Huang Family Newsletter, May 2011

Crazy month for the Huang clan. Amy and Lee were pretty maxed out with work stuff, Amy having to toggle between multiple locations and Lee juggling multiple projects and helping keynote a state heritage conference in Harrisburg. Amy was appropriately feted for Mother's Day, and spent the rest of the month doting on the rest of us. Lee's candidate for City Council at Large, David Oh, took first place in this month's primaries, and is well-positioned for the general elections in November. The kids did all sorts of fun stuff on the weekends: running laps at Franklin Field, attending concerts at Kimmel Center and the Mann, helping plant trees in the Bird Sanctuary just outside our backyard lot, visiting friends at Turtle Back Zoo in Essex County, attending May Fair in Collingswood, and going to a barbeque out in the burbs.

Lazy Linking, 47th in an Occasional Series

Stuff I liked on the Internets:

47.1. Things you didn't know Twitter could do - it can help tell you how new movies will do and whether stock prices will go up or down.

47.2. Atoms, meet bits - text me a Pepsi.

47.3. Love AI's moxie in this history of the crossover dribble. [Hat tip: kottke.org.]

47.4. Funny how winning a championship changes our verdict on athletes' crunch time ability. [Hat tip: Marginal Revolution.]

47.5. "The Tipping Point" as the tipping point for book title convention?

47.6. Stair and ladder illusions in a Toronto subway station.

47.7. Big, gassy, and volatile; dark, foreboding, and pock-marked. No, I'm not talking about your in-laws, I'm talking about the sun and the moon.

47.8. Homer taught us poetry and literature. And Homer Simpson? How about economics?

47.9. Who ought we Americans look to as an example of a working democracy? David Brooks suggests those Brits whose monarchy we liberated ourselves from 235 years ago.

47.10. Symptomatic of our modern on-the-go ethos - "run" has replaced "set" as the verb with the most meanings.

Remember What We Are Memorializing

In the run-up to this three-day weekend, I've heard and thought a lot of things - barbequing, going to the Shore, finally being able to take a nap - but not a whole lot about our armed forces, who are the ones we are memorializing. Let's all take a moment to thank our troops for doing what they do so we can do what we do, and to hold in particularly reverent remembrance those who gave their greatest sacrifice possible - their very lives - to the cause of freedom and liberty.

I leave you with a link to a post I wrote six years back about Arlington National Cemetery. Happy Memorial Day to all.

Aging Accounts

What do Derek Jeter, Roger Federer, and Tiger Woods have in common? Besides their good looks, productive playing careers, and roles at Gillette spokespersons, they are all suffering precipitous and likely permanent declines in their athletic abilities. As Sports Illustrated columnist Joe Posnanski recently wrote, "age is undefeated." Sure, there are freakish exceptions (hello, Bernard Hopkins!). But, what is marvelous about Jeter, Federer, and Woods is that they lastest as long as they did at the apex of their crafts; that they are breaking down and becoming more uncompetitive is completely predictable and normal.

Of course, we don't want to believe this. But it is true. And it is particularly pronounced in sports, because 1) the body doesn't last as long at an elite level as the mind and heart can, and 2) world-class competition means that the slightest regression can be the difference between MVP and also-ran. We want our heroes' trajectories to be ever upward, or at least never coming back down to earth. But a hit baseball that reaches its top height 400 feet from home plate is not going to travel an additional 400 feet further from that point; its descent will happen far faster than its ascent. And so it often is with us, that as we age, our bodies (and, eventually, our minds and hearts) deteriorate, and it may happen quickly, relative to the many years we've lived before that point.

Well, this may seem depressing, that life isn't forever continuously upwards and that the descent may be sudden and dramatic. And, in fact, many of us struggle with growing old. We try to cheat death, or wander into mid-life flings. But, Posnanski is right: age is in fact undefeated. And so we struggle to find some peace about our impaired states, or else we descend emotionally along with our physical descent.

However young or old we are, there is another thing we can do to prepare for this inevitability and to endure this fate. We can believe in a God who made us, who has a purpose for us in this fleshly body, and who is preparing an eternal body and home for us that far exceeds even our wildest imagining ability. We can trust in a God who tells us that the work He has for us to do, He will supply the strength for us to do it. We can rely on a God who is able to work in spite of (and very often through) our weaknesses, of which we have many and will only have more and more of over time.

My belief, trust, and reliance are found lacking many days. But that same God is at work in me, that even if the body He made for me deteriorates, He is refining in me that belief, trust, and reliance, that I may experience true peace, be useful for His purposes, and ultimately be perfected.

A Father Delights in a Daughter's Worship

Our evening family devotional times have gotten a wee bit more raucous of late, thanks to Jada's insistence that we sing, bop, and wave our hands to "Your Grace is Enough," as sung by the characters on Veggie Tales. While surly Aaron folds his hands and announces he's not going along, the rest of us prance, prattle, and worship, Jada's bounciness and high-pitched singing voice being particularly cute.

As her dad, I cannot help but to smile and to swell with happiness. Is our little girl caught up in a cute song, or glad for something fun and silly that we can all do together? Certainly these are contributing factors. But I hope there is a little bit of childlike worshipfulness in her heart, which this new routine is helping unlock. And that makes me glad, for we were made to be that way, and God warrants such a response, and so I am delighted to see my daughter worship.

As her Heavenly Father, God must take similar delight, no?

3G Asian-American

Being a child of immigrants, I owe a particular debt to parents because of the ways they sublimated their needs and wants in the quest of the proverbial "better life for their children." My parents were by no means poor in Taiwan, but, drawn by "the land of opportunity," they attended grad school, married, and settled down in America, a place with different rules, different social networks, and a different language than what they knew. They bore the limitations placed upon them by this foreignness in order to put my sister and me in good schools, give us every resource we needed to thrive, and put us in a position where opportunities abounded in our respective horizons.

