4 in 4th (too)

I just received in the mail Richard's "Student Report Card" for the 4th Quarter of this academic year, his last quarter in high school. He achieved another 4.0 GPA (grade point average) for this quarter, essentially duplicating his success last quarter.  For this GPA he is awarded "Maximum Honors" (you can't do better). This also means that for the semester he also earned all As:

• Conceptual Physics - w/Lab
• Discrete Math
• Engineering/Architectural Design
• Journalism
• Physical Education
• Stagecraft/Technical Theater

His cumulative GPA is 3.308.

Wow! Way to go Richard!

Politics and the Bible

Cover of the book.

One of the organizations I support is Alliance Defending Freedom. In one of their recent magazine issues, I spotted a picture that showed a book with a title that intrigued me: Politics-According To The Bible by Wayne Grudem.  When I started to research it, I found a website containing MP3 files of a series of lectures (classes) that he did while he was preparing the book and shortly after its publication. The lectures apparently correspond with the chapters of the book - so it's something like a rough draft of an audio version of the book (I suppose).

Wayne is something a conservative Republican Christian so while I tend to agree with his position on many things, there are quite I few that I see differently. Still, it has been interesting to listen to these. I think I am about 2/3 finished. I saved the MP3 files to my computer and burned them to a CD so I could listen while driving to/from work.  They are generally 40-60 minutes long.

If you are interested in a Christian perspective of politics, this is a rewarding place to start.

RC Folk Mass History

Recently, I got involved with an exchange about the Roman Catholic Mass on a blog that promotes the traditional Latin mass rite. Now, while I like the Latin Mass I also have fond memories of the folk mass we attended during the 70s at St. Columbkille RC Church as well as my time with the CSU Newman Center at nearby St. Peter's Church. I observed that most of the Latin Mass supporters look with EXTREME disdain on the Folk Mass.

I found a website that had a lot of the folk mass songs I remember. These were tracks I never heard before (because they were performed by the original composer).

I found this website containing podcasts to complement a book about the history of the Folk Mass. The podcasts largely contain generous excerpts of the original recordings but also have short narratives by the author to explain background and context. I learned a lot about the evolution from the Latin mass to the English (vernacular) mass.

I am sure that many past and present RCs will recognize many of the songs in the podcasts. I downloaded them and listened to them while driving to/from work. They are generally short (~20 minutes max). Check it out and let me know what you think.