Woodburning: Thru-Hiker: Gear and Resources for Long Distance Hikers
Food – A Fork in the Trail: a fork in the trail & another fork in the trail – cookbooks for backpackers & canoeists
Esbit: http://www.rei.com/product/653343/esbit-pocket-stove
10 day
Weather: Silver Bay, MN
Map from Omaha:
Maple Grove Motel & Bait Shop
- (218) 353-7303
6527 Highway 1, Finland, MN 55603
Submission by Tom Ehrich
The answer lies in Mark 8.34. If we had truly wanted to follow Jesus, we would have had to deny ourselves, accept , and follow Jesus on his road: away from home, out among the needy, speaking truth to power, and sacrificing everything.
From: http://www.morningwalkmedia.com/news-oaj_meditation.php?nav=n-27657
September 13, 2012
Submission
By Tom Ehrich
Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8.34)
After all this time — after two thousand years of Christian history, millions of sermons preached in millions of churches, countless study groups and institutional consortia, after the expenditure of billions in church budgets, the ordaining of clergy and canonizing of saints — you would expect the world to be a better place.
Progress, however, has come mainly from science, technology and philosophy. With some notable but rare exceptions, Christianity has been either an obstacle or a bystander. Our wars have stained the ground red; our arguments have sent seekers elsewhere.
Why is this? The answer lies in Mark 8.34. If we had truly wanted to follow Jesus, we would have had to deny ourselves, accept , and follow Jesus on his road: away from home, out among the needy, speaking truth to power, and sacrificing everything.
Instead, we have approached religion as one more avenue to meeting our needs and saving ourselves.
“Does this faith agree with my views and interests?” we ask, when we should be asking, “Have I given up everything for Jesus?”
“Do I like the new pews, the new pastor, the new music?” we ask, when we should be asking, “Shall we praise God together on our knees?”
“Am I getting what I want and meeting people I enjoy?” we ask, when we should be asking, “Am I doing your will, Lord? Am I standing in solidarity with people whom you chose for me?”
When Christianity becomes, for us, a path to self-fulfillment, carried out among like-minded people, bounded by traditions we savor and practices we favor, aimed at winning our loyalty, what could God possibly do with us?
When the Gospel is used to justify whatever we want justified, to win whatever battle we want waged, and to celebrate our tastes and wealth through handsome facilities and pleasing words, what have we to say to anyone?
Jesus made it quite clear what faith in him would mean. There’s no mistaking his call: serve with me, suffer with me, die with me. Until we try that call, the world is unlikely to get any better. That’s the long and short of it. Christianity has had little impact on the world, except for some handsome buildings and lovely art, because Christians haven’t yet, in most places, given Christianity a try.
I teach church development. But I recognize that better practices can only do so much. Our future as people of faith, our future as faith communities, and the future of our troubled world depend entirely on submission.
Will we continue to satisfy ourselves, or now, at long last, can we deny ourselves and follow Jesus on his road?
Waiting by the Phone by Tom Ehrich, September 12, 2012
People are waiting to see if they can pay their bills and keep food on the table. They wait to be told whether they have value, and they wonder if they ever had value. If their work can be taken away so easily, was any of it ever real?
The anxiety of waiting corrodes the human spirit. The shame that keeps us from sharing our pain with others corrodes human community.
When Jesus warned his disciples that he would suffer, be rejected and die — and so, by extension, would they — he was talking about exactly this dynamic. When people have power over us, they will abuse that power. The powerful and privileged will always make sense of their own lives by denying safety and basics to others. Call it addiction, call it human depravity, the evil of power-abuse is always with us.
The answer to power-abuse isn’t the “human thing” of seizing power and changing places with the oppressor. A society at war over power will destroy everyone in it.
The”divine thing” is to relinquish power, to move beyond control and money-generated security. The divine thing is to break through the fog of suffering by trusting in God, doing God’s work, letting God make sense of our lives.
Jesus and the rich young man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chinese depiction of Jesus and the rich young man, Beijing, 1879.
Jesus and the rich young man (also called Jesus and the rich young ruler) is an episode in the life of Jesus in the New Testament that deals with eternal life[1][2] and the World to Come.[3] It appears in the Gospel of Matthew 19:16–30, theGospel of Mark 10:17–31 and the Gospel of Luke 18:18–30. It relates to the Evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.
