Links to Radio Playlists

Some of you have asked why I haven't been posting my radio show playlists lately. I really haven't had much time for typing them in. But some of them are on the WUSB Stony Brook NY 90.1 FM website under my program's listing. Please check them out, and tell me what you think!

So far this year, the top song has been "Endlessly" by Green River Ordinance. What -- me, playing ballads?? No apology for this one.

If any of you are from commercial stations and wonder what you should do for Christmas, send me an email.

Amazing Race 15 : predictions

Okay, now the cast is out. 12 teams, one of which doesn't make it past LA (except to go into the Elimination Station -- which is usually, when you think about it, a strange sort of free vacation in a resort area). After reading the bios, seeing the interviews, and flipping coins, here's who I see in the finals :

Ericka & Brian Kleinschmidt (She's 2004 Miss America, the requisite beauty queen)
Sam & Dan McMillen (the requisite exemplar gays, this time they're brothers)
Herbert Lang & Nate Lofton (Harlem Globetrotters, trotting the globe for TAR)

Meghan Ricky & Cheyne Whitney have a shot at the third finalist slot.

I think they'll finish in that order. I am, of course, kinda partial to Ericka...:)

I wish they'd have a season where no one from California was chosen. It would take three or four such seasons to make up for their overcasting CA. Next best would be to take every 'requisite' category (the ones that show up season after season) and bar all of them for a season. All by itself, that would make the casting more interesting.

Hyundai: Deal or Duel?

I just saw a Hyundai commercial on TV. In it, a car was being followed around by a gas tanker truck, for their new promotion of a full year's gas at $1.49 a gallon -- co-promoted with PriceLock. I don't think Hyundai will like what my first feelings were : Fear!

When I saw the truck, it took me back to a 1970s TV movie, Duel. In it, Dennis Weaver was being chased through the desert by an evil gasoline tanker. It was in the thick of the '70s gas crisis, so we were all getting a little of that feeling in real life. And, it was Steven Spielberg, at the top of his game. All in all, a TV terror classic, complete with Weaver's facial expressions each time the truck renewed its attack -- by themselves, worth it.

I wonder if the ad men for this ad are old enough to remember that one.... and how many others got that same creepy feeling. (A far cry from Volvo's "Safe and Sound" ads, to be sure!)

TAR 15 -- from an Unexpected source

It seems that a relative of one of the women I know from Stony Brook U is in Tokyo Japan. The woman said that two pairs of Amazing Racers had run past the relative. Didn't say where or what they were doing, so it's not quite a true spoiler. And there were pix, but not shared. Also, she's a Big Brother fan who despises TAR. (:P)

That got me thinking: with the wireless technology and the prevalence of Twitter worldwide, can anyone hide anything anymore? In the case of Amazing Race, the TAR Detectives get such incredible detail on everything, long before anything airs. I don't read spoilers until it airs, but I'm sure Chateau has the airport covered and the camera angles figured, Apskip's got the flight numbers and arrival times, and Neobie's got the leg mapped out. It's incredible. But fortunately, they're fans. They love the show and they're sane (as far as any fanship is 'sane'...) Think what would happen in the hands of people who are, er, less supportive and less sane, like, say, someone who's stalking a star, or trying to undermine a rival, not to mention terrorists or spys or Big Brother fans. Go to a mountain in Tibet, some monk's Twittering from the next mountain over. Or a tundra location in Yakutia in Siberia -- the bears have their own YouTube accounts. The amount of evidence can be astounding, and that makes chasing it down for a live event so much fun.

But it's also just a bit scary. Technology has redefined privacy in a way that makes it impossible to hold as a near-absolute right above all else. It has become what it really was all along - a right to be held in the context of all other rights, and defended as such. And it is dealt with in the breach more than in fact, in typical human fashion. How to handle it from there, I don't know.

A liturgical section for commissioning lay ministers

A Brief Order for Commissioning Lay Ministers of Health and Wellness

Rubrics (descriptions and explanations) are in red.
P: presiding minister, L: lay ministers being commissioned, C : Congregation.

