Building on my last post about appreciation, I wanted to write a little about how I've grown in appreciation for things I didn't necessarily highly value at earlier points in my life.
Perhaps each one of us can look back and remember being told to do chores around the house and how much we loved to do them (not). I couldn't watch TV on Friday night or Saturday morning or attend any of the school holiday parties. I remember having to sit still in church as a preteen, taking notes and looking up scriptures while my school friends were out playing team sports and riding their bikes. I remember my first experiences on the job not exactly being the most exciting. I have heard over and over from friends a co-workers--and I might have uttered more than once myself--that we work to live and not the other way around.
Yet one of the main lessons I've learned in life is that anything worth having is worth working for. 'Work' here can probably mean anything we've put effort into or perhaps even struggled through. While I didn't like doing chores for my parents, I did find, upon moving to my own apartment, that I had certain expectations of cleanliness and kept my place fairly tidy. When I started working, a nice Sabbath rest and spiritual recharge proved to be a huge relief after a long week in the world's grasp..
And on my motivations in my career... Well, let's just say that it took more than a few years to get through my thick skull that hard labor was actually good for me. In those years, I annoyed my first manager quite a bit to the point he would drag me to a private room for one-on-one meetings. There, and in my annual reviews, he would tell me that I lacked "ownership," which to me was a nebulous managerial term meaning I needed to work nights and weekends for no additional pay. (I was never lacking for cynicism...) But in order to appease my manager and keep my job, I prayed to God that I might learn good work habits and become a profitable servant.
Over time, I switched teams and got handed several projects that I became the "expert" of. In other words, nobody else wanted it, it was new, or I brought it with me from my old team. My clients would need something quickly and I had to build it for them with timeliness and quality. Several of them would forward on their appreciation for my efforts. Then another issue might arise with a different project or I'd receive a new one, and the cycle would continue. This same cycle occurred on my first team, but now I was suddenly aware of what true "ownership" was; it was responsibility for something that I had invested a great deal of time and effort into and got a great deal of appreciation out of.
There's a word here that's very significant: 'invested'. The difference between cleaning my parents' home and my own was that I was invested in my place. That's not to lessen the wonderful lessons I was taught by doing chores as a kid. But when you search for a house or apartment, sign all the paperwork, move all your stuff, decorate, pay rent and utilities, lock up and protect your place, it's a whole different ballgame. When they're my projects, they were far more important to me.
Likewise, rather than just getting rest on some random day of the week, the Sabbath became a whole day to invest in God, just as the Bible says He has invested in me. I attend services with like-minded brethren and invest in them, too. And as we study, pray, fast, meditate, serve, encourage and edify, we are investing in the soon-coming Kingdom that Christ Jesus will set up shortly on this earth!
'Work' takes on a different meaning for me when I am invested. Rather than drudging from deadline to deadline, each job has meaning and there are important lessons that can be derived from most every activity. When invested, I take the role of a servant leader to my manager, minister, clients, co-workers, brethren, and even strangers in that I will volunteer to do whatever it takes to give them what they need to thrive. More accurately, God places us in a position and hands us expectations spelled out over the duration of our calling, baptism and conversion, similar to a business. It should be our privilege to serve in this way and take ownership for what we're invested in.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Appreciation
I'd like to say a few words about appreciation today. And no, not the kind of appreciation that my home's value is unlikely to be receiving lately. Google's definition is, "understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something." 'Understanding' here, to me, is more than just an acknowledgment of something we think is good or helpful, it is also the deep feelings of value associated with something.
For example, I find God's Law, the Bible, wisdom and other spiritual concepts to be good and helpful. But I seem to have a stronger emotional reaction to physical things, perhaps a nice condo at the Feast, a fancy sports car, a fine wine, expensive clothes or shoes, a quality vacation, etc. I'm not saying that the spiritual things aren't better, as they obviously are. I'm referring to the fact that given my actions, I seem to be more naturally drawn to the physical than the spiritual. That said, I also recognize that when the Holy Spirit is truly working with me, it's far and away the most powerful experience I've had. But over time, while the memory of that experience remains, the feelings fade, as it does with the physical.
This comes as no surprise to me when I think about it. But the problem I'm having is that I don't think about it all that much. Sure, I study, pray, try to find ways to serve and what not, but I still find the pulls of the flesh more tempting. In order to do these spiritual things, I've had to make them habitual. I've gotten to the point that I've derived real value out of these activities, but when push comes to shove, I'd rather go shop for a new stereo than read an extra couple of chapters. "Oh, you wanted to hang out tonight? Okay, I can fast some other time." And so forth.
In other words, I'm okay with the daily routine of prayer, Bible study, etc., but in order to grow my current plateau, I think I need to increase the worth I place on spiritually-based activities in order to increase the amount I want do them versus the purely physical--or the kinds of things that are simply carnal pleasures. Carnal doesn't necessarily mean bad things, just not things that help you grow in grace and knowledge. I figure if I learn to grow in my desire to do these spiritual tasks and perhaps lessen the excitement I feel for the others, I will choose the eternal over the temporary. Or to steal the other meaning of the word 'appreciate', which is to grow in value, I'll appreciate my appreciation.
For example, I find God's Law, the Bible, wisdom and other spiritual concepts to be good and helpful. But I seem to have a stronger emotional reaction to physical things, perhaps a nice condo at the Feast, a fancy sports car, a fine wine, expensive clothes or shoes, a quality vacation, etc. I'm not saying that the spiritual things aren't better, as they obviously are. I'm referring to the fact that given my actions, I seem to be more naturally drawn to the physical than the spiritual. That said, I also recognize that when the Holy Spirit is truly working with me, it's far and away the most powerful experience I've had. But over time, while the memory of that experience remains, the feelings fade, as it does with the physical.
This comes as no surprise to me when I think about it. But the problem I'm having is that I don't think about it all that much. Sure, I study, pray, try to find ways to serve and what not, but I still find the pulls of the flesh more tempting. In order to do these spiritual things, I've had to make them habitual. I've gotten to the point that I've derived real value out of these activities, but when push comes to shove, I'd rather go shop for a new stereo than read an extra couple of chapters. "Oh, you wanted to hang out tonight? Okay, I can fast some other time." And so forth.
In other words, I'm okay with the daily routine of prayer, Bible study, etc., but in order to grow my current plateau, I think I need to increase the worth I place on spiritually-based activities in order to increase the amount I want do them versus the purely physical--or the kinds of things that are simply carnal pleasures. Carnal doesn't necessarily mean bad things, just not things that help you grow in grace and knowledge. I figure if I learn to grow in my desire to do these spiritual tasks and perhaps lessen the excitement I feel for the others, I will choose the eternal over the temporary. Or to steal the other meaning of the word 'appreciate', which is to grow in value, I'll appreciate my appreciation.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Talents
I was having a conversation with a friend about motivation the other day. During it, we were discussing a personality type that seems to put forth a lot of effort towards some stated goal, but rarely seems to finish the job. I told him I was at a loss for how one could encourage such individuals, so he suggested that I take a closer look at the parable of the talents. He thought this tale would be a good way to illustrate some important points on productivity. This suggestion prompted me to reread the parable of the talents within the context of motivation and productivity and their importance to God. The more I read and thought about it, a good number of helpful lessons became apparent.
First, let’s get the context of this story. Matthew 25:15 states, “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability.” The word ‘ability’ here signifies that the master knew how much each servant was capable of based on past performance. He obviously knew the servant to whom he gave five talents could handle a larger amount of responsibility and the servant given two talents with somewhat less.
The servant receiving only one talent was entrusted with the least. Perhaps the master knew this servant’s character displayed a clear lack of motivation judging by his past work as we will see later. It may have been a test for him, but that is speculation. We do know that he only gave him one talent, so his ability was deemed to be smaller than the others. Based on that understanding, we find out what the servant actually did with his money; he buried it in the ground (v18). It is possible that he had hoped God would tremendously bless him by growing a money tree, but that, too, is speculation.
Why did the last servant not do anything? Verses 24-25 give us his explanation: “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” “See? No harm done. You got your talent back, even!” It’s not exactly clear what the servant was really afraid of, but it is clear he wasn’t fearful enough to actually have done anything with the money. Verse 26 shows the master’s reply to this excuse: “You wicked and lazy servant,” – obviously, the master wasn’t pleased that his servant did nothing with his money – “you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.”
The master explained that the servant’s clear understanding of his expectations should have motivated him to work rather than stop him from working. “So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.” Here, the master implies that the servant should have known to at least use bankers. It appears likely that the servant was educated enough to know this, but he simply refused to take the first step. It is imperative to begin working in order to gain momentum; otherwise we are merely dreaming and hoping. That is the first lesson we can glean here: Take one step.
If the last servant would have taken this first step, he would have already met the stated criteria of his master – to grow his investment. In doing so, he theoretically would have talked with the bankers and perhaps found other ways to invest his master’s money. He could have learned on the job while gaining knowledge and experience each step of the way. He had the opportunity to become a more profitable servant, but chose to pass it up because of a lack of motivation, true fear and respect for his master’s expectations.
Although the parable doesn’t say so, the master likely gave the last servant many chances to prove his worth before this final opportunity became the last straw. He ordered his other servants to “cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (v29). The second lesson is: if we won’t work, it won’t be pretty.
If we aren’t willing to work with God, He can’t work with us. “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). When we enter our covenant relationship with God, He expects us to do His will and become more like Him (John 15:14, Heb. 8:10). The consequences of not holding up our end of the bargain is destruction, yet it is mercifully so. We could not be happy living in a giving, sharing, loving and everlasting Kingdom such that God is preparing for us if we’re not willing to put forth the kind of effort required for it to stay that way.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 simply states that “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with [all] your might.” If one isn’t putting their full effort into each task they undertake, they likely won’t get the best results. If our whole attention isn’t given to the task at hand, there might be lessons that go unlearned and knowledge that is missed. Certainly, we cannot expect God to bless us to the fullest if we are only partly devoted to Him. Nor can we truly say that something wasn’t meant to be, or “God’s will,” if we didn’t really try our best. This is the third lesson: If you’re going to work, work hard.
The other servants did just that. The second servant, judged to be slightly more capable than the last servant, was given two talents by his master. He took that first step – and likely many more – worked hard, and earned double his master’s investment. “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:20). His reward? Verse 23 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” He was complimented for his hard work and given a portion of his master’s sizable inheritance. To summarize, there are two lessons here: we are judged by our fruits, not just our desire and effort, and hard work pays off.
While highly celebrated by his master, the second servant wasn’t quite as industrious as the first servant, who was given five talents and earned five more through trading (v20). This servant was judged by the master to be a go-getter and self-starter. It has been said that if you want something done, give it to the busiest person. The first servant was that kind of individual. This is demonstrated by verse 28: “So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.” This describes the sixth lesson: accomplishment generates a greater desire to produce more.
This hardly seemed fair to the other servants in the parallel account, who stated: “Master, he [already] has ten minas” (Luke 19:25). But the master replies: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matt. 25:29). This practice might not appear fair at first glance, but it can be explained as the only fair way.
To illustrate, one point must be made about the kind of person the first servant was. These personality types are many times the top men of organizations or governments, much like a CEO, president or leading evangelist. They hone their efforts to become as efficient as possible. Every task undertaken is organized and prioritized so it gets done with quality. And they always try to keep the big picture in mind in order to keep themselves focused and moving in the right direction. People with this mindset do not sit around waiting for someone else to schedule a meeting or worry about every last detail. Rather, they get to work knowing they have plenty more to do later.
In essence, this industrious servant was of the pedigree that God could trust with that high level of workload. He displayed the motivation required and used his God-given talents to perform the job at hand. The lazy servant, if given such responsibility, would have likely caved under the pressure! It could be said that the second servant wouldn’t have even liked having that much responsibility, but was productive enough to handle and enjoy the amount he was given (Luke 19:19) because it better suited his skills and personality. God doesn’t need everyone to be CEOs and presidents, but he will test our character to see what we can handle. Similarly, each one of us must be motivated and productive in order to prove to ourselves what abilities we have. Positions in the Kingdom of God will match our skill set. The final lesson we can take from these profitable servants is: God prepares us for our perfect job.
We learn much about where we’ll fit in God’s awesome plan through our efforts in this physical life. The parable of the talents teaches us that motivation breeds productivity, responsibility, skills and knowledge that are required by God to rule in His Kingdom. These attributes, once started upon, will continue to increase asymptotically until they match God’s eternally flawless character. Finally, we will receive our inheritance, as He declares in Matthew 25:21: “Well done, GOOD and FAITHFUL servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
First, let’s get the context of this story. Matthew 25:15 states, “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability.” The word ‘ability’ here signifies that the master knew how much each servant was capable of based on past performance. He obviously knew the servant to whom he gave five talents could handle a larger amount of responsibility and the servant given two talents with somewhat less.
The servant receiving only one talent was entrusted with the least. Perhaps the master knew this servant’s character displayed a clear lack of motivation judging by his past work as we will see later. It may have been a test for him, but that is speculation. We do know that he only gave him one talent, so his ability was deemed to be smaller than the others. Based on that understanding, we find out what the servant actually did with his money; he buried it in the ground (v18). It is possible that he had hoped God would tremendously bless him by growing a money tree, but that, too, is speculation.
Why did the last servant not do anything? Verses 24-25 give us his explanation: “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” “See? No harm done. You got your talent back, even!” It’s not exactly clear what the servant was really afraid of, but it is clear he wasn’t fearful enough to actually have done anything with the money. Verse 26 shows the master’s reply to this excuse: “You wicked and lazy servant,” – obviously, the master wasn’t pleased that his servant did nothing with his money – “you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.”
The master explained that the servant’s clear understanding of his expectations should have motivated him to work rather than stop him from working. “So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.” Here, the master implies that the servant should have known to at least use bankers. It appears likely that the servant was educated enough to know this, but he simply refused to take the first step. It is imperative to begin working in order to gain momentum; otherwise we are merely dreaming and hoping. That is the first lesson we can glean here: Take one step.
If the last servant would have taken this first step, he would have already met the stated criteria of his master – to grow his investment. In doing so, he theoretically would have talked with the bankers and perhaps found other ways to invest his master’s money. He could have learned on the job while gaining knowledge and experience each step of the way. He had the opportunity to become a more profitable servant, but chose to pass it up because of a lack of motivation, true fear and respect for his master’s expectations.
Although the parable doesn’t say so, the master likely gave the last servant many chances to prove his worth before this final opportunity became the last straw. He ordered his other servants to “cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (v29). The second lesson is: if we won’t work, it won’t be pretty.
