Brainstorming in Jyväskylä

I just returned from a weekend spent in Jyväskylä, central Finland. It had been years since I last visited that beautiful city. My friend Jussi and I hopped on the Helsinki-Jyväskylä train on Friday and returned a few hours ago.

[Photo of me and Jussi taken by Jani Salokangas.]

Our mutual friend, Jani, who lives in Jyväskylä turned out to be the best of hosts. We ate well, listened to excellent music, took refreshing walks, and - the main purpose of our visit - held several brainstorming sessions together (a creative joint project). Jani lived in Tanzania for two years with his family: that's where we first met. Jani's wife, Laura, spent the weekend at her parents' place with their little girl, Noela, and let us guys take over the house.

City Magazine: Ask a Catholic

"City" is a Finnish metropolitan lifestyle magazine. Or that's the general image. In truth it's one over-extended restaurant and club advertisement with sporadic sex-related articles to lure in readers. ;-)

Anyway, recently they surprised their anti-religious readership by publishing an article "Ask a Catholic". Readers sent in questions, all were difficult ones and some a bit sarcastic, and Emil Anton, a young Catholic apologist, answered them.

Emil is actually a close friends of mine. His apologetics blog Hyviä uutisia (Good news) has hundreds of hits daily. This is quite impressive considering the articles are only in Finnish (although Emil himself speaks 20 languages, really, he's a polyglot-freak). Emil just published his first theological book, A Catholic Paul (KATT 2009).

City's article confirms my conception of him: Emil is not afraid of critical questions, even hostile ones. Here are some questions that he answers in the article:

Who gets into heaven? Do Catholics argue about it as we do in the Lutheran church?
Woman, 29

What does the "Devil's advocate" do and how can I become one? Is my gender an obstacle?
Devil's advocate(ss), 19

Why is it that we constantly hear of new paedophilia crimes committed by Catholic priests?
Gay sex legal, paedophilia a crime, 24

Every now and again one hears of Catholic priests who have started a family. How many percent of priests break their vow of celibacy?
Priests are hot, 25

How do Roman Catholics in Finland feel about Papal power? Isn't replacing God by one supposedly infallible person against both reason and the Scriptures?
Paptiti, 28

Considering the obtuse ban against contraception, why don't we see huge Catholic families ... with 16 children or so? How many children do Catholics in Finland have?
Woman, 34

According to the Catholic Church's teaching of the Eucharist, the bread and wine become Jesus' REAL body and blood. Not symbolically, that is. Do you really believe you are swallowing blood and human flesh? Wouldn't it be enough to look at it as a symbolic act of rememberence?
Gross, 24

The Catholic Church does not allow/recommend divorce in any circumstances. This can be fatal. What should you do if you spouse drinks and abuses you and it's obvious that he will not change his habits?
Glad I left, 33

What are the relations between Catholics and Jews? Are you ashamed of the Pope's actions in World War II, or was he infallible then too?
Woman, 32

I couldn't stop laughing after reading his answer to the Eucharist question. The comments are worth reading too. Although I wonder whether the most vocal atheist is actually a Christian just pretending to be an obnoxious atheist so as to downplay and embarrass the case of atheism. In case you missed the link above, the article is here.

Mad Mustang Driver

The other day I got the opportunity to test drive the new Ford Mustang GT coupe. I believe it is the only one in Finland at the moment. My friend Simon won the car (for a test drive, that is) and asked me to join him. Although the "prize" smacked a little of a direct marketing plot (for a fast-cars car rental shop), driving the thing was much fun. I just may have exceeded the speed limit, for a second... Below is a picture of the car. The one we drove was pitch black. I still think that the Audi A5 is the most beautiful sports car out there. It doesn't look fragile like most sports cars do, and it is suprisingly spacious inside.

Linda and Henrik: Engaged!

My lovely friends Linda and Henrik ("Henkka") have got engaged. Our circle of friends rejoice! I've known Henkka for a millenium, Linda for a decade or so, and Henkka and Linda have dated for a century. Apparently the idea is to have "a small wedding on a beach somewhere". I wonder if they're trip to Australia and the Far East a few years ago influenced this decision. The photo above is from Finland and the photo below (I think) is from Australia.