In the Gospel of Matthew, a rich young man asks Jesus what actions bring eternal life. First Jesus advises the man to obey the commandments. When the man responds that he already observes them, Jesus adds:
If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.[4]
The Gospel of Luke has a similar episode and states that:
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”[5]
The disciples then ask Jesus who then can be saved, and Jesus replies: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
This parable relates the term eternal life to entry into the Kingdom of God.[6] The parable starts by a question to Jesus about “eternal life” and Jesus then refers to entry into the “Kingdom of God” in the same context.[6][7]
See also
- Christian views on poverty and wealth
- Eternal life
- Evangelical counsels
- Eye of a needle
- Gospel harmony
- Jesuism
- Simple living
Notes
- ^ Matthew for Everyone: Chapters 16-28 by Tom Wright 2004 ISBN 0-664-22787-2 page 47
- ^ The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament: Volume 1 by Warren W. Wiersbe 2003 ISBN 1-56476-030-8 page 251
- ^ Mark 10:30
- ^ Bible gateway
- ^ Bible gateway
- ^ a b Matthew by David L. Turner 2008 ISBN 0-8010-2684-9 page 473
- ^ The Westminster theological wordbook of the Bible by Donald E. Gowan 2003 ISBN 0-664-22394-X pages 296–298
Anne Montgomery
From Fr John Dear: (http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/31-2)
Where is God for you in this journey and work for peace?
I couldn’t do this work without faith in God. Two quotations are dear to me: First, from Isaiah 2: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more.” The other is from Ezekiel: “Hearts of stone have to turn into hearts of flesh.” I’ve come to believe through prayer and bible study about God’s presence in the heart of the earth. People need to change their hearts before they can change anything else. God is love, but unless we can love each other, we can’t know God. We can learn about ourselves and our own hearts of stone as we reach out in love toward others. Even though things don’t change right away, and we’re not immediately effective, it does happen. It just takes time. Change has to come from ordinary, vulnerable people at the bottom, because the power structure is not going to do it.
Just before he died, Phil Berrigan wrote in his last public letter on the need to “embrace our powerlessness.” As we do, we become agents for the power of God to work among us. So we have to deny the self, take up the cross and follow. I recall too how St. Paul wrote about the Spirit groaning within the earth. That spirit gives us power and prays through us. That means a lot to me right now. Even when I feel I can’t pray, all I have to do is be aware of the Spirit and try to let it lead me.
What are you learning these days as you face cancer?
I’m learning more about powerlessness. I’m learning to let go, to be detached. I’ve been upheld by our elderly sisters who pray for me and support me, and that power of prayer is very real to me. I feel it. So I’m learning again that God does the work, not us.
What advice do you have for those who care about peace, justice, nonviolence and disarmament?
I remember Liz McAlister saying once, “Whatever issue you work on is connected to all the other issues.” That means, we have to go deep into the heart of our issue. Also, people should try to join or form a community for this work of justice and peace. We want the world to become a community, and it’s hard, so we have to try to do that ourselves. And we want to form a community conscience that can take a stand on these critical issues. We need other people to help us. With others, we can reflect together on how to resist, and take action that comes from a place of prayer and faith and depth.
What gives you hope?
Torah in 10 minutes a Day
Protected: Cars to consider
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HOW TO GET TO THE NET AFTER SERVING
The serving team is at a disadvantage because the returning team will be at the net before the return of serve is touched by the serving team.
The serving team must get to the net as fast and as safe as possible to level the playing field.
The third hit is very important – 1.The serve 2. The return of serve 3.The serving team’s second hit.
There are three methods to get to the net.
1.Blast the ball as low and hard as you can over the net. This is counter productive because it does not give you enough time to get all the way to the NO VOLLEY ZONE line and it is a low percentage shot against a good volleying team.
2. Lob down the middle over the left players backhand which is not an easy shot.
3. Dink the ball into the no volley zone. This slow soft shot will give you and your partner plenty of time to get to the net. It is not an easy shot.
Practicing and mastering this strategy will quickly bring your game to the next level. Find a partner to feed you balls and you try to hit the ball into the NO VOLLEY ZONE at different distances from the net and then you feed your partner balls. What ever method you decide to use communicate this to your partner first so he will know when to move to the line.
If you do not get all the way up to the no volley zone line before your opponent is about to hit the ball, you must stop in a spit step position [both feet parallel to each other in your volley ready position].
Never ever be moving at the point of contact of your opponent touching the ball.
It is better to stop in no man’s land balanced and ready to move in any direction than a little closer to the net and not balanced or ready.
The third hit is very important for you to get to the next level.
Good luck.
– Coach Mo
to read all the Monthly Pickleball Tips!
