Hiking in Utah was an awesome trip. I headed out with a Buddy, Matt, and we went into the back country of the Uintah’s, just outside of Salt Lake City. The views were gorgeous, and meeting my first moose up-close was a bit scary, but totally wicked as well. Enjoy the views.
jd 
I am not sure where all the time has gone, but it was not so recently that I woke up and found myself living in an adult body. In late February I purchased a home, and realized that for the first time in 10 years, I had a stable life. “Welcome to Debt and the Middle Class,” my dad said, but he smiled as he said it. He was proud of me, proud to see me reach one of the milestones of life.
So far I have to say I like it. It is nice to come home everyday and know that I don’t have to move in another 9 months. It is nice to have a dog, because so many apartments won’t let you. It is nice to have a garage for my car, and a place to share with my girlfriend. It is nice to have a home.
It may seem that I am focused on the material object of homeownership, but in reality, it has very little to do with the house (an in reality the bank owns it). Instead, my house is the symbol that embodies my belonging and it grounds me within my own life journey. It is my resting and growing place.
It is the place that says, “Welcome Home.”
On October 21st I ran a marathon with my sister and my friend Greg.
It was a long race, and I finished in 3:59:33, which broke my 4 hour goal.— WOO WOO
I was very pleased to have completed the race, and it certainly was a bonding experience for my sister, Greg, and myself.
Below is a picture taken at mile 13…. and a picture of me at the finish line.
I hope to never run one again…I don’t think God will give me the strength twice!!
So I had promised to get this blog up like a month ago, but because i was trying to write a witty story i never did. Now in an act of time management i am tossing them up as a photo montage…similar to a slide show… enjoy the pictures and commenary
 The travelors
 Dora (Kris) the explorer
 The wild Yukon River
  
 TARA and John J in Dawson
 
 This is a dredging ship used in the 1900’s to lift gold from the Bonaza Creek where gold was first found in the Yukon—- EUREKA!
 
 The amazing view in the front yard
 Tara our tour guide
 
 Yum, Caribou!!!
 
 Kris the miner (she is holding a mining plate)
 Modern mining operation
 
 Each morning Kris and I took the Ferry across the Yukon River to meet Tara
 
 The local Anglican Church in Dawson, buit in the early 1900’s
 At our campsite… the Outhouse
 
 The bathhouse. Heat the water in the tank with a wood fire and then dump on head. Sort of like a Roman Bath or a sauna.
 
 Morning Sunshine…. our vacation cabin.
 Tara (my cousin) and me- John J over looking the Yukon River
 
 Where White Fang was born…the cabin of Jack London
 On the Night Out– The Handsome Girls
 The Boys– God they are Beautiful
 
 Overlooking a glacier lake near Whitehorse, Yukon
 
 Tara’s house in Whitehorse.
 Hope you enjoyed it!!!
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It seems like we Americans rush rush rush….We work on average 50 hours a week and only take two weeks a year for vacation. Why? Maybe it is our Puritan roots, maybe it is our obsession with material objects, or maybe it is the herd mentality. I am not really sure, but what I find is that there is a constant neglect of spiritual health that comes only from some R&R—quiet time to reflect, relax, and meditate.
At the end of July I had the opportunity to do just that. I skipped out on a day of work and took a flight up to Boston to join the annual Davidson reunion on Cape Cod. Now at this point you might ask how did the Davidson’s ever end up on a place like the Cape (bc we started out as country bumkins), but as it turns out my Dad’s side of the family all grew up in Boston and my cousin Guy (Robert Davidson, III) owns a summer house there (his wife Sally grew up on the cape). So for 4 days my mother, father, sister, brother in law, and all of our cousins, aunts, and uncle spent time sharing stories, eating (a lot), reading, playing in the lake and on the beach, and of course reading—which is a Davidson must.  It was a great trip to learn about how everyone is doing and to just relax. My favorite two memories of the trip were the meal times and the fishing trip. At the reunion each family rotates on meal duty. This is needed because there are 32 people to feed and it takes a lot of coordination. Usually one family cooks and 28 others are devouring food in various shifts. It is one of the few times EVERYONE sits together (we are an active group) and that the elders swap stories of our parents as children. Likewise, the fishing trip was equally chaotic and loud. On Monday July 31 my cousins Dan, Guy, Thom, Matty (Dan’s Son), my father, and I took a chartered boat out to sea fish. Our guide was a great character who had retired, and now ran the business as supplemental income. He was in his late 60’s, had a thousand stories to tell, and he was awesome at finding fish and helping us tourist make the most of our trip. Below are some pictures….. 
 
