Targuman Rotating Header Image

Travel

Tweets from the road

Aug 10th, 2011
by Christian Brady.
No comments yet

Read in reverse order.

One more flight today. 6 flights in 3 days. @ San Diego International Airport (SAN) http://instagr.am/p/JzYUp/

Mine! Mine! @ Edgewater Grill http://instagr.am/p/Jy9rY/

BMW: CHiPs has moved up in the world. @ Starbucks (Piazza Carmel) http://instagr.am/p/JyybW/

Bird @ Starbucks Coffee (La Costa) http://instagr.am/p/JyMW6/

Drinking coffee in CA can cause cancer. Who knew? @ Starbucks Coffee (La Costa) http://instagr.am/p/JyFuL/

Waiting in the LV airport…with Lion King music, you know that haaaaiiii lahaaiii bit, on loop. Very annoying. Very.

Location:Valley Centre Dr,San Diego,United States

 

Measuring up

Jul 11th, 2011
by Christian Brady.
No comments yet

DSC06769

We had a great time last week seeing old friends and family. On Lake Oneida we went to this quaint little old amusement park, Sylvan Beach. Pulled the boat up to the shore, waded on land and right into the park. You can see more pictures of that on flickr.

(Sadly, my Sony A100 DSLR appears to be on its last legs. The autofocus motor is making horrendous sounds during start up.)

 

Califor-nigh-a

May 4th, 2011
by Christian Brady.
2 comments

This week I have taken a quick trip out to the west coast to meet with a friend of Penn State and the SHC. I have to say that the more I come out here the more I like California…well, parts of it. Of course I suppose you can say that about any place.

I know myself. I know that I do not like cities, at least, not as places to live. That is much of why I love State College. I drive past horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, experimental crops, and Beaver Stadium in my 4.3 mile commute. Yet in 3-and-a-bit hours I can be in Wash. DC, Philly, Pittsburgh, or NYC. All the benefits with little of the hassle of living in the city itself.

I also know that I enjoy going to my in-laws at Rehoboth Beach, DE (no really, I do). But I have never really enjoyed that whole beach scene, the mass of people, the boardwalk (although I love Fun Land! hasn’t changed in 40 years).

And today I find myself at Torrey Pines, California. Wow. It is stunning. Beautiful flowers, shrubs, and breathtaking bluffs with the surf below. I could really get used to this. San Diego is just 20 miles away. But then I consider the taxes, the earthquakes… :-)

So I will enjoy this day and the morning to get some work done with the balcony door to my hotel room open and the light aroma of the Pacific Ocean blowing through the curtains. And remember, that “all creation declares…”

You can see more of my pictures from Torrey Pines on flickr.

Location:N Torrey Pines Rd,,United States

 

Photos – Oxford 2011

Feb 16th, 2011
by Christian Brady.
No comments yet

I did not have a lot of time on my trip to take many photos, but last Tuesday morning was foggy and beautiful. Feel free to peruse the set – Oxford 2011.

DSC00272

Christ Church Meadow

 

A stumbling block…

Feb 14th, 2011
by Christian Brady.
No comments yet

When I was being shown around Freiburg last week my guide actually stumbled and then stopped and pointed to be the “Stolperstein” upon which she had halted. This term literally translates as a “stumbling stone” and is a small concrete cube covered in brass that is etched with the name of a single Jew or other victim of the Nazi regime who was deported and killed. The dates of their deportation and death are also inscribed on the stone. It is placed on the sidewalk before the place that had been there home. These Stolpersteine are now found throughout Germany and in other countries as well.

I was struck by the word “stumbling block” particularly as it was just a few weeks ago that the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many Christian denominations, had as its reading 1 Cor. 1:18-31. The relevant passage is in the middle of that section.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

What the apostle Paul is saying here is that the notion of the Messiah being crucified made no sense to those Jews who were waiting and expecting God’s anointed one. Jesus’ death as a criminal on a cross was too big a hurdle for them to overcome to believe that he was actually the Messiah.

Given our English translation of the Greek σκάνδαλον (scandalon) you can understand why my ears were pricked to learn that this memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was called a Stolperstein. It seemed significant to me, as if to say that the death of so many by the Nazis and those who worked with them and failed to work against them is itself a scandalon to Christians. Or at least it ought to be. It ought to be a challenge to their fundamental faith.

Now, as it turns out, having had a chance to check a few German versions of this passage, it appears that completely different German words were used to translate scandalon. In the Hoffnung für Alle it is “eine Gotteslästerung,” “blasphemy,” and in the the 1545 Luther translation it is “ein Ärgernis,” “scandal.” The former certainly conveys the sense well and the latter is more literal, in both cases it is not Stolperstein. Still, it certainly made me pause and consider my faith.
 
← Earlier Posts