Pleasantly and Randomly Disturbed Thursday

Some randomly but pleasantly disturbed thoughts:

Crude oil has now shown up in the eastern end of Lake Pontchartain in Louisiana, not far from where my brother lives. The BP crude oil spill is turning into the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. This is beginning to remind me of the earthquake that struck Mexico City in 1986 – the central government was singularly unable to respond so the people took to the rubble and did the search-and-rescue themselves. And it led directly to the end of the governmental monopoly the ruling political party had enjoyed for decades.

One of the comments on my blog post last week on “Organizations and Bad Bosses” asked if, knowing what I know now, would I have done anything differently then. The answer is yes – I would have made myself even more obnoxious with management to get help for my alcoholic boss. The story did not have a good ending; the boss died before turning 40.

I’ve been reading Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, the “Internet Monk” who shook up a lot of people in evangelical circles with his op-ed article last year in the Christian Science Monitor entitled “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” So far, I’ve moved from distinct discomfort (I recognize too much) to close reading to a kind of wonder. It’s well worth reading, and I’ll be writing an extended article on it. Spencer died of cancer in April, but friends are maintaining and adding to his 10-year-old blog site.

Speaking of reading, on Monday I finished the 126-page volume of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Prison Poems, edited and translated by Edwin Robertson. It was published in 1999. I didn’t know he wrote poems while imprisoned by the Nazis, and now I’m spurred on to read more about him (there’s a new biography out, too). Years ago, I had read The Cost of Discipleship and I will likely reread it now. The poems are sobering. I’ll be doing a review for TweetSpeak Poetry.

Yesterday, I did a 20-mile bike ride before I went to work – leaving at 5:45 a.m. It was the coolest part of the day but I was still drenched by the time I got home. I was also verifying my field research for my post on biking Grant's Trail, and it still holds true.

We have a reunion picnic this weekend of people who live and used to live in our neighborhood. It’s that kind of neighborhood – 15 houses built in 1986 in an older suburb of St. Louis (the land was a flower and plant nursery). Reunion attendees include people who live there now (like us), people who used to live there (like former homeowners) and our grown children (and their children, in some cases). And I get to have another grandbaby fix. Speaking of which:


For several weeks now, Duane Scott has sponsored “Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays,” asking bloggers to share whatever thoughts come to mind. Check his site to see all of the other pleasantly disturbed people.