We've trained Big Tuna to use Photo Booth all by himself.

He's a very tech-savvy kitty, strangely attracted to our MacBook.

(Big Tuna's my vote for a name...Erica's not so sure.)

**I hearby do solemnly swear to not take or post any more photos of this cat or personify him at an excessive rate. You can hold me to it.**

Bullets

• Was your Christmas as good as mine was?

• My Christmas present is providing you with this link to new unreleased top secret Sufjan Christmas jams!

• Speaking of top secret things being released to the world via cyberspace, my dad has made his WWW debut! That makes it sound like he's a wrestler or something, but what I mean is he has two sermons on the worldwide web now. A ministry milestone, for sure.

• My mom thinks I should publish my advent reflections. Trouble is, I told her, most of what I wrote has already been published in this really fancy book. It's called the Bible. But Dan, maybe it'll be a good starting point for me the next time you compile a little something. 1--2--3--4--5--6

• The big Christmas surprise was the kitten I gave to Erica. New addition to the family. He's cute and well-behaved so far. If you have any suggestions for a good name, we could use all the help we could get on helping Erica to pick one.

• This morning was our "last" service at the church I've attended for 22 years (minus the four I was away at school). Next Sunday we'll start attending and helping out at a nearby church plant, attempting to get our feet a bit wet for future church planting ventures. There was a little send-off which got everyone all emotional and stuff. It was good and exciting to see our church sending people. Very good.

• We leave early tomorrow morning for a quick trip to Pittsburgh. Erica's working, I'm tagging along. We plan on visiting the Su family on the way home! Woo!
  

Advent 6: We need.

Maybe the most important part of my advent reflecting is that it focuses on a need.

Immanuel, God with us, is not just a nice thing that makes our quality of life a little more pleasant. It's not optional, it's not bonus, it's not extra. It's not "inspirational" fluff as some Christian bookstores suggest. It's not quaint tradition as my city of Bethlehem might suggest. No, it's a desperate need, without which we are doomed.

Without an arbitrator, we stand fearful and condemned, unable to face the Almighty God.

Without a husband, we are alone and worthless.

Without a ladder, we're stuck here on this mess of an earth, unable to get home.

Without a shepherd, we are harassed and helpless, stupid, wandering, distracted, lost.

So praise God with me for the gift of an arbitrator, husband, ladder, shepherd, and much more.

"Christ meets our need."
Hebrews 7:26

Have a peace-filled Christmas, resting in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas from the Shorbs!

Advent 5: We Need a Shepherd!

Isaiah 53:6

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way.

Ezekiel 34

Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Matthew 9:36

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

John 10:11

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

humbug

This season has been absolutely pathetically full of completely unsuccessful shopping trips. Let the retailers know that the reason I'm not buying isn't because we're in a recession; it's because not one of them is carrying the things I need.

And I'm not asking for things that should be hard to find.

I'll tell you more after Christmas. But seriously. It's absurd.

Advent 4: Immanuel

Immanuel by Joshua Stamper.
Probably a little long and repetitive for most people, but something about it draws me into reflection.

A little more explanation

In case you don't know who I'm talking about with this Bon Iver guy, here's his performance on Letterman a few nights before we saw him:



Thank goodness he was wearing a hat, because without it, he looks a little bit more like this guy:
The guy--named Justin something-or-other, by the way--has had an amazing year. He went from unexpectedly recording an album by himself in a hunting cabin in the backwoods of Wisconsin (this alone has become a myth of sorts adding to his stardom, who knows how much of it is true), to finding some help with his band in a few of his lumberjack buddies, to having a critically acclaimed album on his hands and touring the world incessantly this year. Just a friendly unassuming Wisconsin boy with a dry sense of humor like mine. It's an indie-rock Cinderella story. I'm pretty sure he's the first rock star to come from Wisconsin, actually.

I was much more impressed with his live show than I thought I'd be. It was really good. But I continue to be baffled about what it is that has made him so popular. His songs are incredibly simple and minimalistic, he sings like a girl, and they look like lumberjacks for goodness' sake! Is this really what's cool?

But the four-guys-on-vocals thing sounds sooo good live, as does the three-guys-on-drums thing.

He's definitely doing something right, but I think it's fair to say he had a good bit of luck on his side in 2008 too. Good for him. He seemed genuinely surprised by and appreciative for it on Monday night, recognizing it will never happen again. It's always nice when Cinderalla stories happen to guys like that.

These guys were really good, by the way.

