And here's the Gravy to go with This biscuit Thanks Jim for the inspiration! and for using Paragraphs. ;-)
Chicken Wings & Jesus Things: Are you ready???: "Ever have those moments when you weren’t prepared? I hate those moments! Think back to those days of test taking…you know the ones you..."
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Passage is Enough...
Communion meditation 7/31/2011
We're either all together, or we're missing the point.
1 Corinthians Chapter 10
1 I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. "
We're either all together, or we're missing the point.
Monday, July 25, 2011
My Wife Puts Up with Me, It's Why I Love Her.
Any you ladies out there married to a nerd?
My wife is married to a big ole nerd.
I like Star Trek over Star Wars,
Dr. Pepper over everything drinkable.
I watch birds. I use ruby, the language.
It's rough sometimes being married to a guy like me because I am an amateur radio operator, extra class. I've been a ham for over 11 years now, and it keeps getting more and more fun. Sometimes, it's even useful. It's rough on her because she's had to put up with me talking about W3EDP antennas, loops, J-poles, SWR, QSO,QTH,QRP, QRO, QRN, QRM, and WPM. I've built many of the radios I use, so she's listened to me drone on about VFO's, Matching networks, Final amplifiers, and block diagrams.
I think solder has a good stink. 'Nuff said?
So yep, here's to my woman! I can't seem to put the X in front of the YL when I think about her...
My wife is married to a big ole nerd.
I like Star Trek over Star Wars,
Dr. Pepper over everything drinkable.
I watch birds. I use ruby, the language.
It's rough sometimes being married to a guy like me because I am an amateur radio operator, extra class. I've been a ham for over 11 years now, and it keeps getting more and more fun. Sometimes, it's even useful. It's rough on her because she's had to put up with me talking about W3EDP antennas, loops, J-poles, SWR, QSO,QTH,QRP, QRO, QRN, QRM, and WPM. I've built many of the radios I use, so she's listened to me drone on about VFO's, Matching networks, Final amplifiers, and block diagrams.
I think solder has a good stink. 'Nuff said?
So yep, here's to my woman! I can't seem to put the X in front of the YL when I think about her...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Chicken Wings & Jesus Things: Casey Anthony and Jesus...
Gravy's take on the whole Casey Anthony thing. He says all that needs to be said from a Christian perspective. He deals with the follow up:
Chicken Wings & Jesus Things: Casey Anthony and Jesus...: "Well the verdict is in and she was found not guilty on murder charges or child abuse. I have been, like so many, watching the trial and..."
Thanks Jim!
Those words need to be said, even though a lot of us may feel bitter about the decision.
Here's what I want to say from a justice oriented perspective (Christian as my worldview is).
The Jury's Decision is the Correct Decision.
I know many of you are angry that I would suggest such a thing, and if you want, you can reread my posts on "String Theory" and Osama bin Ladin and you will understand why as a Christian I can believe such a thing.
Let me say it again:
The Jury's Decision is the Correct Decision.
Now pause again, and reflect, then say it outloud, and let the saying of it free you from the emotion of the verdict. We have a justice system where it is supposed to be easier for the guilty to go free than for the innocent to be imprisioned.
Yet sometimes, even the innocent are imprisioned:
'Franky" Carillo
Lathan Word
Larry Osbourne
Cornelius Dupree Jr
Just a few.... just a few.
Now I believe in the death penalty, because I believe in justice. I am however, and equal believer in grace.
I thank God today that I live in a country where the burden of proof is supposed to rest on the Prosecution, and not on the defense. A purely rational society shouldn't be arranged in this manner, you do realize that right? I thank God that I live in a country where I can be judged by a jury of my peers, because while justice is blind, we certainly aren't.
Heh.
If you want to mourn here, now is the time to mourn.
Please do so.
Chicken Wings & Jesus Things: Casey Anthony and Jesus...: "Well the verdict is in and she was found not guilty on murder charges or child abuse. I have been, like so many, watching the trial and..."
Thanks Jim!
Those words need to be said, even though a lot of us may feel bitter about the decision.
Here's what I want to say from a justice oriented perspective (Christian as my worldview is).
The Jury's Decision is the Correct Decision.
I know many of you are angry that I would suggest such a thing, and if you want, you can reread my posts on "String Theory" and Osama bin Ladin and you will understand why as a Christian I can believe such a thing.