If we aren’t willing to work with God, He can’t work with us. “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). When we enter our covenant relationship with God, He expects us to do His will and become more like Him (John 15:14, Heb. 8:10). The consequences of not holding up our end of the bargain is destruction, yet it is mercifully so. We could not be happy living in a giving, sharing, loving and everlasting Kingdom such that God is preparing for us if we’re not willing to put forth the kind of effort required for it to stay that way.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 simply states that “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with [all] your might.” If one isn’t putting their full effort into each task they undertake, they likely won’t get the best results. If our whole attention isn’t given to the task at hand, there might be lessons that go unlearned and knowledge that is missed. Certainly, we cannot expect God to bless us to the fullest if we are only partly devoted to Him. Nor can we truly say that something wasn’t meant to be, or “God’s will,” if we didn’t really try our best. This is the third lesson: If you’re going to work, work hard.
The other servants did just that. The second servant, judged to be slightly more capable than the last servant, was given two talents by his master. He took that first step – and likely many more – worked hard, and earned double his master’s investment. “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:20). His reward? Verse 23 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” He was complimented for his hard work and given a portion of his master’s sizable inheritance. To summarize, there are two lessons here: we are judged by our fruits, not just our desire and effort, and hard work pays off.
While highly celebrated by his master, the second servant wasn’t quite as industrious as the first servant, who was given five talents and earned five more through trading (v20). This servant was judged by the master to be a go-getter and self-starter. It has been said that if you want something done, give it to the busiest person. The first servant was that kind of individual. This is demonstrated by verse 28: “So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.” This describes the sixth lesson: accomplishment generates a greater desire to produce more.
This hardly seemed fair to the other servants in the parallel account, who stated: “Master, he [already] has ten minas” (Luke 19:25). But the master replies: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matt. 25:29). This practice might not appear fair at first glance, but it can be explained as the only fair way.
To illustrate, one point must be made about the kind of person the first servant was. These personality types are many times the top men of organizations or governments, much like a CEO, president or leading evangelist. They hone their efforts to become as efficient as possible. Every task undertaken is organized and prioritized so it gets done with quality. And they always try to keep the big picture in mind in order to keep themselves focused and moving in the right direction. People with this mindset do not sit around waiting for someone else to schedule a meeting or worry about every last detail. Rather, they get to work knowing they have plenty more to do later.
In essence, this industrious servant was of the pedigree that God could trust with that high level of workload. He displayed the motivation required and used his God-given talents to perform the job at hand. The lazy servant, if given such responsibility, would have likely caved under the pressure! It could be said that the second servant wouldn’t have even liked having that much responsibility, but was productive enough to handle and enjoy the amount he was given (Luke 19:19) because it better suited his skills and personality. God doesn’t need everyone to be CEOs and presidents, but he will test our character to see what we can handle. Similarly, each one of us must be motivated and productive in order to prove to ourselves what abilities we have. Positions in the Kingdom of God will match our skill set. The final lesson we can take from these profitable servants is: God prepares us for our perfect job.
We learn much about where we’ll fit in God’s awesome plan through our efforts in this physical life. The parable of the talents teaches us that motivation breeds productivity, responsibility, skills and knowledge that are required by God to rule in His Kingdom. These attributes, once started upon, will continue to increase asymptotically until they match God’s eternally flawless character. Finally, we will receive our inheritance, as He declares in Matthew 25:21: “Well done, GOOD and FAITHFUL servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Be Diligently Vigilant
I heard a story a long time ago about a guy, we'll call him Bob [his name was NOT Bob :) ] that was crossing the street, when all of the sudden, he was shoved in the back by a stranger. Knocked down by the incident, he furiously got up and found his assailant. This man, obviously winded, asked, "Are you okay?" Puzzled, Bob retorted, "Not after you knocked me down!! What were you thinking?!" The other man, obviously taken aback by this comment, replied, "You were almost hit by a speeding car! Crazy drivers these days!" "But I didn't see any car," Bob muttered, confused himself. "Well," the man said with a smile on his face, "I don't suppose you do see the car that hits you most times, do you?"
I remembered that story after thinking about getting caught off guard by sudden frustrations and temptations in my life. Wondering what to do about these problems as they catch me unaware along with the resulting filth I produce reminded me of I Peter 5:8-9. It states, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..." I've heard and read this passage what seems to be hundreds of times, and occasionally, a fuller picture of what this scripture is really stating stikes me. However, recently, events have caused this and other passages like it to hit me more like a ton of bricks.
See, normally, I'm focused on the "your adversary the devil" part, and honestly, I think I look out for the more obvious evil attitudes or actions that would come from him. However, after analyzing myself and situations I frequently get myself into, I've realized more and more that we are to be vigilant against the far more subtle everyday occurrences influenced by the attitudes and confusion that Satan unleashes on this world.
Quick aside: Now, some of you (or the one person that may actually read this blog (thanks!!)) may be stating, "Duh." But epiphanies sometime hit us emotionally more than intellectually, and this is one of those occasions for me. When things strike at my person or emotional base, it causes me to seriously dig deep with real questions and begin a process of change. Whereas when I just intellectually understand something, it's generally more like, "That's such a cool idea! Ooh, look! A pretty bird!" And my mind is onto the next distraction, ala James 1:22-24 (the mirror passage).
But this whole concept much deeper than that to me, so I'll attempt to go into the line of thinking that led me to it (feel free to follow along if you'd like). It started out by analyzing some of the sins I've been having serious trouble overcoming. One thing I've learned from meditating on these sins is that knowledge helps us understand why we do things, but it doesn't necessarily help us to stop. So once I was satisfied with the fact that I had mostly understood why I was committing these sins repeatedly, the effects of them on me, my loved ones, and God, the spiritual fruits and gifts required to overcome them and even how those fruits helped and blended with God's other fruits and gifts to make life so much easier... (I'll take a deep breath now from this run-on sentence...) ...I started to look for the solution on how to actually stop committing them.
But upon trying to stop several times, I was led to understand that really didn't want to overcome these sins. I mean, I knew I needed to, and I know God requires us to act on what we know, otherwise it's sin to us. Yet I was being completely stubborn.
So I figured the way to gaining back this desire to change for the better was to study how to overcome stubbornness. I mean, the Bible has the answer for all of these kinds of questions, right? What I found shouldn't have surprised me, but it did... The Bible merely points out that people are stubborn and foolish, similar to the way it points out that people are prideful, arrogant, liars, fornicators, drunkards, idolators, etc. There was no way to "ease" out of being stubborn, no mantra I had to chant umpteen-thousand times, and asking God to "change me" over and over again, ala the persistent widow, wasn't going to work quite the way I hoped... <*sigh*> All it points out is the same solution for each and every one of our problems: humble yourself to God, allow Jesus Christ to work within you and, finally, simply DO what He tells us to do, wherever we learn it. I had to just man up and do it. A great quote that goes with this concept is given to us by Master Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."
I always take my advice from Muppets, don't you?
A physical example of this could be the day some of us look in the mirror or look down at our gut and say, "Wow, I need to exercise." And that thought quickly passes as we head to the fridge. Then a few weeks down the road, we finally get really sick of it and we might attempt a few sit-ups or take a long walk. But the follow-up is lacking. Finally, we realize that we need to get into a routine of exercise. Once again, it lasts for a while, but busy-ness, distractions, stress and just being utterly tired get in the way. Besides, that cheeseburger looked waaaay too good. But we learned how much better we could feel by trying...
Then it finally hits some of us. Real change can only take place when we notice that it's our entire lifestyle that needs to change. The kind of food we eat, the amount of sleep we get, the kind of exercise we do, the stresses we have, even the people we spend time with... It's at this point that it all becomes clear, and yet we have to make a choice: Am I really going to change my whole lifestyle, or am I going to go back and just be satisfied with what annoyed me so much before?
I give this example because it demonstrates that physical and spiritual problems can be viewed - and resolved - in much in the same way. The moment I realized I had to go all out kind of scared me, and yet it gave me clarity that I needed to go forward with the Just Do It attitude. There is no try over the long run...
So how in the world, after doing whatever bad habits we've done for who-knows-how-long (hence why Paul calls it the OLD man) do we suddenly change everything surrounding an issue? I mean, sure, if I did every right and good thing at once, it would be wonderful. But the initial inclination to stop at the first sign of any inconvenience is ridiculously high. It takes a ton of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy to get this fully-loaded cargo ship turned around in rough seas!
It was going to take all the will power I had, obviously. And then something else hit me... I was reading some old sermon notes how Jesus Christ had to constantly guard against evil in His life. Think for a moment about how difficult His job was. Sure, He had a ton of wisdom, experience and help. Yet if He messed up even once, ONCE, it ruined everything. How did He do it? By constantly having his guard up and being ready for anything. He never once let down, even while relaxing with His best buds over a glass of wine.
Coincidentally, I have said some of the meanest things to my friends over a glass of wine. I noticed that because of my comfort level, I felt I could say anything to them or about others and they would understand. Yet I keep finding out that harsh words from a good friend are like arrows shot through the heart. And looking back, those statements were rarely necessary. It's funny how, at least in my life, I treat perfect strangers better than I do my own family and friends a lot of times.
I finally saw that I, too, had to begin to get my guard up in all situations. I had to turn on my active sonar and begin scanning the world around me for possible tripping points. I had to anticipate what to do in case something happened. If I am particularly susceptible to some problem, then I need to have thought about how to stop it before it has an opportunity to present itself. Then when it occurs, I need to immediately act upon that!
When driving, most of us have learned to be defensive drivers. I've had cars come out of nowhere into my lane before when I didn't even have an inclination that they might. Similarly, I've had the most innocent situations erupt into a temper tantrum or a sin-fest. If I'm going to go all out, I have to be vigilant and always ready to counter temptation, no matter what shape it comes in. For example, I heard one minister say that we have to be in a constant state of forgiveness just in case somebody offends us.
Perhaps I should permanently keep my foot in my mouth so I stop myself from re-inserting it.
And of course, Jesus, in His off-time, went and prayed, sometimes entire nights. He never strayed from His Father in order that He would be guarding against those things that were really a problem, not just man-made ideas about what's bad. He was intimately familiar with the Scriptures (seeing as how He inspired them, Himself) so He wouldn't counter with the wrong words or actions. And if He knew to do something, He always did it.
I, who started this life as a mere mortal, get access to the same resources, too. However, I have to gain understanding and habits gradually over time by experience, advice, embarrassment and more embarrassment until we're finally sick of whatever we've become. Or we can choose to do what we're told in the same spirit as that of a child. Unfortunately, the older I get, the more stubborn I seem to become. Or as a friend recently put it, my conscience has become that much more seared from habitually choosing the wrong thing, and it is far more difficult to find out what's wrong with me, much less change. I guess it's in my best interest to make sure I'm in the right mold before the cement completely dries, so to speak. Otherwise, God will have to get out his trusty pick axe.
So I finally got back around to our opening scripture in I Peter 5. Be SOBER. Be VIGILANT! Sober (or nepho in Greek) means to abstain, be discreet or watchful. Vigilant (or gregorgeuo) means to keep awake, or also watchful. Satan is constantly throwing stumbling blocks into our path in obvious and sometimes completely obscured places to us. What may be obvious to a friend, we are blind to. We must, at all times, be in a state of awareness of what's going on around us regardless if we're amongst hungry lions or sleeping lambs (isn't that where it's easiest for hungry lions to attack?). Satan is always on the prowl regardless of how much we let our guard down.
I found another scripture that talks about being sober-minded: the qualifications of an elder in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It's interesting how the job of a shepherd requires constant watchfulness. They are having to watch out vigilantly to defend their flock from outsiders trying to destroy or chase off members. Ministers must not be given to wine or quarrelsome, yet be gentle, hospitable, unmaterialistic and filled with self-control. These qualifications are to keep the overseer, himself, from doing damage to the flock. That said, the responsibility on the shoulders of each minister is that much heavier than that which is on us laymembers. And God even states that teachers are held to a stricter judgment (James 3:1) in a similar way that Jesus was held to the highest standard possible. Any falter would have greater consequences on God's people. Yet ministers are generally more humble, teachable, serving and loving than I have ever hoped to be. Why? I believe it's because they see the tremendous amount of responsibility placed on their shoulders and the seriousness of their role causes them to remain on high alert as Christ did.
These are the men responsible for actually living up to the "true religion" James points out in his epistle. Their job requires them to get to know all the members, visit the elderly and those in prison, go and annoint those who may be on their death bed, and in some cases, watch them die. They assist people with counseling and carry the burden of each person's issues in confidence without being able to "vent" to others about it. And they have to deal with troublemakers and make tough decisions on how to deal with such individuals. Yikes! Oh, and they speak and write and plan activities, camps and Feast sites from time to time, too.
How about me? Does my life carry the same kind of weight? Do I have a great deal of responsibility placed on my shoulders, too?
I believe the way we individually answer that question will guide how much we're vigilantly anticipating each word or action that comes our way. Heroes and champions have a way of rising to the challenge and God is making champions today. The weapons of God's warriors can be found in Ephesians 6:13-18 and other places. Will we bend our will towards him so He can bend us straight? Will we ask Him to show us what we need to see?
How clearly do I want to see? On one hand, the less blinded I am, the more vigilant, the more responsibile and the more accountable I'm expected to be, which requires more work and diligence. On the other hand, we are to be promoted by God to a position far higher than earthly ministers. And we are to let Christ live in us. If He is truly living in us, then He will cause us to walk as circumspectly as He did.
It's a tall order. I already have that uneasy feeling like there's no way I can maintain it for all that long. And yet, like a muscle being exercised, the pain will subside and we will grow stronger. And like a healthy person, I know I won't look at junk in the same way I did before. God wants us in His Kingdom and He'll stop at nothing to get us there. But it's we that have to be willing to ACT on what God is teaching us today along with tireless, ceaseless anticipation for what this world has to throw at us next.
I remembered that story after thinking about getting caught off guard by sudden frustrations and temptations in my life. Wondering what to do about these problems as they catch me unaware along with the resulting filth I produce reminded me of I Peter 5:8-9. It states, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..." I've heard and read this passage what seems to be hundreds of times, and occasionally, a fuller picture of what this scripture is really stating stikes me. However, recently, events have caused this and other passages like it to hit me more like a ton of bricks.
See, normally, I'm focused on the "your adversary the devil" part, and honestly, I think I look out for the more obvious evil attitudes or actions that would come from him. However, after analyzing myself and situations I frequently get myself into, I've realized more and more that we are to be vigilant against the far more subtle everyday occurrences influenced by the attitudes and confusion that Satan unleashes on this world.
