http://cbedgar.com/index.htmlNews of the Edgars in San Diegoencbedgar@mac.comCopyright 2007 C. B. Edgar2008-11-28T12:00:48-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:02:33 -0800cbedgar@mac.comFamily2008-11-28T12:00:48-08:00http://cbedgar.com/files/Thanksgiving_2008.html#unique-entry-id-18http://cbedgar.com/files/Thanksgiving_2008.html#unique-entry-id-18Pam and I are spending Thanksgiving with the Sacramento Edgars. We are staying with my cousin Larry and his family. Last night we had Aunt Judy, Uncle Bill, Aunt Karen, and cousin Debbie over, in addition to Stacey's parents, and Karen's mom. It was a houseful.

Everybody helped with dinner. In addition to turkey, we had cheesy mashed potatoes, squash casserole, green bean casserole, dressing, gravy (Debbie's gravy was really good!), cranberry sauce, and some jello-marshmellow salad thing. It was all really good. My nephew Nicholas (5) had a whole drumstick. His sister (7mo) even chewed on it a little. Don't tell CPS.

The big project was taking pictures for the Edgar and Associates website. The website is simple, elegant and very professional. The pictures needed to look like professional portraits, with proper lighting, a plain background, and no shadows. Really the lighting, the photos, and the edit/ retouch took most of the day. So here are the results.


(Larry wants Uncle C. B. (Dad) to notice that the men are wearing jacket and tie.)

We also took a great family shot that was a lot more casual:


Have a great Thanksgiving.]]>cbedgar@mac.comPhotography2008-11-06T18:53:55-08:00http://cbedgar.com/files/231b681f0d6bb676673c53de16a9427a-17.html#unique-entry-id-17http://cbedgar.com/files/231b681f0d6bb676673c53de16a9427a-17.html#unique-entry-id-17
The huge number of pictures pretty much broke my work flow. I had been using iView MediaPro to organize, catalog, and select photos. It also has some very good website creation tools. Well Microsoft bought iView, and they have since released Expression Media I and II. Expression Media is basically the same program. I haven't tried Expression Media II.

Well, a poor workman always blames his tool, and whether it was the tool or my workflow, I just could not seem to get the job done with either iView or Expressions. I had been wanting to try Apple Aperture for some time, and this seemed to be a good reason. So I migrated to Aperture 1.5 last winter. Aperture is a very nice tool, and the latest version 2.1 is a lot better than 1.5.

Aperture doesn't do the same kind of web export, that is, it does it a lot differently, and I still haven't figured it all out. It does manage and edit raw digital images very well. In fact, I no longer use Photoshop at all. Maybe that just says I didn't do that much in Photoshop, but really, Aperture does all the editing I need. It also does books.

I love photo books. Before Aperture, I was doing them online at Kodak Gallery. I would select pictures, upload them to Kodak Gallery, and then create a book with their online tools. I would select the page templates, fill it with images, and write stories and captions to include.

Aperture is way better. With Aperture, I can do it all locally, and I have much more control over the page layouts. I can create my own templates if I want. Anyway I am almost done. I have all the pictures placed into a two volume photo album, and I am about 1/3 done with the stories. The stories go faster than the pictures, so I hope to be done by Christmas. Thanksgiving would be better, but that is looking unlikely.

Well, I have been doing other things too: learning more Perl, learning new web tools, and learning HTML and CSS even better. And working and gardening and wood working and messing with TV antennas and HDTivo. Stuff for another blog later.

Bye for now.]]>cbedgar@mac.comTravel2008-08-08T22:20:01-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/Britain_tour3.html#unique-entry-id-16http://cbedgar.com/files/Britain_tour3.html#unique-entry-id-16

On the way to Stratford on Avon, where we planned to spend the night and see a play, we spent the morning in the Cotswolds and the afternoon at Warwick Castle. The Cotswolds were beautiful. We took pictures and Pam bought some paintings for her office.

Warwick Castle was interesting because it was one of the first English (as opposed to Scottish or Welsh) castles we had toured. Also, Pam's mother's maiden name is Warwick, and so we were really looking forward to exploring a little of her family history. The castle was fun, but a bit touristy.

Stratford on Avon is of course the home town of Shakespeare. We had a really wonderful dinner in the lovely hotel. The town is beautiful, and we walked to the theater to see Macbeth. We did not have tickets, but there were cancelations, and we had great seats. The play was wonderful. A little loud, but a outstanding performance. In the morning we toured the museum and gardens and walked around town.

The highlight of our last day was Coventry Cathedral. Coventry was famously bombed during World War II. And the cathedral was destroyed, but a new cathedral was built that is spiritual and a real work of art. It felt more alive than most of the churches and cathedrals that I had toured in our two weeks exploring Britain. I took some very interesting photos, but they do not do the cathedral justice.

So that is the story of our trip to Britain. It took me a while to get out, but hopefully you enjoyed it. More pictures soon, I hope.

]]>cbedgar@mac.comTravel2007-08-02T14:54:49-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/Britain_tour2.html#unique-entry-id-15http://cbedgar.com/files/Britain_tour2.html#unique-entry-id-15
Well we survived the haunted castle, but the next day we lost half our party. You see, not everyone could take an extra week off, so some folks headed back early. So back to Manchester to drop off the folks who couldn't continue, and then we would resume the tour.

