A 5 miniute Prayer for Peace

A couple of weeks ago our session led a meeting after church seeking ways for the Calvary Community to participate in peacemaking in our world. One of the ideas was to set aside 5 minutes in our service each week as a time of praying for peace.

I like the idea of setting aside 5 minutes each week in worship to pray for peace. I would like to suggest we take this idea home with us and each of us to set aside 5 minutes each day to pray for peace.

Today at our Ministry Development Group meeting we set aside 5 minutes to pray for peace. During our prayer we lifted up the situation of our Korean brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.

Please read the following letter and join with me in a "5 minute" prayer for peace.

Urgent Prayer Appeal to Ecumenical Community

July 31, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) has consistently prayed for “peace and life” in the global village.

We, together with the whole Korean people, are in deep sorrow and pain after we heard today the shocking news that the Taliban have killed a second Korean hostage, Mr. Shim Sung-Min, early this morning. This terrible news came to us only a few days after Rev. Bae Hyung-Kyu was killed by the Taliban last Wednesday. Moreover, the threat of further executions of the hostages is driving not only the affected families but the whole Korean society into the most painful situation.

Therefore, we urgently call on the entire ecumenical community around the world to pray to God that the killings of innocent people may stop and that these hostages may safely return to their families. We deeply appreciate the earlier expression of prayer sent from the World Council of Churches to the National Council of Churches in Korea.

We urge the global community to work for true peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Particularly, we sincerely request the governments of both Afghanistan and the US to lead the negotiations with the Taliban for the sake of the safe return of the hostages.

We express our deep condolences to the families of Rev. Bae Hyung-Kyu and Mr. Shim Sung-Min and stand in firm solidarity with all the affected families.

Let us all continue to pray for all people whose lives are threatened by conflict situations and to make our utmost effort to work for abundant life for all people.

Sincerely,

Rev. Yoon Kil Soo, General Secretary
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK)

A call to prayer in our small place in the world...

Tip of the Day #5 - Morning Buns

Sorry I have been off line in Salt Lake City for the past few days...

I can't resist one more post from my vacation on the North Coast. Each morning my almost two year old grandson and I took a hike (so his mom could get her day started) to a most wonderful bakery. Two Fish Bakery has lots of outstanding baked goods but if you ask my grandson they make the bast "Morning Buns" in the world (I think they are every bit as good as the legendary morning bun from La Farine in Oakland). If you want to see just how good a morning bun can be just take a look at this video of Max devouring his first morning bun...

If you ever get to The Sea Ranch check out Two Fish.

Reporting from the outskirts of our one small place in the world.

North Berkeley Spice of Live

The 5th Annual
North Berkeley Spice of Life Festival
Sunday, October 14, 2007
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

North Shattuck Avenue ~ Virginia to Rose
Berkeley, CA

Come join the fun
This is a great Gourmet Ghetto tradition
Last year folks from Calvary Presbyterian Church
hosted a booth at the Festival handing out
personalized Chinese fortune Cookies & Postcards
as well as a Tai Chi demonstration
& a performance by the Kairos Youth Choir

Do you have ideas for this years Festival

Information: (510) 435-4264 or karl@shadley.net

Tip of the Day #4 - Walkability

One the the great things about our neighborhood (the corner of Milvia and Virginia St.) is how walkable it is. Within a mile of where I work are some of the most amazing places to eat, shop, play, people watch, drink coffee, wifi (can wifi be used as a verb?), or just enjoy an afternoon walk. Now I can even score the walkability of our neighborhood on the "walkscore" site. When I plugged in "1460 Virginia St. Berkeley CA" I got a score of 83 (out of 100). I also got some great information about where we can walk to in our neighborhood.

"Walkscore" is one of the cool new Google Maps mashups that brings together Google maps and other data. You can look up your neighborhood as well. Give it a try. Very cool. Enjoy...

PS - I do wish that being near a church were a plus for a neighborhood but alas. I guess this says as much about the church these days as it does about our present culture. I would hope that the work that Calvary and its people are doing in the neighborhood would make our neighborhood a better place to live.