Quick aside: Now, some of you (or the one person that may actually read this blog (thanks!!)) may be stating, "Duh." But epiphanies sometime hit us emotionally more than intellectually, and this is one of those occasions for me. When things strike at my person or emotional base, it causes me to seriously dig deep with real questions and begin a process of change. Whereas when I just intellectually understand something, it's generally more like, "That's such a cool idea! Ooh, look! A pretty bird!" And my mind is onto the next distraction, ala James 1:22-24 (the mirror passage).
But this whole concept much deeper than that to me, so I'll attempt to go into the line of thinking that led me to it (feel free to follow along if you'd like). It started out by analyzing some of the sins I've been having serious trouble overcoming. One thing I've learned from meditating on these sins is that knowledge helps us understand why we do things, but it doesn't necessarily help us to stop. So once I was satisfied with the fact that I had mostly understood why I was committing these sins repeatedly, the effects of them on me, my loved ones, and God, the spiritual fruits and gifts required to overcome them and even how those fruits helped and blended with God's other fruits and gifts to make life so much easier... (I'll take a deep breath now from this run-on sentence...) ...I started to look for the solution on how to actually stop committing them.
But upon trying to stop several times, I was led to understand that really didn't want to overcome these sins. I mean, I knew I needed to, and I know God requires us to act on what we know, otherwise it's sin to us. Yet I was being completely stubborn.
So I figured the way to gaining back this desire to change for the better was to study how to overcome stubbornness. I mean, the Bible has the answer for all of these kinds of questions, right? What I found shouldn't have surprised me, but it did... The Bible merely points out that people are stubborn and foolish, similar to the way it points out that people are prideful, arrogant, liars, fornicators, drunkards, idolators, etc. There was no way to "ease" out of being stubborn, no mantra I had to chant umpteen-thousand times, and asking God to "change me" over and over again, ala the persistent widow, wasn't going to work quite the way I hoped... <*sigh*> All it points out is the same solution for each and every one of our problems: humble yourself to God, allow Jesus Christ to work within you and, finally, simply DO what He tells us to do, wherever we learn it. I had to just man up and do it. A great quote that goes with this concept is given to us by Master Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."
I always take my advice from Muppets, don't you?
A physical example of this could be the day some of us look in the mirror or look down at our gut and say, "Wow, I need to exercise." And that thought quickly passes as we head to the fridge. Then a few weeks down the road, we finally get really sick of it and we might attempt a few sit-ups or take a long walk. But the follow-up is lacking. Finally, we realize that we need to get into a routine of exercise. Once again, it lasts for a while, but busy-ness, distractions, stress and just being utterly tired get in the way. Besides, that cheeseburger looked waaaay too good. But we learned how much better we could feel by trying...
Then it finally hits some of us. Real change can only take place when we notice that it's our entire lifestyle that needs to change. The kind of food we eat, the amount of sleep we get, the kind of exercise we do, the stresses we have, even the people we spend time with... It's at this point that it all becomes clear, and yet we have to make a choice: Am I really going to change my whole lifestyle, or am I going to go back and just be satisfied with what annoyed me so much before?
I give this example because it demonstrates that physical and spiritual problems can be viewed - and resolved - in much in the same way. The moment I realized I had to go all out kind of scared me, and yet it gave me clarity that I needed to go forward with the Just Do It attitude. There is no try over the long run...
So how in the world, after doing whatever bad habits we've done for who-knows-how-long (hence why Paul calls it the OLD man) do we suddenly change everything surrounding an issue? I mean, sure, if I did every right and good thing at once, it would be wonderful. But the initial inclination to stop at the first sign of any inconvenience is ridiculously high. It takes a ton of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy to get this fully-loaded cargo ship turned around in rough seas!
It was going to take all the will power I had, obviously. And then something else hit me... I was reading some old sermon notes how Jesus Christ had to constantly guard against evil in His life. Think for a moment about how difficult His job was. Sure, He had a ton of wisdom, experience and help. Yet if He messed up even once, ONCE, it ruined everything. How did He do it? By constantly having his guard up and being ready for anything. He never once let down, even while relaxing with His best buds over a glass of wine.
Coincidentally, I have said some of the meanest things to my friends over a glass of wine. I noticed that because of my comfort level, I felt I could say anything to them or about others and they would understand. Yet I keep finding out that harsh words from a good friend are like arrows shot through the heart. And looking back, those statements were rarely necessary. It's funny how, at least in my life, I treat perfect strangers better than I do my own family and friends a lot of times.
I finally saw that I, too, had to begin to get my guard up in all situations. I had to turn on my active sonar and begin scanning the world around me for possible tripping points. I had to anticipate what to do in case something happened. If I am particularly susceptible to some problem, then I need to have thought about how to stop it before it has an opportunity to present itself. Then when it occurs, I need to immediately act upon that!
When driving, most of us have learned to be defensive drivers. I've had cars come out of nowhere into my lane before when I didn't even have an inclination that they might. Similarly, I've had the most innocent situations erupt into a temper tantrum or a sin-fest. If I'm going to go all out, I have to be vigilant and always ready to counter temptation, no matter what shape it comes in. For example, I heard one minister say that we have to be in a constant state of forgiveness just in case somebody offends us.
Perhaps I should permanently keep my foot in my mouth so I stop myself from re-inserting it.
And of course, Jesus, in His off-time, went and prayed, sometimes entire nights. He never strayed from His Father in order that He would be guarding against those things that were really a problem, not just man-made ideas about what's bad. He was intimately familiar with the Scriptures (seeing as how He inspired them, Himself) so He wouldn't counter with the wrong words or actions. And if He knew to do something, He always did it.
I, who started this life as a mere mortal, get access to the same resources, too. However, I have to gain understanding and habits gradually over time by experience, advice, embarrassment and more embarrassment until we're finally sick of whatever we've become. Or we can choose to do what we're told in the same spirit as that of a child. Unfortunately, the older I get, the more stubborn I seem to become. Or as a friend recently put it, my conscience has become that much more seared from habitually choosing the wrong thing, and it is far more difficult to find out what's wrong with me, much less change. I guess it's in my best interest to make sure I'm in the right mold before the cement completely dries, so to speak. Otherwise, God will have to get out his trusty pick axe.
So I finally got back around to our opening scripture in I Peter 5. Be SOBER. Be VIGILANT! Sober (or nepho in Greek) means to abstain, be discreet or watchful. Vigilant (or gregorgeuo) means to keep awake, or also watchful. Satan is constantly throwing stumbling blocks into our path in obvious and sometimes completely obscured places to us. What may be obvious to a friend, we are blind to. We must, at all times, be in a state of awareness of what's going on around us regardless if we're amongst hungry lions or sleeping lambs (isn't that where it's easiest for hungry lions to attack?). Satan is always on the prowl regardless of how much we let our guard down.
I found another scripture that talks about being sober-minded: the qualifications of an elder in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It's interesting how the job of a shepherd requires constant watchfulness. They are having to watch out vigilantly to defend their flock from outsiders trying to destroy or chase off members. Ministers must not be given to wine or quarrelsome, yet be gentle, hospitable, unmaterialistic and filled with self-control. These qualifications are to keep the overseer, himself, from doing damage to the flock. That said, the responsibility on the shoulders of each minister is that much heavier than that which is on us laymembers. And God even states that teachers are held to a stricter judgment (James 3:1) in a similar way that Jesus was held to the highest standard possible. Any falter would have greater consequences on God's people. Yet ministers are generally more humble, teachable, serving and loving than I have ever hoped to be. Why? I believe it's because they see the tremendous amount of responsibility placed on their shoulders and the seriousness of their role causes them to remain on high alert as Christ did.
These are the men responsible for actually living up to the "true religion" James points out in his epistle. Their job requires them to get to know all the members, visit the elderly and those in prison, go and annoint those who may be on their death bed, and in some cases, watch them die. They assist people with counseling and carry the burden of each person's issues in confidence without being able to "vent" to others about it. And they have to deal with troublemakers and make tough decisions on how to deal with such individuals. Yikes! Oh, and they speak and write and plan activities, camps and Feast sites from time to time, too.
How about me? Does my life carry the same kind of weight? Do I have a great deal of responsibility placed on my shoulders, too?
I believe the way we individually answer that question will guide how much we're vigilantly anticipating each word or action that comes our way. Heroes and champions have a way of rising to the challenge and God is making champions today. The weapons of God's warriors can be found in Ephesians 6:13-18 and other places. Will we bend our will towards him so He can bend us straight? Will we ask Him to show us what we need to see?
How clearly do I want to see? On one hand, the less blinded I am, the more vigilant, the more responsibile and the more accountable I'm expected to be, which requires more work and diligence. On the other hand, we are to be promoted by God to a position far higher than earthly ministers. And we are to let Christ live in us. If He is truly living in us, then He will cause us to walk as circumspectly as He did.
It's a tall order. I already have that uneasy feeling like there's no way I can maintain it for all that long. And yet, like a muscle being exercised, the pain will subside and we will grow stronger. And like a healthy person, I know I won't look at junk in the same way I did before. God wants us in His Kingdom and He'll stop at nothing to get us there. But it's we that have to be willing to ACT on what God is teaching us today along with tireless, ceaseless anticipation for what this world has to throw at us next.
Monday, May 04, 2009
You Can't Fix Chrysler By Fiat...
I've attempted to stay out of the political mess for awhile now (mainly by not blogging), but this comic seems to summarize my latest view on the Presidential administration as of late. I've taken a wait-and-see approach when it came to President Obama. I actually liked many of the things he was saying early on because they actually sounded like ideas that were thought out and well-reasoned. He seemed to stress personal responsibility, parental help on education, a renewed focus on domestic issues that required common sense, not just money being thrown at them, etc.
I didn't necessarily enjoy how the media and a mass of people fawned all over him with the idea that he would answer their every heart's desire. I also didn't like the Republican response (equaled by the Democrats during the Bush administration) that everything the man says must be wrong and countered by an opposing idea. But, after all, that is American politics.
But as this comic sort of demonstrates, and as many people opposing Mr. Obama have "known", he has spoken one thing and done something different on a number of occasions. The most recent one that irked me was the restructuring of Chrysler. Fundamentally, I have no problem with letting that ship sink (I have owned two Dodge Stratuses and they both had major quality issues). When President Obama forced their hand into making the tough decisions quickly and decisively, something they should have been doing for the last several years, I applauded him.
However, what has come of the situation is disconcerting... Just before bankruptcy started last week, the government offered the major debtholders 30 cents on the dollar repayment and very little control over the company after the company exited bankruptcy. Perhaps that should have been enough for them seeing as how they made a poor investment and the government was offering them an out. But the government was trying to save this company, and thus it makes more sense to try to stay on-board and try to recoup their losses... Hopefully far above 30%. Some of these lending institutions noted that the only companies who were applauding the government's plan were those who were already given government money (TARP), whereas those who stayed out of the housing and credit mess were going to lose their hat over this deal. These untarnished groups called themselves the "Non-TARP Lenders to Chrysler." So they decided to say no to the deal feeling it wasn't a good one while noting there were strings being pulled on those companies who were already hand-tied by the government. One article snarkily stated that "the government in essence called the group's bluff - since lenders are worse off in bankruptcy than outside of it." Bluff?? This is no standard bankruptcy! (I'm no expert in business bankruptcy, but I seem to recall the fact that in a standard Chapter 11, most lenders get a first dibs in whatever is sold off.)
Let me to further demonstrate some of the stench eminating from this deal: The party posed to receive the largest portion of this whole deal just happens to be the group largely associated with the company's demise (outside of the old leadership's ineptitude): the United Auto Workers union! A 55% share to be exact. The same group who strongly supported Mr. Obama, and hundreds of other Democrats, on their way to office, I might add! Granted, some sources say that even a majority share of stock in the company won't get the UAW more than one seat at the board member table and hardly the ability to run the company, as seen in previous deals with United Airlines and other companies.
What's interesting here, however, is the fact that the greed of the union will cause it to almost immediately have to sell off its share of those stocks just to pay for the pensions and retirees' health benefits it tirelessly worked for over the last several decades. Many of those shares will be sold to Fiat, an Italian automaker who specializes in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles (which I'm ecstatic over after driving a 50 mpg turbo-diesel car in Wales for the Feast), who will take controlling share of the company and hopefully prop it back up into a respectable company once again. This isn't necessarily a sign of the Beast power rising as Germany has already tried to revive Chrysler, via the Daimler Group, and failed.
I may be stretching, but this all sounds metaphorical to me... Think about it: Political wranglings over greed and special interests of a mismanaged organization leading to failure, requiring help from a foreign conglomeration who won't be able to untangle the major issues that got them into the mess in the first place. Thus causing this foreign entity to eventually dismantle it, sell off the profitable parts and destroy the rest due to its unsupportable weight. Hmmm, that sounds like the predicament the U.S. is finding itself in. Okay, that's probably trying to read too much into it. :) Stay tuned to find out...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dirty, Dirty Swine
Another interesting development in the flu department... The swine flu is going around both in Mexico and in a tiny population in California. Now, we've been pummeled with information about the bird flu for the last several years. But last year, Mr. Weston posted something interesting on the Living Youth web site that I had never encountered before. He stated that while the flu originates with birds, it takes pigs to make into something that becomes more human transmissible. I kind of put that on the shelf until I had more time to research that, but this article on MSNBC sort of restated that assertion:
"Scientists keep a close eye on flu viruses that emerge from pigs. The animals are considered particularly susceptible to both avian and human viruses and a likely place where the kind of genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of pandemic flu, said Dr. John Treanor, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center."I wouldn't call that an outright declaration that the flu came from people eating pigs (which are declared unclean for human consumption by God, if you haven't heard). But it certainly backs up Mr. Weston's earlier assumption. Anyway, it was something I found interesting...
Friday, March 06, 2009
Faith and Credit
Have you ever read something and shuddered? Boy, I just did. Basically, the FDIC, the federal insurance agency for covering deposits held by banks going out of business, stated this week that they will likely run out of money by the end of this year without new, higher fees charged to those banks that are still solvent. In other words, the agency that gives the federal government the ability to say, "Don't freak out and rush your bank, we've got your deposits covered," may not be able to do so without a lot of help. That in itself is a shudder-able statement...
However, the wonderful congress of the United States, who lately seem to have figured out that money does indeed grow on trees, "'cuz as long as we got us some paper, we can print all we want!", have proposed to borrow out an additional $500 BILLION to help the FDIC. The spokesman for the FDIC had this to say on the subject (and thus, the shuddering followed closely behind):
I think that speaks for itself, but allow me to point out two words that are clearly frightening - "faith" and "credit" - especially in regard to the United States government. I don't know about you, but my "faith" in the United States government, much less its financial ability to do anything, makes me want to pull my money out of the banks and hide it under my mattress. However, it's the "credit" of this country that will make such an action pointless since we will likely be paying $200+ for a loaf of bread in the next couple of years if we keep wrecklessly spending money like we are. And that's assuming the nice countries out there who obviously only have our best interests in mind keep buying all that debt up.