 
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 On the trip my dad netted the largest fish, a 45 inch stripper, but I had two large fish myself… the larger one at 35.5 inches.
  
 
  In all it was a great trip and one filled with family, food, fish, relaxation, and lots of laughter… it was healing.
While I am waiting for pictures from my latest backpacking trip in the Red River Gorge of Appalachia, I figured I would finally sit down and write a blog about my dog.
Here is a picture of my lovable friend, Garrison (named after Garrison Keeler)
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Notice the sticker on his nose? He still has no clue how to get it off
 His a black lab/Boxer mix that I adopted from ARPO. He is 19 months old and is as wild as a jack rabbit being chased. In fact, I think I heard the entire house, and all of its furniture, moan when Kris (roommate) and I brought him home for the first time.  I have never had the FULL responsibility for owning a dog before, and wow has it been a shift in my life. I now have to get up at 5:45/6am to walk him, get home asap from work to let him out to pee, spend time at home with him, and of course reschedule every evening or weekend plan around him. In many ways a dog is really like having a child, but I guess the big difference is that you don’t get the reprieve of pen. Garrison’s new favorite toy is a rubber chew toy tied to a rope. Kris found it last night at the store and he fell in love with it the second he found out that we tug against him. I of course love the toy because I get to whirl him, pull him, and flip him to my heart’s content and he thinks it is fun. Too funny.
Since arriving at the manse, Garrison has found his place. He bullies all the animals in our yard, is smart enough to get into trouble- yet not smart enough not to get caught, and is in constant need of attention or else he finds and eats Kris’ socks. The biggest challenge for us is to teach him not to jump… any suggestions?
Yesterday i was reading an article in the current issue of the Lexington Theological Quarterly. It was from a lecture series given by a professor at the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy, on the topic of the “International Diplomacy and Religion.” (I apologize for not having the exact title of the article or name of the professor to post with this blog, but i will try to add them later).Â
 In the lecture, the author argued, quite correctly, that religion is playing a larger and larger role in the realm of politics, which is evidenced by ethnic and religious wars (Hindu vs Buddhist, Muslim vs. Hindu, Christian vs. Muslim, Muslim vs Jewish, Christian vs Jewish), the power of religious leaders in politics (The Christian Right in America, The Supreme Ayatollah, Taliban, Pope, etc), and how globalization is diminishing the power of national patriotism and identity (a global world transcends nation states and people tend to identify with closer more distinct culture groups- some authors label this trend as ‘glocalism’).Â
 The author also pointed out that while this is a change or transition in world diplomacy, it is not necessarily good or bad. It has been good in examples were religion and religious leaders have lead to peace (he sites the forgiveness of Japan by the USA in WW2, Peace talks between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka government), but it has also been bad when religion is used as a motivating factor for violence (terrorist jihad, ethnic cleansing, etc). Â
The article also pointed out that there should be concern because so many political leaders often have little or no understanding of religion, both that they claim and other world religions, and that often religious leaders have little knowledge of political nuances and diplomacy. This suggests that misunderstandings and coordination of efforts will continue, especially because, the author feels that, organizations like the World Council of Churches, and similar Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Catholic groups, have less and less relevancy due to globalization and glocalism.Â
Yet, as a reader, who is an avid follower of national and world politics and a religious scholar, I must point out that this professor falls prey to his own criticism. While I do agree that globalization is affecting cultural and religious identity, which is increasing the role of religion in politics, I disagree that it is on a level greater than past world history. We only have to look back to medieval Europe and the founding of America to disprove that sentiment (Medieval Europe was dominated by a powerful church influence as was the creation of the United States, which has countless references to religion and had historical leaders who were ministers and faithful religious people). Further, I would strongly disagree with his statement that the relevancy of inter-religious dialogue (participation by such groups as the World Council of Churches) only waters down religion, policy, and diplomacy on an international scale. In fact, if it had not been by such intervention by such religious groups and organizational bodies, many religious groups, participating in violence, never would have come together for peace talks (examples include the Tamil Tigers, Muslim and Christians in the Sudan, etc).Â
It seems that instead of just portraying religious leaders and political leaders as clueless to the issues of each other, this political scholar and author has shown his own limited knowledge of religion and its role in international diplomacy. However, as i brandish this idea, I do not wish to claim that his concerns are not valid questions to raise to our own religious and political leaders, who do need to acknowledge the growing importance of religious and political scholarship, as well as the need for tolerance and respect for adherents of both.Â
Just my two cents…john dÂ
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In my work I often get to meet with local congregations and in every meeting I ask them, “What is your mission and vision?† Most of the time there is a dead silence, before someone chirps up, “It’s written in our church directory.â€Â When this happens it sounds like the church is lost or at least not moving in any direction together. Now, this can happen for many reasons: 1. Having an old mission statement that no one knows, 2. Having a wordy mission statement that sounds good but has no meat, 3. Changing leadership, or 4. No mission to claim.
However, this is not always the case. There are a number of churches that do have a specific mission and focus in mind. They work hard to support that ministry and the members of these churches move beyond just financial donations…they become active partners in mission.
One such church is First Christian Church in Tucson, AZ. They are actively working to serve the poor and needy in their community.  In fact, they have become such a driving force, that their vision has expanded beyond their church doors.
Under the leadership of Dr. Rev Robin Hoover, the church helped to create Humane Borders. “Humane Borders is a faith based community organization providing humanitarian assistance to migrants in Arizona and California deserts and working for more humane border policies.† For more information visit their website at www.humaneborders.org  There is also a website with a report about Humane Borders at http://www.virtualtucsonmagazine.com/vtmsections/localpages/angels/hoover/hoover.html
I found them via a booth they had set up at the Christian Women Fellowship event, Mix in ’06.  In the booth they had flyers, pictures, and a collection of items which are often left at “oasis†sites as donations.
To me it was an eye opening experience into the realities of the USA and Mexican border. Below are some pictures that I thought were impressive.
  
