http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17879317/site/newsweek/
Check it out!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
For a Totally Great, Fun Time, Check out this Author's Website!
http://www.saraleeperel.com/
I've been laughing ever since I found this!
Here's a sample very close to my heart (as a fellow reclusive, shy writer)!
Thank you for reprint permission, Saralee!
Party, Pluck and Pins to Prop Me Up
By: Saralee Perel
All I wanted to do was write articles for a new local magazine. I didn't want to actually meet anybody. But one day, it came in the mail. An invitation to their publication party. "How do I get out of this?" I internally screamed, already in full panic mode.
I had nothing to wear. I don't get out much. The straps on the one bra I own are so stretched out that family members compare me to Grandma - whose bosoms ended up around her waist. My belly serves as a sturdy shelf for mine.
I flailed through my closet. Half the things were Woodstock-fringed and beaded. "What's in style?" I asked my husband, Bob.
He picked up a tie-dyed tunic with the words "Peace, Love And Rock and Roll" on it. "Not this," he said.
I went to Kmart for a new bra. I tried several on, over my tee shirt before someone said, "They've invented dressing rooms." Miracle bras, wonder bras, sports, strapless, push-ups. Too many choices. I scrapped my quest. Instead, I safety-pinned the straps on my old bra so I'd be up where I'm supposed to be when I'm out in public.
The night of the party, Bob pushed me out of the car, in front of the fancy restaurant. I opened the restaurant door, changed my mind and headed back. He made - scoot, go on now - motions with his hands. I went in. He had been invited too but had to go to the bank first.
I was an anxious wreck. The magazine is very elegant. The editors are mature and sophisticated, yet somehow they let me write for them.
The publisher greeted me graciously, then asked, "Where's Bob?"
"Who?"
"Your husband."
"Yes, of course. That's right. He is."
She looked baffled. "Isn't he coming?"
"He's at the bank. We have money in there. And . . . we need money . . . where they have it . . . there."
I darted out to the phone and put in a dime. Nothing happened. Finally, I put enough money in to make it work. Again, I don't get out much.
"What's wrong?" Bob asked from his cell.
"Nothing. Could you hurry?"
I hadn't worn earrings in ages. It hurt to poke my gold studs through closed-up holes. My lobes became awfully swollen and itchy.
"I'm Saralee." I forced myself to say to another writer.
"I'm Debi." She was warm and friendly.
"I'm Saralee," I said, scratching my ear. It was bleeding.
"I love your columns," another writer said.
"People read them."
She said, "Excuse me," and went to talk to a sane person.
Everybody loves Bob. I write about him a lot. When he came in, women surrounded him. He stood by me. I hid behind him. He took my hand. It was bloody.
That's when one safety pin broke, and my right side plummeted. I grabbed someone's full drink glass, snugged my fallen flesh into the crook of my arm, and held myself up, level with my left side.
The woman politely motioned for her drink. I shook my head "No!" and backed away, clutching her glass. Bob whispered, "You're acting like a lunatic."
When I handed her drink back, my right side plopped. I looked down, then up, and explained, "Don't you just hate it when your safety pin breaks and your ear's bleeding?"
She put the glass down and quickly walked away, while glancing back warily.
And so, here is what I learned:
1. The three writers I admire the most were just as insecure as I was.
2. Self-consciousness is normal. I had a great time in spite of it.
3. I had a better time when I stopped thinking about myself and started asking others about themselves.
4. It truly doesn't matter if you repeat yourself out of nervousness, or your hand trembles when you're shaking someone else's.
5. And, well-known writers sometimes talk with a piece of green pepper in their teeth.
BIO Saralee Perel is an award-winning columnist, chosen in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' annual competition. She's a Family Circle magazine contributor, a Chicken Soup for the Soul contributor and an 11 year nationally syndicated columnist. Her novel, "Raw Nerves" received the BookSense honor. Saralee's favorite activity is binge-eating pasta, which she reluctantly shares with her husband, Bob.
E-mail: sperel@saraleeperel.comhttp://www.saraleeperel.com
I've been laughing ever since I found this!
Here's a sample very close to my heart (as a fellow reclusive, shy writer)!
Thank you for reprint permission, Saralee!
Party, Pluck and Pins to Prop Me Up
By: Saralee Perel
All I wanted to do was write articles for a new local magazine. I didn't want to actually meet anybody. But one day, it came in the mail. An invitation to their publication party. "How do I get out of this?" I internally screamed, already in full panic mode.
I had nothing to wear. I don't get out much. The straps on the one bra I own are so stretched out that family members compare me to Grandma - whose bosoms ended up around her waist. My belly serves as a sturdy shelf for mine.
I flailed through my closet. Half the things were Woodstock-fringed and beaded. "What's in style?" I asked my husband, Bob.
He picked up a tie-dyed tunic with the words "Peace, Love And Rock and Roll" on it. "Not this," he said.
I went to Kmart for a new bra. I tried several on, over my tee shirt before someone said, "They've invented dressing rooms." Miracle bras, wonder bras, sports, strapless, push-ups. Too many choices. I scrapped my quest. Instead, I safety-pinned the straps on my old bra so I'd be up where I'm supposed to be when I'm out in public.
The night of the party, Bob pushed me out of the car, in front of the fancy restaurant. I opened the restaurant door, changed my mind and headed back. He made - scoot, go on now - motions with his hands. I went in. He had been invited too but had to go to the bank first.
I was an anxious wreck. The magazine is very elegant. The editors are mature and sophisticated, yet somehow they let me write for them.
The publisher greeted me graciously, then asked, "Where's Bob?"
"Who?"
"Your husband."
"Yes, of course. That's right. He is."
She looked baffled. "Isn't he coming?"
"He's at the bank. We have money in there. And . . . we need money . . . where they have it . . . there."
I darted out to the phone and put in a dime. Nothing happened. Finally, I put enough money in to make it work. Again, I don't get out much.
"What's wrong?" Bob asked from his cell.
"Nothing. Could you hurry?"
I hadn't worn earrings in ages. It hurt to poke my gold studs through closed-up holes. My lobes became awfully swollen and itchy.
"I'm Saralee." I forced myself to say to another writer.
"I'm Debi." She was warm and friendly.
"I'm Saralee," I said, scratching my ear. It was bleeding.
"I love your columns," another writer said.
"People read them."
She said, "Excuse me," and went to talk to a sane person.
Everybody loves Bob. I write about him a lot. When he came in, women surrounded him. He stood by me. I hid behind him. He took my hand. It was bloody.
That's when one safety pin broke, and my right side plummeted. I grabbed someone's full drink glass, snugged my fallen flesh into the crook of my arm, and held myself up, level with my left side.
The woman politely motioned for her drink. I shook my head "No!" and backed away, clutching her glass. Bob whispered, "You're acting like a lunatic."
When I handed her drink back, my right side plopped. I looked down, then up, and explained, "Don't you just hate it when your safety pin breaks and your ear's bleeding?"
She put the glass down and quickly walked away, while glancing back warily.
And so, here is what I learned:
1. The three writers I admire the most were just as insecure as I was.
2. Self-consciousness is normal. I had a great time in spite of it.
3. I had a better time when I stopped thinking about myself and started asking others about themselves.
4. It truly doesn't matter if you repeat yourself out of nervousness, or your hand trembles when you're shaking someone else's.
5. And, well-known writers sometimes talk with a piece of green pepper in their teeth.
BIO Saralee Perel is an award-winning columnist, chosen in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' annual competition. She's a Family Circle magazine contributor, a Chicken Soup for the Soul contributor and an 11 year nationally syndicated columnist. Her novel, "Raw Nerves" received the BookSense honor. Saralee's favorite activity is binge-eating pasta, which she reluctantly shares with her husband, Bob.
E-mail: sperel@saraleeperel.comhttp://www.saraleeperel.com
Response from Alison (Senorita Invierno) To My Immediate Past Blog...
Just read your blog and thought this would be best as an email...
My Drama tutor gave this quote as a handout to the whole class on the first day of term (many years ago when I was a silly young thing. Now I'm just silly). He was a lovely man. It's credited as Nelson Mandela's inauguration speech in 1994 but there's some controversy over the source and it's supposedly Marianne Williamson. However, it's beautiful in my opinion and what you wrote made me think of it. Shine on you crazy diamond. Remember I'm a fan too. There must be a reason!
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Now, as before, I depend on you to send this to me at some point in the future because if we are to be struggling artists/soul mates/thick as thieves, then we can support each other!
I'm keeping a log of some of the things I'm doing here in Spain by the way, including visiting some very Holy places which I think you'd love. This country is so spiritual. And it's Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter) so I'll save some things for you. Been very busy this week and my sister was rushed into hospital with a suspected burst appendix a couple of days ago, but everything's OK now and apparently it's just a virus. Phew!!!
Have a good weekend. It's raining apocalyptically today so I should get some writing done instead of standing wistfully on a mountain.
Ali
My Drama tutor gave this quote as a handout to the whole class on the first day of term (many years ago when I was a silly young thing. Now I'm just silly). He was a lovely man. It's credited as Nelson Mandela's inauguration speech in 1994 but there's some controversy over the source and it's supposedly Marianne Williamson. However, it's beautiful in my opinion and what you wrote made me think of it. Shine on you crazy diamond. Remember I'm a fan too. There must be a reason!
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Now, as before, I depend on you to send this to me at some point in the future because if we are to be struggling artists/soul mates/thick as thieves, then we can support each other!
I'm keeping a log of some of the things I'm doing here in Spain by the way, including visiting some very Holy places which I think you'd love. This country is so spiritual. And it's Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter) so I'll save some things for you. Been very busy this week and my sister was rushed into hospital with a suspected burst appendix a couple of days ago, but everything's OK now and apparently it's just a virus. Phew!!!
Have a good weekend. It's raining apocalyptically today so I should get some writing done instead of standing wistfully on a mountain.
Ali
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday Blessings...
Whee! I was happily surprised and mighty tickled this morning when an On-Hold Concepts client called me at work to ask if I would be willing to help her write copy for her business website! It kinda blew me away, actually, because she was so complimentary that her comments made me blush!
Yes, I'm still surprised -- probably always will be -- when people tell me they consider me an excellent writer. This must have something to do with nearly every one's inner concept of how well they "measure up" against the "competition" (even when one couldn't care less about competing!).
Some people hide their sense of inadequacy better than others -- all too often with off-putting false bravado -- but I have discovered that what most of us are trying to figure out is simply, "Am I 'good enough' just as I am -- or do I disappoint you as much as I disappoint myself at times?"
That's a special ruse of Satan's. "Make 'em feel less adequate and beloved than they are and they will shrink up and do less with the gifts God gave them."
Anyway, upon receiving this lovely request to help with web content, I emailed my boss (the owner of On-Hold Concepts) and asked if this type of thing was off-limits; if it would be viewed as any kind of conflict of interest if I "adopted" one of On-Hold's clients and helped her out. He quickly reassured me that I can write for any of On-Hold's clients as long as I refrain from writing on-hold phone messages for them "outside of our business agreement with them" or for any other company in competition with ours for the same type of products and services. That, of course, was a given as far as I was concerned.
So over the course of this weekend I will be applying myself to creating "additional verbiage designed to enhance the on-line experience of visitors" to this lady's website. They have offered to pay in cash or services. It has to be cash. (This kid needs to recover from three years of serious under-employment as quickly as she can!)
For some reason, this feels wonderful! Since De and his next door neighbor Don passed away (in 1999 and 2005), I haven't had my customary quota of expressed delight and amazement over my writing abilities... De and Don were easily my biggest "fans" in this regard. As Mark Twain once said, "I can live for a week on a compliment." Compliments also make me want to go out and do "more of same" (write great stuff) so I can get "my fix" of a compliment again!
I don't think any of us compliment others enough. I am going to start making a habit of it. If I enjoy it this much, it's no small stretch of the imagination to believe that other people would love to hear how great I think they are at what they do -- as grandparents, workers, bosses, moms, dads, friends, intercessors... the whole gamut of human activity that we are all involved with on an hour-to-hour basis.
Compliments and kudos are probably a significant part of every one's love language. We all enjoy a compliment -- if we can just stop blushing, and back-pedaling, and blocking them as much as we do! While "in the moment" they can be unutterably uncomfortable, ever after they are unutterably wonderful!
We need to remember that God doesn't make junk and that each of us is a treasure to someone else -- generally several or many more someone else's!
Yes, I'm still surprised -- probably always will be -- when people tell me they consider me an excellent writer. This must have something to do with nearly every one's inner concept of how well they "measure up" against the "competition" (even when one couldn't care less about competing!).
Some people hide their sense of inadequacy better than others -- all too often with off-putting false bravado -- but I have discovered that what most of us are trying to figure out is simply, "Am I 'good enough' just as I am -- or do I disappoint you as much as I disappoint myself at times?"
That's a special ruse of Satan's. "Make 'em feel less adequate and beloved than they are and they will shrink up and do less with the gifts God gave them."
Anyway, upon receiving this lovely request to help with web content, I emailed my boss (the owner of On-Hold Concepts) and asked if this type of thing was off-limits; if it would be viewed as any kind of conflict of interest if I "adopted" one of On-Hold's clients and helped her out. He quickly reassured me that I can write for any of On-Hold's clients as long as I refrain from writing on-hold phone messages for them "outside of our business agreement with them" or for any other company in competition with ours for the same type of products and services. That, of course, was a given as far as I was concerned.
So over the course of this weekend I will be applying myself to creating "additional verbiage designed to enhance the on-line experience of visitors" to this lady's website. They have offered to pay in cash or services. It has to be cash. (This kid needs to recover from three years of serious under-employment as quickly as she can!)
For some reason, this feels wonderful! Since De and his next door neighbor Don passed away (in 1999 and 2005), I haven't had my customary quota of expressed delight and amazement over my writing abilities... De and Don were easily my biggest "fans" in this regard. As Mark Twain once said, "I can live for a week on a compliment." Compliments also make me want to go out and do "more of same" (write great stuff) so I can get "my fix" of a compliment again!
I don't think any of us compliment others enough. I am going to start making a habit of it. If I enjoy it this much, it's no small stretch of the imagination to believe that other people would love to hear how great I think they are at what they do -- as grandparents, workers, bosses, moms, dads, friends, intercessors... the whole gamut of human activity that we are all involved with on an hour-to-hour basis.
Compliments and kudos are probably a significant part of every one's love language. We all enjoy a compliment -- if we can just stop blushing, and back-pedaling, and blocking them as much as we do! While "in the moment" they can be unutterably uncomfortable, ever after they are unutterably wonderful!
We need to remember that God doesn't make junk and that each of us is a treasure to someone else -- generally several or many more someone else's!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
In Memoriam -- Richard Hendrickson
A lot of people – myself included -- lost a very good friend yesterday morning at about 5:30. Rick Hendrickson was a staunch friend and a fellow animal welfare advocate. I met Rick and his equally-wonderful and devoted wife Barbara while I served as Field Services Director at the Animal Protection Institute of America (API) back in the early and mid-80’s.
My first view of Rick was a bit of a shock. My first impression – from a few feet away -- was “hippie.” My immediate second impression was, “NOT!” This was the least laid-back, go-with-the-flow “hippie” (NOT!) I had ever met, or ever will.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Rick was a capeless crusader in a county in California that didn’t want to be evangelized where animal welfare was concerned. Rick's county back in the 80’s was the seat of well-organized undercover pitbull and cock-fighting. Rick wanted at ‘em (the perpetrators) so badly he could taste it.
He came to me – I was concurrently Executive Director of Humane Educator’s Council (HEC), the law enforcement branch of API – and posed a well-considered “sting” operation that was brilliant – and potentially deadly, FOR HIM. Did he care? Not much! He said, “No one will suspect me. I look just like ‘em – I talk just like ‘em – I grew up with people like ‘em. I can do this!”
As chief executive of HEC, I had to make the decision. And I said no, even though it was a cause close to all of our hearts.
I told him that although we carried badges and were well-trained in Arrest, Search and Seizure measures, our aim at HEC was to educate and inform, not to bust heads or risk an officer’s life.
I well knew that pitbull and cock-fighters are also frequently involved in drugs, firearms, prostitution and other illegal activities and, since we didn’t have a policeman’s back-up systems (comrades, instant, computer-generated rap sheets on suspects, etc.) it would be utterly foolhardy to send him in there. People involved in multiple-pronged illegal activities wouldn’t hesitant an instant -- they'd take him to a gully or to a rice field and execute him gangland style, should his ruse be uncovered.
I told him, “I think you’re too well known as an animal guy in your county, Rick – you’ve been giving animal control folks grief about the way they house and care for runaways and strays for years, for God’s sake! It’s just too big a risk to you. You’re more valuable to our cause alive than you are dead.”
I'm sure my refusal didn't sit well with him; he probably hated me for at least six months because I denied his request to play interference for thousands of outrageously misused animals that year and for the years that followed.
When the terrible floods hit northern California back in the early 90's and fields became flooded lakes, Rick and Barb went out in a boat and began to pull cattle and coyotes, badgers and bullsnakes out of trees and into (or next to) the boat so they could shepherd them to higher ground. Their efforts went on for more than a week, day and night with only brief periods of rest. Rick marveled later, "None of the animals objected. Not even the wild ones tried to bite us. They knew, somehow, that we were trying to help them."
(There is something about benevolent "animal people" that telegraphs their safety to wild animals, just as there is something about hunters and hunting season that telegraphs to deer and elk, "It's time to make ourselves scarce." Tippi Hedren's animals at Shambala always know when hunters show up to take the tour: the lions, tigers, leopards and other cats act differently. Tippi takes pleasure in reporting to these visitors, "You're a hunter, aren't you?" When they recover from the boldness of her assertion, look at her in surprise and finally admit, "Yes -- but how did you know?" she smiles and says, "I didn't know -- the cats told me" [with their body language].
After I left Sacramento and moved back to Washington State in 1985, I only saw Rick and Barb two more times, both of those times at Sacramento STAR TREK conventions. We were a decade older each time. We were greying (I was hiding mine) and Rick was having some problems with his sinuses as a result of chemical exposure during many years of working at an Air Force base. He had to be careful around perfumes, aromatic sprays -- around anything that wasn't pure, unadulterated air, in fact. He never smoked to my knowledge.
A few years ago Rick and Barb told me Rick had a spot on his lung... over time and despite efforts to eliminate it with chemotherapy and radiation, the spot enlarged inexorably. I emailed my prayer team and we all began to intercede for him in prayer last year. Barb tells me they were so appreciative of those prayers; they gave them hope and comfort in times when things were very, very dark.
The last time I saw Rick and Barb was at Creation Entertainment's 40th anniversary STAR TREK convention in Sacramento -- September 9th and 10th, 2006. In fact, if it weren't for Rick's and Barb's desire to see me again, I would not have been able to make it to Sacramento from Seattle to appear for Adam Malin and Gary Berman that weekend. Rick and Barb sent me a check to pay for my flight; Nancy Graf invited me to stay at her place, and so I accepted the invitation I had originally declined (owing to lack of funds) and I flew to Sacramento! Those of you who met or saw me in Sacramento have Rick and Barb to thank for my being there.
I think we all knew it would be the last time Rick would be with our wee group of comrades: Barb, Nancy Graf, Reggie Holloway, Paula Dent...
Rick picked up the lunch tab -- wouldn't have it any other way.
We sat around a dining room table in the convention hotel and laughed, and laughed, and laughed... but in everyone's eyes I saw a slight, sad acknowledgment. I saw it in Rick's eyes.
We were all being brave and strong. That's what you become (only by God's grace) around critically ill people, when you can bring yourself to be around them at all. (Only very good friends seem to be able to extend the enormous blessing of affectionate proximity to the terminally ill and their families, and sometimes not even they can manage it. Illness and death often scare loved ones into the next county.)
We spent my last morning in Sacramento in Nancy's back yard. Reggie came by; Rick and Barb came by. Barb mentioned that the chemo had fried some of the connections in Rick's brain and that he often substituted similar-sounding words for the ones he was really after, or he would be unable to come up with the one he was after and get upset.
Still, Rick was 110% there. He was smiling, joking, and loaded with plans for the future (if future there be, he said); he was positive and yet somehow he seemed prepared.
At one point during a subsequent phone call he told me, "If it were up to me, I think I'm ready to go, but I don't know what it will do to my grandkids and I know what it will do to Barbara. I don't want that."
When Barb called last night to tell me the news of Rick's passing, she shared that the past couple of months he kept telling her, "You're doing too much for me... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She told him, "Don't be sorry. You haven't done anything to be sorry for."
I think he was saying more than "I'm sorry you're wearing yourself out for me." I think he was sorry that he couldn't get better, despite throwing everything at the cancer that modern medicine and alternative native medicinals and prayer could throw at it. People generally have much less trouble dying than they have thinking about what their absence will mean to the loved ones they leave behind, who so depend upon them -- not only for their physical or financial well-being, but for their sense of who they are and why it matters that they exist in the world. Rick and Barb were best friends, parents, grandparents, lovers, fellow animal crusaders. Their vision was always about where "they" would go, what "they" would do, who "they" might help...
Rick's wife, kids and grandkids are the ones who will miss him most because he was such an integral part of their daily lives. But the rest of us who knew him less well or only in fits and starts as I did will remember and treasure to the end of our days the last time we saw or spoke to him.. and all the times before that when he was vigorous, focused, trying to change the world for the animals in his county.
He did it, too!
Steve Irwin had nothing on Rick Hendrickson. I wish all of you could have known him, even if for just a few minutes.
I hope after reading this, you do know him in the way he would wish to be known.
He was a really great guy.
Godspeed, Richard.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Addendum: Will those of you with a religious faith of any stripe -- or just a good heart that cares -- please keep Barbara Hendrickson and her children and grandhildren in your prayers and thoughts? Pray for strength, comfort and peace (and lots of good-quality rest) for Barbara as she goes through the next several months of adjustment and grief.
If you would like to send Barbara a card, please email me at KRISTINEMSMITH@MSN.COM and I will give you her mailing or email address; your choice. THANK YOU!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I FOUND MY COPY!!!!
Last night I searched high and low until I found my copy of LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS. I'm glad I did.
I hope none of you who ordered it think it will be an easy read. It's easy in one way -- if you are at all conversant with the Bible already, it will be a real eye-opener! If you have rarely or never cracked open a Bible, it will take you a bit of time (I think, unless you're a quick study) to grasp all of the amazing information in it. I just want to give you a heads up on this. It's easier to read than CS Lewis, not as easy to read as this blog. It's somewhere pretty much in the middle. It will be worth the effort -- that's what I can say for sure!
Today I came home with two On-Hold Concepts logo shirts! On-Hold Concepts is where I work as a copy writer. (Here's the URL -- please visit it today and let others know about it: www.onholdconcepts.com) My 3-month anniversary is Monday. The boss told me to see Gayle about choosing some logo shirts to wear out and about, and Gayle tells me I'll be getting some business cards with my name on them soon, too. Ooh-whee! I am so excited!
As you have read in previous blogs, I love my job beyond any ability to express it. The people are wonderful. We all work hard and each of us feels like a team member; we have each other's backs. I mean, even the owners of the place are sterling people. So for me to get some logo shirts tickles me to pieces -- I am one who wants to shout my company's praises from the rooftops!
So... Again, if any of you have a business or know of a business that can benefit from an on-hold program for their phones (or music only/mostly music, or Direct TV programs)please take a look at what we have to offer! If you will request me as your copywriter, you will probably get me! If you're more comfortable with a guy copywriter, On-Hold Concepts has those, too -- and they are great! So whoever you get as your copywriter, you will enjoy the interaction and you will be well-served. I firmly believe we're the best on-hold company on the planet -- our longevity makes this case!
You will get what you pay for: utmost professionalism and efficient, friendly, dedicated service every time you call -- every time! You may be able to find another company offering on-hold productions for less, but most of those who do eventually find their way to us (or back to us, if they decided they could get the same quality product for less and set out to do just that and became utterly disappointed by the copycats who are out there) when the other guys don't respond or fail to measure up to us in the quality department. We INSIST on quality, service and responsiveness. It's in our job description and in our hearts.
End of soapbox, end of spiel. Just know that I believe in my company and wouldn't stay there if I wasn't fully convinced that it's the best place to point people to who need what we offer. One great perk is that I call probably 60-100 people every day during morning and early afternoon hours, which results in a great deal of being put "on-hold" while the person I seek is tracked down -- AND I LOVE IT!!!! To hear the enormous variety of messages, the quality of voice talent, and the melding of ASCAP-provided background music to create an on-hold "experience" for callers gives me smiles. I listen and I know... This company, On-Hold Concepts, ROCKS!
I really must shut up now before the powers that be make me a salesperson rather than a copywriter! (No way! I finally landed a job where I write for a living! Yeee-haw!)
I hope none of you who ordered it think it will be an easy read. It's easy in one way -- if you are at all conversant with the Bible already, it will be a real eye-opener! If you have rarely or never cracked open a Bible, it will take you a bit of time (I think, unless you're a quick study) to grasp all of the amazing information in it. I just want to give you a heads up on this. It's easier to read than CS Lewis, not as easy to read as this blog. It's somewhere pretty much in the middle. It will be worth the effort -- that's what I can say for sure!
Today I came home with two On-Hold Concepts logo shirts! On-Hold Concepts is where I work as a copy writer. (Here's the URL -- please visit it today and let others know about it: www.onholdconcepts.com) My 3-month anniversary is Monday. The boss told me to see Gayle about choosing some logo shirts to wear out and about, and Gayle tells me I'll be getting some business cards with my name on them soon, too. Ooh-whee! I am so excited!
As you have read in previous blogs, I love my job beyond any ability to express it. The people are wonderful. We all work hard and each of us feels like a team member; we have each other's backs. I mean, even the owners of the place are sterling people. So for me to get some logo shirts tickles me to pieces -- I am one who wants to shout my company's praises from the rooftops!
So... Again, if any of you have a business or know of a business that can benefit from an on-hold program for their phones (or music only/mostly music, or Direct TV programs)please take a look at what we have to offer! If you will request me as your copywriter, you will probably get me! If you're more comfortable with a guy copywriter, On-Hold Concepts has those, too -- and they are great! So whoever you get as your copywriter, you will enjoy the interaction and you will be well-served. I firmly believe we're the best on-hold company on the planet -- our longevity makes this case!
You will get what you pay for: utmost professionalism and efficient, friendly, dedicated service every time you call -- every time! You may be able to find another company offering on-hold productions for less, but most of those who do eventually find their way to us (or back to us, if they decided they could get the same quality product for less and set out to do just that and became utterly disappointed by the copycats who are out there) when the other guys don't respond or fail to measure up to us in the quality department. We INSIST on quality, service and responsiveness. It's in our job description and in our hearts.
End of soapbox, end of spiel. Just know that I believe in my company and wouldn't stay there if I wasn't fully convinced that it's the best place to point people to who need what we offer. One great perk is that I call probably 60-100 people every day during morning and early afternoon hours, which results in a great deal of being put "on-hold" while the person I seek is tracked down -- AND I LOVE IT!!!! To hear the enormous variety of messages, the quality of voice talent, and the melding of ASCAP-provided background music to create an on-hold "experience" for callers gives me smiles. I listen and I know... This company, On-Hold Concepts, ROCKS!
I really must shut up now before the powers that be make me a salesperson rather than a copywriter! (No way! I finally landed a job where I write for a living! Yeee-haw!)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Senorita Invierno (Alison Winter) Weighs In...
Introducing Senorita Invierno (Miss Winter): Alison Winter can probably more properly introduce herself if you will visit her website: http://senoritainvierno.blogspot.com/
In a nutshell, Alison Winter is an Englishwoman presently working in Spain teaching English as a second language, which means (ta daaa!) she is fluently bilingual or she'd have a heckuva time doing what she's doing! Many Europeans know four or five different languages (I'll just bet Alison does too) so this isn't a surprise to me. The fact that I know one as well as I do (English) and a second one well enough to muddle through (Spanish) is an accomplishment I treasure.
Anyway, Alison is an actress (when she's not in Spain teaching) so she's a starving artist, and as such a soulmate! She came to me as a De fan and we're thick as thieves now. I value her fun and friendship and her views (as I value all views). I believe Alison classifies herself as a Taoist... so isn't it cool that we have Christians, Buddhists, Taoists, agnostics, atheists, and God only knows who else signing in to have a respectful look at the Christian religion to the degree that I can explain it or share it? (I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed so I hope what I share will lead you on to explore some of the GREAT minds in the faith, many of whom have been named in earlier blogs.)
Alison wrote me such a long email last night or this morning, and it was so insightful and interesting, I am publishing it here (with her kind permission):
OK. Main land Europe is drastically different to England, and England is quite different to other parts of the UK. I'm living in Spain which is very religious - both in spirit and in every day living. That's Europe, so that doesn't make sense.
I feel personally that England and America are too concerned with the pursuit of money and this is one of the reasons I moved away – to be somewhere where the life focus is different. It is very true that in Spain they have a better life with less money. That just suits me better. But you have to wonder how much of the mood and even faith in Spain can be attributed to external factors such a climate. Climate dramatically affects mood (highest suicide rate - Sweden, no light, do the math). I think England rushes around (the Midlands, the South East and London mainly) a good deal of the time because there’s not a lot else to do. It is the land of distraction, and away from many things. I cannot speak of America because I’m just not qualified but my impression is that it suffers from similar distractions which take people away from their core – their heart, and therefore their relationship with -- God, the Tao, the cosmos, however many ways to say this – I suppose "with themselves" is the plainest way to say it.
It is this distraction I seek to get away from. Certain places have become greedy and spoilt, in my opinion. So daily life has moved away from religious influence (I refer here to English Christianity, as England’s most religious are now most likely Muslim) but again this is separate to faith. Which is everywhere. If you listen to it.
In England we say that the Church is the richest institution in the land – meaning literally it has the most money. However, if you were going to build a place of worship you put everything you understood as valuable into it? These cathedrals and churches were built hundreds of years ago and I’m always so moved by the obvious passion that has gone into them. I personally prefer stone to metal, wood to gold, but hundreds of years ago precious stones and stained glass were considered beautiful and however apparently ‘ostentatious,’ I suppose it’s the thought that counts. People poured everything they could into these places of worship.
There is corruption in humanity, and therefore everywhere, including the Church, but we’re a way off from a global appreciation of modest means, if we should ever get there. All of these expressions of faith are from ourselves, however, and therefore limited to our understanding. Faith is like air and water and will go around it, over it and pour into everything however we choose to express it, so I would say ‘religion’ has its own destiny, will and life most definitely, because as Kris says we are the Church – it is within us.
When I was teaching a Catholic Major in the Spanish military, he said (of his peace mission to The Lebanon) that he wanted to help the people because their lives must be so empty without God. He wasn’t going as a missionary and had an admirable respect for diversity. However, I pointed out that when people lose material things, or people they love, they become aware of loss, and what you need or don’t need. I told him I thought their faith may be stronger than he expected, because they are living in ‘truth’, in as much as they are confronted by harsh reality and are coping on a day to day basis, surviving on their wits and God-given abilities. They are therefore (and obviously not all of them but this is my generalisation and theory) more in touch. They do not have the latest flashing gadget or drug (literal or metaphorical). Though to be fair they do have some drugs! But as the Major said, there are only good and bad people (though how he would define good and bad I’m not sure) and this is irrespective of religion.
A concern I have with saying that any problems are Satan’s fault, however, is that people won’t take responsibility for making the world a better place. That makes everything sound a bit futile. Kris, if Satan holds sway, does that mean we’re powerless or is it written that we can alter things? Excuse my ignorance but I’m having a book flow problem! This is one of the main blocks I have with Christianity. The concept of Satan - forgive my casualness but he sounds like a comic book villain and I’m sure I’m not the only person who has this impression. Again with the ignorance though – I have no sources for my concept except stupid films, which renders me seriously unqualified to take a stance and I feel a bit sheepish now….
Yours in need of education…
Senorita Invierno
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Satan is far, far from a comic book character but the fact that he is the prince of this world should not worry us too much. Nor does it take the onus off us who acknowledge his influence and seek to live a valuable life in service to God (masquerading perhaps as service to "goodness"). Like any other prince, Satan has influence, but he is not the chief executive (I don't usually even capitalize his "name" but am, here, so you don't think I'm ignorant of the rules of punctuation): the King is. We can agree to go his way -- we can even innocently enough walk in his footsteps without knowing it because he is so clever and attractive in many of his guises. The cathedrals were built by good religious folk and by bogus religious folk, as are most institutions, so Satan laid a few of those bricks and stones! That's possibly why God chose human beings as as His temple since the Incarnation, those of us who have laid claim to His claim on us.
Satan and his minions are very real. They do not frighten me much, though (except to the degree that they can and do influence and impact loved ones who don't have the same strong sense of belonging to God that I do), because my King has control of MY life and fate. I gave my life into his hands. Nothing that happens to me, good or bad, will be attributable to Satan. Satan can only be in one place at one time, so the chance that he's after any of us individually (I'm speaking of those of us reading, responding to and/or considering the evidence and arguments in this blog) is slim to nil. He's after the power brokers of the planet -- one at a time, if he's personally involved. He was after Jesus big-time, but Jesus triumphed -- even on the cross, the last place you would ever expect a soul to triumph! Of course Satan has confederates who can also influence people, but they are weaker and less adept.
Read THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS by CS Lewis and you will see Satan's strategy plain as day -- you will also enjoy it immensely! (Talk about a book to relish and recommend to others!) But the good news is that the Good News of Jesus' acts on earth and on the cross have given Satan a deadline. He's raising hell right now (here on earth in so many ways) because he knows this is his last crack at having any kind of say at all. He can't rule in hell if he can't get anyone to go along - so he's recruiting hourly... and people are enlisting because what he tells them is so freaking attractive (all lies, of course. He is the Father of Lies)!
