Author: Vince

Travel

The Liquor District

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On a recent mission trip to Cambodia (more on that later), our LEADER, a former resident, was showing us around Phnom Penh. As we passed one area in the van, she said, “And over here we have the liquor district, where I spent many an hour…” and I thought “Reaaaaaly? That’s … interesting.”

And then she finished her sentence. “… shopping. They make great wicker furniture here, and there are a ton of shops just in that one area.” One of the guys behind me exclaimed, “Oh, good, I thought you said liquor!” I said the same, and we all had a good laugh.

Movies / Spiritual Journey

Unoriginal Screenplay

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My wife and I went to see Seven Pounds a couple of weeks ago. If you haven’t seen it and plan to, stop reading now and go see it. No, seriously stop reading now. You need to go into this movie blind. (Frankly, you should never watch another trailer again as long as you live if you really want to enjoy movies, but this particular movie even more so.)

If you haven’t seen it and don’t plan to, stop reading now and go see it anyway. Forget the critics, IMDB and I never lie.

Most of the bad reviews the movie has received is due to it’s being viewed as a Sixth Sense kind of movie, with a big “tell” at the end, except it isn’t that big and so a few people with high expectations give it grief.
Random

Taking a Bite of the Apple

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Real life has reared its ugly head the last few months, and although I’ve written several posts in my head, I never found time to put them down in the ether. Sorry about that, I’m going to see if I can do better in ’09.

Popular notion has it that the fruit Eve ate in the garden was an apple. We all know how that worked out for her (and Adam). I’ve swallowed my own Apple, and I’m not convinced yet the end is going to be any different.

A new MacBook Pro has been calling my name for some time now.

Spiritual Journey

The Best Day of the Year

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Remember when you were a small child and your mom said you were going to get to go to Six Flags/Disneyland/whatever in a few days? Remember how you couldn’t sleep and you kept asking “Is it today? Is it today?” and it never was, or at least seemed like it never was? Remember when the day finally got there you almost couldn’t stay in your skin you were so excited?

I still get that way. Except, instead of Six Flags ($45 so I can go spend the day in 105 degrees and eat bad, expensive food? Ummm, let me think about it, NO), it’s The Summit.

Books / Justice

One Twelth of 12 Angry Men

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I just finished reading Escape, and I’m angry.

I’m angry Carolyn lived most of her adult years in fear.
I’m angry her eight children were not allowed physical contact (hugs, etc.) with their parents.
I’m angry that after all she’d documented, her first lawyer still allowed Jessop to have visitation rights to those kids.
I’m angry that Carolyn didn’t even have the police to turn to when she escaped, because they were all in the FLDS as well.
I’m angry that we give this kind of barbarism protection under the guise of “religion”.
I’m angry that, although Carolyn’s escaped the physical clutches of the FLDS, her spiritual condition has not.

Travel

Dos Muchachos and a Gringo

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(I wrote this article about our second Guatemala trip for 121’s missions newsletter, I thought I would share it here as well.)

As I rode back from Antigua to Guatemala City by myself last year, I had many thoughts bouncing around in my head (mostly because there’s so much empty space up there). As previously documented, many of those thoughts revolved around Joselin, the girl at the orphanage who had so captivated me. But, there was also the “roller coaster” question — “Hey, that was awesome, can we do it again? Huh, huh, can we, can we, can we?”

As with the roller coaster, the answer was eventually “Yes,” and Easter morning this year found us in Guatemala City, in an intimate worship service with just our team, in preparation for a week with the girls at the orphanage.