The milieu in which I parent is therefore an easier one than my parents did. English is my home language, I am comfortable circulating amongst the nuances and networks that govern life in America, and my children's wrestling with their hyphenated status (Asian and American) will not be nearly as discombobulating as mine, with different cultures and languages and norms at home versus outside the home.

My parents' social circles when I was growing up was relatively tight, as their fellow first-generation Taiwanese-Americans would gather to partake in food, conversation, and issues specific to their points of reference. For us and for our kids, the world is bigger and broader and more diverse, with attendant pros and cons.

I am hope I am not conveying that either experience is better or worse, just that they are different. I will say that my parents worked hard and schemed hard in such a dogged and selfless manner that I cannot help but feel grateful and motivated. I hope they see my sister and me going about our lives, with the many advantages we are fortunate to have, and that they realize that they have largely succeeded in what they were hoping for when they first came to America some 40+ years ago. And I hope, for their sake, my sake, and my kids' sake, that I can be at least half the parents they were, in terms of helping make a way for my kids to have an even more expansive and fulfilling and generous life.

Lazy Linking, 46th in an Occasional Series

Stuff I liked lately on the Internets:

46.1. The silver lining that the Rapture didn't happen this past weekend? If it did, it would have had a really bad effect on an already slumping housing market.

46.2. Who would be more astounded - Aristotle seeing a 1975 calculator, or anyone from 1975 seeing a modern-day iPhone? As they say, the change of change is getting faster.

46.3. Survival of the fittest? It seems man is uniquely wired to cooperate to survive.

46.4. I didn't catch this when I read the article, but West Philly Local pointed out that this piece about Penn Alexander reports that Penn renewed its financial commitment to the school for another 10 years, so that's a plus.

46.5. I can't tell if 7-Eleven coming up with a dual-chamber Slurpee cup is an indicator of American innovation or American decline. (Or both?) [Hat tip: Marginal Revolution.]

The End is Still Near

Well, the predicted "end of the world" date came and went, and the world didn't end. Many, who ridiculed the believers for adhering to the May 21 deadline, now find themselves correct and yet now without additional fuel for the mockery. Indeed, in the days leading up, most of the conversations I overheard or participated in on this subject were of the eye-rolling, mock-serious variety. Too bizarre to take seriously, and yet too ubiquitous to pass on taking a few shots at the believers.

My wife, courageous evangelist that she is, took the right tack, in my opinion. Close as she is with her co-workers, she took the opportunity to discuss with them serious matters like judgment and eschatology. It was of their curiosity and not her pushing, too, dispelling any thought that people don't care about important things like the eternal destination of our souls and the role of God in wrapping up this thing we call world history.

As I blogged a month before May 21, however silly we want to paint those who believed the world would end on that date, it doesn't negate the fact that what we believe about where we go after we die and whether there is a God who judges does in fact matter. Glad my wife and her co-workers were willing to put aside childish ribbing and actually discuss matters of eternal consequence.

Five Years at Econsult

Earlier this week was my fifth anniversary at my current job. On the exact date, I took a bus home and it was slow on account of graduation traffic on the Penn campus. It brought me back to 2006, when I had my school's graduation on Sunday, walked with everyone at Penn on Monday, and then started at Econsult on Tuesday. Yeah, when you're in your mid-thirties and have a little girl, you're not really going to travel the world for six weeks between graduation and your first day on the job.

Anyway, having worked 10 years at my first job, I'm halfway through a decade at my second. And, having had very high job satisfaction at my first job, I can say I'm similarly pleased now. Even though there are obviously a lot of differences between the jobs, the employers, and my station in life, I am thankful for my work, as I was at my old place. At The Enterprise Center, it was having an incredible boss, being able to do a lot of really interesting things and meet a lot of interesting people, and be on the cutting edge in our work. At Econsult, it's been being around really smart people, having bosses I have tons to learn from and who I have a ton of respect for, and getting to work on and learn about really interesting stuff.

I'll leave it at that, as I have an annual performance review coming up, and I don't want to be accused of laying on the mustard too thick. But I sincerely enjoy and am glad for my job, and I know that's not a sure thing nowadays, so I feel fortunate and happy for it.

Part-Time Employment Opportunity - Children, Youth, and Family Director @ Woodland Presbyterian Church @ 42nd/Pine

[Note: I have posted this before but we have yet to fill the position.
Please pass along to any who are interested and have them contact
me.]

***

Job Title: Director of Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Ministries

Hours per Week: 15-25

Paid?: Yes

Start Date: Negotiable (prefer Summer 2011)

Overview of Position and Opening:

Woodland Presbyterian Church is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational
church located in an urban setting at the intersection of campuses and
community. We are a PC-USA congregation that was first formed in the
1860’s. Our Sunday morning worship service typically draws 100
worshippers, including 15-25 children. We believe that children,
youth, and families are all important members of the family of God,
and therefore their spiritual growth is an integral part of the
overall health of the church and its mission to the neighborhood
around us. The Director of Children, Youth, and Family (CYF)
Ministries works in collaboration with other staff, Session, and
volunteers from the congregation towards that end. There is always
more to do than the time allotted each week, so prioritization,
efficiency, and delegation are important components of a successful
CYF Director, as is the ability to work with a wide range of children,
youth, families, volunteers, and staff members.

Woodland’s staff presently includes a full-time Interim Senior Pastor,
a full-time Sexton, a part-time Administrative Associate, and a
part-time Music Minister. It is our preference that we are able to
fill this position in time for a Summer 2011 start date. If you are
interested in this position, please submit your cover letter and
resume to Lee Huang, Chairperson of the Personnel Team, at
jobs@woodlandpres.net (email), fax (215 386-1725), or mail (42nd and
Pine Streets, Philadelphia PA 19104). We will try to answer all
inquiries and will contact you if we would like to set up an
interview.



