Fida project cars are elevated land cruisers and the like. Ellam, who works for Danny as the Logistic Officer, is a good driver (so is Danny, I witnessed it so many times). As said above, driving can be a challenge - especially if you see the road for only a microsecond at a time.

Shooting Pastor

Shaun Rossi is all geared up for Sunday's service. He is preparing to not water down the Gospel, and is expecting some flak. (Seriously speaking, he is getting ready for paint-ball warfare.) Shaun is the new lead pastor of EICF. Our Easter celebration last Sunday was very touching. EICF meets in two locations in Espoo - Leppävaara and Olari - but last Sunday we had a joint service. A very colourful bunch indeed.

Two Tribes

You didn't see this on TV. There were a lot of crew behind the camera, at least a three-man team, and during competitions and the like often more than two or three dozen people. In this photo, we have been in Malaysia for some 3-4 weeks. I eventually lost 17 kilos (ca. 45 pounds), of which half has not returned to this day. We have just landed on Mensirip, the final island to where the remains of of the two tribes were sent. (I can post more pictures later if anyone's interested.)

Two Ways to Wisdom

There are two ways to wisdom. One is thinking that you are onto something, and after some years realizing you were not; that you were an idiot. You have become, in a sense, wiser. The other way is thinking that you are onto something, and in later years realizing that you indeed were – and are - on to something, and understanding more fully why. You have become, in a different sense, wiser.

Unfortunately many become “wise” mostly in the first sense. Even, or perhaps especially, academics such as university professors.

Now that it perfectly normal and would usually be forgivable too, unless, of course – and this is too often the case – they wrote books before becoming “wise”. Now they have to write more books in which, if they’re humble enough, they apologize for the blunders in the first books. For many a student this comes too late; the damage is already done.

When I grow up, I would rather be wise in the second sense. Or if that's not probable, I at least ought to refrain from writing books. The collateral damage of writing a lowly blog is limited.

Teemu the Chicken Farmer

Meet Teemu, 8 years. He is my parents' youngest child. He has been with them since he was two and a half. He loves animals. Cats, dogs, ducks, hens, chickens, bunnies - you name it. During the summers he might spend a few weeks (altogether) at our summer cabin in central Finland, at Lepojärvi (“Rest Lake”). He takes mighty good care of all the animals there. I really love this little boy.

Myth Debunked

This is Northern Norway, last Fall. The Autumn colours are not yet radiant, but it does look serene. However, you know the story about the supposed treasure at the end of a rainbow? Well, whoever came up with that myth doesn't know s**t. After walking all those miles, all I found was Emil. Thankfully I bumped into some rain-deer as well.

(Emil, this is a Lepojärvi euphemism for “You are a dear friend.”)

The Nokia Parrot

This parrot did something I had never seen done before. It used to belong to Danny and Sirkku's ex-neighbors. I once walked past their yard and heard a mobile phone ring. You know, the cheesy Nokia tune: “Te-de-dee-dee, te-de-dee-dee, te-de-dee-dee-deee”? I looked around but didn't see anybody. Then I heard a bellowing laughter: “Ha-ha-ha-ha!!” It was the parrot. You see, it had learned to mimic the ring tone of the (Finnish) family's phones. A few times a family member would mistake the parrot's song for the real thing, and would try to answer their phone. Other family members would notice the blunder and ... begin to laugh. Then the parrot would, in turn, mimic the laughter.

A pattern had formed. A Finn would walk by, the parrot would “call” them on the phone, the Finn would try to answer it, the parrot (seemingly on purpose, just to be spiteful) would then fall into a roaring laughter. More than one guest has looked at the parrot with a suspicious eye afterwards.

Easter Elephant

This is not the photo of the attacking elephant I promised to post the other day. I don't remember who took this picture, but it gives you a pretty good idea of how close all the animals were (in fact this is quite far). Elephants really are spectacular beings.

By the way, yesterday was Good Friday. I had a very nice night on Thursday at St. Henry's (in Helsinki). Today Jussi and Kalle, two friends, came over. We opened a special bottle of South-African red wine (2001), which was delicious. We raised our glasses to (our) wives and to Jesus.