I drove home, wasn't sleepy at all, and woke up alright this morning, wasn't even all that tired today. It was well worth it all the way around.

(pics stolen from Flickr.)

THE DANGERS OF ROMANTIC COMEDIES

"Many held the view if someone is meant to be with you, then they should know what you want without you telling them."

Cold hard evidence to a long-standing theory?

Mr. Shorb in a Tuxedo

My students apparently just now noticed the picture hanging in Mr. Diehl's room of the two of us on my wedding day.

They came back from music excited and all agreed I looked overweight, or at least fatter than I do now. Really?

Erica and I are living young tonight and heading into the city to meet a friend and hear Bon Iver and The Tallest Man on Earth. Should be decent, but we're sure to regret it tomorrow morning. I'm just wondering who's going to be awake to drive home. Me? Doubtful.

Time to head into the kitchen to make dinner before our departure.

Advent 3: We Need a Ladder!

I can't help but think first of the Babel. "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves..." They wanted to reach the heavens, but not in order to be with God. Attempting to reach heaven on our own strength, regardless of intentions, leads to disastrous consequences.

Jacob was shown access to heaven. The story is familiar, but I can't say I ever grasped the point of it no matter how many times the flannelgraph was shown to me.

Genesis 28--
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

God is intent on coming down to earth. And he does.

John 1--
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

But we still need to get that ladder in order to reach heaven. God provides that too.

John 1--
Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus Christ is our ladder, our access to heaven, bridging the gap and making a way.

Love of Learning, Dignity of Trying

I've been challenged by my students this year, surprised by the number of groans and whines and shouts/utterances of protest each time I tell them the subject we'll delve into next or to get out such-and-such a notebook. Some might call it laziness or a lack of motivation, some might call it an unhealthy need to be entertained, some might call it a difference in learning style, some might it call it typical. I'm not sure what to call it, yet. Whatever the case, they don't seem too interested in learning all the time.

This prompted a stern talking to yesterday. I was not angry, but I was passionately frustrated, and I think I communicated effectively a fact that has already been talked about through their years here. What do they expect to do at school? If you want to play video games all day, stay at home! We're here to learn. There are people around the world dying for the chance to be educated. Their one greatest desire is the opportunity to learn. I essentially said that if they think learning is such a miserable task, they should go home and tell mom and dad they want to be transferred to a different school so that their desk would be freed up for a person who would appreciate and enjoy the opportunity.

I think I made the point pretty clear. It needed to be said. It was highlighted by our afternoon assembly where a man that lives in Africa showed some pictures and talked about the state of education and the quality of the schools.

Our student handbook says something about the nature of learning, how learning should be inherently fun. If I had it at home I would quote it here. But it says something to the effect of this: if a student isn't enjoying learning, something is wrong with him.

I am so proud to be at a school that believes learning is fun in and of itself, and that if a student isn't having fun, the problem is the student's attitude and not the teacher's practices. I'm not happy about that because it lets me off the hook--it doesn't. But it's a much more balanced approach than anything that is happening in the public schools, and most of all, it's true. It's the teacher's job to provide authentic experiences of learning. If the student doesn't find those learning experiences enjoyable, something's wrong with her. That's a gutsy thing to put in your handbook. (And it's important to note the difference between enjoyable and entertaining. Even I can admit an algebraic equation isn't entertaing for everyone. But when you find the right answer and you understand how it works, it's enjoyable.)

So I started my series of good quotes yesterday, despite many groans and protests, knowing I needed to wait at least this long for it be successful in any capacity. I hung this quote on the wall, and student's copied it into their journals:

"Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel."
-G.K. Chesteron

We made sure we knew what a duel was, then talked about how a bad shot is the person and not the bullet, and we talked about what it means to be dignified. I told them they needed to think carefully and deeply, focus and concentrate and think, and I had them rephrase it and put it in their own understandable words in their notebooks.

Then I had them write a little bit about what it means and how it applies to them, promising that Mr. Shorb doesn't do things like this because he's wacky or wants to make their lives miserable.

When one boy asked the proverbial question, "How long does it have to be?" I told him I didn't like that question and long enough was long enough. When he was done thinking about the quote he could stop writing.

We discussed it. Light bulbs were going off. Keep trying. Do your best. Courage. Accepting challenges. "Even if you're a total klutz!" one girl added. It was working.

I knew some of them were getting it--not just the Chesterton quote, but the love of learning. They were enjoying careful thought.