Responsibilities/Duties:

Leadership

• Connect the work of CYF to Woodland’s larger work, and communicate
that work to congregants and to other stakeholders

• Serve as a public face, point person, and final decision-maker for
all aspects of CYF

• Represent CYF and its agenda via interfaces with internal (worship,
building and property, outreach, education) and external (partners,
community, Presbytery) entities



Recruit, Train, and Disciple Members of the Congregation into CYF Ministry

• Encourage those with a heart for children and family ministries to
get involved

• Recruit and support volunteer leaders

• Direct the training of volunteers in teaching and in working with children



Direct Ministry Responsibilities

• Supervise volunteers in the following programmatic activities and age groups:

 Sunday School for infants (0 to 18 months), toddlers (18 months to 4
years), children (4 years to 9 years)

 One-week Vacation Bible School summer camp

 Other offerings as mutually determined with staff and Session
(examples: Christmas pageant, service opportunities, missions trips)

• Establish relationships with parents and families and be sensitive
to their needs and concerns

• Become an active member of Woodland and participate in Sunday
worship service periodically as a member of the ministry staff, for
purposes of promoting and forwarding the ministry of CYF

• Explore and supervise ministry initiatives for pre-teens and teens,
including connection to other churches to pool youth ministry
activities

• Explore and supervise family ministry initiatives, including
connection to other local resources to provide spiritual guidance to
young families

• Commit to pray regularly for CYF leaders and volunteers, children,
and families


Administration

• Attend weekly staff meetings

• File a quarterly report of past and future activities and
accomplishments to Session

• Develop and enforce policies relating to all aspects of CYF
ministries (for example, ensuring that the appropriate back ground
checks are carried out on all volunteers working with children)

• Develop and monitor CYF portion of the church’s budget



Oversight and Support:

The Director of CYF Ministries will report to the Head of Staff and
will attend weekly Staff Meetings.

The Session will ensure that the following support mechanisms are in
place so that Employee is in the best position possible to serve in a
way that is fulfilling to her and productive for the church:

a) inclusion in a staff team in which everyone's position description
is known to one another so that staff members can better support and
collaborate with one another,

b) 1-2 deacons assigned to pray for and support Employee in her work
and to help advocate for the work of CYF in the broader work of the
church,

c) Annual check-in sessions with the Personnel Team for purposes of
receiving encouragement and advice as well as together clarifying the
position description going forward.



Compensation:

Salary, benefits, and vacation are negotiable. Consideration will be
given to funding and enabling various professional development
avenues, such as books and conferences.

Lazy Linking, 45th in an Occasional Series

Stuff I liked lately on the Internets:

45.1. Marc Andreessen and I share something in common. We both like Hobees in Palo Alto. Only I order the coffee cake and eat it with friends; he's inking multi-million dollar deals with Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups.

45.2. I'm all for working our kids hard in school, but let them run around too. Scheduling recess before lunch so that kids don't race through their food in order to get some free time is a simple but effective idea.

45.3. What's faster - Taco Bell making a Beefy Crunch Burrito, or the Beefy Crunch Burrito going through someone's digestive system?

45.4. Those resourceful Minnesotans have figured out how to jam a 12-acre park in a 8-acre parcel.

45.5. Signs of the end of US dominance? Samoa changes which time zone it's in [registration required] to be more closely synched up with Asia rather than America. [hat tip: Marginal Revolution.]

45.6. Last year we released a study on the value of vacant parcels in Philadelphia and their annual maintenance cost. Well, the federal government apparently has some buildings and structures it's holding too, and is now looking to sell them off to raise money. [Hat tip: Salon.]

45.7. Another thing to hate about cars - they make us fat.

45.8. I'm going to start carrying my Bible in my backpack like Kevin Durant.

45.9. In-N-Out Burger. Drive-thru. Texas. Lines ensue.

45.10. "Memo to suburban voucher opponents who 'support public education': you're already sending your kid to private school. You're just confused because your tuition fees came bundled with granite countertops and hardwood floors."

A New Spruce on Spruce Street

Took the kids through our backyard to the Bird Sanctuary tree planting yesterday. Fun for them to putter around, do crafts on neighbor's back porches, and meet other kids. Fun for me to get my hands dirty, dig holes, and meet neighbors. A total of 12 trees got planted, and it will be fun to see them take root and prettify this nook of West Philadelphia. I'm glad we can see it from our kitchen and hope our way down there without much delay.

Wharton's Reputation

In between meetings in University City, I decided to stop in on Dean Thomas Robertson's Wharton town hall meeting in Huntsman Hall. I'm not a very active alum, but I am a proud one, so I was eager to get a sense of the state of the school. I'd also never heard our current leader speak, and as one who revered as a demigod the dean of the school during my time there (Thomas Gerrity), I wanted to get a sense of what made the current guy tick.

I only caught about half of the gathering, but I left decidedly underwhelmed. What topped it for me was Dean Robertson's response to an alum who said that the recent high-profile indictment of Wharton alum Raj Rajaratnam on insider trading (also implicated was former McKinsey chief Anil Gupta, also a Wharton alum) had an adverse effect on Wharton alums in the workplace, and what was the school doing to protect its reputation and its alumni's reputation. At this point, you expect a business school dean, circa 2011, to engage in high-falutin' rhetoric about the centrality of integrity in a business school education, and the iron-clad promise of the school to uphold the most virtuous standards in its dealings and its teachings. The question is whether deans pull this off with authenticity or with spin.

