Posts filed under 'Family'
So I just went to the ‘camp-meeting’ of the Adventist church in Norway (where, by the way, I’m staying for the summer). For those that don’t know what this is, it is where many members of the Adventist Church get together for sort of a day of fellowship.
First thought: It was nice. For various reasons, it’s been a couple of weeks since I last had the opportunity to worship with other believers, and that was really nice. Raafat Kamal – known better to some of us as Nat’s dad – gave a very forceful talk about the mission of the church, especially touching on the way we deal with people. Spot on.
Second thought (why am I putting this in bullet-point fashion?): It seems to me – it may not be so though, cf. a conversation I had in the car on the way back, but still, it seems to me – that often we can classify people in our church as belonging to two groups: Those that have their focus on the here and now and those that have their clear focus on his second coming. Within the Adventist Church, with our background and tradition, the latter translates to having a heavy focus on our being in the end time, the coming trials, the call to come out of her (interpretations of Rev 18.4), historical prophecies, and the signs of the times. The latter group seems to be more ‘mainstream’ in their Christian thinking, and generally (i) focus less on these things, while (ii) focusing more on the difference God can make in their lives here and now, the walk with God, the kingdom of God being at hand, and so on (if this group speak of the second coming, it is usually in quite general, more mainline, terms, and not as a focus-point; it’s just part of the bagage). Many times when people step up to the platform to sing a song, contribute with their thoughts, or take part in a debate, I get the feelings they are likely to belong to one of these groupings. I also get the feeling that the directions in which these groups are heading are not the same.
It would be nice to see a synthesis, or a direction that would maintain both, of these two foci – the here and now and the second coming / eternal life – if nothing else, because it seems that both Jesus and Paul managed to have them coexist in their thinking and doing and life. True, this picture is stylised, and I also see a more healthy middle ground in the church, but this seems a minority. I don’t have the answer on how to do it – my theology is probably flawed as well – but I recognise the need within our church for some sort of integration. Much of what has seemed integration up to this point to me does not seem so, since there is often still a lack of focus on the kingdom of God among us, as especially laid out by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark (forgive me if my labelings are not entirely consistent or my thinking not crystal-clear; I hope it still makes sense on some plane of thought). The music program did a good job of trying to integrate though. That was quite good.
Third thought: I have been able to be near – in different settings during the day – a small number of ‘core families’ that seemed to be working very well. It’s funny how you can usually tell when you come into the presence of such a family – the way they interact, the way they treat each other, the implicit respect the parents enjoy from, while not commanding of, the children. Simply a good solid family. Yes, solid is the word. Not coming from such a family myself, I may be more prone to picking up the difference. Whenever I meet people my age who has grown up in a solid family like this, our whole instinctive feeling about marriage seem to be completely opposite. For me, it has been interesting to note that for some people, it would be a strange and foreign thought to worry about the ‘what if”s and the potential problems (true, some of it may be personality-related, but still I see a pattern). They simply assume, by instinct or experience, that things will work out fine.
Fourth thought: Norway is a really beautiful country. Driving up to Tyrifjord is simply amazing.
juni 6th, 2009
Saturday evening, we booked tickets for a classical concert in the Vienna State Opera (Staatsoper) with the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. Sadly, Marit had to remain at the hotel and take care of the sleeping Benjamin, so we were 2 people short. As it turned out, we got seated on the second row, even though we had not booked seats in this category, so that was quite nice 
The building itself is an experience. Somehow, I had the feeling I had seen it in some movies, but I have a suspicion that I was really thinking of a larger place somewhere in eastern Europe.
The greatest experience, however, was the music. The first 15-20 minutes I could not even make myself take a picture, as I just wanted to listen to the music. It struck me that this should not be something you capture for having a special memory, but rather the only way you enjoy classical music – live. It really is a totally different (and much nicer) sound experience, and you catch nuances of the famous works that you have not noticed before.
