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November 26, 2007
Give Thanks
Here are the lyrics to one of the songs we sang at church yesterday morning:
"Give Thanks"
by Dan Moen
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ, His Son
(repeat)
And now let the weak say "I am strong"
Let the poor say "I am rich"
Because of what the Lord has done for us
(repeat)
Give thanks
Give thanks
It's a pretty simple song, but I think it's appropriate year-round, not just at Thanksgiving time. I know I could certainly stand to give thanks more often, and to remember that even if I'm flowing over with thanks for earthly blessings, that Christ's death and resurrection should always be #1 on the list.
Church was really good and refreshing yesterday morning. It was a combined service between State College Evangelical Free Church and Unity Church of Jesus Christ, which is a predominantly African-American church here in State College. Our sanctuary was pretty full, and the worship team was basically all from their church. At the risk of seeming somewhat stereotypical, it was really a louder and more lively worship set than what we usually do. :-) It was fun and envigorating! And the whole theme of the service was about unity in Christ, that no matter how significant or superficial the differences we might have with one another, we're all family in that we're brothers and sisters in Christ (and I would also add that while we might have different cultural backgrounds, we're all of one blood).
I was scheduled to play piano this past weekend at church, but when their worship leader contacted me asking if I was still willing to play, I asked if they used sheet music. When he replied that they don't use sheet music or chord charts, but rather just play by ear usually and change keys and whatnot, I said I could sit it out, because there were a couple pianists from their church available to play, and because I really can't play by ear. I think it all worked out for the best, though. It would be nice to be able to play by ear someday, but when I was taking piano lessons while growing up, I simply became incredibly dependent on the notes being written out on a page. It's not a bad thing, just a completely different way of learning music than to learn by ear. And unless you're brought up learning both ways more or less simultaneously, it's really hard to learn the other way because it's so radically different.
So now Thanksgiving break is over. Sigh. It ended much too soon. I had big plans for all that I wanted to get done over break, and while I definitely got some of it done, I definitely didn't get all (or even most?) of it done. I spent a good deal of time studying for the PhD Candidacy Exam, mostly working on just two really tough, time-consuming problems from one of the old exams (one on radiative transfer, another on barotropic instability - ugh). I also spent a fair bit of time simply relaxing, whether by watching football (this season keeps getting crazier and crazier, just look at the this week's BCS standings for all the "non-traditional powers" toward the top of the rankings), sleeping or watching some movies (such as "American Gangster" back on Tuesday night last week with Tim, Ben & Hae Won; I would give it a thumbs up). And then there was of course a very tasty Thanksgiving dinner at Chad & Rachel's place up in Bellefonte along with Tim and Will (hooray, I wasn't a shut-in on Turkey Day!), plus a couple other times of going out for lunch with people to force me to get out of the apartment, if for only a brief time. But now I must get back to the business of catching up on reading for Turbulence and the ensemble creation seminar/reading group, as well as continuing to learn how to run MM5 for my research. Only three weeks of class left before finals and Christmas break!
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Liberal Party (small-c conservative) were swept out of power in Saturday's election by opposition leader Kevin Rudd and his Labor Party (small-l liberal). I'm anxious to hear from some of my Aussie friends what their whole perspective on the campaign and election was and is, but from what I've read, it just seems like the Australian people got tired of John Howard's 11 years in power (the second-longest serving PM in Australian history), even though the economy was better than ever before and unemployment was at a record low. While some media outlets have tried to paint Howard's loss as a slap in the face for President George W Bush, I would disagree very much with that assessment. While it is true that Rudd did pledge to sign the Kyoto Protocol (which I think would be disastrous for the Australian economy if it's anything more than a symbolic signing), and to withdraw their 550 combat troops from Iraq eventually, and while it is true that Howard once proclaimed himself as Bush's "deputy sheriff" in the Asia-Pacific region, by most accounts the Australian election was run on domestic issues (education funding, workplace reforms, immigration, Aboriginal/reconciliation issues, etc). (That's in direct opposition to the Howard's victory in the 2004 election (which I was there for!), with challenger Mark Latham making anti-war rhetoric the lynchpin of his campaign.) Also, it seems that Rudd is pretty pro-American anyway, and there's been no indication that the American-Australian alliance will weaken. I think NRO has a pretty good take on the election Down Under that's worth a read. In any case, it'll be interesting to see how Kevin Rudd's government shapes up and pans out. If any of my Aussie friends who happen to read this would care to leave a comment about their take, feel free!
Posted by Jared at November 26, 2007 08:17 PM