So to follow those two words in their context with, "We can and always will be able to meet our obligations to depositors" just seems preposterous unless taken in the context that your deposit will be completely worthless by the time you withdraw it.
I dunno, I'm sure I'm overreacting, but pulling piles of bills worth hundreds of billions of dollars out of our behinds seems to be getting ridiculous, and I don't care how well or targeted you spend it. I have no idea how this will all catch up to us in the end, but the vision of men grabbing their stomach and loins in a similar way to labor pains begins to come to mind. Wailing and gnashing of teeth?? Dentists will be capping a lot of them assuming they could even get paid for their services.
End of Rant
However, the wonderful congress of the United States, who lately seem to have figured out that money does indeed grow on trees, "'cuz as long as we got us some paper, we can print all we want!", have proposed to borrow out an additional $500 BILLION to help the FDIC. The spokesman for the FDIC had this to say on the subject (and thus, the shuddering followed closely behind):
The FDIC is "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government," Gray said. "We can and always will be able to meet our obligations to depositors."
I think that speaks for itself, but allow me to point out two words that are clearly frightening - "faith" and "credit" - especially in regard to the United States government. I don't know about you, but my "faith" in the United States government, much less its financial ability to do anything, makes me want to pull my money out of the banks and hide it under my mattress. However, it's the "credit" of this country that will make such an action pointless since we will likely be paying $200+ for a loaf of bread in the next couple of years if we keep wrecklessly spending money like we are. And that's assuming the nice countries out there who obviously only have our best interests in mind keep buying all that debt up.
So to follow those two words in their context with, "We can and always will be able to meet our obligations to depositors" just seems preposterous unless taken in the context that your deposit will be completely worthless by the time you withdraw it.
I dunno, I'm sure I'm overreacting, but pulling piles of bills worth hundreds of billions of dollars out of our behinds seems to be getting ridiculous, and I don't care how well or targeted you spend it. I have no idea how this will all catch up to us in the end, but the vision of men grabbing their stomach and loins in a similar way to labor pains begins to come to mind. Wailing and gnashing of teeth?? Dentists will be capping a lot of them assuming they could even get paid for their services.
End of Rant
Monday, March 02, 2009
Snitch
This post is kind of a follow-up to a post I wrote back in April entitled "Duuuuuuude!". So I'm reading the morning news and come across this quote in an article about Mrs. Clinton's exploits in the Middle East:
And we wonder why Iran doesn't trust us. Aside from the thought that Mrs. Clinton may have wanted this information leaked, although such reasons I cannot fathom at this point, I think there are two interesting things to learn here.
Point one, don't be a talebearer (Prov. 11:13). I think that's obvious. Why such an individual would want to reveal issues of national security on such a delicate issue is beyond me. Perhaps this individual felt this point was so obvious, so it would not infringe on future talks. However, we're dealing with a new President and cabinet and his opinions and methods may differ from those of his predecessor. Keeping this kind of information close to the vest, especially with allies who could possibly make a difference in smoothing out issues with a nation we have such a volatile relationship with, seems to be the wisest course of action here. We may have our inclinations of what another nation, or individual, may do, but we don't know for sure, so it's probably not worth spilling the beans until they've had a fair opportunity to prove otherwise.
Which leads me to point two: Why did this even get said in the first place - even in private? As someone who has regularly shared and overshared my thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics and issues, including on my closest relationships, I can relate with Mrs. Clinton in her dealings with Iran. Iran is seemingly a weird nation with a weird culture to her and it's making weird, seemingly chaotic and self-destructive decisions, so she's simply expressing her disbelief to a confidant. However, as I have more recently learned, if something is said in confidence, you better hope the individual you said something about won't mind, because they could easily hear about it later. So measure your words carefully. Not everybody, as we have seen, has learned point number one above, so it's very possible to have something spoken in secret blabbed to everybody, including the subject of the secret. Matthew 10:26 states that God will one day make known the thoughts and actions that we try to hide. Which, when I think about it, SUCKS!
Of course, Mrs. Clinton didn't need to act completely naive towards this situation with Iran as though she were some sort of Pollyanna, but she could have at least displayed some hope in reconciliation with them. After all, isn't Hope and Change the key buzzwords of this current administration? And similarly, I think it is worthwhile to have more hope in our friends and relatives around us - to give them the benefit of the doubt and allowing them to change should they be doing so. After all, one definitely difficult lesson I've had to learn recently was the difference between my theory of what someone is thinking and doing and actually knowing what someone is thinking and doing. Keep the theory to yourself and that person may surprise you! And hey, I like pleasant surprises. Just insinuating that they're going to screw it up like they always do will just turn an opportunity for expressing confidence in someone to grow and change into a self-fulfilling prophesy of repeated failure.
Hopefully, Mrs. Clinton's words, carelessly repeated by a talebearing "official", do not ruin an opportunity, regardless of it's likelihood, to reconcile our relationship with Iran.
[Follow-up: Having more carefully read the article, it's the Associated Press journalist that seems to have put the negative spin on Mrs. Clinton's words. Her words are carefully chosen as diplomats usually do (my favorite, Mr. Clore's description of Pres. Obama's ideology: "He has a compelling narrative." Brilliantly worded to reveal exactly what it is rather than how he feels about it). The quote: "We have no illusions, Mr. Chairman, that even with a new administration, looking to try to engage Iran in a way that might influence its behavior, that we can predict the results... Our eyes are wide open on Iran." So perhaps, shame on the media, too, for being reckless with word choice on what our Secretary of State actually said rather than just reporting how it made them feel.]
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed doubt Monday that Iran would respond to the Obama administration's diplomatic initiatives toward Tehran on nuclear and other issues, a senior State Department official said.Clinton made the statement in a private meeting with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who had expressed to Clinton a concern among Persian Gulf nations that Obama might make a deal with Iran without full consultation with U.S. allies. The official who described the exchange spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private."
And we wonder why Iran doesn't trust us. Aside from the thought that Mrs. Clinton may have wanted this information leaked, although such reasons I cannot fathom at this point, I think there are two interesting things to learn here.
Point one, don't be a talebearer (Prov. 11:13). I think that's obvious. Why such an individual would want to reveal issues of national security on such a delicate issue is beyond me. Perhaps this individual felt this point was so obvious, so it would not infringe on future talks. However, we're dealing with a new President and cabinet and his opinions and methods may differ from those of his predecessor. Keeping this kind of information close to the vest, especially with allies who could possibly make a difference in smoothing out issues with a nation we have such a volatile relationship with, seems to be the wisest course of action here. We may have our inclinations of what another nation, or individual, may do, but we don't know for sure, so it's probably not worth spilling the beans until they've had a fair opportunity to prove otherwise.
Which leads me to point two: Why did this even get said in the first place - even in private? As someone who has regularly shared and overshared my thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics and issues, including on my closest relationships, I can relate with Mrs. Clinton in her dealings with Iran. Iran is seemingly a weird nation with a weird culture to her and it's making weird, seemingly chaotic and self-destructive decisions, so she's simply expressing her disbelief to a confidant. However, as I have more recently learned, if something is said in confidence, you better hope the individual you said something about won't mind, because they could easily hear about it later. So measure your words carefully. Not everybody, as we have seen, has learned point number one above, so it's very possible to have something spoken in secret blabbed to everybody, including the subject of the secret. Matthew 10:26 states that God will one day make known the thoughts and actions that we try to hide. Which, when I think about it, SUCKS!
Of course, Mrs. Clinton didn't need to act completely naive towards this situation with Iran as though she were some sort of Pollyanna, but she could have at least displayed some hope in reconciliation with them. After all, isn't Hope and Change the key buzzwords of this current administration? And similarly, I think it is worthwhile to have more hope in our friends and relatives around us - to give them the benefit of the doubt and allowing them to change should they be doing so. After all, one definitely difficult lesson I've had to learn recently was the difference between my theory of what someone is thinking and doing and actually knowing what someone is thinking and doing. Keep the theory to yourself and that person may surprise you! And hey, I like pleasant surprises. Just insinuating that they're going to screw it up like they always do will just turn an opportunity for expressing confidence in someone to grow and change into a self-fulfilling prophesy of repeated failure.
Hopefully, Mrs. Clinton's words, carelessly repeated by a talebearing "official", do not ruin an opportunity, regardless of it's likelihood, to reconcile our relationship with Iran.
[Follow-up: Having more carefully read the article, it's the Associated Press journalist that seems to have put the negative spin on Mrs. Clinton's words. Her words are carefully chosen as diplomats usually do (my favorite, Mr. Clore's description of Pres. Obama's ideology: "He has a compelling narrative." Brilliantly worded to reveal exactly what it is rather than how he feels about it). The quote: "We have no illusions, Mr. Chairman, that even with a new administration, looking to try to engage Iran in a way that might influence its behavior, that we can predict the results... Our eyes are wide open on Iran." So perhaps, shame on the media, too, for being reckless with word choice on what our Secretary of State actually said rather than just reporting how it made them feel.]
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
One Reason I'm Sick
Nutritionists have been discovering more and more about Omega-3 fatty acids lately, but I hadn't read anything like this before about them. Basically, in the Good Ol' Days when cows and chickens grazed the pastures for their food, choosing the choicest green grasses and plantlife over years rather than months, they ate a larger amount of cellulose that provided our dairy products and meat with omega-3s. However, today, we're just packing farm animals together and feeding them wheat, soy bean, seed oil and corn. These ingredients contains fats from the other fatty acid, omega-6, which is more rigid and used shape our cells. Omega-3s are more flexible and help us fight inflammation among other things (that's what the article said, anyway). That said, the average diet 100+ years ago before the days of commercial farming had a ratio of 1:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Today's ratio is more like 20:1... Which might explain why food allergies (inflammation), asthma (inflammation), cancer (mutation and then inflammation) and, of course, my IBD (inflammation is the first word) are all on the rise. They've even linked it to diabetes, depression and heart disease. Crazy...
The article states that they're going to fortify future foods with omega-3s, which should help turn things around. However, I always wonder what additional catalysts, enzymes and other useful ingredients those cow and chicken (and of course, a current source: small, fatty fish) by-products provided to us we're missing. I guess I trust God's design more for some reason. I'm grateful our scientists are figuring this stuff out now and hopefully we'll see some turnarounds in the future for these problems. However, just like a few years ago when they discovered ulcers were caused by bad bacteria overgrowth, they went crazy in prescribing a certain kind of antibiotic that got rid of the ulcer-producing bacteria. However, in doing so, they killed off the same or similar bacteria cultures that were SUPPOSED to be there for to regulate and help the lungs and respitory system, thus causing asthma-like symptoms... Something else I contracted and have since gotten over (for different, but possibly similar reasons) thanks to exercise and better eating habits.
After reading Mr. Apartian's article "Have You Had the Mumps... Yet?", I get the sense that while I can blame the food industry along with our own ignorance of these biological complexities, I need to really evaluate if I really have a greater role in eating right. Perhaps all the restaurants and grocery store meat and produce are lacking in the nutrients we require, but should I blame someone else and then go ahead and eat? There are other options, as Annette and others have pointed out. Even if you don't have land to plant a garden, you can work together with those to those who do in planting one, assisting with the work, in order to get a healthier food supply. Rachel and I started buying our own beef from a farmer, one who unfortunately uses commercial farming practices, but nonetheless, we've know it's possible to find a farmer who doesn't since we've left the idea of grocery store meat behind for the most part. When we lived in a townhome, we had friends store meat for us until we had money to purchase a deep freeze.
These are just ideas I have running around my head. Perhaps we in the Church really do need to analyze far more where our food comes from and realize that we have a large role in our own deteriorating health and can actually do something soon to stop it. Doing so may give us a food supply when our current source of food has shortages. And while the health gains may not be immediate, I've always been told that we're reaping today what we've sown 5-10 years ago, how much more true that could be 5-10 years from now when the food supply may be just a few molecules away from almost being plastic... Perhaps that's an overstatement, but I'm not willing to take a chance on it anymore. For those of us with inflammation problems, diseases, cancer, heart problems and stroke, or those who will, the time is now to start changing.
The article states that they're going to fortify future foods with omega-3s, which should help turn things around. However, I always wonder what additional catalysts, enzymes and other useful ingredients those cow and chicken (and of course, a current source: small, fatty fish) by-products provided to us we're missing. I guess I trust God's design more for some reason. I'm grateful our scientists are figuring this stuff out now and hopefully we'll see some turnarounds in the future for these problems. However, just like a few years ago when they discovered ulcers were caused by bad bacteria overgrowth, they went crazy in prescribing a certain kind of antibiotic that got rid of the ulcer-producing bacteria. However, in doing so, they killed off the same or similar bacteria cultures that were SUPPOSED to be there for to regulate and help the lungs and respitory system, thus causing asthma-like symptoms... Something else I contracted and have since gotten over (for different, but possibly similar reasons) thanks to exercise and better eating habits.
After reading Mr. Apartian's article "Have You Had the Mumps... Yet?", I get the sense that while I can blame the food industry along with our own ignorance of these biological complexities, I need to really evaluate if I really have a greater role in eating right. Perhaps all the restaurants and grocery store meat and produce are lacking in the nutrients we require, but should I blame someone else and then go ahead and eat? There are other options, as Annette and others have pointed out. Even if you don't have land to plant a garden, you can work together with those to those who do in planting one, assisting with the work, in order to get a healthier food supply. Rachel and I started buying our own beef from a farmer, one who unfortunately uses commercial farming practices, but nonetheless, we've know it's possible to find a farmer who doesn't since we've left the idea of grocery store meat behind for the most part. When we lived in a townhome, we had friends store meat for us until we had money to purchase a deep freeze.
These are just ideas I have running around my head. Perhaps we in the Church really do need to analyze far more where our food comes from and realize that we have a large role in our own deteriorating health and can actually do something soon to stop it. Doing so may give us a food supply when our current source of food has shortages. And while the health gains may not be immediate, I've always been told that we're reaping today what we've sown 5-10 years ago, how much more true that could be 5-10 years from now when the food supply may be just a few molecules away from almost being plastic... Perhaps that's an overstatement, but I'm not willing to take a chance on it anymore. For those of us with inflammation problems, diseases, cancer, heart problems and stroke, or those who will, the time is now to start changing.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
KC Weekend Update
Well, we're T-minus a week and change until the KC weekend begins. Thanks for those of you who registered. Right now, official numbers hover right around 190 guests signed up and 230 local brethren. My guess is there may be up to 50 to even 100 not registered that are coming. Or it could be that numbers really are down this year because of the economy or Charlotte's regional weekend, too. Either way, that's 420+ people all descending on one place for several days of fun and fellowship. A mini-feast, I've been told several times.