The Vienna Mozart Orchestra played extremely well, and both the classical costumes as well as the musical qualities contributed to making it a fantastic experience. The preferred mode of play seemed to be a somewhat understated, but still very nuanced sound, lying just beneath the real breakthrough of an audial (if that’s even a word) climax. It made me wonder if they could actually play with full strength or if the orchestra was simply too small, but in their very final extra-performance where they offered us “An der schönen blauen Donau” and “Radetsky March”, they seemed to be of the opinion that while Mozart apparently cannot be played in full strength, Strauss can
Along the concert, I was wondering if their somewhat understated interpretations were not purposeful and thus would have awarded them 9 out of 10 points, but clearly I was mistaken, so in my mind, they now have gotten full marks for playing in a very controlled just-below-breakthrough mode all through the classical works of Mozart.
In the end, a great evening. And so much more fun to listen to the works of Mozart than visiting his house. This is where Mozart truly comes alive!
august 25th, 2008
Just had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Vienna with my family. All in all, it was a good experience.
The food experiences were quite good, featuring amongst others an amazing Italian restaurant, the oldest restaurant of Vienna, serving very good traditional Austrian food, and of course Apfelstrudel with ice-cream and cream, served in the local zoo.
Of the not-so-good things can be mentioned the house of Mozart (the building in which he grew up), which was just disastrously boring, after having paid an entrance fee of 7,5 euros. Also, don’t ever bring kids in there – the children doesn’t like it, and apparently, neither does the museum attendants… After we left there, we found this meticulously bear in a shopping-windows close by, and wondered if he had a sudden accident caused by boredom
However, the pros far outweighed the cons. An excellent breakfast buffet every morning at the hotel, an excellent concert experience (to be told of further in a separate post) and even free wireless Internet at the Vienna Airport! (This makes you wonder what your airport taxes go towards in other countries…)
This was the only picture I could find where everyone in the family is at least partly visible, so here you go:
The background is that of the Stephansdom which is a quite grand and majestic church building.
august 25th, 2008
Christmas eve. My baby brother Benjamin (a little under two years old) is present. As is tradition in our part of the world, the presents are opened on the evening of the 24th, and my younger brother Stian is set out to play the part of Santa, while unremarkably having snuck out of the room.
Having prepared Benjamin for a couple of days that Santa will be arriving this evening, when Stian leaves the room, we wait in excitement to see how Benji will respond. While Stian is getting ready, Benji turns to the apparently undervalued game of ‘turning the Duplo (Lego) bucket upside-down, scattering about thirty pieces or so on the floor, and thereafter tidying up, by putting them back into the bucket’ (apparently, he has recently taken a liking of tidying up – ‘rydde’ – and delights in every opportunity he gets to throw something in the garbage bin).
Anyways, Santa (AKA Stian, but Benji luckily doesn’t notice this), enters the room with a bag full of presents. Benji is still playing on the floor with the Duplo pieces, and barely looks up as Santa enters. Dad tries and ask him if he would like to go to Santa to get a present, and the answer is a resounding ‘nei!’ (no), and Benji returns to sorting the Duplo pieces into the bucket.
So, some more convincing is needed, and for the next 5 minutes, the exersize becomes convincing the little child that he actually wants to go to Santa and get his present. When he has finally gotten the present, he is actually more interested in returning to his playing Duplo than unwrapping the present. (the present incidentally turned out to contain even more Lego )
A strange child indeed…
december 25th, 2007
So this morning, I reached our family cabin in Gausdal, having gotten up very early – I do mean very – and catching a plane from Haugesund.
After having a late breakfast with the family, we decided to go for a round of cross-country around Skeikampen. This was really nice. The sun was glowing, and as we neared the top, it was just setting over the mountains – beautiful!
I don’t know what it is, but somehow, God always feels closer when I’m out in the mountains. I talked to a friend this evening who doesn’t share that experience, but I think that to me it’s simply the peace and quiet that is out there, and is hard to find anywhere else.
Forget wellness, spas, massage and the rest – go cross-country skiing instead – most stress-relieving (ok, the other stuff is probably pretty good too)
december 22nd, 2007
Seen and heard a late night in a room in Aarhus:
Stian: “In high school, I got 13 in IQ”
The rest of us (myself, Kenneth and Katrine) start to look a bit startled, and in a gentle way try to express that this number isn’t quite high on the IQ-scale.
Stian again: “No, I mean, I got 13 in intelligence”
I don’t know, it might have something to do with the Danish grading system…
oktober 27th, 2007