Little Lily

Lily Lagus is my little adorable god-daughter. I've known her father, Julius, since fifth grade, and her mother, Emi, since I was 16. Emi and Julius have studied in the Medical School of Tartu, Estonia, for the past five years. In three months or so they'll graduate, and settle back in Finland. I will probably get to train much more with Julius then (BJJ), and see a lot more of Lily. The feeling of love is mutual. Lily and I even have this game *cough* where we try to strike similar poses.

Tired Boys

It's understandable. Not having to do anything, not having to drive or keep a watch on the traffic, can be very exhausting. Emil, his brother Alex, and Jan are sleeping on our way home from our road trip to Savonlinna to see the majestic Olavinlinna war castle. I wrote about it earlier, and it appears that Emil has as well but to his credit he added great pictures too.

Master of Theology

I finally graduated. Last Saturday my parents threw a graduation party for me in their back yard. It was fun. We had wine, sangria, cheese, fruit and berries for “lunch”, and coffee and cheese-cake for dessert. I was very happy that so many brought their children along. For instance, all three of my godchildren (Lily, Oskar, Eddie) were there. The big trampoline and the animals (ducks, chicken, bunnies, cats) were the children's favourite. Many women tried out the trampoline too (“for the kids' sake”, they said). In the evening we had a nice fire, grilled some sausages, and took a sauna. And tried shooting some rats. They tend to follow domestic yard animals. I was just shaking Antti Gorski's hand and welcoming him to the party when another guest (also in a three-piece suit) asked me in a hushed voice, “May I borrow your gun?” Antti - we were still shaking hands - thought to himself, “I came to the wrong party...”

Martin's Bachelor Party

It's an over-used expression, I know, but it's been a hectic week. Last week was a roller-coaster. One one day I was sure I was not going to graduate and would have to cancel my graduation party, on another day I hear that I would, after all, get the grade for my final course in time for graduation. So many people have been praying for me, I am absolutely sure, because I've been working against the clock all through spring - but managed to pull it off.


Last weekend was also hectic, but in a more positive way. My friends Päivi and Martin are getting married in July, and I and another friend Mika are Martin's bestmen. We kidnapped Martin straight from work at noon on Friday and, after having a fun two days, returned him in the early hours of Sunday. The weekend included such things as rally driving, sauna and grilling, midnight poker, unsuccessfully picking a fight with an aggressive group of drunk men, successfully picking a fight with a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu champion, bowling, watching UFC (London this time), and the like. I've enclosed a picture of Martin "meditating" after having "clearly submitted" the BJJ champ. But not without first taking a toll (if you click on the photo you can see a tooth beside his left leg). Seriously speaking, Martin displayed some impeccable sportsmanship. My hat goes off for him.

Little Oskar

Oskar Ruokomäki is my godson.* Here he is being blessed after or before baptism. (A post with his smily face is forthcoming!) His father Jussi is on the left and his mother Hanna (or her cleavage) is behind Jussi. Little Oskar is 1 year and four months old soon. It'll be interesting to see how our relationship develops as he grows older. I don't take this godfather stuff lightly - for me its a wonderful opportunity to (attempt to) develop a long and meaningful relationship with someone special. Though not father to any, I feel extremely blessed to be a godfather and uncle to many.

*I have another godson and one goddaughter too but they deserve their own posts.

The Sutton Family

The Suttons lived in Finland for two years. Prior to moving to Helsinki, they had studied Finnish in the States for 9 months, 4 hours a day. Their Finnish was impeccable from start. Usually Ango-American pronunciation of any foreign language is horrible, not to mention Finnish which is definitely not the easiest language there is. But David and Shannon excelled.

Their first born, Donovan, was born in Helsinki. After returning to the States, David, an A-10 pilot, served in Afghanistan for some months. Now the family has grown: little Lydia has spent most of her life in New Delhi, India, where the Suttons live today. However, David will start working at the Pentagon soon, so a return to the US is imminent.

Good people, good friends.

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.

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.”)

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.)

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).

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.