I spent the past week with Wilderness Wind, a Mennonite camp that outfits and guides groups into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. I was there with five other men from Living Water. We spent four nights and five days canoeing through beautiful lakes, rivers and pine forests. It was a wonderful space completely unplugged from the digital world and the pressures and control of time. We ate when we were hungry and went to sleep when we were tired. Here are a few of my journal entries from the week to give you a window into my time.

My awareness of how I read the Bible has been strongly shaped by my experience of British Anabaptism through working Anabaptist Network. The second of the Anabaptist Network's seven core convictions is:

Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus-centred approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.

If you find yourseld driving through Illinois this summer on I-80 and find yourself craving a wine slushy about halfway across the state take exit 81 and follow the singns for Starved Rock to Utica, IL and stop by August Hill Winery. While the non-drivers sip the surprisingly tart, refreshing slushies you can enjoy 10 of my photos alongside work from five other Illinois artists. Its the first time I've had my work in a show and I had a great time putting it all together.

In case you don't find yourself at August Hill before the end of August, here are the photos on display there in all their digital glory.

Coleus, Chicago, 12:59 pm

This afternoon I was very happy to read of the release of Umar Jaleel, a member of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. Jaleel was kidnapped in February while doing peace work on Basilan Island in the Mindanao region of the Philippines. From yesterday's press release:

Jaleel is alive and is currently en route to medical facilities.  He was released today at 1245 UTC near the vicinity of Tipo Tipo on Basilan.  Jaleel was released through negotiations between a spokesperson for the captors and Nonviolen Peaceforce, with the assistance of local contacts supported by the provincial administration, the Philippine National Police and the Western Mindanao Command.

Every once in a while, I stumble across a bunch of links all at once that don't quite have the coherence to link together in one story, but each offer a compelling perspective. Here are the links that caught my eye this week with brief summaries of the stories:

• Life Inc: How the world became a corporation and how to take it back - I first became aware of Douglas Rushkoff last month after he published two of the best articles on the financial crisis I've read (here and here). Now he has a new book out on corporatism that lucidly illuminates the ruthless role of corporations in our economy as they extract maximum value while giving as little as possible in return. The article above includes brilliant excerpts from chapter 8 and chapter 9 of his book.

Contrary to its name, After the Mayflower starts slightly before the Pilgrims made landfall in Plymouth and provides a brief, but rich window into the way of life for the Wampanoag, the local Native American tribe near Plymouth rock, before the Pilgrims arrived. What was it like to be Wampanoag, the people of the first light, stretched out along the ocean, clearly aware of your place in the continent, welcoming the sun before all others? We also learn about the broad strokes of their political relationships with other local tribes as well as the plague that arrived just before the pilgrims killing 9 in 10 Wampanoag.

I've spent plenty of my life hanging around many of the Mennonite meccas like Goshen and Lancaster, but Harrisonburg is one that I've only visited a few times. This past weekend was probably the first time I've been there as an adult. At the invitation of my sister-in-law I spent a few hours wandering around downtown taking pictures of the buildings and the blooms. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I hope you'll enjoy the results of my wanderings. I've included a few pastoral scenes from the wedding and reception sites as well.

Being a photographer at a wedding really changes your perspective on things. For about 8 hours straight I had my photographer's blinders on and was constantly watching for the best shot. It was fun to be able to freely wander around the auditoriam during the wedding. My black outfit and camera were a license to step outside normal expectations and roles and creatively explore the space and the people moving through it. It was completely different from my previous wedding experience as an audience member, groomsmen and groom. I think I could get used to it.

Friday, the temperatures in Chicago were in the 80's. In the evening, the rain spritzed on us, but for the first time in 6 months, it was a warm rain. The rainbows came out and everyone walking along Loyola Beach just smiled. Three weeks ago, I was welcoming spring, but it feels like time to welcome summer. I was reminded once again how Chicago skips spring. It feels like we go straight from snow to hot.

Over on Young Anabaptist Radicals, we recently had a post asking for opinions and thoughts regarding the search for a new Mennonite Church executive director. I asked to hear more about the job of the current executive director and Dave S responded with an overview of the work Jim Schrag does. One of the things that struck me about his response was the amount of time Jim spends focused on structures. Dave mentions "agencies, conferences, schools... many groups, convention planning, several boards, committees and leadership groups, and so on".

Reading Dave's comment led me to a clearer sense of my hopes for the new executive director: that he or she can facilitate the de-bureaucratization of Mennonite Church USA and its agencies.