Instead, Dean Robertson went in a different direction. Noting that the school has 86,000 alum, he asked rhetorically if a town of 86,000 residents would have a jail. Of course it would, he answered himself, and so of course a school with that many alum running around is going to have a blip or two. In other words, "hey, don't look at us - we're helpless to prevent so many alum from staying out of trouble." Hmmm, not exactly the "I accept this burden of leadership" moment I was waiting for.

Tellingly, in the front page article on the subject of the indictment in that day's Daily Pennsylvanian, Dean Robertson was not quoted; instead, the only quote from a Penn person was from a law professor noting that high-profile indictments serve as effective deterrents for others out there thinking of engaging in similar behavior. In other words, even in the school paper in his own backyard, Dean Robertson was not out in front, making sure that Wharton was taking the lead on this issue and using the crisis as an opportunity to protect, extend, and define the Wharton brand.

In summary, my fellow alum's question was a fair one to ask; he and I paid lots of money and spent lots of time earning our Wharton degrees, and every bad apple out there sullies the value of that accomplishment. Alas, our current dean fell short in giving a worthy response to that question. When faced with evidence that reinforces everyone's cynical image of Wharton, I would hope that we can do better than a shrug of the shoulders.

Finance, the Cause of and Solution to All of Life's Problems

My cohort of incoming Joseph Wharton Scholars was a confident and focused bunch. Having the prestige of Wharton amplified by our special designation within it, we aimed to max out on all the business school had to offer us. It became a badge of honor to not only double concentrate but triple or even quadruple concentrate, and/or to pick up a second degree on the engineering side to capitalize on the growing confluence of business and technology.

Leave it to our statistics professor, of all people, to instruct us in the importance of a well-rounded liberal arts education. While we schemed to fill our semesters with business courses, he urged us to mix in other disciplines.

I recall one brazen young classmate responding to yet another mini-lecture on this subject with what he perceived to be a rhetorical question: "If I'm going to be a hot-shot i-banker on Wall Street, what's the point of taking physics?"

Our stats professor smiled, and proceeded to discuss how a principle from physics, concerning the patterns associated with different vibrations, had formed the core of a new line of thinking about how to price derivatives and other financial instruments. (Darn these know-it-all Ivy League professors!) Point being, we ought to be open to the ways something from one discipline can be very transferable to an entirely different discipline.

I remembered this episode when I read this article from Fortune Magazine about a fund manager who used advanced statistical techniques gleaned from his expertise in analyzing markets to provide a crucial insight into how autism works. Here, the principle is the reverse of my stats professor, who was trying to get us business geeks to learn about other things besides business; my take-away from this article is that high-powered business acumen can be marshaled for other, potentially revolutionary positive uses. Perhaps somewhere, some class of idealistic college students who find business and finance dirty topics is being lectured in the following way: "You want to find a cure for cancer or figure out how to break the impasse in the Middle East? Go take a class down the hall on financial instruments and portfolio management!"

30 is Greater Than 31

By now, I have told you how loaded my relationship with the 31 bus is, haven't I? Somehow, all in one evening commute, I managed to 1) wait for one before giving up and hoofing it to Aaron's school, 2) just miss a second one once I had picked up Aaron, 3) wait for one before giving up and piggybacking Aaron to the next bus stop, AND 4) have one whiz by me just as I decided to walk instead of wait. (Aaron waving his drawings in my face may have had something to do with me not seeing it approach.)

With Jada still needing to be picked up, the 30 bus came to my rescue. I saw it whiz through the intersection we were at, and as I tore towards it, crossing two streets in the process to get to the opposite corner, it mercifully waited for us. It meandered through the hospitals and University City before plopping us off right in front of Jada's school, just in time. (Well, a minute late, but who's counting? Hopefully not Jada's school, which adds a fee for such tardiness.)

So even as I rely on the 31 bus, I shake a fist at it. And this is now the second time the 30 bus has, out of nowhere, come to our rescue. It's a strange relationship I have with my city's buses.

Penn Alexander in Demand

This story, about Penn Alexander not necessarily being able to hold 1st grade spots for kids living inside its catchment area, is not exactly hot news, since that's been known for a long time now. But the fact that this has been formally acknowledged by the School District, and has led to a whole range of emotions by parents and parents-to-be, makes the announcement worthy of additional discussion.

First, some background: Penn has made a commitment of financial and human resources in this school since its inception in the late 1990’s, which, combined with the general improvement of the University City area, has created a K-8 school that is of excellent academic reputation. Naturally, this has drawn well-educated young families to the area, further enhancing the quality of the school, elevating real estate values, and increasing parents’ expectations and anxieties associated with getting their kids enrolled.

By state law, neighborhood schools must accept kids in their catchment areas starting in 1st grade. (Kindergarten is not required in Pennsylvania, so no such requirement applies.) As demand has increased, pre-registration for kindergarten has reached epic proportions, with vigilant parents camping out overnight to ensure a coveted slot. In the past, those who don’t arrive in time sent their kids elsewhere for kindergarten and returned a year later for 1st grade, at which point Penn Alexander almost always had space. But, as families have continued to pour into the area, it is 1st grade that has reached a point of overcrowding, thus forcing the school to step away from its implicit guarantee of a 1st grade slot.

It is my understanding that the school is under no obligation to provide such a guarantee, since all of its catchment area is coterminous with neighboring neighborhood schools. In other words, there are no houses within the catchment area that are not also within the catchment area of at least one other neighborhood school. Hence, by District policy, Penn Alexander need not promise a spot to all families within their catchment area, even starting in 1st grade, since families are free to enroll their children in whatever other neighborhood school within whose catchment area they reside. Of course, given Penn Alexander’s sterling reputation, it is by far the first choice for most all such families, with the consolation prize of a spot in another neighborhood school no consolation at all.

