Evendays

Modern evangelical preaching and movies from Hollywood are not the first to dramatize the cross, of course. Take, for example, the following quote that I ran across recently. It will keep me on the lookout next time I’m in an art museum…

“In some ancient Eastern traditions, Adam was buried on Golgotha and his son, Seth, planted a tree on his grave which was later used to make Christ’s cross. From the late tenth century onward in Western art Adam’s skull was sometimes shown at the foot of Christ’s cross, where the atoning blood touches it, removing Adam’s sin and atoning for all humanity” (M. Eugene Boring, Mark: A Commentary, note on p. 427).

In the first year of Swiss high school, those who continue on to college get assigned a class according to their “major”. As you regular Evendays readers know, about 25% of high school students actually go on to college, and those folks must chose an emphasis early on. (sciences, humanities, languages, economics, etc.) In tenth grade, Daughter was assigned a class in the math-physics division with 17 boys and 3 girls.

As a senior, the class makes their Senior trip. I imagine the goal, years ago, was to educate students, visit museums and learn hands-on about stuff they’d been studying in class. Son 1 and 2 both went to Italy and visited volcanoes and ancient cities. Daughter and her class went to Marrakech, Morocco, during Ramadan.

She enjoyed the spices and a trip to the beach and being with friends. Much more difficult were the constant buzzing of peddlers and the uncomfortable-ness of eating lunch when Muslim Moroccans were fasting. (She said she learned to “skip” lunch out of respect for the locals…) She got back on Saturday night, loaded with spices for couscous, a bag of tea and coffee… Happy to be home and sleep in her own bed.

Son 1 received his Swiss citizenship yesterday, joining his younger brother and sister in the land of dual nationality. This does not mean he loves the United States, or Americans, less. It does keep doors open for him here in Switzerland if he decides to live, for a few or even many years, outside of the Helvetic nation. With his old resident permit, it was difficult to be outside of the country for more than 2 years.

After a year of planning, an ascension of a lower summit, and days of waiting for perfect conditions, a group of 20 somethings from Lausanne made a night climb of the highest peak in Western Europe (4807 meters – 15,771 feet), the famous Mont Blanc in France, and there installed a Jacuzzi.

This seems to have been inspired by their engineering spirit, their love of the mountain, and large quantities of beer.

Can you imagine struggling up to the summit, roped to your weathered guide, only to arrive at the top to find a party going on? What a disappointment… And some would say sacrilege. (They do apologize – at the bottom of the site page - to those who thought they were going to have the mountain to themselves that day.) Oh well, sometimes we only like things if they happen to be our own idea.

Click on the picture below to go to their site with all the pictures. It’s worth the trip.