I'm not very social, but occasionally someone takes a photo of me and it finds its way onto Instagram. For my own reference, here are a few of those from friends and family.

Also, I've contributed my inarticulate opinions to a couple episodes of A Path for Progress. I have a lot to learn about talking politics, but it's good practice for when I start my podcast.

Last night, while I walked the dog, a guy pulled over near me, rolled down his window, and told me "Jesus Loves You." I didn't feel like engaging in the conversation at all—I was far more interested in continuing walking the dog—but it did cause a few reflections about my years as an evangelical. Here are some of the things I was thinking, as I posted them to Twitter.

30 second snippets are not the best way to get an idea across, but I don't feel that my reflections are YouTube-worthy at the moment.

Here are a couple other related reflections:

• I've been on the other end of this. I know what it's like to awkwardly share my faith, only to have the other party flatly show no interest.
• There are many different motivations for this sort of evangelism: for example, He may have made a commitment to tell the gospel to one person a day. I've heard people make daily quote commitments like that before. Perhaps he felt like he needs to "get his numbers up," just as I was trying to "get my steps up" before midnight and my pedometer rolled over. It was 11:30 at night and perhaps he hadn't told anybody the gospel yesterday. I, leaning against a wall and looking down at my phone, would be an easy candidate. 
• There's a narrative in evangelism that assumes that the message you have is so valuable that nobody should ever deny it. It should, as my wife suggested, "waft from you like an aroma of fresh cookies" that attracts everybody that hears it. When they hear it, their lives will change. They can't resist it. The problem is, of course, that they can resist the gospel and they do resist the gospel. For thoughtful, critical thinkers like myself, this caused some severe cognitive dissonance.
• It's sort-of like the "L'il Susy" narrative, best exemplified by Jack Chick. I'd read a good discussion of this a few years ago; I don't remember where. However, in each L'il Susy comic, Susy tells the gospel and children receive it wholeheartedly and completely. This guy, pulling over to the side of the road, probably had an adult version of the narrative in his head. He wanted me to hear the words "Jesus loves you" and for it to click in my head that "This is what I need." Instead, I gave him the confirmation of persecution. 

The further I get from Christianity, the more ridiculous and offensive the message becomes. I once thought I'd continue to be interested in Christian thought, but it grows more banal by the day. 

And I'm thankful for the distance.

My first camerahack attempt using my Argus (above) was a failure. When I got the film developed, the computers at London Drugs couldn't find the images, they were so overexposed. I could see a couple faint shadows on the developed film, but could barely make out an image. I used a Sharpie to delineate the ends of the photos I hoped to see, but the computers still couldn't find them. I vowed to buy a negative scanner so I could "develop" the images myself. I didn't get such a scanner for another 5 years or so.

And I lost that piece of negative. I thought it might be lost forever.

Until tonight. While organizing photograph prints, I found the negative. it was bent and in really rough shape. But after some wrangling with the scanner frame, after five years of waiting, I finally got to scan the thing.

Here's what I scanned:

I gotta' admit that I love them. They worked perfectly. They are perfect failures.

A couple thoughts about my place in the profession where I earn my wage:

Teaching pushes my brain to think in wide swathes. One day, however, I'd like to focus on something. I still don't know how it feels to focus on one thing and one thing alone.

On Friday night, we spent the night at Othello Tunnels Campground in Hope, BC, but the others in our party found the passing trucks unbearable. I didn't really notice the trucks because I didn't know any better. But we packed up and drove up the forest road to Jones Lake.

And the sounds of nature were sonorous. And the sky was jammed with stars and a few planets. And it didn't really take that long to set up or tear down. And the beach was covered with sand and glass, but the girls had a good time. And I had a good time too, although I was admittedly antsy. 

At one point, my S5's battery died because we forgot the car charger. Fortunately, I'd decided to bring the old Blackberry Torch, which I initially intended to be my daughter's camera for the trip. I used the Torch for quite a few photographs, including the one of frogs in the top-right corner. It was fun to use the old-school cameraphone, but it was also a good reminder of the severe superiority of the S5. The novelty of the Torch's camera wears off quickly.

It's good to know about the campsite. I will return there. I'd like to return sometime without needing to stress out about the RV's tires and whatnot, perhaps just to go there with the kids.