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 an object you own that has negligible monetary value, but is priceless to you.
I own a burned DVD. You know, one of those blank DVD-R discs that someone exported a movie from their computer onto, so that it plays on DVD players. For those of you who are a little on the younger side, this was in the Before Times when you couldn't just stream everything you wanted to watch. We actually had to buy physical discs and put them into a physical disc players connected to our televisions with (and here's where I really start to date myself) component video, s-video, or even composite cables.
But I digress. To paraphrase the immortal words of the Rifleman's Creed of the United States Marine Corps (and the cast of Full Metal Jacket), "This is my DVD. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My DVD is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as--"
Okay, so really, it's just like the first two sentences of the Rifleman's Creed. The rest gets a little too "affectionate" and while I love my homemade DVD, I'm not that attached to it. Anyway, the reason why this particular burned DVD is so important to me is because it's the first copy of a movie I've ever received that has a writing credit that bears my name. It's a rough director's cut of the film, which they sent around for notes early on in the process. The movie has since been available on the Hallmark Channel, PixL, and occasionally ABC Family I'm told, so it's not like the movie isn't available anywhere else, but after spending so many years in the entertainment industry seeing products with other people's names on them, it was really something special to get a disc in the mail with the words, "Here's a copy of your movie."
I've since loaned that disc out to dozens of friends and family, but always insist on getting it back because the physical disc itself holds an enormous amount of sentimental value for me. Even though, at the end of the day, you can actually catch the movie on a streaming service or regular old television from time to time. Yet I still hold onto the disc... even now that I've resigned the DVD player to cold storage in the garage. I couldn't just pop it in anymore even if I wanted to, but I keep the disc around for sentimental reasons.
In a lot of ways, I suppose that's not so different than an author hanging on to hard copies of their books, or a journalist saving a clipping from their first published news column. But since I'm primarily a screenwriter and someone who works in the entertainment industry, I guess this simple little burned DVD that just has "The Right Girl" written on it in Sharpie is my version of a physical piece of art that I've created.
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