In the Land of Jason

        I?m taking a break from geeking out with my ipod touch. Technology is revolutionizing how we as medical practitioners deal with all the new information out there. I can download podcasts that range from ivy league medical schools, to podcasts that discuss the newest consumer health fraud product out there (remember the foot pads that cleansed the body whiel you slept), to medical ethics debates. Plus I can load up reliable software products to help me as I study and review for boards. This is the actual reason I bought it in the first place. Many med school will include a PDA w/Epocrates preloaded for incoming students. Epocrates helps the practitioner look for cheaper generics, alternatives when there are allergies, drug interactions, and dosing guidelines. A must for begininers and slowing becoming standard for even experienced providers as medications are added as such a rapid pace. My ipod also syncs with my google calendar and with a 10 dollar addon can work as a audio recorder (I?ll let you know how it works this fall in class). So my Ipod works as a PDA, calendar, internet, microphone, desk reference (meds plus the Spanish dictionary I downloaded), music players, and mobile classroom. I sound like I?m selling them dont I?

        Oh yeah I just got new headphones that sit behind the pinna of the ear and vibrate through the cartilage. The clarity is incredible plus I can still hear what's going on around me. My head literally vibrates to the music. It feel like live music does. Plus the clarity means I can enjoy it at lower levels. I bought at Odd lots for 15 bucks but it looks like on Amazon they're selling for like 150 dollars! 

        Some of you know that I?ve struggled with my role with/in the Latino church. I?ve been there since 2001 but have always seen myself as a temp until something more permanent came along. When Jorge left I sorely wanted to leave. Not because I felt that the ministry didn?t have value or promise rather that I wasn?t able to dedicate the time I felt it deserved. Abdiel asked me to stay on to provide some stability and so I did. Now three years later with another minister starting I?m back to the same question. I?ve refused to preach largely because I want them to develop their own leadership, because I know I carry perhaps too much weight as it is, and due to time constraints. I don?t like to be a pew warmer and I have been as active as someone can be without teaching. From taking Javier to court down by Lexington to discussing health issues to providing backstory, I?ve always been busy. The thing is that now as I get busier, I find that I don?t know the people as I once did. It?s a dangerous thing to think your in a different place than what you are. I don?t spend much time outside of church with any of the guys and this can easily lead to an incomplete view. Every Sunday a line that forms to talk to me about ?American? issues or health concerns. I feel more like a consultant than a member. Add to this that even when I was very active I didn?t know the English church well and after nearly ten years I find myself feeling like a visiting distant cousin.

       So here's where this is headed. When I graduate next year I will most likely move out of CIncy, so I need to decide of what to do in the meantime. I need to get through school but I also need fellowship. Do I seek out a new church, where I can worship with other Anglos here Cincy? If I did this I would most likely get a big boost spiritually from others with a similar cultural and spiritual outlook (ideally anyway) and maybe a future supporting church. I really miss worshiping in English. The last time I got teary eye because it felt so natural. I could still remain in touch with the Iglesia de Cristo but would further withdrawl from the latin immigrant community. I would most likely loose a lot of my fluency in Spanish and some of the church members might be hurt. Option would be that I could also elect to stay at Western Hills and float along waiting until the end of year. The last option is to seek out another church to worship at in the evenings. I did this for sometime at CLovernook back in 02 when I felt a lot of pressure from the ministry, but found myself feeling torn after a year or so of not committing to the Anglo service. This is the direction I'm leaning. Keep this in your prayers.

                                  Jason

Crazy militant squirrel threatens me with embarrasing photos involving me, a garrulous mime, an apoplectic cow, and a very, very angry chipmunk. Chipmunks do not like being dressed up like panda ninjas.