Kalevi Lepojärvi

(Kalevi Lepojärvi, 1920-)

My paternal Grandpa, Kalevi, is a very old man. He is a father of eight. As a young man, he uses to work at a saw-mill. It was important to keep your back straight when handling heavy pieces of wood. Many years of that left my Grandpa with an impeccable posture. In this photo he is, what, some 80 years old? and still standing proud and handsome. He and my Grandma, Kaija, became farmers and dairy producers. I still remember the smell of the barn. Years went by; they retired; shut down the farm. Later Grandma died, and Grandpa's health deteriorated. Loss of memory, yes. But he still stands straight, I believe. Good man.

TACT: Born Members

This is a fake pose. Well, I was really reading at the time, but I did set the camera to take a timed picture. On my first trip to Africa (North Africa doesn't count), I needed to (tongue in cheek) provide proof to my fellow TACT members that I was, in fact, holding my end of the deal. We all had agreed to get up at 7 am on Wednesday mornings to read the pages for the day. TACT, or Toast And Christiani-Tea for you non-members, is a C. S. Lewis reading group I belong to. We meet weekly for breakfast. I think we're on our 6th book by now. It's very exclusive: it's a birthright-only group. (Two members actually had babies within the last two years. And two other members were actually directly responsible for this.)

Brian Rose Jr: Human Target

Cute, eh? This is Brian Rose Jr's back, a few hours into his brother Simon's bachelor party last summer. We had a blast. One activity on the menu was - original, I know - paint-ball. My dad, self-proclaimed commando and game hunter - managed to sneak up behind Brian. Voilà! Here's what two point-blank shots will do to a fella. Welcome to the family, Brian. However, Brian didn't complain once. Awesome sportsman. I repeat, welcome to the family. (As always, the photo can be clicked to enlarge.)

Philosophy = Intellectual Masturbation?

Some time ago, an American Catholic friend of mine described “most of today's philosophy” as “intellectual masturbation”. He used to major in philosophy himself, so his comment could not be ignored as “low brow” Christian prejudice. I went home thinking about that idea: philosophy as intellectual masturbation.

On a certain level it made sense. As masturbation is sexual but not sex (rather a perversion of sex that excludes love, the other person, intercourse and potential life), shallow philosophy can be called rational but not “true” philosophy (rather a perversion of philosophy that excludes e.g. morality, absolute ideas, personal commitment and the like). I am thinking mainly of a shallow philosophy following Descartes' heritage: intellectualism, Cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”). If you can't prove it rationally, reject it, or treat it with utmost suspicion. This leaves out many essential things, like love and intuition.

I shared my friend's comment with another friend, who immediately came up with an additional resemblance between modern philosophy and masturbation (sorry for repeating this word over and over again). Masturbation culminates in orgasm. This brings pleasure to the act. Similarly, philosophical thinking may result in small “orgasmic” victories, for instance, in arguments or in developing new philosophical theories - which are later praised by the philosophical intelligentsia or their semi-philosophical audience.

But this analogy seems to hold for theology too. It is not difficult to imagine similar pleasures derived from debates on biblical or doctrinal issues between competing theologians or self-proclaimed leaders of different denominations. (One might argue, though quite unjustifiably of course!, that this blog is likewise going to turn into one long “philosophical program”, in the analogous sense, that is...)

MacGyver: A Legend

This is my cat, MacGyver. I got him when I was 9 years-old. I chose him out of three cute kittens, mostly because he looked chubby. More than one person objected to the christening of him, though. You named him what? In my defense, MacGyver was cool back then. (If you ask Marge Simpson's sisters, he still is!) Also, today my cat is a legend. Everyone knows MacGyver. He was even mentioned in the Helsingin Sanomat. I'm not kidding. He has lost 11 out of his 9 lives, but is still alive. We don't know for how long still, for he's showing signs of old age. For example, he can't beat the crap out of neighboring cats anymore.

Raining in Africa

There's a mystic feel to this photo. It's beautiful. It almost looks fake (it has not been manipulated at all). During rains, many herd animals - these were impalas or thompson antilopes - gather together and find open ground. That way predators will find it harder to exploit the weather conditions: limited visibility, falling rain drops drowning the noise of their deadly approach. This photo was taken in Mikumi, some four hours from Dar es Salaam. The roads running through the national park provide additional protection for these animals, as they're built a bit higher than the immediate surroundings so as to avoid being flooded.