We have 9 volleyball teams as of this writing and 8 basketball teams for competitive sports, so there should be some fun games there. If you still don't have team after midnight tonight, then you'll get to play recreational volleyball, join in on the children's activities, or bring a board game or deck of cards and play with friends. We might also need some help with scorekeeping or linesmen on the sports if you would like to volunteer.
Anyway, we look forward to having everyone out, and if any of you need anything, please let me know.
We have 9 volleyball teams as of this writing and 8 basketball teams for competitive sports, so there should be some fun games there. If you still don't have team after midnight tonight, then you'll get to play recreational volleyball, join in on the children's activities, or bring a board game or deck of cards and play with friends. We might also need some help with scorekeeping or linesmen on the sports if you would like to volunteer.
Anyway, we look forward to having everyone out, and if any of you need anything, please let me know.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Kansas City Regional Family Weekend
Yeah, we're having it this year... December 27th and 28th. The details can be found here at the lcgkc.org site. Please read over the entire announcement since there are a lot of details and potential registration and sign-up forms, especially if you'd like to participate in sports or the card tournament. For those who occasionally monitor this blog and get far more traffic on your own, please feel free to post this info. I'd like to get this out ASAP so we can get a feel on numbers this year.
A few things to note...
Registration: we have a deadline to register by December 7th because we have a deadline with a local hotel, the Comfort Inn, at that time. So those looking for a discounted rate on hotel, this is your opportunity. That and it's the holidays, so who knows how quickly that place could get filled up. But it's just one exit from the meeting hall for all activities, so the convenience can't be beat. If you need housing with brethren, you'll need to register that early, too, so you can ensure that you get a place to stay. It's first come, first serve. Also, please consider, if you're planning on staying more than just Friday and Saturday night, that people do work and it costs money to feed guests. So you might need to check around to different places for additional accommodations for those days beforehand or afterwards.
Payment: Yes, we're asking for money in advance this year. The Lee's Summit Rec Center was completely rebuilt and is much larger, giving us more options in terms of space and activities. However, it has come at a larger price. So in order to pay back those folks who are giving the Church a temporary loan to cover costs, we ask for prompt payment, if you can afford it. $5 is all we ask, up to $25 per family. Payment details are in the announcement.
Sports: Please start talking to your friends about putting together teams now, come up with a catchy name and SIGN-UP! The rule this year is you will not be able to play in the competitive sports if you don't sign up a team. That means 4 people per basketball team and a minimum of 4 people per volleyball team, although 6 is probably preferred. Basically, we want to give our planners and organizers far more time to get a good tournament set up. Also, please sign up for only one competitive sport so there aren't any scheduling problems. The deadline is more lenient than registration, December 18th. If you don't sign up for competitive sports, then we have a spare volleyball court for recreational volleyball, which will just be people jumping on a court and having fun. So if you're a competitive volleyball player, I recommend that you get on a team. :) If you're between basketball games, or out of a tournament, then this is a great option to keep playing. Also, we have the gym all day, so there may be more opportunities to play later in the day if we chose to put together full-court basketball if the numbers work out. But I'm not promising anything just yet... :)
Dance: The dance was just decided today that it will be costume-themed. So dress up! The reason it took so long to figure out is because I was approached by several folks who didn't appreciate some of the costumes in years past. Call them uptight or grouchy but I saw some of the same things... If you're planning on wearing something super tight, revealing, "acceptable by today's standards" or offensive, then I or someone else reserve the right to make you take it off. If we have a good showing, then perhaps I won't be approached again in the future. Sure, someone will always get offended, but we as Christians are supposed to go to certain lengths to make sure that doesn't happen. Thanks for your cooperation in advance with this. A "theme" may come out in the next week or two, but because my creative juices haven't been flowing lately (I threw out "The Kingdom", "The 80s", "People Mr. King Impersonates", and Gary Jones' request of "All Elvis").
Card Tournament: We're trying something new this year to get people involved in a more social activity besides straight fellowship. We're hoping to split the tournament into two smaller tournaments so people can play in one and dance the other half, or talk, or play in both. This may be a good way to meet new people. As of right now, the game is likely 10-point pitch, which even I learned after just a few hands. You'll change partners as you win or lose, meet a bunch of fun people and and have a blast! But if you'd rather dance or chat, so be it...
Children's Activities: We will have them Saturday night and Sunday, for those with 2-12 year olds who might get bored with cards or dancing.
Anyway, spread the word. I'm having Rachel put together a Facebook announcement and there should be a church announcement coming out shortly, too. Yes, we're pretending to be organized this year... :) See you there!
A few things to note...
Registration: we have a deadline to register by December 7th because we have a deadline with a local hotel, the Comfort Inn, at that time. So those looking for a discounted rate on hotel, this is your opportunity. That and it's the holidays, so who knows how quickly that place could get filled up. But it's just one exit from the meeting hall for all activities, so the convenience can't be beat. If you need housing with brethren, you'll need to register that early, too, so you can ensure that you get a place to stay. It's first come, first serve. Also, please consider, if you're planning on staying more than just Friday and Saturday night, that people do work and it costs money to feed guests. So you might need to check around to different places for additional accommodations for those days beforehand or afterwards.
Payment: Yes, we're asking for money in advance this year. The Lee's Summit Rec Center was completely rebuilt and is much larger, giving us more options in terms of space and activities. However, it has come at a larger price. So in order to pay back those folks who are giving the Church a temporary loan to cover costs, we ask for prompt payment, if you can afford it. $5 is all we ask, up to $25 per family. Payment details are in the announcement.
Sports: Please start talking to your friends about putting together teams now, come up with a catchy name and SIGN-UP! The rule this year is you will not be able to play in the competitive sports if you don't sign up a team. That means 4 people per basketball team and a minimum of 4 people per volleyball team, although 6 is probably preferred. Basically, we want to give our planners and organizers far more time to get a good tournament set up. Also, please sign up for only one competitive sport so there aren't any scheduling problems. The deadline is more lenient than registration, December 18th. If you don't sign up for competitive sports, then we have a spare volleyball court for recreational volleyball, which will just be people jumping on a court and having fun. So if you're a competitive volleyball player, I recommend that you get on a team. :) If you're between basketball games, or out of a tournament, then this is a great option to keep playing. Also, we have the gym all day, so there may be more opportunities to play later in the day if we chose to put together full-court basketball if the numbers work out. But I'm not promising anything just yet... :)
Dance: The dance was just decided today that it will be costume-themed. So dress up! The reason it took so long to figure out is because I was approached by several folks who didn't appreciate some of the costumes in years past. Call them uptight or grouchy but I saw some of the same things... If you're planning on wearing something super tight, revealing, "acceptable by today's standards" or offensive, then I or someone else reserve the right to make you take it off. If we have a good showing, then perhaps I won't be approached again in the future. Sure, someone will always get offended, but we as Christians are supposed to go to certain lengths to make sure that doesn't happen. Thanks for your cooperation in advance with this. A "theme" may come out in the next week or two, but because my creative juices haven't been flowing lately (I threw out "The Kingdom", "The 80s", "People Mr. King Impersonates", and Gary Jones' request of "All Elvis").
Card Tournament: We're trying something new this year to get people involved in a more social activity besides straight fellowship. We're hoping to split the tournament into two smaller tournaments so people can play in one and dance the other half, or talk, or play in both. This may be a good way to meet new people. As of right now, the game is likely 10-point pitch, which even I learned after just a few hands. You'll change partners as you win or lose, meet a bunch of fun people and and have a blast! But if you'd rather dance or chat, so be it...
Children's Activities: We will have them Saturday night and Sunday, for those with 2-12 year olds who might get bored with cards or dancing.
Anyway, spread the word. I'm having Rachel put together a Facebook announcement and there should be a church announcement coming out shortly, too. Yes, we're pretending to be organized this year... :) See you there!
Friday, September 05, 2008
Slight Correction
Okay, so I thought my last post was making an interesting point, but as I considered it more, there's a disconnect between exposing the holes in our perception and being a false witness. I mean, if you outright lie to me about something I'm completely ignorant of, I have no information to compare to in order to determine its legitimacy. That individual didn't weasel through our perception at all, unless we just gullibly believe anything we hear, see, or sense, in general. So really, the two concepts of our perceptions being deceived and false witnessing are connected at the moment when our minds decide what to do with information when we receive it.
For example, let's say someone we don't know says something we know nothing about. It could be the complete truth, partial truth, or a flat out lie. "Bob got drunk last night," the person says. Or perhaps, "Spain has the world's largest cathedral." We may immediately put the information in a holding pattern until we can verify for ourselves. Or we might use what common sense we have on the subject to determine. Or we may look to visual cues to help us, such as the talebearer's eyes, their style of their dress, the amount they're sweating, the tone of their voice, etc. Either way, that information of the whole event has been inserted into our mind, the statement, the tone, the look, or whatever. What are we going to do with it?
With a magician, he may use illusion to make you think he walked through a wall or made a bird disappear. Our senses and brain scream at us saying that it couldn't have happened. But we just saw it with our own eyes. Or we just saw what the magician wanted us to see. Deception is tricky (haha!) that way. If a pathological liar chooses to try and deceive us, how ready are we to believe it? Not likely. How about our own mother or father or spouse? Far more so. Even our children? "I didn't do it!" How ready are we to put every thought we have about what we sense to the test? In the end, and this may seem weird to say, we choose to be deceived. I'm not even sure I fully agree with that statement. So maybe I'll rephrase it to something like, we choose to continue to be deceived. It's the old, "Fool me once..."
So how does this apply? If we see a minister walking out of a bar with a woman, we may be flabbergasted. Now, do we have a bit of a grudge against him and want to see him mess up? If so, we might think to ourselves, "I always knew he wasn't that good." Or if we know he's a good person, do we confront him and see what really happened? As it might turn out, the minister may have been helping remove the woman, who was having severe personal problems, from a bad situation. Do we bother to find out, or do we continue to live with whatever we think? Or if it's none of our business, do we try not to dwell on it? Do we tell someone else about it?
Similarly, if we've been keeping Christmas or Sunday all of our lives and find out about the Sabbath and Holy Days, what do we do? "Well, I prefer getting gifts and not riling up the family, so I'll stay put," some might say. Others may see the Truth and follow it, realizing that it produces much more long-term happiness than the lie did.
I bring this up because as I learn more as a Christian, I have found that I become, for lack of a better term, un-ignorant about something sinful that I like to do. In other words, God reveals to me His righteous judgment on something and waits to see how I handle it. He even throws in memories of the countless times that the very action hurt myself and others, memories I didn't see in this new context, even though it might have been pleasurable for the moment. Satan found a way to blindside me for years through the loopholes in my perception, whether it was fooling my senses, using my selfish pride or attacking my lack of knowledge and wisdom. However, once called, God supplies us the insight, the way the "magic trick" works, so to speak. Once we know the trick, is it still as incredible to us? Now that we know, should we continue to sin or poke around in places and ways we know we shouldn't?
For me, magic acts have become less mysterious because I know some of the techniques used by illusionists. However, it's fun to watch these talented magicians perform their act flawlessly on others. It's even more amazing when they catch me looking and make me fall for something. But when it comes to Satan, the Master Illusionist, it's not so fun watching him pull a fast one on humanity. And it's unfortunate that I still participate in activities I know are wrong just because of passing pleasure or habit. They certainly aren't nearly as fun anymore. But I always seem to find happiness when I choose to give up the sin that God has enlightened me to understand.
So my question is, when you find out how a Satanic trick works, what are you going to do about it?
For example, let's say someone we don't know says something we know nothing about. It could be the complete truth, partial truth, or a flat out lie. "Bob got drunk last night," the person says. Or perhaps, "Spain has the world's largest cathedral." We may immediately put the information in a holding pattern until we can verify for ourselves. Or we might use what common sense we have on the subject to determine. Or we may look to visual cues to help us, such as the talebearer's eyes, their style of their dress, the amount they're sweating, the tone of their voice, etc. Either way, that information of the whole event has been inserted into our mind, the statement, the tone, the look, or whatever. What are we going to do with it?
With a magician, he may use illusion to make you think he walked through a wall or made a bird disappear. Our senses and brain scream at us saying that it couldn't have happened. But we just saw it with our own eyes. Or we just saw what the magician wanted us to see. Deception is tricky (haha!) that way. If a pathological liar chooses to try and deceive us, how ready are we to believe it? Not likely. How about our own mother or father or spouse? Far more so. Even our children? "I didn't do it!" How ready are we to put every thought we have about what we sense to the test? In the end, and this may seem weird to say, we choose to be deceived. I'm not even sure I fully agree with that statement. So maybe I'll rephrase it to something like, we choose to continue to be deceived. It's the old, "Fool me once..."
So how does this apply? If we see a minister walking out of a bar with a woman, we may be flabbergasted. Now, do we have a bit of a grudge against him and want to see him mess up? If so, we might think to ourselves, "I always knew he wasn't that good." Or if we know he's a good person, do we confront him and see what really happened? As it might turn out, the minister may have been helping remove the woman, who was having severe personal problems, from a bad situation. Do we bother to find out, or do we continue to live with whatever we think? Or if it's none of our business, do we try not to dwell on it? Do we tell someone else about it?
Similarly, if we've been keeping Christmas or Sunday all of our lives and find out about the Sabbath and Holy Days, what do we do? "Well, I prefer getting gifts and not riling up the family, so I'll stay put," some might say. Others may see the Truth and follow it, realizing that it produces much more long-term happiness than the lie did.
I bring this up because as I learn more as a Christian, I have found that I become, for lack of a better term, un-ignorant about something sinful that I like to do. In other words, God reveals to me His righteous judgment on something and waits to see how I handle it. He even throws in memories of the countless times that the very action hurt myself and others, memories I didn't see in this new context, even though it might have been pleasurable for the moment. Satan found a way to blindside me for years through the loopholes in my perception, whether it was fooling my senses, using my selfish pride or attacking my lack of knowledge and wisdom. However, once called, God supplies us the insight, the way the "magic trick" works, so to speak. Once we know the trick, is it still as incredible to us? Now that we know, should we continue to sin or poke around in places and ways we know we shouldn't?
For me, magic acts have become less mysterious because I know some of the techniques used by illusionists. However, it's fun to watch these talented magicians perform their act flawlessly on others. It's even more amazing when they catch me looking and make me fall for something. But when it comes to Satan, the Master Illusionist, it's not so fun watching him pull a fast one on humanity. And it's unfortunate that I still participate in activities I know are wrong just because of passing pleasure or habit. They certainly aren't nearly as fun anymore. But I always seem to find happiness when I choose to give up the sin that God has enlightened me to understand.
