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?
Choose an event in your life that someone else remembers differently. Describe both memories and debate the differences. Who do you think is right? Why do you think you remember it differently?
Regardless of the event or the different perspectives on it, I feel like the answer to the last two questions are pretty clear. Unless you have some reason to doubt your own memory, wouldn't you naturally be inclined to believe your own recollection of events rather than someone else's? And there's ample science on the inconsistency of the construct of memory. Our own biases and assumptions and desires and experiences mold and reform the details in our mind, sometimes to the point where people are truly shocked when they discover that the objective facts are very different or even contradictory to what they truly believed in their own minds.
The most recent event in my life that this happened with was my last job. I was hired to help a rapidly-expanding company consolidate their administrative processes across their various business units: animation, features, television, and interactive. The biggest challenge of the position was that I had responsibilities that spanned all four divisions, but most of the people I worked with only had responsibility to one of the divisions, including each of my two bosses. It quickly became apparent that my bosses (one of them in particular) and a few others at the company were getting frustrated that I wasn't focusing more on their needs. Their perspective seemed to be that I wasn't getting the work done... but from my perspective I was working full days, and a lot of overtime, trying to address the needs of four separate businesses.
Ultimately, I ended up leaving that job after only nine months for other reasons, but that disconnect wouldn't have been a tenable dynamic to continue, where an employee feels like they're working really hard to handle a huge load of work, but none of the other stakeholders felt like they were getting the attention they deserved or their work completed in a timely manner. And there's certainly merit to both positions, even if I don't agree with their perspective. Obviously I feel like my perspective had merit (I was the one working all the hours and feeling pulled in all the different directions all the time), but employees at a company need to feel like they're getting what they need out of their coworkers and if they aren't, that's something that needs to be addressed.
Comment • View 5 comments 