---

[This service is best used within a standard worship service, following the Offertory. It's actually a specialized version of an order for commissioning other ministries, such as those ministring in education, evangelism, social ministries, youth ministry, or worship. Consider commissioning any of those who have demonstrated the ability, gift, commitment and responsibility to make a job or task or avocation into a real ministry for Christ's sake.]

P: Today we act as the Body of Christ to recognize and support those who do ministries of health and healing among us in Christ's name. Baptized into Christ's priesthood, we are each called to offer ourselves in service, sometimes in specialized ministry as [[ name(s) ]] are doing right now.

[The person/people about to be commissioned come forward. Then, someone officially representing the church council or vestry arises and comes forward, to give a brief description of each person's specific health ministry. Then the council representative is seated, and the lay ministers gather around the presiding minister, on their knees.]

P: Will you commit yourselves to serve people in the humble manner of Jesus, and be responsible to the Body of Christ for the manner in which you serve?

L : Yes, with God's help.

[The presiding minister then goes to each lay minister, and lays both hands on his/her head. Other ordained personnel are invited by the presiding minister to come up and join in the laying of hands.]

P: Come, Holy Spirit, and give blessing and power to the ministry of your faithful servant [[ name ]], that the broken may become whole, and that Your name be given glory.

P, L: Amen.

[When this is completed, the lay ministers arise and turn to the congregation, linking hands. The presiding minister may choose to link hands with them, especially if there is only one being commissioned.]

P, L : We stand together in service to our Lord and our neighbor.

P : Lord, bless all of those who serve to bring wellness and wholeness to others. Bless and guide physicians, nurses, technicians, emergency personnel, physical trainers, dieticians, hospital visitation ministers, chaplains, and prayer intercessors. Grant them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience, resilience and faithfulness. In Your mercy, heal those who need healing and give comfort to all who need comfort. Through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

[Other specific ministries, such as faith healers and Stephen ministers, can be included in the above prayer, as fits the congregation's traditions and actual ministries.]

All : Amen.

[At this point, the lay ministers return to their seats and all return to the rest of the service.]

---

Return to Spirithome.com worship, main page.

Or, if it's where you came from, the Healing page.

A Sotomayor surprise

The surprise isn't that Obama chose her. She was on about 80% of the pundits' short lists.

The surprise isn't that the right wing of the Republican Party took off into using the r-word (racism) in their comments. These are the people who turned the GOP into the Party of No. (Yo! You lost the election, idiots! In a democracy, you work with the choice that the people very clearly made - those who won the Presidency, the Other party.)

No. The surprise is to see so many refreshing and insightful people coming to her support. I don't mean Pelosi (who doesn't even try to grasp what a thoughtful opponent might say) or Schumer (her main booster during the entire selection process to date)

I mean the folks who reporters have been sticking their mikes in front of. People. Lots of them, for a change. Probably because she's from the Bronx. They seem to understand. They 'get it'. They see a woman who's done some bold things as an appellate judge. Someone who's got a top-drawer legal mind. And most importantly, someone who's had to apply it in real life. (You know - the thing most court justices haven't seen in, say, half a century.)

I get a lot of personal pleasure seeing even cantankerous sports writer Mike Lupica getting his big-mouth licks in, in the part of the NY Daily News that isn't the sports section. (You know, the shrinking part.) This thing matters to so many.

Go get 'em, Sonia!

Amazing Race 14: the finish line

Tomorrow is the last segment for the Amazing Race season 14 (TAR 14).

They're finishing up in Hawaii, on a golf course on Maui no less. (I hope no golfers try to play through...)

There's always a task in the finals where the racers have to remember what happened in the previous legs of the race. From the preview, it looks like that will be tied to making a surfboard wall.

Who will win? I can't see how it can be anyone else but Tammy and Victor. They're just too good at it. Besides, I'm figuring Jamie (of Cara and...) will have to keep dealing with the fact that taxi drivers are not human slaves, even on the rare occasion they speak her language (rare even here in the US!) And after this, Margie will get a well-earned rest.

The TARflies (fans) will be meeting again in New York to see the finale, in what's called "TARcon". I'd love to be there with them (it's only a 1 hr. trainride away), but I can't because of family commitments. Hopefully, it won't be as noisy as when I went last -- the night the Giants beat the Packers to get into the Super Bowl. They might be able to hear each other speak this time. I'm also hoping Phil Keoghan feels well enough to attend; he's been on a difficult bike ride across the USA to raise money for MS, with of course the usual promotionals along the way for GNC stores and TAR. (At least he didn't have to carry a Travelocity Gnome around, like the racers...)