So my question is, when you find out how a Satanic trick works, what are you going to do about it?
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The Hand Is Quicker Than The Lie
I'm a big fan of illusion. I grew up watching David Copperfield and really wanted to learn about levitation and the rubberband trick. I love Penn and Teller and how they infuse comedy with their magic. I'm even a little interested in how some people seem to illicit mind control over others and lead them down paths of thinking, only to amaze that person who fell for it.
Yes, there's also something unusually sinister about illusion. I refrain to call it magic because that has more of a supernatural connotation. And God also warns us to stay away from sorcerers, witches, mediums, diviners, 'observers of time', or enchanters, and the like. Interestingly enough, the word in the King James for 'observers of time' is 'anan', which figuratively means to act covertly. Something isn't right... It may thrill us, but some magic can creep us out. I remember sitting with my uncle watching David Copperfield have some unseen force pulling him into "The Bermuda Triangle", and my uncle stating, "THAT is demonic..." Haven't we all seen a magic trick that was just a tad creepy in its presentation that made us wonder if they didn't have some evil spiritual help?
Yet as someone who has studied illusion and "magic" (there, the quotes will mean so-called magic from here on out), it's nothing more than being one, or ten, steps ahead of the audience. The right hand moves in a certain way distracting what the left is doing. The pretty assistant keeps you from noticing the magician. Curtains hide trap doors and mirrors minimize or maximize the look of space. No, even the super-creepy Criss Angel, Derren Brown and David Blaine just have something up their sleeve, and you'll notice they don't exactly go up to the brightest folks in the world to perform their street act. And they have plenty of assistants and research that goes into each illusion.
However, after reading a report on neurological science and how our brains make assumptions about the world around us, and how that perception can be manipulated by illusion, I'm not so sure my uncle was completely wrong. A scientific society invited magicians to present their tricks of the trade, like the Amazing Randi, Teller (yes, he talks) and others. After reading their reports and watching some of the video demonstrations, I saw how feeble our minds can be when trying to comprehend all the information that is constantly buzzing around us.
For example, a video camera will record visual data in the same way our eyes do. But our brain may focus on only one part of what we're looking at. We can always go back and focus on other areas of a video recording, but our brain may not completely remember what we didn't focus on. Similarly, we can block out background noise in a large crowd and focus our attention on someone talking to us, or tune them out when our favorite song comes on over the speaker system. Time passes quickly or slowly, or we may not notice the pressure of our uncomfortable shoes over time.
We even make assumptions about what we are able to focus on. We assume we know what others are thinking or doing, or where the plot of the movie is going, etc. It is those assumptions that allow illusionists to deceive us. In fact, Teller even stated that the more a person feels like an expert on magic, the more he knows he'll be able to deceive him. Think about that for a moment. Something about over-confidence being a stumbling block...
Of course, we go to "magic" shows to be entertained. We want to be tricked as much as we want to know how the trick works. However, this seemingly-harmless exploitation reveals a much darker side of these loopholes in our perception. To me, it began to shine a light on a hidden, secret and destructive sin. The 9th Commandment states that we should not bear false witness, a statement that goes way beyond just lying. 'False witness' can also mean to present something less than the whole truth or to withhold something in order to deceive. Lying, in its traditional sense, is to directly speak an untruth. When we are a false witness to others, they often feel betrayal. I believe this is partly because, whether we know about our neurological shortcomings or not, we are shocked that our perception of reality is not as on steady of ground as we thought it was. God has given us all a sense of trust in others that is built in.
In studying civilization, one can find that a few things are absolutely required in order for us to live peacefully together. First, you must not expect your neighbor to murder people, otherwise you won't have neighbors and everyone will live in fear. Second, you must trust your neighbor not to lie most of the time, otherwise agreements, contracts and business could not be sustainable. Society cannot function at all without these two vital principles. Thus, even though we know that people lie from time to time, we still innately trust one another and expect people to tell the truth. Society breaks down little by little with each untruth.
To put it another way, if you study up on the psychology of eye-witnesses and their reliability, most are shocked to find that eye-witnesses are terrible at recalling minor details of a crime, individual or location, even major details. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, and I'll explain why in a little bit. To me, it's the amount of rock-solid trust we put in eye-witnesses that bothers me. I watched a video where a room full of law students have a fake burglar come into the classroom and steal an item right in plain sight and they're later told it's an experiment. But when each student is asked to give specific descriptions of the burglar and what he stole, the stories are widely varied. It's no surprise that God tells us that we need two or three witnesses to prosecute someone, because obviously if people shared the same story, that increases its likelihood of being true. But people conspiring together to witness falsely can easily foil this, and that breaks down society, too. Hence why it's nice that God sees all things.
So some of you might be asking now if I think "magic" or illusion is essentially being a false witness. Personally, I still love the mystique of it all as well as the psychology that comes with it. But logically-speaking, it appears to be false witness, with the exception being that most in the audience should know that it's just a trick... right? Much in the way that the aliens in Galaxy Quest didn't know that the Earth actors were, well, acting, it could be an honest misunderstanding that someone might mistake someone that calls themself an 'illusionist' is somehow practicing the black arts. Some magicians do try to put on an air of, "Wow, this is so Satanic...", and those magicians should probably be avoided by true Christians. After all, should we desire to deceive others and cause them to become more skeptical and cynical when in the end, we just say, "Oops, it's just a trick" (Prov. 26:19)? After all, wasn't that innate trustful nature and innocence that God gives us all what led my uncle to blurt out what he did to the "magician" on the screen? I will admit, it did look, well, less than natural. But in the rubberband trick? Nah... Just a good illusion.
Overall, though, there are holes in our ability to perceive. Being a false witness takes advantage of these holes. God allows us to make a choice between truth-telling and protection of the self through false witness. He made us able to deceive others, but only if we choose to do so. And if we choose to do so, others are greatly hurt by it, all while the effects ripple outward to all of society as trust breaks down and innocence is lost. We are designed, it seems, to have gaps in our ability to interpret what our senses take in and then make assumptions based on those interpretations, and exposing those gaps hurts greatly. Unfortunately, the short- and long-term effects of betrayal are not just an illusion... But then again, neither is God's law magic. It's the simple and plain and out-in-the-open truth.
Yes, there's also something unusually sinister about illusion. I refrain to call it magic because that has more of a supernatural connotation. And God also warns us to stay away from sorcerers, witches, mediums, diviners, 'observers of time', or enchanters, and the like. Interestingly enough, the word in the King James for 'observers of time' is 'anan', which figuratively means to act covertly. Something isn't right... It may thrill us, but some magic can creep us out. I remember sitting with my uncle watching David Copperfield have some unseen force pulling him into "The Bermuda Triangle", and my uncle stating, "THAT is demonic..." Haven't we all seen a magic trick that was just a tad creepy in its presentation that made us wonder if they didn't have some evil spiritual help?
Yet as someone who has studied illusion and "magic" (there, the quotes will mean so-called magic from here on out), it's nothing more than being one, or ten, steps ahead of the audience. The right hand moves in a certain way distracting what the left is doing. The pretty assistant keeps you from noticing the magician. Curtains hide trap doors and mirrors minimize or maximize the look of space. No, even the super-creepy Criss Angel, Derren Brown and David Blaine just have something up their sleeve, and you'll notice they don't exactly go up to the brightest folks in the world to perform their street act. And they have plenty of assistants and research that goes into each illusion.
However, after reading a report on neurological science and how our brains make assumptions about the world around us, and how that perception can be manipulated by illusion, I'm not so sure my uncle was completely wrong. A scientific society invited magicians to present their tricks of the trade, like the Amazing Randi, Teller (yes, he talks) and others. After reading their reports and watching some of the video demonstrations, I saw how feeble our minds can be when trying to comprehend all the information that is constantly buzzing around us.
For example, a video camera will record visual data in the same way our eyes do. But our brain may focus on only one part of what we're looking at. We can always go back and focus on other areas of a video recording, but our brain may not completely remember what we didn't focus on. Similarly, we can block out background noise in a large crowd and focus our attention on someone talking to us, or tune them out when our favorite song comes on over the speaker system. Time passes quickly or slowly, or we may not notice the pressure of our uncomfortable shoes over time.
We even make assumptions about what we are able to focus on. We assume we know what others are thinking or doing, or where the plot of the movie is going, etc. It is those assumptions that allow illusionists to deceive us. In fact, Teller even stated that the more a person feels like an expert on magic, the more he knows he'll be able to deceive him. Think about that for a moment. Something about over-confidence being a stumbling block...
Of course, we go to "magic" shows to be entertained. We want to be tricked as much as we want to know how the trick works. However, this seemingly-harmless exploitation reveals a much darker side of these loopholes in our perception. To me, it began to shine a light on a hidden, secret and destructive sin. The 9th Commandment states that we should not bear false witness, a statement that goes way beyond just lying. 'False witness' can also mean to present something less than the whole truth or to withhold something in order to deceive. Lying, in its traditional sense, is to directly speak an untruth. When we are a false witness to others, they often feel betrayal. I believe this is partly because, whether we know about our neurological shortcomings or not, we are shocked that our perception of reality is not as on steady of ground as we thought it was. God has given us all a sense of trust in others that is built in.
In studying civilization, one can find that a few things are absolutely required in order for us to live peacefully together. First, you must not expect your neighbor to murder people, otherwise you won't have neighbors and everyone will live in fear. Second, you must trust your neighbor not to lie most of the time, otherwise agreements, contracts and business could not be sustainable. Society cannot function at all without these two vital principles. Thus, even though we know that people lie from time to time, we still innately trust one another and expect people to tell the truth. Society breaks down little by little with each untruth.
To put it another way, if you study up on the psychology of eye-witnesses and their reliability, most are shocked to find that eye-witnesses are terrible at recalling minor details of a crime, individual or location, even major details. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, and I'll explain why in a little bit. To me, it's the amount of rock-solid trust we put in eye-witnesses that bothers me. I watched a video where a room full of law students have a fake burglar come into the classroom and steal an item right in plain sight and they're later told it's an experiment. But when each student is asked to give specific descriptions of the burglar and what he stole, the stories are widely varied. It's no surprise that God tells us that we need two or three witnesses to prosecute someone, because obviously if people shared the same story, that increases its likelihood of being true. But people conspiring together to witness falsely can easily foil this, and that breaks down society, too. Hence why it's nice that God sees all things.
So some of you might be asking now if I think "magic" or illusion is essentially being a false witness. Personally, I still love the mystique of it all as well as the psychology that comes with it. But logically-speaking, it appears to be false witness, with the exception being that most in the audience should know that it's just a trick... right? Much in the way that the aliens in Galaxy Quest didn't know that the Earth actors were, well, acting, it could be an honest misunderstanding that someone might mistake someone that calls themself an 'illusionist' is somehow practicing the black arts. Some magicians do try to put on an air of, "Wow, this is so Satanic...", and those magicians should probably be avoided by true Christians. After all, should we desire to deceive others and cause them to become more skeptical and cynical when in the end, we just say, "Oops, it's just a trick" (Prov. 26:19)? After all, wasn't that innate trustful nature and innocence that God gives us all what led my uncle to blurt out what he did to the "magician" on the screen? I will admit, it did look, well, less than natural. But in the rubberband trick? Nah... Just a good illusion.
Overall, though, there are holes in our ability to perceive. Being a false witness takes advantage of these holes. God allows us to make a choice between truth-telling and protection of the self through false witness. He made us able to deceive others, but only if we choose to do so. And if we choose to do so, others are greatly hurt by it, all while the effects ripple outward to all of society as trust breaks down and innocence is lost. We are designed, it seems, to have gaps in our ability to interpret what our senses take in and then make assumptions based on those interpretations, and exposing those gaps hurts greatly. Unfortunately, the short- and long-term effects of betrayal are not just an illusion... But then again, neither is God's law magic. It's the simple and plain and out-in-the-open truth.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Great Escape
[I'll issue a little warning at the beginning of this entry: This is a line of thinking that I feel and haven't completely nailed down yet, logic-wise. I'm not even sure if it makes total sense. Perhaps just typing it out will help, I dunno. Anyway, here goes...]
So I work in a nerd profession with a nerd degree, thus it makes perfect sense that I work with many a geek and nerd. One commonality among the nerd populous is their love for sci-fi, fantasy and role-playing genres, whether that be movies, books, comics, short stories, games, etc.
I have listened as people explain their passion for these subjects and the ridiculous number of sub-categories contained within. I have one friend that can remember most any plot from The Twilight Zone, another who has memorized every character, alien and spacecraft in Star Wars and Star Trek, yet another who spends countless hours playing Dungeons and Dragons, and the list goes on and on. I listened to these zealots recount the countless technologies and societies described in these mediums, how those technologies affected those involved, the psychological, philosophical, economic, political and comical ramifications of each involved.
I have also seen countless hours spent by these friends keeping up with their nerd-dom hobbies. Three nights this week with the DnD group, spare time learning High Elvish, catching the latest on Cowboy Bebop, analyzing the ramifications giving Data a chip that gives him emotions, wondering if Asimov forgot anything in his AI laws, spending weeks on the Everquest and World of Warcraft servers...
I've always been fascinated by the kinds of conversation I can have with these fanboys and the kind of deep thinking that accompanies these alternate realities they spend so much time in. Do you have the idea that controlling all crime and weapons will cease societies ills? We have a movie that takes that to the nth-degree. Want to see what a completely technological future looks like? Here's a book... Want to see where wars will take us if we continue on? Here's Terminator. What if every human had everything they wanted... What would we spend our time on? There are short stories chronicling that ideal. What if we mixed medieval society with some of modern technology? Vice versa?
But to tell the truth, I always got kinda weirded out on most of this stuff... Sure, having an escape from time to time is okay; sports, games, family recreation, books, daydreaming, etc. But for many of these acquaintances, well, they took sci-fi and fantasy to a whole new level. If they weren't playing one, they were reading or watching the other. And again, I understand that addictions happen for people who like sports, romance novels, politics, playing the stock markets, the entertainment industry, gambling, etc.
Because many sci-fi topics encapsulate philosophy, psychology, society, economics, technology and science, which interest me, it was a lure to listen and participate somewhat. There was depth. But the more I look at the immersion that people get into any side activity, I keep getting the feeling that people are dying to remove themselves from their own life and the reality that is around them. It was more entertaining to think about the democratic process falling apart in Star Wars leading to a dictatorship Empire than watching it happen in our current world. It's better to dream about battling orcs than battling this world's problems. It's better to have a game persona that we add strength and magic points to rather than improving our social, financial and moral well-being. It's easier to discuss evil and totalitarianism personified in the Joker and the Borg than solving issues of gray areas such as Middle East terrorism and communism.