Closer to home (or, to be literal, within my home), what does this mean? It seems Jada, who is in kindergarten, is guaranteed a spot for the duration of her elementary school years, since she’s already enrolled in the school. And it seems Aaron, who starts kindergarten in 16 months, is not at all guaranteed a spot for any of his elementary school years: being a sibling carries no preference, and should we miss out on a kindergarten spot, it is unlikely there would be a spot for him starting in 1st grade (or even 2nd or 3rd or 4th grade). Given that there are scores of other parents just like me who are performing these mental calculations, and realizing that it is kindergarten or bust for Penn Alexander, you can be sure that when the next kindergarten pre-registration for Penn Alexander rolls around next January, I will not be alone when I am camping outside the front door the night before.

Obviously, since Jada has had such a transformative experience there, and since she will continue to attend there, we really want Aaron to go there as well. We’ve known for awhile now that that’s not a certainty, even though we reside within the catchment, live just two blocks away, and have a child enrolled there already. This news story only confirms that. (And ratchets up our anxiety just a hair.)

Amendment 10-A

I'm going to tread lightly here, because our church leadership team has not yet had a chance to make an official pronouncement or decision on this subject, so please understand that what I write I write for my own self and not on behalf of any other body I am part of. But yesterday our denomination approved an amendment that overturned a requirement of ordination of celibacy in singleness or heterosexual marriage. The CNN headline: "Presbyterian Church U.S.A. to Allow Gay and Lesbian Clergy."

You know from previous writings of mine that I am for gay marriage being allowed. What I have not yet previously written about is this issue of ordaining homosexuals. On this position, I am against the amendment, and am saddened our denomination has decided to frame this issue as one of inclusion, full utilization of those who are gifted and called into leadership who happen to have a different sexual orientation, and release to those who have felt they had to keep their sexuality a secret in order to serve.

For, fundamentally, to me this is an issue of whether or not we are willing to consider ourselves people subject to the inerrancy of Bible and the authority of Jesus. There has been other discussion within this denomination along these lines, to weaken the primacy of Scripture and of the uniqueness of Jesus in our faith understanding. This particular amendment is about sexuality, and homosexuality in particular, but it is along the same lines. And if we can't uphold a certain standard for our leaders, then I fear other non-negotiables are sure to fall.

Some, both on the inside and the outside of the church, will argue that my position is hopelessly outdated, mean-spirited, and insensitive. I am sensitive to that, and wish we as a church were more empathetic to gays, as we unfortunately of all people have probably been the most vilifying and thoughtless. But even as we ought to redouble our efforts to accommodate and include people of all sexual persuasions in our ministries, relationships, and prayers, we must be able to uphold certain standards in our expectations of leaders.

I do not condemn those who voted for the amendment, or those who lobbied for its passage. I still consider us all brothers and sisters of the same faith. But, denominationally, this is an issue of basic disagreement, not just on whether homosexuals can be ordained but on what basis essential decisions are to be made. I am saddened by these differences of opinion, and of what they portend in terms of representing the Christian faith in our communities and in this country.

God Behaving Badly

I owe a debt of gratitude to Dave Lamb, whose first book, "God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist, and Racist?" was recently published by InterVarsity Press. Dave took me under his wing my sophomore year in college, and that was a formative time in my Christian leadership and overall spiritual development. His exhortations, rebukes, and instructions continue to mold my understanding of God and self to this day. I am thankful for his presence in my life and for our continued friendship.

It is often said that relationships are far more memorable and impactful than sermons, and that is true. The point is often made by asking yourself to try to remember five meaningful sermons, and then to try to remember five meaningful relationships. While it is always easier to remember the relationships than the sermons, I can tell you that Dave is such a gifted teacher that I can actually remember at least five of his talks I have heard him give. All were a combination of clever visual aids, insightful connections to modern times, and probing analysis of the Scriptures.

I have not yet gotten a chance to read his new book, but he told me a little about it last year when I saw him last, and so I know that the book is true to his teaching style and teaching gifts. Simply put, Dave is interesting because God is interesting. Dave, here's hoping the book sells well, not for personal glory and gain, but so that more can encounter our interesting God and be captivated like we are.

Running Commentary

I write today to make a couple of points all at once, which is never a good move. But bear with me.

Check out this lovely guest column earlier this month by my dear colleague David Brown, called “Running a Successful Path.” Like me, he is a recreational runner; and like me, he likes to think about the city when he’s running through it, and he likes to think about metaphorical progress even as he is making progress via his legs and his running shoes. There seems to be something about running that taps into something deeper: the Bible is full of running metaphors, people lace up their sneakers to “race for the cure,” and many of us are inspired to run by others and for others. The phrase “running for your life” takes on new meaning in these contexts, doesn’t it? Then there’s sprinter Eric Liddell’s famous line in “Chariots of Fire” – “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast; and when I run I feel His pleasure” – and we cannot help but think that running is good for us in more ways than being a useful form of exercise.

But enough about running. I’m also writing because I want to let you know how much of a role model David Brown is to me. His mindfulness to give back with his time and talents inspires me. He has always been a resource and encouragement to me personally. He will be mortified when he reads this, because he is not about personal glory, and I admire that about him as well. Simply put, David Brown is one of the good guys. And Philadelphia and I are better for it.

Runner's World

One of my family routines growing up was my dad taking all of us to the local community college track on Sunday mornings to run laps. This went a long way to growing in me a love and appreciation for running. So it is natural that I want to do the same for my kids. So yesterday morning, I took them to the nearest track, on the Penn campus, which happens to be Franklin Field, home of Penn Relays. It's up there with the most famous and hallowed tracks in the world, and it excites me that my kids will learn to run recreationally there.