Here's the deal: If you ask people who the opposite of Satan is, 98% will invariably respond, "God." Wrong answer! The opposite of Satan is someone like the Archangel Gabriel. God is supreme above all created things, including angels in his service and angels in the service of the devil.
All of this probably comes across sounding like one woman's studied (or cracked) opinion. That's why I hope everyone who hopes to share on a level playing field will read LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler. I think he proves the God-breathed nature of the Holy Bible (both Old and New Testaments) not only beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond a shadow of a doubt.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Inquisitor sent me a lovely email today, too:
I sense frustration, as Counselor Troi might say! (Aye, Captain!) Don't be. God made me to question, right? I'm not judging him so much as questioning the evolution of religion.
Again, you reached a very personal level, but without the historical thrust of religion, you may not have been exposed to it as you are now. That is why I look at it in a historical context.
(Response: My coming to Christ had very little to do with historical context except in the context that without evangelists through the past two millennia we would not even know about what Jesus did. I personally came to Christ as the result of a Personal Invitation by the Holy Spirit before I had any training in Who He Is! Since then I have learned Who it Is that invited me!)
But I have to call up one or two things first. You related a story earlier of how two missionaries in the 1940's stumbled upon a tribesman in Africa who spoke the King's English. This is a perfect instance of where Picard would say, "You should read more history, Number One." The fact that someone in the African bush spoke perfect English is not a surprise. The British Empire once covered about 2/3 of the globe. That is why English, to this day, is the most common language throughout the world. Quote:"What are the odds that an African bushman would know the King's English? He must have been an angel. The missionaries are convinced he was."
The odds are actually pretty good! So, I think the "angel" aspect of this story was maybe that the bushman appeared out of nowhere in a time of need, not that he spoke English! Just a matter of emphasis, that's all. (Point well taken. Same end result, however, as you noted.)
The other thing you said was that the planet "belongs to Satan right now." I'm not sure I could believe this even if I were a believer, simply because that would imply that God is losing, that evil is triumphant over good. (Not at all. See explanation above.) I may be cynical, but not that much!!
I believe there is evil around, sure. But I also think that evil is a term thrown around by many, understood by few. To many, evil is everyone not like them. (Not me!) And, sadly, what is evil to some is a religious martyr to someone in the middle east. That is truly a tragedy, but not what we are discussing here, I know.
Here comes Mr. Logic again: So, when God created the world, did he factor in evil as a component to his world, or was it a surprise to him when man became self aware in the garden of Eden? (I'm sure this question is discussed in one of the books you recommended!) (Yes, it is.)
I think I see my attitude towards God, or my idea of God, in the same way I would family or marital counseling: I would have to talk it out -- all aspects -- before I could ever begin to move on towards anything resembling a proper relationship. (But if skeptics reject counseling, as so many do -- in this regard I refer not only to marriage or family counselors but to Counselor God -- where does that get them? Sitting in a corner looking at the situation the way they always have. You can't experience a paradigm shift unless you are willing to commit to an experience of uneasiness as far as where your own personal paradigm stands at present.)
Will I ever seek that relationship? Honestly, I don't know. (Huh?! Then why does ANY of this "idea of God" intrigue you so, for so many years running? Your response utterly blows me away!) Who knows what the future holds for me, for this world? (I don't know what the future holds you or for me or for anyone, but I am well aware of Who holds the future -- and that's why I have such joy day in and day out! I've read the Book all the way to the end and God wins and takes a whole bunch of folks with Him!) What I do know is that missionaries spread the word, and they have been a function of the church almost from the beginning. So, there again, it's good to know not only what ails a single soul, but maybe even a nation or a continent.
Always good to talk...As ever,
CS Lewis wrote "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."(Mere Christianity)
Those who have tried everything the world has to offer and have always come up feeling somehow "shorted" or at least slightly "swindled" will recognize their own dilemma in Lewis' comment, looking heavenward as the only "logical solution" to their quandary...
This is simply not a wish fulfillment exercise -- it is a Promise from our Most High God.
In a nutshell, Alison Winter is an Englishwoman presently working in Spain teaching English as a second language, which means (ta daaa!) she is fluently bilingual or she'd have a heckuva time doing what she's doing! Many Europeans know four or five different languages (I'll just bet Alison does too) so this isn't a surprise to me. The fact that I know one as well as I do (English) and a second one well enough to muddle through (Spanish) is an accomplishment I treasure.
Anyway, Alison is an actress (when she's not in Spain teaching) so she's a starving artist, and as such a soulmate! She came to me as a De fan and we're thick as thieves now. I value her fun and friendship and her views (as I value all views). I believe Alison classifies herself as a Taoist... so isn't it cool that we have Christians, Buddhists, Taoists, agnostics, atheists, and God only knows who else signing in to have a respectful look at the Christian religion to the degree that I can explain it or share it? (I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed so I hope what I share will lead you on to explore some of the GREAT minds in the faith, many of whom have been named in earlier blogs.)
Alison wrote me such a long email last night or this morning, and it was so insightful and interesting, I am publishing it here (with her kind permission):
OK. Main land Europe is drastically different to England, and England is quite different to other parts of the UK. I'm living in Spain which is very religious - both in spirit and in every day living. That's Europe, so that doesn't make sense.
I feel personally that England and America are too concerned with the pursuit of money and this is one of the reasons I moved away – to be somewhere where the life focus is different. It is very true that in Spain they have a better life with less money. That just suits me better. But you have to wonder how much of the mood and even faith in Spain can be attributed to external factors such a climate. Climate dramatically affects mood (highest suicide rate - Sweden, no light, do the math). I think England rushes around (the Midlands, the South East and London mainly) a good deal of the time because there’s not a lot else to do. It is the land of distraction, and away from many things. I cannot speak of America because I’m just not qualified but my impression is that it suffers from similar distractions which take people away from their core – their heart, and therefore their relationship with -- God, the Tao, the cosmos, however many ways to say this – I suppose "with themselves" is the plainest way to say it.
It is this distraction I seek to get away from. Certain places have become greedy and spoilt, in my opinion. So daily life has moved away from religious influence (I refer here to English Christianity, as England’s most religious are now most likely Muslim) but again this is separate to faith. Which is everywhere. If you listen to it.
In England we say that the Church is the richest institution in the land – meaning literally it has the most money. However, if you were going to build a place of worship you put everything you understood as valuable into it? These cathedrals and churches were built hundreds of years ago and I’m always so moved by the obvious passion that has gone into them. I personally prefer stone to metal, wood to gold, but hundreds of years ago precious stones and stained glass were considered beautiful and however apparently ‘ostentatious,’ I suppose it’s the thought that counts. People poured everything they could into these places of worship.
There is corruption in humanity, and therefore everywhere, including the Church, but we’re a way off from a global appreciation of modest means, if we should ever get there. All of these expressions of faith are from ourselves, however, and therefore limited to our understanding. Faith is like air and water and will go around it, over it and pour into everything however we choose to express it, so I would say ‘religion’ has its own destiny, will and life most definitely, because as Kris says we are the Church – it is within us.
When I was teaching a Catholic Major in the Spanish military, he said (of his peace mission to The Lebanon) that he wanted to help the people because their lives must be so empty without God. He wasn’t going as a missionary and had an admirable respect for diversity. However, I pointed out that when people lose material things, or people they love, they become aware of loss, and what you need or don’t need. I told him I thought their faith may be stronger than he expected, because they are living in ‘truth’, in as much as they are confronted by harsh reality and are coping on a day to day basis, surviving on their wits and God-given abilities. They are therefore (and obviously not all of them but this is my generalisation and theory) more in touch. They do not have the latest flashing gadget or drug (literal or metaphorical). Though to be fair they do have some drugs! But as the Major said, there are only good and bad people (though how he would define good and bad I’m not sure) and this is irrespective of religion.
A concern I have with saying that any problems are Satan’s fault, however, is that people won’t take responsibility for making the world a better place. That makes everything sound a bit futile. Kris, if Satan holds sway, does that mean we’re powerless or is it written that we can alter things? Excuse my ignorance but I’m having a book flow problem! This is one of the main blocks I have with Christianity. The concept of Satan - forgive my casualness but he sounds like a comic book villain and I’m sure I’m not the only person who has this impression. Again with the ignorance though – I have no sources for my concept except stupid films, which renders me seriously unqualified to take a stance and I feel a bit sheepish now….
Yours in need of education…
Senorita Invierno
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Satan is far, far from a comic book character but the fact that he is the prince of this world should not worry us too much. Nor does it take the onus off us who acknowledge his influence and seek to live a valuable life in service to God (masquerading perhaps as service to "goodness"). Like any other prince, Satan has influence, but he is not the chief executive (I don't usually even capitalize his "name" but am, here, so you don't think I'm ignorant of the rules of punctuation): the King is. We can agree to go his way -- we can even innocently enough walk in his footsteps without knowing it because he is so clever and attractive in many of his guises. The cathedrals were built by good religious folk and by bogus religious folk, as are most institutions, so Satan laid a few of those bricks and stones! That's possibly why God chose human beings as as His temple since the Incarnation, those of us who have laid claim to His claim on us.
Satan and his minions are very real. They do not frighten me much, though (except to the degree that they can and do influence and impact loved ones who don't have the same strong sense of belonging to God that I do), because my King has control of MY life and fate. I gave my life into his hands. Nothing that happens to me, good or bad, will be attributable to Satan. Satan can only be in one place at one time, so the chance that he's after any of us individually (I'm speaking of those of us reading, responding to and/or considering the evidence and arguments in this blog) is slim to nil. He's after the power brokers of the planet -- one at a time, if he's personally involved. He was after Jesus big-time, but Jesus triumphed -- even on the cross, the last place you would ever expect a soul to triumph! Of course Satan has confederates who can also influence people, but they are weaker and less adept.
Read THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS by CS Lewis and you will see Satan's strategy plain as day -- you will also enjoy it immensely! (Talk about a book to relish and recommend to others!) But the good news is that the Good News of Jesus' acts on earth and on the cross have given Satan a deadline. He's raising hell right now (here on earth in so many ways) because he knows this is his last crack at having any kind of say at all. He can't rule in hell if he can't get anyone to go along - so he's recruiting hourly... and people are enlisting because what he tells them is so freaking attractive (all lies, of course. He is the Father of Lies)!
Here's the deal: If you ask people who the opposite of Satan is, 98% will invariably respond, "God." Wrong answer! The opposite of Satan is someone like the Archangel Gabriel. God is supreme above all created things, including angels in his service and angels in the service of the devil.
All of this probably comes across sounding like one woman's studied (or cracked) opinion. That's why I hope everyone who hopes to share on a level playing field will read LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler. I think he proves the God-breathed nature of the Holy Bible (both Old and New Testaments) not only beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond a shadow of a doubt.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Inquisitor sent me a lovely email today, too:
I sense frustration, as Counselor Troi might say! (Aye, Captain!) Don't be. God made me to question, right? I'm not judging him so much as questioning the evolution of religion.
Again, you reached a very personal level, but without the historical thrust of religion, you may not have been exposed to it as you are now. That is why I look at it in a historical context.
(Response: My coming to Christ had very little to do with historical context except in the context that without evangelists through the past two millennia we would not even know about what Jesus did. I personally came to Christ as the result of a Personal Invitation by the Holy Spirit before I had any training in Who He Is! Since then I have learned Who it Is that invited me!)
But I have to call up one or two things first. You related a story earlier of how two missionaries in the 1940's stumbled upon a tribesman in Africa who spoke the King's English. This is a perfect instance of where Picard would say, "You should read more history, Number One." The fact that someone in the African bush spoke perfect English is not a surprise. The British Empire once covered about 2/3 of the globe. That is why English, to this day, is the most common language throughout the world. Quote:"What are the odds that an African bushman would know the King's English? He must have been an angel. The missionaries are convinced he was."
The odds are actually pretty good! So, I think the "angel" aspect of this story was maybe that the bushman appeared out of nowhere in a time of need, not that he spoke English! Just a matter of emphasis, that's all. (Point well taken. Same end result, however, as you noted.)
The other thing you said was that the planet "belongs to Satan right now." I'm not sure I could believe this even if I were a believer, simply because that would imply that God is losing, that evil is triumphant over good. (Not at all. See explanation above.) I may be cynical, but not that much!!
I believe there is evil around, sure. But I also think that evil is a term thrown around by many, understood by few. To many, evil is everyone not like them. (Not me!) And, sadly, what is evil to some is a religious martyr to someone in the middle east. That is truly a tragedy, but not what we are discussing here, I know.
Here comes Mr. Logic again: So, when God created the world, did he factor in evil as a component to his world, or was it a surprise to him when man became self aware in the garden of Eden? (I'm sure this question is discussed in one of the books you recommended!) (Yes, it is.)
I think I see my attitude towards God, or my idea of God, in the same way I would family or marital counseling: I would have to talk it out -- all aspects -- before I could ever begin to move on towards anything resembling a proper relationship. (But if skeptics reject counseling, as so many do -- in this regard I refer not only to marriage or family counselors but to Counselor God -- where does that get them? Sitting in a corner looking at the situation the way they always have. You can't experience a paradigm shift unless you are willing to commit to an experience of uneasiness as far as where your own personal paradigm stands at present.)
Will I ever seek that relationship? Honestly, I don't know. (Huh?! Then why does ANY of this "idea of God" intrigue you so, for so many years running? Your response utterly blows me away!) Who knows what the future holds for me, for this world? (I don't know what the future holds you or for me or for anyone, but I am well aware of Who holds the future -- and that's why I have such joy day in and day out! I've read the Book all the way to the end and God wins and takes a whole bunch of folks with Him!) What I do know is that missionaries spread the word, and they have been a function of the church almost from the beginning. So, there again, it's good to know not only what ails a single soul, but maybe even a nation or a continent.
Always good to talk...As ever,
CS Lewis wrote "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."(Mere Christianity)
Those who have tried everything the world has to offer and have always come up feeling somehow "shorted" or at least slightly "swindled" will recognize their own dilemma in Lewis' comment, looking heavenward as the only "logical solution" to their quandary...
This is simply not a wish fulfillment exercise -- it is a Promise from our Most High God.
Monday, March 26, 2007
More Questions, No Answers...
Our TREK Inquisitor (self-named) sent me the following and I am utterly stymied by it:
Thanks Kris. I just hope that God isn't on Fox News!
Here's a question for further research. I haven't really looked into this, but it intrigues me why Europe, the seat of modern religion, is moving away from the church and a belief in God. Education isn't a problem in these countries, as most probably rank ahead of the U.S. on that front. Or is that the correlation?
From my experience living in England for nearly 13 years, I found it ironic that there isn't the same separation of church and state, yet the country is not that religious on the whole. I use the UK as an example, that ceremonies like weddings can be traditional, but overall, religion just isn't a part of everyday life. I'm not saying this is good or bad or responsible for any social problems, just that it is what it is.
I have spent many hours in the great cathedrals and churches of Europe. And, I have to admit, I was always conflicted by the beauty. At what human price were these structures built? Mostly Catholic or Anglican, these churches spoke of wealth, when Jesus was teaching about poverty. Does God really need so much stained glass?
I know you say it's about your own personal relationship with God, but historically, this is an example that has been set. I think that teaching about the message of God, and a personal relationship with the deity is what counts, but I also think that these previous examples of ostentatiousness have sent the wrong message down the ages.
Wealth in America is a religion of sorts. Even though many, especially on the so-called "religious right," justify unfettered wealth, I just can't think of an example in the bible where the accumulation of such is the ultimate goal.
What I'm getting at here is, has religion been damaged by the inherent messages down the ages, or does it have its own life, its own will and its own destiny? I know he is supposed to speak to us personally, especially if we ask, but is simple capitalism the best way to spread the religious wealth?
For if "God bless America" is to be truly sought, is it about money, or equality? (By the way, why would some ask for God to bless America? Should the request not be for the entire world? Are we special here? If so, why?)
Signed, The Inquisitor
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I don't have a clue why Europe is stepping away from religion, but it has no correlation that I can discern with education or wisdom; or why cathedrals were built except in an effort to glorify God, often at the expense of the people who built them. And I'm not interested in trying to find out. Questions like these just divert us from the proper focus: The grace of God, who reclaimed and forgives us for all these lapses and so many more. This is the focus of a born-again believer.
I wonder why questions like these even come to mind when seeking God. God is not found in questions like these -- Satan's footprints are in evidence, but not God's. This planet belongs to Satan right now -- that's why it's in the mess it's in. I can't explain or justify the way Satan twists religion to make it appear to be something no one in their right mind should want. It certainly seems to be working! My pastor calls our church "a sheep shed." WE are the church. The church is not a structure you walk into .
I don't want religion, and I don't want you to want religion. I want you to want a relationship with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)! Notice all God has done that you love -- your next and subsequent breaths, the beating of your heart, your home, family, job, the environment, the planets and stars and universe -- anything you love that's good, pure, of good repute, God designed it, and you to appreciate it -- not to look at all the places where Satan holds sway at the moment..
"God Bless America" is something I say but I also know that God blesses other nations as well. I pray for other countries. I don't run around saying, "God bless Russia" or "God bless Romania" as a matter of course, but that's just because I don't live in those lands. We tend to think from near to far when seeking blessings -- another part of man's fallen nature, but at least we're acknowledging the Creator whenever do we think to do it.
I sense great disillusionment in The Inquisitor. There is much to be disillusioned about, but not our Creator. Just because he doesn't always act like the giant vending machine in the sky is no reason to consider him lame. He gives only good gifts; even the challenges he allows are good gifts because they refine us and give us wisdom and make us stronger.
And as for money... if you consider it the root of all evil, I'll be happy to take yours off your hands with an eye to investing much of it in the Kingdom of God. Remember Joseph and his coat of many colors -- how he was shanghaied by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt? Over time, he corralled all the money, cattle and wealth of neighboring countries and then turned around and blessed them with sustenance during a famine. A godly man or woman blesses with their wealth.
Gaining wealth is wise -- (sure wish I had done so!! I now understand how important it is, because I will have to work till I'm 75 or 80 to be able to afford a retirement!) --and there are over 2,300 references to wealth-building in the Bible. There is a misquote of the Bible that we've heard all too often: "Money is the root of all evil." The love of money is the root of all evil. Money is a method of exchange and is only as "filthy" as the person exchanging it for whatever they are exchanging it for...
Money is amoral. Moral people spend it one way; immoral, another.
To be utterly candid, I think the focus of this entire inquiry (tonight) is off-base. But that's okay... God used it to drag us back to the essence of human religion vs a relationship with God.
My beloved, the fallen nature of our world, once again, is not God's fault unless you ascribe to the belief that His giving us free will (to choose whether or not to be his image-bearer) was wrong-headed.
Frankly, I feel honored that He chose to trust us that much, knowing all that he already knows about us, from start to finish, over the course of human evolution! He loves us that much!
And I for one would make a lousy android. God doesn't want a "programmed" relationship.
Don't get a religion. Get a relationship. The paradign shift, once you have one, will turn you into a joyful person. The questions can wait; there's too much to celebrate right now!
Thanks Kris. I just hope that God isn't on Fox News!
Here's a question for further research. I haven't really looked into this, but it intrigues me why Europe, the seat of modern religion, is moving away from the church and a belief in God. Education isn't a problem in these countries, as most probably rank ahead of the U.S. on that front. Or is that the correlation?
From my experience living in England for nearly 13 years, I found it ironic that there isn't the same separation of church and state, yet the country is not that religious on the whole. I use the UK as an example, that ceremonies like weddings can be traditional, but overall, religion just isn't a part of everyday life. I'm not saying this is good or bad or responsible for any social problems, just that it is what it is.
I have spent many hours in the great cathedrals and churches of Europe. And, I have to admit, I was always conflicted by the beauty. At what human price were these structures built? Mostly Catholic or Anglican, these churches spoke of wealth, when Jesus was teaching about poverty. Does God really need so much stained glass?
I know you say it's about your own personal relationship with God, but historically, this is an example that has been set. I think that teaching about the message of God, and a personal relationship with the deity is what counts, but I also think that these previous examples of ostentatiousness have sent the wrong message down the ages.
Wealth in America is a religion of sorts. Even though many, especially on the so-called "religious right," justify unfettered wealth, I just can't think of an example in the bible where the accumulation of such is the ultimate goal.
What I'm getting at here is, has religion been damaged by the inherent messages down the ages, or does it have its own life, its own will and its own destiny? I know he is supposed to speak to us personally, especially if we ask, but is simple capitalism the best way to spread the religious wealth?
For if "God bless America" is to be truly sought, is it about money, or equality? (By the way, why would some ask for God to bless America? Should the request not be for the entire world? Are we special here? If so, why?)
Signed, The Inquisitor
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I don't have a clue why Europe is stepping away from religion, but it has no correlation that I can discern with education or wisdom; or why cathedrals were built except in an effort to glorify God, often at the expense of the people who built them. And I'm not interested in trying to find out. Questions like these just divert us from the proper focus: The grace of God, who reclaimed and forgives us for all these lapses and so many more. This is the focus of a born-again believer.
I wonder why questions like these even come to mind when seeking God. God is not found in questions like these -- Satan's footprints are in evidence, but not God's. This planet belongs to Satan right now -- that's why it's in the mess it's in. I can't explain or justify the way Satan twists religion to make it appear to be something no one in their right mind should want. It certainly seems to be working! My pastor calls our church "a sheep shed." WE are the church. The church is not a structure you walk into .
I don't want religion, and I don't want you to want religion. I want you to want a relationship with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)! Notice all God has done that you love -- your next and subsequent breaths, the beating of your heart, your home, family, job, the environment, the planets and stars and universe -- anything you love that's good, pure, of good repute, God designed it, and you to appreciate it -- not to look at all the places where Satan holds sway at the moment..
"God Bless America" is something I say but I also know that God blesses other nations as well. I pray for other countries. I don't run around saying, "God bless Russia" or "God bless Romania" as a matter of course, but that's just because I don't live in those lands. We tend to think from near to far when seeking blessings -- another part of man's fallen nature, but at least we're acknowledging the Creator whenever do we think to do it.
I sense great disillusionment in The Inquisitor. There is much to be disillusioned about, but not our Creator. Just because he doesn't always act like the giant vending machine in the sky is no reason to consider him lame. He gives only good gifts; even the challenges he allows are good gifts because they refine us and give us wisdom and make us stronger.
And as for money... if you consider it the root of all evil, I'll be happy to take yours off your hands with an eye to investing much of it in the Kingdom of God. Remember Joseph and his coat of many colors -- how he was shanghaied by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt? Over time, he corralled all the money, cattle and wealth of neighboring countries and then turned around and blessed them with sustenance during a famine. A godly man or woman blesses with their wealth.
Gaining wealth is wise -- (sure wish I had done so!! I now understand how important it is, because I will have to work till I'm 75 or 80 to be able to afford a retirement!) --and there are over 2,300 references to wealth-building in the Bible. There is a misquote of the Bible that we've heard all too often: "Money is the root of all evil." The love of money is the root of all evil. Money is a method of exchange and is only as "filthy" as the person exchanging it for whatever they are exchanging it for...
Money is amoral. Moral people spend it one way; immoral, another.
To be utterly candid, I think the focus of this entire inquiry (tonight) is off-base. But that's okay... God used it to drag us back to the essence of human religion vs a relationship with God.
My beloved, the fallen nature of our world, once again, is not God's fault unless you ascribe to the belief that His giving us free will (to choose whether or not to be his image-bearer) was wrong-headed.
Frankly, I feel honored that He chose to trust us that much, knowing all that he already knows about us, from start to finish, over the course of human evolution! He loves us that much!
And I for one would make a lousy android. God doesn't want a "programmed" relationship.
Don't get a religion. Get a relationship. The paradign shift, once you have one, will turn you into a joyful person. The questions can wait; there's too much to celebrate right now!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
God, Angel Visits
Every Sunday before worship service begins I pop in an hour early to benefit from Pastor Wes Braaten's wonderful "Life of Christ" Bible study. This morning we were studying Luke Chapter 24:13-32 about the two disciples (unknown to us to this point in the Bible) on the way to Emmaus after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This is the part in the New Testament where the resurrected Jesus joins them on the road but is not recognized by the two men until later when he breaks bread at their home a few hours later.
Jesus joined them on the road to Emmaus and asked them why they were so downcast. They were flabbergasted that this "stranger" on the road with them did not know that Jesus, the man so many had considered the Messiah, had been crucified three days earlier. But then they explained to him that a bunch of confusing information had come to them just that morning: that women known to them as Jesus' disciples had seen Jesus alive at his tomb and when they ran and told the male disciples, most had scoffed but two of them had visited the tomb and had found it empty just as the women said -- but with Jesus nowhere to be found...
Jesus, more than a little exasperated, thought they were even more thick-headed than he had earlier wanted to believe regarding his disciples (which was plenty thick-headed enough). He asked them, "Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and pointed out to his still-clueless disciples exactly where in each book and in subsequent books of the Old Testament this sequence of events (arrest, torture, crucifixion, resurrection) in the life of the Messiah and God's people had been foretold.
The two disciples -- one of whom is Cleopas, as we learn during this exposition -- are captivated by their knowledgable companion and the two or more hour trip to Emmaus from Jerusalem goes by quickly as they walk.
When they reach Emmaus, Jesus acts as if he is about to walk on, leaving them at their abode, but they don't want to part company with him and invite him in. It is when he breaks bread with them at dinnertime that they suddenly realize who he is, and then he vanishes into thin air.
Students of the Bible often ask, "Why didn't these men recognize Jesus, if they were his disciples?" No one really knows the answer to this, but speculation abounds. Perhaps it was because his beard had been torn from his face (which is documented) during his torture three days previously. Remember, in the Garden Mary didn't recognize him either until he spoke her name.
Pastor Braaten said it's also possible that Jesus "disguised" himself in some way (either spiritually or in actuality) to find out what his disciples were thinking and doing now with what had happened to him and with what they should have known about it. He had TOLD them what was to come; it hadn't been a secret...
But then Pastor Braaten said to us, pretty much convicting us on the spot: "How many times has Jesus walked with you and you didn't realize it until later -- if at all?"
Pastor Braaten thinks the Holy Spirit made sure these passages made it into the Bible to tell us exactly that -- Jesus is with us all the time and we, in our ignorance, fail to recognize Him.
Then he asked the class of about 35 people if anyone had any kind of experience in their lives when Jesus or an angel or the Holy Spirit had visited them. Several of the students raised their hands and he asked them to tell their stories. Then he told one of his own.
Dee Spooner recounted a time when she was about 40 miles outside of Seattle with her two young children when her blood suger went so low that her optic nerve failed to fire and she was blind. She told her young daughter she couldn't see, and in her panic to get somewhere for help, she got onto the freeway and drove all the way to Seattle -- blind as a bat -- without harming anyone or dinging a fender or driving off the road.
When they got there, she asked her daughter where they were and she reported, "Seattle." Dee said, "No, we're supposed to be in Tacoma. We can't be in Seattle." Then her vision cleared just a little bit and she recognized the King Dome, so she knew her daughter was right.
She didn't know where the access ramp to I-5 was, and suddenly spotted a fellow standing beside her car. She asked him for directions to the southbound on-ramp toward Tacoma and he told her, but her blood sugar level was so low that she couldn't make heads or tails out of his instructions, so he began to run alongside the car, directing her left, then right.. and suddenly she found herself in a McDonald's parking lot, where she was able to get something to eat and drink that elevated her blood sugar levels enough for her to recover. The fellow who had gotten her that far vanished.
Now, I know Dee Spooner. She is not given to telling tall tales. When she finished, Pastor Braaten said, "I don't know how you got through all that in one piece." She said, "I didn't, on my own. There's no way I could have. God and his angel got us through it."
Pastor Braaten then told of a time when he and his wife were traveling in Nebraska on a cold, icy ten degree day when they spotted a middle-aged man in shirtsleeves walking alongside the highway in the direction they were heading. Fearing for his exposure in such severe weather, they stopped and offered him a ride. He seemed perfectly sane when they got to know him better. He said he was headed to Denver.
They took him to their place, gave him a dinner and a warm bed for the night. In the morning after breakfast, Pastor Braaten gave the man a small satchel, warmer clothes and an overcoat, then took him to the bus station and paid for a ticket to get him to Denver. They never saw him again, but Pastor Braaten now wonders if they entertained an angel unaware, as described in the Bible.
Then he recounted the story of two British missionaries in Africa in the mid 40's who became lost in the middle of nowhere -- got turned around somehow on their journey to a village and got lost -- and out of "nowhere" stepped an African who spoke perfect, unbroken King's English, asking them if they needed some help! Flabbergasted, they told him they were quite thoroughly lost. He set them off heading in the right direction again and then vanished as quickly as he had appeared. Pastor Braaten laughed and said, "What are the odds that an African bushman would know the King's English? He must have been an angel. The missionaries are convinced he was."
I have read and heard of angel encounters for a lot of years, but when people sitting in the room with you can tell stories like that -- and you know them and know of their reliability and their earnestness in explaining what they experienced -- it's hard to discount them!
Pastor Braaten told us (via Hattie Hammond, a first generation Pentecostal) of a Presbyterian minister back in the 40's who came to one of the Pentocostal meetings hoping to be imbued with the Holy Spirit. As Hattie Hammond got behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders and began to pray for the result he wanted, he slipped out from under her hands and went prostrate on the floor, face down, and for the next couple of hours began to pray in different languages he did not know for the continents of Africa (in an African language), Asia (in an Oriental language), and Europe (in several European languages). When he was finally released from the power of the Holy Spirit, he stood up and told them he was transported in the spirit and had hovered above those countries as he interceeded for them in prayer.
When Pastor Braaten heard this remarkable account he asked Hammond, "What did the experience do to him?" (meaning "How did it affect him afterward?") and she asked Braaten, "How would it affect you?"
Then Pastor Braaten said, "That was a very telling question. How would it affect each of us if it had happened to us? Some of us would get big heads and feel powerful and full of ourselves. Others would turn the experience into something powerful for the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the reason more of us don't have these kinds of experiences is that God can't trust us with this kind of power. He knows our hearts. Some of us cannot be trusted with his power. We would abuse it or misuse it."
That made all kinds of sense to me.
God wouldn't give a handgun or a razor blade to an infant or toddler. Which of us can He trust with His immense power?
Those of us He can, He does!
Not me!
Jesus joined them on the road to Emmaus and asked them why they were so downcast. They were flabbergasted that this "stranger" on the road with them did not know that Jesus, the man so many had considered the Messiah, had been crucified three days earlier. But then they explained to him that a bunch of confusing information had come to them just that morning: that women known to them as Jesus' disciples had seen Jesus alive at his tomb and when they ran and told the male disciples, most had scoffed but two of them had visited the tomb and had found it empty just as the women said -- but with Jesus nowhere to be found...
Jesus, more than a little exasperated, thought they were even more thick-headed than he had earlier wanted to believe regarding his disciples (which was plenty thick-headed enough). He asked them, "Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and pointed out to his still-clueless disciples exactly where in each book and in subsequent books of the Old Testament this sequence of events (arrest, torture, crucifixion, resurrection) in the life of the Messiah and God's people had been foretold.
The two disciples -- one of whom is Cleopas, as we learn during this exposition -- are captivated by their knowledgable companion and the two or more hour trip to Emmaus from Jerusalem goes by quickly as they walk.
When they reach Emmaus, Jesus acts as if he is about to walk on, leaving them at their abode, but they don't want to part company with him and invite him in. It is when he breaks bread with them at dinnertime that they suddenly realize who he is, and then he vanishes into thin air.
Students of the Bible often ask, "Why didn't these men recognize Jesus, if they were his disciples?" No one really knows the answer to this, but speculation abounds. Perhaps it was because his beard had been torn from his face (which is documented) during his torture three days previously. Remember, in the Garden Mary didn't recognize him either until he spoke her name.
Pastor Braaten said it's also possible that Jesus "disguised" himself in some way (either spiritually or in actuality) to find out what his disciples were thinking and doing now with what had happened to him and with what they should have known about it. He had TOLD them what was to come; it hadn't been a secret...
But then Pastor Braaten said to us, pretty much convicting us on the spot: "How many times has Jesus walked with you and you didn't realize it until later -- if at all?"
Pastor Braaten thinks the Holy Spirit made sure these passages made it into the Bible to tell us exactly that -- Jesus is with us all the time and we, in our ignorance, fail to recognize Him.
Then he asked the class of about 35 people if anyone had any kind of experience in their lives when Jesus or an angel or the Holy Spirit had visited them. Several of the students raised their hands and he asked them to tell their stories. Then he told one of his own.
Dee Spooner recounted a time when she was about 40 miles outside of Seattle with her two young children when her blood suger went so low that her optic nerve failed to fire and she was blind. She told her young daughter she couldn't see, and in her panic to get somewhere for help, she got onto the freeway and drove all the way to Seattle -- blind as a bat -- without harming anyone or dinging a fender or driving off the road.
When they got there, she asked her daughter where they were and she reported, "Seattle." Dee said, "No, we're supposed to be in Tacoma. We can't be in Seattle." Then her vision cleared just a little bit and she recognized the King Dome, so she knew her daughter was right.
She didn't know where the access ramp to I-5 was, and suddenly spotted a fellow standing beside her car. She asked him for directions to the southbound on-ramp toward Tacoma and he told her, but her blood sugar level was so low that she couldn't make heads or tails out of his instructions, so he began to run alongside the car, directing her left, then right.. and suddenly she found herself in a McDonald's parking lot, where she was able to get something to eat and drink that elevated her blood sugar levels enough for her to recover. The fellow who had gotten her that far vanished.