Let me say it again:
The Jury's Decision is the Correct Decision.
Now pause again, and reflect, then say it outloud, and let the saying of it free you from the emotion of the verdict. We have a justice system where it is supposed to be easier for the guilty to go free than for the innocent to be imprisioned.
Yet sometimes, even the innocent are imprisioned:
'Franky" Carillo
Lathan Word
Larry Osbourne
Cornelius Dupree Jr
Just a few.... just a few.
Now I believe in the death penalty, because I believe in justice. I am however, and equal believer in grace.
I thank God today that I live in a country where the burden of proof is supposed to rest on the Prosecution, and not on the defense. A purely rational society shouldn't be arranged in this manner, you do realize that right? I thank God that I live in a country where I can be judged by a jury of my peers, because while justice is blind, we certainly aren't.
Heh.
If you want to mourn here, now is the time to mourn.
Please do so.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
String Theory, Bayou Rat Style...
The universe exists in spite of Inertia...
That is a blessed finger in the eye of materialism.
Inertia tears at me again.
Ugh.
I get to a point where I'm just doing the same things over and over again, until one day, something gets neglected, and not picked up again.
Inertia. It kills me slowly day by day. Until a week goes by, then a month, then a year, then two years, then ten years.
Inertia. I can't stand it, but then again, I can't stand not having that next Soda, or that next candy bar. Give me the sugar buzz.
Inertia.
Leave the mess alone, just let it be, this other mess needs cleaning first (and more often), little by little, I'm crowded out until it spills over into whatever I'm doing.
Inertia is fear.
fear is the mindkiller.
Inertia is the enemy.
How can I deal with this inertia? How can I grow?
I'm pondering my cucumber vines. They are getting long, when they get the right amount of sun, water, and nutrition, they grow well, and fast. Then, all of a sudden, one day, the vine starts to lose leaves at the bottom. The end keeps growing, but if the end stops growing, the vine dies. Death catches up.
The cucumber feels the effects of inertia.
I suppose there are several stages of growth, physical growth, mental growth, spiritual growth. The inertia of any one can carry over to the next, so I learned a new skill, one that will help me physically develop some dexterity and keep my fingers moving, one that will help me mentally by keeping my mind focused on one task while monitoring all the rest (my mind is a skattagun folks, hence the blog name) of reality, and it is one that will help me spiritually by keeping me connected to the lessons of the past, and how great lessons subtly reveal themselves to you over time.
"I'm just tyin' a square knot over and over, right over left left over right..."
Grandpa's words trailed off at the sight unfolding before me.
There was a beltbuckle, and string. Nylon string. He was making a belt, by hand. I was somewhere around 10 or 11 and my mind was fascinated by it. The belt took shape over the next week. When he was done, he gave it to me, sometimes I still wear it.
Somewhere in that is a lesson in patience. It's up to you to learn it.
Recently, his words echoed in my mind when I gained a new insight into something his son(my Daddy) told me once on the subject of knots. More specifically, it was on the subject of the hangman's noose.
We were going somewhere with some purpose in mind, and I had a bight of some small diameter unremarkable cordage in my then teenaged hands. I was trying to figure out how to tie a noose. For some reason it fascinated me, but I couldn't quite understand it. When my dad asked me what I was doing, I replied honestly that I was trying to tie a noose.
He took the cordage and quickly tied the noose, telling me something that often echos in my brain:
"Most people don't understand what they see"
wow. That's so patently obvious I couldn't appreciate the depth and beauty of the statement.
At the time, I took the advice at face value, and applied it to the knot. He gave me the proper lecture about not tying a noose with 13 loops, and about how the knot was more useful than people think, pointing out how it could be used in fishing, and other applications. Now I look upon his advice with new eyes. Most people don't understand what they see. A lot of times I don't understand what I see. I wonder if you do.
When I see something a lot of times it takes me a minute to figure out that what I'm seeing is a chance. Sometimes I see a chance to mess up, others a chance to do something great and powerful. I'm slowly training myself to see every chance as a chance to do right. I want you to think about this for a minute. Every chance you take, is a chance to do right. My friend, the grey is an illusion. There is no grey, you don't understand what you are seeing.