Lorimark Consulting

Some time ago, my dad founded a consulting firm, Lorimark Consulting. Its forum is special education. Some time ago I was trying to design a logo for it (no homepage yet). The brilliant idea was to have two hands, a man's hand and a young child's hand, on top of each other to form the outline of a dove. Ideally, the adult's hand would looked like it was slightly supporting the child's hand. I took many photos of my dad's and little-Teemu's joined hands, but none of them worked out just right.

In this photo (not of my dad and Teemu), however, even the curve of the breast and the tail feathers of the dove seem to be visible. Wouldn't you agree? Try closing your eyes just a bit. Anyways, actually drawing it proved to be too difficult. Perhaps I'll give it another go one day.

The Rose Family

Cathy and Simon's wedding last summer was an absolute success. It was very beautiful: this perfect photo with the colours and perfect pose actually symbolize how it really was: perfect. There were so many good pictures taken, I would like to post them all. There's one picture I definitely will be posting in the future: it involves my dad (that is, Simon's father-in-law) and a shotgun. If you're interested in knowing how they're doing, there's a direct link to their family homepages on the left hand side of this blog. (Cathy, now you'll have to update it. You wouldn't want people to be disappointed, now would you?)

Some Sweat, Some Shiver

It is very warm in Tanzania. I personally love warm weather (I know, I am weird in that way). Danny, on the other hand, "hikoilee kun sika" and I think little Benjy inherited this gene. I've been in Khao Lak during summer, on a shadeless island in the South-Chinese sea, and in Rome during August (when locals usually escape the flow of tourists and the hot sun to higher ground), and I've never had problems with heat. Cold is another story. Below is a photo of a church in Tanzania. Most were built this way: holey. With no AC or fans, a sporadic sea-wind breeze through the church building helps parishioners through Sunday services (often 3-4 hours long).

Axis & Allies Miniatures

This is one of my favourite games, Axis & Allies Miniatures. The downside is that it's very addictive (though this is part of its fascination). I've even brought it with me twice on over-sea trips. Boy, did the custom officers look at me strangely, as I opened the two dubious looking custom made brief cases during security control...

Random statistics: If you're a man, there's a 80% chance you'd enjoy playing Axis & Allies Miniatures (thanks to its strategic dimension), and if you're a man living in the 21st century, there's a 80% change you'd become addicted to it (thanks to marketing which has caused the virtue of Self Control to disappear and rendered us semi-helpless against addictions).

Vaari 50 years

This is my dad. He's a Granpa of three. Vaari ("Grandpa" in Finnish) turned 50 last month. For his birthday he got to travel to Africa with his whole family, two Blues season tickets for 2007-8, and a bunch greetings from around the world. Both my parents have good genes: often they're mistaken as an older sibling of mine, and when the truth is revealed, the confused person begins to suspect a possible teenage pregnancy as an explanation.

Faith That "Can Handle Tension"

A Babtist biblical scholar I met some time ago criticized systematic theology. “I’d rather be called a biblical theologian,” he said, “than a systematic theologian.” “We want to create systems,” he continued, “because we like to have a reason for everything.” Nonetheless, he said his faith “can handle tension.” I went away thinking about tension. What causes tension?

I can see three sources, or three kinds, of tension.

First, there are divine mysteries and paradoxes that can be said to cause tension. In short, a paradox is an apparent (not really a) contradiction; mystery begins where human understanding ends. (Obviously the two are interrelated, but I won’t even attempt an elaboration on their interrelation.)

Second, there is tension that results from one’s faulty premises or presuppositions. For instance, say your faith embraces the beliefs/doctrines A and B — of which one or both are unsound. Together they bring about a problematic C which feels a bit unpleasant, but you embrace C anyways despite the tension.

In addition to these two kinds of tension, there is a third one. Let’s presume that A and B were, in fact, sound beliefs (biblically) or premises (logically). Together they bring about C which (for some reason) — you refuse to embrace. Because you are being intellectually dishonest (for whatever reason), you live with tension.

