Nathan, a pirate, an Indian, and Underwear-Man.

Canoeing with Balázs.

Canoeing with Balázs.

At Skanszen with the boys.

At Skanszen with the boys.  This is a replication of what Hungary used to look like hundreds of years ago.  This windmill was our favorite thing.

“Peace lies in the acceptance of truth.”  -Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child

“The abilities associated with the humanities and the arts are also vital, both to the health of individual nations and to the creation of a decent world culture. These include the ability to think critically, to transcend local loyalties and to approach international problems as a “citizen of the world.” And, perhaps most important, the ability to imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person.  This essential ability can be called the narrative imagination: it leads us to be intelligent readers of other people’s stories and to understand their emotions and wishes.”

read this article by Martha Nussbaum in Newsweek

bbc thoughts on Hungarian economy

If you’re able, take a moment to watch this slideshow from stoneth.  It’s an amazing glimpse into the faces of poverty.  Click here.

For those of you not living in Budapest, you might like to read about what’s happening. Click here to read news from the BBC.

“Man’s first faculty is forgetting.”  -Albert Camus

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”  -G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

We recently discovered this awesome spot not too far from our apartment.  Don’t know the name of the mountain yet, but it is above Szépvölgyi út.  This picture is taken from the place where people parachute from most everyday.  Spectacular view of our part of the city…northern Budapest.  We’ll go back and get some good pictures of the parachuters soon!

a couple weekends ago, Seth and I spent a whole day together.  We went hiking and found this awesome spot overlooking the Danube.  Nearby there is a zipline that goes down this hill.  Whoa.  In the winter, people ski down this slope.  On the other side of those mountains is Slovakia, just a few kilometers from where we live. 

Where the Echoes Stop

by Erwin Raphael McManus

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Far past where sound has abandoned thought.
Where silence reigns over redundancy.
Where once well said is more than enough.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where words must be born to be heard.
Where speech is a gift and not a curse.
Where there is more of the unique and less of the mundane.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where meaning is rescued from noise…
Where conviction replaces thoughtless repetition…
Where what everyone is saying surrenders to what needs to be said.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where the shouting of the masses falls silent to the whisper of the one…
Where the voice of the majority submits to the voice of reason…
Where “they” do not exist; but “we” do.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where substance overthrows the superficial…
Where courage conquers compliance and conformity…
Where words do not travel farther than the person who speaks them.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where I only say what I believe.
Where I only repeat what changes me.
Where empty words finally rest in peace.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.

“Be still and know that I am God…” -Psalm 46:10a

One of my English students is a professor of German at the Technical University (Hello Piroska!).  She lives in the same building as our office dowtown on Batthyány utca.  During our lesson today, she told me the amazing story about the building in which she lives. 

The building was constructed in 1936.  During WW2, it suffered a lot of damage from bomb shells.  Nothing worked, but the roof was still intact, so all of the families stayed. 

After the war, the state forced the families to abandon those flats which were uninhabitable and to move into the flats of their neighbors.  In Piroska’s 75 sq. meter flat, there were three families living from 1946 to 1966.  Twenty years.  They shared one kitchen, one toilet, and one bathroom. 

Of course, under Russian socialism, they lost the ownership of this property and became renters.  Because of these living conditions and the lack of ownership, the flat was virtually in disrepair.  After twenty more years, two of these families had all died, leaving one family in the flat.  And one old lady remained, living in the flat. 

At some point, Piroska and her husband became renters of one of the smaller flats in the building.  They decided to exchange flats with this elderly woman since she didn’t need so much space.  After 1989, they were able to purchase the flat.  Today the building has been repaired, renovated, and it is in good condition. 

Occasionally I see this elderly woman, known as the grandmother of the house.  We exchange a few words, and I wish I could really hear the stories she has to tell. 

Welp, tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten for Seth (5) and Jacob (3).  They’ll be in the same class, and they’re excited about that.  We played “school” about 1000 times today.

Derek Webb has put out a new album called Mockingbird.  Click here to see why he’s giving this album away for free and also to get your own free download.