Every choice, every chance, is a chance to do right, and sometimes, you do wrong. You make millions of choices every week, sometimes, you get the choice right, others you get the choice wrong, and most importantly, your choices interact with the choices of others around you in a way that you cannot possible have hope of perceiving. That's what's grey, the myriad decisions viewed from afar.
When you learn that you cannot perceive the consequences of your choices beyond the nearest of futures, and most immediate of contexts, inertia cannot control you. Inertia is conquored by humbly recognizing the limit of your perception. I choose to tie knots to keep from tying myself into knots.
That is a blessed finger in the eye of materialism.
Inertia tears at me again.
Ugh.
I get to a point where I'm just doing the same things over and over again, until one day, something gets neglected, and not picked up again.
Inertia. It kills me slowly day by day. Until a week goes by, then a month, then a year, then two years, then ten years.
Inertia. I can't stand it, but then again, I can't stand not having that next Soda, or that next candy bar. Give me the sugar buzz.
Inertia.
Leave the mess alone, just let it be, this other mess needs cleaning first (and more often), little by little, I'm crowded out until it spills over into whatever I'm doing.
Inertia is fear.
fear is the mindkiller.
Inertia is the enemy.
How can I deal with this inertia? How can I grow?
I'm pondering my cucumber vines. They are getting long, when they get the right amount of sun, water, and nutrition, they grow well, and fast. Then, all of a sudden, one day, the vine starts to lose leaves at the bottom. The end keeps growing, but if the end stops growing, the vine dies. Death catches up.
The cucumber feels the effects of inertia.
I suppose there are several stages of growth, physical growth, mental growth, spiritual growth. The inertia of any one can carry over to the next, so I learned a new skill, one that will help me physically develop some dexterity and keep my fingers moving, one that will help me mentally by keeping my mind focused on one task while monitoring all the rest (my mind is a skattagun folks, hence the blog name) of reality, and it is one that will help me spiritually by keeping me connected to the lessons of the past, and how great lessons subtly reveal themselves to you over time.
"I'm just tyin' a square knot over and over, right over left left over right..."
Grandpa's words trailed off at the sight unfolding before me.
There was a beltbuckle, and string. Nylon string. He was making a belt, by hand. I was somewhere around 10 or 11 and my mind was fascinated by it. The belt took shape over the next week. When he was done, he gave it to me, sometimes I still wear it.
Somewhere in that is a lesson in patience. It's up to you to learn it.
Recently, his words echoed in my mind when I gained a new insight into something his son(my Daddy) told me once on the subject of knots. More specifically, it was on the subject of the hangman's noose.
We were going somewhere with some purpose in mind, and I had a bight of some small diameter unremarkable cordage in my then teenaged hands. I was trying to figure out how to tie a noose. For some reason it fascinated me, but I couldn't quite understand it. When my dad asked me what I was doing, I replied honestly that I was trying to tie a noose.
He took the cordage and quickly tied the noose, telling me something that often echos in my brain:
"Most people don't understand what they see"
wow. That's so patently obvious I couldn't appreciate the depth and beauty of the statement.
At the time, I took the advice at face value, and applied it to the knot. He gave me the proper lecture about not tying a noose with 13 loops, and about how the knot was more useful than people think, pointing out how it could be used in fishing, and other applications. Now I look upon his advice with new eyes. Most people don't understand what they see. A lot of times I don't understand what I see. I wonder if you do.
When I see something a lot of times it takes me a minute to figure out that what I'm seeing is a chance. Sometimes I see a chance to mess up, others a chance to do something great and powerful. I'm slowly training myself to see every chance as a chance to do right. I want you to think about this for a minute. Every chance you take, is a chance to do right. My friend, the grey is an illusion. There is no grey, you don't understand what you are seeing.
Every choice, every chance, is a chance to do right, and sometimes, you do wrong. You make millions of choices every week, sometimes, you get the choice right, others you get the choice wrong, and most importantly, your choices interact with the choices of others around you in a way that you cannot possible have hope of perceiving. That's what's grey, the myriad decisions viewed from afar.
When you learn that you cannot perceive the consequences of your choices beyond the nearest of futures, and most immediate of contexts, inertia cannot control you. Inertia is conquored by humbly recognizing the limit of your perception. I choose to tie knots to keep from tying myself into knots.
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