There was no included dinner in Manchester. So Ester arranged transport and a dinner at a pub just a few miles from the hotel. The hotel wanted an absurd fee for a buffet dinner. The pub was great, and quite a bit cheaper. We had the best fish and chips yet, and the beer was good too. No whiskey that night!

At some point we had a boat tour of Windermere. Actually, I think it was before we got to the castle. It is in the lakes region of Britain, but whether it is in Wales or England, I couldn't tell you. Lots of ducks, swans and funny little gulls too. The gulls were small birds with black heads: maybe Black Headed Gulls or Little Gulls. it was a lot of fun. Look for the pictures when I get them up.

After Manchester, we visited a castle in Cardiff and then we went to Bath. Bath was great. One of the highlights of the whole trip. I spent hours wandering through the museum, exploring all the Roman ruins and artifacts. Afterward we had tea in the very fancy dining room.

Stonehenge was interesting. We spent an hour there, and later we stopped at Woodhenge. The weather was fantastic. It was crowded at Stonehenge. It was the day before the solstice. It is closed on the solstice because of the druids. I bought a book, but Stonehenge is a prehistoric mystery, so the book could only tell me so much. Wikipedia probably has as much information.

After Stonehenge we moved on to London where we spent three days, much of it free time. But I will save London and Stratford-upon-Avon for my next post. ]]>cbedgar@mac.comTravel2007-06-15T13:51:15+01:00http://cbedgar.com/files/britain_tour1.html#unique-entry-id-14http://cbedgar.com/files/britain_tour1.html#unique-entry-id-14water of life in Scotland.)

We have discovered that Oban Scotch is the best. A little of the islands, and a little of the highlands. We bought some in Oban, and some more at Gretna Green. Gretna Green... Ah Gretna Green. We spent a lot of money at Gretna Green. We found kilts in a family tartan. We found jewelry. We found wool and cashmere. And whiskey -- don't forget the whiskey. Then we went to Grassmere, and spent almost as much again. We are doing Christmas shopping. At least that is the story.

Yesterday and the day before, we stayed on the Isle of Mull. It a beautiful Island. The hotel was right on the water. Our group stayed in two different hotels, so instead of the large coach, we took little mini-buses to the Island of Iona. The road was a narrow track that was only wide enough for one car. There we pullouts so vehicles could pass, either head on or over taking. Rushing down this narrow track in the woods and hills, and screeching to a stop so someone could whizz by, was a little exciting. The scenery was as awesome. We took the long way back for a different and even more incredible scenery.

The Isle of Iona is the site of a ancient monastery and nunnery. The monastery has been converted and is being used for ecumenical religious purposes. The Island has a spirituality to it. After lunch the others went on a guided tour of the Island, but I broke off, took a walk on the beach, and did some meditation. It was really nice. I finished my notes on the OSL conference in a pub by the beach.

In Edinburgh, we saw a castle and a palace. The castle of Edinburgh was the best castle we have seen so far. It was just like Lord of the Rings: reminded me of Minas Tirith. We also went to church in the cathedral of St. Giles. A Presbyterian cathedral: go figure! No pictures permitted on Sunday, however. I think I sneaked a few in anyway.

On Monday, we went to Lindisfarne, aka "the Holy Island". It also had a castle and a ruined monastery. It also has mead. I almost bought some, but (except for samplers at the winery), it isn't cheap. It wasn't bad mead. It was pretty good. I, of course, make mead (with Jon and Sherman), and I think mine is better. Not possitive. I am still not sure I won't buy some before I leave Britain.

The tide isolates the island. This isolated and may have protected the monks who lived there in the 7th century. There is no bridge and no ferry, so you can only access the island via a causeway when the tide is low. We had a nice walk to the castle, and of course took lots of pictures. We researched ale, and found some good choices.

From York, we saw York Minster cathedral. Minster means cathedral in Anglo Saxon. Very grand. I felt the power more than the sacred, but Barbara could feel the Spirit in York Minster. Then we walked through the Shambles and peered down snickelways. A snickelway is a small windy alley that is only for walking. The Shambles is a crooked street where all the houses lean over the road. There used to be butcher shops here where the shade kept the meat cool. The Shambles is home to the most haunted alley in Britain, or at least that is what the advert claims.

Well that's my story so far. Soon there will be pictures. Soon. I have to edit down the 1600 plus I have taken to something more manageable. Tonight we have medieval diner in a castle in Ruthin. I, unfortunately did not bring my sword. Perhaps a dagger would be O.K.? :-) ]]>cbedgar@mac.comSpirituality2007-06-13T21:24:53+01:00http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes3.html#unique-entry-id-13http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes3.html#unique-entry-id-13
The second half of the conference focused more on healing and less on "new age." We covered a bunch of different topics. The focus was healing those who are broken in body or spirit.

Filled with the Spirit.

The Rev. Jack Sheffield from Texas, USA took us back to the roots of the order. Don't tie yourself up in the brokeness of the church and the world. The world has always been broken. That is why Jesus was sent. That is why we are called. When you see something that needs healing, go, lay your hands on it, and pray to Jesus. He will heal. Do not dialog with those who are lost. Call them to Jesus.