I will be watching, though. Go Tammy!

Shaky Game

I know the world of third-party apps is weird, demented, and morally bankrupt (they consider that a compliment). But the iPhone app "Baby Shaker"? My cousin has a baby, Grant, and he was shaken by his caretaker. A happy baby before then, but now a frustrated child because he can't balance himself enough to stand straight, among other mental and coordination problems. It's called 'Shaken Baby Syndrome', and there are many childrenwho suffer because they were shaken (supposedly to attain silence, just like the shaking of the iPhone does in the program). To watch him struggle with just the act of moving from one place to another can break a heart. It does mine.

I want whoever the stupid ass is who thought up such an app to go over my cousin's house and spend some time getting to know Grant, and the true supermom who raises him. By the time he's done, I'd hope he'd himself be shaken -- emotionally. What in hell gets into people that they think that's funny??

Do 'Spiritual Words' Mean Anything?

A growing number of people are saying, "No, they don't". I beg to differ.

The definitions at Spirithome are my best attempt to make sense out of the most important words used in 'spiritual' or 'mystical' or 'religious' speech and writings, including words that are better not to use at all, or only when talking to specialists.

I understand full well that these words are used for blowing smoke, for blurring the cutting edges of belief, for hiding or disguising a lack of knowledge or the desire to become a 'spiritual' star. There's a lot of distrust, with good reason. You can go ahead and distrust me, too, but before you do, please take the time to read these word meanings. I'm convinced the words (or most of them, anyway) speak to the most important and down-to-earth matters of life. And of what's beyond life. I also believe that definitions are not only used as a trap, they can also be used as a way out of the traps.

I need to hear from you if the Spirithome definitions are right, or most importantly, what they miss. I ask for your feedback. You can be as opinionated as you want, but I do ask that you stay focused on what is meant by the words. Give it a try.

Millard Fuller and what's real

I just heard about the passing of Millard Fuller. It was even mentioned in the front bottom of the New York Times (directing us to the obits). Fuller was founder and for three decades the leader of Habitat for Humanity. To me, that's worth a lot of attention.

Habitat was one of those strange groups. It was formed at first with a bunch of Christians in Americus GA in 1976, and was based among the Christian community at Koinonia Farms there. (This base had already built their first home in 1969, and in 1973 in the Congo.) The vision went way beyond Americus, or even America, that home ownership (and the related pride, security, and asset value) would not be outside the reach of the poor. One of the elements of genius is how they get people from the community involved in building the houses -- many who got involved that way caught what Fuller called "Habititis", getting deeper into the cause.

Americus had some notoriety already, through Clarence Jordan's popular Cotton Patch Gospel. Indeed, in many ways Jordan's work led to Habitat. But just as important was the ties that Fuller and Habitat made with its neighbors. That included a peanut farmer from nearby Plains, who became President, Jimmy Carter. Carter's continued support gave a solid platform to expand Habitat. And a lot of people heard Fuller share his vision. And Habitat continued to be blessed, growing to the point where its impact was no longer small.

I heard that vision, too. I met Fuller when the Christian Community Development Association had its annual conference in Baltimore. Fuller led a tour of the community of Sandtown, where Habitat has a major housing rehab project. Back at the conference, Fuller spoke with clarity and straightforward faith about what he termed the economics of Jesus. When we extend ourselves to strengthen others, especially those in poverty, God will provide, we can trust in that. I can't argue with him on that, because God has sure provided for Habitat and its cause. When I spoke with him briefly before he left the conference, he was clearly energized to meet so many CCDA people who were totally sold on Christ as found in Scripture -- just like him -- be so actively involved with the poor in some of the toughest neighborhoods in the nation.

Millard Fuller had a passion that ignited a movement. It will -- it must -- now continue without him. But let's stop for a moment to thank God for having gifted him so strongly. And to pass it on to others.

Check here for Habitat's page on Fuller.

regarding Baptism

I'm right now in the midst of re-writing Spirithome's materials on Christian baptism. But there's something I need to know, because it's not something I can see from where I'm at.

