Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
"Blog Harbor" PROMPT (DAY 4): Let's get nostalgic today. Let's talk about that one show that you were really sad to see canceled or just couldn't understand why in the world was canceled. Tell us why you loved it and if you know what brought its demise, share that too.
I've always found this question difficult because there are a ton of shows that I think ended too soon, but then there's the whole issue of whether the show would be as iconic or memorable if it had dragged on for half a dozen seasons rather than going out on a high. Would Firefly or Freaks and Geeks or My So-Called Life be as beloved if it wasn't a one-season wonder? Would Veronica Mars have been able to maintain its quality for an extended period of time once the setting changed from high school to college? That's why I'm glad this question is centered more on an emotional response than a qualitative one.
While there are a lot of options (see above references for some of them), my pick is:
I feel like this show hit that perfect bittersweet note in its cancelation; it had 25 total episodes across three short seasons, so it wasn't brief enough to become this iconic one-season wonder, and it wasn't on for so long that I feel like it had a good run. For example, Heroes had 79 episodes, Veronica Mars had 64, Leverage had 77, Burn Notice had 111, Psych had 121, and White Collar had 81... it's pretty hard to feel a show like that got the short end of the stick, even if I was disappointed when they stopped making new episodes.
I think a series like The Newsroom is incredibly important, especially in today's climate where the very institution of journalism is under attack and sensationalist outlets that don't have standards in reporting are becoming more and more popular. This show did an amazing job of showing all the effort and investment that goes into accurate reporting, as well as characters weighing the business need for ratings against the mission of factual, informational reporting.
The show made the incredibly smart choice to focus on real news stories by having the show episodes set a couple of years prior to their air dates, which allowed them to use actual newsworthy stories as the thrust of each episode. The first season was released in 2012, but covered stories like the shooting of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (2010), the Citizens United decision (2011), the killing of Osama Bin Laden (2011), etc., which really helped capture the significance of the job these characters do. Even if workplace dramas aren't your thing, I dare you to watch the Gabby Giffords episode (Season 1, Episode 4) or the Bin Laden episode (Season 1, Episode 7) and not get all the feels.
I think what made the cancelation of this show particularly sad is that Aaron Sorkin created some brilliant characters, there are certainly no shortage of news stories, and after the extended run of The West Wing, it's pretty clear that there's a market for Aaron Sorkin's fast-talking workplace dramas. Imagine if a show like this had the same seven-season, 156 episode run as that show. It would still be on the air, and would have had the opportunity to cover stories like the Russian annexation of Crimea and the lifting of the Cuban embargo in 2014, the election of Justin Trudeau as Canada's new prime minister in 2015, the Paris climate agreement and Brexit and the U.S. presidential election in 2016... I'm really sad that we didn't get a chance to see the ACN News folks in The Newsroom get to tackle a much longer and diverse list of stories.
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