Jack told us the story about how he was at a conference, and there was a little old lady who did not believe. She had never seen a miracle. She told Jack, "You're exaggerating!" She seemed to think that it is not as simple as 'have faith, believe, and call on Jesus and he will heal you.' She did not believe. She said, "Show me a miracle!" Jack said that before the conference was done, she would see a miracle. Then he thought, "Lord what have I done! You need to help me, Lord. Please give us a miracle." Jack became rather nervous. He fasted. He prayed. For three days he fasted and prayed. Then came the last night. The little lady was staring right at Jack. "I better get my miracle!" Jack prayed to the Lord Jesus to give them a miracle so this woman would believe.

The woman started to feel something in her belly. It was a pain, and it was not hers. She became hot, and filled with the spirit of the Lord. Jack called out to the group, "Who has a pain in their belly? Who needs to be healed." Someone did have a terrible pain. They had been diagnosedf with GIRD or something. That person went up to the woman, and the woman put her hands on their belly, and that person was healed. And the woman believed. And the people praised and thanked God. The next day, the woman sad, "Well I think I saw a miracle." Jack just threw up his hands.

The bishop sometimes finds Jack trying. He once asked Jack not to pray about the Spirit for three months. Jack did it, but as the three months were ending, he was filled with the Spirit and he had to preach. As he was preaching, a woman in the audience fell down and died. A doctor who was there pronounced her dead. Jack said, let's go and pray for her anyway. The ambulance came and took her away, dead at the scene. They threw the blanket over her head and everything. On the way to the hospital, she sat up. Scared the ambulance crew half to death. They found nothing wrong with her. They asked if she would go to the hospital so they could watch her. She said no. "I haven't had my communion. I want to go back to church." Image the suprise as she walked in after everyone had seen her pronouced dead and taken away.

Are these stories literally true? I want to believe. God help my unbelief! Dr. Creasy says that if you explain away the miracles in the Bible, you gut the whole story. It loses all meaning and power. If you explain away the miracles in life, you gut life of its meaning and power. So I choose to believe.

After the talk, Jack called us forth to pray for those who needed healing. People prayed. People were filled with the spirit. Many were healed.

Forgiveness and Healing

The next talk was on forgiveness and healing. The Rev. Dr. Tom Brown of England told how he went to Ireland to give a short talk on a day that had been proclained a day of healing and forgiveness. He preached in a large cathedral. No one came. Or not many. They had expected hundreds. They had hoped for thousands. They had about a hundred.

After the talk, a man came up to Tom and asked that if it could be set it up, would Tom Brown come talk at his church? Tom, thinking that this man was have his people call Tom's people, and maybe they would schedule something in a few weeks, said "Sure." The man got on his cell phone and started making calls. In five minutes, they were in a car driving to the 10am mass. "Mass?", Tom thought, "I guess this is a Catholic service, or a very high Anglican one." Tom usually prepares his talks ahead of time. He had 15 minutes. So he prayed the Lord would give him the words. The Lord told him, "It doesn't matter what you say, as long as you apologize."

There were about 2000 people at the mass. The priest introduced Tom, "Well we don't normally have a talk, but today this Englishman is hear to give a speach." The priest glared at Tom and sat down. Tom said that he wasn't a official from the government, nor was he a particularly important person in the church. Just a parish priest. But for all the things his people did to their people, he apologized. It wasn't their land. The English had no right to take it. And they should not have waited so long to give it back. He was sorry. The congregation went wild: cheering and clapping. Once he had made it through that service, it turned out that there was another in an hour.

Then there was a yet another service across town. Before that one, Tom said, "Do you mind if I take a few minutes and make some notes." "We have waited over 800 years for this apology; a few minutes more won't make any difference." They got to the point in the service, and Tom said his apology. There was dead silence. Everything was still. The priest's mike must have been on, because you could hear him, saying to himself, "What do I do? What should I do?" Then the priest came over to Tom and whispered, "What do I do?" Tom said, "Your the celebrant priest; you can do anything you like." Tom says, "Then he completely undid me. He got down on his knees in front of me, and said, 'I apologize for all the bombs and the IRA and the killings."

People and lands remember the deep hurts. Forgiveness is needed to heal. One must be humble, and accept God's healing and his guidance.

Our Broken Children: Bleeding as a Rite of Passage

Our last speaker talked of the work she does at Holyrood House. This is a residential care facility for troubled, abused, and self destructive teens and adults. She talked of the stress young people are under these days, and how they seek to relieve the stress with cutting and other self destructive behavior. This is not a new phenomena. People from many cultures in different times have cut or scarred themselves as they enter adulthood. She showed pictures of people decorated with scars, tatoos, and ornaments. Young people starve themselves and purge, as well as cut, tattoo, or pierce themselves to become individuals.

The people who come to Holyrood House are often from abusive homes. They have no control in their lives and so hurt themselves to give them some small sense of control. They choose when and how to hurt themselves. They are in control. Or so they think. At Holyrood, they find enough safety that they are able to examine the painful and hurting areas of their lives, alone or with a counselor. "They are safe enough to be unsafe," said one young man who stayed there.

Many of the OSL found this talk very difficult. The frank discussion of these young people's pain, and the way they act it out, was terrible to hear. I, personally felt physically ill, and I had to leave for a while. Also, the order was exposed to a horrible reality, but we were not given any tools to address the situation. Reactions included anger, disgust, and frustration. Many felt that this talk was not appropriate or helpful.

I am glad we heard the talk. The first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge and understand it. Also, we learned that this is not a new problem, and will not likely go away. Further, if we had such a reaction simply hearing about people with this problem, imagine if we were to actually be confronted by a young man or woman looking for help. If we became appalled and revolted when face to face with a person in pain, I think our reaction would only cause more harm. They need understanding, love, hope, professional care, and the power of prayer.

