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?
Write about a fictional road trip where you meet up with your fellow competitors from the 30DBC! Who do you visit first? Do you bring any gifts? Tell us about the crazy blogger shenanigans you all get up to!
Funny enough, one of the things on my bucket list has always been a cross-country drive, and I've always thought that a fun way to do it would be to connect with a group of people (like the folks here on WDC) and stop and see people all along the way. So, in the spirit of that fantasy road trip, I went ahead and looked at all 26 of my other 30DBC competitors this month and, for anyone who listed a location on the Biography page of their port, I plugged them into the following route and based potential conversations on interests they listed:
First, I'd start from my home in Los Angeles. The nearest competitor is Toffeeman1957, just a few hours south of me in San Diego. The first leg of the trip is 120 miles. Based on his interests of English football, cycling, and reading, my guess is we'd be spending a lot of time reading because I don't know a thing about the other two!
From San Diego, I have a 330-mile drive (approximately 5 hours) to where I'll meet up with Prosperous Snow celebrating in Las Vegas. She and I both like fantasy and science fiction and I know very little of Baha'i but find it fascinating, so we'd either be talking fiction, or talking religion. Maybe both!
800 miles (approximately 12 hours) or so after that, my next stop is to see 🐕GeminiGem🎁 in Colorado somewhere. I've always wanted to visit Colorado, so I'd love to be shown around for a bit and then meet her rescue dogs and play with them for a while before jumping back on the road, because it'll take me about 16 hours and around 1,000 miles to make it to The_Cavity has wisdom teeth! in San Antonio, Texas. I've only been to San Antonio once (and briefly) to catch a flight after visiting family in Austin, and I never got a chance to check out the river walk. Since she's a fan of movies, I'd probably trade stories of my experiences working in the film and television industry for quality recommendations on barbecue places and other eating establishments.
After that, Cadie Laine is only about 500 miles (7.5 hours) away in Wewoka, Oklahoma. I've never been to Oklahoma, but we both like music and have written erotica, so we'd have something in common to discuss while we explored around. From there, it's 10-ish hours (650 miles or so) to QPdoll in Illinois. I'm not a fan of camping, but I am a fan of reading and writing (obviously), and we've run into each other during a few activities on the site, so I have a feeling we'd get along just fine while we traipsed around Illinois. I've always wanted to go to Chicago...
500 miles (7.5 hours) after that, I'll arrive in Parkersburg, West Virginia to meet up with Chris Breva where I'd love to talk to him more about his faith, Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, and Star Trek. Then it's off to meet Robert Waltz in Virginia proper about 6 hours (350-ish miles) away. Waltz is definitely one of the people I'm most excited to meet because we share a lot of the same interests and have both been around WDC a good long time. I have a feeling we'd hang out and chat for a good long time before I had to hit the road and drive another 6 hours (350-ish miles) to meet up with Apondia in Pennsylvania. She and I both like horses but I have very little experience, so I'd love to hear more about her experiences as a rider and trainer.
That does it for the USA. hopefully I'd be able to meet up with Beacon-Light In College and SusanFarmer and BlueMoon who live somewhere in the country, but then I'm headed to our neighbors in the Great White North. Winter Wonderin' Wanderin' lives in Sundridge, Ontario (about 7.5 hours / 500 miles away) and maybe we could talk 💙 Carly: Happy New Year who also lives somewhere in Ontario into meeting up there as well. SandraLynn and I both apparently love to travel and to laugh (and eat!), so hopefully Carly is on the same page and we can eat and laugh regaling each other with our travel stories! .
After that, it's a long, long way home. It'll take me about 40 hours to travel the 2,600+ miles to get to Rocklin, California to meet up with Cheddah. I'm from the Sacramento area too, so we could compare notes about the best places to eat and visit around the city, and we can also compare notes on mystery books, cooking, and our mutual love of authors Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Finally, I'm onto the final leg... 6 hours and 400 miles later, I'll be back home in Los Angeles, hopefully with lots of great stories and memories for years to come.
On a side note, I would have loved to have visited WakeUpAndLive~lifestyle change in The Netherlands, and Alexi in England, but I'm honestly not sure how I could have swung by Europe on my road trip. Maybe if there's a future prompt about a 30DBC fictional world tour?
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