Now, which of these “tensions” was my biblical scholar friend talking about? Which of these can his faith “handle”?

The last kind of tension is not a very noble kind. I doubt he had that in mind. The second kind of tension is nobler: it takes some humility and courage to embrace C in the name of integrity. After all, you don’t know that A and B are unsound principles, and you may mistake the resulting tension from C as the type that accompanies mysteries and paradoxes. This brings us to the first kind: the only truly noble type. I think my friend was talking about the first kind of tension.

Now another question arises: what makes him think that the “systematic theologians” can’t handle tension of the first type? A brief look at the great systematic theologians of Church history ― Augustine, Boethius, Bonaventura, Aquinas, to name a few ― shows that they are high on divine mysteries and paradoxes. It’s the two other kind of tension they’d like to be free from. That’s why they want to remain “systematic” (lucid) in their thinking.

I really don’t like the juxtaposition of “biblical” versus “systematic” theology.

At least the tension-argument above is not very convincing. It’s misleading, it distorts the question, raises a straw-man, if not further elaborated on as I have tried to do here.

Coral Reefs

One of the things that I have absolutely fallen in love with is diving, with or without scuba gear. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the PADI course this time around, but it didn't really matter. Diving with a mask, a snorkel, and fins is fun enough. It's wonderful. Last month Julia, 11 years, went snorkeling for the first time in her life. After she got over the initial shock (it can be intimidating even for an adult), she wouldn't get out of the water. She even manage to hold her breath long enough for 4-5 meter dives. (Elena, a friend with whom I visited Malaysia in 2005, sent me this picture of herself - ha, this isn't a picture of Julia. Elena travels regularly to the Mediterranean and to the Red Sea.)

Hiking in Norway

Last September, I went mountain hiking in northern Norway with a few friends. It was my first hiking trip ever (hunting is a different thing, really). I really enjoyed it. I liked to not follow any man-made trails, and would often walk a few hundred yards off track. This allowed me to find interesting things, like the carcass of a rain-deer, probably killed by a wolverine earlier that fall.

The best part of the trip, in addition to the breath-taking sceneries, was the company I shared. A Basque Catholic priest, two Spaniards, a half-Iraqi, and (a hiking veteran) a Lutheran pastor from Oulu - you can imagine that there was no lack of good conversation.

Elephants of the Round Table

I really like this photo. The four elephants look like they are discussing something important. During our visit to Mikumi, Tanzanian's fourth largest national park, we were attacked by both elephants and lions. The lion story I'll leave for later. As for the elephant charge, I couldn't take a photo because - hanging out of the car window - I was busy holding on to the car with one hand and the camera with the other, as my dad shifted into first gear to make a speedy get-away. But Jan, sitting in the very back, did manage to get a spectacular picture. Now, as soon my silly computer is able to read the DVD with the burned images, I'll provide empirical proof of this (and the lion) story.

Tennis with the Boys

We were able to play a lot of tennis at Onnela, the (so-called) compound Danny and Sirkku live in. The best times for playing were between 7.00-9.00 and 17.00-19.00. Between 9.00-17.00 it's too darn hot and between 19.00-9.00 it's, you guessed it, too darn dark. That didn't stop some of us from playing under the midday sun, but no-one bothered to play after sunset, because out of the twelve lights supposed to light the court, one worked.

Joshua: “In!”

Teemu: “ULKONA. En ois halunnukkaa olla tuomari.”

Christianity and Politics

For some time now, I've been thinking about the relationship between Christianity and politics. What effect should a Christian politician's faith have on his work as a politician? One thing that I'm hoping this blog will help me with the numerous questions that trouble me. Perhaps every now and then an enlightened reader will shed some light on this or that problem.

I'll begin with the first problem concerning “Christian politics” (horrible word, invites misunderstanding, I know). What can a Christian politician expect to accomplish? Is “utopia on earth” attainable?

There seems to me to be two kinds of “ideal states”. The first kind is the absolutely perfect kind: no crime, perfect equality, etc. In Christian terms, this would be a state that was not invaded by sin and its results. Now, this kind of “ideal state” is utopia, quite literally a place that does not exist and cannot (it seems) be attained on earth.

