Secrets of the Library

So our big project for this course is a language survey proposal - the paper and presentation. We basically take a language about which very little is known, do a lot of research, and write a proposal to carry out a survey that will help answer basic questions about the language situation. The idea is that we are in touch with an actual person on the ground in the country who can direct our studies.

The language I'm researching is... actually I can't tell you. What I CAN tell you, though, is that I have had some cool breakthroughs during the course of the project. Which means that I have learned information directly from an observer of the language who has done recent research in the area but has not published it yet. It's pretty sweet to be on the inside. Maybe I can do this whole academic thing.

It's also cool to think that if I hadn't been here to do the research and send the emails, it is likely that some people who are in a position to make decisions about assisting language development efforts would have inadequate information on which to make decisions. Which I guess doesn't say much, but the little it does say speaks volumes. Here's to the bookshelf warriors.

In other news, I recently uploaded some video of a conference I helped lead worship at with Ishq, an Ethnodoxology group that plays music from an array of different cultures. Here we sing some snippets of an Arab Christian worship song from South Africa, and a jubilant rendition of 'How Deep the Father's Love'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA_TimiEPNU

Broken World

Yesterday I heard that a friend died. Aimee was a fellow MK who grew up with my friend Katrina in Taiwan. I go to church in Lancaster with some of her cousins. We met a couple years ago around Christmas time when they were visiting the cousins and we road-tripped up to State College area to visit Katrina and her family - she didn't like driving, so I drove. Over the past couple years we kept in touch and I visited her in Charlotte, NC where she was working as a teacher. We went out to eat on my 26th birthday.

On thursday around 7am a pickup truck crossed the center-line and smashed into her head-on. Both cars were traveling at about 55mph. They still don't know why the driver of the other vehicle crossed the line. Apparently the driver doesn't remember either, and there's no evidence of drugs/alchohol or cellphone use. She was on her way to school. She was 25.

I wrote a song last night, but it doesn't do justice to the injustice of death. When my brother died 13 years ago I couldn't find the right words either. Maybe in a million years I'll be able to. Right now all I can do is strain to produce depth of emotion to express the pain of this broken world. I would despair if I didn't know the Intercessor.

Academics and the Ivory Tower

So I am learning a lot this month, particularly about languages and creating surveys that answer particular questions about language. I am also reading a lot of scholarly articles and realizing that I am not 'academic' as defined by Princeton as:
a) hypothetical or theoretical and not expected to produce an immediate or practical result" or
b) marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects

In other words, I would rather learn something that leads to action, change, and growth, than simply for the sake of learning it. I need to create something new, important, unique, rather than simply following in the footsteps of others and 'adding to the existing body of knowledge' about a particular topic. In some senses it could be argued that adding to and refining existing knowledge IS new, important, and unique... I suppose I have simply realized by taking this course that I can't sit and read or write about things without having an end-goal in which other human beings are actually affected by the knowledge I gather.

This is not a new realization... but being here and taking this graduate course has given me a fuller understanding of what it all means to me personally. It's a different world here, for sure. As long as I can balance the academics with purpose, I'm sure I'll come out all right.

In Dallas

I'm in Dallas, TX for the month of January, but not because the Cowboys are in the playoffs (are they still? I don't really follow sports).. I'm actually taking a language survey course at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics while exploring ethnomusicology and other opportunities for missions involvement. I'm still trying to figure out where I 'Go From Here'. I'm hoping this month will give me some clarity.

I arrived in what I thought were 'warmer climes' only to discover that it is currently the coldest it has been here in Dallas in over ten years. I guess I brought the cold with me... needless to say, I am glad for all the sweaters my mom made me bring. =) Thanks Mom!

Christmas is over..

..but the year has only begun. As you well know, Christmas happens every year - a reminder as sure as the sun comes up and goes down of the birth of our savior. It is always good to be reminded of our source, the One in whom we live and move and have our being.

This past season has in some ways been dark and toilsome as I struggle with vocation and purpose while continuing to try and forge ahead creatively. I have needed a reminder of the light that came into the world at our darkest hour, who still meets us there, at the end of our rope, to give us strength and courage for the long climb back into light.

May 2010 be full of joy and light for you and yours!

So I leave you with Wheatland Church's candlelight Christmas Eve service, and the following monday's Christmas Spectacular! in Lancaster. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZOXvGhDwlg&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcdrDucTU-k&feature=youtube_gdata