Life as Edward Jensen

For what it’s worth…this was on the PBS NewsHour’s 19 February 2010 broadcast.

-Edward Jensen

From the Downtown Phoenix Partnership:

The National Weather Service is predicting a large storm to descend into the valley tomorrow, 1-21-10, bringing up to 5″ of rain, possible thunderstorms and gusty winds. The prediction calls for light rain to begin to fall after 11pm tonight and pick up around 11am tomorrow. The Downtown Phoenix Partnership is working closely with police and city staff, and will provide current information throughout the day based on the severity of the storm.

Please be aware of unscheduled road closures put in place due to flooding, debris in the roadway, and traffic signals that may be out due to a power outage.

Contact the Downtown Phoenix Ambassadors at 602-495-1500 to report power outages or debris – we will contact the correct department at the City. Also – call if you have questions about travel conditions in the downtown area – they are your Go-To-Resource!! Remember – the Ambassadors provide Umbrella Escorts – so if you need to go out during the day…they are equipped with large umbrellas and can escort you to your destination.

Stay Dry!

Terry

More forecast info: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=85003

Stay safe and stay dry!

-Edward Jensen

Earlier today (12 January 2010), a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck 10 miles outside Port-au-Prince in Haiti. This has been followed by several aftershocks. Most everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti at the moment.

To recap: At 2.53pm Phoenix time, the primary 7.0 earthquake struck. The media has reported that a hospital and the UN building have collapsed with many of their occupants still unaccounted.

Some things you might need to know:

• The US State Department toll free number for family members who are looking for info about the safety of either Americans or Haitians in Port au Prince: (888) 407-4747
• CNN has compiled a list of earthquake-related tweets: http://twitter.com/CNN/haiti
• The American Red Cross has already released $200,000 in aid to Haiti
• Up-to-the-minute pictures from this dynamic situation: http://picfog.com/search/Haiti

For up-to-the-minute news and developments, here are a couple links:

• Google News (aggregator): http://bit.ly/GN-Haiti
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/CNN/haiti, http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Haiti

Here’s an easy way to help out: text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross’s relief efforts there [source].

It’s certainly a dynamic situation. Stay informed.

-Edward Jensen

credits: “Earthquake strikes Haiti” by Nicholas Knisely, tweets from @wnknisely, @RedCross, and others

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. [the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, emphasis added]

Thus begin the Amendments to the United States Constitution. As anyone who’s taken a civics course knows, the US Constitution is the “supreme law of the land” (cf. Article VI par. 2; also see the 14th Amendment).

Consider also the late developments happening with Crossroads United Methodist Church. As preface, they had a homeless ministry at their church, Central Avenue and Northern in the quasi-upscale North Central neighborhood. Then the neighborhood didn’t like seeing homeless people in their posh neighborhood, complained, got the city involved, and the city made a decision that Crossroads had to stop this ministry. After an appeal made by Crossroads, the city still stood by its decision.

Depending on your angle, it’s NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) at its finest or its worst.

Granted, when one thinks of the neighborhood around Central and Northern, one doesn’t really think about homeless ministries. Most of the homeless reside in and near Downtown Phoenix. I would think that if Crossroads wanted to do this in a more effective (whatever this means) fashion, then doing outreach and meal service would be more effective there. There’s a fantastic human services campus at 12th Ave and Jefferson–maybe a partnership there should be in the works.

But that’s irrelevant to my argument. I am, however, reminded of something from Scripture:

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” [excerpted from "The Judgment of the Nations," Matthew 25:31-46 NRSV]

As The Rev. John Petty (All Saints’ Lutheran Church, Aurora, Colorado) noted in his blog Progressive Involvement,

In liberation theology circles, this is called the “preferential option for the poor,” which is supposed to be controversial, but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. All four gospels state very clearly, one way or another, that Christ is a friend of the poor, identifies with them, is found with them. It’s not for nothing that Jesus was born to a poverty-stricken Jewish family from a hick little town. [source]

Jesus was a friend of the poor. Christians – followers of Christ – should be friends of the poor as well.

This brings me back to the original crux of this entry, taken from the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

Let’s make a few assumptions here. First, that the Gospel of St Matthew is accepted canon in Christianity. Second, Christianity is accepted as a religion. In essence, the city is redefining Christianity. Christianity by city policy.

If a church wants to reach out to “the least of these” in a homeless ministries program, then it has its Constitutional rights to do so. NIMBY-ists can complain until they’re blue in the face, but it should be a Constitutional right. Wait: it is.

Lord, have mercy!

-Edward Jensen

continue reading Thoughts on Crossroads and “the least of these”

Reporter JJ Hensley from the Arizona Republic sat down with Ted Simons on a recent edition of KAET’s Horizon to discuss what’s going on in Maricopa County.

With apologies to Stanley Kramer, it’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, county…

-Edward Jensen

Merry Christmas to all!

“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” [Isaiah 9:6 NRSV]

O come let us adore him!

Today Christ is born: Alleluia.
Today the Savior comes: Alleluia.
Today the angels sing on earth: Alleluia. Glory to God in the highest.

Merry Christmas!

-Edward Jensen

Mike Rowe talks about his experiences on the Discovery Channel’s series Dirty Jobs and how his experiences have challenge his thoughts on work.  His language and descriptions are a bit colorful but his observations are absolutely amazing.

The video is about 20 minutes long.

if you can’t see the video, click here

What were those two Greek words that Mr. Rowe kept using through his speech? They’re perepiteia and anagnorisis.

-Edward Jensen

Presented without comment.

-Edward Jensen

Last week, physicists working at the CERN in Switzerland and France recorded the first collisions in the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile underground circle that accelerates atoms to collide in an effort to recreate the universe mere moments after the Big Bang.

And, strangely, all I can think of is the Large Hadron Rap:

-Edward Jensen

Here’s a quotation from Brian Cashman, the GM of the recently-crowned World Champions, the New York Yankees:

You can call us anything you want, but you also have to call us World Champions. [source]

And this is where the title of this post comes into handiness. On today’s edition of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (the NPR news quiz), Carl Kasell came up with this gem to Mr. Cashman’s invitation:

A group of wildly overpaid egotistical mercenaries whose pinstripes are actually artfully lined up steroid needles sewn into their uniforms. [source, scroll to 7:51]

[This in addition to calling them "world champions."]

Again, never leave questions wide open, because Carl Kasell, Peter Sagal, and the Wait Wait! crew will answer them for you.

-Edward Jensen