Now, I know Dee Spooner. She is not given to telling tall tales. When she finished, Pastor Braaten said, "I don't know how you got through all that in one piece." She said, "I didn't, on my own. There's no way I could have. God and his angel got us through it."
Pastor Braaten then told of a time when he and his wife were traveling in Nebraska on a cold, icy ten degree day when they spotted a middle-aged man in shirtsleeves walking alongside the highway in the direction they were heading. Fearing for his exposure in such severe weather, they stopped and offered him a ride. He seemed perfectly sane when they got to know him better. He said he was headed to Denver.
They took him to their place, gave him a dinner and a warm bed for the night. In the morning after breakfast, Pastor Braaten gave the man a small satchel, warmer clothes and an overcoat, then took him to the bus station and paid for a ticket to get him to Denver. They never saw him again, but Pastor Braaten now wonders if they entertained an angel unaware, as described in the Bible.
Then he recounted the story of two British missionaries in Africa in the mid 40's who became lost in the middle of nowhere -- got turned around somehow on their journey to a village and got lost -- and out of "nowhere" stepped an African who spoke perfect, unbroken King's English, asking them if they needed some help! Flabbergasted, they told him they were quite thoroughly lost. He set them off heading in the right direction again and then vanished as quickly as he had appeared. Pastor Braaten laughed and said, "What are the odds that an African bushman would know the King's English? He must have been an angel. The missionaries are convinced he was."
I have read and heard of angel encounters for a lot of years, but when people sitting in the room with you can tell stories like that -- and you know them and know of their reliability and their earnestness in explaining what they experienced -- it's hard to discount them!
Pastor Braaten told us (via Hattie Hammond, a first generation Pentecostal) of a Presbyterian minister back in the 40's who came to one of the Pentocostal meetings hoping to be imbued with the Holy Spirit. As Hattie Hammond got behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders and began to pray for the result he wanted, he slipped out from under her hands and went prostrate on the floor, face down, and for the next couple of hours began to pray in different languages he did not know for the continents of Africa (in an African language), Asia (in an Oriental language), and Europe (in several European languages). When he was finally released from the power of the Holy Spirit, he stood up and told them he was transported in the spirit and had hovered above those countries as he interceeded for them in prayer.
When Pastor Braaten heard this remarkable account he asked Hammond, "What did the experience do to him?" (meaning "How did it affect him afterward?") and she asked Braaten, "How would it affect you?"
Then Pastor Braaten said, "That was a very telling question. How would it affect each of us if it had happened to us? Some of us would get big heads and feel powerful and full of ourselves. Others would turn the experience into something powerful for the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the reason more of us don't have these kinds of experiences is that God can't trust us with this kind of power. He knows our hearts. Some of us cannot be trusted with his power. We would abuse it or misuse it."
That made all kinds of sense to me.
God wouldn't give a handgun or a razor blade to an infant or toddler. Which of us can He trust with His immense power?
Those of us He can, He does!
Not me!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
From HIGHER AWARENESS...
What message did you most need to hear?
"One word frees us from the weight and pain of life; that word is love." --Sophocles
In exploring the enneagram, Riso and Hudson have identified ‘lost messages’ that we needed to hear as children but didn’t. The absence of these words may be at the heart of our most basic fear.
And unconsciously we may still be seeking to hear these words from others.
Review the following messages and note if any one touches you more strongly than the others:
1. "You are good."
2. "You are wanted."
3. "You are loved for yourself."
4. "You are seen for who you are."
5. "Your needs are not a problem."
6. "You are safe."
7. "You will be taken care of."
8. "You will not be betrayed."
9. "Your presence matters."
"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but pouring them all right out, just as they are
-- chaff and grain together --
certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away."
-- Dinah Mulock
-- Dinah Mulock
To understand life, you must first understand yourself.
(C) Reproductions Permitted: http://www.higherawareness.com
To SUBSCRIBE: http://www.higherawareness.com
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"Surprised by Joy" -- A Review and a Revelation
I was up half the night with C.S. Lewis (author of MERE CHRISTIANITY, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, THE PROBLEM OF PAIN, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, THE GREAT DIVORCE, THE FOUR LOVES, and more). I finished "Surprised By Joy" this morning at about 3:30 and fell into bed.
C.S. Lewis takes some getting used to. He is erudite and makes his way around a sentence differently than most of the rest of us do. All the same, before too long you know you have to stay with him because where he is taking you is worth the trouble it takes to get there. Many people call him one of the greatest writers of the past century, and I won't dispute that; certainly he's one of the greatest thinkers of that century or any other. But his ways are not my ways when it comes to expressing ideas. (His ways are likely superior to my ways -- I just prefer to cut to the chase and bypass the scenic route -- not in life, but in literature.)
Not everyone is aware that C.S. Lewis battled like crazy to become and remain an agnostic or an atheist after he got away from home and the environment there. He was introduced to christianity as a child (with a small "c"; I want to say bogus Christianity because so many of the people teaching it to him were christians by self-proclamation only) and spent a great deal of the rest of his life trying to divest himself of it and its ramifications for his life. As we all know, he became one of the greatest Christian apologists in later life. SURPRISED BY JOY is his recounting of his early years as a "pagan."
Surprised by Joy, the title, refers to one incident in his early life that delighted and baffled him all at the same time. He was not given to emotion -- his early life was traumatic and traumatized children generally learn to "hide" their emotions because their emotions so upset the facade that adults are trying to carry as a result of their experience of the same trauma. They build walls -- often of fantasy, as Lewis did -- to survive in a world that seems hostile to their spirits and survival.
Lewis's mother died when he was very young and he and his brother were sent to boarding schools and other places his father considered "higher learning." What they found there was equally traumatic -- people and teachers so self-involved as to be detrimental both to the boys' learning and to their spirits. "Learning" consisted largely of becoming victims of the whims of other, more aggressive students, and being subjected to diatribes and madnesses of various teachers. Of course there were a few good lessons learned, but for the most part, it took the greater part of Lewis's life to unlearn what he was taught and to return (or to re-parent himself) to a place where peace, tranquility and meditation reigned supreme. In his earlier years, it seemed, he could hardly hear himself think.
All of that resonates with me, as a fellow sufferer during my upbringing. It always seemed to me that the world was forever trying to take away my peace of mind -- and even my mind! I never fit in and felt there must be something "wrong" with that. Why wasn't I gregarious, ambitious in the ways of the world (driven up the ladder at any cost and by any means, willing to step on people to get there) as so many others were? There was a gentleness about Lewis and about me that was never quite "beaten" out of us by our societies.
It came as a shock and a wonder one day in Lewis's early life when his brother brought home from a forest a "forest box" he had put together. Its lid was covered by forest trinkets -- perhaps moss, acorns, twigs and other things readily at hand to a young boy walking in the woods. Looking at it, Lewis was "transported" by joy for the first time ever. His spirit was so immensely elevated that he took note of it -- and as soon as he took note of it, it fled!
Well, once he had felt joy, he wanted more of it, and undertook to find it. He wanted to be able to reproduce the feeling, to luxuriate in what seemed to be the height of physical sensation.
He assures us in the book that "joy" is not pleasure (pleasure can be found in sex, good food, a good friend, a great conversation). Joy is an experience almost beyond our range when it comes to sensation - which is why it seems so fleeting when we do experience it. It's exhilarating -- almost beyond earthbound sensation itself!
It took Lewis years to feel it again, well into adulthood. He did not feel it all the years he was an agnostic, although he experienced great pleasure as an agnostic and perceived "master of his own ship." He experienced mastery of his mind -- an ability to wrap his brain around a variety of concepts and perspectives that might boggle the mind of a lesser seeker. But alas, there was no "joy" anywhere to be found.
Then one day, it was back and the lust to follow it, to capture it, to domesticate it was underway. He would find it, he would corral it, and he would be able to pull it out of his pocket upon command and experience it. He was sure it was attainable with the proper attitude and nurture.
But it wasn't. It remained elusive, like a chimera, something like magic. He only knew he would feel it when he wasn't expecting it. When he was totally focused on something else is when it would happen.
So joy couldn't be a goal -- it was not attainable as a goal. Joy was the result of a focus on something else...
An undamaged child has it. He or she doesn't have to look for it. Joy belongs to a child the way the color of their eyes belong to them. They aren't aware of it, but it's theirs. Their entire world is joy as long as they are fed and their diapers are dry and loving people dote on them.
So Lewis thought, "If joy is a byproduct, there must be something or Someone who is the ultimate object or expression of joy."
In my experience, joy is love to the nth degree. It's an abandonment of all fear, trouble, and turmoil. It is exquisite, peaceful and dynamic. It's a mind in love with Love.
Lewis goes on in the last thirty pages of the book to explain how the search for joy led him into the loving arms of a loving God. I will leave it up to you to get the book and to encounter his journey yourself.
This brings me to a passage in the Bible: "It was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross."
Isn't that verse utterly unfathomable?! How do we wrap our mind around a phrase that sounds like the ultimate oxymoron?
Joy = enduring the cross ?!?!?!?
How could a man feel joy about that and still be sane?!
Here it is:
Jesus felt joy (remember what joy is, now, and begin to feel it, if you can, in your heart!) because he would be able to do something no one else could do for the people (and for the Father) for whom He did it. While the situation itself -- flogging, utter disrespect and taunting, crucifixion -- would be any man's (and he was a man) worst nightmare, Jesus set his mind on the "joy" of delivering us back to the Father, unblemished and freed from all damage and sin (our "missing of the target"). In joy alone was such enormous power that he was able to endure all that he went through -- even separation from His Father for three days as he visited hell and did what he had to do there.
If you can wrap your mind around what kind of joy that must have been to Him (the extent of the joy), to be able to do what he did for us and for His Father, I think you will be getting closer to the Mind of God, the Mind of the Universe, whatever you choose to call It.
Our joy is but a clouded reflection in His Immense joy. That's why it's so hard to "en-joy" (be one with joy) as often as we might like.
But when we love as He does, it's there. When we "see" (experience) His creation as He does, we experience joy.
C.S. Lewis takes some getting used to. He is erudite and makes his way around a sentence differently than most of the rest of us do. All the same, before too long you know you have to stay with him because where he is taking you is worth the trouble it takes to get there. Many people call him one of the greatest writers of the past century, and I won't dispute that; certainly he's one of the greatest thinkers of that century or any other. But his ways are not my ways when it comes to expressing ideas. (His ways are likely superior to my ways -- I just prefer to cut to the chase and bypass the scenic route -- not in life, but in literature.)
Not everyone is aware that C.S. Lewis battled like crazy to become and remain an agnostic or an atheist after he got away from home and the environment there. He was introduced to christianity as a child (with a small "c"; I want to say bogus Christianity because so many of the people teaching it to him were christians by self-proclamation only) and spent a great deal of the rest of his life trying to divest himself of it and its ramifications for his life. As we all know, he became one of the greatest Christian apologists in later life. SURPRISED BY JOY is his recounting of his early years as a "pagan."
Surprised by Joy, the title, refers to one incident in his early life that delighted and baffled him all at the same time. He was not given to emotion -- his early life was traumatic and traumatized children generally learn to "hide" their emotions because their emotions so upset the facade that adults are trying to carry as a result of their experience of the same trauma. They build walls -- often of fantasy, as Lewis did -- to survive in a world that seems hostile to their spirits and survival.
Lewis's mother died when he was very young and he and his brother were sent to boarding schools and other places his father considered "higher learning." What they found there was equally traumatic -- people and teachers so self-involved as to be detrimental both to the boys' learning and to their spirits. "Learning" consisted largely of becoming victims of the whims of other, more aggressive students, and being subjected to diatribes and madnesses of various teachers. Of course there were a few good lessons learned, but for the most part, it took the greater part of Lewis's life to unlearn what he was taught and to return (or to re-parent himself) to a place where peace, tranquility and meditation reigned supreme. In his earlier years, it seemed, he could hardly hear himself think.
All of that resonates with me, as a fellow sufferer during my upbringing. It always seemed to me that the world was forever trying to take away my peace of mind -- and even my mind! I never fit in and felt there must be something "wrong" with that. Why wasn't I gregarious, ambitious in the ways of the world (driven up the ladder at any cost and by any means, willing to step on people to get there) as so many others were? There was a gentleness about Lewis and about me that was never quite "beaten" out of us by our societies.
It came as a shock and a wonder one day in Lewis's early life when his brother brought home from a forest a "forest box" he had put together. Its lid was covered by forest trinkets -- perhaps moss, acorns, twigs and other things readily at hand to a young boy walking in the woods. Looking at it, Lewis was "transported" by joy for the first time ever. His spirit was so immensely elevated that he took note of it -- and as soon as he took note of it, it fled!
Well, once he had felt joy, he wanted more of it, and undertook to find it. He wanted to be able to reproduce the feeling, to luxuriate in what seemed to be the height of physical sensation.
He assures us in the book that "joy" is not pleasure (pleasure can be found in sex, good food, a good friend, a great conversation). Joy is an experience almost beyond our range when it comes to sensation - which is why it seems so fleeting when we do experience it. It's exhilarating -- almost beyond earthbound sensation itself!
It took Lewis years to feel it again, well into adulthood. He did not feel it all the years he was an agnostic, although he experienced great pleasure as an agnostic and perceived "master of his own ship." He experienced mastery of his mind -- an ability to wrap his brain around a variety of concepts and perspectives that might boggle the mind of a lesser seeker. But alas, there was no "joy" anywhere to be found.
Then one day, it was back and the lust to follow it, to capture it, to domesticate it was underway. He would find it, he would corral it, and he would be able to pull it out of his pocket upon command and experience it. He was sure it was attainable with the proper attitude and nurture.
But it wasn't. It remained elusive, like a chimera, something like magic. He only knew he would feel it when he wasn't expecting it. When he was totally focused on something else is when it would happen.
So joy couldn't be a goal -- it was not attainable as a goal. Joy was the result of a focus on something else...
An undamaged child has it. He or she doesn't have to look for it. Joy belongs to a child the way the color of their eyes belong to them. They aren't aware of it, but it's theirs. Their entire world is joy as long as they are fed and their diapers are dry and loving people dote on them.
So Lewis thought, "If joy is a byproduct, there must be something or Someone who is the ultimate object or expression of joy."
In my experience, joy is love to the nth degree. It's an abandonment of all fear, trouble, and turmoil. It is exquisite, peaceful and dynamic. It's a mind in love with Love.
Lewis goes on in the last thirty pages of the book to explain how the search for joy led him into the loving arms of a loving God. I will leave it up to you to get the book and to encounter his journey yourself.
This brings me to a passage in the Bible: "It was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross."
Isn't that verse utterly unfathomable?! How do we wrap our mind around a phrase that sounds like the ultimate oxymoron?
Joy = enduring the cross ?!?!?!?
How could a man feel joy about that and still be sane?!
Here it is:
Jesus felt joy (remember what joy is, now, and begin to feel it, if you can, in your heart!) because he would be able to do something no one else could do for the people (and for the Father) for whom He did it. While the situation itself -- flogging, utter disrespect and taunting, crucifixion -- would be any man's (and he was a man) worst nightmare, Jesus set his mind on the "joy" of delivering us back to the Father, unblemished and freed from all damage and sin (our "missing of the target"). In joy alone was such enormous power that he was able to endure all that he went through -- even separation from His Father for three days as he visited hell and did what he had to do there.
If you can wrap your mind around what kind of joy that must have been to Him (the extent of the joy), to be able to do what he did for us and for His Father, I think you will be getting closer to the Mind of God, the Mind of the Universe, whatever you choose to call It.
Our joy is but a clouded reflection in His Immense joy. That's why it's so hard to "en-joy" (be one with joy) as often as we might like.
But when we love as He does, it's there. When we "see" (experience) His creation as He does, we experience joy.
Friday, March 23, 2007
A Wonderful YouTube Song and Prayer...
A wonderful friend sent me this link. I think you will be blessed by it, as I was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeeZDkMCUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeeZDkMCUQ
More God Questions...
From our TREK friend:
Hi Kris,
This is hell week for us. My wife produces a musical every year at the school she teaches and the performance is tonight.
I will look for that book you recommend, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours. I'm curious to see how it all fits together. You did mention how it could only be divinely inspired, so I'm curious to see the author's reconciliation of all the wildly inconsistent threads spread throughout the good book.
As you say, God created time itself and is the one who can see the whole parade. Which is interesting, because he was obviously in no hurry whatsoever to put humans into the celestial mix, considering what a blip we are in the overall picture of the cosmos. He created the Earth, then waited billions of years before it was ready to be populated by man. Which is fine. What I'm curious to know is, was man always part of God's plan? Was the universe created and made virtually infinite for man's benefit, or just to confuse him and cause him to question why a being so powerful created a universe so large that we, as humans, could never fathom it? There are virtually billions of galaxies, each one spans a distant so vast, we cannot comprehend it. So, that makes me wonder why the universe seems to have a mind of its own.
Which brings me to another point, one where I would feel comfortable in "defining" God. I think, over the years what has made the most sense to me is the Einsteinian logic, where he basically defines God as the laws of the universe, the laws of physics. Although many Christians will try to paint Einstein as a believer, if you read his quotes it's pretty clear that he stands in awe of the complexity of the universe, and that is his definition of God. Not necessarily a being.
So I finished the Dawkins book, which is good if a bit off course at times. I don't think he is a bad or misguided person, but he is obviously frustrated by the thinking, or lack of, that is behind most religious groups.
Kris, to your credit, you define your beliefs well and are obviously not in the category of those who use their faith as a means to dismiss others, more as a spiritual quest that you follow and would like others to find for themselves. I see your message as being that one must find a harmonic convergence, of sorts, in order to get on the -- God's -- wavelength.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My response:
Blessings and thanks to your wife, for what she does and all she goes through to give students and their parents and relatives an entertaining reason to go out at night! I used to be involved in plays, too, so I know what a madhouse it can be, but out of it all comes something sublime: a creation!
To answer your questions and comment on your comments...
Yes, man was always a part of God' plan (He knows the whole parade, remember? and exactly where we would louse up and what it would take to redeem the whole situation of which we are so much a part -- being capable, as we are with free will, of great love and great destruction). So far, we seem to be the only beings that can discern Him (although, in our arrogance, that might NOT be the true situation -- Jesus said if His people remained silent the very rocks would cry out, and the Bible says that all creation groans for our return to the Garden (communion with God) so things can be set right again.
I think the more out of whack man is (God's specified "image-bearer" -- and he gave us influence to match the title), the more out of whack everything we touch or influence is -- and if you are in the loop with physics you know that our very thoughts influence the movement of atoms and the growth of plants...
Yes, I believe God created it all and that he wants us to share in it -- maybe not to reach it everywhere He has touched, but just to realize that he has touched it everywhere. You can call God what Einstein calls God -- I'm okay with that -- but the entire message of the Bible is to call God what YOU call God after you have met him and have a relationship with Him, not what others have called Him as they are able to understand him.
I wonder if you're afraid to simply ASK Him to tell you about Himself? Even if it sounds corny, since you don't believe there's anyone out there, you might give it a try and then wait and watch for belief and proof to be revealed to you. It's all around you. I do know that -- because it's all around me, around all of us, just like ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX and etc. -- we just have to tune in the the wavelength He's on in order to receive Him.
Hi Kris,
This is hell week for us. My wife produces a musical every year at the school she teaches and the performance is tonight.
I will look for that book you recommend, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours. I'm curious to see how it all fits together. You did mention how it could only be divinely inspired, so I'm curious to see the author's reconciliation of all the wildly inconsistent threads spread throughout the good book.
As you say, God created time itself and is the one who can see the whole parade. Which is interesting, because he was obviously in no hurry whatsoever to put humans into the celestial mix, considering what a blip we are in the overall picture of the cosmos. He created the Earth, then waited billions of years before it was ready to be populated by man. Which is fine. What I'm curious to know is, was man always part of God's plan? Was the universe created and made virtually infinite for man's benefit, or just to confuse him and cause him to question why a being so powerful created a universe so large that we, as humans, could never fathom it? There are virtually billions of galaxies, each one spans a distant so vast, we cannot comprehend it. So, that makes me wonder why the universe seems to have a mind of its own.
Which brings me to another point, one where I would feel comfortable in "defining" God. I think, over the years what has made the most sense to me is the Einsteinian logic, where he basically defines God as the laws of the universe, the laws of physics. Although many Christians will try to paint Einstein as a believer, if you read his quotes it's pretty clear that he stands in awe of the complexity of the universe, and that is his definition of God. Not necessarily a being.
So I finished the Dawkins book, which is good if a bit off course at times. I don't think he is a bad or misguided person, but he is obviously frustrated by the thinking, or lack of, that is behind most religious groups.
Kris, to your credit, you define your beliefs well and are obviously not in the category of those who use their faith as a means to dismiss others, more as a spiritual quest that you follow and would like others to find for themselves. I see your message as being that one must find a harmonic convergence, of sorts, in order to get on the -- God's -- wavelength.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My response:
Blessings and thanks to your wife, for what she does and all she goes through to give students and their parents and relatives an entertaining reason to go out at night! I used to be involved in plays, too, so I know what a madhouse it can be, but out of it all comes something sublime: a creation!
To answer your questions and comment on your comments...
Yes, man was always a part of God' plan (He knows the whole parade, remember? and exactly where we would louse up and what it would take to redeem the whole situation of which we are so much a part -- being capable, as we are with free will, of great love and great destruction). So far, we seem to be the only beings that can discern Him (although, in our arrogance, that might NOT be the true situation -- Jesus said if His people remained silent the very rocks would cry out, and the Bible says that all creation groans for our return to the Garden (communion with God) so things can be set right again.
I think the more out of whack man is (God's specified "image-bearer" -- and he gave us influence to match the title), the more out of whack everything we touch or influence is -- and if you are in the loop with physics you know that our very thoughts influence the movement of atoms and the growth of plants...
Yes, I believe God created it all and that he wants us to share in it -- maybe not to reach it everywhere He has touched, but just to realize that he has touched it everywhere. You can call God what Einstein calls God -- I'm okay with that -- but the entire message of the Bible is to call God what YOU call God after you have met him and have a relationship with Him, not what others have called Him as they are able to understand him.
I wonder if you're afraid to simply ASK Him to tell you about Himself? Even if it sounds corny, since you don't believe there's anyone out there, you might give it a try and then wait and watch for belief and proof to be revealed to you. It's all around you. I do know that -- because it's all around me, around all of us, just like ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX and etc. -- we just have to tune in the the wavelength He's on in order to receive Him.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Gads, it's Thursday night already. Where does the week go?
I'm looking forward to diving into SURPRISED BY JOY by C.S. Lewis. I found out about this book from Billie Rae Walker, and it arrived in the mail today.
I purchased a slightly used copy at Amazon.com and have already read a few pages but realized that unless I quit reading it right away it would consume the entire evening until bed-time and you wouldn't get a blog entry. I'm not sure that would ruin your night, but hey... in the interest of accountability, here I am again, back like a bad penny!
The task will be coming up with something worth reading about...
I met a man at the Sacramento STAR TREK convention in Sacramento last September named Donald C Szymanski. (I hope I spelled his last name right but God only knows how long it took him to learn to spell it as a kid! I'm so glad my name is Kris Smith!). He lives in Laurence Harbor, New Jersey but I don't think he's ever there!
I get a letter from him every couple of months, usually along with magnificent photos he takes during numerous trips he enjoys every year. In May he's taking a bus trip that will carry him to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Sedona Arizona, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. And OK, I'm jealous! I'd better get a bunch of photos of that trip, Donald! Talk about a marvelous trip! I'm green with envy! And very happy for him.
I haven't been catching many of the remastered STAR TREKs. It has been so long since Original Trek has appeared in general distribution that I keep forgetting to tune in when it's on here in the Pacific Northwest (6pm on Channel 11 every Saturday)! But the few remastered episodes I have seen are really something else, and as a result of them, teenagers are just now "discovering" De and McCoy (in droves) for the first time, and I'm getting some emails from them or from their parents who went on the Internet to try to track De down. They are disappointed to discover that De has passed on, but that doesn't cool their ardor in the least. They still have lots of questions: Was he as wonderful as he seemed? (YES!) I think my book about De and Terry's biography of De should do a lot better, now that public television has "resurrected him" again.
It feels kind of odd to to be a Kelley "expert" to so many people. De was my friend, and I started out as a fan, but this new "mini-celebrity" thing has me feeling a bit side-swiped! It's beyond weird to me to be asked to appear at conventions, just for starters! It's great fun, I have discovered -- as soon as I get beyond the weeks or months of nervous anticipation and actually step onto the stage and see all of De's smiling fans waiting to hear what I know so I can confirm every wonderful thing they ever heard or thought about him.
I wasn't sure it would be "great fun" the first time I did it, or the second time... I'm not what is generally considered a "stage persona" and I wondered if I would disappoint anyone.
But before long I settle down and am possibly more myself than I am at any other time, because De's fans are so great, so appreciative and friendly... It's possible they meet the "me" that De and Carolyn saw when I'm on stage -- at first a little "star struck" (nervous) but slowly, slowly coming around to being myself as the nerves wear off and I realize I'm among truly good people and have nothing to fear!
One thing that does worry me is that some people may see me as a celebrity. I am so NOT a celebrity! I'd be mortified if anyone felt around me the way they would feel around a gen-u-ine, bona fide celebrity. I'd hate to have to try to live up to the expectations people have of celebrities. De measured up, but he was just one of very few that do. In fact, he more than measured up: his press wasn't GOOD ENOUGH! But that's 'cause he was humble, and a Christian, and didn't go around flaunting his status as an international treasure; he was too busy feeling blessed to realize what a blessing he was!
That's how I feel. Blessed. And if I can bless De's fans in his stead, that's beyond wonderful!
I'm looking forward to diving into SURPRISED BY JOY by C.S. Lewis. I found out about this book from Billie Rae Walker, and it arrived in the mail today.
I purchased a slightly used copy at Amazon.com and have already read a few pages but realized that unless I quit reading it right away it would consume the entire evening until bed-time and you wouldn't get a blog entry. I'm not sure that would ruin your night, but hey... in the interest of accountability, here I am again, back like a bad penny!
The task will be coming up with something worth reading about...
I met a man at the Sacramento STAR TREK convention in Sacramento last September named Donald C Szymanski. (I hope I spelled his last name right but God only knows how long it took him to learn to spell it as a kid! I'm so glad my name is Kris Smith!). He lives in Laurence Harbor, New Jersey but I don't think he's ever there!
I get a letter from him every couple of months, usually along with magnificent photos he takes during numerous trips he enjoys every year. In May he's taking a bus trip that will carry him to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Sedona Arizona, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. And OK, I'm jealous! I'd better get a bunch of photos of that trip, Donald! Talk about a marvelous trip! I'm green with envy! And very happy for him.
I haven't been catching many of the remastered STAR TREKs. It has been so long since Original Trek has appeared in general distribution that I keep forgetting to tune in when it's on here in the Pacific Northwest (6pm on Channel 11 every Saturday)! But the few remastered episodes I have seen are really something else, and as a result of them, teenagers are just now "discovering" De and McCoy (in droves) for the first time, and I'm getting some emails from them or from their parents who went on the Internet to try to track De down. They are disappointed to discover that De has passed on, but that doesn't cool their ardor in the least. They still have lots of questions: Was he as wonderful as he seemed? (YES!) I think my book about De and Terry's biography of De should do a lot better, now that public television has "resurrected him" again.
It feels kind of odd to to be a Kelley "expert" to so many people. De was my friend, and I started out as a fan, but this new "mini-celebrity" thing has me feeling a bit side-swiped! It's beyond weird to me to be asked to appear at conventions, just for starters! It's great fun, I have discovered -- as soon as I get beyond the weeks or months of nervous anticipation and actually step onto the stage and see all of De's smiling fans waiting to hear what I know so I can confirm every wonderful thing they ever heard or thought about him.
I wasn't sure it would be "great fun" the first time I did it, or the second time... I'm not what is generally considered a "stage persona" and I wondered if I would disappoint anyone.
But before long I settle down and am possibly more myself than I am at any other time, because De's fans are so great, so appreciative and friendly... It's possible they meet the "me" that De and Carolyn saw when I'm on stage -- at first a little "star struck" (nervous) but slowly, slowly coming around to being myself as the nerves wear off and I realize I'm among truly good people and have nothing to fear!
One thing that does worry me is that some people may see me as a celebrity. I am so NOT a celebrity! I'd be mortified if anyone felt around me the way they would feel around a gen-u-ine, bona fide celebrity. I'd hate to have to try to live up to the expectations people have of celebrities. De measured up, but he was just one of very few that do. In fact, he more than measured up: his press wasn't GOOD ENOUGH! But that's 'cause he was humble, and a Christian, and didn't go around flaunting his status as an international treasure; he was too busy feeling blessed to realize what a blessing he was!
That's how I feel. Blessed. And if I can bless De's fans in his stead, that's beyond wonderful!
An Offer -- Speak Up FAST If You Want It!
I am the eager recipient of a practical study of God's Word called TODAY IN THE WORD, published by the Moody Bible Institute. The cover of this month's issue asked me to suggest three people who might appreciate receiving three free issues of TODAY IN THE WORD. It seemed to me that the best way to go about this is to FIND three people who would truly consider it a blessing. If you like the three issues, you will have to join up, but the magazine isn't received by subscription -- whatever you feel like paying is what they will accept to keep it coming to you. Occasionally I will send them $5 or $20 because I love their magazine and learn something from it every month.
So here's the deal. The first three people who respond to me at KRISTINEMSMITH@MSN.COM telling me they want three complimentary issues of TODAY IN THE WORD will be placed in the three spots available to me. I will need your name and address, and you must live in the U.S. or Canada. (Alas, TODAY IN THE WORD is not mailed outside North America.)
Ready -- set -- GO!
So here's the deal. The first three people who respond to me at KRISTINEMSMITH@MSN.COM telling me they want three complimentary issues of TODAY IN THE WORD will be placed in the three spots available to me. I will need your name and address, and you must live in the U.S. or Canada. (Alas, TODAY IN THE WORD is not mailed outside North America.)
Ready -- set -- GO!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
OOH-WHEEE!!! A 30-Post Milestone!
Wow! It's official! I have developed a habit! They say if you do something for 21 days running you have established a habit. This is my 30th blog in a row, and it does feel like a habit by now. A good one, I hope you'll agree...
Because this is Post #30, I think I will tell you about some very worthwhile organizations that could use your help -- and you can write in and mention more, if you like. Modest Needs (http://www.modestneeds.org/) gives everyone with a few extra bucks a chance to be a real hero.
Here's an email I received today from its founder (who also happens to be a big DeForest Kelley fan):
Good afternoon, everyone!
It's been nearly a month since I've sent out a news update, and that's because - in the interest of not cluttering your inbox - I've been waiting to send several really wonderful news updates your way. But first things first: today, 21 March 2007, marks the fifth anniversary of Modest Needs' launch! To celebrate, I'm writing to share several landmark announcements that I've been saving for an equally exciting occasion - and what could be more exciting than five years of working together to change lives?
First of all, I'm very proud to share with you today news that has been nearly eight months in the making. Tomorrow, Jonathan Tisch and Loews Hotels will formally announce that, after an exhaustive search, they have selected Modest Needs as their national 'Good Neighbor' partner.
Beginning in May and continuing throughout 2007, Loews Hotels will be sponsoring a number of events to benefit Modest Needs and our applicants. This additional support will not only mean a great deal to our applicants - it should so vastly increase national awareness of this work that by year's end, on a regular basis, we're able to fund nearly twice the individuals and families that we're currently able to reach.
Though the announcement of this first-of-its-kind partnership with Modest Needs will officially come tomorrow, I'd encourage you to visit the Loews Hotels home page, at http://www.loewshotels.com/, where you will see the announcement officially posted. This is truly a great honor and a tribute to the work all of us have done over the past five years, and I hope you're as excited as I am by this wonderful opportunity!
Secondly, I'm proud to announce that in honor of our anniversary, we are issuing a ground-breaking round of grant funding today. On Monday of this week, we funded 23 applications for assistance. Today, thanks to your extraordinary generosity, we're funding 14 more families who've asked for our help. And when this round of funding is complete, together, over the past five years, we will have made exactly 3,150 grants with a value of - are you ready - just over one million dollars!
In just moments, as soon as this update is posted, those of you who support Modest Needs will be working fourteen more of the miracles at which you've always excelled: you will stop foreclosure or eviction on nine home and apartments, prevent the sale of a paid-for home over a past-due property tax bill, restore utility service to two families, repair the car that keeps a single mom working, and prevent a family from having half of its disposable income garnished over an unexpected bill that they simply couldn't pay.
That we've been able to raise a million dollars in five years (mostly in small increments) is something of a miracle in and of itself. But when you consider that we've now stopped the cycle of poverty for 3,150 hard working individuals and families for an average of $317.00 each - well, I think that brings new meaning to our motto: 'Small Change: A World of Difference.'
Again, I hope that all of you are extremely proud of this achievement. Reaching the million-dollar milestone is generally a sign that a charitable endeavor has passed an important threshold, and it's my hope that the next few years, will see us able to more good together than any of us had ever dreamed would be possible five years ago.
Finally, I have just posted a brand-new installment of 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity' - Modest Needs' most popular column. Most of you have noticed that 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity' has been MIA for a several months now as we've worked on projects like our website update and our Loews Hotels partnership. But I'm bringing today for our anniversary, and I think you'll find this column to have been especially worth the wait.