The summer schedule is a bit of a crap shoot, as their website said one thing, and the bulletin said three different things. When we arrived, the door was closed but unlocked, so we went in, ran a lap, and then headed out, lest we get into trouble if in fact the track was off-limits. A maintenance guy came by as we were heading out, and I asked him if the track was open, and he shrugged his shoulders and called his supervisor. It turns out it was closed - oops! - and I didn't get much more guidance as to which source of information was reliable as to if and when it would be open over the summer. So maybe it won't be at Franklin Field, but I will find a place for the kids to get their run on.

Happy Mother's Day

To my mom and to all moms, Happy Mother's Day and thank you.

Welcoming Moms, Dads, and Everyone Else

If you are a mother or a father, or have a mother or a father, or not, you’re welcome to our morning services at Woodland Presbyterian Church at 42nd and Pine Streets in West Philadelphia. We start at 10:30 and are usually done by 12:00.

I mention moms and dads because tomorrow, Mother’s Day, I will be emceeing the service in our pastor’s absence (another elder will be giving the sermon). And next month, on Father’s Day, our pastor will also be out and so I will be giving the sermon.

So come check us out, on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day or any other Sunday. I’m sure you’ll find us warm and welcoming, if a little on the quirky side.

Buses Behaving Badly

My morning commute is carefully calibrated, with not much breathing room to catch buses that don’t always come again very frequently. Two days in a row last week, I got burnt. The first morning, my first bus was late, so I missed my second bus, which necessitated piggybacking Aaron a mile uphill to his school. The second morning, my first bus was early and I just missed it, so we hoofed it to another bus stop to catch my second bus, only to watch it pull away right before we arrived. We ended up waiting 30+ minutes (!) for the next bus, Aaron being strangely and mercifully patient the whole time.

Our bad timing bled into the afternoon. Even though I left the office well before 5, we didn't all get home until after 6, thus totaling two and a half hours of commuting for the day. Most of it was waiting for the freaking 31 bus, which was my nemesis in the afternoon as well; I finally decided to hoof it to the next stop, and the 31 bus passed me just as I arrived there, as if to taunt me. Aaron gave me some gray hairs, as well, by announcing two minutes after we'd left his school that he really had to go pee pee. I dragged him to the bushes in front of a frat house on the Drexel campus, since I figured the guys would take it in stride if we were found out.

In the grand scheme of things, these are blips, and I look back with regret that I did so much cursing under my breath as the minutes ticked away. Still, I’m counting down the days Aaron gets to go to school in a more transit friendly location.

Documenting Childhood

My cousin sent me this really cute video of a dad using Google to document his daughter's childhood. It captures my sentiment as well, and reinforces my commitment to doing the same with my kids, so that they can look back at all I've archived about their earliest years - musings, pics, videos. Heck, they're only 6 and 4 and already Amy and I look back on a few years back with tears and smiles.

What's cool about documenting childhood in the present is the social media component of it. There's nothing different in this generation about saving musings, pics, and videos. But the ability to post for others to share in the arc of my kids' lives creates a richness of connection, and leads to more tears and smiles than would have otherwise been possible.

I do look forward to my kids getting older and exploring all we've compiled on them. Although, given how fast technology is advancing these days, maybe their overriding response will be: "Dad, you used Blogger and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube? That's so last decade."

What Makes Us Special

Earlier this week was my quarterly report card conference with Jada's kindergarten teacher. Afterwards, I lingered in the hallway to look at the students' work that had been posted on the wall. There were two essays written by Jada, and one collage about her in which her answer to the question "why am I special" was "because my family loves me." Very cute.

I won't ascribe to my six-year-old more than what is due, since it was probably a simple answer to a simple question. But there is a profound lesson there. Feeling special is important for us humans, so it's pretty universal that we seek out reasons to feel special. Sadly, we grown-ups too often look to fairly shallow things to feel special about: our looks, our possessions, our talents, our accomplishments.

Let me not be so general, but rather implicate myself. I look to these and other things to help me feel good about myself. When I'm in a groove, I puff out my chest. And, when, much of the time, I'm stumbling along, it can affect my mood.

At my present station in life, feeling special in this way has become exceedingly difficult. While I am good at many things, I am not great at any of them, not even among my relatively narrow peer group, let alone at a broader geography. And, I am more and more aware of more and more things I am decidedly mediocre or worse at. Though I am not immune from vanity about physical appearance or materialism over physical possessions, my more common go-to's in this arena are knowledge, skill, and accomplishment. And, lately, I am profoundly aware of just how unspecial I am if that's the scoreboard.

From this worldview, life is a bit of a crapshoot. We have varied talent levels and varied ability to accept ourselves, so if we're high on both fronts then it's smooth sailing, but if it's any other combination, we may have a bumpy ride at times.

The Christian believes differently, or at least strives to. We are no different in the vast distribution of talent and self-esteem. But we are to introduce into this mix a Creator, who has lovingly made us in our mother's womb, and who lovingly molds us over time.

Our self-esteem, our "what makes us special," is not subject to the vagaries of our day-to-day performance or our ability to massage our sensitive feelings, but rather is anchored in something outside of us, surer than us and our psyches and our daily journeys. It is anchored in a steadfast love, by a perfect God, secured by a remarkable transaction. It is a glorious revelation, a freeing truth, and (because we are flawed) a daily struggle to embrace.

In Jada's simple mind, she is special because her family loves her. It is a sweet and innocent sentiment. There is a lesson there for all of us, and a question too. What makes us special? What are we rooting our sense of uniqueness upon? Will we, in an increasingly tumultuous journey, anchor ourselves on the firm foundation of God's great love for us? Daily, I pray so.

Public Choice

As a follow-up to my post from earlier this week, let's consider why there is so much segregation in our choice of mode of travel. More specifically, why is it that it is predominantly poor people who use public transit?