In Closing

John Scott again addressed us in closing. I barely remember what was said now, but I believe he charged us to go forth, healing and addressing the hurts we have discussed during the conference. Again, there was prayer and song. The final closing ceremony include a eucharist and an induction of new members. Then we said goodbye to the new friends we had made who had come from Europe, Australia, the UK, and elsewhere in North American. And we began our tour of Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales. Two more weeks in Britain. Pam and I are very excited.]]>cbedgar@mac.comSpirituality2007-06-09T14:03:13+01:00http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes2.html#unique-entry-id-12http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes2.html#unique-entry-id-12
Bible Study

I only attended bible study on the first day. It was good, even though it was a little slow. Rev. Canon Roy Lawrence presented some very points, and some great stories, and better still, he summarized it all in his notes. So on the second day, I picked up the notes, and went to work on my own bible study. The third day, I went for a while, but got bored, So again, I did my own prayer and study. Here is what I kept from his talks and notes and my study.

The Bible as a Whole: a Single Literary Work

The bible is a single literary work, even though it is written in different languages, over many centuries, and then handled down through editors and redactors. Bill Creasey¹ says this almost once a lesson, and Canon Lawrence emphasized it with a slightly different spin. Canon Lawrence described the Bible with an introduction and conclusion, and five major sections, healing being a major theme. The introduction or "prolog" to the Bible is Gen chapters 1-11. The conclusion or "epilog" is Revelations chapters 4-22. The history of God's people is found in Gen 12 through Esther. There are five books of special topics: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Then there are the prohets, both minor and major: Isaiah through Malachi. The story of Jesus is told in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and in Acts. Letters to the church are the last section: Romans through Revelations 3.

In this study we focused on the subject of healing. God as our creater is also our healer. Every time we sin, that is we try to be God, God acts to heal us. The history of God's people, Israel, is of Israel falling into sin, and God acting each time to save.² The final act of healing is perfected in the gift and sacrifice of his Son Jesus, as described in the gospels, and foretold by the prophets.³ Jesus came is Israel preaching and healing.⁴ Notice it is always preaching and healing, not just preaching. Also Jesus always goes right to the heart of the matter, and heals the real hurt, not just the physical symptoms.⁵ His healing includes caring for his followers, when they have no food, when they need money for taxes, or when they do something stupid like cutting off the ear of the temple guard.⁶

A Worm's Eye View

After looking at the Bible from a bird's eye view, we looked at the Bible from the "worm's eye view". That is, we discussed, concentrating on and meditating on, a small bible passage: sometimes as long as a chapter, sometimes just a few verses. Take a few verses, read them. Pray over them. Wait in the silence for God to speak. Take some time with the verses, at least 10-15 minutes. Then do it again the next day. Same verses. Then the next, for about a week. The first couple of days, you may not hear anything, but by the end of the week perhaps God will fill these verses with new meaning.

Healing in the Book of Luke

The second day of bible study with Canon Lawrence, we focused on the healing ministry of Jesus, as described in the book of Luke, most especially Luke 8-10. I have just studied Luke with Bill Creasey. And then I did Luke again with Katie as part of confirmation preparation. So I skipped the class. But I am sure they talked about healing, and driving out demons, and praying and resting in between. The Order of Saint Luke studies the book of Luke in detail as part of preparation for induction. I am not a member of OSL, but I support Pam in her ministry.

The Last Words of Jesus

The last day, we focused on the seven last sayings of Jesus on the cross.⁷ The first three focused on others, those around him. In the first, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” Jesus absolves those who killed him. In the second, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise,” Jesus gives the robber love and hope. In the third, Jesus "said to his mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother,'" and thus he provides for his mother.

The central fourth statement, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" certainly references the psalm, but more importantly expresses Jesus' feeling of abandonment as the Father is separated from the Son for perhaps the only time in eternity. Jesus must bear the burden of sin alone since an infinitely holy God is antithetical to sin.⁸

The last three statements focus on concluding the sacrifice. After "I am thirsty", Jesus drinks vinegar, and thus he concludes the passover ritual with the 4th drink of wine. "It is finished" speaks of his work on earth, and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," speaks of where his is going.

Footnotes:

1. I am a student of, and Pam is a graduate of, Logos Ministries, The Bible Plain and Simple. The seven year course taught by Dr. Bill Creasy takes the student verse by verse through the entire bible.
2. Examples include God's pardon of the people when they made a golden calf (Ex 32:14), God's gift of water even when the people grumbled against him (Ex 17:3-7), God's gift of meat when the grumbled and the curse of the same (Num 11:18). Later examples include the defeat and then victory against Ai when Israel sinned, but then repented (Josh 7-8), and David's sin against the LORD, his repentance, punishment, and forgiveness (2Sam 12)
3. See Heb 5:8-10
4. See Matthew 4:23 and Luke 6:19
5. When Jesus forgives the paralytic (Matt 9:2-6) instead of just healing him. When Jesus heals the blind beggar instead of just giving him money (Luke 18:35).
6. See Luke 22:50 and John 18:10
7. The seven last sayings of Jesus
   • Luke 23:34
   • Luke 23:43
   • John 19:26-27
   • Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34, and also Psalms 22:1
   • John 19:28
   • John 19:30
   • Luke 23:46, also Psalms 31:5
   • Even a priest must be purified to approach an infinitely holy god, and the common people could not approach at all. See Ex 19:22, Ex 28:43, and especially Lev 9:22-23. If someone unpure or unclean approaches the LORD, they will die. See Lev 10:1-3. God is antithetical to sin.