This 'Profile in Courageous Generosity,' which I'm calling 'The Giving Ladder,' is available for you now at http://www.modestneeds.org/features/pcg I hope you'll take just a few minutes out of your day to read this remarkable testament to the power of human kindness to restore hope, and to share that piece with the people who matter to you most.
For all that you've done, and for all that you continue to do at Modest Needs, the words 'thank you' simply don't seem adequate. All the same, both personally and on behalf of the persons whose lives you've changed, I'd like to thank you for a remarkable first five years of Modest Needs. Please let me hear from you soon, and have a wonderful day!
All best,
Dr. Keith P. Taylor
President / Executive Director
Modest Needs Foundation
http://www.modestneeds.org/
'Small Change: A World of Difference'
(212) 463-7042, x14
=================================================
If you believe in the power of human kindness to change lives, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Modest Needs. And don't forget that in 2007, your pledge of any size to Modest Needs is DOUBLED through a matching grant all year long.
You can make an instant, secure gift or pledge of ANY size in 60 seconds or less by visiting https://www.modestneeds.org/donation/online
Remember, the work we do at Modest Needs is funded exclusively by the generosity of persons just like you. Without your support, this work would not be possible.
=================================================
To apply for temporary financial assistance, please visit http://www.modestneeds.org/help to request assistance from Modest Needs. We'll do everything in our power to help you in your time of crisis.
=================================================
All contents (C) Modest Needs Foundation.
http://www.modestneeds.org/
"Small Change: A World of Difference"
All Rights Reserved
Go ahead. Be a hero. Or apply for help, if you need help... and then pay it back so someone else can benefit when you get back on your feet again. What goes around comes around. I think this is one of the most worthy organizations I have encountered in a lifetime of supporting worthy causes. And it's pretty painless. $5 to you may be chump change, but combine enough of those bills and Dr Taylor can save someone's home!
Another great cause (and I can vouch for this one personally because I used to volunteer there) is the Roar Foundation, Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve (http://www.shambala.org/). Tippi has dedicated almost her entire adult life to the well-being of captive wildlife. Her book, The Cats of Shambala, is rare and out of print, but there are 22 of them at Amazon for sale and that will probably be the end of them, so get there fast if you want to read about how Tippi came to be the godmother of a wildlife preserve! My serval Deaken was boarded at Shambala for 15 months while I was landing a job in Hollywood and then looking for a landlord who would let me have a "wild animal" in the back yard! So I owe Tippi, big-time! If you will support her cause, she will send you quarterly newsletters keeping you updated on the goings on at Shambala. She has two of Michael Jackson's tigers. She also has an elephant that was rescued from a circus and a lot of -- don't giggle now -- birds!!! Doesn't that figure? (See Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds if you don't get the connection...)
Of course there are many, many other worthwhile organizations. If you have a favorite, please leave a comment and a link to it so others can read about it and consider supporting it.)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And here's one more idea. Please logon to my workplace (www.onholdconcepts.com) and take a look and a listen to what we have to offer you or a business person you know. Think of places where you are on-hold interminably and bored (there are plenty of them out there) and suggest that they logon to On-Hold Concepts and have us produce them a program that will keep callers entertained, informed and motivated to remain on the line until the receptionist or the person sought by the caller can return to the line. I won't get a finder's fee for any business you send our way, but it would certainly put a feather in my cap if you would mention (or have your referral mention) that it was Kris Smith who made you aware of the service. Thanks much!
Guess that's all for this time. I will now get some pudding and celebrate this milestone blog!
Because this is Post #30, I think I will tell you about some very worthwhile organizations that could use your help -- and you can write in and mention more, if you like. Modest Needs (http://www.modestneeds.org/) gives everyone with a few extra bucks a chance to be a real hero.
Here's an email I received today from its founder (who also happens to be a big DeForest Kelley fan):
Good afternoon, everyone!
It's been nearly a month since I've sent out a news update, and that's because - in the interest of not cluttering your inbox - I've been waiting to send several really wonderful news updates your way. But first things first: today, 21 March 2007, marks the fifth anniversary of Modest Needs' launch! To celebrate, I'm writing to share several landmark announcements that I've been saving for an equally exciting occasion - and what could be more exciting than five years of working together to change lives?
First of all, I'm very proud to share with you today news that has been nearly eight months in the making. Tomorrow, Jonathan Tisch and Loews Hotels will formally announce that, after an exhaustive search, they have selected Modest Needs as their national 'Good Neighbor' partner.
Beginning in May and continuing throughout 2007, Loews Hotels will be sponsoring a number of events to benefit Modest Needs and our applicants. This additional support will not only mean a great deal to our applicants - it should so vastly increase national awareness of this work that by year's end, on a regular basis, we're able to fund nearly twice the individuals and families that we're currently able to reach.
Though the announcement of this first-of-its-kind partnership with Modest Needs will officially come tomorrow, I'd encourage you to visit the Loews Hotels home page, at http://www.loewshotels.com/, where you will see the announcement officially posted. This is truly a great honor and a tribute to the work all of us have done over the past five years, and I hope you're as excited as I am by this wonderful opportunity!
Secondly, I'm proud to announce that in honor of our anniversary, we are issuing a ground-breaking round of grant funding today. On Monday of this week, we funded 23 applications for assistance. Today, thanks to your extraordinary generosity, we're funding 14 more families who've asked for our help. And when this round of funding is complete, together, over the past five years, we will have made exactly 3,150 grants with a value of - are you ready - just over one million dollars!
In just moments, as soon as this update is posted, those of you who support Modest Needs will be working fourteen more of the miracles at which you've always excelled: you will stop foreclosure or eviction on nine home and apartments, prevent the sale of a paid-for home over a past-due property tax bill, restore utility service to two families, repair the car that keeps a single mom working, and prevent a family from having half of its disposable income garnished over an unexpected bill that they simply couldn't pay.
That we've been able to raise a million dollars in five years (mostly in small increments) is something of a miracle in and of itself. But when you consider that we've now stopped the cycle of poverty for 3,150 hard working individuals and families for an average of $317.00 each - well, I think that brings new meaning to our motto: 'Small Change: A World of Difference.'
Again, I hope that all of you are extremely proud of this achievement. Reaching the million-dollar milestone is generally a sign that a charitable endeavor has passed an important threshold, and it's my hope that the next few years, will see us able to more good together than any of us had ever dreamed would be possible five years ago.
Finally, I have just posted a brand-new installment of 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity' - Modest Needs' most popular column. Most of you have noticed that 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity' has been MIA for a several months now as we've worked on projects like our website update and our Loews Hotels partnership. But I'm bringing today for our anniversary, and I think you'll find this column to have been especially worth the wait.
This 'Profile in Courageous Generosity,' which I'm calling 'The Giving Ladder,' is available for you now at http://www.modestneeds.org/features/pcg I hope you'll take just a few minutes out of your day to read this remarkable testament to the power of human kindness to restore hope, and to share that piece with the people who matter to you most.
For all that you've done, and for all that you continue to do at Modest Needs, the words 'thank you' simply don't seem adequate. All the same, both personally and on behalf of the persons whose lives you've changed, I'd like to thank you for a remarkable first five years of Modest Needs. Please let me hear from you soon, and have a wonderful day!
All best,
Dr. Keith P. Taylor
President / Executive Director
Modest Needs Foundation
http://www.modestneeds.org/
'Small Change: A World of Difference'
(212) 463-7042, x14
=================================================
If you believe in the power of human kindness to change lives, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Modest Needs. And don't forget that in 2007, your pledge of any size to Modest Needs is DOUBLED through a matching grant all year long.
You can make an instant, secure gift or pledge of ANY size in 60 seconds or less by visiting https://www.modestneeds.org/donation/online
Remember, the work we do at Modest Needs is funded exclusively by the generosity of persons just like you. Without your support, this work would not be possible.
=================================================
To apply for temporary financial assistance, please visit http://www.modestneeds.org/help to request assistance from Modest Needs. We'll do everything in our power to help you in your time of crisis.
=================================================
All contents (C) Modest Needs Foundation.
http://www.modestneeds.org/
"Small Change: A World of Difference"
All Rights Reserved
Go ahead. Be a hero. Or apply for help, if you need help... and then pay it back so someone else can benefit when you get back on your feet again. What goes around comes around. I think this is one of the most worthy organizations I have encountered in a lifetime of supporting worthy causes. And it's pretty painless. $5 to you may be chump change, but combine enough of those bills and Dr Taylor can save someone's home!
Another great cause (and I can vouch for this one personally because I used to volunteer there) is the Roar Foundation, Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve (http://www.shambala.org/). Tippi has dedicated almost her entire adult life to the well-being of captive wildlife. Her book, The Cats of Shambala, is rare and out of print, but there are 22 of them at Amazon for sale and that will probably be the end of them, so get there fast if you want to read about how Tippi came to be the godmother of a wildlife preserve! My serval Deaken was boarded at Shambala for 15 months while I was landing a job in Hollywood and then looking for a landlord who would let me have a "wild animal" in the back yard! So I owe Tippi, big-time! If you will support her cause, she will send you quarterly newsletters keeping you updated on the goings on at Shambala. She has two of Michael Jackson's tigers. She also has an elephant that was rescued from a circus and a lot of -- don't giggle now -- birds!!! Doesn't that figure? (See Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds if you don't get the connection...)
Of course there are many, many other worthwhile organizations. If you have a favorite, please leave a comment and a link to it so others can read about it and consider supporting it.)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And here's one more idea. Please logon to my workplace (www.onholdconcepts.com) and take a look and a listen to what we have to offer you or a business person you know. Think of places where you are on-hold interminably and bored (there are plenty of them out there) and suggest that they logon to On-Hold Concepts and have us produce them a program that will keep callers entertained, informed and motivated to remain on the line until the receptionist or the person sought by the caller can return to the line. I won't get a finder's fee for any business you send our way, but it would certainly put a feather in my cap if you would mention (or have your referral mention) that it was Kris Smith who made you aware of the service. Thanks much!
Guess that's all for this time. I will now get some pudding and celebrate this milestone blog!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
More Meanderings...
My TREK friend was very busy over the weekend so he wasn't able to email me until today, and then he asked a couple questions that were from the Catholic realm, and rather than bluff my way through them, I told him, truthfully, that I don't have answers to them. I have guesses, and opinions, but nothing to base them on except what I have learned as a Protestant, so I won't answer them in this blog tonight. He attended a memorial service over the weekend and the monsignor contradicted himself a couple of times. I said he'd have to ask the man himself to clarify what he believes. I'm sure there's an explanation; I just don't know what it might be.
I hope he gets LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler and finds answers in it to so many of his questions so that we can be on a level playing field. As long as anyone doubts the veracity of the Bible, I don't see how we can come to any kind of mutual starting point... and if we can't do that, we may as well drop the topic and begin something else because we will be spinning our wheels and getting absolutely nowhere.
I believe to the core of my being that the Bible was given by God to people who were tuned in to him (after studying it for eight years, reading how impossible it would be for it to have been dreamed up by 40 different authors and been accurate and tie together the way it does when the authors didn't know each other, etc.). Only a Someone who knows past, present and future could have "dictated" it to His devotees -- Someone who can look across the entire span of "time" and see it all laid out. God isn't bound by time and limited vision.
Imagine a parade. From a perspective down on the ground you might see one, two or three floats at a time. From the top of a building, you would be able to see perhaps 10 or 12 at a time. From a helicopter, you might be able to see the whole parade and know where it begins and ends -- past, present and future all at the same time (from the perspective of a street-based person who's NOT in the copter with you.) Same parade -- different perspectives and ability to "experience/understand" it all.
God is in a position to see HISTORY from such a vantage point, because He exists "outside" time. He created it. He can watch His plan from start to finish. That's why He was able to tell his prophets what was coming. That's how we are able to discern "false prophets": if they say something will happen and it doesn't, it wasn't told to them by God.
I wish I could find my copy of LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS, but then I would give away too much of the farm and you wouldn't go get it and read it. That would not be a good thing!
But I highlighted so much of it -- there was so much great stuff in it that answered the questions I had - it must be 3/4 yellow. I know I went through two highlighters while reading it. "Oh, this is good! Oh, man! I didn't connect this to that! Holy Smokes! This is amazing!"
And when you get to the chapter about the gazillions of odds against one man in history (Jesus) fulfilling the dozens of prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible, it will convince the most unconvinced skeptics on the planet, I think! I'm not a mathematician, so I wasn't able to follow it every step of the way, but those of you with left-brain dominance will be able to, and YOU are the folks most likely to be skeptics, I think. (Right brain/intuitive people find God more believable because they have personally discerned Him more often. I think that may be why the majority of church goers are female. The "fair" sex has to be right-brained or dual-sided in order to multitask and interact as much and as well as we do over the spectrum of activities we so often ride herd on.) (By the way, this isn't a sexist remark. Men are "hunters." They fixate and pursue goals: a deer, a job, sex, a wife, shelter (not generally in that order!). Women are scatter-brained (in a nice way!) : they can gather eggs while holding an infant on one hip and watching out for the safety an older child; or answer the phone while faxing and writing a note to a colleague...
The older I get, the less well I am able to be "scatterbrained." In the past, I worked well as a pinball in a pinball machine: I could head in one direction, be knocked into another direction, careem off yet another, and remember to get back on track to the first goal I had in mind. These days, I can still "scatter" but getting back on track is harder: I may forget where the hell the track began or where I was headed before someone diverted my attention away from it! Don't get me wrong -- I'm still better at it than most men will EVER be, but the ability to do it is faultier the older I get. Some days I just have to sit down and concentrate (depending on what it is I need to do) and let the rest of the " to do" list wait until my brain can wrap itself around the next task...
And that's okay. It can grate on a person to find oneself less able do things that used to come so easily, but it's all part of the process of learning to let go and resign as General Manager of the Universe. Someone else has the reins, anyway!
I hope he gets LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler and finds answers in it to so many of his questions so that we can be on a level playing field. As long as anyone doubts the veracity of the Bible, I don't see how we can come to any kind of mutual starting point... and if we can't do that, we may as well drop the topic and begin something else because we will be spinning our wheels and getting absolutely nowhere.
I believe to the core of my being that the Bible was given by God to people who were tuned in to him (after studying it for eight years, reading how impossible it would be for it to have been dreamed up by 40 different authors and been accurate and tie together the way it does when the authors didn't know each other, etc.). Only a Someone who knows past, present and future could have "dictated" it to His devotees -- Someone who can look across the entire span of "time" and see it all laid out. God isn't bound by time and limited vision.
Imagine a parade. From a perspective down on the ground you might see one, two or three floats at a time. From the top of a building, you would be able to see perhaps 10 or 12 at a time. From a helicopter, you might be able to see the whole parade and know where it begins and ends -- past, present and future all at the same time (from the perspective of a street-based person who's NOT in the copter with you.) Same parade -- different perspectives and ability to "experience/understand" it all.
God is in a position to see HISTORY from such a vantage point, because He exists "outside" time. He created it. He can watch His plan from start to finish. That's why He was able to tell his prophets what was coming. That's how we are able to discern "false prophets": if they say something will happen and it doesn't, it wasn't told to them by God.
I wish I could find my copy of LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS, but then I would give away too much of the farm and you wouldn't go get it and read it. That would not be a good thing!
But I highlighted so much of it -- there was so much great stuff in it that answered the questions I had - it must be 3/4 yellow. I know I went through two highlighters while reading it. "Oh, this is good! Oh, man! I didn't connect this to that! Holy Smokes! This is amazing!"
And when you get to the chapter about the gazillions of odds against one man in history (Jesus) fulfilling the dozens of prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible, it will convince the most unconvinced skeptics on the planet, I think! I'm not a mathematician, so I wasn't able to follow it every step of the way, but those of you with left-brain dominance will be able to, and YOU are the folks most likely to be skeptics, I think. (Right brain/intuitive people find God more believable because they have personally discerned Him more often. I think that may be why the majority of church goers are female. The "fair" sex has to be right-brained or dual-sided in order to multitask and interact as much and as well as we do over the spectrum of activities we so often ride herd on.) (By the way, this isn't a sexist remark. Men are "hunters." They fixate and pursue goals: a deer, a job, sex, a wife, shelter (not generally in that order!). Women are scatter-brained (in a nice way!) : they can gather eggs while holding an infant on one hip and watching out for the safety an older child; or answer the phone while faxing and writing a note to a colleague...
The older I get, the less well I am able to be "scatterbrained." In the past, I worked well as a pinball in a pinball machine: I could head in one direction, be knocked into another direction, careem off yet another, and remember to get back on track to the first goal I had in mind. These days, I can still "scatter" but getting back on track is harder: I may forget where the hell the track began or where I was headed before someone diverted my attention away from it! Don't get me wrong -- I'm still better at it than most men will EVER be, but the ability to do it is faultier the older I get. Some days I just have to sit down and concentrate (depending on what it is I need to do) and let the rest of the " to do" list wait until my brain can wrap itself around the next task...
And that's okay. It can grate on a person to find oneself less able do things that used to come so easily, but it's all part of the process of learning to let go and resign as General Manager of the Universe. Someone else has the reins, anyway!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Grandnieces are Grand!
Gads, what a gloriously busy eight hours of work it was on this rainy, rainy Pacific Northwest day. I think I called 100 clients (possibly more) and wrote for eight of them. That might be a record for one day. The thing is, it wasn't stressful at all. It was all done so quickly, yet peacefully, and with such fun attitudes all the way around! I think I could do another eight hours today, if they were hours like the last eight!
There isn't much to report today and I wasn't quiet long enough during the day to think of a blog topic, so whatever shall I blab about? (Go with what you know, dodo.)
Yesterday I went to my sister Jackie's for dinner (that's a ritual in my family). I went over a couple hours earlier than usual, so I was able to meet niece Wendy and grandniece Jamie Lee in Jackie's back yard and help Jamie "fly" and build a railroad for her to run a train on.
Kids are fascinating and wonderful to watch and to interact with. Jamie is such a sparkler, and has a wild sense of humor for one so young. (Gads, I think she'll be three in May -- already!) She looks for ways to delight those watching her, and finds them. She isn't mean-spirited in the least; even when she's dog-tired she's just tired and kinda weepy and whimpery, not fitful. She is imbued, saturated with joy. She's a very cheerful little girl.
She's so expressive! She cracks me up with some of the sentences she comes out with. I think she has been watching some very funny cartoons or something -- or her nutty extended family. (Her nuclear family is sane; the rest of us on Phil's side are a wee bit weird; had you noticed this quality already as a result of anything I have said or written?) For whatever reason, she is a hoot and a half.
Her older sister Casey was much less expressive and more reserved outwardly at Jamie Lee's age; I always thought she might become a little timid. But she has outgrown that stage and she and her older cousin Lizzie (the acrobat, age eight) take turns singing, dancing and presenting puppet shows for us.
Lizzie is a real sparkler, too -- she isn't intimidated by being on a stage. She begged me to help "set up" on the stage at a TREK convention in Seattle a couple years ago. She wanted her 15 seconds of fame, so I made sure she received some applause as she left the stage.
That was a funny day for Lizzie. She had never seen STAR TREK (her mom thinks it's a bad influence, and the newer ones are, I think, for one as young as she still is) so when she entered the convention hotel and saw all the Klingons, Andorians and Ferengis, it was the first time I saw her speechless and looking a little shy! But she saw me walking right by all the aliens and nodding to them and smiling, so it didn't take her long to figure out this must be something like a grown-up Halloween party, and she dropped her uncustomary reticence and decided to accompany me onstage afterward!
Casey was so fluent and well-spoken at a young age it almost scared us! She was at the Dollar Store once, still at an age where she was riding in the shopping cart (so not quite two). They were there to find her Poppa (granddad) a birthday present and she had been given a dollar to find something for him. At first she picked up some item and said, "This is what I will give Poppa." Jackie agreed it was a fine choice and continued to move through the store pushing the shopping cart with Casey in it.
Suddenly Casey said, "Please stop!" and reached out to pick up a mug she thought Poppa might like better. Jackie said, "Just one gift, Casey. Let's put the mug back." Casey shook her head and said (I am not making this up!), "I have been considering and considering -- and I have made a better decision."
WOW! She got the mug for her Poppa! Jackie looked at her thinking, "Are you related to me? What planet are you from, little one?" Considering... decision... Those are twenty dollar words for one so young!
Or so we thought. Casey was Jackie's second grandchild (would have been Jackie's third but one of her grandchildren, Samantha, only lived a couple of days, sadly, and never left the hospital)... and all of them have quite amazing vocabularies. I would LOVE to take some of the credit, wordsmith that I am, but I haven't been back up here long enough to have rubbed off on the older ones in time to give them their gift of gab. Bummer!
This Christmas, since I was running on fumes financially, I decided to write each of the grandnieces their own story, with them as the main character in it. (Jamie got an alphabet book, so hers was the only one without a plot. It was about animals and it rhymed.) They loved the books. I hope this doesn't mean they'll expect books next year... I'm not a children's author... but for my sister's grandchildren, well... I'll make an exception. Next year if I write one, it will just be ONE for all four of them. The Chronicles of Blarneya or something... (Now, don't anybody go stealing my title!)
There isn't much to report today and I wasn't quiet long enough during the day to think of a blog topic, so whatever shall I blab about? (Go with what you know, dodo.)
Yesterday I went to my sister Jackie's for dinner (that's a ritual in my family). I went over a couple hours earlier than usual, so I was able to meet niece Wendy and grandniece Jamie Lee in Jackie's back yard and help Jamie "fly" and build a railroad for her to run a train on.
Kids are fascinating and wonderful to watch and to interact with. Jamie is such a sparkler, and has a wild sense of humor for one so young. (Gads, I think she'll be three in May -- already!) She looks for ways to delight those watching her, and finds them. She isn't mean-spirited in the least; even when she's dog-tired she's just tired and kinda weepy and whimpery, not fitful. She is imbued, saturated with joy. She's a very cheerful little girl.
She's so expressive! She cracks me up with some of the sentences she comes out with. I think she has been watching some very funny cartoons or something -- or her nutty extended family. (Her nuclear family is sane; the rest of us on Phil's side are a wee bit weird; had you noticed this quality already as a result of anything I have said or written?) For whatever reason, she is a hoot and a half.
Her older sister Casey was much less expressive and more reserved outwardly at Jamie Lee's age; I always thought she might become a little timid. But she has outgrown that stage and she and her older cousin Lizzie (the acrobat, age eight) take turns singing, dancing and presenting puppet shows for us.
Lizzie is a real sparkler, too -- she isn't intimidated by being on a stage. She begged me to help "set up" on the stage at a TREK convention in Seattle a couple years ago. She wanted her 15 seconds of fame, so I made sure she received some applause as she left the stage.
That was a funny day for Lizzie. She had never seen STAR TREK (her mom thinks it's a bad influence, and the newer ones are, I think, for one as young as she still is) so when she entered the convention hotel and saw all the Klingons, Andorians and Ferengis, it was the first time I saw her speechless and looking a little shy! But she saw me walking right by all the aliens and nodding to them and smiling, so it didn't take her long to figure out this must be something like a grown-up Halloween party, and she dropped her uncustomary reticence and decided to accompany me onstage afterward!
Casey was so fluent and well-spoken at a young age it almost scared us! She was at the Dollar Store once, still at an age where she was riding in the shopping cart (so not quite two). They were there to find her Poppa (granddad) a birthday present and she had been given a dollar to find something for him. At first she picked up some item and said, "This is what I will give Poppa." Jackie agreed it was a fine choice and continued to move through the store pushing the shopping cart with Casey in it.
Suddenly Casey said, "Please stop!" and reached out to pick up a mug she thought Poppa might like better. Jackie said, "Just one gift, Casey. Let's put the mug back." Casey shook her head and said (I am not making this up!), "I have been considering and considering -- and I have made a better decision."
WOW! She got the mug for her Poppa! Jackie looked at her thinking, "Are you related to me? What planet are you from, little one?" Considering... decision... Those are twenty dollar words for one so young!
Or so we thought. Casey was Jackie's second grandchild (would have been Jackie's third but one of her grandchildren, Samantha, only lived a couple of days, sadly, and never left the hospital)... and all of them have quite amazing vocabularies. I would LOVE to take some of the credit, wordsmith that I am, but I haven't been back up here long enough to have rubbed off on the older ones in time to give them their gift of gab. Bummer!
This Christmas, since I was running on fumes financially, I decided to write each of the grandnieces their own story, with them as the main character in it. (Jamie got an alphabet book, so hers was the only one without a plot. It was about animals and it rhymed.) They loved the books. I hope this doesn't mean they'll expect books next year... I'm not a children's author... but for my sister's grandchildren, well... I'll make an exception. Next year if I write one, it will just be ONE for all four of them. The Chronicles of Blarneya or something... (Now, don't anybody go stealing my title!)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sunday Afternoon Follow-Up...
There are different schools of thought on what Jesus accomplished on the cross and with the Resurrection. While every Christian denomination believes He opened the way to our salvation and to an eternal afterlife with the Father (with certain provisos, according to each denomination's "translation" of the Bible), there is one denomination (at least) that believes Jesus intended and intends his act 2,000 years ago of "overcoming the world" to mean that everyone will go to heaven. This belief is called universalism and, while I don't subscribe to it, and many denominations call it blasphemy (since there are so few references to universal salvation in Jesus' teachings), I think my agnostic friend might find it preferable to the belief that some "innocents" might burn in hell because
1) they were never introduced to Jesus
2) were connected to the "wrong" denomination (e.g. Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, the list is endless) or
3) because they were introduced to the story of Jesus and just flat-out couldn't believe it. (It is not something one believes readily, without a serious boost from the Holy Spirit. I can witness to this statement personally!)
Based on my Bible reading (for a good eight years to date), I think a heck of a lot more people will be going to heaven than "our" own personal or congregational list would indicate. The Bible says Jesus is the Way, the Door, the Shepherd, indicating an access point to somewhere else. Fair enough. But what does that mean, exactly? Theologians have been arguing over what that means for generations, so I won't solve it here. But let's take a closer look at just one of the appellations given to Jesus... as our Shepherd. (I so love the 23rd Psalm...)
A shepherd back in those days would lie across the open span to the sheep fold to keep the sheep safe and protected at night from the wolves and other predators in the area. They placed themselves there strategically, and a good shepherd (as opposed to a hired hand) would offer his life for the lives of the sheep in his care. Whoever the shepherd allowed into his sheep fold (fenced area) was screened and deemed "safe" to enter, whether it was a sheep of his own flock or another's.
So I have a hunch that there won't just be Jews and Christians in heaven. I believe He came for everybody (Why? Because he said so) who's "safe"/innocent/lost and largely undefiled because of their lack of knowledge about the sins they have committed against the perfect world God created and against God Himself. (This doesn't excuse those willfully opposed to God, I don't think -- people who "know all about God" and consider him bogus, depraved, diabolical or impotent.)
Because we are all human, and thereby fallible (containing the seed of Adam and Eve in our human DNA), we are born with the penalty Adam and Eve received -- to be separated from God for eternity because His criteria for fellowship with Him is undefiled purity. But then Jesus dropped by to correct the mistake Adam and Eve (and we) made, and started us off again with a new slate for facing God in the final judgment.
I truly don't know what His criteria are for access (and no one else can tell you exactly what they are either without finding someone willing to argue the point to ridiculous and un-Christ-like extremes), but I have a hunch that anyone who knows about him, even in a small way, and admires Him (even if they think he was noble but delusional when he went through "all that" to save us and return us to God) will probably get a pretty fair hearing when He comes again. And I think infants and innocents and those who never heard of Him will likely receive an inheritance, too.
Possibly I am in the minority here. But unlike my dear (and getting dearer by the day) agnostic friend, I do believe there is a hell and at the end of the age the truly evil/fallen aspects of creation will go there, either to be burned up or to be caged up, so that God's creation can return to its former, undefiled state.
So, to more specifically answer my friend's assertion (or aside?) about innocent Iraqi children not being loved by Him, I absolutely do not believe that. I believe he loves Iraqi children as much as he loves every other child and human soul on this planet. He really doesn't play favorites. He did not send the bomb or start the war that killed the child or injured the soldier. Humans did that. Humans are the repositories of spirits, whether divine or demonic... or ignorant or delusional... ). Could God stop it? Of course! But not without human agency, because we have free will and He, too, has a sort of Prime Directive when it comes to violating our free will...
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the interest of self-disclosure, the reason I feel so familiar with my agnostic friend's perspective is that before I came to Christ I shared so much of it. I ,too, am a liberal (in the Robert F. Kennedy tradition, not in the Ted Kennedy tradition, but becoming less so as the years pass, except for areas where their kind hearts and concern for those less fortunate are concerned) and I, too, believe that Jesus was an extreme "Liberal" -- in fact, a revolutionary -- back in the day when he walked the hills and valleys of Israel. Those were "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" times (not terribly unlike today in that regard), and he was out and about saying, "Pay Caesar what is due Caesar... love your neighbor... pray for those who spitefully use you... " He sounds like the original flower child in many ways! He was saying, "Peace...Love...Hope...Faith...Joy" two millennia before the hippies caught on and dropped out to experience them (with mind-altering drugs) in a world that seemed bent on War...Hate...Hopelessness...Fear...Despair, polar opposites of the gospel message.
ON THE CROSS he was praying for the people who had stripped, spit on and mutilated Him:
"Father, forgive them... They don't know what they're doing..."
That's my God!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
One thing you find out when you start a Bible study is that the Bible will say something to you that no one else "gets." It's a Living Word, and each person "gets" it a little differently, because God is working in YOU... not in Joe Blow or Rachel Righteous when you're reading it.
One of my Pastors, Wes Braaten (awesome man of God) is of the Pentecostal persuasion by birth and by nurture. One day in class he told us something that intrigues and challenges me to this day, and every time I open my Bible I think of it.
He drew four boxes on a board and inside one wrote Protestant; in another Pentecostal; in the third, Roman Catholic and in the fourth: JESUS. He then said, "I have friends in all four boxes and much of what the folks tell me in the first three boxes rings true with me, and some rings very false with me. Our goal should be to get into the box with Jesus and read His Word and find out what it means between Him and me... and do you know what happens? When I'm in that box with Jesus, NOTHING he tells me ever rings false."
So gather what "rings true" to you from the various "religion" boxes... but then get into the box with Jesus and discuss it with Him. You will know, in your spirit, what He communicates to you, and that will be the Truth as you will know it, because He has shown you what it should mean to you.
If you find Catholic (or Protestant, or Pentecostal, or whatever) teachings a haunting on your soul, jump in the box with Jesus and ask him to help you to sort it out.
Catholics may be utterly shocked to find Protestants and Pentecostals in heaven, but I won't be shocked to find Catholics there. Not at all. I think we're all in for a bit of a shock when we find out who else Jesus allowed into his sheep fold...
Because He doesn't want anyone Left Behind, or he would have wrapped this whole thing up a very long time ago.
1) they were never introduced to Jesus
2) were connected to the "wrong" denomination (e.g. Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, the list is endless) or
3) because they were introduced to the story of Jesus and just flat-out couldn't believe it. (It is not something one believes readily, without a serious boost from the Holy Spirit. I can witness to this statement personally!)
Based on my Bible reading (for a good eight years to date), I think a heck of a lot more people will be going to heaven than "our" own personal or congregational list would indicate. The Bible says Jesus is the Way, the Door, the Shepherd, indicating an access point to somewhere else. Fair enough. But what does that mean, exactly? Theologians have been arguing over what that means for generations, so I won't solve it here. But let's take a closer look at just one of the appellations given to Jesus... as our Shepherd. (I so love the 23rd Psalm...)
A shepherd back in those days would lie across the open span to the sheep fold to keep the sheep safe and protected at night from the wolves and other predators in the area. They placed themselves there strategically, and a good shepherd (as opposed to a hired hand) would offer his life for the lives of the sheep in his care. Whoever the shepherd allowed into his sheep fold (fenced area) was screened and deemed "safe" to enter, whether it was a sheep of his own flock or another's.
So I have a hunch that there won't just be Jews and Christians in heaven. I believe He came for everybody (Why? Because he said so) who's "safe"/innocent/lost and largely undefiled because of their lack of knowledge about the sins they have committed against the perfect world God created and against God Himself. (This doesn't excuse those willfully opposed to God, I don't think -- people who "know all about God" and consider him bogus, depraved, diabolical or impotent.)
Because we are all human, and thereby fallible (containing the seed of Adam and Eve in our human DNA), we are born with the penalty Adam and Eve received -- to be separated from God for eternity because His criteria for fellowship with Him is undefiled purity. But then Jesus dropped by to correct the mistake Adam and Eve (and we) made, and started us off again with a new slate for facing God in the final judgment.
I truly don't know what His criteria are for access (and no one else can tell you exactly what they are either without finding someone willing to argue the point to ridiculous and un-Christ-like extremes), but I have a hunch that anyone who knows about him, even in a small way, and admires Him (even if they think he was noble but delusional when he went through "all that" to save us and return us to God) will probably get a pretty fair hearing when He comes again. And I think infants and innocents and those who never heard of Him will likely receive an inheritance, too.
Possibly I am in the minority here. But unlike my dear (and getting dearer by the day) agnostic friend, I do believe there is a hell and at the end of the age the truly evil/fallen aspects of creation will go there, either to be burned up or to be caged up, so that God's creation can return to its former, undefiled state.
