Nothing like a midnight game of tennis to send me off!

Well goodness, I’m off to Germany again in about 12 hours! I’m returning to Sprachcamp, and very excited to be there. I think God has special plans for these 3 weeks. There will be two camps, each one week long, with a few days of fun on both ends for us hard-working slave Americans who have nothing fun to do during the whole camp….yeah….

And then I’ll be in Berlin for a few days and then probably in Dortmund, but you never know. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ll be back August 17!

 Ciao!

Anthony & I, pretending like we can afford $200 Dolce & Gabbana glasses! Anthony was just in Italia and so he was so excited to see these, it makes him feel like he’s back home.

This is as close to Europe as we’re going to get at the mall.

This is as close to Europe as we’re going to get at the mall.

I don’t think the employees were taking us too seriously.

I was doing some research on the ideas that would describe postmodernism, and (maybe this isn’t new to you), but read that some are believing that post-modernism is on its way out, and being replaced by post-postmodernism, or “post-secularism.” This is from Wikipedia.org (maybe not the most academic encyclopedia, but it has it’s finger on culture’s pulse):

“In a book on City as landscape: a post-postmodern view of design and planning (E&F Spon, 1986], Tom Turner argues that:

The modernist age, of ‘one way, one truth, one city’, is dead and gone. The postmodernist age of ‘anything goes’ is on the way out. Reason can take us a long way, but it has limits. Let us embrace post-postmodernism?and pray for a better name.

On that note, one young scholar, Ryan Sorba, has an interesting alternative name for post-post modernism. The young author calls it ‘post-secularism.’

Mikhail Epstein also argues that ‘Post-postmodernism witnesses the re-birth of utopia after its own death, after its subjection to postmodernism’s severe scepticism, relativism and its anti-utopian consciousness’.
Post-postmodernism has also been described as renewed faith.”

I’ve been discussing post-modernism with some people, especially in regards to church, and thought this was pretty interesting, I wonder if it is accurate!

Immanuel Kant’s definition of Enlightenment:

“The Enlightenment represents man’s emergence from a self-inflicted state of minority. A minor is one who is incapable of making use of his understanding without guidance from someone else. This minority is self-inflicted whenever its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in a lack of the determination and courage to make use of it without the guidance of another. Sapere aude! (Latin for “Dare to Know!” “Dare to be wise!” “Have courage to use your own reason!”) Have the courage to make use of your own understanding, is therefore the word of the Enlightenment.”

Very interesting. Taken from their homepage:

“Man is an immortal, spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized ? and those capabilities can be realized. He is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.

In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.

Through Scientology, people all over the world are achieving the long-sought goal of true spiritual release and freedom.”

I have to think that it’s interesting that the paragraph introducing the above 3, says the following:

“Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life. The Scientology religion comprises a body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these”