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?
After 9.5 years at our current apartment community (3 years in our first unit, then the past 6.5 years in our current unit), we're officially moving! It's been almost two years since we started fostering-to-adopt our kids and after a global pandemic kept us largely at home for half of that time, we came to the realization that we might need a little more space than our cozy little two-bedroom, two-bath, 950 square-foot apartment can provide!
We ended up getting a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath townhouse with just over 1,800 square feet of space. It's a big step up, both in terms of the type of place we're renting, and the amount it costs, but I realized that it definitely follows a pattern we've set for ourselves. When we first moved down here for college, my wife and I spent about 10 years living the "student" life (i.e., small, cheap, and not-very-nice apartments). Once we both had solid jobs and were on our career paths, we upgrade to the apartment complex we currently live at, which is an upscale "young professionals" type place: luxury amenities (i.e., quality finishes in the apartment, a community that has features like pools, gym, outdoor activity space, etc.). And now, about 10 years later, we're leaving this behind for an "urban family" environment: a house-sized place, albeit one with a higher population-density than single-family homes in the suburbs.
I'm excited to see how we make use of our new space. I'll have my own bedroom/office that will allow me to continue to work from home without my desk being in the middle of the living room. Our kids will each have their own bedroom. The place has a nice soaking tub in the master bedroom, and a ginormous pantry that sure beats the limited cabinet space we have in our current kitchen.
But this process has also reminded me of how much I hate moving. Which is strange because it's been almost seven years since we last had to do it, but once I started to schedule the movers and work my way through the checklist of things to do, it all came rushing back. Moving is a huge pain, and there's always something else that needs to be done. No matter how well organized or prepared, something will definitely fall between the cracks and require fixing later.
Still, based on our past track record, hopefully this place will hold us over for a number of years until we're ready to take the next step, which is actually buying a single-family home of our own. I just hope that it's not another ten years until we get to that point!
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