I ended by having them put their heads down--no peeking--knowing few of them would admit it in front of their classmates, "Raise your hand if maybe, just a little bit, just ever so slightly, you might have just learned something, maybe." Half the hands. Not bad.

"No peeking, now, and raise your hand if just maybe a tiny tiny bit, just a little, you might have slightly, almost, maybe, enjoyed thinking about Chesterton's quote." Again, a little more than half the hands, with some surprises.

I'll take it. Baby steps.

Walking Home Under the Canopy Glow

I walked home from school today, which isn't anything unusual lately, except that today I forgot to pack my walking shoes, and walking home in flat-footed two-year-old Payless dress shoes just isn't good for one's arches, especially after standing on them most of the day.

To ease the pain, I borrowed one of my classrooms's iPods before leaving (why haven't I thought of this sooner?!?), loaded Anathallo's new album, and began walking. The battery was dead from sitting in a desk drawer since May, and after keeping it plugged in for a while I had just enough charge to make it through the first 7 tracks for the 30 minute walk.

A favorite memory from our summer in France was listening to good music on Metro rides. Erica and I grew in our love for Andrew Bird, me with the left ear bud and her with the right, making do with only the half of the music that was panned our way. Using the right soundtrack truly does transform the way you look at the world. It forces me to set my mind on the unseen, reminding there's much more going on here than whatever's on the surface.

I had an idea for a short (or long) film today when a visitor was telling us about his travels in South Africa. He described to our students the long walk that some children are forced to take to school in that country. I wanted to film a walk to school. Even my own, really. But just the walk. Nothing more. Just the footsteps and the houses and the landscape and the people and the cracks in sidewalks and the cars and birds on wires and whatever else is passed. I realize it's a terrible idea, and everyone would think it's boring. But if I find so much beauty in a walk to school, especially if the right music is put to it, wouldn't (or shouldn't?) someone else?

And so, after very little grabbed me about Anathallo's new album Canopy Glow through my first listen, using it as a soundtrack to a walk home after a long week put it in a new light. And first of all, I learned it's not background music. It's too cerebral, and if you put it on in hopes of partying or having a conversation over it, it'll probably get on your nerves more than anything. It demands attention.

It's perfect walking music, though, because Anathallo's main thrust is that there's something deeper going on in the seemingly ordinary and mundane.

The song called "Cafetorium" caught my attention immediately because our middle school has a space that goes by that title. It's an awful name, but it suits the aesthetics (and obviously, the function) of the room pretty much perfectly. With the lyrics, I can picture the gathering taking place in the drab room, the poor acoustics and lighting, the awkward fellowship, the somewhat odd baptism using water from a cool whip container. Even though I wholeheartedly believe aesthetics matter, Anathallo reminds me there is beauty in the act, in the meaning, in whatever is going on underneath the surface.

I have yet to read all the frenetic lyrics to the song that has quickly become my favorite, but it's something about an astronaut losing his finger in some sort of accident with a grain truck. Even that somehow turns into a beautiful meditation through complex melodies and rhythms.

I walked home instilled with a sense of joy and peace, feeling the light my kids sang about earlier in the day at their annual Christmas concert. But knowing these melodies were being tunneled into my ear canals only, I was overcome with a feeling that the darkened streets and houses were burdened with sorrow, distress, fear, and confusion. They weren't hearing what I was hearing. They didn't know. Eyes are focused on the seen, the here, the now. We need to be pulled out of it all, step back, be reminded.

It takes some skilled and sensitive musicians and artists to help us do exactly that.

www.anathallo.com

Canopy Glow

We listened to Anathallo's newest the other night.

Erica listened to it this morning during her commute. I told her I wanted to know what she thought. She emailed me a rare review right after she arrived at work. I agree with her...at least on first listen. We'll see what further digestion does for the album.

"Beautiful. Harmonious. These are the first thoughts that struck me upon hearing the opening phrases of Anathallo's newest album. As I continued to listen it reminded me of a gourmet sandwich, so many delectable, exciting, even extravagant individual pieces combined for a taste explosion in your mouth. But alas, the explosion fades as you indulge too quickly in the tasty treat. While hints of each flavor waft in and out of consciousness, none prevail and even the overall yummy goodness is lost in the act of eating. When done, there is no physical hunger remaining, but a sense that you need to try that same sandwich again to gain full appreciation.