So, to more specifically answer my friend's assertion (or aside?) about innocent Iraqi children not being loved by Him, I absolutely do not believe that. I believe he loves Iraqi children as much as he loves every other child and human soul on this planet. He really doesn't play favorites. He did not send the bomb or start the war that killed the child or injured the soldier. Humans did that. Humans are the repositories of spirits, whether divine or demonic... or ignorant or delusional... ). Could God stop it? Of course! But not without human agency, because we have free will and He, too, has a sort of Prime Directive when it comes to violating our free will...
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the interest of self-disclosure, the reason I feel so familiar with my agnostic friend's perspective is that before I came to Christ I shared so much of it. I ,too, am a liberal (in the Robert F. Kennedy tradition, not in the Ted Kennedy tradition, but becoming less so as the years pass, except for areas where their kind hearts and concern for those less fortunate are concerned) and I, too, believe that Jesus was an extreme "Liberal" -- in fact, a revolutionary -- back in the day when he walked the hills and valleys of Israel. Those were "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" times (not terribly unlike today in that regard), and he was out and about saying, "Pay Caesar what is due Caesar... love your neighbor... pray for those who spitefully use you... " He sounds like the original flower child in many ways! He was saying, "Peace...Love...Hope...Faith...Joy" two millennia before the hippies caught on and dropped out to experience them (with mind-altering drugs) in a world that seemed bent on War...Hate...Hopelessness...Fear...Despair, polar opposites of the gospel message.
ON THE CROSS he was praying for the people who had stripped, spit on and mutilated Him:
"Father, forgive them... They don't know what they're doing..."
That's my God!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
One thing you find out when you start a Bible study is that the Bible will say something to you that no one else "gets." It's a Living Word, and each person "gets" it a little differently, because God is working in YOU... not in Joe Blow or Rachel Righteous when you're reading it.
One of my Pastors, Wes Braaten (awesome man of God) is of the Pentecostal persuasion by birth and by nurture. One day in class he told us something that intrigues and challenges me to this day, and every time I open my Bible I think of it.
He drew four boxes on a board and inside one wrote Protestant; in another Pentecostal; in the third, Roman Catholic and in the fourth: JESUS. He then said, "I have friends in all four boxes and much of what the folks tell me in the first three boxes rings true with me, and some rings very false with me. Our goal should be to get into the box with Jesus and read His Word and find out what it means between Him and me... and do you know what happens? When I'm in that box with Jesus, NOTHING he tells me ever rings false."
So gather what "rings true" to you from the various "religion" boxes... but then get into the box with Jesus and discuss it with Him. You will know, in your spirit, what He communicates to you, and that will be the Truth as you will know it, because He has shown you what it should mean to you.
If you find Catholic (or Protestant, or Pentecostal, or whatever) teachings a haunting on your soul, jump in the box with Jesus and ask him to help you to sort it out.
Catholics may be utterly shocked to find Protestants and Pentecostals in heaven, but I won't be shocked to find Catholics there. Not at all. I think we're all in for a bit of a shock when we find out who else Jesus allowed into his sheep fold...
Because He doesn't want anyone Left Behind, or he would have wrapped this whole thing up a very long time ago.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
THE ULTIMATE GIFT -- Yet Another Must See Motion Picture...
You won't want to miss THE ULTIMATE GIFT, now in theaters. It's by Michael Sajbel whose name many of you will recognize (if not, do a search on his name at IMDB). He was also involved in creating ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING, the story of Esther.
I'm pretty sure this newest movie is fiction, but it's a tear-jerker and good values are uncovered and spotlighted as the movie progresses. Stay for the credits - the small "reminder" scenes during them are very nice...
I'm pretty sure this newest movie is fiction, but it's a tear-jerker and good values are uncovered and spotlighted as the movie progresses. Stay for the credits - the small "reminder" scenes during them are very nice...
Pastor Alan Meenan's Teachings Available Now!
Cleve Kingston tells me that Church For The Nations (Pastor Alan Meenan's new church -- I received the lion's share of my Biblical training from him) website now has streaming audio and video of Pastor Meenan's sermons. This is a huge boon to those of you who can't enjoy him live in Studio City! Check it out! The man has credentials taller than he is! Go there now and enjoy! www.churchforthenations.org and follow the links to the audio and video options!
You will be blessed!
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You will be blessed!
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Getting Our Arms Around the Octopus... God and the Bible, a Brief (?) Overview...
Okay, gang, I have given you 12 hours to respond to our good friend the seeker/agnostic... can't stand the suspense....so I will start and the rest of you can fill in gaps where you see I have forgotten to mention something significant or if you can think of a way that might be more easy to grasp than the way I will put things together here...
My agnostic friend is proceeding from a number of perspectives that will almost certainly make any attempt to persuade him be doomed to failure. So I am going to suggest a few books along the way, since I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel to "prove" points.
First off, if you (any of you) haven't read LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS, I strongly suggest that you do so. It is not a long or a difficult book, and it is very engaging... and it will convince even the most hardened skeptic to invest some respect when contemplating whether or not the Bible is the inspired word of God. I promise you a journey that will open your eyes, even if you believe your eyes are fully opened. Chuck Missler (the author) connects all the dots in the Bible so that you can see and understand how this book had to -- I repeat -- had to have been inspired by the Creator of the universe. (I don't mean "inspire" the way one says, "You inspire me to write a love poem." I mean "inspire" in its original meaning: "breathed into your spirit by God.")
Because unless you first can accept the Bible as something extraterrestrial in nature (God is extra-terrestrial, you know), something so far beyond our own understanding, experience, and training, you are always going to think, as our skeptical friend does, that it is just a loose collection of stories handed down from many different cultures, or the game plan of one religion (until Christ, one of the Jews among them, appeared and upset the apple cart)...
Here are some basics (but please, please, please go get the above-named book and read it. I promise you a delightful time. It is far from dry!)
The Bible (Old Testament) was written over a span of 1,600 years, "received from God" by forty different authors, most of whom did not know each other... and yet it hangs together as one long narrative, and is accurate historically.
The Old Testament, much to Jewish believers chagrin, points the way to the New Testament, the coming of a great Messiah who will at last wrest the world from domination by overlords, evil empires, and all things false and fallen. The Jews missed the Messiah when he came because their paradigm was that the Messiah would be a great earthbound warrior who would reign right here on earth. And they were right, but it hasn't happened yet. That is still to come when Christ returns again.
That's as far as I can go with this for now. LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS is a must-read if you want the above to be "sunk home" so that we can proceed with a respectful reverence for the Bible. Lacking that, we are spinning our wheels. People get very bent out of shape when the fanciful STAR TREK universe doesn't follow logically. I get equally bent out of shape when I feel we are comparing apples and oranges -- skeptics and believers. First we have to be on the same page as far as the reliability of the Book we are both discussing. Fair enough?
Next on my list: The Theology of the Call versus the Theology of the Serpent, in a nutshell.
My skeptical friend wonders why the world is in such a mess if God really is Who he or we say He is. I will outline the situation...
When God created Adam and Eve, he created them pure, innocent and undefiled, just as he creates everything He makes (since he is pure, innocent and undefiled himself, He could only make creation to reflect these attributes."The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," as the saying goes when talking about progeny.)
But it doesn't take long before a fallen angel (one of God's created beings, also created pure and undefiled, and given free will by God to serve or not to serve) Satan decides he can rule God's creation a whole lot better than God. Satan has an ego (sound familiar? Self-awareness, giftings for leadership, etc.) and while God is sovereign, Satan is sullen. He wants a piece of the action. He wants to rule and be cherished and revered in the same way God is by all His creation.
Before too long, Satan's discontent has infected a third of the angels and God casts him and his disciples out of heaven (God cannot live with defiled spirits -- He is Holy, pure and good.)
Ya see, God gave angels free will too.
Perhaps if God had just made us all robotic androids none of this would have happened.
Ah, yes... that's true... but then God would have been living in a holographic world, where what he saw as mutual love and adoration was merely a reflection of his wishes... He would have had a universe filled with a Deception. God does not deceive. Ergo, he doesn't want a Deception; he wants a true Devotion.
So he allowed us the one thing perhaps we shouldn't have, humans and angels: Free will.
Satan came on down here, figured it was ripe for harvest his way, and slithered over to the first two creatures made in God's likeness, and suggested -- did not insist, as he has no power there (God gave us free will, remember?) -- but suggested that perhaps God was leading them astray when He told them not to eat the apple. It was beautiful, it was there to be picked, and... it would give them wisdom and knowledge equal to God's! This was a full meal deal! What was there not to like about becoming like God?
Cut this couple some slack. They loved God! Check it out in Genesis.They walked with him daily in the garden, held conversations with Him, and knew personally and intimately how wise and wonderful He was! What was the harm in "meeting Him on a level playing field"?
Ahh, but you see, Satan had tried that in heaven... and it had resulted in placement "below."
God is our creator; we are his created. He will always be above us until we meet him in heaven and have been transformed "in the twinkling of an eye" to his exact likeness (pure, holy, undefiled).
This, in a nutshell, is The Theology of the Serpent, first seen in Genesis 3, and it goes like this:
Satan suggests an untruth ("surely you will not die and you will be equal to God if you eat this apple"); his seduction in this way leads Eve to distrust what God told her; her distrust leads to disobedience; and disobedience leads to God's curse ("I love you as I always have, but you can't live with me anymore. I can only live with pure, undefiled beings). The Trinity's (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) sole goal is to create human beings in God's image so we can be with Him and inherit the things Jesus died to leave to us in His "will." But we have to be heirs to inherit what He left, as in any will.
There is a divine opposite to this Theology of the Serpent. It is the Theology of the Call, first seen in Genesis 12. It goes like this: If you will accept God's word as the Truth (that, even more reliably than a Vulcan, He is incapable of lying), you begin to trust him because he always tells you the truth, every single time; your trust leads to obedience because you know he has your best interests and wellbeing at the heart of everything he does for you; and because you trust and obey his careful, insightful instructions, every time out, you receive his blessing as a family member, someone who's hanging on Him as much as He is hanging on you!
You have to get to this place in your awareness -- of God's great devotion to you -- before you will be able to understand anything at all about "the rest of the story" and why the world has fallen to the degree it has, that children are dying in wars they didn't start, that people are hurting in Darfur, that there are leaders who appear as lambs but are wolves, etc.
The world, as it is, is not God's fault. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"
I would love to divest my skeptical friend of the picture in his head (yours, too, if you feel similarly) of God looking down on you to try and catch you doing something wrong. Instead, can you imagine yourself, as a father, looking in on your young, sleepy but not quite asleep children in their bedrooms -- just making sure they aren't setting the mattress on fire or tying the cats' tails together?
The only reason He is looking in on you is because he loves you and wants to keep you safe from harm...
My agnostic friend is proceeding from a number of perspectives that will almost certainly make any attempt to persuade him be doomed to failure. So I am going to suggest a few books along the way, since I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel to "prove" points.
First off, if you (any of you) haven't read LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS, I strongly suggest that you do so. It is not a long or a difficult book, and it is very engaging... and it will convince even the most hardened skeptic to invest some respect when contemplating whether or not the Bible is the inspired word of God. I promise you a journey that will open your eyes, even if you believe your eyes are fully opened. Chuck Missler (the author) connects all the dots in the Bible so that you can see and understand how this book had to -- I repeat -- had to have been inspired by the Creator of the universe. (I don't mean "inspire" the way one says, "You inspire me to write a love poem." I mean "inspire" in its original meaning: "breathed into your spirit by God.")
Because unless you first can accept the Bible as something extraterrestrial in nature (God is extra-terrestrial, you know), something so far beyond our own understanding, experience, and training, you are always going to think, as our skeptical friend does, that it is just a loose collection of stories handed down from many different cultures, or the game plan of one religion (until Christ, one of the Jews among them, appeared and upset the apple cart)...
Here are some basics (but please, please, please go get the above-named book and read it. I promise you a delightful time. It is far from dry!)
The Bible (Old Testament) was written over a span of 1,600 years, "received from God" by forty different authors, most of whom did not know each other... and yet it hangs together as one long narrative, and is accurate historically.
The Old Testament, much to Jewish believers chagrin, points the way to the New Testament, the coming of a great Messiah who will at last wrest the world from domination by overlords, evil empires, and all things false and fallen. The Jews missed the Messiah when he came because their paradigm was that the Messiah would be a great earthbound warrior who would reign right here on earth. And they were right, but it hasn't happened yet. That is still to come when Christ returns again.
That's as far as I can go with this for now. LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS is a must-read if you want the above to be "sunk home" so that we can proceed with a respectful reverence for the Bible. Lacking that, we are spinning our wheels. People get very bent out of shape when the fanciful STAR TREK universe doesn't follow logically. I get equally bent out of shape when I feel we are comparing apples and oranges -- skeptics and believers. First we have to be on the same page as far as the reliability of the Book we are both discussing. Fair enough?
Next on my list: The Theology of the Call versus the Theology of the Serpent, in a nutshell.
My skeptical friend wonders why the world is in such a mess if God really is Who he or we say He is. I will outline the situation...
When God created Adam and Eve, he created them pure, innocent and undefiled, just as he creates everything He makes (since he is pure, innocent and undefiled himself, He could only make creation to reflect these attributes."The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," as the saying goes when talking about progeny.)
But it doesn't take long before a fallen angel (one of God's created beings, also created pure and undefiled, and given free will by God to serve or not to serve) Satan decides he can rule God's creation a whole lot better than God. Satan has an ego (sound familiar? Self-awareness, giftings for leadership, etc.) and while God is sovereign, Satan is sullen. He wants a piece of the action. He wants to rule and be cherished and revered in the same way God is by all His creation.
Before too long, Satan's discontent has infected a third of the angels and God casts him and his disciples out of heaven (God cannot live with defiled spirits -- He is Holy, pure and good.)
Ya see, God gave angels free will too.
Perhaps if God had just made us all robotic androids none of this would have happened.
Ah, yes... that's true... but then God would have been living in a holographic world, where what he saw as mutual love and adoration was merely a reflection of his wishes... He would have had a universe filled with a Deception. God does not deceive. Ergo, he doesn't want a Deception; he wants a true Devotion.
So he allowed us the one thing perhaps we shouldn't have, humans and angels: Free will.
Satan came on down here, figured it was ripe for harvest his way, and slithered over to the first two creatures made in God's likeness, and suggested -- did not insist, as he has no power there (God gave us free will, remember?) -- but suggested that perhaps God was leading them astray when He told them not to eat the apple. It was beautiful, it was there to be picked, and... it would give them wisdom and knowledge equal to God's! This was a full meal deal! What was there not to like about becoming like God?
Cut this couple some slack. They loved God! Check it out in Genesis.They walked with him daily in the garden, held conversations with Him, and knew personally and intimately how wise and wonderful He was! What was the harm in "meeting Him on a level playing field"?
Ahh, but you see, Satan had tried that in heaven... and it had resulted in placement "below."
God is our creator; we are his created. He will always be above us until we meet him in heaven and have been transformed "in the twinkling of an eye" to his exact likeness (pure, holy, undefiled).
This, in a nutshell, is The Theology of the Serpent, first seen in Genesis 3, and it goes like this:
Satan suggests an untruth ("surely you will not die and you will be equal to God if you eat this apple"); his seduction in this way leads Eve to distrust what God told her; her distrust leads to disobedience; and disobedience leads to God's curse ("I love you as I always have, but you can't live with me anymore. I can only live with pure, undefiled beings). The Trinity's (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) sole goal is to create human beings in God's image so we can be with Him and inherit the things Jesus died to leave to us in His "will." But we have to be heirs to inherit what He left, as in any will.
There is a divine opposite to this Theology of the Serpent. It is the Theology of the Call, first seen in Genesis 12. It goes like this: If you will accept God's word as the Truth (that, even more reliably than a Vulcan, He is incapable of lying), you begin to trust him because he always tells you the truth, every single time; your trust leads to obedience because you know he has your best interests and wellbeing at the heart of everything he does for you; and because you trust and obey his careful, insightful instructions, every time out, you receive his blessing as a family member, someone who's hanging on Him as much as He is hanging on you!
You have to get to this place in your awareness -- of God's great devotion to you -- before you will be able to understand anything at all about "the rest of the story" and why the world has fallen to the degree it has, that children are dying in wars they didn't start, that people are hurting in Darfur, that there are leaders who appear as lambs but are wolves, etc.
The world, as it is, is not God's fault. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"
I would love to divest my skeptical friend of the picture in his head (yours, too, if you feel similarly) of God looking down on you to try and catch you doing something wrong. Instead, can you imagine yourself, as a father, looking in on your young, sleepy but not quite asleep children in their bedrooms -- just making sure they aren't setting the mattress on fire or tying the cats' tails together?
The only reason He is looking in on you is because he loves you and wants to keep you safe from harm...
Friday, March 16, 2007
Billie Rae Walker Weighs In...
Those of you who have read the exemplary and extensive interview with me at STARTREK.COM already know something of Billie Rae Walker. She was my interviewer and she is solely responsible for making the interview exemplary. (I had answers but until Billie posed the questions that dredged them from their hiding places, they were stuck. Her insightful queries liberated them.) Yet another interview between her and me will appear in the April or June issue of STAR TREK MAGAZINE. These are totally new questions and totally new responses, so don't worry about redundancy.
When we met (via phone and Internet) to have the first interview ....(http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/30875.html ...
we also connected on a faith level and found out that we also share many other interests as well, so we have continued a penpal relationship (although we hope to meet at the Vegas convention in August).
You already know she's a phenomenal interviewer -- now you will have a chance to learn a little about her faith walk in the following paragraphs. With her permission, I am publishing the email she sent to me this morning:
Hi Kris...... What a GREAT Blog !!! I've tried to respond a couple of times, but my new computer is not interfacing correctly........so I'll join the discussion this way [hope that's ok].
THE GOD THING: I was a "good" agnostic [or I tried to be, not always successfully] throughout high school and college.....It was "in" during the sixties, of course. I never considered being an atheist tho'....this beautiful world SHOUTS the existence of God! And as an Anthropology major I saw that all cultures have some means of worshiping God, whatever name they use for Him.
C.S. Lewis' "Surprised By Joy" first caught my attention in college'; his "Mere Christianity"showed me -- 1] the Bible is true, and 2] Jesus is who He said He was....... so the only remaining question was what was I going to do about it?
It was also my good fortune to meet a Pastor who didn't take offense at my many, many questions. My return to the fold was a quiet one, as reflects my disposition....
As you said, God meets each of us where we are. The Pastor said it was unusual, as I was just trying to find out what was True, not searching for any answer to a life problem......which he likened to St. Augustine's search for the truth. That was a nice compliment, but when I tried reading St. Augustine's writings they were over my head.
C.S. Lewis, however, I understood.....an Oxford scholar who could speak so clearly that his country asked him to speak to the people of England on the radio while they stood alone against a very great Evil [the result: "Mere Christianity"].
Much later on I discovered Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest". Culturally, and theologically, I love small country churches that teach the Bible......God [our Creator, Higher Power, whatever] meant that book for my culture......and I decided it was time to go back to the "faith of my fathers".
I remember hearing a Native American asking why Americans [the rest of us] kept trying to practice his spiritual heritage when they had their own. That question stayed with me, as I'd done a lot of reading about different religions......and I know that, however hard we try to immerse ourselves in a different cultural tradition, there will always be subtle things that we either miss or get wrong.
My "Indian"American brother had a valid point. So I grew up loving Christ and the Bible, and I'll leave this world the same way. The rest of my questions can wait until I meet the Author.
THE PRESIDENT: As you said, the President is our Christian brother also. Thus, I'll continue to pray for him and for the Lord to guide him. As for any opinions I have about the war, I tell my friends that I haven't yet received my classified briefing papers [they must be lost in the mail between here and the White House] so I don't have enough information to have a definite opinion. As ours is a representative democracy [unlike the "pure" democracy of the New England Town Meetings] I will have to trust such things to the President and Congress [most of whom voted for the war originally, based on the information available at the time]. And I pray that they also pray for guidance, according to their own religious beliefs.
My GED students [finishing their high school degrees] and I just continue to support and send things to the troops, most of whom are the same age as my students. Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard are standing between us and a cultural heritage that believes the USA and western culture to be totally Evil [which doesn't leave a lot of room for negotiation].
I hope that you're right in that mass communication will help eliminate cultural barriers and misunderstandings, but I do not expect to live to see it [there will always be "wars and rumors of wars"-- the Bible]. So I'll let the troops know that we all, no matter what our opinions, support them and pray for their safe return........and I serve as a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer.
STAR TREK XI: What great news...... I thought that no one could ever play Dr. McCoy [or your friend De] but the gentleman from "CSI New York" would be great. And they can't have STAR TREK without our favorite "old country doctor". He needs to keep reminding Kirk & Spock what really matters at the heart of human evolution. And he's necessary to provide the balance: Action, Reason; Emotion..........the Enterprise would have warped into history long ago without him. The three books about Academy Days have all three, Kirk, Spock, McCoy--- each featured in his own book in the trilogy. McCoy is a decade older than the other two, but he still meets up with them when they are in Starfleet Academy [in these books]. And the 40th Anniversary trilogy:"Crucible" -by David R. George III--has one volume for each of them: "McCoy: Provenance of Shadows"; "Spock: The Fire and the Rose"; and "Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering". Thus, it stands to reason that the three of them must be together in "STAR TREK XI", right?
I've enjoyed your daily comments....... and it's so GREAT you love your work. It really is a blessing to love what you do. I've had the good fortune to have loved my job most of the time......which made the other times tolerable. Take good care...... Talk to you soon.....God Bless..... Luv, Billie
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And now... the adventure continues.... between the agnostic and me... Incidentally, the agnostic is considering "coming out of the closet" and letting everyone know who he is, but until he does, I will just leave his emails as they are and keep his name as a secret. However, today's email certainly gives a lot of hints as to who he is in the Trek world... but my lips are sealed until he spills the beans. So, without further ado.... Here is his take on what I said to him in my last email:
I wrote: All your questions below were answered by Meenan. No kidding!And you can take a listen to my present Pastor (Wolfson) if you like as well at http://www.churchforallnations.org/<http://www.churchforallnations.org/> . I have a feeling he may be more up your alley. His past three sermons have all been, "Church is less a place we go than who we are. Therefore, let's be the church." I think you have been saying that to me and other Christians all along --certainly with your very first email explanation to me (which I published in the blog) about where you are coming from -- in one way or another...
His response: One of my first lessons in religion was that there is an answer for everything. Logically, this made no sense to me as a child, because whenever there wasn't an answer, "faith" would be trotted out. As part of my job over the years working on various Star Trek publications, including the Fact Files in the UK, we often ran up against great leaps of logic or inconsistencies. Being Star Trek, a fantasy, we were able to scramble and find reasonably sound ways of fitting the action onscreen to the obvious gap in the continuity. Again,this reminded me of religion, where you can explain virtually everything by using biblical accounts, metaphor, or, lastly, the trump card: faith.
I wrote: And here's a thought to ponder -- if ALL religions believe essentially the same thing, does that not mean that there is a Truth(Intelligent Design) behind them (since all were developed independently of each others while the world was still separated by geography and without mass communications) and that we humans have been playing"telephone" with the Truth for all these years? And does that not explain why Jesus came here, to untangle the Truth from the stories that spring up around the God of the Universe? (And consider this: Perhaps earlier stories were given by God as prophetic stories to be fully realized when Jesus came and said, "I'm what all your many stories have been pointing to all these years.")
His response: Perhaps. But what this tells me from a scientific point of view is that we evolved along the same lines, and that we do have very powerful brains that can create, study, account, philosophize, etc. What we don't entirely know is just how much greater we are to, say, the ape, than ourselves. Would another species, given thousands of years, make a similar jump from simple animal to complex human-like thoughts. Our ability to reason is admirable, but many animals do as well. Just not with the degree of complexity we do.
I believe, and I think science will bear this out, we have tremendous brain power, yet we do not use it all. There are times, however, when our brains, the dormant parts, kick in a bit. These are times of great clarity, enlightenment, etc. that we all at some point get. I think it's merely a natural part of our anatomy. But I also think these periods of greater clarity are often times mistaken for some sort of religious"awakening."
I wrote: Just something to ponder. We are all buzzing and buzzing around the essence of the Truth, but none of us -- not even Christians - know the full truth or the import of it. We cannot share God's thoughts.His ways are above our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts... but oh, how he loves us and tries to give us what He can (through our filters, barriers and borders) that is good and kind and gracious and redemptive.
He responded: I'm glad you are so humble about this Kris. As am I, he said humbly. I am constantly amazed by the vast amounts of Christians who "know" the truth. We had a Mormon babysitter once who was very, very sweet. I remember she gave us the book of Mormon and said, in all seriousness, that this was "The Truth"!! I chuckled inwardly, but didn't have the heart to tell her what the most likely truth was-- that it was an entirely fabricated religion, based on tablets that no one had ever seen and supported a theory that Native Americans were an evil lost tribe of Israel.
But I also have to add one thing, and I think my politics will become clearer here (OK, call me a Liberal -- ironically, I think Jesus is a total radical liberal!): God loves SOME of us. I can't square his love with the idea that an innocent Iraqi child blown up by an insurgent or stray US missile, is loved. I can't understand why a soldier who has both legs blown off would be happy with God teaching him some kind of"lesson" and that this is merely part of His "plan."
And when we have the quintessence of ignorance masquerading as piety in the White House, I have to wonder about His love. Let's look at the situation in Iraq, for instance. In December last year, 6,000 Iraqis were killed. That's double what we lost on 9/11. And that is just one month.
Were these people all "evil" and deserving of this? I hardly think so. If they are all God's children, is this any way to treat a child? There are millions more dying of AIDS in Africa, starvation, genocide in Darfur...I only ask because I am curious: "Why, God?"
I wrote: I do not do "ritualistic" religion. I know the Catholics and the Lutherans and others do and if it works for them, great -- they're all going to heaven, too. But it won't be that way in heaven. If I don't meet God every day personally in a casual, friendly, loving,non-ritualistic conversation (at church or elsewhere) -- while driving my car, eating a sandwich, taking a walk -- I feel really out of touch and cheated (but by myself, not God! I know He's always right here!)
He wrote: Funny you should say that. When I was at Catholic school, but paying Protestant fees because I wasn't Catholic, I was told explicitly that I was going to hell. I thought it ironic, once again, that an all-loving God would condemn me to hell because I didn't subscribe to one way of thinking.
And that brought me to the subject of hell itself. If God so loved humankind, and created us with all these faults and foibles, don't you think He would cut us some slack and maybe let some people off for good behavior, rather than perish for all eternity in hell?
No, hell to me was always an obvious creation by man to balance out the idea of heaven. There had to be a yin/yang principle here, otherwise there was no real punishment for being "bad."
And God, again if he truly loved what he had created, would not, COULD not, go against his own nature and create something so diabolical that its very existence calls into question his benevolence.
I wrote: Do you realize God is using you right now to refine me and using me to refine you? What you ask gives me the sweetest dreams!Seriously! I was out evangelizing the world last night while asleep--and I NEVER do that while awake (except maybe in my blog -- it seems to be going that way a lot lately, but that's just 'cause YOU started it!)
He wrote: Yes, I realize that delving into one's belief system wakes up the mind. And I appreciate your comments here. I am glad to be taking part in something so stimulating.
I wrote: I would love for you to know what I know and to see and feel what I feel, but as I say, you gotta go get your own. My relationship niche with God is already occupied! You can get one just as great, but it takes some work... as much time as you have spent dancing all around the idea of God.
He wrote: There is a converse here too. I would love people to be free of having to think one way. I think it is very liberating, to live one's life and not feel like there is a man in the sky spying on me all the time. Besides, with the recent decimation of our civil liberties, I now know that my own government might be spying on me! That's enough for me.
I wrote: He wants you or you wouldn't be so compelled to keep looking, ya know?!
He wrote: Maybe He does! But He is going to have to work for it. After all, He created me to question, right? ;-)
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There you have it -- the agnostic who still ends believing that God created him to ask questions! This man wants to believe -- he's just having a hard time of it.
I have answers to every issue he brought up, and am eager to dive right on in and tell him what I believe is going on that redeems God's "character" despite the atrocities being committed on a global scale... but by now there are a lot of others looking in on this blog, with love and concern and questions and answers, and I am going to sit on mine for a while and see what you all have to say -- or share -- in response to this man's questions and concerns -- and his very, very good heart, which is hurting for a world in very deep trouble.
Don't yell, "No fair!" If no one else responds, I most certainly will! (But don't let that be a rationale for remaining mum. I expect you to get involved -- here and now!)
If my God is on trial here, and won't speak up to defend Himself... I will!
God has nothing to defend himself against -- he has done no wrong, He is Good All The Time -- unless you subscribe to the belief (and I don't know anyone who does) that He designed us "fatally flawed" by granting us free will to be His image-bearers and heirs... or not.
But if we choose "not," the consequence has been laid out from the foundation of the earth: eternal separation from Him, which some theologians call hell and which Jesus dreaded more than the beating and crucifixion he would suffer -- which is why he wrestled so and sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking if there were "any other way" to save us -- knowing he would be taking our sin upon Himself and paying our penalty himself: to be separated entirely from ("forsaken by") His Father for three days while he visited hell and defeated death and Satan... to pave a way back into God's presence.
And all it takes is a "Thank you, Jesus!" and belief that He is who he said He is and did what the Bible claims He did.
And some people call that exclusionary. I don't know in what way! All are welcome to acknowledge what He did for them....
The ball -- as always -- is in our court....
When we met (via phone and Internet) to have the first interview ....(http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/30875.html ...
we also connected on a faith level and found out that we also share many other interests as well, so we have continued a penpal relationship (although we hope to meet at the Vegas convention in August).
You already know she's a phenomenal interviewer -- now you will have a chance to learn a little about her faith walk in the following paragraphs. With her permission, I am publishing the email she sent to me this morning:
Hi Kris...... What a GREAT Blog !!! I've tried to respond a couple of times, but my new computer is not interfacing correctly........so I'll join the discussion this way [hope that's ok].
THE GOD THING: I was a "good" agnostic [or I tried to be, not always successfully] throughout high school and college.....It was "in" during the sixties, of course. I never considered being an atheist tho'....this beautiful world SHOUTS the existence of God! And as an Anthropology major I saw that all cultures have some means of worshiping God, whatever name they use for Him.
C.S. Lewis' "Surprised By Joy" first caught my attention in college'; his "Mere Christianity"showed me -- 1] the Bible is true, and 2] Jesus is who He said He was....... so the only remaining question was what was I going to do about it?
It was also my good fortune to meet a Pastor who didn't take offense at my many, many questions. My return to the fold was a quiet one, as reflects my disposition....
As you said, God meets each of us where we are. The Pastor said it was unusual, as I was just trying to find out what was True, not searching for any answer to a life problem......which he likened to St. Augustine's search for the truth. That was a nice compliment, but when I tried reading St. Augustine's writings they were over my head.
C.S. Lewis, however, I understood.....an Oxford scholar who could speak so clearly that his country asked him to speak to the people of England on the radio while they stood alone against a very great Evil [the result: "Mere Christianity"].
Much later on I discovered Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest". Culturally, and theologically, I love small country churches that teach the Bible......God [our Creator, Higher Power, whatever] meant that book for my culture......and I decided it was time to go back to the "faith of my fathers".
I remember hearing a Native American asking why Americans [the rest of us] kept trying to practice his spiritual heritage when they had their own. That question stayed with me, as I'd done a lot of reading about different religions......and I know that, however hard we try to immerse ourselves in a different cultural tradition, there will always be subtle things that we either miss or get wrong.
My "Indian"American brother had a valid point. So I grew up loving Christ and the Bible, and I'll leave this world the same way. The rest of my questions can wait until I meet the Author.
THE PRESIDENT: As you said, the President is our Christian brother also. Thus, I'll continue to pray for him and for the Lord to guide him. As for any opinions I have about the war, I tell my friends that I haven't yet received my classified briefing papers [they must be lost in the mail between here and the White House] so I don't have enough information to have a definite opinion. As ours is a representative democracy [unlike the "pure" democracy of the New England Town Meetings] I will have to trust such things to the President and Congress [most of whom voted for the war originally, based on the information available at the time]. And I pray that they also pray for guidance, according to their own religious beliefs.
My GED students [finishing their high school degrees] and I just continue to support and send things to the troops, most of whom are the same age as my students. Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard are standing between us and a cultural heritage that believes the USA and western culture to be totally Evil [which doesn't leave a lot of room for negotiation].
I hope that you're right in that mass communication will help eliminate cultural barriers and misunderstandings, but I do not expect to live to see it [there will always be "wars and rumors of wars"-- the Bible]. So I'll let the troops know that we all, no matter what our opinions, support them and pray for their safe return........and I serve as a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer.
STAR TREK XI: What great news...... I thought that no one could ever play Dr. McCoy [or your friend De] but the gentleman from "CSI New York" would be great. And they can't have STAR TREK without our favorite "old country doctor". He needs to keep reminding Kirk & Spock what really matters at the heart of human evolution. And he's necessary to provide the balance: Action, Reason; Emotion..........the Enterprise would have warped into history long ago without him. The three books about Academy Days have all three, Kirk, Spock, McCoy--- each featured in his own book in the trilogy. McCoy is a decade older than the other two, but he still meets up with them when they are in Starfleet Academy [in these books]. And the 40th Anniversary trilogy:"Crucible" -by David R. George III--has one volume for each of them: "McCoy: Provenance of Shadows"; "Spock: The Fire and the Rose"; and "Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering". Thus, it stands to reason that the three of them must be together in "STAR TREK XI", right?