More reporting from our small place in the world.

Our City - Berkeley CA

One of the goals of my blog "One Small Place in the World" is to highlight what is going on in our part of the world. Being a 10 year resident of Berkeley I am still surprised at the diversity of our town. Check out this short video "Made in Berkeley" produced by some Berkeley-ites who want to keep Berkeley diverse as an industrial town.

MADE IN BERKELEY the movie

Report from our small place in the world

Max's Small Place in the World

My almost two year old Grandson Max just loves his heavy equipment (he calls them Diggers). This is a little something for my under 2 viewers. My son tells me there is an interesting story about the Band in our soundtrack. Read more about "Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah" Enjoy

Addicted to Coffee?

I throughly enjoy my Chronicle and a cup or two of coffee in the morning. I can do without coffee in the morning but I certainly don't like it when it happens. I might even say it is part of my spiritual discipline. A short walk or bike ride, some small talk with my coffee connection folks. Get the coffee, add just the right amount of stuff, stir, find the right place to sit, open the Chronicle (search for Jon Carroll and save it for paper desert) and...

I would say that I am not just addicted to the caffeine (the second cup is decaf) but to the whole, delightful experience. Here is an opportunity to test your own coffee addiction quotient. Let me know of your coffee experience.

I am 60% Addicted to Coffee

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Family Traditions - Sea Ranch

I am on vacation at The Sea Ranch with my family. What an wonderful Family and wonderful place.

About the people...
This yearly family event has grown from the eight original members twenty years ago to it present form including; three in-law kids, three grandkids and a significant other. Two of our kids have had their weddings on the coastal bluffs adding to the memories of the place. I am so proud of all our kids and the people they have chosen to live their lives with. They are a wonderfully diverse collection of social activist. We have a passion for seeking the wellbeing of children in our world which leads to a concern for families and justice issues (political, environmental, international etc.)

WE ARE

vegetarian EDUCATOR social worker designer Hispanic Student photographer Portuguese musician FUNNY church worker ARTIST guitarist multicultural trainer farmer horticulturalist African American

About the place...
Myrna and I found The Sea Ranch when we were on our honeymoon twenty years ago. The Sea Ranch is a second home/vacation community located on the Pacific Coast about 100 miles north of San Francisco. We knew it would be important for us to find traditions for our new blended family and rented a little house for our family to stay in the next summer. Little did we know how vacationing at The Sea Ranch would become such an important part of our life together. For twenty years we have spent about a week together here each summer.

The Sea Ranch has a long history going back to the Pomo Indians. When a vision for a new community was being developed Lawrence Halprin, renowned landscape architect, drew on the Pomo Indian's earlier philosophy, "live lightly on the land," in his contribution to the overall master plan for the development. The Sea Ranch lifestyle is guided by The Sea Ranch Association and says this about this place...

The Sea Ranch is a rugged landscape, dotted with distinctive homes, that extends for about ten miles on either side of Highway One in coastal Sonoma County, California. The building design constitutes an architectural vernacular that is world-renowned. Its hallmark is the attempt to blend man-made structures with their natural setting, and to live lightly on the land.

The Sea Ranch (Rancho Del Mar) is such an amazing place for our family. Our days revolve around eating, hiking, swimming, beach combing, sunsets, eating, driving to town (Gualala), table games, DVDs, reading, laughing, Two Fish Bakery, after dinner walks, and of course - eating.

Reporting from my not so little place in the world

Baby Don't You Cry - movie review

My wife, Myrna, and I saw a delightful romantic/comedy a couple of weeks ago. The movie is Waitress, about a diner, its staff and one young woman's belief in the curative powers of pies. It also deals with issues of domestic violence and the power of friendship and hope.

The acting is good, and story is insightful and the ending makes you go home with a smile. In some ways it remind me of a modern day Babette's Feast. I highly recommend it for a date night (that is for the older set at least).

