SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority

So yesterday afternoon I was given the opportunity to ride the 13 Trolley from Center City out to SW Philly. This wasn't anything new because I ride the trolley everyday to and from work. The difference today was that on my way home I got on at about 5:15 p.m. Rush hour time! After waiting for the trolley for about 10 minutes the #13 pulls up and it is completely packed. I am the last one to get on and I can barely fit inside the door with my backpack on. Taking my backpack off and just holding it in front of me enabled me to get on. After about 4 stops the trolley unloads some passengers enough to at least allow to me hold onto a pole in the middle of the aisle. I was completely amazed at how quiet it was in this packed from front to end trolley. All the seats are filled and all the poles are taken by passengers and there is not a single conversation going on. It was completely amazing. I wanted to say some witty comment about how quiet it was but I was fearful for the dreadful glares that I would receive from people who obviously did not want to be bothered. After 25 more minutes of staring at the floor I was able to find a seat for about 3 stops. The conversation going on in my head after I sat down was one of amazement and frustration that I didn't take the time to open my mouth and ask one of those people how their day was.

I am determined that the next time I take the trolley I am going to talk with the person that I am blessed to either sit by, but more than likely, stand next to as we are squished together riding the grand old SEPTA trolley

City Year & Timberland

As the snowflakes are FINALLY falling on the Philadelphia soil, (this is our first snowfall of the year/winter), I am sitting in our warm, cozy apartment...actually it's anything but because I am a pennypincher and will not turn the heat up. Anyway, this past weekend I attended a group meeting called CityLights. It's an organization that brings together different non-profit organizations for the purpose of partnerships. I basically went as an attendant desiring to learn a little bit more about organizations in southwest Philly. At this meeting I met people ranging from community center directors, to GED teachers, to job placement workers, teachers, principals, pastors, community developers, etc. Very encouraging and informative to me. During this meeting there was also a professor from Eastern University who gave a short seminar on strategic partnerships. Though I am not currently involved in a non-profit organization I gained valuable knowledge on some strategic ways to partner with existing ministries/organizations for better and more wholistic ministry. One of the examples that he gave was the partnership between CityYear and Timberland. (Sidenote: I've always thought it strange that the Timberland boot, a high quality work boot and a high quality mountain outfitter boot would be so popular amongst urban youth.) This partnership between CityYear and Timberland is a major influence to this rise in fashion. CityYear is a non-profit organization that came to Timberland and asked if they could have some boots to equip their interns when they first started. Timberland agreed and now every CityYear intern is equipped with a red jacket and Timberland boots. CityYear has since grown and is in almost every major city and along with it, Timberland has grown from being a mountain outfitter shoe to the highest selling boot on the urban market. Anyway, you can read about more of it on this website, I just thought that it was extremely interesting. http://www.winwinpartner.com/Branding/sstimberland.html

As I sat listening to the seminar I began thinking about churches and how many many churches in America would benefit from listening to this and implementing these concepts in their ministry outreach and in their visions for how to effectively minister to their community.

2008 Resolutions and an Orange Bowl trophy

2008 started with a bang. Literally. As I sat in my apartment in Southwest Philly alone, because my wife was back in Nebraska, and watched the crazies celebrate a new day (and year I guess) in Times Square I was startled by numerous gunshots filtering the air in my neighborhood. Turns out that there wasn't any type of crime, just people firing into the midnight sky.

This New Year also brings a lot of hope and new resolutions for many many people. I have never been big on making resolutions, probably because I've never had any weight to lose and probably because I just can't think of creative things to change. Supertones, the late great Christian ska band, had a song called "Resolution" which talked about today, making a resolution for a change of life. I think that I probably rally around the theme of not necessarily making a resolution for the whole year, but desiring to daily make a resolution of living a Christ-like life. At any rate, I did make one 'New Year's resolution' that I would like to try for the whole year, mainly just to see if I can do it and to see how much $ I would actually save. So my resolution is, drum roll please, to withstand from purchasing a coffee or any other item from Starbucks. I know it's not that big of a deal but I figured that it is at least possible.

I would also really enjoy celebrating a championship of some sort this year, which is something that I have never been able to do in my lifetime, or at least that I can remember. KU lifted my spirits on Thursday night with their Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech but it wasn't a championship. The Jayhawk basketball team is looking mighty nice this year so far, as are a number of other teams, and I am really looking forward to March Madness. Hopefully the Jayhawks can cut down the nets this coming year, and not just the nets for the Big 12 Championship, or the Regional Championship, but the National Championship! Hey, I can at least hope right, because that is what the New Year is all about.

The Bowl games this year haven't been all that great. I did enjoy, however, watching Florida fall to Michigan and seeing Lloyd Carr go out a winner. Well, actually I just really took pleasure in watching the Gators lose and Tim Tebow (who scores all his touchdowns rushing from the 2 yard line) lose. I also enjoyed the good showing that the Big 12 put on during this bowl season. I know Oklahoma was a let down but there were some nice victories by the other schools. I have also changed my views on the whole strength of schedule thing. Probably because that was KU's knock all year. "Well, they just haven't played anybody worth anything all year and the one team that they did play that was good, MIZZOU, they lost". Now, I think that you have to play teams that challenge you. So I wasn't disagreeing with those doubters that KU had an easy schedule, but you have to give them credit that they won all those games, and they won in convincing fashion. They just didn't have those losses to a Stanford, or a Pittsburgh, or an Illinois. And when their big time bowl game came around, they showed up and outplayed their opponent. I'm not sure if KU is going to be a football powerhouse, but they at least had a great year, a BCS bowl bid, and an Orange Bowl trophy to show for it. Cake schedule or not, you still have to win your games, and you have to prove yourself when you get the chance. The Jayhawks did that this year and we'll see how the Mangino's make their return in '08.