Outings: Pozoulli, Olive Oil, Sorrento, Amalfi

Here are some pictures from our outings last weekend. It was a four day weekend for me (Veterans Day), and we took full advantage of it.



Mt Vesuvius in the background. There was a bus and train transportation strike (one day only), and we thought we were going to be stranded. The lady at the hotel suggested taking a ferry.

We got the car back from the shop yesterday. I put twice as much into repairs as the initial cost of the car, but I think it will be a good rig for us. The power steering system was replaced, new timing belt, various hoses and tubes replaced. They took it apart three times trying to find all of the leaks. It is very good that I did not attempt the repairs myself.

We celebrated Elijah’s 11th birthday on Friday. Gayle made sure he had a great day. The boys are both doing great.












What follows has absolutely nothing to do with our outings, but on my recent reflections. Read at your own peril


The other day I met Bob M. who is also new here and who also hails from Washington. We got to talking and discovered that we have many other things in common as well; for instance, what we have been reading. He highly recommended a book that he had recently finished by the author of Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller. I recommended The Shack, which may be the best book I have ever read.

After making such a bold statement, I realized that I needed to decide what I mean by "best book". First, The Bible does not count as a book in the sense of comparing it to other books. I am not saying The Shack is up there with the Bible. It is also not the most captivating book I have ever read. For example, when I read Frank Herbert's Dune, I pretty much read it in one sitting, without stopping for meals or to sleep. I cannot even say that I agree with everything in it. But what I do mean by "best" is, The Shack is more thought provoking and persuasive than anything else I have ever read on the most important topic there is. Much like George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis, the author leads the reader down a path of inevitabilities for those who believe the Bible to be true. It is thought provoking, because these inevitabilities are counter-intuitive to the everyday World in which we live.

There. It took half an hour to articulate, but now I know what I mean when I tell people The Shack "may be the best book I have ever read."

Back to my story. Bob lent me his copy of Searching For God Knows What, by Donald Miller. He and ?? have clearly been drinking the same kool-aid. This book also is very good. I'm only about half-way through, but so far it seems mostly an expository on Genesis 3, the fall. Adam and Eve's glory came from God. They lived in perfect relationship with Him, and as a result of the fall, there is something twisted, wrong and missing ever since. Those are not new ideas so far, but what is a fresh idea, is seeing that our primary problems come as a result of us trying to get that glory back by getting it from other people.

Here is a paragraph I want to pass on:
"...I really started wondering if maybe a human is defined by who loves him. I know it sounds terrible, because we have always grown up believing that a person is valuable even if nobody loves them, and I certainly agree with that because God made everybody and the Bible very clearly states He loves everybody. But, as Paul said, if those relations are disturbed, the relations between God and man, then we feel the desire to be loved and respected by other people instead of God, and if we don't get that love and respect, we feel very sad or angry because we know that our glory is at stake, that if there isn’t some glory being shone through us by somebody who has authority, we’ll be dead inside, like a little light will go out and our souls will feel dark, like nothing can grow there.” (p. 108)

This book is also helping me to come to a better understanding of my own opinion about patriotism. I have wrestled with this issue for literally decades. My plebe year at the Naval Academy was, ironically, when I first started to love my country, and when I first became disillusioned with patriotism.

Here’s how it happened. I and the other incoming freshmen (plebes) that were coming from the Naval Academy Prep School were distributed across the 36 companies of the Naval Academy. We checked in a day or two earlier than everyone else. Then all of the other incoming plebes were assigned to the 36 companies. It looked random, but I know that there was thought given to ensuring that every third company had females in it (so they would have roommate choices.) There was probably also thought given to ensure a somewhat random distribution of incoming athletes, honor students, etc.

The morning after everyone had arrived, we were awakened by loud shouting. We lined up at attention against the wall in the hallway outside of our rooms. Most of us were disoriented and shaking like leaves in our newly issued gym clothes. That day, we were informed that our group of 32 plebes was Foxtrot Company, and we were better than all of the other companies. We came up with chants to reinforce this idea. The only basis whatsoever that we had for making the assertion is that we ourselves were in this company.

You may think that this was completely innocent and harmless, but I don’t feel that way. Even then I understood that the idea was to teach loyalty to my group and exclusivity over other groups. I believe the same dynamic holds over all organizations and institutions that we subscribe to, including my city, my branch of service, my high school, my church, and even, my country.

Loyalty is better than pure selfishness, because it takes into account the others in my group. However, it is still me-centric. Over time, I came to know and love those other 31 plebes. They did and still do have value, but not because I myself had been placed in the same company. True value and worth is not based on my personal proximity or affinity.

It was about this same time that I also came to love the United States and the core principles that we as Americans embrace. The main idea of democracy is that all people have value, and ought to be treated with respect. This is a very Christian idea. The United States has a rich heritage of people doing their level best to promote this idea. In my mind this is different than patriotism. Many governments subscribe to it. It is a principle of inclusion, rather than exclusion. This idea is worth fighting for and dying for.

As it is only family and a few close friends reading this, it seems crazy to get so philosophical. I suppose I am writing in part because this has been like a sabbatical for me, and I have had time to think. But I’m putting it here in our blog, because I know some of you who I love and respect will be reading this. You may have wondered in the past how I could be so left-leaning. It stems, I think, from the above distinction.

I invite your comments. You are free to disagree with me…but you would be wrong.  (Just kidding.)