God Bless- john j
 Last week while i was in Memphis for work, i had the opportunity to visit the National Civil Rights Museum (http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/). It was not something that i planned to do when i learned i would be in the city, but after a co-worker mentioned it to me i felt a strong need to visit.
To get to the museum i had to ride down Main St. on an old wooden tolley car. It was hot, and as i sat with my head against the open window i could just imagine Memphis in the 1960’s. A southern town separated by a racial divide, festering for a violent confrontation.Â
Stepping from the tolley i strode down the old alley towards the old Lorraine Motel. The exterior of which has not changed since April 4th, 1968, the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot while he stood on the balcony in front of his room.
As i walked into the museum, i could feel the somber sacredness of the place, and as i began my tour i was overwhelmed with emotion. The walls of the room screamed with information, yet the hall was filled with an awesome quiet.
Slowly i walked, and as i tread, i passed through years of history. I learned the stories of Harriet Tubman, Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, and many more. I sat on the very bus where Rosa Parks protested segregation, walked across a bridge constructed like the Edmund Pettus Bridge where non-violent protesters were beaten, shot at, and killed as they marched for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, and i learned about the life and death of Dr. King, who championed the Civil Rights Movement in America and who became America’s moral voice.
  
 
It was a moving time of reflection, and as i walked from the museum i kept hearing the voices of a tape recording chanting:Â
I may be young;Â I may be old,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be educated;Â I may be unlettered,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be black;Â I may be white,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be rich;Â I may be poor,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be fat;Â I may be thin,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be married;Â I may be divorced,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be successful;Â I may be a failure,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child.
I may be a sinner; I may be a saint,Â
But I am somebody, For I am God’s Child!
-author unknown
So since I last wrote, we have fixed the picture problem… so pictures galore.
Memorial day was a great weekend. My family came up to visit and we had a blast laughing, carrying on, fixing the house, sharing stories, cooking, playing cards, and of course eating.
 
 In all I think Dad and I tackled at least three major home repair projects, and with the families help we got a total of 8 done.  How great is that????
     
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Some of the highlights were that my sister, laura, and her husband, bobby, brought up their two great dames- ellie may and max. They are HUGE dogs, but so much fun. The funniest part is that they just sit and stare at you. I guess I never realized how much great dames just watch people, sort of like Europeans at cafes, but I have never seen dogs do that before. Maybe all dogs do, but it may just be more obvious when the dogs are as big as small ponies and have their heads hanging over the large doggie gate.  It reminded me of the old Mr. Ed tv. show, because their heads looked like they were looking in through a divided door.
I guess my favorite memory from the weekend was when my mother and I relived childhood memories. After dinner on Memorial Day, we lit sparklers and then pranced around the back yard writing our names in the air and singing. It was a lot of fun. Too bad everyone else in the family thought mom and i were crazy and of course their right.
 In general life has been good and it has been nice to be at home for the past couple of days. Too bad travel begins again on Saturday when I fly to Kansas City and then leave for a week trip to Memphis.
other pictures of the house…
  
  
Hope you are well and I hope you enjoy the pictures.
jj