This is for those of you who are not a committed Christian, attend only occasionally, are agnostic, or just find such things puzzling. Most of you have at least a passing familiarity with it -- you've been to a friend's child's baptism, or you've seen it in movies or on the media, read about it, or heard a colleague talk about it. I'm inviting you to write in about what baptism (the act, the ceremony, the talk about it) seems like to you.

To give you an idea, I'll start with a few items others have already told me. (You don't have to be this brief.)

-- a ceremony to mark the arrival of a baby
-- symbols that have been robbed of much of their real-ness
-- another occasion for collecting money
-- a way to pay homage to one's traditions and forebears
-- a way to enhance the power of ordained ministers
-- a mother's moment of honor in public or before the rest of the family

Do you have something more to add to these? A story to describe it? An entirely different reaction? Whatever it is, I want to hear it. Just write it as a blog comment to this note.

Thank you, in advance.
*

Bob Longman show, 2008 year-end list

as heard on WUSB 90.1 fm Stony Brook NY, and wusb.fm, Sun afts 12:30-2:30 pm
rank -- song -- artist

------------------------------------------------------
(1) No Words -- Neil Diamond
(2) Seven Steps to Heaven -- Take 6/Al Jarreau/Jon Hendricks/Till Bronner
(3) Breathe -- Keller Williams
(4) Half Of It -- Tim Blane
(5) Unburden -- Julia Brown
(6) Lullabye -- Tim Blane
(7) Not the End -- Natalie Walker
(8) the World Keeps You Waiting -- New York Voices
(9) It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace) -- Kenny Neal
(10) I Remain -- Carolann Ames

(11) Adelaide -- Tim Miller
(12) Dreamer -- Sergio Mendes/Lani Hall/Herb Alpert
(13) Flip Flop & Fly -- Cephas & Wiggins
(14) Grace -- Brooke Annibale
(15) One -- Keziah Jones
(16) Ride On -- Ben Wise
(17) Take Your Time -- Al Green w. Corinne Bailey Rae
(18) The Way We Do -- Ladysmith Black Mambazo
(19) Where Dreams Are Bound -- Ben Wise
(20) You've Got to Hurt (Before You Can Heal) -- Kenny Neal

(21) A Deeper Meaning -- Phil Roy
(22) AKA Papa Funk -- Jimmy McCracken
(23) Ashrey Ha'ish -- Sheva
(24) Bass Blues -- Belinda Underwood w. Nancy King
(25) Chamego (Betty's Bossa) -- New York Voices
(26) Disappear -- Michael Korb
(27) Dodo's Bounce -- James Carter
(28) Even Trade -- Terence Martin
(29) Get It, Get It -- Janiva Magness
(30) Hard to Lie -- Brooke Annibale

(31) Hide and Seek -- Return To the Dream
(32) Home To Me -- Phil Minissale
(33) I Can't Make It Alone -- Lou Rawls
(34) I'm Glad You're Mine -- Janiva Magness
(35) I'm Wild About You -- Al Green
(36) Last to Die -- Bruce Springsteen
(37) My Babe -- Dion DiMucci
(38) October Dance -- Seven Octaves
(39) Only You -- Watson Twins
(40) Prosciutto E Meloni -- La Bande Magnetik

(41) Rapid Shave -- James Carter
(42) Scramblin' -- Jo Williamson
(43) The Secret -- Toby Walker
(44) Summer Place -- Kaydi Johnson
(45) Things About Coming My Way -- Ruth Brown
(46) Thoughts and Prayers -- Ron Sexsmith
(47) Two Toasts -- Carrie Newcomer
(48) Un-Wishing Well -- Rajaton
(49) WHY -- Phil & Ian Keaggy
(50) Your Protector -- Fleet Foxes

.

Advent-Christmas-Epiphany

Tell us about what you experience as the good parts of the holiday season,
the traditions that mark it, the practices you find most beneficial.

Bob Longman, Spirithome.com

Stark cold truth

In his book *What Americans Really Believe*, Rodney Stark also made a critical, crucial mistake in his reading of the data on church attendance and membership. Or, just as important, the Baylor study itself made the mistake, and he followed it to prove his point.