I've enjoyed your daily comments....... and it's so GREAT you love your work. It really is a blessing to love what you do. I've had the good fortune to have loved my job most of the time......which made the other times tolerable. Take good care...... Talk to you soon.....God Bless..... Luv, Billie
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And now... the adventure continues.... between the agnostic and me... Incidentally, the agnostic is considering "coming out of the closet" and letting everyone know who he is, but until he does, I will just leave his emails as they are and keep his name as a secret. However, today's email certainly gives a lot of hints as to who he is in the Trek world... but my lips are sealed until he spills the beans. So, without further ado.... Here is his take on what I said to him in my last email:
I wrote: All your questions below were answered by Meenan. No kidding!And you can take a listen to my present Pastor (Wolfson) if you like as well at http://www.churchforallnations.org/<http://www.churchforallnations.org/> . I have a feeling he may be more up your alley. His past three sermons have all been, "Church is less a place we go than who we are. Therefore, let's be the church." I think you have been saying that to me and other Christians all along --certainly with your very first email explanation to me (which I published in the blog) about where you are coming from -- in one way or another...
His response: One of my first lessons in religion was that there is an answer for everything. Logically, this made no sense to me as a child, because whenever there wasn't an answer, "faith" would be trotted out. As part of my job over the years working on various Star Trek publications, including the Fact Files in the UK, we often ran up against great leaps of logic or inconsistencies. Being Star Trek, a fantasy, we were able to scramble and find reasonably sound ways of fitting the action onscreen to the obvious gap in the continuity. Again,this reminded me of religion, where you can explain virtually everything by using biblical accounts, metaphor, or, lastly, the trump card: faith.
I wrote: And here's a thought to ponder -- if ALL religions believe essentially the same thing, does that not mean that there is a Truth(Intelligent Design) behind them (since all were developed independently of each others while the world was still separated by geography and without mass communications) and that we humans have been playing"telephone" with the Truth for all these years? And does that not explain why Jesus came here, to untangle the Truth from the stories that spring up around the God of the Universe? (And consider this: Perhaps earlier stories were given by God as prophetic stories to be fully realized when Jesus came and said, "I'm what all your many stories have been pointing to all these years.")
His response: Perhaps. But what this tells me from a scientific point of view is that we evolved along the same lines, and that we do have very powerful brains that can create, study, account, philosophize, etc. What we don't entirely know is just how much greater we are to, say, the ape, than ourselves. Would another species, given thousands of years, make a similar jump from simple animal to complex human-like thoughts. Our ability to reason is admirable, but many animals do as well. Just not with the degree of complexity we do.
I believe, and I think science will bear this out, we have tremendous brain power, yet we do not use it all. There are times, however, when our brains, the dormant parts, kick in a bit. These are times of great clarity, enlightenment, etc. that we all at some point get. I think it's merely a natural part of our anatomy. But I also think these periods of greater clarity are often times mistaken for some sort of religious"awakening."
I wrote: Just something to ponder. We are all buzzing and buzzing around the essence of the Truth, but none of us -- not even Christians - know the full truth or the import of it. We cannot share God's thoughts.His ways are above our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts... but oh, how he loves us and tries to give us what He can (through our filters, barriers and borders) that is good and kind and gracious and redemptive.
He responded: I'm glad you are so humble about this Kris. As am I, he said humbly. I am constantly amazed by the vast amounts of Christians who "know" the truth. We had a Mormon babysitter once who was very, very sweet. I remember she gave us the book of Mormon and said, in all seriousness, that this was "The Truth"!! I chuckled inwardly, but didn't have the heart to tell her what the most likely truth was-- that it was an entirely fabricated religion, based on tablets that no one had ever seen and supported a theory that Native Americans were an evil lost tribe of Israel.
But I also have to add one thing, and I think my politics will become clearer here (OK, call me a Liberal -- ironically, I think Jesus is a total radical liberal!): God loves SOME of us. I can't square his love with the idea that an innocent Iraqi child blown up by an insurgent or stray US missile, is loved. I can't understand why a soldier who has both legs blown off would be happy with God teaching him some kind of"lesson" and that this is merely part of His "plan."
And when we have the quintessence of ignorance masquerading as piety in the White House, I have to wonder about His love. Let's look at the situation in Iraq, for instance. In December last year, 6,000 Iraqis were killed. That's double what we lost on 9/11. And that is just one month.
Were these people all "evil" and deserving of this? I hardly think so. If they are all God's children, is this any way to treat a child? There are millions more dying of AIDS in Africa, starvation, genocide in Darfur...I only ask because I am curious: "Why, God?"
I wrote: I do not do "ritualistic" religion. I know the Catholics and the Lutherans and others do and if it works for them, great -- they're all going to heaven, too. But it won't be that way in heaven. If I don't meet God every day personally in a casual, friendly, loving,non-ritualistic conversation (at church or elsewhere) -- while driving my car, eating a sandwich, taking a walk -- I feel really out of touch and cheated (but by myself, not God! I know He's always right here!)
He wrote: Funny you should say that. When I was at Catholic school, but paying Protestant fees because I wasn't Catholic, I was told explicitly that I was going to hell. I thought it ironic, once again, that an all-loving God would condemn me to hell because I didn't subscribe to one way of thinking.
And that brought me to the subject of hell itself. If God so loved humankind, and created us with all these faults and foibles, don't you think He would cut us some slack and maybe let some people off for good behavior, rather than perish for all eternity in hell?
No, hell to me was always an obvious creation by man to balance out the idea of heaven. There had to be a yin/yang principle here, otherwise there was no real punishment for being "bad."
And God, again if he truly loved what he had created, would not, COULD not, go against his own nature and create something so diabolical that its very existence calls into question his benevolence.
I wrote: Do you realize God is using you right now to refine me and using me to refine you? What you ask gives me the sweetest dreams!Seriously! I was out evangelizing the world last night while asleep--and I NEVER do that while awake (except maybe in my blog -- it seems to be going that way a lot lately, but that's just 'cause YOU started it!
He wrote: Yes, I realize that delving into one's belief system wakes up the mind. And I appreciate your comments here. I am glad to be taking part in something so stimulating.
I wrote: I would love for you to know what I know and to see and feel what I feel, but as I say, you gotta go get your own. My relationship niche with God is already occupied! You can get one just as great, but it takes some work... as much time as you have spent dancing all around the idea of God.
He wrote: There is a converse here too. I would love people to be free of having to think one way. I think it is very liberating, to live one's life and not feel like there is a man in the sky spying on me all the time. Besides, with the recent decimation of our civil liberties, I now know that my own government might be spying on me! That's enough for me.
I wrote: He wants you or you wouldn't be so compelled to keep looking, ya know?!
He wrote: Maybe He does! But He is going to have to work for it. After all, He created me to question, right? ;-)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There you have it -- the agnostic who still ends believing that God created him to ask questions! This man wants to believe -- he's just having a hard time of it.
I have answers to every issue he brought up, and am eager to dive right on in and tell him what I believe is going on that redeems God's "character" despite the atrocities being committed on a global scale... but by now there are a lot of others looking in on this blog, with love and concern and questions and answers, and I am going to sit on mine for a while and see what you all have to say -- or share -- in response to this man's questions and concerns -- and his very, very good heart, which is hurting for a world in very deep trouble.
Don't yell, "No fair!" If no one else responds, I most certainly will! (But don't let that be a rationale for remaining mum. I expect you to get involved -- here and now!)
If my God is on trial here, and won't speak up to defend Himself... I will!
God has nothing to defend himself against -- he has done no wrong, He is Good All The Time -- unless you subscribe to the belief (and I don't know anyone who does) that He designed us "fatally flawed" by granting us free will to be His image-bearers and heirs... or not.
But if we choose "not," the consequence has been laid out from the foundation of the earth: eternal separation from Him, which some theologians call hell and which Jesus dreaded more than the beating and crucifixion he would suffer -- which is why he wrestled so and sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking if there were "any other way" to save us -- knowing he would be taking our sin upon Himself and paying our penalty himself: to be separated entirely from ("forsaken by") His Father for three days while he visited hell and defeated death and Satan... to pave a way back into God's presence.
And all it takes is a "Thank you, Jesus!" and belief that He is who he said He is and did what the Bible claims He did.
And some people call that exclusionary. I don't know in what way! All are welcome to acknowledge what He did for them....
The ball -- as always -- is in our court....
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wheee! A God Conversation!
My Trek friend (you know, the agnostic who's reading The God Delusion at present) and I have been having a conversation that I would love others to get in on.
Here's what he wrote:
Interesting. Thanks Kris. I watched some of the videos and he seems pretty straightforward [He is referring here to Pastor Alan Meenan at www.thewordisout.org and www.churchforthenations.org.)
Other questions: Even if there is a creator, does it have to be the god as described in the bible? Maybe he is something even more unknowable and that all the religions are on a similar track but haven't quite reached what he/she/it is all about.
I think there is an almost meditational aspect to religion, as that is what the contemplation of the "mystery" and the message seems to be about. This is consistent in all religions.Also, I tend to read other books about the origins of religion. What I see from a historical point of view is that the bible was really a collection of stories, passed down and borrowed from older religions and stories, such as Gilgamesh. Flood stories, virgin births, etc. are not unique to the bible. And many of Christ's stories are borrowed or reworked from other sources.
One of the reasons I always felt Christianity took off was that it put the human touch, i.e. Jesus, into the mix. This is where Judaism doesn't really hold the same appeal. There is no central figure that people can relate to. Is it safe to say that sacrificing one's life is not all that unusual, when it comes for the betterment of others? I would in a second to save my family, and doesn't a soldier who puts on the uniform for his country willingly offer his life for the sake of others?
It's all very noble, but not unheard of.
There is a great audio book out now by Julia Sweeney called Getting Away from God. I recommend as it's a very spiritual journey that is touching, knowledgeable, funny and insightful.
Can one be truly happy without God? I suppose that would depend on the definition. I have a curious disposition, by nature. I used to give the priests, brothers and sisters at my Catholic schools fits. But what is interesting is that they all respected my questions. I have to give them credit for that.
As ever,
(I hope you don't mind talking about this stuff. It's a lifelong obsession!)
And my response:
Dear _____,
Mind talking about this stuff? Are you kidding? Not at all!
All your questions below were answered by Meenan. No kidding! And you can take a listen to my present Pastor (Wolfson) if you like as well at www.churchforallnations.org. Click on Multimedia once you get there and then click on audio or video, whichever you prefer. I have a feeling he may be more up your alley. His past three sermons have all been, "Church is less a place we go than who we are. Therefore, let's be the church." I think you have been saying that to me and other Christians all along -- certainly with your very first email explanation to me (which I published in the blog) about where you are coming from -- in one way or another...
And here's a thought to ponder -- if ALL religions believe essentially the same thing, does that not mean that there is a Truth (Intelligent Design) behind them (since all were developed independently of each others while the world was still separated by geography and without mass communications) and that we humans have been playing "telephone" with the Truth for all these years? And does that not explain why Jesus came here, to untangle the Truth from the stories that spring up around the God of the Universe? (And consider this: Perhaps earlier stories were given by God as prophetic stories to be fully realized when Jesus came and said, "I'm what all your many stories have been pointing to all these years.")
Just something to ponder. We are all buzzing and buzzing around the essence of the Truth, but none of us -- not even Christians - know the full truth or the import of it. We cannot share God's thoughts. His ways are above our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts... but oh, how he loves us and tries to give us what He can (through our filters, barriers and borders) that is good and kind and gracious and redemptive.
I do not do "ritualistic" religion. I know the Catholics and the Lutherans and others do and if it works for them, great -- they're all going to heaven, too. But it won't be that way in heaven. If I don't meet God every day personally in a casual, friendly, loving, non-ritualistic conversation (at church or elsewhere) -- while driving my car, eating a sandwich, taking a walk -- I feel really out of touch and cheated (but by myself, not God! I know He's always right here!)
Do you realize God is using you right now to refine me and using me to refine you? What you ask gives me the sweetest dreams! Seriously! I was out evangelizing the world last night while asleep --and I NEVER do that while awake (except maybe in my blog -- it seems to be going that way a lot lately, but that's just 'cause YOU started it!)
I would love for you to know what I know and to see and feel what I feel, but as I say, you gotta go get your own. My relationship niche with God is already occupied! You can get one just as great, but it takes some work... as much time as you have spent dancing all around the idea of God.
He wants you or you wouldn't be so compelled to keep looking, ya know?!
Kris
P.S. Oh, by the way... Keep giving God's people fits. They need it to figure out how best to communicate with seekers! You're the steel upon which our evangelism gets sharpened!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I must also add that if my friend was indicating that what Jesus did on the cross was "not all that uncommon" given the altruistic bent of parents and soldiers, I must clarify something:
Parents and soldiers don't divest themselves of their God-ness to come to earth to save all mankind. They are noble, they are revered, honored and cherished by me for sacrificing themselves for people, nations (and let's add firefighters and policemen to the list) and even people they don't know... but their sacrifices don't compare with what Jesus did. They certainly reflect what Jesus did and espoused, but in order to achieve the depth, breadth and width of what Jesus did, they would have to have been Jesus. He is the only human who ever divested himself of his God power while on earth for 33 years (accessing God's power only as we mere mortals can access it for that period of time) in order to provide eternal salvation for us. Soldiers, parents and firefighters die to provide temporal salvation for us.
Big difference!
Here's what he wrote:
Interesting. Thanks Kris. I watched some of the videos and he seems pretty straightforward [He is referring here to Pastor Alan Meenan at www.thewordisout.org and www.churchforthenations.org.)
Other questions: Even if there is a creator, does it have to be the god as described in the bible? Maybe he is something even more unknowable and that all the religions are on a similar track but haven't quite reached what he/she/it is all about.
I think there is an almost meditational aspect to religion, as that is what the contemplation of the "mystery" and the message seems to be about. This is consistent in all religions.Also, I tend to read other books about the origins of religion. What I see from a historical point of view is that the bible was really a collection of stories, passed down and borrowed from older religions and stories, such as Gilgamesh. Flood stories, virgin births, etc. are not unique to the bible. And many of Christ's stories are borrowed or reworked from other sources.
One of the reasons I always felt Christianity took off was that it put the human touch, i.e. Jesus, into the mix. This is where Judaism doesn't really hold the same appeal. There is no central figure that people can relate to. Is it safe to say that sacrificing one's life is not all that unusual, when it comes for the betterment of others? I would in a second to save my family, and doesn't a soldier who puts on the uniform for his country willingly offer his life for the sake of others?
It's all very noble, but not unheard of.
There is a great audio book out now by Julia Sweeney called Getting Away from God. I recommend as it's a very spiritual journey that is touching, knowledgeable, funny and insightful.
Can one be truly happy without God? I suppose that would depend on the definition. I have a curious disposition, by nature. I used to give the priests, brothers and sisters at my Catholic schools fits. But what is interesting is that they all respected my questions. I have to give them credit for that.
As ever,
(I hope you don't mind talking about this stuff. It's a lifelong obsession!)
And my response:
Dear _____,
Mind talking about this stuff? Are you kidding? Not at all!
All your questions below were answered by Meenan. No kidding! And you can take a listen to my present Pastor (Wolfson) if you like as well at www.churchforallnations.org. Click on Multimedia once you get there and then click on audio or video, whichever you prefer. I have a feeling he may be more up your alley. His past three sermons have all been, "Church is less a place we go than who we are. Therefore, let's be the church." I think you have been saying that to me and other Christians all along -- certainly with your very first email explanation to me (which I published in the blog) about where you are coming from -- in one way or another...
And here's a thought to ponder -- if ALL religions believe essentially the same thing, does that not mean that there is a Truth (Intelligent Design) behind them (since all were developed independently of each others while the world was still separated by geography and without mass communications) and that we humans have been playing "telephone" with the Truth for all these years? And does that not explain why Jesus came here, to untangle the Truth from the stories that spring up around the God of the Universe? (And consider this: Perhaps earlier stories were given by God as prophetic stories to be fully realized when Jesus came and said, "I'm what all your many stories have been pointing to all these years.")
Just something to ponder. We are all buzzing and buzzing around the essence of the Truth, but none of us -- not even Christians - know the full truth or the import of it. We cannot share God's thoughts. His ways are above our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts... but oh, how he loves us and tries to give us what He can (through our filters, barriers and borders) that is good and kind and gracious and redemptive.
I do not do "ritualistic" religion. I know the Catholics and the Lutherans and others do and if it works for them, great -- they're all going to heaven, too. But it won't be that way in heaven. If I don't meet God every day personally in a casual, friendly, loving, non-ritualistic conversation (at church or elsewhere) -- while driving my car, eating a sandwich, taking a walk -- I feel really out of touch and cheated (but by myself, not God! I know He's always right here!)
Do you realize God is using you right now to refine me and using me to refine you? What you ask gives me the sweetest dreams! Seriously! I was out evangelizing the world last night while asleep --and I NEVER do that while awake (except maybe in my blog -- it seems to be going that way a lot lately, but that's just 'cause YOU started it!
I would love for you to know what I know and to see and feel what I feel, but as I say, you gotta go get your own. My relationship niche with God is already occupied! You can get one just as great, but it takes some work... as much time as you have spent dancing all around the idea of God.
He wants you or you wouldn't be so compelled to keep looking, ya know?!
Kris
P.S. Oh, by the way... Keep giving God's people fits. They need it to figure out how best to communicate with seekers! You're the steel upon which our evangelism gets sharpened!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I must also add that if my friend was indicating that what Jesus did on the cross was "not all that uncommon" given the altruistic bent of parents and soldiers, I must clarify something:
Parents and soldiers don't divest themselves of their God-ness to come to earth to save all mankind. They are noble, they are revered, honored and cherished by me for sacrificing themselves for people, nations (and let's add firefighters and policemen to the list) and even people they don't know... but their sacrifices don't compare with what Jesus did. They certainly reflect what Jesus did and espoused, but in order to achieve the depth, breadth and width of what Jesus did, they would have to have been Jesus. He is the only human who ever divested himself of his God power while on earth for 33 years (accessing God's power only as we mere mortals can access it for that period of time) in order to provide eternal salvation for us. Soldiers, parents and firefighters die to provide temporal salvation for us.
Big difference!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Eegads.... Now What?
I have been so good about these blogs but there comes a time when the well runs dry... Am I going to have one of those spells tonight? Let me noodle this a bit and see if I can come up with something worth your time...
I just walked a few blocks...fast... and did 45 whatever-you-call-thems on my Torso Track. Usually I walk at lunch time for 35 minutes but yesterday and today I had to stay put in the office and make up for time lost when I went to the dentist for a cleaning yesterday morning.
The dentist discovered a carie (cavity) behind one of the porcelain veneers on a front tooth; otherwise, all is well. Good thing, because fixing the cavity is going to cost $1K, only about $80 of which I have to pay, because I happen to have multiple sources of dental insurance until September.
They will take the veneer off and discard it (my poor, wonderful, expensive veneer!) and will give me a crown instead (white, so it doesn't look dumb). Why? Because a veneer is cosmetic and as such isn't covered by insurance; a crown is something that protects a tooth from further damage, so it is covered. So I'm going with a crown, doctor's orders.
He might hire On-Hold Concepts (my employer) to produce an on-hold program for him! I told him I will write it, if he does. He's aware of my books, as is his hygienist, so that made him smile...
On another topic. Just got an email...
My TREK agnostic is reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Is he trying hard to become an atheist, I wonder? Then I remember that C.S. Lewis became a believer of the highest order when he set out to prove God a delusion. So I have immense patience and faith. He's looking for something. That's what it takes!
What I find awful about Dawkins is that he's such a mean-spirited atheist and God-basher. He calls God things that -- well, all I can say is, he'd better be right -- or he may answer for what he calls God! (There's still time for God to put an Apostle Paul headlock on him, so I won't count him out yet!)
Dawkins calls people like me intolerant. I worship in a church that serves 54 different nationalities and we get along and everything. It's the greatest Starship Enterprise on the planet except for maybe Warner Bros.! And we love and pray for those who aren't Christians. Most of what has passed for wanton Christianity is just that -- wanton Christianity!
I wonder how many Christians he really knows...
I know the "sound bites" re Christians... and some sound bites FROM Christians (Pat Robertson, George Bush) make me cringe... but these do not reflect the Christians I pal around with. You're going to find nutty people everywhere. And it seems the more power they get, the nuttier they become!
God met me where I live. That's all I know for sure. WHY he wants me is in the Bible: He wants me to "get" Him, to share and enjoy His creation as a gift and a reminder...
I can't give you my faith. You have to go get your own. I can share my faith, and sometimes it can feel contagious, but it really isn't. If you have someone else's religion, it's not yours. God has a personalized, individualized relationship that only YOU will share with him, because you are unique in all the universe (no matter how many TREK episodes you have seen where characters meet their counterparts in an alternate universe).
You can't have my relationship with God, any more than you can have my relationship with my sister or my employer or my cat, or I yours.
But you can have your own! Running in the other direction may get you there, but you will have to circumnavigate the globe to reach the destination. Repent means turn around and head toward God, the Source of All.
You've got questions. He's got answers.
I just walked a few blocks...fast... and did 45 whatever-you-call-thems on my Torso Track. Usually I walk at lunch time for 35 minutes but yesterday and today I had to stay put in the office and make up for time lost when I went to the dentist for a cleaning yesterday morning.
The dentist discovered a carie (cavity) behind one of the porcelain veneers on a front tooth; otherwise, all is well. Good thing, because fixing the cavity is going to cost $1K, only about $80 of which I have to pay, because I happen to have multiple sources of dental insurance until September.
They will take the veneer off and discard it (my poor, wonderful, expensive veneer!) and will give me a crown instead (white, so it doesn't look dumb). Why? Because a veneer is cosmetic and as such isn't covered by insurance; a crown is something that protects a tooth from further damage, so it is covered. So I'm going with a crown, doctor's orders.
He might hire On-Hold Concepts (my employer) to produce an on-hold program for him! I told him I will write it, if he does. He's aware of my books, as is his hygienist, so that made him smile...
On another topic. Just got an email...
My TREK agnostic is reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Is he trying hard to become an atheist, I wonder? Then I remember that C.S. Lewis became a believer of the highest order when he set out to prove God a delusion. So I have immense patience and faith. He's looking for something. That's what it takes!
What I find awful about Dawkins is that he's such a mean-spirited atheist and God-basher. He calls God things that -- well, all I can say is, he'd better be right -- or he may answer for what he calls God! (There's still time for God to put an Apostle Paul headlock on him, so I won't count him out yet!
Dawkins calls people like me intolerant. I worship in a church that serves 54 different nationalities and we get along and everything. It's the greatest Starship Enterprise on the planet except for maybe Warner Bros.! And we love and pray for those who aren't Christians. Most of what has passed for wanton Christianity is just that -- wanton Christianity!
I wonder how many Christians he really knows...
I know the "sound bites" re Christians... and some sound bites FROM Christians (Pat Robertson, George Bush) make me cringe... but these do not reflect the Christians I pal around with. You're going to find nutty people everywhere. And it seems the more power they get, the nuttier they become!
God met me where I live. That's all I know for sure. WHY he wants me is in the Bible: He wants me to "get" Him, to share and enjoy His creation as a gift and a reminder...
I can't give you my faith. You have to go get your own. I can share my faith, and sometimes it can feel contagious, but it really isn't. If you have someone else's religion, it's not yours. God has a personalized, individualized relationship that only YOU will share with him, because you are unique in all the universe (no matter how many TREK episodes you have seen where characters meet their counterparts in an alternate universe).
You can't have my relationship with God, any more than you can have my relationship with my sister or my employer or my cat, or I yours.
But you can have your own! Running in the other direction may get you there, but you will have to circumnavigate the globe to reach the destination. Repent means turn around and head toward God, the Source of All.
You've got questions. He's got answers.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Find a Job You Love, and You'll Never Have To Work a Day in Your Life
God, I love my job!
Truly -- I can't get enough of it! It engages me -- heart, mind, soul and spirit...
Wish I'd found it three and a half years ago when I returned from Hollywood to the Pacific Northwest... but then I would never have worked with the amazing and truly Christ-like Pastor Ken Ecker or any of the other wonderful people at Church For All Nations (www.churchforallnations.org) where I worship, or with Sheila Mischke at Kings Manor (www.kingsmanoralf.com), where I was an Activity Director...
I wasn't ready to work at On-Hold Concepts until it happened, pure and simple. God's timing is perfect, as always.
Without the church and King's Manor experiences, I wouldn't have acquired the knowledge that enables me to write well for clients who come to us from those fields. I find that nearly every job I have held to date (except for corn husker -- don't remind me!) has given me some knowledge or insight that helps me do my job as a copywriter at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com).
I led with the quote, "Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."
I don't know who said it, but it's a bald-faced lie in one way. I love what I do, but I work hard, or I probably wouldn't get to keep doing it! (Elementary, my dear Watson.) It just doesn't seem like work (a four letter word) because I love it! Even the inherent stress is eustress, not distress.
S'wonderful! I'm positively giddy most of the day, most days!
Now, don't go gettin' jealous on me. I'm saying this because I know there is a job (a mission, a passion) out there somewhere for everyone who wants or needs to hold down a job. You just have to apply for it (whether you qualify to the letter or not) and let God handle the details!
He'll work it out, if you hand him the reins. I did, and got down to $38 in liquid assets before this job came through for me.
Was I scared? My sisters and other relatives were. I wasn't. I was bathed in that "peace that passes all understanding." I believed that God knew my heart, my situation, my next job, and how to make it happen. I had stood on His promises and on the knowledge of His love for me and said, "I can't do this in my own strength, potential, resume, merit... but to You, nothing is impossible..."
I'm really grateful for my new job for a number of reasons: to the HR lady, Gayle, and to the owners of the business, the Woodstocks, who took a chance on me. They knew I was a freelance writer and that I could string words together -- I proved both, these were never issues -- but they were looking for an "experienced" copywriter. I interpreted the ad to mean a wage-or-salary-earning, down-in-the-trenches, deadline-driven, warp speed producer with hide of rhinoceros and heart of gold... but I applied anyway, even though I had never worked in a copywriter's trench -- and I told them so in the cover letter, straight up.
I was not tried, tested or proven in this specific "copywriter" niche... but they gave me a shot at it, telling me it would take a minimum of two months for me to really catch on and start to be a co-equal contributor, but not to worry about it too much, because they expected it to take that long...
I went home that night and prayed to God, "Make me a sponge. Let everything I am told soak in and stay with me until I truly understand it and can run with it."
Ten days later I was told that, much to everyone's surprise and delight, I was up to speed and they trusted me with their clients! I went home and prayed again: "Thank You!"
Within days of starting the job, it was "mine." It felt intuitive, I understood the database, and the protocol. It was truly, truly a miracle. I have NEVER measured up in any job as quickly as I measured up in this one.
The clients love what I write. When we talk on the phone, it's a love fest. We all seem on the same page. There is no accounting for this other than by divine influence and providence.
I am also grateful to the lady I succeeded, who trained me at warp speed in two and a half days before flying off on a mission trip to Africa. I'm grateful to my two other mentors, Brian and Keith, copywriters #1 and #2, who took the Melanie-trained, information-saturated sponge she handed off to them and refined me as the weeks passed, finessing me into the role that now feels like a part of my DNA...
I'm grateful to my coworkers, who made me feel like an immediate part of a terrific new family, and nursemaided me, with patience and affection, through the boo-boos that did issue from my first primitive forays into the process...
You need to keep looking until you find a job that leaves you feeling a little desolate when you have to leave it on Friday night for two days and take a weekend. That's the job God made for you to have. Go get it. Let me know you're going after it and I will join you in prayer and agree with you that you should have it.
I believe in you and I believe that God believes in you, and with His support, how can you lose?
Go get 'em, tiger!
Truly -- I can't get enough of it! It engages me -- heart, mind, soul and spirit...
Wish I'd found it three and a half years ago when I returned from Hollywood to the Pacific Northwest... but then I would never have worked with the amazing and truly Christ-like Pastor Ken Ecker or any of the other wonderful people at Church For All Nations (www.churchforallnations.org) where I worship, or with Sheila Mischke at Kings Manor (www.kingsmanoralf.com), where I was an Activity Director...
I wasn't ready to work at On-Hold Concepts until it happened, pure and simple. God's timing is perfect, as always.
Without the church and King's Manor experiences, I wouldn't have acquired the knowledge that enables me to write well for clients who come to us from those fields. I find that nearly every job I have held to date (except for corn husker -- don't remind me!) has given me some knowledge or insight that helps me do my job as a copywriter at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com).
I led with the quote, "Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."
I don't know who said it, but it's a bald-faced lie in one way. I love what I do, but I work hard, or I probably wouldn't get to keep doing it! (Elementary, my dear Watson.) It just doesn't seem like work (a four letter word) because I love it! Even the inherent stress is eustress, not distress.
S'wonderful! I'm positively giddy most of the day, most days!
Now, don't go gettin' jealous on me. I'm saying this because I know there is a job (a mission, a passion) out there somewhere for everyone who wants or needs to hold down a job. You just have to apply for it (whether you qualify to the letter or not) and let God handle the details!
He'll work it out, if you hand him the reins. I did, and got down to $38 in liquid assets before this job came through for me.
Was I scared? My sisters and other relatives were. I wasn't. I was bathed in that "peace that passes all understanding." I believed that God knew my heart, my situation, my next job, and how to make it happen. I had stood on His promises and on the knowledge of His love for me and said, "I can't do this in my own strength, potential, resume, merit... but to You, nothing is impossible..."
I'm really grateful for my new job for a number of reasons: to the HR lady, Gayle, and to the owners of the business, the Woodstocks, who took a chance on me. They knew I was a freelance writer and that I could string words together -- I proved both, these were never issues -- but they were looking for an "experienced" copywriter. I interpreted the ad to mean a wage-or-salary-earning, down-in-the-trenches, deadline-driven, warp speed producer with hide of rhinoceros and heart of gold... but I applied anyway, even though I had never worked in a copywriter's trench -- and I told them so in the cover letter, straight up.
I was not tried, tested or proven in this specific "copywriter" niche... but they gave me a shot at it, telling me it would take a minimum of two months for me to really catch on and start to be a co-equal contributor, but not to worry about it too much, because they expected it to take that long...
I went home that night and prayed to God, "Make me a sponge. Let everything I am told soak in and stay with me until I truly understand it and can run with it."
Ten days later I was told that, much to everyone's surprise and delight, I was up to speed and they trusted me with their clients! I went home and prayed again: "Thank You!"
Within days of starting the job, it was "mine." It felt intuitive, I understood the database, and the protocol. It was truly, truly a miracle. I have NEVER measured up in any job as quickly as I measured up in this one.
The clients love what I write. When we talk on the phone, it's a love fest. We all seem on the same page. There is no accounting for this other than by divine influence and providence.
I am also grateful to the lady I succeeded, who trained me at warp speed in two and a half days before flying off on a mission trip to Africa. I'm grateful to my two other mentors, Brian and Keith, copywriters #1 and #2, who took the Melanie-trained, information-saturated sponge she handed off to them and refined me as the weeks passed, finessing me into the role that now feels like a part of my DNA...
I'm grateful to my coworkers, who made me feel like an immediate part of a terrific new family, and nursemaided me, with patience and affection, through the boo-boos that did issue from my first primitive forays into the process...
You need to keep looking until you find a job that leaves you feeling a little desolate when you have to leave it on Friday night for two days and take a weekend. That's the job God made for you to have. Go get it. Let me know you're going after it and I will join you in prayer and agree with you that you should have it.
I believe in you and I believe that God believes in you, and with His support, how can you lose?
Go get 'em, tiger!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Whazzup, Sugar Pup?
Well... I had to come up with some kind of catchy title, didn't I, or nobody would bother to check in tonight!
I received more comments about yesterday's blog than I expected. One thing is for sure: it's a hot button topic. I think perhaps my English friend Alison (presently living in Spain teaching English) has a better perspective on it than I did, or do. That would figure, since she's a teacher! I would hope and expect that teachers have it over me in the sesos department (brains)!
I am intrigued. Curious. Hopeful. As I quoted in an earlier blog, I am an eternal optimist who daily lifts my head to the heartbeat of human existence. It beats the alternative by a landslide.
I really do think we are going to make it to the 23rd century and beyond as a result of the rapid spread of the Internet and international travel. It's going to be hard to stay stupid about the rest of the world for very much longer.
I know North Korea doesn't allow its citizens any contact at all with the outside world, so it will remain dangerous, maniacal and brain-washed, but most of the world (here and abroad) will begin to see some daylight. When it does, I think fear of the "otherness" of people will begin to fade as we all realize how much we have in common:
A planet. A universe. Souls. Hope. Love. Compassion. Unfounded fears. Founded fears. Families that need to be sustained in body, soul and spirit with food, water, shelter, hope, faith, dreams, goals, plans.
I still believe that most people (and all who are reading this blogsite, for sure) want to make a positive difference, based on their own paradigm and perspective. Sharing paradigms and perspectives without shouting or raising weapons is a good thing.
Call me a Pollyanna if you like. It's better than many other things I could be (and probably have been) called...
I received more comments about yesterday's blog than I expected. One thing is for sure: it's a hot button topic. I think perhaps my English friend Alison (presently living in Spain teaching English) has a better perspective on it than I did, or do. That would figure, since she's a teacher! I would hope and expect that teachers have it over me in the sesos department (brains)!
I am intrigued. Curious. Hopeful. As I quoted in an earlier blog, I am an eternal optimist who daily lifts my head to the heartbeat of human existence. It beats the alternative by a landslide.
I really do think we are going to make it to the 23rd century and beyond as a result of the rapid spread of the Internet and international travel. It's going to be hard to stay stupid about the rest of the world for very much longer.