What happened to the organized shouts and excited clapping? What happened to louds crashing into softs and silence? What happened to the shining personality of each individual musician? This newer, smoother, go-down-easy version of Anathallo is still impressive and definitely more mature, but leaves me wondering if the rawness is what made the listening experience complete for me in the past. The album is fluid in an almost unfortunate way. If you're not listening carefully, you make it to track four without "hearing" 2 and 3. Upon second listen the songs unfold a bit and the layers of the sandwich show their unique individual flavors. Track two alone moves through a series of influences, from Guster's high, sweet harmonies to Andrew Bird's staccatos to Sufjan's melodious strings and soothing singing revealing the true genius of the composers as they combine a myriad of stylistic choices into one track.

To me this album is mind music. It mirrors how I picture my brain functioning. This highly intricate organ that has folds upon folds, each containing information pertinent to the overall function but go unappreciated by the average Joe (or Josette). I feel a bit sad at the complete unity of the group. As I listened my memories of seeing the group perform live, re-feeling the excitement they generate as they make magic before a live audience gave life to the album that wasn't communicated through the music alone. Don't get me wrong - the music is great! But leaves me pondering whether their perfection is an asset or a pitfall."

Advent 2: We need a husband!

Each year I realize the need to make Advent a more intentional time of reflection, if only to avoid a little bit more of the world's pollution. I think I'm slowly getting better at it.

In this second reflection, I'm stealing a post written back in May of this year. Since writing it, I've come to understand more and more just how big of a deal having a husband and children was for a woman during Biblical times. Without them, she was absolutely worthless and hopeless.

So it is with us. On our own, we are worthless and hopeless; lonely, unloved and unloving, barren--incapable of producing, isolated, and poor. We need a husband.

Isaiah 3:24-4:1
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, branding.
Your men will fall by the sword,
your warriors in battle.
The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
destitute, she will sit on the ground.
In that day seven women
will take hold of one man
and say, "We will eat our own food
and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace!"

Isaiah 54:1,4-5
"Sing, O barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband," says the Lord.
"Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
For your Maker is your husband--
the Lord Almighty is his name--
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth."

John the Baptist prepared the way for this bridegroom, waiting for him, and recognized with joy when he had arrived:
John 3:29
"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete."

I'm not quite sure the specifics of how this metaphor works. The Bridegroom came and was with us, but it seems as though it's a very long engagement, setting the stage for a glorious wedding to come. Yes, something like that. And that's the thing about Advent that uncovers itself to me more and more each year. As we reflect on the first coming of our savior we reflect on the second coming of our savior. We needed the first coming, but still, some things remain incomplete. We're still wrestling with this problem of being human on a fallen earth. We continue to wait expectantly.

Ephesians 5:31-32
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Revelation 21:2, 9-11
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shown with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

While my feminist friends might not like that God is using the need for a husband as a metaphor of our need for him, hopefully, placing it in its proper context, we can still appreciate its rich meaning.

Admittedly, this is a limited study in a big book that finds ways of continuing metaphors hidden in corners from cover to cover. While I realize most of my readership (assuming [at least a small] one exists) prefers to remain shrouded in mystery (was that an Advent allusion?), if you come across more applicable verses, please feel free to contribute.

Call 'Em Like I See 'Em

This little guy visited us at school today. I met him. In person.
You may have heard of him. His name is Elwood. He's fairly famous; he's even been on CNN.

His fans like to refer to him with euphemisms like "special," "unique," or "different."

But c'mon, folks. There's a reason he won first place in the World's Ugliest Dog contest, and it wasn't because he was special, unique, or different.

It's because he's UGLY. If there was a World's Most Disgusting Dog contest, he'd win that, too.

Needless to say, I was forced to hold my tongue quite a bit this afternoon.

Speaking of tongues...it'd be one thing if his tongue just stayed there like you see in the photo. That's bad enough for sure. But no...it flip flops all around, curling up and down and back and forth like a snake's tongue, never sitting still. Ugh. I could barely stand to watch.

Advent 1: We need an arbitrator.

I'm struck by Job's words. Thousands of years before Christ is born, before all the prophets start talking about a deliverer, Job knew in the midst of his suffering exactly what he needed. He didn't need his kids back, or his sheep or his cattle or his possessions or his comfort. Those things would be nice, of course, but they wouldn't solve the problem. He needed someone to speak to God on his behalf. He pleaded. He waited. He expected.

In Chapter 9:

But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

In Chapter 14:

If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.

You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.

Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.

My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.

In Chapter 16:

Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.

My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;

on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.

Our arbitrator has come. His arbitration on our behalf is the theme of Hebrews:

In Chapter 4:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

And in Chapter 7:

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Maybe angels aren't your thing...

...How about a butterfly?