This issue was raised in a conversation I had with a colleague of mine who is an avid user of transit. He listed all of the layers of transportation that have been layered on top of our region's public transit system - hotels, universities, office and apartment operators all operating their own shuttles - and how grossly inefficient that was. He wondered aloud why you would conceive of such solutions, or even more outlandish ones, if there was already such a massive investment in and ready access to existing public transit infrastructure.

It's a fair question. Let's think about the (not mutually exclusive, and in no particular order) possibilities:

1) Ignorance. I am not aware of what line goes where, and don't want to take the time to learn.

2) Convenience. Service is too infrequent and unreliable for me to depend on it.

3) Safety. I'd rather not go underground, where it's dark and I'm not familiar.

4) Aesthetics. Have you seen or smelled a trolley station lately?

5) Car dependence. I need my car where I'm going.

6) Elitism. Only poor people use public transit, so I don't want to mix it up.

1, 4, and 6 sound bad to say, so almost no one ever says them, although I'm sure many think them. If 5 is the case, it's usually said first, since it's such a conversation-ender. 2 and 3 are usually the ones people talk about, and they are real issues.

New York City and Washington, our prominent cities to the north and south, are much more broadly used by all walks of life, which gives us some clue as to how it can happen. 2, 3, and 4 are less of an issue in those two systems, since service is frequent, coverage is almost universal, and stations are well-lit and well-patrolled. On a related note, 6 is a virtuous cycle: as more and different people use the system, there is less and less segregation. So are 1 and 5: the more that people use a system, the more there will be awareness of its intricacies, and the more transit is relied on, the less the car is needed.

So that gives you some guidance from a broad public policy standpoint, as to how to improve a system to the point of increasing and broadening its ridership. In the meantime, here in Philadelphia and in other cities, let's return to the question of our personal preferences. How much of our transit aversion is on account of justifiable reasons, and how much of it is less noble in nature?

We hesitate to say things like "it would be embarrassing for me to be seen on public," "I think poor people are smelly," or "I'd rather not share space with 'those' people" (whoever "those" people happen to be in your city of choice). And yet if, consciously or not, those are our reasons for avoiding public, we ought to pause and consider if we need to make some attitudinal changes. For those are not good attitudes to harbor. We would say so ourselves, so why should we have a blind spot when it comes to our choice of mode of travel?

One Who Believes, and One Who is Not Ready

As a Christian parent, if there's one thing I want more than anything in the world, one thing I pray more than anything else, it's that my kids will come to believe in Jesus. Thinking about their futures from a spiritual standpoint is always something that leaves me equally frightened and excited. Frightened because there are so many pitfalls out there. Excited to see how God will grow their sense of self and of how they have been uniquely made to serve a unique purpose towards a grand objective.

It's early, but so far we get the sense that Jada understands enough about the faith, and she buys it. She thinks the world of her Sunday School teacher, asks good questions about meaningful matters, and likes when we read the Bible every night. Of course, she's into a million other things, and is pretty flighty about all of them, so we'll have to see how deep these roots are. But so far, so good.

Aaron, as with everything else in his life, will only believe when he is ready to believe. And right now, he's not ready. When we or someone else asks him about something related to God or Jesus, he gives a firm "no." Not an antagonistic or combative "no," but a clear "no" nonetheless. We joke that the way to get him sleep is to announce that we're going to pray, since those words seem to always be followed by a yawn or a (real or fake) snoring sound. Again, he's a man of his own timetable, so no one will convince him otherwise if he doesn't himself want it.

So Amy and I continue to pray, sometimes with more fervency with other times. I'm not sure what's more terrifying to me, given how much I love my kids: how much influence we really have over the rest of their spiritual journeys, or how little influence we really have. Either way, we pray.

Membership Bleg

Except for a one-year fling with Adventure Aquarium in Camden, we've stuck with Philadelphia Zoo and Please Touch Museum memberships for much of our tenure as parents, giving us two solid options on any given free weekend. The kids have probably been to both places 40+ places each, and hopefully we've stockpiled a childhood's worth of fond memories and quality bonding moments.

But it may be time for a shift. We've let our Please Touch membership lapse and are almost certainly not renewing. And our zoo membership is not likely to carry on past its end date later this calendar year. Is this the end of having one or two bread and butter play places?

Possibly. Or, with the kids being older and me having a Transpass, it may be time for us to spread our wings. Some quick thoughts on some other possibilities:

* Franklin Institute. The obvious choice. We've been once, and they loved it. It's downtown, and not hard to get to by public. And they could grow with it, as I've seen younger teens have a blast there.

* Art Museum. Would be fun to hob nob with some culture. Art museums are very fun for kids, mine included. An intriguing play.

* Morris Arboretum. Looks fun. Kind of hard to get to. Maybe worth one visit, but it's possible we'd tire of it.

* Longwood Gardens. The dark horse. We've enjoyed it every time we've been. A great place to take out-of-towners. Downside is it's a long drive for us.

* Sesame Place. Maybe when the kids get old enough that we can set them loose inside the park. Can you imagine the fun you could have if you had the option to go splash around in pools and water slides every weekend?

I welcome your corrections if I've mischaracterized any of the above places. And, any other places I missed?

From Everyone Who Has Been Given Much, Much Will Be Required

I enjoyed this study on whether those who have less give more. It is consistent with my experience here in urban Philadelphia as well as my summer in Eastern Europe in 1994: the poorer you are, the more generous you seem to be.

The study hypothesizes a reason: that the poorer you are, the more you are impelled to be sensitized to the needs of others, which makes more likely an attitude of looking out for each other. That seems sensible, especially when applied to situations in which you are not an island of poverty in a sea of wealth. If many around you are in need, it makes sense that you will be mindful to pool scarce resources, and to help out when you can and be helped when others can.

If we are among those with an abundance of resources, we should read this with some discomfort. For giving should be easier for us, not harder, since we have more to give, and can live comfortably with the remainder even if we give a considerable amount. And yet we are often stingier, relatively speaking, in our giving.