The extremely critical mistake? They asked the respondents about it.

Why is that a mistake? Because even people who don't go to church want to be seen as if they're part of a church. Or, they want to see themselves as someone who goes. On image questions of this kind, there's just too much lying. And they'll do it even when the information is to be kept confidential; many people don't trust that, either. So it is not something that is accurately studied by way of self-reporting.

The truth? According to those who look at actual counts, actual church attendance and membership are down overall. Attendance has been dropping noticeably for the last 10 years or so, with a brief interruption for 9/11. (Before that there was about two decades of 'shuffling', largely of folks leaving mainline churches for Pentecostal ones.) Many people, even those with strong Christian beliefs, don't bother with church at all anymore. Being an actual member of an actual congregation or church body isn't as important to their identity as in past generations. The drop isn't as large or as deep as the doomsday folks are saying, but it is real, and the churches must take action about it now. They must give a clear answer to the question, "what good does it do for Christians to gather together?"

The best way to measure such subjects by surveys? Indirectly. By creating a scale of indirect questions and doing a cluster analysis of them in relation to the other questions on the survey. By running a cross-check on it by looking at an area's actual attendance counts. By having enough respondents on these specific questions that you can have a high enough number of respondents (Ns) to be in effect a statistically-significant survey for each issue breakdown.

Stark et al.'s sunny analysis about current church attendance has no ground in fact except for the distorted 'self-reported' attendance and membership. This is one of the two instances in the book where the Baylor data was, from the start, not what it seemed to be.
*

Gallows Humor on Spiritual Gifts

( as found in Cybersalt, http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh/ )

During the French Revolution, there were three Christians who were sentenced to die by the guillotine. One Christian had the gift of faith, the other had the gift of prophecy, the other had the gift of helps.

The Christian with the gift of faith was to be executed first. He was asked if he wanted to wear a hood over his head. He declined and said he was not afraid to die. "I have faith that God will deliver me!" he shouted bravely. His head was positioned under the guillotine, with his neck on the chopping block. He looked up at the sharp blade, said a short prayer and waited confidently. The rope was pulled, but nothing happened.

His executioners were amazed and, believing that this must have been an act of God, they freed the man.

The Christian with the gift of prophecy was next. His head was positioned under the guillotine blade and he too was asked if he wanted the hood. "No," he said, "I am not afraid to die. However, I predict that God will deliver me from this guillotine!" At that, the rope was pulled and again, nothing happened. Once, again the puzzled executioners assumed this must be a miracle of God, and they freed the man.

The third Christian, with the gift of helps, was next. He was brought to the guillotine and likewise asked if he wanted to wear a hood. "No," he said, "I'm just as brave as those other two guys." The executioners then positioned him face up under the guillotine and were about to pull the rope when the man stopped them. "Hey wait a minute," he said. "I think I just found the problem with your guillotine."
*

Feedback on Church Words

What applies to words about the Bible also applies to churchly words. The definitions at Spirithome.com are my best attempt to make sense out some of the most important words of the Christian tradition, including words that are better not to use at all, or only when addressing specialists.

I need to hear from you if the Spirithome definitions are right, or most importantly, what they miss. So go ahead. Make my day....

Words About the Word

A year or so ago I had to think a lot about how to describe Scripture's place in the lives of Christians. I sensed something wrong with much of what I was reading about it.

(1) There was an important discrepancy between what what we say we believe about it and what our thoughts and actions showed we really believed about it.

(2) The vocabulary we used was clearly too narrow, and damaged by abuse and misunderstanding.

I had already put up some definitions on Spirithome.com, but they needed to be clearer, more systematic, and the vocabulary needed to be wider-ranging. I have a new appreciation for the limits of using words to describe the Bible, but I'm even more convinced that we need to try.

I'm inviting more comment about this. Read the pages linked through the title of this note. I'm looking for real insight from you-all. Fire away!

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Surveys on Religion : More of the Expected

I finally got a chance to read Rodney Stark & his crew's take on the Baylor Religion Surveys, most of which is found in Stark's book "What Americans Really Believe".