But there is also another way of interpreting the concept “ideal state”. Given the fact that human nature is fallen, that there is sin and sin’s terrible consequences on earth, it is still true that in some societies it is easier to “be good” that in others. So, sin’s consequences can be minimized to a certain extent. That’s why we have the police force, the education system, law courts and what not. In addition to concrete institutions, there are movements, or “forces” at work in the society, that encourage positive behavior, that help in the cultivation and implementation of virtues. Some societies do this better than others and, it may be that in a certain historical context one system works well, but in another era that system does not work well.

Thus, the second way of interpreting the “ideal state” is: an ideal state with qualifications. We cannot attain perfection due to sin, but we can attain a certain level of perfection, the best possible level. By definition, this level is attainable - and can be called the “ideal state”.

The irony is, it seems to be that this is not utopia, but realism.

Now, of course this logical conclusion - a truth in itself - does not help us in figuring out the details, in understanding what ought to be encouraged and what systems built in a given country at a given time.

However, this realization that an “ideal state” (in the second sense) is in fact attainable, can, for the Christian politician, function as a strong motivation to work out the “how”. (Similarly, in his personal life, knowing that there is a perfect example of “what it is to be man” (and His name is Jesus), he can be encouraged to imitate him.) How this perfection can be attained is another matter. But I think that Christian politicians and educationists could perhaps benefit from this realization in their work.

Brother in Africa

Yet another photo from November 2006, my first trip to Tanzania (I haven't been able to access my photos from February 2008). I joined Danny on one of this many work trips, this time to Kilwa, which is South from Dar es Salaam on the coast. Fida had just recently helped to build a school there, and Danny went to inspect the results and say hello. Our hosts had booked us in two separate bungalos in Kilwa's finest hotel. This probably cost them a month's salary, but we couldn't say no. The interesting part was that we were the only customers in the hotel, not only that day, but that month. Here is Danny fiddling with the sea-shells I gathered while he's talking to his wife on the phone, whom he dearly misses on all of his field trips.

Sad News

A dialogue between Jussi and me earlier today:

Jason: “Sad news. Henceforth my ramblings too will overflow into the blogosphere.”

Jussi: “Sad news, indeed. Even worse, I already subscribed to your rss-feed even though you haven't written anything yet.”

Jason: “That quite possibly places you just below me on the pity hierarchy.”

Artistic Sister

I'm a shamed to admit it, but this rather narcissistic photo is the only picture I have of Cathy's wonderful painting that is hanging on my living-room wall. I can't remember its name, it may have been Heaven.

Old Town of Zanzibar

I just returned from a three week trip to Tanzania. A wonderful experience, to say the least. This was my second trip. This photo was taken on my first trip in November 2006 on the exotic island of Zanzibar, one of my favourite places in Tanzania (well, I haven't been to that many). The Old Town in Zanzibar is well over a thousand years old. It suffers from frequent electric block-outs. Go figure.

Is "doing the right thing" difficult?

It is often said that doing “the right thing” is difficult. This of course implies that doing “the wrong thing” is the easy way out. I’ve always agreed with this, but there’s another way to look at it.

If “easy” refers to the specific action, for instance, in giving into a certain temptation, then I would agree. It is “easy” to just give into the temptation (whatever it is) when the alternative requires battle - battle of mind and of actions. To use an example. Say you want to cheat (either in an exam or your spouse). In one way this is easy. You don’t have to go through the pains of studying or self-sacrificing love. So doing the “wrong thing” (cheating) is easier. Doing the “right thing” (honesty or faithfulness) is difficult.

But in another way this couldn’t be further from the truth. How so? It’s simple really.

If “easy” refers to, not the specific action, but to life in its totality, then the opposite is true. Doing the wrong thing is difficult and doing the right is easy. Cheating in an exam is difficult, i.e. life becomes difficult: you don’t really learn what you’re supposed to, and you might even get caught. Being unfaithful is difficult, i.e. life becomes difficult: you hurt your spouse and yourself (even if you don’t get caught), and rebuilding the trust and love may be an overwhelming task.

One can put this in another way. Doing the wrong thing is easy in the short run (just give in), but difficult in the long run. Doing the right thing may be difficult in the short run (requires battle), but much easier in the long run.