Yes, we all need respite from the difficulties of life and dive into our various escapes. But identifying just how much our escape has become our preferred existence is important to note... Using yet another comic/sci-fi example (as there are many, hence why it's an enjoyable outlet), Neo's day job was more of an illusion than his hacker nightlife that questioned "reality's" true identity. However, with any addiction, we find that these escapes simply become opiates that dull the senses and distract us from our true goals. Moral issues become blurred, black and white appear more grey, and the vanity that is mankind's philosophy gets us so confused that we can't debate our way out of a wet paper sack lest we break some nonsensical fallacy. Or perhaps we simply can't turn off the TV, shut down the game, close the book, or turn off our imaginations, even.
Again, I'm not really trying to say that this whole nerd genre is evil and everybody who participates in any form is inherently evil... But it stands to reason that we need to evaluate the level of involvement it has taken in our lives, just like with any other interest. I've heard it put that people escape to fantasy because it sure beats the doldrums of reality. But I've also seen time and time again that truth is stranger than fiction. God's philosophy is far superior to any futurist writer. Our spiritual battles with the demon kingdom make Sauron and his armies look like a joke. The descriptions of the Eternal's visage, throne, four living creatures and other spiritual beings simply send chills down my spine when I truly try to consider them beyond just the words.
Anyway, if you have anything to add or have any rebuttals, comments are welcome... Again, this is more a feeling I have than actual, reasoned-out thought. I'm sure I fall into the same category on many of the same escapes that affect us all, this is just one that I haven't been able to nail down what's bothered me about it for quite some time.
So I work in a nerd profession with a nerd degree, thus it makes perfect sense that I work with many a geek and nerd. One commonality among the nerd populous is their love for sci-fi, fantasy and role-playing genres, whether that be movies, books, comics, short stories, games, etc.
I have listened as people explain their passion for these subjects and the ridiculous number of sub-categories contained within. I have one friend that can remember most any plot from The Twilight Zone, another who has memorized every character, alien and spacecraft in Star Wars and Star Trek, yet another who spends countless hours playing Dungeons and Dragons, and the list goes on and on. I listened to these zealots recount the countless technologies and societies described in these mediums, how those technologies affected those involved, the psychological, philosophical, economic, political and comical ramifications of each involved.
I have also seen countless hours spent by these friends keeping up with their nerd-dom hobbies. Three nights this week with the DnD group, spare time learning High Elvish, catching the latest on Cowboy Bebop, analyzing the ramifications giving Data a chip that gives him emotions, wondering if Asimov forgot anything in his AI laws, spending weeks on the Everquest and World of Warcraft servers...
I've always been fascinated by the kinds of conversation I can have with these fanboys and the kind of deep thinking that accompanies these alternate realities they spend so much time in. Do you have the idea that controlling all crime and weapons will cease societies ills? We have a movie that takes that to the nth-degree. Want to see what a completely technological future looks like? Here's a book... Want to see where wars will take us if we continue on? Here's Terminator. What if every human had everything they wanted... What would we spend our time on? There are short stories chronicling that ideal. What if we mixed medieval society with some of modern technology? Vice versa?
But to tell the truth, I always got kinda weirded out on most of this stuff... Sure, having an escape from time to time is okay; sports, games, family recreation, books, daydreaming, etc. But for many of these acquaintances, well, they took sci-fi and fantasy to a whole new level. If they weren't playing one, they were reading or watching the other. And again, I understand that addictions happen for people who like sports, romance novels, politics, playing the stock markets, the entertainment industry, gambling, etc.
Because many sci-fi topics encapsulate philosophy, psychology, society, economics, technology and science, which interest me, it was a lure to listen and participate somewhat. There was depth. But the more I look at the immersion that people get into any side activity, I keep getting the feeling that people are dying to remove themselves from their own life and the reality that is around them. It was more entertaining to think about the democratic process falling apart in Star Wars leading to a dictatorship Empire than watching it happen in our current world. It's better to dream about battling orcs than battling this world's problems. It's better to have a game persona that we add strength and magic points to rather than improving our social, financial and moral well-being. It's easier to discuss evil and totalitarianism personified in the Joker and the Borg than solving issues of gray areas such as Middle East terrorism and communism.
Yes, we all need respite from the difficulties of life and dive into our various escapes. But identifying just how much our escape has become our preferred existence is important to note... Using yet another comic/sci-fi example (as there are many, hence why it's an enjoyable outlet), Neo's day job was more of an illusion than his hacker nightlife that questioned "reality's" true identity. However, with any addiction, we find that these escapes simply become opiates that dull the senses and distract us from our true goals. Moral issues become blurred, black and white appear more grey, and the vanity that is mankind's philosophy gets us so confused that we can't debate our way out of a wet paper sack lest we break some nonsensical fallacy. Or perhaps we simply can't turn off the TV, shut down the game, close the book, or turn off our imaginations, even.
Again, I'm not really trying to say that this whole nerd genre is evil and everybody who participates in any form is inherently evil... But it stands to reason that we need to evaluate the level of involvement it has taken in our lives, just like with any other interest. I've heard it put that people escape to fantasy because it sure beats the doldrums of reality. But I've also seen time and time again that truth is stranger than fiction. God's philosophy is far superior to any futurist writer. Our spiritual battles with the demon kingdom make Sauron and his armies look like a joke. The descriptions of the Eternal's visage, throne, four living creatures and other spiritual beings simply send chills down my spine when I truly try to consider them beyond just the words.
Anyway, if you have anything to add or have any rebuttals, comments are welcome... Again, this is more a feeling I have than actual, reasoned-out thought. I'm sure I fall into the same category on many of the same escapes that affect us all, this is just one that I haven't been able to nail down what's bothered me about it for quite some time.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Courage
In Kansas City, we have a wonderful sports writer named Joe Posnanski, who recently wrote an article on courage being discussed by battle-tested soldiers in a class he was facilitating. Near the end of the article, he asks the class what they think real courage is, not the kind in sports, but the kind displayed on the battlefield when your life is on the line. Some of the points of the article were:
- “You’re going to be scared,” said another. “There’s no way around that. But you have to go through it so you can tell yourself: ‘OK, that fear wasn’t that bad; it wasn’t enough to paralyze me. I can perform my duties even feeling scared.’ ”
- They agreed that physical fitness is a big part of courage. “If you’re fat and out of shape, your courage cannot hold out on a battlefield,” one said. “It has nothing to do with how brave a person you may be. You can’t hold out, because you are fighting your own body in addition to fighting the enemy.”
- They also agreed that certainty galvanizes courage. The surer you are of what you are supposed to do, the more courageous you feel. “This is why we train so hard,” a soldier said. “We train until it becomes automatic. You don’t want to think in that moment on the battlefield. You want to react like you have been trained.”
- Finally, they said that courage comes from confidence, from an unshakable conviction that what you are doing will succeed.
Wow. You can take those comments of these battle-tested soldiers and apply them so easily to our current and coming spiritual battles. From these comments, I have learned:
- That fear of trials is normal, but that I must learn how to accept it and continue onward.
- That I must train; mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. If my mind or body gives out during the rough times ahead that we in the Church know well in advance are coming, then I haven't done my part. That's why Bible study, prayer, fasting and meditation are so important. But it's also important to physically go do what I know to do. True religion is doing. And training will enable all of us to react automatically in the right way when fear has taken hold of our mind and body.
- "Certainty" of the task, or believing that what I'm doing is actually correct; proven from God's Word. You don't want to question your beliefs when you're standing in front of a king or ruler with your life on the line. Prove them now while discussing and teaching with others.
- Confidence -- or faith in God that He will do as He promises. There will be a Kingdom set up and Jesus promises those who follow Him will receive an office in it. And we will be responsible for training the rest of the world in the same way. Do I believe it? Will I believe it if my life is hanging in the balance?
Even though we in God's Church don't participate in mankind's wars, we can learn some lessons from these soldiers. For even God stated to His people:
"Be strong and of a good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid... For Jehovah your God is He who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you." -- Deut. 31:6
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Quote of the Day
"People don't change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat."
Monday, July 21, 2008
A Diagnosis
Hi folks... I wonder if anyone still checks this page anymore after my inability to post anything for the last month or more. With parenting, I've discovered that I have a lot going on, but not much of it is of any interest to anybody except those going through the same things, or those who've already have gone through the same things and want to laugh at our pain. :)
Anyway, I finally got some news on my stomach ailments after buffeting back and forth between dozens of possibilities for months. It appears that I have a wonderful bacterium called Clostridium difficile. Feel free to peruse the Mayo Clinic's informational page if you have a strong stomach. (After reading it, you'll realize why I don't...) As of this moment, I don't know if I have the antibiotic-resistant variety, but I have no reason to believe that I do.
That said, with some strains of C. diff hitting the headlines lately as the new "super bug" along with MRSA and others, it's sure nice to know that I could be counted among the statistics. :) It just shows that mankind's ways still lead to death and I've contributed my fair share along the way. But sometimes, we're just in the path of previous generation's sins against God. In this particular case, it's a mixture of both. God tells us plainly about quarantine and washing up in His Laws, and even though Israel didn't know about Germ Theory way back then, God did. Our knowledge of it today sure hasn't made us any wiser about it (hence the ridiculous amount of antibiotics that I've been prescribed that possibly got me in this position in the first place). But if previous generations would have followed these laws, the problems we have with germs today wouldn't exist. If I had followed them, I would have had a higher chance of not getting one of them.
So to me, this all seems to point to the idea that no matter how much knowledge mankind has gathered that somehow "proves we don't need God anymore", we still very much do. I for one, am one silly child who stuck my hand in the fire and found out it burned rather than listening to my Father who already told me so... regardless of what actually makes the fire hot.
Anyway, I finally got some news on my stomach ailments after buffeting back and forth between dozens of possibilities for months. It appears that I have a wonderful bacterium called Clostridium difficile. Feel free to peruse the Mayo Clinic's informational page if you have a strong stomach. (After reading it, you'll realize why I don't...) As of this moment, I don't know if I have the antibiotic-resistant variety, but I have no reason to believe that I do.
That said, with some strains of C. diff hitting the headlines lately as the new "super bug" along with MRSA and others, it's sure nice to know that I could be counted among the statistics. :) It just shows that mankind's ways still lead to death and I've contributed my fair share along the way. But sometimes, we're just in the path of previous generation's sins against God. In this particular case, it's a mixture of both. God tells us plainly about quarantine and washing up in His Laws, and even though Israel didn't know about Germ Theory way back then, God did. Our knowledge of it today sure hasn't made us any wiser about it (hence the ridiculous amount of antibiotics that I've been prescribed that possibly got me in this position in the first place). But if previous generations would have followed these laws, the problems we have with germs today wouldn't exist. If I had followed them, I would have had a higher chance of not getting one of them.
So to me, this all seems to point to the idea that no matter how much knowledge mankind has gathered that somehow "proves we don't need God anymore", we still very much do. I for one, am one silly child who stuck my hand in the fire and found out it burned rather than listening to my Father who already told me so... regardless of what actually makes the fire hot.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
More Is Less?
My dear wife sent me an article from the NY Times about how southern Spain is rapidly drying up into a desert for several reasons. Obviously, the first reason cited is that temperatures have risen more there than the world average and they're not getting the rain they're used to. However, what's interesting is that because so many businesses and people are still flush with cash, that region is still booming in development, meaning new water-thirsty golf courses, casinos and other tourist attractions. People are building their homes next to the beautiful beaches, as would anyone in such an attractive area. They want their lawns and trees lush and green. Farmers are planting more water-hungry crops like lettuce, strawberries and corn rather than the standard olives, lemons and figs that the area is known for.
The appearance of a strong economy is actually soaking up the resources available to that area faster! The water manager for that area says he can only allow 30% of the government-allocated water to go to each of the properties, businesses and farms due to the shortage. That has caused corruption with people digging hundreds of illegal wells and setting up a black market for water. Government loopholes allow people to claim that planting several trees in their yard makes their property a "farm", thus increasing their water consumption. The regulators are accepting these claims in order to make an extra buck on the side. The area has already outgrown the available resources and yet the government is still allowing the area to be further developed. This cycle cannot last forever.
This same cycle is happening all over the world. In the U.S., areas like California, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado are having or have had booming population growth that is unstustainable. In the last decade, we have been seeing the fruits of packing so many people in arid areas, which is much like how fruit would look in any arid area. The drying of the land has contributed to far more landslides and forest fires, which isn't helped by the fact that more people trying to get away from the city are moving the boundaries of that city to the hills and forests.
Due to the incredible growth of the last several centuries, mankind vainly figured it could engineer it's way out of these kinds of problems. Indeed, God blessed Abraham's, Isaac's and Jacob's children in a way that has made the rest of the world not only jealous, but envious to the point of copying our current land-leeching tactics or just outright taking our resources by bad financial policy and greed by our own country's government and businesses.
I recently heard about the so-called "water/diamond paradox" which is to say that diamonds are fairly useless overall, and yet they are priced extremely high, whereas water, which is useful in almost every way imaginable to sustain life, is priced ridiculously cheap. All in all, a booming economy may lead us to the illusion of prosperity where greed and lust eventually sucks the most precious resources out from under us because we continually take them for granted. The wonderful time-saving gadgets, fancy restaurants, huge homes and fast cars won't amount to much if we are completely starving and parched. "...But do not hurt the oil and the wine." God tells the black horseman to allow the most useless junk that we desire to be plentiful when our actual needs of basic food and water become completely scarce.
So keep an eye on the rivers, water tables and wheat production instead of the overall financial economy. Money, goods and prosperity are quickly becoming just a mirage on the desert that mankind has created for itself.
[UPDATE: I just read another article in the KC Star that says that irrigation artificially cools the air in that local area, so farmland hasn't felt the full effects of any warming trends that may be occuring elsewhere. However, many of the aquifers that help irrigation in places like Colorado, Kansas, California, even large parts of Asia, are drying up requiring more energy from fossil fuels to retrieve what's down there. That, in turn, continues to add CO2 to the air. So warming could be compounded by several degrees, on average, in rural areas as irrigation water begins to dry up.]
The appearance of a strong economy is actually soaking up the resources available to that area faster! The water manager for that area says he can only allow 30% of the government-allocated water to go to each of the properties, businesses and farms due to the shortage. That has caused corruption with people digging hundreds of illegal wells and setting up a black market for water. Government loopholes allow people to claim that planting several trees in their yard makes their property a "farm", thus increasing their water consumption. The regulators are accepting these claims in order to make an extra buck on the side. The area has already outgrown the available resources and yet the government is still allowing the area to be further developed. This cycle cannot last forever.