Before I go on, I should be honest about my own split feelings about Stark. On the one hand, his work with Glock in the late '60s-early '70s, notably American Piety and Christian Beliefs and Anti-Semitism, are seminal works in applying survey techniques to religious belief and practice. Those studies dispelled many fables. And Stark himself has been a part of the birth and growth of multivariate methods of sociological data analysis. On the other hand, in his own books the conclusions he writes are often very opinionated, and he doesn't think through the possible different slants on the data and account for them, as a good statistical analyst should do. His method is to set up straw men of popular beliefs about belief, then knock them down with the stats. (The only thing that makes the approach somewhat acceptable is that, unfortunately, most Americans' beliefs about other Americans' beliefs are based on the same straw men. But one could hope for more insight than that.)

One of the key things supported by the studies is something I've written and spoken about many times over the years : Christians on the whole are not credulous people. We don't believe in most stuff that seems mysterious or supernatural, and a lot of non-believers do believe in such things. Yes, I know where the general public image comes from : the fuss over weeping statues of Mary or gold glitter on the skin or the latest strong-talking preacher. But on the whole, most of us aren't into that. Stark's data shows that most Americans believe in dreams that foretell the future or reveal hidden truths, and large proportions believe in the existence of lost ancient civilizations, in ghost hauntings, and UFOs. This is especially true of those who are "spiritual but not religious". Next to all that, attending to a crying statue seems downright level-headed. The studies also show that Christians, across the board, even of a less-intense variety, are significantly less likely to believe such things.

Then, there is the existence of angels and demons. According to this study, and every other statistical or subjective-case study I've ever read on the matter (including a very recent Pew Center study), not only do most Americans and most Christians believe in angels, most "spiritual but not religious" folks do, too, by 2 to 1. Who's credulous?

Interpretation, of course, should account for the different ways people perceive angels. Also, belief in angels as a measure of credulousness goes one way if there really aren't any, but an entirely different way if there really are some. It's as wrong to believe something doesn't exist that does as it is to believe something does exist that doesn't. The key to which way it goes depends on what the truth is.

To me at least, there were very few surprises in the data. And, predictably, Stark and his coworkers ripped apart the straw men. Hopefully, in future studies they'll take down some more vigorous misperceptions.

----

Twisted world

Here's one of many ironic twists on the Mumbai bombings, according to a report published online by AFP :

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British actor Joey Jeetun was caught up in the violence when the Leopold cafe , a restaurant popular with expatriates, was attacked.

The 31-year-old, who played a suicide bomber in a British television documentary, said terrorists assumed he was dead because he was covered in other people's blood. He was then detained as a possible suspect and held for 13 hours in a police cell.

------------------

Let's pray that India does not go ballistic (figurative or literal) on Pakistan. It's rather clear so far that the Pakistani government had no way of preventing this group from doing it, since there's too much of Pakistan that's not in their control. (That is a problem Pakistan must fix, but it won't be easy.)

Sad News

Spirithome.com extends its sympathies to the people at Synchronicity in Virginia, and to the Lubavitcher community worldwide, who have lost loved ones and friends during this murderous assault in Mumbai.

For all the talk about targeting American, British, and Israeli citizens, it must be noted that so far as can be told from the current information, the two Synchronicity dead were killed in the initial assault at the Oberoi, when they were two of many who were unfortunate enough to be eating in the restaurant where the terrorists' bullets first struck. They were apparently not part of any special 'targeting'. No other Americans have been reported dead (so far), except the US/Israeli rabbi at the Chabad center. A British/Cypriot charter boat/yacht magnate was also killed, and several Israelis at the Chabad center. Several Australians, an Italian, and a Japanese natural gas businessman were also killed; possibly one from China and from Singapore as well, though that's very unclear at this chaotic point. Meanwhile some 90% of the dead were citizens of India, and South Mumbai is awash with British and Americans living there and doing business there. So if the terrorists were 'targeting certain foreigners', as reported in the press, they were dreadful at it. (Unless, as is likely, Hindi are 'foreigners' to them. But what do they care -- they're terrorists. More blood, more bombs, more fires, more fear. Which is the whole point.)

India must know that Americans are with them 100% on this. We need to make person-to-person contacts with those who we know from Mumbai, and let the immigrants and the students in the US know too. They do not stand alone.