]]>cbedgar@mac.comSpirituality2007-06-06T07:32:31+01:00http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes1.html#unique-entry-id-11http://cbedgar.com/files/OSL_conf_notes1.html#unique-entry-id-11
Witness the Healing Power of God and His Spirit at Work
The first evening, we were introduced to the healing power of God and we heard witness to the work of OSL. The opening address and its response was led by the venerable John Scott, Warden for Ireland.¹ He shared his own near death experience, and his vision of the OSL woman who prayed for him and commanded death to wait. Other OSL members responded with their own stories of healing and conversion. A large black woman from the Georgia, USA prayed in the Spirit for the healing Brian and Tom, those who were to speak. A man originally from Nigeria witnessed his journey from Africa to England, where he became a doctor, and finally to America, where he responds to God's love with spirit and passion. We heard other powerful witnesses from Australia and Europe. I was struck by the power of God and the devotion of his servants who journeyed here.

The Church, OSL, and Healing in the New Age
The next day we were presented with a detailed survey of "New Age" healing and spirituality.² In the UK, in Australia, and in American, studies have shown a dramatic increase in the search for spirituality and healing. Possibly associated with much greater stress experienced by affluent and educated workers, people are looking for spirituality and healing in holism, astrology, eastern medicine and philosophy, and paganism. They mostly are not looking for healing or spirituality at Church. People clearly believe that Christianity and the Church have little to offer. Further, many of these "new agers" are turned off by the dry ritualism and authoritarian structure of organized religion. The few who seek spirituality and healing at churches come away disappointed.

This is not surprising. Ministers and pastors are not trained in healing. Spirituality comes from personal life choices, beliefs, and discipline, not from an hour Sunday morning. Those seeking greater spirituality do not see spirituality in the Church or in Christians. They see controversy, dogma, and scandal in the Church. I believe they also see intolerance and hypocrisy.

Those seeking healing are not getting what they need from conventional western medicine. Doctors have little or no time to spend with patients. They treat the body as if it were a machine that needs to be fixed, not a person, and they focus on illness and not health. Alternative therapies offer hope from a trusted, caring provider. The practitioner offers time, understanding, and advice, and works with the patient to help the patient find healing.

So what can we, as Christian healers do about this? After the morning presentation, I certainly understood the problem much more clearly. I felt much of this, but the speaker clarified and focused my understanding, adding sociological research data and study results to my personal experience. But, what is to be done? The evening speaker talked about what he and his team are doing in Australia.

A response to New Age

Rev. Dr. Harold Taylor supplemented and affirmed the conclusions of Dr. Frost's earlier discussion. The world is indeed fragmented, and is increasing in a desperate search for healing. Alternate medicine offers a broad selection of ingredients that one may use to deepen spirituality and aid healing. Christian healing is poorly understood, greatly distrusted, and held at a distance by those searching for healing.

Christians may respond by ignoring, embracing, opposing, or engaging this cultural movement.

Dr. Taylor presented some tools to analyze the techniques of, and communicate with, the practitioners of alternative medicine. First he helped us with the language of alternative medicine. Therapies may be classified as alternative, complementary, and "new age".³ Even by the practitioners of alternative medicine, "new age" means fringe, and is seen as derogatory. Therapies may be classified as internal, external, inner-journey, and energy, and he discussed common resources used in all therapies.⁴ Dr. Taylor presented a 10 point list that helps explain why alternative therapy is so popular.⁵ He talked about how alternative therapy is viewed by health professionals, and then he came back to how Christians may respond.

Christians may respond by ignoring, embracing, opposing, or engaging this alternative/complementary/new age therapy and healing.

The tools Dr. Taylor presented are used to evaluate therapies.⁶ Anderson & Jacobson offer a grid based on history, faith, holism, science, and spirituality. Huggett offers a "Positive Approach to Complementary Therapies (PACT), based on prayer, 10 no-go areas, and questioning of the therapist. Taylor's "Community of Hope" uses dialog focused on 5 areas: the practitioner, spiritual/biblical, historical, scientific, and consumer. Community of Hope is a mission ministry which attends new age festivals and dialogs with providers and seekers, approaching them where they are, with respect and love, and humility.

Dr. Taylor concluded with some guidelines for Christians seeking healing, and then he presented the Order of Saint Luke with a challenge. We need a better understanding of 1) the theology of healing, 2) healing energies, and 3) how we may dialog with healers and those seeking healing. The Order of Saint Luke could and should spearhead the training of healers and clergy within the Church, especially as related to alternative and complementary therapy.

My Reaction

I was greatly moved by these talks. I believe that the Christian response to new age healing and spirituality has been poor. Yet I was not comforted by the reaction of the OSL, which seemed critical and suspicious. Surely healers must guard against evil, but I do not reject other healers because they are different. In Mark 9:38-40, the disciples came to Jesus appalled that others were healing and casting out demons in Jesus' name. The disciples insisted that these others be stopped because they were "not one of us". Jesus said No! "Do not stop [them]. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us." We should not condemn healers who are not part of our group.