HOW TO PLAY THE WIND IN PICKLEBALL
1. While standing in line before playing check the wind by looking for a flag, weather vane at the top of a recreation center, or best of all the wind screen vent holes.
2. Pick the side of the court that is more advantages to your type of game.
3. Hit three or four lobs before starting to play so you can tell the direction and speed of the wind. This will save losing points getting the feel of the wind after the game starts.
4. Try and convince yourself that the wind is bothering your opponents more than you.
TYPES OF WIND
1. Steady wind straight into your face about 5 to 10 miles per hour.
A. Excellent wind to lob into because the ball tends to go over your opponents head and drop straight down into the court, especially if you put top spin on the ball. Beginners and intermediate, I feel, play better because they tend to over hit the ball and this type of wind will keep the ball in play better.
2. Steady wind at your back about 10 to 20 miles per hour.
A. The best for all levels of play, especially advanced hard hitters. The combination of a very fast wind and a hard hitter does not give a player time to get out of the way of the ball or read whether the ball is going out. A 10 to 20 mile an hour wind in your face tends to set up the ball for your opponent, which makes it easier to smash.
3. A gusty and swirling wind. You must constantly be conscious of the changes in speed and swirling of the wind and be very lucky. You are at the mercy of the wind.
4. A steady cross wind , left or right. You must keep the ball, as much as possible, to the side of the court that the wind is blowing toward the court, not away from the court. The ball will not blow out of bounds.
THE WIND IS A PERSONAL THING. THERE ARE PLUSES AND MINUSES TO ALL TYPES OF WIND. THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG.THESE ARE SOME GENERAL STRATEGIES.
WHEN TWO TEAMS ARE OF EQUAL ABILITY, THEN THE TEAM THAT PLAYS THE WIND THE BEST, WILL WIN MUCH MORE OFTEN!
– Coach Mo
to read all the Monthly Pickleball Tips!
THE THINGS PLAYERS FORGET TO DO BEFORE THEY START PLAYING A GAME OF PICKLEBALL
1.Analyze the wind speed and direction. A. Hit 4 or 5 lobs during the warm up, rather than getting the feel of the wind during the game and losing points.
B. Keep checking the wind throughout the game for changes. Watch the vent flaps on the fence wind screens.
2.Check the opposing team for left hander players, so you don’t keep feeding their forehand by mistake.
A. If a team has one left hander then watch for the times that both backhands are toward the center of court and put the lion’s share of your shots down the middle.
3.Drink a lot of water before you feel thirsty. It takes too long to get into your system if you wait until you feel thirsty.
4.A team is only as strong as its weakest players weakest shot. Before you start, be aware of who is the weaker player and both of your opponents major weaknesses.
A. If you have never seen your opponents before, then start making a mental book on them. Chances are very good they are weak on balls low to the backhand.
5.Always warm up from the spots on the court that you should be hitting the most balls from during the game.
A. Hit mostly from a foot outside the baseline or one inch outside the NVZ line. Practice all your strokes before you start.
A TEAM WHO PREPARES PROPERLY BEFORE A MATCH WILL USUALLY BEAT A TEAM OF EQUAL ABILITY.
– Coach Mo
Pickleball Early Preparation
EARLY PREPARATION is the most important part of the game. It is the most common mistake, because players do not realize they are not prepared early enough. Players in their quest to get to the NVZ line tend to be running out of control at the point of contact of the ball on their opponents paddle. Players sacrifice early preparation for a better position on the court which is very poor technique because if you are moving at point of contact of the ball on your opponents paddle then you are not able to hit a low ball, go back for a lob, or move right or left as quick.
The proper technique is to split step [feet are parallel to each other and shoulder width apart. Similar to the old game of hop scotch] and hesitate for a split second in the proper ready position at the point of contact of your opponent touching the ball. Watch the face of your opponents paddle to be able to read if you will be hitting a forehand or backhand shot and be prepared to cross step to the ball (click here for Pickleball Footwork video).Using the slit step allows you to have a little forward motion and be in control to move quickly in either direction.
If you use this technique every single time your opponent touches the ball it will make you a quicker and more consistent player.
– Coach Mo
A GOOD VOLLEYER USES GOOD BOWLING TECHNIQUEA bowler first PAUSES to aim the ball at his target— steps toward his target— and follows through toward his target.
A good volleyer PAUSES to aim the face of his paddle at his target— steps toward this target (if possible)— and follows through toward his target.
Whenever possible PAUSE to aim (set the proper angle and direction of the face of your paddle) step and finish toward your target. Do not rush or guess… AIM!
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