I know North Korea doesn't allow its citizens any contact at all with the outside world, so it will remain dangerous, maniacal and brain-washed, but most of the world (here and abroad) will begin to see some daylight. When it does, I think fear of the "otherness" of people will begin to fade as we all realize how much we have in common:
A planet. A universe. Souls. Hope. Love. Compassion. Unfounded fears. Founded fears. Families that need to be sustained in body, soul and spirit with food, water, shelter, hope, faith, dreams, goals, plans.
I still believe that most people (and all who are reading this blogsite, for sure) want to make a positive difference, based on their own paradigm and perspective. Sharing paradigms and perspectives without shouting or raising weapons is a good thing.
Call me a Pollyanna if you like. It's better than many other things I could be (and probably have been) called...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Yesterday afternoon my younger sister Jackie and I went to Portland Oregon to attend the wedding reception of our older sister's daughter and her new husband . He is from Saudi Arabia, here on a student visa for seven or eight years.
He met her about three years ago in Aberdeen, Washington. She had already embraced the Muslim faith a number of years before meeting him, and was studying Arabic with great enthusiasm (after having mastered Spanish).
I scarcely know my older sister's three children, except by reputation, which has always been sterling: excellent students (mostly home-schooled by their dad; my sis is an attorney), both daughters started college in their early teens and had graduated by the time most students their age are just entering college. Their son is still at home (at an age where he should be) but the girls have been on their own for well over five years.
I lived in California during much of their upbringing and communication between Big Sis and me was limited, even uncomfortable until Mom died and I saw her cry for the first time. (Sis is Spock-like. I am McCoy-like. Get the picture? Both personality types are quite respectable; they just don't "get" each other, even though they certainly honor one another.) She has her own law practice and doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "take time to smell the roses." She's a working fool. You can't coerce her into even an annual weekend retreat with her sisters, and unless sisters retreat there is always so much activity going when we do connect that true communication-and-reflection time is nonexistent.
All of this came home to me in crystal-clear, high definition resolution last night. Here I was wishing two people well, one of whom I had just met (my new Saudi Arabian nephew); the other, my sister's daughter... and I don't know her much better than I know him!
I love my niece, I care about her; the few times we have been together have been pure joy. She's funny, and sweet and smart and every good thing. She wears the head covering and ankle-length attire of a devout Muslim and looks adorable -- okay, beautiful, too -- in it. Last night she looked very, very happy, having tied the knot just that afternoon in a private ceremony.
And in two years these newlyweds will move to Saudi Arabia and I may never see her again. And I wonder, will her own mother ever see her again? Will my older sister ever get to hold her grandchildren in her arms? Or, even worse perhaps, will she get to hold one of them in her arms sometime during the next two years while they are still here and then have to relinquish that joy when they move overseas to enter a male-dominated culture that is controlled in a way that is so utterly foreign to us liberated westerners?
Then I reconsider. I'm fearful because of recent events and because our media always leads with an "us vs. them" perspective ever since 9-11. ("Look how DIFFERENT they are!") We've all seen various reports about how women are regarded there; how all their "rights," or rather their permissions -- to travel, dress, interact, communicate -- are in the hands of their husbands...
He met her about three years ago in Aberdeen, Washington. She had already embraced the Muslim faith a number of years before meeting him, and was studying Arabic with great enthusiasm (after having mastered Spanish).
I scarcely know my older sister's three children, except by reputation, which has always been sterling: excellent students (mostly home-schooled by their dad; my sis is an attorney), both daughters started college in their early teens and had graduated by the time most students their age are just entering college. Their son is still at home (at an age where he should be) but the girls have been on their own for well over five years.
I lived in California during much of their upbringing and communication between Big Sis and me was limited, even uncomfortable until Mom died and I saw her cry for the first time. (Sis is Spock-like. I am McCoy-like. Get the picture? Both personality types are quite respectable; they just don't "get" each other, even though they certainly honor one another.) She has her own law practice and doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "take time to smell the roses." She's a working fool. You can't coerce her into even an annual weekend retreat with her sisters, and unless sisters retreat there is always so much activity going when we do connect that true communication-and-reflection time is nonexistent.
All of this came home to me in crystal-clear, high definition resolution last night. Here I was wishing two people well, one of whom I had just met (my new Saudi Arabian nephew); the other, my sister's daughter... and I don't know her much better than I know him!
I love my niece, I care about her; the few times we have been together have been pure joy. She's funny, and sweet and smart and every good thing. She wears the head covering and ankle-length attire of a devout Muslim and looks adorable -- okay, beautiful, too -- in it. Last night she looked very, very happy, having tied the knot just that afternoon in a private ceremony.
And in two years these newlyweds will move to Saudi Arabia and I may never see her again. And I wonder, will her own mother ever see her again? Will my older sister ever get to hold her grandchildren in her arms? Or, even worse perhaps, will she get to hold one of them in her arms sometime during the next two years while they are still here and then have to relinquish that joy when they move overseas to enter a male-dominated culture that is controlled in a way that is so utterly foreign to us liberated westerners?
Then I reconsider. I'm fearful because of recent events and because our media always leads with an "us vs. them" perspective ever since 9-11. ("Look how DIFFERENT they are!") We've all seen various reports about how women are regarded there; how all their "rights," or rather their permissions -- to travel, dress, interact, communicate -- are in the hands of their husbands...
But male-dominated cultures and kingdoms have existed in most countries for most of our history. In countries where there are benevolent kingdoms (and many are, including Saudi Arabia), the king and heads of households recognize their dominion over people, and repond accordingly -- quite apart from domination. Look up the differences in the dictionary if you're not clear about the two terms. It's when kingdoms or families have despotic leaders that grievous harm occurs. Kingdoms as a general rule are benevolent guardians of their people.
And if the culture is male-dominated, there is nothing wrong with that as long as the male has the best interests of all members of his family in heart and mind. Just as Christ is the "head" of the Christian church, husbands here in America and around the world are commanded (in the Bible) to be the "heads" of their households (willing to lay down their lives as Christ did in the best interests of his wife, their children and the family unit).
To say I feel comfortable with this new coupling would be somewhat (and a wee bit more) short of the truth. My heart hesitates; I have enormous concern, because I don't know enough yet to have worries confirmed or blasted to smithereens. There are too many unknowns. I don't know the gentleman's intentions. I don't even know my niece's intentions! Both are strangers to me, I'm sad to say. But I care about them, and about my older sister. I wonder what she is feeling, but because she is such a Spock, I probably will never know her innermost thoughts...
I do know this much: Every soul is important to God. Whatever the future holds for my niece and new nephew, I can only pray that it will be immense with love, joy, and fulfillment beyond their wildest dreams.
I honor their commitment to marriage and to a life together. I respect her decision and pray that what she experiences in Saudi Arabia will be so far from what we here in America anticipate for her that she will be able to share her joy with us across the ocean and re-educate us about a land we have so little personal knowledge of.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Early Morning Blog...
Yesterday's blog was a re-creation of a blog I wrote that was "gobbled up" by some anomaly just as it was primed and ready to post. The recreation wasn't quite as good or quite as complete as the original... but it'll pass...
The frustrating thing is that there was more information in the original, and I keep remembering some of it. So, for what it's worth, yesterday's blog should have had something like the following in it...
When you develop a personal relationship with God, you will always feel loved by One who loves you more than he loves anything else he created (which may be why he put man in charge of a lot of it, to share the glory of his creation and protection/dominion), and more than anyone on earth can love you. He's the Original Love-r.
But when you decide once and for all to live with Him, it'll pinch at times, even as it pinches when you live with anyone else you love here on earth. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Whatever he does is right, even on days when you disagree vehemently. Once you get to know him (and I'm not quite there, or haven't had an anxious or significant emotional experience yet to bring me to this point), you will sometimes become livid and shake your fist and ask him, out of anger or an inability to understand, "Why are you allowing this (disaster, crisis, loss, challenge) to come into my life?!"
If you expect your life with God to forever be a bed of roses, consider this: roses have thorns, and even a bed of roses will make you bleed at times.
I don't want this to scare you away. I have learned that when I am under God's proverbial wings, in the way a hen protects her chicks, I will sometimes get overly warm, I will be tucked back underneath his breast by a strong, loving beak, I will be clucked at and corrected time and time again, but all during these inconvenient, uncomfortable, trying times I am aware that it's these very "insults to self," these "impingments to freedom" that build trust in God, that build patience and forebearance and character.
No experience will be wasted. Last year's disaster is this year's blessing. It is what we learn during disaster that allows us to help someone else facing a similar challenge; it is what we become during and after grief or trauma or addiction or conviction by the Holy Spirit that matters, that is an achievement carefully wrought by the hand of God.
God doesn't give anything but good, but he will allow Satan to rough us up a bit (or a lot) if we give him any kind of invitation into our lives. Satan is the prince of this fallen world, and he's sneaky, insidious and powerful (all to often masquerading as a really fun, enormously compelling companion). But you don't need to fear him, because Christ's sacrifice on the cross has overcome the world and Satan is a defeated prince awaiting his day on the gallows. And he's pissed and hoping to take as many others along with him as he can.
But you know better, or you will. You have ol' pointy-ears' number and his address. (Not Spock, you guys! Get a Life! hee hee hee)
We are living in days of grace. You will stumble, and fall, and get into the muck and the mire even after you give your life to God... But here's the thing: each day you love him more, you will stumble less. There will be a Lamp that lights the way so that you can see the stumbling points before you get to them, and it will be easier to avoid them. Your walk with God will ensure this, and the trek, in tandem with the Holy Spirit (paraclete), will be an adventure, not a tedious, treacherous, or fearful journey -- and as an added perk, it will be a long way from boring!
As long as you stay under the Blood and do your best to foster Light in the world and live by that Light, you will be victorious along the way and in the end.
The frustrating thing is that there was more information in the original, and I keep remembering some of it. So, for what it's worth, yesterday's blog should have had something like the following in it...
When you develop a personal relationship with God, you will always feel loved by One who loves you more than he loves anything else he created (which may be why he put man in charge of a lot of it, to share the glory of his creation and protection/dominion), and more than anyone on earth can love you. He's the Original Love-r.
But when you decide once and for all to live with Him, it'll pinch at times, even as it pinches when you live with anyone else you love here on earth. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Whatever he does is right, even on days when you disagree vehemently. Once you get to know him (and I'm not quite there, or haven't had an anxious or significant emotional experience yet to bring me to this point), you will sometimes become livid and shake your fist and ask him, out of anger or an inability to understand, "Why are you allowing this (disaster, crisis, loss, challenge) to come into my life?!"
If you expect your life with God to forever be a bed of roses, consider this: roses have thorns, and even a bed of roses will make you bleed at times.
I don't want this to scare you away. I have learned that when I am under God's proverbial wings, in the way a hen protects her chicks, I will sometimes get overly warm, I will be tucked back underneath his breast by a strong, loving beak, I will be clucked at and corrected time and time again, but all during these inconvenient, uncomfortable, trying times I am aware that it's these very "insults to self," these "impingments to freedom" that build trust in God, that build patience and forebearance and character.
No experience will be wasted. Last year's disaster is this year's blessing. It is what we learn during disaster that allows us to help someone else facing a similar challenge; it is what we become during and after grief or trauma or addiction or conviction by the Holy Spirit that matters, that is an achievement carefully wrought by the hand of God.
God doesn't give anything but good, but he will allow Satan to rough us up a bit (or a lot) if we give him any kind of invitation into our lives. Satan is the prince of this fallen world, and he's sneaky, insidious and powerful (all to often masquerading as a really fun, enormously compelling companion). But you don't need to fear him, because Christ's sacrifice on the cross has overcome the world and Satan is a defeated prince awaiting his day on the gallows. And he's pissed and hoping to take as many others along with him as he can.
But you know better, or you will. You have ol' pointy-ears' number and his address. (Not Spock, you guys! Get a Life! hee hee hee)
We are living in days of grace. You will stumble, and fall, and get into the muck and the mire even after you give your life to God... But here's the thing: each day you love him more, you will stumble less. There will be a Lamp that lights the way so that you can see the stumbling points before you get to them, and it will be easier to avoid them. Your walk with God will ensure this, and the trek, in tandem with the Holy Spirit (paraclete), will be an adventure, not a tedious, treacherous, or fearful journey -- and as an added perk, it will be a long way from boring!
As long as you stay under the Blood and do your best to foster Light in the world and live by that Light, you will be victorious along the way and in the end.
Friday, March 9, 2007
I Believe In the Sun...Love...God...
Every day I walk by a plaque
in my condo that reads:
I believe in the sun
even when it's not shining
I believe in love
even when I don't feel it
I believe in God
even when He is silent
It's easy for us to believe in the sun when it's not shining, because we have seen and experienced the sun. It's easy for us to believe in love when we aren't feeling loved or loving, because we have felt love before and know we will again. Sunshine and love aren't alien to us.
In the same way, it's easy to believe in God when we have had an undeniable experience of his presence-- a visitation, a vision, an angel intervention, or simply a prayer connection that leaves us weeping with love that cannot be expressed regarding our ability to connect one-on-one with Abba Father, who made the universe and seeks, with enormous passion, our ear, our devotion, and our partnership.
Those who have met God up close and personal see him in sunshine and in love. They see him on their way to work in the morning, and all during work; on their way to Wal-Mart and on their way to a hospital in a screaming ambulance. To a faithful man, God is revealed in every direction he looks and in every circumstance .
In the recent movie AMAZING GRACE, Prime Minister Pitt is lying on his deathbed. His longtime friend William Wilberforce is called to his side one last time.
Pitt confides to Wilberforce, "I'm scared."
Wilberforce is taken aback, surprised. He asks his dying friend, "Of what?"
He cannot understand. He is a man of faith. What he knows of death is not fearful; it is glorious!
Pitt then confesses, "I wish I had your faith" -- and means it, down to the marrow in his bones.
Hearing that hurt me. I thought, "Lying on one's deathbed is hardly the time to wish for the faith of a faithful man!"
I suppose a pertinent question from a man or woman lacking faith might be, "How do I go about procuring the faith of the faithful?"
The answer is laughably simple...
You get it the way you get anything else that's of value to you: You go after it! You seek it, you track it in places where you are most likely to find it. You seek after it, thirst for it, study it, devour information about those who have it."
Some obtain faith the way I did: an invitation is sent by God that is so incongruous and so out-of-ordinary-context and befuddling that you are seduced into tracking the scent to its source. (See earlier blog for my testimony.)
But please don't wait for an invitation. The invitation has already been sent and people have been RSVP'ing in droves for two thousand years from all corners of the earth.
If you will simply RSVP you will learn and embrace the faith of the faithful.
Understand one thing: God is not a gate crasher. He is pretty quiet most of the time. You're most likely to hear him in a quiet place when the television and radio are turned off and you are either by yourself or with another seeker.
Seek and you will find. Ask and you will receive. Knock and the door will be opened.
It's Biblical, straight from God, so you can believe it! He doesn't lie!
I will show you a typical first prayer. But first, Relax! A prayer is simply a conversation with a loving Father who already knows exactly how you feel. (Yeah, he created the Universe and everything in it, too, but forget about that for right now or it will intimidate you.) He knows you're taking a tentative first step, like a toddler, and that you don't know quite what you're doing yet... and He's fine with that! He wants you to try, the way an earthbound father reaches out to his son or daughter and encourages their first steps toward him. Have faith that he loves you enough to "catch" you even if you say something really stupid (in retrospect)!
"Father God, it's hard for me to talk to you like you're really there. I'm not really sure you exist, so this feels pretty silly. But I do know that billions of people already believe in you and their obvious and continuing joy in this increasingly frightening world intrigues and compels me to find out what they know that keeps them feeling hopeful and loving. Please make yourself known to me. I admit that asking you for anything while not yet really believing completely in you makes me feel like I am wobbling on holy ground, not worthy even to ask. But I'm asking. Please reveal to me over time your presence in the world and in my life. Thank you for sending Jesus to pay the penalty for sins I have committed, whether willfully or unwittingly. I want to know you more. Amen."
Then get The Message (a contemporary idiomatic translation of the Bible by Eugene Peterson) or the New Living Translation of the Bible (or both), and a Life Application Study Bible in the version you like best, along with LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS by Chuck Missler.
Next, program one of your radio stations to a Christian music station and listen to the lyrics and make it a plan to listen as though the words were true. (Many Christian lyrics come right out of the Bible, so they are the Word of God in a literal sense.)
And then, every Sunday for two months, go to a different church, sit in the back pew and just listen. Keep moving from church to church until you find the one you absolutely CANNOT bear to miss the following week, and go again. If you feel hooked after three or four sessions, that will be your church for a good long time, possibly forever. That's where to start a Bible study with other seekers. Don't be intimidated. None of them are better than you.
If you do any or all of the above, chances are very good that you will not find yourself on your deathbed one day fearfully telling a friend, "I wish I had your faith..."
You will have your own, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
"That's not very damn' funny..." -- Dr. McCoy, Star Trek III The Search for Spock
I am going to swallow hard before I tell you what happened today because if I don't I could go into a tirade and chew someone a new anal apperture. I must chill. "Nobody's perfect."
That said.... I will keep this light and funny because the alternative is too blue with words unbefitting a born-again soul.
I have a new job, and a new insurance plan. Because I do, I can no longer see one of the doctors I was seeing because she is out of plan and it would cost me more. She has been providing one of the two medications I take -- neither of which are earth-shaking: I think almost every other woman I know of my age is on one of them or the other.
When she first put me on this drug (I think it's an ACE inhibitor but am not sure) I began to cough for no reason and went to a throat doctor who asked me if I was on any new medications. I said yes, and told him which one. "Bingo!" he said. "Call your doctor and get it changed to one that doesn't have a side effect of making some people cough." So I did that and all was well.
This was three years ago.
Toward the tail end of last year (probably September/October) I received a letter from the doctor who gave me the first and subsequent drug (or my medical insurance plan, I don't recall which) telling me that the drug was falling off the formulary due to cost and that another, less expensive, substitute would be provided next time I had to refill the prescription. I thought nothing of it.
And started coughing again. For no reason.
Then after I got tired of it again, wondering why it wasn't going away, I asked myself, "What did I find out the last time this happened and I had all those tests?" Ah-ha!!!!
So I called my doctor and reminded her that I can't take this particular drug because it makes me cough -- "So when my prescription runs out, in five days, please put me back on the drug that didn't make me cough, or on some other one that doesn't make me cough." And I told her I now have another insurance plan, by the way.
Oh, she said, my services don't fall under that plan, so you will have to see my colleague who takes your plan and get the new prescription from him. You can meet with him March 26th but before that you need to have blood work and a urinalysis done because it has been quite some time since these have been done and we can't prescribe a new drug until we see you. (My primary care doctor has ordered and reviewed all these tests within the past four months, but I guess they don't count...)
I said, "Fine. I will get the labs done this Thursday." She said, "Fine. I will put the order in with your primary care physician this afternoon." (This was on my birthday, Monday, March 5th.)
So this morning I drank 32 ounces of water (preparation for the urinalysis, so I'd have something to contribute to the urine test, you see) and drove to the lab. I was there just as the door opened and got checked in. I was the first one in but the fourth one called, so by now my bladder is about to burst.
They finally called my name, and I went in and they said, "Kris Smith?" and I said, "Yes?" thinking perhaps now would be a good time to keep my legs crossed until they could hand me a cup, and they said, "We don't have any orders here for you."
I spoke slowly... in disbelief.... "You - don't - have - any - orders - for - me?"
"No, we don't."
"None?!"
"None."
They said, "Just a minute. Let me call your doctor."
I said, "That would be doctors -- my primary care physician at this facility and Dr. _______
from _________________"
They called. Of course, at 7:30 in the morning no one was in at either place. "I'm sorry," the lady told me. "I will call them as soon as they get in and get this corrected, but it won't be until 8:30 or 9:00."
I had taken time off a brand new job, on a short-staffed day, to get these test done so the results would for sure be back before the date of my appointment with the new doctor so I could get meds and stop coughing....
So I left... oh, I peed before I left. NOT on their rug... although it was tempting as all get out...
I did a slow burn all the way to work. I would be coughing for three more weeks now, because even though I'll go in again tomorrow for the tests, they won't be run until Monday or Tuesday or sometime next week and I can't get the prescription changed until the results come back... and I can't get the present prescription filled because my current physician probably can't give me a 16 day supply until she, too, sees some lab results... because that's why lifetime meds have refill dates... so docs can monitor changes in their patients (and rake in big bucks for tests and co-pays and insurance...)
But I'm getting ticked again....
So I got back to work and phoned BOTH doctors when their practices opened. Very deliberately -- NOT nastily, but very assertively and deliberately -- so there was no doubt that I had been IN-CON-VEE-NEE-EN-CED, and my place of work had been inconvenienced, and would be again tomorrow because of this "oversight" (F.U.B.A.R.) on their part... I explained:
I was unable to get my tests
I need a refill on my present prescription by Saturday or I need to be able to stop taking it
I need someone to correct these issues with all deliberate speed
and... furthermore and to the point:
I was extremely miffed that I would have to take more time off work tomorrow from a new job where I am desperately needed right now to jump through their hoops a second time just to have a freakin' prescription changed that they should have been aware would make me cough!
And I gave both practices my work phone number so they could call me back and CONFIRM absolutely that the orders will be there when I go in tomorrow for the lab tests -- you know, the lab tests that should have been completed today when I came in...
The specialist doctor's staff swore that she faxed the orders on Monday, March 5th, the moment she got off the phone with me (which she had told me she was going to do the day we talked); my primary care physician's assistant just as assertively swore that she did not receive the orders, and did not know any were coming in for me, so didn't even know to look for them... and anyway, I could have gotten the "usual" tests for my thyroid levels because these are "standing orders" and there is always an order in for these whenever I walk in the door. (I told her she might want to check that out, because the lab worker said she had NO orders for me from either doctor...)
So now I wonder where the orders for the urinalysis and blood work went and who has information about me that they have no right to... so much for HIPAA!
But BOTH promised to talk to each other and to get their stuff together all the while assuring me in soothing tones that I can go in tomorrow feeling utterly confident that I will be able to pee for them and get my blood taken in abundance for every test I need in order to get a substitute prescription that will not make me cough...
So I felt responded to, and all seemed well and I felt confident.
Then I got home tonight and there is a phone message from my primary care physician's nurse asking me to call her... and of course their office is closed by this time of night when I return home...
So I can't call until 8:30 tomorrow morning, which is an hour after the time I'm supposed to be at the lab for testing...
So I am again concerned and a wee bit unstrung. They have my work number... I was there all day long... they were calling me there today... and they leave this cryptic, zero information message on my answering machine at home for me to find after quitting time.
All I can say is the message from my doctor's nurse better have been left early this morning, before we talked and after they found out there were no lab orders for me... because if they are calling me to tell me NOT to go in for tests tomorrow morning, I am going to go postal when I get there tomorrow, and you will find me in a rubber room tomorrow at this time and there will be no more blogs until I serve my term...
Doctor McCoy would never treat a patient this way. I should've stayed with him in Starfleet...
That said.... I will keep this light and funny because the alternative is too blue with words unbefitting a born-again soul.
I have a new job, and a new insurance plan. Because I do, I can no longer see one of the doctors I was seeing because she is out of plan and it would cost me more. She has been providing one of the two medications I take -- neither of which are earth-shaking: I think almost every other woman I know of my age is on one of them or the other.
When she first put me on this drug (I think it's an ACE inhibitor but am not sure) I began to cough for no reason and went to a throat doctor who asked me if I was on any new medications. I said yes, and told him which one. "Bingo!" he said. "Call your doctor and get it changed to one that doesn't have a side effect of making some people cough." So I did that and all was well.
This was three years ago.
Toward the tail end of last year (probably September/October) I received a letter from the doctor who gave me the first and subsequent drug (or my medical insurance plan, I don't recall which) telling me that the drug was falling off the formulary due to cost and that another, less expensive, substitute would be provided next time I had to refill the prescription. I thought nothing of it.
And started coughing again. For no reason.
Then after I got tired of it again, wondering why it wasn't going away, I asked myself, "What did I find out the last time this happened and I had all those tests?" Ah-ha!!!!
So I called my doctor and reminded her that I can't take this particular drug because it makes me cough -- "So when my prescription runs out, in five days, please put me back on the drug that didn't make me cough, or on some other one that doesn't make me cough." And I told her I now have another insurance plan, by the way.
Oh, she said, my services don't fall under that plan, so you will have to see my colleague who takes your plan and get the new prescription from him. You can meet with him March 26th but before that you need to have blood work and a urinalysis done because it has been quite some time since these have been done and we can't prescribe a new drug until we see you. (My primary care doctor has ordered and reviewed all these tests within the past four months, but I guess they don't count...)
I said, "Fine. I will get the labs done this Thursday." She said, "Fine. I will put the order in with your primary care physician this afternoon." (This was on my birthday, Monday, March 5th.)
So this morning I drank 32 ounces of water (preparation for the urinalysis, so I'd have something to contribute to the urine test, you see) and drove to the lab. I was there just as the door opened and got checked in. I was the first one in but the fourth one called, so by now my bladder is about to burst.
They finally called my name, and I went in and they said, "Kris Smith?" and I said, "Yes?" thinking perhaps now would be a good time to keep my legs crossed until they could hand me a cup, and they said, "We don't have any orders here for you."
I spoke slowly... in disbelief.... "You - don't - have - any - orders - for - me?"
"No, we don't."
"None?!"
"None."
They said, "Just a minute. Let me call your doctor."
I said, "That would be doctors -- my primary care physician at this facility and Dr. _______
from _________________"
They called. Of course, at 7:30 in the morning no one was in at either place. "I'm sorry," the lady told me. "I will call them as soon as they get in and get this corrected, but it won't be until 8:30 or 9:00."
I had taken time off a brand new job, on a short-staffed day, to get these test done so the results would for sure be back before the date of my appointment with the new doctor so I could get meds and stop coughing....
So I left... oh, I peed before I left. NOT on their rug... although it was tempting as all get out...
I did a slow burn all the way to work. I would be coughing for three more weeks now, because even though I'll go in again tomorrow for the tests, they won't be run until Monday or Tuesday or sometime next week and I can't get the prescription changed until the results come back... and I can't get the present prescription filled because my current physician probably can't give me a 16 day supply until she, too, sees some lab results... because that's why lifetime meds have refill dates... so docs can monitor changes in their patients (and rake in big bucks for tests and co-pays and insurance...)
But I'm getting ticked again....
So I got back to work and phoned BOTH doctors when their practices opened. Very deliberately -- NOT nastily, but very assertively and deliberately -- so there was no doubt that I had been IN-CON-VEE-NEE-EN-CED, and my place of work had been inconvenienced, and would be again tomorrow because of this "oversight" (F.U.B.A.R.) on their part... I explained:
I was unable to get my tests
I need a refill on my present prescription by Saturday or I need to be able to stop taking it
I need someone to correct these issues with all deliberate speed
and... furthermore and to the point:
I was extremely miffed that I would have to take more time off work tomorrow from a new job where I am desperately needed right now to jump through their hoops a second time just to have a freakin' prescription changed that they should have been aware would make me cough!
And I gave both practices my work phone number so they could call me back and CONFIRM absolutely that the orders will be there when I go in tomorrow for the lab tests -- you know, the lab tests that should have been completed today when I came in...
The specialist doctor's staff swore that she faxed the orders on Monday, March 5th, the moment she got off the phone with me (which she had told me she was going to do the day we talked); my primary care physician's assistant just as assertively swore that she did not receive the orders, and did not know any were coming in for me, so didn't even know to look for them... and anyway, I could have gotten the "usual" tests for my thyroid levels because these are "standing orders" and there is always an order in for these whenever I walk in the door. (I told her she might want to check that out, because the lab worker said she had NO orders for me from either doctor...)
So now I wonder where the orders for the urinalysis and blood work went and who has information about me that they have no right to... so much for HIPAA!
But BOTH promised to talk to each other and to get their stuff together all the while assuring me in soothing tones that I can go in tomorrow feeling utterly confident that I will be able to pee for them and get my blood taken in abundance for every test I need in order to get a substitute prescription that will not make me cough...
So I felt responded to, and all seemed well and I felt confident.
Then I got home tonight and there is a phone message from my primary care physician's nurse asking me to call her... and of course their office is closed by this time of night when I return home...
So I can't call until 8:30 tomorrow morning, which is an hour after the time I'm supposed to be at the lab for testing...
So I am again concerned and a wee bit unstrung. They have my work number... I was there all day long... they were calling me there today... and they leave this cryptic, zero information message on my answering machine at home for me to find after quitting time.
All I can say is the message from my doctor's nurse better have been left early this morning, before we talked and after they found out there were no lab orders for me... because if they are calling me to tell me NOT to go in for tests tomorrow morning, I am going to go postal when I get there tomorrow, and you will find me in a rubber room tomorrow at this time and there will be no more blogs until I serve my term...
Doctor McCoy would never treat a patient this way. I should've stayed with him in Starfleet...
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Good News In a Bottle... Genesis!
One of my best friends swears by the following product and a nurse friend read the brochure that comes with the product and placed her stamp of approval on it. I tasted a sample and it tastes fine, so I'm going to get a bottle and may become a preferred customer in a month or so.
Check it out at this website:
http://www.symmetrydirect.com/wconnect/wc.dll?jws~hpage~VPORTER~1
I'm impressed by all the ingredients, claims, testing and testimonials. I'm healthy and plan to remain that way as my body ages. This product certainly can't hurt!
Of course, before trying anything new, if you have a health issue be sure and ask your doctor about starting something like Genesis, especially if you are on blood thinners or have low blood pressure or if you are diabetic, because a few of the claims state that this product lowers blood pressure, alters blood sugar levels, and thins blood. So if you start taking it, your doctor will want to run tests for a time in the event improvements to your condition might require changes in dosage...
Got that? I hope so!
That's it for this time. I was so busy at work today I didn't have time to think of a blog topic worth your attention for fifteen or twenty minutes. Spend the time researching Genesis and let me know if you decide to try it, or get some for someone you know who is fighting health issues that conventional medicine seems impotent or too weak to help.
There's nothing like great nutrition to kick one's immune system into high gear!
Ciao for now!
Check it out at this website:
http://www.symmetrydirect.com/wconnect/wc.dll?jws~hpage~VPORTER~1
I'm impressed by all the ingredients, claims, testing and testimonials. I'm healthy and plan to remain that way as my body ages. This product certainly can't hurt!
Of course, before trying anything new, if you have a health issue be sure and ask your doctor about starting something like Genesis, especially if you are on blood thinners or have low blood pressure or if you are diabetic, because a few of the claims state that this product lowers blood pressure, alters blood sugar levels, and thins blood. So if you start taking it, your doctor will want to run tests for a time in the event improvements to your condition might require changes in dosage...
Got that? I hope so!
That's it for this time. I was so busy at work today I didn't have time to think of a blog topic worth your attention for fifteen or twenty minutes. Spend the time researching Genesis and let me know if you decide to try it, or get some for someone you know who is fighting health issues that conventional medicine seems impotent or too weak to help.
There's nothing like great nutrition to kick one's immune system into high gear!
Ciao for now!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Be Safe -- Keep Yourself "Alarmed"
GREAT IDEA: Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get into your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until you turn it off or the car battery dies.
Test areas of the house first to see if there is an area that the alarm will not activate from the key ring. It will go off from almost anywhere inside your home and your vehicle will continue honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works in your driveway or in your garage.
If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds all your neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and a criminal won't want that.
And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.
......................................................................................................
I came, I saw, I shopped.
Last night I drove over to Michael's Arts and Crafts just before it closed and bought a bunch of card-making crafts -- stamps, wire mesh, ink pens... Jackie went overboard on the gift card. I will have to go overboard on the thank-you card I send her to express my gratitude...
Tonight I went to Wal-Mart and bought two small fans, plus a wee personal fan that I can hang around my neck when I get overly warm at work, and two new pillows and pillow cases with the card my nephew and niece gave me for turning 56. I got something like Gatorade, too, because they were running a sale and I was hot and thirsty (hence three fans...and by now I'm water-logged, to boot!)
I still have a Borders card that someone gave me at work. (Only one of the gifts at work had the name of the giver attached to it, so I am unable to identify the Borders gift giver.) I'll take that for a drive soon and get something wonderful with it, too...
Today I was chewing on a couple of Milk Duds at work and pulled one of the caps off a back tooth, so tomorrow at 7 a.m. I will be in a dentist's chair having it reattached. I am contemplating sending the candy maker the bill. I didn't know those things were cap-stealers. Shouldn't there be a warning on the box? "Caution: Chew at your own risk if the dentition presently in your mouth did not come from the hand of God in your sixth or seventh year of life."
My semi-annual dental cleaning is scheduled for next Tuesday but, with a little bit of luck, perhaps I can get that taken care of tomorrow, too, so I don't have to take time from work next week. I'll see if I can beg really cute after the cap is firmly attached again. If begging doesn't work, perhaps as I leave the building I'll trip someone on the way in who's scheduled for the hygienist at the time I could be having it done if he or she weren't scheduled for it. (My sense of humor is not born again. It's still the same sick thing it has always been... fodder for the Comedy Central Channel - Hades Campus.) (Shame on me!)
I was in a dentist chair one time for another "trauma" malady. I had been chewing on a salty snack and either chipped a tooth or tore loose another (or the same) cap. When the dentist asked me what had caused the trouble, I quite honestly reported, "I was eating corn nuts." His mouth twisted into a pruny-looking knot as he contemplated the information and then he drily offered his professional opinion: "You may as well chew gravel, for all the difference it makes to your teeth." I almost wet myself laughing -- and I have never chewed corn nuts since.