Waitress was inspired by writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly’s own feelings while she was pregnant with daughter Sophie. Adrienne said in an interview, “I was about eight months pregnant, and I was really scared about the idea of having a baby. I couldn't imagine how my life was going to be, that it would change so drastically that I wasn't even going to recognize myself anymore. I was terrified and I really had never seen that reflected in anything, not in a book or in a movie.” Adrienne went on to express that Waitress is a “love letter to Sophie”.

Their is a very sad back-story to this movie. In real life Adrienne was killed in her New York office/apartment just before the movie was completed. This truly was her Love letter to Sophie. She never even knew of the rave reviews the movie received at the Sundance Festival or that Waitress was picked up by a major distributer. Adrienne's husband established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization that will award film school scholarships and grants to women filmmakers.

As I left the theater I could not get a song that Adrienne had written for the movie out of my head. It was a song that Jenna, the pie maker, learned from her mother and seemed to get her through some rough times in her life.

My granddaughter (Rose, just turned 7) and I have been singing it together and it has inspired my grandson (Sage) and I to envision a special pie that we are planning to make for the family when we are on vacation this coming week. (The "can't get enough chocolate... whupped cream... strawberries" grandchildren & Granpa Pie)

You might like to hear a recording of Rose and I singing the "Pie Song" in our living room last week. (When she sings real loud she says she is trying to sound like "a whole children's chorus". Let us know what you think)



Waitress is still playing in our small place in the world at Shattuck and Cerrito Speakeasy Theaters.

Tip of the Day #3 - Google 411

Have you tryed Google 411 business search service? It is Free and really pretty darn good.

On your mobile phone (or any phone for that matter) you just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). You will be instructed to say the desired city and state (or you can find it by ZIP code). You will then be asked what business name or type of business you are looking for. For a type of business you will be given a list of business in the city you have specified. When you have selected the business you want to contact Google 411 will call it for you, and here is the coolest feature, it will send you a text message with the Phone and Address of the business to your phone for future reference. I have been using Google 411 instead of my Spirit 411 when I am looking for a business. You don't get a live operator but the computer person has been very effective for me and even does the text message thing and did I say... It is FREE.

Can't hurt to try and you always have you phone company's 411 ($1.50) service to fall back on. Give it a try.

Reporting from my small place in the world (and I told you, it just keeps getting bigger)

My big brother died last friday - the tough guy

He had just turned 65 and almost received his first Social Security check. My brother has always been a tough guy, kind of like my own John Wayne. I remember telling kids about some of his escapades and enjoying their oohs and aahs that I was related to him.

At his beach memorial service (he was also the infamous old surfer dude tough guy -- Come to think of it, he was - fill in the blank- tough guy in everything he did) a friend told about how Chuck had straighted out some problems she was having with a contractor just by showing up one day on his BIG motorcycle in full leather, wraparound shades, beard and ponytail protruding from his helmet, sporting his infamous "I'm crazier than sh--" look. He did not have to say a thing to the workmen, he just gave his friend a hug and asked her how things were going. She said, with a friend like Chuck troublesome folks kind of fell into line.

I was glad though that at the end of my brother's life he was able to let go of some of his toughness, his rough edge. I know that some of that tough-guy-image was also a way of protecting a very fragile human being. I need to tell you sometime more about my brother's life but it will suffice for now to say he was hurt early on and had a hard time letting people get too close. I think his toughness was a shield to protect himself though it did come in handy at times to protect others as well.

My last conversation with my brother was so very sweet. We loved each other, we always had, though we had missed saying it very often until just the last few years. I thanked him for all the ways he had been my big brother and has taken care of me; getting me jobs, working with me, being proud of me. He told me he thought he had been to hard on me and asked me to forgive him. I did because I thought he really needed some forgiveness in his life. Not just for what he did to me, what he had done to me was pretty minimal, but the forgiveness we all need for lives that were often directed by fear and loneliness and some deep misunderstood wounds.

