Month: February 2009

I received a lovely email from the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) news service, which just got me in a tizzy: LCMS President Responds to ELCA Task Force Recommendation, Statement 09-053-MRC (full text here). I’m just amazed at this fellow’s arrogance.

“Kieschnick also reminded LCMS members of a resolution passed by the church’s 2001 convention that the LCMS “cannot consider (the ELCA) to be an orthodox church body,” but “we of the LCMS recognize that many of our brothers and sisters of the ELCA remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we resolve to reach out to them in love and support.”

I know it will shock Mssr. Kieschnick that there are people of thoughtful, prayer-filled, and committed Christians that are in support of the ELCA’s decision and direction (I am one of them). I, for one, am surprised that anyone can study the path of Jesus and subscribe to this anti-gay mindset.

Just because there is a 2,000+ year tradition of homosexuality as sinful is no reason to continue it. Tradition apart from reason and compassion is simply brutal. Kieschnick should carefully review the state of society (both globally and for the society in question) before wistfully wishing for a 2,000 year retreat. I, for one, stand against such on many principles.

I guess that I should be thankful that he and the LCMS are simply calling for them to pray for me/us – as opposed to the Fred Phelps “protest/harass/badger/nuisance mentality. However, perhaps it would be good for such folks to follow the guidance of a certain jewish philosopher from the 1st century CE and “remove the plank from their own eye before trying to remove the spec from mine”

(for the uninitiated, the LCMS = Lutheran Church Missouri Synod – and this isn’t the first time I’ve been tweaked by their stance on an ELCA issue)

Update: on the 11th, I was one of the unfortunate many laid off by my magnanimous (former) employer. Now, for many, this was an emotional calamity. For me, though, with the lovely weather we’ve (for the most part) had, along with having free-time to let my brain wander free, it has been a nice respite. With my last employer (a frantically paced Fortune 500), it was nearly impossible to make the time to reflect and be planful. After a brief foray into slothness (oh, what delights that brings), I’ve awakened my inner Franklin-Covey geek and have launched into some self-analysis and refocusing.

For some time I’ve been wondering what I want from this thing “career”. For so many folks it’s a key defining piece of their existence (sometimes THE defining piece). I’m still hedging. Basically, I’ve never fully committed to the notion of a career, at least as a single discipline. I’m not, say, an accountant, nor programmer, nor anything that linear. The closest I could place myself in this context is “administrative assistant”, which doesn’t mean much in-and-of itself. Simply, it is the title I’ve had most often. The main thing it means, though, is that I’ve not spent that much time in charge of major efforts. Mostly, I’ve been the person executing project work. On one of my recent evaluations, one of my listed strengths was “getting things done”. I have found such quite enjoyable, at times challenging and encompassing a wide variety of work. That’s the sort of thing I’ve always enjoyed. For a while, though, I’ve had this nagging sense that it isn’t enough – perhaps a year or so.

Lately, I’ve become more interested in strategy. I’ve also noticed that I’ve become a bit bored by details (whereas, I used to delight in the mind-numbing morass of extreme detail). Now, though, I think I’m attracted to the title “analyst”. There’s some detail to such work, but it’s not the “we’ll need pencils at the event, and how many cupcakes should I order?” stuff I’ve dealt with for years. Part of me still enjoys that stuff, however. Mainly, though, since it’s second nature and I can generally hit home-runs with little effort. In other words: laziness.

We’ll see what comes my way. Between my severance and unemployment, I don’t need to take the first desperate position that comes along. Which is good since there’s a bit of a dearth out there.