I suppose now I will have to swear off Milk Duds as well. The Golden Years are beginning to lose their allure. Guess I'll have to gum Thin Mints or pudding from now on!
Test areas of the house first to see if there is an area that the alarm will not activate from the key ring. It will go off from almost anywhere inside your home and your vehicle will continue honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works in your driveway or in your garage.
If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds all your neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and a criminal won't want that.
And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.
......................................................................................................
I came, I saw, I shopped.
Last night I drove over to Michael's Arts and Crafts just before it closed and bought a bunch of card-making crafts -- stamps, wire mesh, ink pens... Jackie went overboard on the gift card. I will have to go overboard on the thank-you card I send her to express my gratitude...
Tonight I went to Wal-Mart and bought two small fans, plus a wee personal fan that I can hang around my neck when I get overly warm at work, and two new pillows and pillow cases with the card my nephew and niece gave me for turning 56. I got something like Gatorade, too, because they were running a sale and I was hot and thirsty (hence three fans...and by now I'm water-logged, to boot!)
I still have a Borders card that someone gave me at work. (Only one of the gifts at work had the name of the giver attached to it, so I am unable to identify the Borders gift giver.) I'll take that for a drive soon and get something wonderful with it, too...
Today I was chewing on a couple of Milk Duds at work and pulled one of the caps off a back tooth, so tomorrow at 7 a.m. I will be in a dentist's chair having it reattached. I am contemplating sending the candy maker the bill. I didn't know those things were cap-stealers. Shouldn't there be a warning on the box? "Caution: Chew at your own risk if the dentition presently in your mouth did not come from the hand of God in your sixth or seventh year of life."
My semi-annual dental cleaning is scheduled for next Tuesday but, with a little bit of luck, perhaps I can get that taken care of tomorrow, too, so I don't have to take time from work next week. I'll see if I can beg really cute after the cap is firmly attached again. If begging doesn't work, perhaps as I leave the building I'll trip someone on the way in who's scheduled for the hygienist at the time I could be having it done if he or she weren't scheduled for it. (My sense of humor is not born again. It's still the same sick thing it has always been... fodder for the Comedy Central Channel - Hades Campus.) (Shame on me!)
I was in a dentist chair one time for another "trauma" malady. I had been chewing on a salty snack and either chipped a tooth or tore loose another (or the same) cap. When the dentist asked me what had caused the trouble, I quite honestly reported, "I was eating corn nuts." His mouth twisted into a pruny-looking knot as he contemplated the information and then he drily offered his professional opinion: "You may as well chew gravel, for all the difference it makes to your teeth." I almost wet myself laughing -- and I have never chewed corn nuts since.
I suppose now I will have to swear off Milk Duds as well. The Golden Years are beginning to lose their allure. Guess I'll have to gum Thin Mints or pudding from now on!
Monday, March 5, 2007
Birthday Bummer...But There's Always Hope!
My aunt in Oregon has been moved to a nursing home (or an Adult Family Home) there, so advocating for her will be nigh unto impossible unless she recovers and can be moved closer. It's a four-patient home, not an impersonal institution, so that part of it feels right...
She just waited too long to get things underway, as so many older folks do. I might be the same way if I get to 93. It's hard to decide to make a change as long as one is ambulatory and independent. We tend to think we'll get by as we always have, just a wee bit slower than usual...
I'm relieved that she is no longer by herself. My cousin will pick up her cat and care for him or get him cared for; that is her chief concern. And if he needs to move her out of the rental and send her furniture and personal belongings into storage, he will. It's lucky to have a cousin who is already retired at age 53; he can drop everything and be a hero. I just started this new job and we're allowing vacations for several people right now, so getting away right now is impossible.
As Bette Davis so aptly spoke: "Getting old ain't for sissies."
Today was busy at work. That's the norm, of course (and another reason I like it so much), but today was busier than usual because three people are on vacation, including the head copywriter, so there's more to stay atop for the writers than usual. I think my "roomie" at work is carrying the lion's share of the extra load, though. I'm still the newbie and have enough on my plate generally just to stay caught up with the needs of "my" clients. As I can, I help elsewhere, because I truly work with wonderful, dedicated people and we all care about each other. It's a great team!
I didn't get out to Wal-Mart or Michael's tonight. Will try to do it tomorrow. Those gift cards are burning a hole in my wallet! I have plans for those cards...
Our older sis Laurel got us hooked on card-making (using stamps, watercolors, appliques and such) Christmas before last. That's why the Michael's gift card resonates with me so. I get most of my card-making supplies there.
She got Jackie and me gifts of a two-hour stamping class in Olympia and we've gone into it to the tune of several hundred dollars each. At the price of a card these days, I suppose the expense will balance out... except that I tend to send e-cards these days because the cost of cards and stamps is so high. NEVERTHELESS, I love making cards. It relaxes me. I've come up with some pretty nifty ideas, too. Does anyone else out there in blog-land enjoy scrapbooking or card-making?
Laurel wanted to get me a massage as a gift last year. I said, "No way!" Gads, if I liked that as much as I like stamping, I'd have to declare bankruptcy-- because -- duh! -- guess what? I probably would like it, even though I'm not much of a sensualist...
Besides, at my age getting massaged would embarrass me. I have too much skin in places where it shouldn't be (having lost over 100 pounds in a year's time several years after the elasticity of my skin was a happening thing) -- and appendages that gravity has really hammered.
And that's more information than you really need to know about me, so I'm shutting up for the rest of the evening and pondering what kind of message to bring to this blog tomorrow.
It won't be about massages or appendages, I promise!
She just waited too long to get things underway, as so many older folks do. I might be the same way if I get to 93. It's hard to decide to make a change as long as one is ambulatory and independent. We tend to think we'll get by as we always have, just a wee bit slower than usual...
I'm relieved that she is no longer by herself. My cousin will pick up her cat and care for him or get him cared for; that is her chief concern. And if he needs to move her out of the rental and send her furniture and personal belongings into storage, he will. It's lucky to have a cousin who is already retired at age 53; he can drop everything and be a hero. I just started this new job and we're allowing vacations for several people right now, so getting away right now is impossible.
As Bette Davis so aptly spoke: "Getting old ain't for sissies."
Today was busy at work. That's the norm, of course (and another reason I like it so much), but today was busier than usual because three people are on vacation, including the head copywriter, so there's more to stay atop for the writers than usual. I think my "roomie" at work is carrying the lion's share of the extra load, though. I'm still the newbie and have enough on my plate generally just to stay caught up with the needs of "my" clients. As I can, I help elsewhere, because I truly work with wonderful, dedicated people and we all care about each other. It's a great team!
I didn't get out to Wal-Mart or Michael's tonight. Will try to do it tomorrow. Those gift cards are burning a hole in my wallet! I have plans for those cards...
Our older sis Laurel got us hooked on card-making (using stamps, watercolors, appliques and such) Christmas before last. That's why the Michael's gift card resonates with me so. I get most of my card-making supplies there.
She got Jackie and me gifts of a two-hour stamping class in Olympia and we've gone into it to the tune of several hundred dollars each. At the price of a card these days, I suppose the expense will balance out... except that I tend to send e-cards these days because the cost of cards and stamps is so high. NEVERTHELESS, I love making cards. It relaxes me. I've come up with some pretty nifty ideas, too. Does anyone else out there in blog-land enjoy scrapbooking or card-making?
Laurel wanted to get me a massage as a gift last year. I said, "No way!" Gads, if I liked that as much as I like stamping, I'd have to declare bankruptcy-- because -- duh! -- guess what? I probably would like it, even though I'm not much of a sensualist...
Besides, at my age getting massaged would embarrass me. I have too much skin in places where it shouldn't be (having lost over 100 pounds in a year's time several years after the elasticity of my skin was a happening thing) -- and appendages that gravity has really hammered.
And that's more information than you really need to know about me, so I'm shutting up for the rest of the evening and pondering what kind of message to bring to this blog tomorrow.
It won't be about massages or appendages, I promise!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Sunday Evening Soliliquy
Just got back from dinner at my sister's (Jackie) and her son and daughter in law (my nephew and niece) and their two daughters. Casey's Dad computer-generated a Happy Birthday banner for me with a serval on one end and Dr. McCoy on the other (does he have my number, or what?); Casey drew in hearts and clouds and rainbows and "I love you's" in between (does she have me wrapped around her little finger, or what?). I brought it home tonight and taped it above the entryway to my den. It will be there a very long time, as will the double-heart card Casey made for me. (I placed it on the refrigerator door.)
I'm wearing the necklace Casey selected for me and tomorrow after work will head to Wal-Mart and Michael's Arts and Craft Store to spend the money in the gift cards that Sis Jackie and my nephew and niece gave me. Such pleasurable anticipation!
After church this morning I went to see AMAZING GRACE again to be sure I wasn't imagining how powerful it was. I wasn't. It captured me all over again. It's a true masterpiece. I don't think I've ever seen a movie better constructed than this one. Every scene is captivating. The audience is invited into the time period almost by what feels like a time warp. It all seems so real, so immediate. This is a period movie that transcends the ages. I can't recommend it highly enough, and please go see it while it's in the theaters, because the effect of "being there" will be lost in a home viewing, I fear. The tall ship sequences are riveting; I can't imagine them having the same effect on a smaller screen...
One of the people I work with at On-Hold Concepts told me this week that her mother told her they are descendants of John Newton, who wrote the hymn AMAZING GRACE. John Newton was a former slave ship captain who was born again, repented of his ways and became a monk. He was instrumental in encouraging William Wilberforce to fight the slave trade... I hope his descendant (my co-worker) sees the movie because she will get a look at someone whose blood is flowing through her veins... and she will be proud... and she will never hear AMAZING GRACE again without feeling something stir within her that will be unutterably magnificent.
One of the best lines in the movie is his. In fact, every line in the movie that is his -- actor Albert Finney's -- is monumental. He will win Best Supporting Actor next year, I predict.
In the scene, Newton, now blind, is having a scribe transcribe his "confession of crimes" against African humanity (to aid Wilberforce in his battle in Parliament to end the slave trade) when Wilberforce comes to visit. Newton dismisses his scribe and begins to crumble emotionally because the recounting has finally allowed him to weep (rather than to continue to try to run from the ghosts of slaves that have accompanied so many of his waking moments for decades). At one point he says... but, no... I'm not going to spoil it for you. Go see the movie. You'll know the line I'm referring to the moment he speaks it. It begins with: "I know two things. I am a great sinner, and ---"
Take a hanky. This is not a movie you will be able to sit through dry-eyed. Not even the second time!
I would like to invite you to visit my church, Church For All Nations (CFAN), either in person if you're local, or virtually, by logging onto www.churchforallnations.org. Once at the website, if you go to the Multimedia radio button and then click on the Video Format button, you will be able to view the past three weeks' sermons by Pastor Bill Wolfson. He's always super great, but sometimes he's absolutely grand. By logging on, you will be able to check him out without leaving home. Give it a try. If you like it/him, make the CFAN website a favorite and keep coming back for more! Let me know what you think...
There isn't much else to report today, so I'll let you go for now.
I'm wearing the necklace Casey selected for me and tomorrow after work will head to Wal-Mart and Michael's Arts and Craft Store to spend the money in the gift cards that Sis Jackie and my nephew and niece gave me. Such pleasurable anticipation!
After church this morning I went to see AMAZING GRACE again to be sure I wasn't imagining how powerful it was. I wasn't. It captured me all over again. It's a true masterpiece. I don't think I've ever seen a movie better constructed than this one. Every scene is captivating. The audience is invited into the time period almost by what feels like a time warp. It all seems so real, so immediate. This is a period movie that transcends the ages. I can't recommend it highly enough, and please go see it while it's in the theaters, because the effect of "being there" will be lost in a home viewing, I fear. The tall ship sequences are riveting; I can't imagine them having the same effect on a smaller screen...
One of the people I work with at On-Hold Concepts told me this week that her mother told her they are descendants of John Newton, who wrote the hymn AMAZING GRACE. John Newton was a former slave ship captain who was born again, repented of his ways and became a monk. He was instrumental in encouraging William Wilberforce to fight the slave trade... I hope his descendant (my co-worker) sees the movie because she will get a look at someone whose blood is flowing through her veins... and she will be proud... and she will never hear AMAZING GRACE again without feeling something stir within her that will be unutterably magnificent.
One of the best lines in the movie is his. In fact, every line in the movie that is his -- actor Albert Finney's -- is monumental. He will win Best Supporting Actor next year, I predict.
In the scene, Newton, now blind, is having a scribe transcribe his "confession of crimes" against African humanity (to aid Wilberforce in his battle in Parliament to end the slave trade) when Wilberforce comes to visit. Newton dismisses his scribe and begins to crumble emotionally because the recounting has finally allowed him to weep (rather than to continue to try to run from the ghosts of slaves that have accompanied so many of his waking moments for decades). At one point he says... but, no... I'm not going to spoil it for you. Go see the movie. You'll know the line I'm referring to the moment he speaks it. It begins with: "I know two things. I am a great sinner, and ---"
Take a hanky. This is not a movie you will be able to sit through dry-eyed. Not even the second time!
I would like to invite you to visit my church, Church For All Nations (CFAN), either in person if you're local, or virtually, by logging onto www.churchforallnations.org. Once at the website, if you go to the Multimedia radio button and then click on the Video Format button, you will be able to view the past three weeks' sermons by Pastor Bill Wolfson. He's always super great, but sometimes he's absolutely grand. By logging on, you will be able to check him out without leaving home. Give it a try. If you like it/him, make the CFAN website a favorite and keep coming back for more! Let me know what you think...
There isn't much else to report today, so I'll let you go for now.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Promise Yourself...
“Promise Yourself ...
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind...
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.”
-- Drawn from the Optimist Creed of the Optimist International Club --
-- Drawn from the Optimist Creed of the Optimist International Club --
I ran across the above (abbreviated) creed again this morning. I used to have the entire creed on my wall or in a journal or notebook. (If it's in a journal I still have it somewhere, but I have over 200 journals. A family archaeologist may uncover it one day.)
I think I'll check into joining Optimist Club International. I reckon their ranks are dwindling in the wake of terror attacks, environmental disasters and degradation, and other inconvenient and troubling facts of life, but I remain hopeful and would love to hook up with others who are remaining positive.
Pessimists too often just sit and stew and grumble and gripe, or when they do take action can make things worse than the problem they are tackling. Optimists actually believe they can do something to create positive change. Martin Luther King Jr. was an optimist. You can create a list of pessimists yourself; it'll be quite long, I imagine.
Optimism has its foundation in love. Perhaps optimism is an unheralded spiritual blessing, now that I consider the possibility. It's hope-based; and you can't have hope unless your mind is bathed in a perspective that fosters it, and just such a perspective is benevolence. Benevolence is love in action. Benevolence believes you can meet somewhere in the middle of any disagreement and find a reason to shake hands rather than draw swords.
"I am an eternal optimist who daily lifts my head to the heartbeat of human existence." I think I remember this quote correctly.
I have always been this way. Had I not been optimistic, scars from early life would have built, layer upon layer, to such thicknesses that I would have been irreversibly crippled. (I was seriously compromised until I was born again in 1999, I do know that much as fact.)
There has always been a spark within that said, "You're okay. You're good. You're beloved. You matter."
I remember an old Jules Pfeiffer cartoon (did I get the artist's name right?) that showed a baby boy sitting on his fanny in diapers, having just fallen down. The bubble over his head said, "I fall down. I get back up." The next panel showed the same boy, five years older perhaps. He's on the ground beside a bike laying on its side. The bubble over his head said, "I fall down. I get back up." The next panel shows him as a teenager, and he's looking sad, as though he has a broken heart, perhaps having broken up with a girlfriend. The bubble says, "I fall down. I get back up." A later panel shows the same boy, now a man, very riled, very mad, shaking his fist. The bubble reveals: "You haven't laid a glove on me! I'll get back up!" A couple panels later, there's a tombstone in a graveyard, revealing that the boy, by now an old man, has died. And the bubble above the final panel reads, "I lie there. Pretending to be hurt."
That's an optimist. That's what I hope people see in me: an effervescent, sometimes defiant optimist. The world needs optimists. The pessimists are making things difficult for everyone around them, and the pessimism reverberates across the globe.
But just think of enthusiastic optimists like Steve Irwin, Mother Teresa, Julia Child and Albert Schweitzer. Just bringing them to mind generates a smile on my face. These folks are dead, but far from gone. Their optimism and love remain alive and robust in our hearts.
Optimism is pessimism's match, every day. I cherish the belief that optimism is even superior, not just pessimism's opposite.
Keep the faith. Life is a gift. Time is a treasure. Tell someone you love them.
Friday, March 2, 2007
"Happy Proximity To Birthday" To Me....
I had to open birthday cards and gifts three days early today!
At noon my co-worker compatriots set out a spread of homemade food that was utterly scrumptious, then Marlene (also celebrating a birthday in a day or two) and I were handed wicker baskets filled with all kinds of smile-inducing Marlene- and Kris- specific gifts.
Marlene is a twin and is accustomed to sharing birthdays. Birthdays have always embarrassed me to wits' end, so it was great to have everyone's attention divided. (Guess I shoulda been a twin!)
Even as a kid, birthdays were so traumatic that I must have blocked all memory of them from my mind, because while I remember several birthday parties thrown for my sisters, I don't recall a single one of my own.
I must've had 'em, because Mom didn't play favorites... I must've burst a blood vessel and stroked out from the horror of it all.
I have never enjoyed being singled out, even when it was a good thing. I must be a herd animal... there is comfort in being viewed as just one of the bunch, you know?
Am I the only ham with a shy side? Probably not...
What prompted me to become such an oxymoron (a shy show-off) was my upbringing. Mom and Dad said I was originally their little "sparkler," their own genetic rendition of Shirley Temple. I would happily and frequently dance, sing, jump, wiggle and in all other ways entertain -- to the point where they became concerned that I was significantly too far "beyond the norm" to be well-tolerated. So they set about to "normalize" me. (Try normalizing a tornado sometime. There's bound to be damage.)
Somehow during this "taming," there must have been some "shaming," because at some point during the process I began to think that there was something intrinsically "wrong" with me. Whenever I would express myself fully (I am a high-decibel, full-tilt enthusiast in unguarded moments even to this day), I must have been thwarted, corrected, seriously convinced (yeow!) to knock it off. I remember a frequent comment: "Keep it to a dull roar!"
All I know is that by the time I started kindergarten, I was so painfully aware of my unspecified- but-intrinsic shortcomings that I wasn't able to interact in normal ways with non-family members. Even when my cousin Tim, three years my junior, would come over to play and then would go away for lunch, when he returned I was shy all over again.
Mom, of course, didn't see this. (She was probably just relieved that I had settled down!) My little sister knew it; she saw me tucked into the corner of a building during recess and tried to get me to come out and play, but had very little luck.
Being "broken to saddle" in this way is probably why I became a writer from the moment a teacher showed me how to string words together in third or fourth grade. Turns out I had plenty to say, but not enough courage to come out with anything "spunky" or "outstanding" in public!
It was in sixth grade that my teacher, Mrs. Choyce, recognized a fledgling writer in her midst. I had written a Roy Rogers tale and shared it with her. She thought it was so noteworthy that she decided to read it to the rest of my classmates. (Can you believe I am beginning to perspire as I recall this unconscionable treason?!) I was utterly traumatized, forced to sit there and endure the recitation of my cowboy fantasy. I wanted to melt and run under somebody's shoe...
I didn't see any benefit to being singled out. In fact, I assumed an opposite response -- not a benefit, but a disaster! The kids would think of me as some kind of freak -- or teacher's pet -- or they would find out I idolized Roy Rogers, or they would be jealous or... Heaven only knows what might happen, but I was pretty sure it couldn't be anything good!
All I knew for sure was, I was very glad my teacher liked the story but very sad that she had decided to read it to the class!
It didn't take me long to realize that I would not be able to function in the world if I retained this wallflower persona. When I was ten or eleven I forced myself to take debate, drama and public speaking. It was hell -- I sometimes thought I might die as I waited my turn to present.
It finally occurred to me that if I would simply raise my hand or stand up and volunteer to speak FIRST, the trauma would last far less long, and there would be no prior speaker to compare me to, a win-win situation (plus, I'd earn points for bravery!).
Procrastination is not an issue to this day. If I fear doing something, or don't want to do something, I usually do it right away, so I can get it off the agenda. Waiting to do something I'm not looking forward to doing just compounds the problem, adds to the psychic burden, and ticks me off.
Over time, the white-knuckle aspects of these formerly tension-inducing exercises subsided and my speaking grades became B+s and A's... and... I began to look at "facing my fears" in the same way a lot of people ride on roller coasters or go bungee jumping. I now view any remaining public speaking anxieties as "race-horse-at-the-starting-gate energy" rather than as crippling fears.
Look what the mere mention of a birthday party dredged up!
I suppose you want to know what was in the basket. While my cat Ashley rattles the cellophane that surrounded and contained the treasures, I will reach in and extract them one by one and tell you about them:
A wonderful birthday card signed by the whole gang, with wonderful, warm, fun and funny sentiments.
A book, The Magic of Peanut Butter (a Skippy Peanut Butter publication) -- 100 New and Favorite Recipes using peanut butter (yum!)
dark chocolate covered cherries (yes!)
special edition hot chocolate (yes!)
sunburst-shaped large candle holder (lovely!)
Catzilla salt and pepper shakers (purr-fect!)
a gift card for Borders (yes!)
Tres Kitten note cards and envelopes (paws-itively purrescious)
bee bar lotion (zzzzzzzzzzuper!)
a book mark: "Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." Grandma Moses :)
flamingo note pad :)
lady bug clock keychain (adorable)
very wee ceramic kitty in a ceramic kitty bed (cute!)
and last... but not least.... a candle with a scent like red cinnamon candies (*aaaww*)
Then after work my little sister Jackie and I linked up with our big sister Laurel in Olympia and "LoLo" (that's how Jackie and I said "Laurel" as kids.... so we dust it off at times like these) bought us a wonderful to-die-for dinner at a marvelous restaurant. I haven't had food that good in a restaurant in decades...
But do you think that was all? The pre-birthday continues...
I got a great card from Annie in Aussie Land with a delightful cat on the front. Another came from Nogopiano (Nancy Graf) with a beagle on it (of course) wishing me a happy day when it gets here... (ahem....)
And a package came for me from a Colorado "sister-in-spirit" Margot. Yes, I opened it! I'm on a roll tonight! Did you think I could STOP after the day I've had? Not on your life!
"Marmot" sent me four Aussie wildlife warrior bracelets (Annie, she's stealing your stuff!), a DVD of a PBS Nature special, the final Steve Irwin show, and a Tribute to Steve...
Along with a DVD of the movie Seabiscuit (wheee!), some coupons for my cats (they thank her!) and a Seashore tote that is just precious.
I have been so spoiled today that my actual birthday is bound to be an anticlimax! And that's just fine with me! As stated earlier... I don't "do" birthdays... except when they are thrust upon me by well-wishing, wonderful friends (and family) like all those who contributed today!
May God bless you and prosper all of you!
At noon my co-worker compatriots set out a spread of homemade food that was utterly scrumptious, then Marlene (also celebrating a birthday in a day or two) and I were handed wicker baskets filled with all kinds of smile-inducing Marlene- and Kris- specific gifts.
Marlene is a twin and is accustomed to sharing birthdays. Birthdays have always embarrassed me to wits' end, so it was great to have everyone's attention divided. (Guess I shoulda been a twin!)
Even as a kid, birthdays were so traumatic that I must have blocked all memory of them from my mind, because while I remember several birthday parties thrown for my sisters, I don't recall a single one of my own.
I must've had 'em, because Mom didn't play favorites... I must've burst a blood vessel and stroked out from the horror of it all.
I have never enjoyed being singled out, even when it was a good thing. I must be a herd animal... there is comfort in being viewed as just one of the bunch, you know?
Am I the only ham with a shy side? Probably not...
What prompted me to become such an oxymoron (a shy show-off) was my upbringing. Mom and Dad said I was originally their little "sparkler," their own genetic rendition of Shirley Temple. I would happily and frequently dance, sing, jump, wiggle and in all other ways entertain -- to the point where they became concerned that I was significantly too far "beyond the norm" to be well-tolerated. So they set about to "normalize" me. (Try normalizing a tornado sometime. There's bound to be damage.)
Somehow during this "taming," there must have been some "shaming," because at some point during the process I began to think that there was something intrinsically "wrong" with me. Whenever I would express myself fully (I am a high-decibel, full-tilt enthusiast in unguarded moments even to this day), I must have been thwarted, corrected, seriously convinced (yeow!) to knock it off. I remember a frequent comment: "Keep it to a dull roar!"
All I know is that by the time I started kindergarten, I was so painfully aware of my unspecified- but-intrinsic shortcomings that I wasn't able to interact in normal ways with non-family members. Even when my cousin Tim, three years my junior, would come over to play and then would go away for lunch, when he returned I was shy all over again.
Mom, of course, didn't see this. (She was probably just relieved that I had settled down!) My little sister knew it; she saw me tucked into the corner of a building during recess and tried to get me to come out and play, but had very little luck.
Being "broken to saddle" in this way is probably why I became a writer from the moment a teacher showed me how to string words together in third or fourth grade. Turns out I had plenty to say, but not enough courage to come out with anything "spunky" or "outstanding" in public!
It was in sixth grade that my teacher, Mrs. Choyce, recognized a fledgling writer in her midst. I had written a Roy Rogers tale and shared it with her. She thought it was so noteworthy that she decided to read it to the rest of my classmates. (Can you believe I am beginning to perspire as I recall this unconscionable treason?!) I was utterly traumatized, forced to sit there and endure the recitation of my cowboy fantasy. I wanted to melt and run under somebody's shoe...
I didn't see any benefit to being singled out. In fact, I assumed an opposite response -- not a benefit, but a disaster! The kids would think of me as some kind of freak -- or teacher's pet -- or they would find out I idolized Roy Rogers, or they would be jealous or... Heaven only knows what might happen, but I was pretty sure it couldn't be anything good!
All I knew for sure was, I was very glad my teacher liked the story but very sad that she had decided to read it to the class!
It didn't take me long to realize that I would not be able to function in the world if I retained this wallflower persona. When I was ten or eleven I forced myself to take debate, drama and public speaking. It was hell -- I sometimes thought I might die as I waited my turn to present.
It finally occurred to me that if I would simply raise my hand or stand up and volunteer to speak FIRST, the trauma would last far less long, and there would be no prior speaker to compare me to, a win-win situation (plus, I'd earn points for bravery!).
Procrastination is not an issue to this day. If I fear doing something, or don't want to do something, I usually do it right away, so I can get it off the agenda. Waiting to do something I'm not looking forward to doing just compounds the problem, adds to the psychic burden, and ticks me off.
Over time, the white-knuckle aspects of these formerly tension-inducing exercises subsided and my speaking grades became B+s and A's... and... I began to look at "facing my fears" in the same way a lot of people ride on roller coasters or go bungee jumping. I now view any remaining public speaking anxieties as "race-horse-at-the-starting-gate energy" rather than as crippling fears.
Look what the mere mention of a birthday party dredged up!
I suppose you want to know what was in the basket. While my cat Ashley rattles the cellophane that surrounded and contained the treasures, I will reach in and extract them one by one and tell you about them:
A wonderful birthday card signed by the whole gang, with wonderful, warm, fun and funny sentiments.
A book, The Magic of Peanut Butter (a Skippy Peanut Butter publication) -- 100 New and Favorite Recipes using peanut butter (yum!)
dark chocolate covered cherries (yes!)
special edition hot chocolate (yes!)
sunburst-shaped large candle holder (lovely!)
Catzilla salt and pepper shakers (purr-fect!)
a gift card for Borders (yes!)
Tres Kitten note cards and envelopes (paws-itively purrescious)
bee bar lotion (zzzzzzzzzzuper!)
a book mark: "Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." Grandma Moses :)
flamingo note pad :)
lady bug clock keychain (adorable)
very wee ceramic kitty in a ceramic kitty bed (cute!)
and last... but not least.... a candle with a scent like red cinnamon candies (*aaaww*)
Then after work my little sister Jackie and I linked up with our big sister Laurel in Olympia and "LoLo" (that's how Jackie and I said "Laurel" as kids.... so we dust it off at times like these) bought us a wonderful to-die-for dinner at a marvelous restaurant. I haven't had food that good in a restaurant in decades...
But do you think that was all? The pre-birthday continues...
I got a great card from Annie in Aussie Land with a delightful cat on the front. Another came from Nogopiano (Nancy Graf) with a beagle on it (of course) wishing me a happy day when it gets here... (ahem....)
And a package came for me from a Colorado "sister-in-spirit" Margot. Yes, I opened it! I'm on a roll tonight! Did you think I could STOP after the day I've had? Not on your life!
"Marmot" sent me four Aussie wildlife warrior bracelets (Annie, she's stealing your stuff!
Along with a DVD of the movie Seabiscuit (wheee!), some coupons for my cats (they thank her!) and a Seashore tote that is just precious.
I have been so spoiled today that my actual birthday is bound to be an anticlimax! And that's just fine with me! As stated earlier... I don't "do" birthdays... except when they are thrust upon me by well-wishing, wonderful friends (and family) like all those who contributed today!
May God bless you and prosper all of you!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
What, Exactly, is an Atheist?
OK, so it turns out that my "athiest" TREK friend isn't, after all (isn't an athiest, that is. He's still a TREK friend, and always will be!)
His comments are espoused by many, many people. Since I'm not identifying him, I don't think it will violate his privacy to reprint his email here:
I think Gary Sinise would be a good choice to play the good doctor!
RE: Religion. I was raised Protestant, and I went to Catholic school for five years. (We even sent our oldest son to Catholic school for three years.) So, I know religion well, and respect the message, but to me the message is what is lost these days [emphasis mine].
When we have a president who claims that God told him to invade Iraq, well...
Not that I'm a scientist or anything, but I've never felt or experienced any compelling evidence for the existence of God or gods. My mother will probably never forgive me for this, but I'm quite happy without religion in my life.
But I understand its place in others' lives. I think it provides solace, contemplation and focus for some. But I've always liked talking about religion, and finding out what people believe or don't believe, and why. I even studied it in college. It fascinates me.
Personally, if people just studied the Sermon on the Mount, and tried to live accordingly, the world would be a better place. [emphasis mine]
My response to him was this:
Amen at all you said! Bush qualifies as an antichrist to me!
Religion (it means "return to bondage) utterly disgusts me. It's the personal relationship I find amazing, unfathomable and utterly, utterly irresistible.
I got'cha and I love ya!
Religion has obtained a very bad name for many good reasons!
His comments are espoused by many, many people. Since I'm not identifying him, I don't think it will violate his privacy to reprint his email here:
I think Gary Sinise would be a good choice to play the good doctor!
RE: Religion. I was raised Protestant, and I went to Catholic school for five years. (We even sent our oldest son to Catholic school for three years.) So, I know religion well, and respect the message, but to me the message is what is lost these days [emphasis mine].
When we have a president who claims that God told him to invade Iraq, well...
Not that I'm a scientist or anything, but I've never felt or experienced any compelling evidence for the existence of God or gods. My mother will probably never forgive me for this, but I'm quite happy without religion in my life.
But I understand its place in others' lives. I think it provides solace, contemplation and focus for some. But I've always liked talking about religion, and finding out what people believe or don't believe, and why. I even studied it in college. It fascinates me.
Personally, if people just studied the Sermon on the Mount, and tried to live accordingly, the world would be a better place. [emphasis mine]
My response to him was this:
Amen at all you said! Bush qualifies as an antichrist to me!
Religion (it means "return to bondage) utterly disgusts me. It's the personal relationship I find amazing, unfathomable and utterly, utterly irresistible.
I got'cha and I love ya!
Religion has obtained a very bad name for many good reasons!
...........................................................................................................................................
To elaborate: I find President Bush a very poor representative of a Christian. I pray for him, don't get me wrong -- the Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders -- but mostly I pray for him to get a clue! If he's hearing "attack Iraq" from God, I am concerned...
He probably heard "support the oil industry at the expense of everyone else, give Halliburton all the perks, etc." from God, too. Claiming that certainly gives him a spiritual bouquet of additional authority he doesn't possess as President.
But please, oh, please don't get me started on El Presidente. I want to be positive in all ways always. I urge those of you who don't believe he is good for the country or the world to pray that he will get a major wake up call from God the way Saul of Tarsus (who became the Apostle Paul) did. That's a loving way to change things. He's lost in space; I'm sure his Shepherd is actively working to beam him back. So give your ire a break and turn to loving thoughts instead. Just sitting and stewing, or throwing barbs, is not going to do anything but make the bile in your ducts back up and cause toxic waste in your body.
It's no secret or surprise that Bush isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. That said, I think if any of us sat down with him and held a civil tongue in our mouth while we sat there, we would probably like him. People in politics don't get very far unless they are likeable as human beings.
And I think that if we sat down with him we would find a man who truly believes in everything he is doing (which is what makes him so scary to me). He isn't, I don't think, an evil man. I think he's a deluded man, as Saddam Hussein was deluded and as Osama bin Ladin is deluded. These men all think the end justifies the means. With leaders like these, with followers like these men have, we can expect more of the same: eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth status quo.
And no, I don't have any answers for how to tackle the issue of terrorism. I'm not a pacifist or an appeaser by nature. But when the official response is equal and even superior cruelty and compounded numbers of dead on all sides, I feel my spirit crying out, "Whoa!" I object to mega-retaliation and sorrow over it nearly as much as I objected to and sorrowed over the ghastly sight of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon being attacked.
We live in a fallen world. Have you noticed?
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