Having considered the poor's response to their poverty, let us consider the rich's response to their wealth. Could it be that, while the poor are more empathetic to others' needs because of their need, we could be less empathetic to others' needs because of our lack of need? And/or, could it be that we are not rich in resources (a neutral descriptor of our station in life) but are also more invested in those resources (a moral judgment)? As we accumulate more and more, do we in turn place more and more of ourselves - our happiness, our sense of worth, our source of security - in those things?

The Bible is clear on this subject. Consider Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." And yet, as I have gained more and more over my lifetime, I feel I have become less and less generous in my heart, with my time, and perhaps (as a percentage of income) as it concerns my money. To be sure, as my wealth has increased, so have my responsibilities, most prominently becoming a father of two. But those with far less means than I also have familial obligations, so that is an insufficient excuse.

The fact of the matter is that, as unmaterialistic as I try to say that I am, I am not much different from most other people with an abundance of resources, in that that abundance has not freed me to have an abundance of generosity. Rather, it has more often than not me made feel more guarded in my allocation of what I perceive to be the scarce resources of my time and money. The more that is required of us is painfully contrasted with the less that we actually do. Shame on me, and shame on others in my generation, especially when those resources could be deployed for such great use all over the world.

Lazy Linking, 44th in an Occasional Series

Stuff I liked lately on the Internets:

44.1. Michael Oh reminds us that Japan needed our prayer and help well before the triple tragedy. The casualty total from the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown is likely to hit 25,000 . . . but the nation's annual suicide count is 30,000.

44.2. This is why I call 9th Street the "Italian/Chinese/Mexican/Vietnamese Market." Immigrants rule! If people are looking for a place to bust their tail to make an honest trade for themselves and their families, shouldn't we want more of them and not fewer?

44.3. BMW sees a future of mass migration to dense mega-cities that are not nearly as car-dependent, so it's making a big bet on technologies that will help people move around without cars. Now that's what I call good hedging.

44.4. Frank Wu lectures on the future of civil rights and civic engagement in multiracial America. Read his book, "Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White."

44.5. A Grand Unified Theory of humor. Benign violations? Brilliant.

Huang Family Newsletter, April 2011

Busy month. What's new?

The kids went to a baby shower, helped clean up the Bird Sanctuary right outside our backyard, visited the local contemporary art museum, hit all our trusty old stomping grounds (Penn campus, Please Touch Museum, Zoo, and two downtown jaunts), and enjoyed Easter at their grandparents'.

Lee's office moved downtown, so he gets himself there and the kids to school by bus instead of bike. Lee and Amy have been so busy at their jobs that a night out seems a stretch, but they were able to attend a cancer center benefit (on their anniversary!) and had a great time out dining and dancing with friends.

Four Buses, Two Sites, Tons of Fun

For all of you cheap and environmentally sensitized urban dads out there, did I have a day out with the kids for the ages. With our Please Touch Museum membership expiring, I decided to take Aaron and Jada there one last time. And, because I am with Transpass, we decided to go all SEPTA. So we grabbed one bus a block from our house, got off, picked up a second bus across the street, and took that to a block away from Please Touch.

The kids have been about 40+ times, so while they had a blast at their familiar haunts, I don't think we'll be going again for a long time. So we lived it up, riding on the carousel three times as a last hurrah. Then we hit the gift shop, a first in all the times we've been, because they were having an insane clearance sale. I ended up with about $60 worth of stuff for barely five bucks. Kids happy, Dad happy.

I wasn't sure what the bus schedule was from there, so I took the kids to the front of the museum and we waited on the sidewalk, munching on the lunch I had packed for us. Five minutes into lunch, the bus arrived, so we hopped on, stuffing our half-eaten items back into my tote bag. The bus wound all through West Philadelphia before crossing over into Center City down the Parkway to City Hall.

We got off at Broad Street, right in the middle of our second stop, which was the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. Man, what a sight. Thousands of people congregated on South Broad, milling about street performers, multiple sound stages, and all sorts of booths for kids and grown-ups. After we finished our lunch and threw away all our trash, the kids quickly scored free smoothies and free balloons, while I took photos and video as much as I could. I particularly enjoyed the way they decorated the street to resemble a fair: it's not every day you can walk on grass, sit at a table, or admire floral arrangements all in the middle of a usually busy urban thoroughfare.

We hoofed it two whole blocks to the rerouted bus stop for our line home. Within minutes, it arrived to whisk us back to our neighborhood, where we got off, walked less than a block, went inside, and examined all of the free loot we had scored. Not a bad way to spend a pretty Saturday.

People Everywhere

In a city of 1.5 million people that is the core of a metro region of 6+ million, you're going to have lots of people in lots of different places. Sure enough, yesterday there were people everywhere. Our bus transfer to Please Touch Museum was on the Penn campus, which even at a relatively early hour was bustling with foot traffic. Please Touch, of course, was a veritable turnstile of kids and parents. We ended up at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts on South Broad, which was swarming with bodies. Finally, our bus ride home took us right past Franklin Field, where Penn Relays was on, which meant school bus after school bus, and runners and spectators alike milling about. (When I got home, I turned on the tube real quick and caught a few pitches of the Phillies game. So that's another 45,000+ people.)

Interestingly, all of these places had a pretty healthy mix of people, in terms of age, skin color, and (if clothes were any indicator) income level. It was a beautiful sight to see such diversity, especially when contrasted with the relative racial and socio-economic homogeneity of the neighborhoods our buses traveled through, or of the clientele of the buses themselves. I may blog in the near future about this subject in greater detail, but for now I'll just observe that while we seem to be fine mixing it up in public places, we tend to prefer to keep to our own in our residential neighborhoods and in our choice of travel mode.