The Rabenstranger

 Using the following clues can you figure out where I am?

This year’s celebration of Christ’s resurrection was, for me, the most joyous in recent memory. The family rose early and the children hunted for eggs and baskets of goodies. We then attended service at my parent’s church in Bellevue.

After church we went to Mom’s cousins house for a big Easter dinner and fellowship with a lot of relatives that we don’t get to see that often. The food and fellowship was delightful.

In the evening, Emily, Arita and I caught a ride with Trebonte to the 8:30 service at Mars Hill. Pastor Mark preached from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. They had scheduled a few baptisms for the service and after they were completed they invited any Christian who had not been baptized to come forward. To my surprise and joy both Emily and Arita felt moved to go up.

Today, I read an interesting article criticizing the societal trend towards a greater percentage of unwed births. Perhaps more interesting than the facts and figures stated in the article itself was the inclusion of the article in Slate magazine, hardly a beacon of conservative social mores. It seems that even while parental illegitimacy is on the rise, so is awareness about the harm it causes.

The author, Slate advice columnist Emily Yoffe, begins by contrasting the teen-aged  mother which typified the illegitimate parents of the fifties to the current unwed parents who are often in their mid to late twenties. Illegitimacy is no longer just a mistake, it’s a lifestyle choice.

She then goes on to enumerate some of the reasons that the rise of this lifestyle is harmful. She cites the trend for children without married parents to be disproportionately poor, psychologically damaged, behaviorally challenged and a number of other maladies.

The best line in the piece:

"How dare you imply that an unexpected pregnancy should lead to marriage? You are simply out of touch with modern culture." That may be. But it also means that modern culture is out of touch with the needs of children.

I analyzed last months reading in an entertaining fashion to test a concept. The result is a bit sloppy but here it is for your perusal.

I hope to do something similar for the entire year in January.

In the late 4th century St. Patrick was captured from his home in Britain (Yes, believe it or not, St. Patrick was English.) and taken to Ireland to serve as a slave. During his time in captivity Patrick became devoted himself to God and upon escaping he became a deacon and later a bishop in the early Catholic Church. He returned to Ireland as a missionary and started a tradition of Catholicism that is strong to this day. You can find a more detailed and entertaining account of Patrick’s life on Veggie Tale’s Sumo of the Opera.

As interesting as the real life of St. Patrick was, he is largely forgotten on the day that bears his name. Instead St. Patrick’s day has become a time for celebrating Irish heritage, wearing green, practicing your Irish accent and drinking unhealthy quantities of beer (we use root beer in our family).

Last Sunday I picked up the Mars Hill’s latest studio release, Rain City Hymnal. This album features 12 classic hymns rearranged with modern instrumentation and performed by Mars Hill Bands (The BET, E-Pop, Ex Nihlo, The Northern Conspiracy and Team Strike Force).

In the last week, this disk has been a blessing to me. The timeless words of the songs have been helping me to recall the awesome power and majesty of our God.

Just a taste of the lyrical content, from We Have Not Known Thee performed by Team Strike Force:

We have not known Thee as we ought,
Nor learned Thy wisdom, grace and power;
The things of earth have filled our thought,
And trifles of the passing hour.
Lord, give us light Thy truth to see,
And make us wise in knowing Thee.

Today I had my day in court. I worked a half day and then Dad picked me up and we drove down to Renton City Hall which contains the city courthouse.

My court summons required me to arrive at 1:30 but I had to wait for approximately 20 other cases before my case was heard. Although I was impatient to get done, I was thankful for a chance to see how the proceedings worked and to gauge the character of the judge. He seemed fair and generally lenient. Most of the cases went by very quickly.

When it came my turn to plead my case, I stated my desire to contest the ticket and explained how the accident occurred and how the police officer had misrepresented Dad’s and my testimony. He seemed skeptical and throughout the questioning process he seemed hostile to our case. I showed the pictures that Dad took following the accident and pointed out how they contradicted the information in the officer’s report. Dad, corroborated my story and together we tried to explain how the version of events as described in the officer’s report were impossible. Despite our evidence and clear examples of mistakes on the part of the officer, the judge continued to disagree with our explanation of what happened. After nearly an hour (much longer than any three of the previous cases) of questioning and testimony, the judge finally grew disgusted with the case and stating that he still believed that I was guilty, he dismissed my ticket due to contradictory evidence and general ambiguity.

I am elated that the whole affair is over. While hashing over the case with the judge I was terrified that he would issue a continuance, forcing me to appear again to face the police officer and city attorney. However it was only a partial victory. Despite dodging the ticket, I wasn’t vindicated. I had been hoping that the Judge would look at the police report and my evidence, recognize my innocence and repudiate my accuser. Notwithstanding this disappointment, I can still rest easy tonight knowing that for the first time in almost two months there is no ticket hanging over my head.

On the way home from work today, I was nearly in another car accident. A young driver ran a red light in front of me. I slammed on my breaks but slid coming within a foot of him before I stopped. It was scary. In the split second while I was sliding I was thinking that I have to appear in court to contest the ticket from my previous accident on Thursday.

Despite showing few outward signs of change, my mind has been undergoing a slow continuous change. God has been drawing me to Himself in an unmistakeable way. The desires of my heart are being renewed. The things that I read, learn and experience are seen through a different lens and I’m becoming inspired to live for Someone greater than I. At the same time, I am struggling to implement my newfound passion in my daily life. Finding time to study the Word, pray and meditate is a battle. The petty wants and cravings of my human nature drive me to waste precious time in trivial pursuits. Sin is still strong in me and it resists mortification. Nevertheless, I am confident that He who began a good work in me will perfect it.

Today, I finished the last membership class at Mars Hill. It’ll probably be a few weeks before I actually apply for membership because I want to get plugged into a small group before I take the plunge.