Buses come and go. Cars mostly come, stay a while, and go. People come from all over Southern California, going from one point of the compass to another. They travel to work, school, home, store, and who knows where. They are cheerful, irritated, tire, talkative, boisterous, and nearly immobile. Some are regulars: same bus, same drive, same riders. some are single shot commuters, often lost and asking questions. Some smell, whether of bathed-in perfume or things impolite to mention. Some share life, while others remain closed and private. Some stare like zombies, straight ahead, a bit creepy, likely bored or asleep.

We are all just passing through, at various frequencies and for sundry purposes. None of us lives here, though I suspect a few come close. “Here” is a multi-directional intersection, where life touches life, whether deeply or barely.

Waiting—Synonyms
Wait, tarry imply pausing to linger and thereby putting off further activity until later.

• Wait usually implies staying for a limited time and for a definite purpose, that is, for something expected: to wait for a train.

• Tarry is a somewhat archaic word for wait, but it suggests lingering, perhaps aimlessly delaying, or pausing (briefly) in a journey: to tarry on the way home; to tarry overnight at an inn.

As part of the Los Angeles public transit culture, I have learned how to wait. Every weekday morning, I wait in the dark, with the intent of riding two buses to work. Nearly every weekday evening, I wait, usually in the sun, with the intent of riding two buses home. I can wait like a champ--most of the time.

On the other hand, my ability to tarry is inadequate. The “most of the time” mentioned above reveals this deficiency: As difficult as it is to wait, to tarry is more difficult still. Tarrying requires a certain comfort with self and circumstance, a willingness to rest. I can do this infrequently: I expect over ten years of education has developed a drive to fill the available space. If I have nothing to read or write on my bus rides, I feel a bit anxious.

I think this is unhealthy. The remaining problem is how to heal.

How do you tarry?

The Meatless Monday site lists several reasons to give up red meat. Just to be clear, I do not participate in this misguided movement. First, I feel better when I eat sufficient amounts of meat, especially from cattle, lambs, and pigs. Chickens are marginal. Fish goes in waves (sometimes I do well; sometimes it’s not a good idea). Second, I believe the evidence that defines humans as omnivores.

As an avowed grass-fed meat eater, I have a few questions:

• Have they read articles like Study fails to link saturated fat, heart disease?
• Do they know the differences between grain-fed and grass-fed?
  • Better Beef
  • Slanker’s Grass Fed Meats (where I shop)
  • U. S. Wellness Meats
  • Eat Wild
• Have they considered that rain-watered pastures save even more natural resources?
  • Benefits of Grass Fed Beef
• Have they looked into research that fingers polyunsaturated fats: Polyunsaturated Oils Increase Cancer Risk

I shan’t give up red meat on Mondays or on any other day. I save the environment by eating primarily grass-fed meat from happy, well cared for animals, who are not filled full of drugs.

Do you participate in Meatless Monday? Why or why not?

A letter by Pseudonymous Paulus Laurus

Timothy,

I know life in ministry sucks for you right now. It sucks for me, too. But God is good and God is great. We dare not do anything less than thank him with words, thoughts, intentions, and actions. He has given us so much--so much that I think--no, I know--I shall be able to contain neither it nor myself.

I’m stuck here on death row. I know my number’s up soon. Even so, I look around and see God’s Word acting beyond what any human could even consider.

Then there’s you, over in Ephesus, surrounded by theological liars, arguing about stupid “special knowledge” and saying that anything goes. I know you feel pummeled, but I know you know the truth about God and the truth about your calling. So, I say to you what I say to myself:

Act like it!

God is great and God is good, and his grace is more than we will ever need. Even when life sucks, our lives don’t suck.

Live like ya mean it.

Paul

Originally posted on Laura's Writings and based on my understanding of key issues in Paul's second letter to his emissary, Timothy.

Well, I’m back with a short post flowing out of my current academic distraction: dreaming up an Institute for Integrative Christian Thought (ICT). Tall order and it’s only in the early embryo stages, but, if the beginning of the journey is any indication, it’s going to be a fabulous ride.

During this first stage of curriculum writing (using Understanding by Design), I am plowing through an ample pile of books to gather as many details as I can before synthesizing them into a workable definition of ICT and then in to the big ideas and essential questions for the curriculum.