I drove back to Berkeley that day with a deep feeling of completeness, it was done, nothing stood between us now. We were really ready to be brothers. I also made personal promises to spend more time with my brother in the days and weeks, and I hoped, years ahead. I wanted more of this sweetness in my life. I needed more of this sweetness in my life.

My brothered died last week before I could see him again. I am sad but I still feel more complete than I felt before. He gave me a gift that no one else could have given to me. Chuck and I felt God was at work here, we talked about that as well.

I will always remember the last conversation I had with my big brother as I will always remember the last conversation I had with my twin sister before her death. I will carry them as gifts and they will make me stronger and better and a little wiser as I come closer to my last conversation with the people I love.

(Just a note: I have told my granddaughter that I can't eat so much garbage anymore and I have to ride my bike more so that I an play with her children someday. That means I have time to work on some very wise and wonderful last words to be remembered by.)

P.S. This evening over one hundred surfers will take part in a "paddle-out" in my brother's honor. They will form a circle out in his beloved ocean at sunset and remember his life. It is taking place at the bottom of Tioga Ave, Sand City which is Chuck's home break. They will have a big bonfire and party following the paddle-out -- I am sure they will have some great "Chuck Stories" to share. Press HERE to read my brother's obituary

Reporting from my place in the world

Tip of the day #2- Google Street

Have you tried Google Street. Cool new trick with Google Maps. To get a look at how it works you can take a look at the church I work at at this link . When you get to the map press "street view." You need to move the little yellow man to where the green arrow is. Now you can use the arrows in the top left corner to spin the camera around to see the church (the camera is pointing north so you need to turn it south) and use zoom to get closer. What do you think? Cool or what. You can move the little yellow man around to see different views. Now zoom in to see me hiding in the bushes. (Just kidding but that would be way cool if I pulled that off)

Here is one way I have found Google Street really practical. I wanted to tell a friend about a new restaurant that I was recommending. I knew where it was basically but I could not remember the name of the place. Then I thought... I can "Google-street-it" (new word?). I got on the right street, move the yellow man down the street looking at buildings as I went. And, presto! I found the restaurant and zoomed in on the name. Just like driving by to take a look but I did it all from the comfort of my couch.

Give it a try... you might even find it helpful in exploring our little place in the world.
(have you noticed our little place keeps getting bigger? Funny how that works.)

Save a child

Urgent: Your Elected Officials Need to Hear From You Today!
Tell Them to Cover All Nine Million Uninsured Children This Year

Over the past ten years, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has been effective at reducing the number of uninsured children. However, nine million children are still uninsured, millions more are underinsured, and the number of uninsured children is on the rise — government data indicates that the number of uninsured children increased by 294,000 from 2004 to 2005. That means millions of children in America are not getting the care they need to lead healthy and happy lives.

Funding for SCHIP expires this year and at any moment Congress will consider renewing the Program and ultimately decide how many children will remain uninsured. We must send Congress the message that anything less than health coverage for all children is unacceptable.

Through your efforts and hard work we've accomplished a lot these past few months — CDF supporters have sent thousands of emails and made hundreds of calls to their Members of Congress and we now have over 1,100 endorsing organizations — but your help is needed now more than ever.

Take a few minutes right now to make sure your voice is heard! Send an email to your Senators and Representative to tell them they must use this opportunity to expand and improve children's health coverage so that all children and pregnant women — not just some — are guaranteed comprehensive, easy-to-obtain health and mental health coverage. It's easy, it only takes a few minutes, and children cannot wait.

We need your help in getting this message to your elected officials - let them know that you support covering all children in America and that they must take the smart and right action to improve the lives of millions of children. Children should not have to suffer the consequences of decisions that they cannot control.

Thank you for giving a voice to the nine million uninsured children in America.

— Children's Defense Fund

Tip of the Day #1

Have you tried Jott.com? It is such a cool way to jott down ideas from your cell phone. It works like this... You sign up on Jott.com. Then you just call the jott number and you record your message. Jott.com (or some computer) transcribes your email message and sends it as an email. You get both a written message and the recorded voice message as an email. I am using it as a way to send messages to myself when I get an idea in the car and I am also using it to send text messages to folks. Very cool and free.
I hope this helps you keep track of yourself and others in this one small place in the world. Enjoy!

