Blue Cord

In the midst of the move, I forgot to blog the fact that my blog was used as one of the sources for a story in the Charleston, SC, Post and Courier about the troubles in the Episcopal church. The post they quoted is the one I wrote on Episcopal Division just before Christmas. They had contacted me for permission to quote from my blog, although they did not follow through with their promise to include the blog name and URL.

The article is not bad and is fairly balanced, but it does not get into much depth. The reporter tries to cover all the bases, but the article doesn’t gel around any one point. It seems to be a lot of information that is just tossed together. The reporter also makes a few mistakes, such as when he says the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop violated the Windsor Report. [The Windsor Report was written after Robinson was consecrated.]

Still it is always nice to see one’s name in print. Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for the royalties to start rolling in. With any luck, Hollywood will pick up the article and want to make it into a movie. I see Stephen Root playing me.

Tyler Williams — the hardest working man in biblioblogging — has pulled together a list of the best biblioblog entries from 2006.  He breaks everything down on a month by month basis, giving what he thinks was the best post from that month as well as some runners up.  I am pleased to say that my post on Priests and the Pentateuch was named the best post from December.

Be sure to check out Tyler’s list. You are sure to find some great reading.

I found it wonderful to return home to America and be greeted by the news that Cal Ripken, Jr., had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the third largest percentage ever. As an Oriole fan I am very excited, but I am even more excited as a baseball fan. In an age where sports stars think the game is about them, Ripken remembered that baseball belongs to the American people. While others worked hard at getting into the best parties, driving the flashiest cars, and getting noticed in the news, Ripken quietly showed up for work every day and played the game the way it was meant to be played. Congratulations Cal on your well deserved election!

We are finally back in Massachusetts, a day late and a bunch of luggage short. Our flight out of Frankfurt was delayed, which caused us to miss our connection in Washington, DC. So, we had to stay in a hotel overnight. Our luggage still has not caught up with us, and I am getting really tired of wearing this same set of clothes. Anyone in a five foot radius of me is probably getting tired of me wearing them, too. We have been told that the luggage should be here by 10:00 pm tonight. I promise not to blog again until I have had a shower.

Just a short blog to say that we are on our way out of Lithuania.  We drove to Vilnius this morning and are currently in the airport awaiting our flight, which is delayed by 30 minutes.  We only had an hour forty-five minutes to make the connection before the delay, so it will be close in Frankfurt.

For those of you who have tuned in to this blog expecting my regular boring posts on biblical scholarship, I apologize for the detour into more personal matters.  It has been about the only thing on my mind for the past two weeks.  I promise that once I get settled in America later this week, the usual flow of incomprehensible, quasi-scholarly posts will resume.

We are getting ready to go downstairs to our landlord’s for a final supper in Lithuania. I have been thinking a lot today about the things I am going to miss here, so I thought I would share a bit.

Things I will miss (in no particular order):

• Inexpensive taxis
• Kepta duona - deep fried rye bread smothered in cheese and garlic
• Cepelinai - potato starch stuffed with meat and covered with sour cream and cracklin
• Spurgos - a type of Lithuanian donut
• Karbonadas - a breaded pork fillet
• Some of the best beer in the world
• Good public transportation
• The Old City sections of Klaipeda and Vilnius
• The ability to travel to another country at the drop of a hat

Things I will not miss:

• People who don’t smile. This is a culture that is very reserved, which is fine. But as someone who is used to smiling and nodding to everyone I pass on the street, this aspect of the country has driven me nuts.
• The lack of customer service.
• Smoked pig ears
• Some of the worst pizza in the world
• The lack of cooked vegetables
• Pickled cucumbers, pickled beets, pickled cabbage, pickled apples, pickled carrots, etc.
• Rain that lasts from September to December
• Never quite fully knowing what is going on because my Lithuanian skills are not up to speed
• Really bad drivers

Above all, however, I will miss the people at LCC. Many of the people there are among the finest I have met anywhere. The faculty and staff are people who are willing to give up stability and an income to come teach in Eastern Europe, while some of the students they teach will in fact change this part of the world. I will miss not being a part of what God is doing here in Eastern Europe.