Books in the Stack

• Thinking in Systems: A Primer, by Donella H. Meadows
• Conceiving the Christian College, by Duane Litfin
• Mechanism of Mind, by Edward de Bono
• Idea of a University, by John Henry Newman
• Philosophy for Understanding Theology, by Diogenes Allen and Eric O. Springstead
• Thinkertoys, by Michael Michalko
• He Shines in All That's Fair, by Richard J. Mouw
• The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, by George M. Marsden
• Serious Creativity, by Edward de Bono
• Think Better, by Tim Hurson
• Various pamphlets from The Foundation for Critical Thinking
• sundry others not remembered just now

and

• Opposable Mind: Winning Through Integrative Thinking, by Roger Martin

Martin’s book is quite a find. He is the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto: a business school that teaches integrative thinking as the foundational component of the MBA program. I am leveraging his findings as a launching pad for my thinking about ICT.

As a first step, I’m working on a concept map. It’s admittedly rough, but then, such is the way of a work in progress. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

I look forward to your thoughts and, most especially, your questions. Thanks for reading!

PHYSICAL HEALTH

The last week of May, I started on a plan to work my way up to 10 minutes of upper body strength exercises (done tabata-style).  I'm narrowing it down to upper body because I do miles of walking per week carrying a backpack full of books: the legs are looking good (even added a couple of running sprints on 6/20...first in decades!).  The arms and trunk, on the other hand, are not doing as well.

I use a a portable gym made from two military web belts and some handles from a band exerciser. This way I can exercise when I get to campus (or wherever).

Here is the schedule.  I'm planning on two sessions per week minimum (I may ramp this up, but we'll see).

I use a random number generator (in Excel) to create each session in order to keep some muscle confusion (especially given the narrowed focus). Options on my list are:

• Wide rows
• Narrow rows
• High rows
• Low rows
• Wide push ups
• Narrow push ups

As of 6/21 I am keeping up with my plan with a slight glitch: last week, while finishing up class time in a doctoral course, I only did one workout (why push the cortisol levels any higher, I think). Other than that, I'm up to speed, planning on two 5x10/50 sessions this week.

As of 7/11, I am on track with the tabata counts, though I have modified the timing to 20 seconds of rest and 40 seconds of work (call me a wimp, if you will, but 40 seconds by seven sets whipped my butt last week. I've also switched to band and ball sets, with good mornings (see below).

• Ball overhead toss
• Ball rounds
• Band pull downs
• Band rows
• Band reverse flies
• Good Mornings

What are you doing to build muscle?

My month without cow dairy is over.  This past week I added heavy cream and whey powder back in to the diet.  I thought all was well until the face rash returned.  Before the elimination month, I never associated the rash with food, but with its coincidental return, and information from Ask Dr. Sears, I think it's bad news, for I love heavy cream in my coffee.

Of course, since I added in two very different dairy items--cream and whey--I will be doing another elimination (taking out the whey) to uncover the details.  The proteins seem to cause more problems, so here's hoping.

Photo of heavy cream by Boeke

NOTE: I have incorporated suggestions from
Comments on MDA Forum post
MDA Sat Fat Guide
Heart Scan Blog: HDL for Dummies
Updated chart:

Last Monday, I offered a first draft of a Cholesterol Influences Map, mostly for my benefit, but also for the benefit of other non-science types like me.  Well, the community on the MDA forums offered great suggestions for revision, so here is version 0524 (you'll note that this is the date).  Sources are linked on the first map.

As with the previous version, suggested modifications are requested.

Another note on my own lipid levels: one week as a meatitarian and the numbers have improved a bit.

• Tot: 281 (down from 329)
• TG: 108 (down from 146)
• HDL: 53 (up from 46)
• LDL: 207 (down from 260)

NOTE: This is a first draft.  Suggested changes will probably show up next Monday. Stay tuned. (Also, this is being discussed on an MDA post; join the conversation.)

So, after about a year--or more--living the primal lifestyle, I'm still struggling with cholesterol.  This past Saturday, I tested my blood and discovered that the good progress of March had been washed away (probably by the stress of school, bad sleep, and a few too many candy bits).  The chart below tells the continuing saga.

A Cholesterol System Map

I've read Mark's Daily Apple, The Heart Scan Blog, and Griff's great post on the MDA forums, but I decided I needed something visual.  So, being a lover of system charts, I made one, which I post here for correction and modification (kudos also welcome).  See the full version on Google docs.

Sources

• Griff's primer on MDA
• MDA definitive guide
• MDA 8 Foods
• Dr. Davis in cholesterol