Also, I was concerned by the very broad topic of Christian Healing being contrasted with specific alternative therapies. To address specific spiritual and physical needs we must use offer specific therapies and practices. Telling those who seek healing and spirituality to find it in "Christian Healing" or in Jesus Christ is not helpful. We need to be specific to have something to offer, and we need to offer specific and helpful alternatives if we believe our alternatives to be superior.

Fresh Expressions: The Healing Ministry in the Mission of God

The next speaker, Rev. Stanley Baxter, seemed to share my concern about apprehension and fear within the Church. Healing in the Church is limited, partly because parish priests are afraid to raise expectations. The healing might not work. Or it might work, and then what? Healing is O. K. as long as it is kept in its place: "the back vestry" or "the women's chapel". "Oh, you want healing. Go See Mary Sue. She runs the healing service on alternate Wednesdays." " You know the healers in the church: the ones who twitch. :-)" We are afraid of healing? We are afraid of healing that is not of God? We are afraid to believe?⁷ Fear is not of God. God calls us to be bold.

When we speak of healing, it seems we are always looking for a cure. Healing is not always about finding a cure. It is a process, like mission. It is a journey -- a nomadic, wandering journey. It does not always result in what we were looking for, but if we follow God, we will find what he sent us to find. God ALWAYS answers prayer.

For a fresh expression, we must take a fresh look at our mission and ministry. We must take a fresh look at healing. We must listen to those seeking healing, and we should listen to other healers, even if they be (Lord-have-mercy) :-) "new age". We do not have all the answers, and it would be the pinnacle of hubris to think we could know the mind of God.

Even Jesus had his mind changed on occasion. At the wedding in Cana, when Jesus learns there is no wine, he tells his mother, "My time has not yet come." Mary tells Jesus, "Oh yes it has!".⁸ Near Tyre, Jesus met a greek woman whose daughter was possessed. At first Jesus refused to heal the daughter of a greek, but the woman replied, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Jesus repented and healed the little girl.⁹

We must talk to, and learn from, each other, christians and non-christians, alike. We are all created in the image of God.¹⁰ God knows (all of) us from before we were born.¹¹ I am convinced that God works through all his people, all his creation. All creation is God's.¹² I am convinced that God works for the good of his creation.¹³ So be humble and learn from your brother. Be humble and let God decide your course.

Footnotes:

1. The opening address and its response was led by the venerable John Scott, Warden for Ireland. Both original speakers, Tom Brown, warden for England, and his alternate, Brian, warden for Scotland, were struck down just weeks before the conference: Tom suffered a serious heart attack and Brian was involved in major car accident. We prayed for their recovery. They are both out of hospital and doing better. Praise God!
2. The Rev. Dr. Rob Frost was our speaker. I picked up his book "A Closer Look at New Age Spirituality", and I am really enjoying it. It can be found at his website or on Amazon.

3. Alternative

   Therapies not recognized by the established medical system, usually because of lack of scientific validation

   Complementary

   Therapies recognized by the established medical system and used alongside traditional medicine

4. Internal includes diet, supplements, or medicine. External includes massage, exercise, acupuncture. Inner-journey includes meditation, visualization, talk therapy. Energy and energy transfer includes chi, ki, prana, life force, etc. Resources are common and include touch, healing objects, and spiritual powers.
5. I can't believe I am typing the whole ten point list here, but it is important to the discussion, and I could not find any other published source:
   • Natural treatments are attractive and feel more like self healing.
   • Hope is provided when conventional medicine fails.
   • A deeper healer-patient relationship is often developed, and it is based on respect and trust not control.
   • The healer's time, a listening ear is provided. Trust and mutual confidence is established.
   • Possibilities are discussed, and the patient is given more choice rather than an expert opinion, i.e. "doctor's orders".
   • Treatments are often based on ancient and traditional practices.
   • Emphasis is placed on healing the whole person, not isolated sicknesses or injuries.
   • Illness is used as an opportunity for growth, not just a condition to be cured.
   • The healer shows an interest in spiritual and relationship issues.
   • Personal responsibility for health and treatment is encouraged.
6. Dr. Taylor recommend three recent books from which two of his systems are taken
   • D. O'Mathuna & W. Larimore: Alternative Medicine -- the Christian Handbook, Zondervan 2001.
   • N. Anderson & M. Jacobson: The Biblical Guide to Alternative Medicine, Regal, 2003.
   • J. Huggett: Breath of Life, Sovereign World, 2004.
7. When I think of being afraid to believe, I think of the song, "If God had a face what would it look like/ And would you want to see/ If seeing meant that you would have to believe/ In things like heaven and in jesus and the saints and all the prophets." -- Joan Osbourne, "What if God was one of us?"
8. See John 2:3-11.
9. See Mark 7:26-30.
10. See Gen 1:27
11. Jeremiah 1:5
12. See Psalm 119:91 and Col 1:15-20
13. Rom 8:28

]]>cbedgar@mac.comWebsite2007-06-03T18:48:33-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/may2007war.html#unique-entry-id-10http://cbedgar.com/files/may2007war.html#unique-entry-id-10On Memorial day weekend, as usual, the SCA (society for creative anachronism) went to war. I like to join them for the whole weekend, but with our England trip upon us, I could only afford one day and one night. But the really great thing was that Pam came too. And the dogs. What fun. Anyway, there are pictures. See Events:May War.]]>cbedgar@mac.comPolitics2007-06-03T18:44:47-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/immigration.html#unique-entry-id-9http://cbedgar.com/files/immigration.html#unique-entry-id-9
As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to please support the comprehensive immigration reform bill being debated.