This same cycle is happening all over the world. In the U.S., areas like California, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado are having or have had booming population growth that is unstustainable. In the last decade, we have been seeing the fruits of packing so many people in arid areas, which is much like how fruit would look in any arid area. The drying of the land has contributed to far more landslides and forest fires, which isn't helped by the fact that more people trying to get away from the city are moving the boundaries of that city to the hills and forests.
Due to the incredible growth of the last several centuries, mankind vainly figured it could engineer it's way out of these kinds of problems. Indeed, God blessed Abraham's, Isaac's and Jacob's children in a way that has made the rest of the world not only jealous, but envious to the point of copying our current land-leeching tactics or just outright taking our resources by bad financial policy and greed by our own country's government and businesses.
I recently heard about the so-called "water/diamond paradox" which is to say that diamonds are fairly useless overall, and yet they are priced extremely high, whereas water, which is useful in almost every way imaginable to sustain life, is priced ridiculously cheap. All in all, a booming economy may lead us to the illusion of prosperity where greed and lust eventually sucks the most precious resources out from under us because we continually take them for granted. The wonderful time-saving gadgets, fancy restaurants, huge homes and fast cars won't amount to much if we are completely starving and parched. "...But do not hurt the oil and the wine." God tells the black horseman to allow the most useless junk that we desire to be plentiful when our actual needs of basic food and water become completely scarce.
So keep an eye on the rivers, water tables and wheat production instead of the overall financial economy. Money, goods and prosperity are quickly becoming just a mirage on the desert that mankind has created for itself.
[UPDATE: I just read another article in the KC Star that says that irrigation artificially cools the air in that local area, so farmland hasn't felt the full effects of any warming trends that may be occuring elsewhere. However, many of the aquifers that help irrigation in places like Colorado, Kansas, California, even large parts of Asia, are drying up requiring more energy from fossil fuels to retrieve what's down there. That, in turn, continues to add CO2 to the air. So warming could be compounded by several degrees, on average, in rural areas as irrigation water begins to dry up.]
Monday, May 05, 2008
Gut Reaction
I've been dealing with chronic stomach problems for the last several months. I've been annointed for each issue and have prayed for God's healing. I truly do believe what James says in the 5th chapter of his letter about going to God's elders and trusting in Him to heal me. In fact, I saw someone else immediately relieved of some intense pain in my own home just last week after getting annointed. I've also done my due diligence on the web in research, visited several doctors about some of my shorter- and long-term problems. I'm trying to establish both a possible direction to take for a cure as well as determining what to pray for God to heal.
Sickness of any kind isn't fun. These particular problems are especially frustrating because it's really not all that painful, but nothing is quite right. And most of my symptoms could point to, or eventually cause bigger problems if not corrected. In fact, I still have no idea of the cause. All of this comes at a time when doctors are finding the latest in antibiotic-resistant strains of an old microbe commonly found in the stomach and intestines that causes many of the same problems as I have.
I state all of this for a couple of reasons... First, I don't have a problem with doctors and what they try to do. But obviously, they can't heal major organs, have difficulty with the bacterial world, don't fully understand how the brain and attitude affect health, and so on. They can't even diagnose many problems today. But when they can, doctors are helpful and can extend life beyond what may have been possible decades ago. Pharmeceuticals are both a blessing and a curse. They promise to cure you at the same time have some side effects and interactions with other medicines that can be worse than the original complaint. Case in point, it's possible that antibiotics and a medical procedure I had a few moons ago may have very well caused my current ailments.
Second, I trust God. I believe that I have the faith of Jesus Christ working with me, helping me to believe in the Father more and more every day. I've seen and heard of miracles and, as the Apostle John tells his audience over and over again in his gospel, he hopes that we believe more strongly as a result.
But then some doubts hit me... Questions and thoughts arise in my mind like, "Didn't Jesus heal to help people believe in His ministry, and as a result, His Father, to follow Him? Wasn't He doing it to establish His Church, or act as a witness against those who still wouldn't believe in spite of great works?" Or, "The pattern seems to go that God only heals those in dire situations or those needing more faith at a rough time in their lives." Or, "Mr. Armstrong had so many healings because God was raising up the Philadelphia era of the Church, yet tells us to 'hang on' in this age because we will have little strength (perhaps meaning miraculous power)." Or, "God, even though I totally know he can heal, hasn't healed several chronically ill people I know lately. Perhaps He's waiting for a time closer to the Tribulation or the Kingdom, itself."
But James 5:14-15 comes back and slaps me upside the head. Perhaps the early 20th-century Church was successful for other reasons. Perhaps people had more faith back in Jesus' and the apostles day. Then I have to think about what an annointing really is. It's total submission to God and His government. It's us, once again, surrendering our will in exchange for His. Even if God has chosen not to heal me or others at this time, it doesn't mean He's not fulfilling His purpose in us.
One of my biggest attributes is I'm a problem-solver, and I like to think and work quickly to get stuff figured out. The down side to this trait is I get impatient with a lack of results, but doggedly press on. With your stomach, however, as my wife continually reminds me, steadiness, diligence and patience are key. Whereas I'm changing my diet, moving onto some new theory as to what's broken, adding stress each week this goes on, realizing that stress isn't helping, slowly relaxing from that stress, wondering and pondering why diligence has to take so stinkin' long. Is waiting only going to allow some more terrible illness I have but don't know about continue to eat me up?
Finally, I realized that I really wasn't putting this whole problem fully in God's capable hands. Similar to detaching my entire abdomen, handing it to Him and saying, "Here, see what you can do with this." Of course, I really wish that I could do that, physically-speaking. What stinks is that some of us are really hands-on folks who have a can-do attitude about everything and that makes it difficult to allow God to tackle our problems for us. "Oh, don't worry about that, God, I'll handle it." Others trust that only doctors and physical medicines, potions, herbs, spas and chiropractors can fix them. Many tend to believe any competent-sounding person claiming to have a cure. Well, they very well could, but perhaps it's best to allow God to lead you to the right cure and sit tight while He does. Other times, in the case of especially difficult times that lie ahead when doctors won't know what to do, we will only be able to rely on God to save us.
But we read that God's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Right now, my burden is feeling heavier than I'd prefer it be. Recognizing I'm trying to do this all on my own is the first step, and trust me, I've pretty much ignored it for a long time. "Yes, I know we need faith." Okay, act on it. "Okay, I believe STRONGER." No, quit trying to do everything yourself. Surrender. Hand it over.
I truly believe that I could learn to apply this in every avenue of my life: relationships, character-building, finances, parenting... And as it turns out, in many areas where I have succeeded, that's what I've been doing. Don't worry about finding that job, God will provide. Don't even think about how you'll get out of this situation, God is 5,000 steps ahead of you, so you should wait for His answer. Search for the lesson in this trial, God's placed one in there for you somewhere. Place my whole being, and everything that comes with it, in God's hands.
My stomach's not better yet, but this has certainly put it more at ease.
Sickness of any kind isn't fun. These particular problems are especially frustrating because it's really not all that painful, but nothing is quite right. And most of my symptoms could point to, or eventually cause bigger problems if not corrected. In fact, I still have no idea of the cause. All of this comes at a time when doctors are finding the latest in antibiotic-resistant strains of an old microbe commonly found in the stomach and intestines that causes many of the same problems as I have.
I state all of this for a couple of reasons... First, I don't have a problem with doctors and what they try to do. But obviously, they can't heal major organs, have difficulty with the bacterial world, don't fully understand how the brain and attitude affect health, and so on. They can't even diagnose many problems today. But when they can, doctors are helpful and can extend life beyond what may have been possible decades ago. Pharmeceuticals are both a blessing and a curse. They promise to cure you at the same time have some side effects and interactions with other medicines that can be worse than the original complaint. Case in point, it's possible that antibiotics and a medical procedure I had a few moons ago may have very well caused my current ailments.
Second, I trust God. I believe that I have the faith of Jesus Christ working with me, helping me to believe in the Father more and more every day. I've seen and heard of miracles and, as the Apostle John tells his audience over and over again in his gospel, he hopes that we believe more strongly as a result.
But then some doubts hit me... Questions and thoughts arise in my mind like, "Didn't Jesus heal to help people believe in His ministry, and as a result, His Father, to follow Him? Wasn't He doing it to establish His Church, or act as a witness against those who still wouldn't believe in spite of great works?" Or, "The pattern seems to go that God only heals those in dire situations or those needing more faith at a rough time in their lives." Or, "Mr. Armstrong had so many healings because God was raising up the Philadelphia era of the Church, yet tells us to 'hang on' in this age because we will have little strength (perhaps meaning miraculous power)." Or, "God, even though I totally know he can heal, hasn't healed several chronically ill people I know lately. Perhaps He's waiting for a time closer to the Tribulation or the Kingdom, itself."
But James 5:14-15 comes back and slaps me upside the head. Perhaps the early 20th-century Church was successful for other reasons. Perhaps people had more faith back in Jesus' and the apostles day. Then I have to think about what an annointing really is. It's total submission to God and His government. It's us, once again, surrendering our will in exchange for His. Even if God has chosen not to heal me or others at this time, it doesn't mean He's not fulfilling His purpose in us.
One of my biggest attributes is I'm a problem-solver, and I like to think and work quickly to get stuff figured out. The down side to this trait is I get impatient with a lack of results, but doggedly press on. With your stomach, however, as my wife continually reminds me, steadiness, diligence and patience are key. Whereas I'm changing my diet, moving onto some new theory as to what's broken, adding stress each week this goes on, realizing that stress isn't helping, slowly relaxing from that stress, wondering and pondering why diligence has to take so stinkin' long. Is waiting only going to allow some more terrible illness I have but don't know about continue to eat me up?
Finally, I realized that I really wasn't putting this whole problem fully in God's capable hands. Similar to detaching my entire abdomen, handing it to Him and saying, "Here, see what you can do with this." Of course, I really wish that I could do that, physically-speaking. What stinks is that some of us are really hands-on folks who have a can-do attitude about everything and that makes it difficult to allow God to tackle our problems for us. "Oh, don't worry about that, God, I'll handle it." Others trust that only doctors and physical medicines, potions, herbs, spas and chiropractors can fix them. Many tend to believe any competent-sounding person claiming to have a cure. Well, they very well could, but perhaps it's best to allow God to lead you to the right cure and sit tight while He does. Other times, in the case of especially difficult times that lie ahead when doctors won't know what to do, we will only be able to rely on God to save us.
But we read that God's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Right now, my burden is feeling heavier than I'd prefer it be. Recognizing I'm trying to do this all on my own is the first step, and trust me, I've pretty much ignored it for a long time. "Yes, I know we need faith." Okay, act on it. "Okay, I believe STRONGER." No, quit trying to do everything yourself. Surrender. Hand it over.
I truly believe that I could learn to apply this in every avenue of my life: relationships, character-building, finances, parenting... And as it turns out, in many areas where I have succeeded, that's what I've been doing. Don't worry about finding that job, God will provide. Don't even think about how you'll get out of this situation, God is 5,000 steps ahead of you, so you should wait for His answer. Search for the lesson in this trial, God's placed one in there for you somewhere. Place my whole being, and everything that comes with it, in God's hands.
My stomach's not better yet, but this has certainly put it more at ease.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Supply and Demand in a Scarcity Market
Okay, I need help from you economically-brilliant folks out there. I just read this article that Mr. Wheeler posted on Mr. Smith's blog talking about scarcity markets and their impact on prices. I'm having trouble understanding the markets for, well, pretty much everything right now. And my main purpose is to try and put my understanding of prophecy surrounding the Four Horsemen and the Olivet Prophecy in a better context, at least to what information we currently have. So the gist of my question is:
Why is demand so high for basic resources right now?
Is it because there's a shortage of actual raw materials (unprocessed oil, grain, rice, copper, etc)? And/or is it because there's a shortage of production even with an abundant supply of raw materials? And/or is it purely psychological due to a shift in the balance of power, the falling dollar and rising nations of China and India and their resource demands? Is it all real need or just fear that we might need more resources in the future? Are things priced higher because demand rose suddenly when producers weren't expecting it and they're struggling to keep up? I understand the issues surround oil reserves, recognizing that tar sands, deep earth drilling and other new reserves deemed unprofitable until lately due to the price spikes. But do food and materials have the same issues? (I know we've already discussed corn here previously, too...)
And if we're not short on reserves for these various raw materials, but just lacking production or delivery methods, will catching up lower the market prices back to "normal" quickly? Are producers dragging their heels even though there's plenty incentive to hire more, drill more, dig more, make more, etc. with the higher prices? Or is there just too much fear that rapidly increasing production will rapidly decrease demand, thus bankrupting producers?
More importantly, if there isn't a shortage of raw materials, will these unstable markets create a shortage? Will they create famine? Will they cause nation to rise up against nation to fight for available resources? Will deep earth drilling cause major earthquakes? (Okay, that one's just me being silly, so don't take me seriously...)
It all makes me wish I took macroeconomics in college... It seems obvious that we're heading down the path of prophecy of the Bible, but I'm interested in thinking about just how it might all flesh out while we're getting there. Any input or perspective would be appreciated.
Why is demand so high for basic resources right now?
Is it because there's a shortage of actual raw materials (unprocessed oil, grain, rice, copper, etc)? And/or is it because there's a shortage of production even with an abundant supply of raw materials? And/or is it purely psychological due to a shift in the balance of power, the falling dollar and rising nations of China and India and their resource demands? Is it all real need or just fear that we might need more resources in the future? Are things priced higher because demand rose suddenly when producers weren't expecting it and they're struggling to keep up? I understand the issues surround oil reserves, recognizing that tar sands, deep earth drilling and other new reserves deemed unprofitable until lately due to the price spikes. But do food and materials have the same issues? (I know we've already discussed corn here previously, too...)
And if we're not short on reserves for these various raw materials, but just lacking production or delivery methods, will catching up lower the market prices back to "normal" quickly? Are producers dragging their heels even though there's plenty incentive to hire more, drill more, dig more, make more, etc. with the higher prices? Or is there just too much fear that rapidly increasing production will rapidly decrease demand, thus bankrupting producers?
More importantly, if there isn't a shortage of raw materials, will these unstable markets create a shortage? Will they create famine? Will they cause nation to rise up against nation to fight for available resources? Will deep earth drilling cause major earthquakes? (Okay, that one's just me being silly, so don't take me seriously...)
It all makes me wish I took macroeconomics in college... It seems obvious that we're heading down the path of prophecy of the Bible, but I'm interested in thinking about just how it might all flesh out while we're getting there. Any input or perspective would be appreciated.
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