What is the new Pope thinking?

I have been having an email conversation with a daughter and a son-in-law about a document coming out of The Vatican on Tuesday. The subject line of our emails has been: "not true Christians."

Our discussion started with the publishing of a document out of the Roman Catholic Church. The jest of the paper said Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church were not full churches of Jesus Christ. In the paper they say that all other churches are suffering from a "wound" since they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope. It was a prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head before he became pope.

What is this guy thinking? How in the world, in this time when we need each other in the church more then ever (or as much as ever), do you publish such a document? What kind of message does this view send to the world?

Now I am all for knowing who you are and what you believe. I think folks spend much too much time figuring out what wrong with other people’s views without every being able to state their own views. We know what we don’t believe – but what about what you do believe? I do want people to know what they believe and then step up to live out these views. Take responsibility for who you are and what you believe.

I think Mother Teresa had it right when she said…(paraphrase) “I respect all people of faith and their devotion to what they believe… but I love Jesus…”

She knows what she believes, surely she took responsibly for what she believed, but she was gracious enough and humble enough to respect the belief and devotion of others.

This seems to me how we need to be living in the church.

Let’s rejoice in what brings us together. Let’s lift up what is central to our life in Christ. Let’s live out what we believe about the love, compassion and grace of God in what we are doing in our churches. Let us be so good at being the church of Jesus Christ in our world that we learn from each other by our good deeds and our transformed lives. Let's be humble partners in this important work.

We seem to major in the minors and complete miss the point of what we are called to do and be. How can we get all worked up over what we believe about how God is present in the bread and wine of communion when children are dieing in our world over oil rights? Let’s be humble and know our theology is important but only an educated guess at best. We will certainly learn from other faith traditions if we humbly listen, trusting that God is big enough to be speaking to others as well. And a far as devotion to the Pope...

I must admit I have been suspicious of this new Pope from the start. I loved Pope John Paul. He knew what he believed (and I did not always agree with his views) but was so humble and gracious with people of other faith traditions. He seemed to show a respect of others. If this paper is a product of the new Pope's thoughts what a huge step back in Christian unity under his watch. So much for me recognizing the primacy of the Pope. He is going to have to earn my respect.

Taking my own advice I guess I will have to pray that God will use this Pope for the common good of the church and hope he keeps praying for us who are still part of the "wounded" Church.

Check out this link for our Presbyterian Pope's response

One look at our place in the world

I found this video a couple of years ago so it is a bit dated but still gives a nice tour of the food part of our neighborhood. What a wonderful place to work, live and yes... eat. I will try to update some of the new offerings and my favorite places to eat in future post. Enjoy!

Oh, the people we meet

One of the great joys of being in a church are the people you get to meet, well more then met... Let me explain. This is a picture of Adriana and Kedrick. Kedrick is my son whom we first met when he was two and attending the church sponsored Childcare Center my wife directed in Pasadena. About 5 year ago Adriana came from West Timor, Indonesia to Berkeley to attend Pacific School of Religion. While she was here she was an intern at Calvary and lived in the Berkeley Mission Homes, which our church supports. During her time in Berkeley she and her husband Alen had their first child. My wife and I spent lots of time with Alen and Adriana during the pregnancy and I believe I had the honor of being the first non-parent, hospital person to hold Axel when he was born. What a joy! This picture was taken a few weeks ago when Adriana visited the church after five years away. I love this picture because it radiates the love that Kedrick and Adriana have for each other. Adriana keeps a picture of Kedrick out in her house. When people ask who that person is Axel always tells them "that my big brother in the US." I love it. I just know Kedrick will get to visit his little brother in West Timor someday. One great reason for being in the church. Your family just keeps getting bigger and bigger and full of love from everywhere!