I support this bill because,
A) It provides increased opportunity for immigrants to work legally in this country
B) It provides a path for citizenship to immigrants who work here, follow the law, and pay taxes.
C) It provides vitally needed labor to grow our economy, in many areas.

Immigrants come to this country to work and make a living. In turn they build our homes, care for our children, and clean our buildings, and grow our food. Immigrants also design software and electronics, and teach in our universities. Immigrants are vital to our economy and way of life. They make our country strong, and they lift themselves and their families out of poverity.

Immigrants that have been so vital, immigrants who have learned the skills to be productive and contributing members of society and industry, should be give an opportunity of earning the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. We should not exile those we have trained, and those who have proven that they are responsible. The bill before the congress provides the compromise to make this possible.

I work in high tech. I know how much our work force depends on high tech talent from overseas. When we talk about immigrants and guest workers, people often assume we are talking about farm labor, domestic workers, and construction. We need to be talking about high tech as well. For the last several years, the quota of H1B visas for a year has been completely exhausted well before the year even starts. This means critical positions simply go unfilled, and business suffers.

Immigration helps industry, helps immigrants, and grows the American economy. It makes us strong.

Please actively support expanded legal immigration and comprehensive immigration reform. Please support the immigration bill before congress.
]]>cbedgar@mac.comWebsite2007-06-01T11:19:31-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/England1.html#unique-entry-id-7http://cbedgar.com/files/England1.html#unique-entry-id-7We leave for England on Sunday! It's coming up real fast. Am I ready? No. Will I be? Sure. Besides, I really need the break. I am really looking forward to the trip, but it won't be real until I am on the plane.

There is now an itinerary for the tour part of the trip on the England page on the website. There is not a lot about the OSL conference, so maybe I will write something up before I go. There are two itineraries. One is detailed, with color illustrations. The other is briefer and up to date. They are both PDF, so you have to download them.]]>cbedgar@mac.comWebsite2007-06-01T11:17:31-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/PuppiesAreBack.html#unique-entry-id-8http://cbedgar.com/files/PuppiesAreBack.html#unique-entry-id-8During the last update, I broke Arwen's puppy pictures. I had to rebuild completely, including picture selection. So, although I re-selected most of the original ones, I added some new pictures of when Arwen was just a little older. Oh, they are all still puppy picts, but now they run from 2 to 6 months of age instead of 8 to 14 weeks. Anyway, have a look: Arwen:Puppy Pictures.]]>cbedgar@mac.comWebsite2007-05-25T10:09:48-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/counter_2007.html#unique-entry-id-6http://cbedgar.com/files/counter_2007.html#unique-entry-id-6
I wanted a counter so I could know if people come to visit. Counters and comments give me feedback about what works and what doesn't. Slow doesn't work, and I am worried about speed. So I also wanted a way to measure speed.

I found two tools on the internet: Tizag PHP Counter and Numiun SiteSpeed. Both tools run entirely on my web sever (mine, Sherman's -- the one I am using), so they do not require an account or link to a 3rd party server. For example, the commenting tool (HaloScan) requires an account, and users see ads. The counter and SiteSpeed don't. There are no adds.

To get the counter and SiteSpeed working, I had to learn something about PHP scripting, and I had to enable PHP on both my and Sherman's webservers. This was not a big deal, and I finished that in an evening, even including the customizing, formating, etc.

I also needed to add the counter to every page of the website. Hmmm. Well, that shouldn't be hard, since I have this great new RapidWeaver tool, right? Wrong. I use RapidWeaver to generate much of the site, but I use iView MediaPro to generate the photo galleries. And then there is a bunch of moving files around, and even some hand edits, to get everything working. Well with 14 galleries and counting, manual is not good. So I got distracted. Very distracted.

Knowing a little Perl, I knew it wouldn't be that hard to automate all the moving files around. Even more importantly, I figured I could automate all the hand tweaks. I was right, but it took digging back into the Camel Book and several late nights to get it all right. But I found out, again, that I really do enjoy computer programming.

Now that I had the file manipulations so nicely automated, I couldn't just plug through manual menu picks to generate 14 galleries, could I? No, I had to automate that too. So I learned AppleScript. AppleScript is an interesting language. It allows you to automate tasks in standard MacOS applications, like iView MediaPro. The language is easy to read, with syntax like "tell application "iView MediaPro" to ... make HTML gallery ..." and "click button "Make..." of window "HTML Options"", so it is easy to believe that it is easy to write.

Not so. The most comprehensive reference for AppleScript is Apple's AppleScript Language Guide last updated in 1999. It is pre-OS X, and is very out of date. There are other references on Apple's website, but I found that mostly an exercise in frustration. The best book for learning AppleScript is from O'Reilly (of course). AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition was extremely helpful, and though not very rigorous, it did get me where I wanted to go.

(In the process of deciding to read AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, I finally broke done as subscribed to O'Reilly's Safari BookShelf. This has absolutely nothing to with the Apple Safari Web Browser. It is a service that for $20 a month, I get to read up to ten O'Reilly books online. Considering that most O'Reilly books cost about $40, and they go out of date quickly, this is a pretty good deal. I am actually quite glad I did it.)

So, now I have a website with a counter and a speed meter, and I know a lot more about PHP, Perl, and Applescript than I did before. Leave me comments if you want more info. Enjoy the website.]]>cbedgar@mac.comFamily2007-05-16T11:44:29-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/parents_visit_2007.html#unique-entry-id-5http://cbedgar.com/files/parents_visit_2007.html#unique-entry-id-5Hoover Dam. They then drove down the Colorado river valley to Yuma AZ, and across the desert to San Diego.

Pam and my parents went to the San Diego Museum of Art, and then we met back at the house. After a short tour, we went to Andiamo's Restaurant for a nice dinner.

I like to do projects around the house and so do my parents. So on Saturday and Monday, this is what we did. Decorating projects can sometimes be contentious, so we steered away from those, and focused on organizing the shed and the garage. What a difference! I guess I need to put up some pictures. We now have all the shed stuff in the shed and out of the garage workshop. We also pitched some stuff, so the workshop has a bunch more room.

Saturday night, we visited my friend's Sherman, Stacey, and their son Skylar. We got a tour of the shed that Sherman, Stacey, Pam, and I built. We walked up to Outback for dinner. On Sunday, we went to church, did some shopping, and made a nice dinner at home (for Mother's Day). We had my good friend Mercedes join us for dinner.

It was really nice having my parent come to visit. Sometimes the discussions can get intense, but after a deep breath and a short time out, we come back together. It is important to visit once in a while, and I appreciate them taking the time to come all this way.]]>cbedgar@mac.comFamily2007-05-16T11:31:20-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/godmother2007.html#unique-entry-id-4http://cbedgar.com/files/godmother2007.html#unique-entry-id-4 My Godmother Patty came to visit at the end of March 2007. Pam and I had a bad flu the whole week before she came, but by Sunday we were doing much better. So we had Patty and my "god-sister" Michelle over for dinner. Michelle is Patty's other godchild, and she lives nearby (Delmar or La Jolla or something). She is a very nice woman who I have seen maybe twice in my life. She likes dogs and I think she is a physical therapist like Pam.

Patty lives in Washington DC, and spends the late spring and early fall in Bethany Beach, DE. My Mom and Patty know each other from the beach, and that is where I spent most of my time with Patty growing up. My parents live year round in Bethany now. ]]>cbedgar@mac.comWebsite2007-05-11T10:20:29-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/new_website_2007.html#unique-entry-id-3http://cbedgar.com/files/new_website_2007.html#unique-entry-id-3So I have been working for about a month on a complete make-over of our website. I think we are ready to go live. First off, you will notice a new look. I am not sure I love the look, but it is consistent and not objectionable. Also the new look is based on style sheets and Rapid Weaver templates, so I think I can cleanly update the look when I am ready.

You will also notice new organization. The main page is now this new blog. I am guessing the folks who come here want to know what is new. If they want to browse, fine, but all the recent interesting bits should be introduced here, in this news page.

On this page, you can make comments. The commenting tool is free, so you have to put up with some adds, but you can comment to me and each other, and that should be fun. Like an email conversation that anyone can join. Be sure to click on comments to make or see comments.

As part of the new organization, there is a side bar on the right that lets you move around. See About for details.

There is also a lot of new content. This page is new. About is new. There is a new Main Menu page. Britta's page is new, but don't get too excited as it is more a placeholder than much else. Israel 2004 has been reorganized, and the pictures are bigger. It has some fun effects, and hopefully, it is easier to get around.

Kitchen 2004 has been updated and completed. The project is now described start to finish, and pictures of the final results have been added. Landscape 2006 has been updated with photos of the final results. I did not get to add the construction photos of the pergola that I wanted to, nor did I add any stories to the pictures of the final landscape, but at least you can see what the yard looks like now. And of course you can see the completed patio and pergola.

Baby Sitting 2004 and Zoo 2007 are still here, but they have been moved to Local Events. A new External Link page has been added. It has link to websites that I find interesting and that I think you may find interesting too. If you have a page, especially a home page, that you want me to link to, please let me know, in comments or email, and I will add it.

Well I hope you enjoy it. Please send me an email or make a comment if you like the new site. Of course websites are always under development, so please let me know if there is something you want me to change. Thanks for visiting!]]>cbedgar@mac.comFamily2007-04-25T00:08:38-07:00http://cbedgar.com/files/About_us.html#unique-entry-id-2http://cbedgar.com/files/About_us.html#unique-entry-id-2About page to tell you all about the website and how to use it. I also added a little blurb about who Pam and I are. Here is a copy of the article.

About Pam and C. B. Edgar
Pam and C. B. Edgar live in San Diego, CA with their two dogs, Arwen and Britta. C. B. is an electrical engineer who works at Qualcomm Incorporated. He make platforms (circuit boards) used to test the chips Qualcomm makes for cell phones. Pam is a homemaker, and stays very busy taking care of the dogs and C. B., and helps manage our various projects.

We are both quite active in our church, St. David's Episcopal Church, located in the Clairemont community of San Diego. Pam is a member of the Order of Saint Luke the Physician, San Diego Chapter. We both are involved with Episcopal Cursillo and Marriage Encounter. I am a student of, and Pam is a graduate of, Logos Ministries, The Bible Plain and Simple. The seven year course taught by Dr. Bill Creasy takes the student verse by verse through the entire bible.
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