THE GATE

Imagine yourself outside a high stone wall in front of an iron gate.  Without knowing anything else, what assumptions are we tempted to make?  We may think by the wall we are meant to be excluded and have no right to be inside.  We may think a rich man lives in there and wants nothing to do with us.  We may suppose he is high-minded, exclusively snobbish, someone with an aristocratic, elitist attitude.  We are supposing things about someone else' life, not our own.  Perhaps we take no thought at all that we have done nothing to earn admittance and possibly have not recognized any opportunity for admittance if it was offered.

We might be tempted to be jealous.  Why is he rich and I am not?  He must have advantages I do not have.  His advantages are unfair, I should have had them.

We see a limo come out and it drives right by us.  We assume He wants no contact.  But in reality we know nothing (or at least little) about him.  We know nothing about his attitude toward charity.  We know nothing about how kind or unkind he is. We know nothing about how or what he desires about contact with other people.

How often do we think of ourselves a bit like Lazarus the beggar outside the rich man’s gate as in Luke 16:20?  We are the poor and needy: ignored by the rich and powerful.

But what if we had the gate advantage? 

We, in fact, do have advantages over others.  In our own ways we have advantages, though perhaps not in money.  Do we stop to think of what these are?  Can we name them?  Are we proud of them?  Do we position ourselves among others by using them?  How do we handle these advantages?    Do we use them well or do we use them to dominate?

It didn’t play out well for the rich man who drove past Lazarus day-by-day.  Let’s be aware of what is around us as we drive out our gate in our limousines.

CLIFF WALKING

Prov 2:7 – "[God] holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield for those who walk blameless . . .”  But there are those who do not walk “blameless”; in fact hardly any of us do.  As we walk near or into areas where we could be tainted by things or actions that might cause blame, we are putting at risk what success God has “in store for the upright”. 

God has been generous to give me a degree of success.  Yet for the success I have I know I have not been blameless.   This leads me to wonder:  How much more success might I have had? 

This is not a time to regret things of the past, but a time to concentrate on being upright, to avoid paths I know lead past items of “blame”. 

To flirt with areas for which you could be justifiably blamed for sin is to risk your success.  It is like walking too close to an edge of a cliff.  You don’t hear happy stories about people who walk too near the edges of cliffs.

UNTIL THE HARVEST

The ant provides her meat in summer and gathers her food in harvest. (Prov 6:8)  To provide means she had taken forethought to make sure it is there, available for use.  It is there for use in the summer when no other crops are available, for they are growing.  There will be no food available until the crops get ripe for harvesting.  This means there have to be plans to store and ration some of last year’s harvest until the new harvest is ready; and so on for all harvests. 

We can not be sluggards but must be like the ant.  We must protect the seed for planting and protect the crops as they grow.  We must keep our harvest tools prepared.  We must understand there is a constant rate of consumption and a cyclic rate of planting/harvest.  We have to match these together properly.  We have to be actively aware and plan and be ever vigilant of efficiency and avoidance of waste.

FRUIT OF THE ADULTEROUS WOMAN

(Prov 5)
Many hard things will happen to the man that goes after the strange woman.

- Gives his honor to others.  If “honor” means his act of giving his respect and consideration to another, he has given it to a person who certainly does not deserve it.  He has directed his attention to a thief:  a thief who is not only stealing what the man should have been giving to some one else (i.e. wife, mother, sisters . . . ) but who herself is stealing from those who should have been close to her (i.e. husband, father, brothers).  He shows very poor judgment to give his honor to such a person.  If “honor” means the receiving of respect from others, he demonstrates he deserves none.  He is breaking a fundamental law of God:  one of the ten commandments.  He demonstrates poor character.

- Gives his years to the cruel.  His time spent with adultery will last longer than the act itself.  Even if the adultery remains hidden from other people it is open and plain before God.  It will always remain in the adulterer's memory:  either with a sense of regret or with a wish to commit more sin.  If the adultery is known he will live with the fruits of ruined relationships and perhaps a ruined reputation.  He will be seen as one who is not reliable.

- Strangers filled with his wealth.  His financial wealth is taken minimally by whatever it costs to spend time with the adulteress: hotels, meals, doctors’ bills, abortionists, etc.  He is risking the loss of what he may have built up in law suits and lawyer’s fees.  If he was married and gets divorced he may face the loss of joint holdings:  houses, lands, automobiles, bank accounts, etc.  But worse of all he will have lost the wealth of his reputation as a stable well grounded man.

- Labors are in the house of a stranger.

If he comes to his senses he will [v11]  ‘mourn at the last, when [his] flesh and thy body are consumed, [v12] and say, ‘How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; [v13] and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!  [v14] I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.’ “

You can also think of the “Adulterous Woman” in a figurative way rather than the literal way (as an actual flesh-and-blood human).  You can think of the right way of reasoning as God’s way; and the Adulterous Woman’s way as the World’s way.  You do not want to “honor” that which God says is not honorable, nor be honored by such.  You do not want to give your years to the cruel.  You do not want strangers filled with wealth which belongs to you.  Your labors belong in your own house, which God owns but allows you to use as if you own.  So stay away from the world’s way of thinking: the Adulterous Woman.

KEEPING THE MIND IN ONE PLACE

My mind easily wanders, straying from this thought to that, roaming down different rabbit trails.  Many things pass over the mind only to be replaced by other things, none getting developed too much.  It is like watching a train roll past that has many fascinating and beautiful cars.  There may be ugly cars too but it is best to ignore them if you can. 

Three things can keep the mind stayed:  writing (like this), a conversation with another and a book.  However I find my mind can easily wander while reading.  One thought brings up another which brings up another still.  It can wander while writing too, but not so much.  What I have written is right there in front of me to remind me where my thoughts were.  A conversation stays yet more focused because the other person has part of the control of it.  He can easily see if you have lost focus and call you to account.  But I find I can easily stray while someone is giving a speech as in the Sunday sermon or a TV broadcast.  Those mediums can establish no eye contact and no accountability and they will not stop to get your attention, rephrase or repeat.  A medium like Netflix is good because I can pause, backup and turn on the subtitles.

DEVICE DEMANDS

Information can come to our devices (Telephones, Laptops, etc.) from diverse places such at the Internet, email. or Facebook.  When we see the information we can use the device quickly to respond, almost a reflex, often without thinking too deeply.  The sources can be your family, friends, acquaintances, organizations we belong to, or some entity that wants to influence our thinking or to sell us something.  Some of these sources can be annoying or at their worst dangerous. Often they give you mandatory instructions.  One email I recently received had the header "Read it", "say Amen", “Forward”, “Tell all your friends”, etc.

These things are rude and inconsiderate.  Other examples are, "A MUST READ", "IMPORTANT".  Such instructions mean to me:  “I will not read it because it is insignificant.”

Some times the information can be advantageous as in the case of an emergency or an urgency.  Cases of urgency do require response.  The best course is to give some thought before responding.

Let’s face it:  many times the urgency is really not necessary, meaning it is not really urgent.  It just seems that way because of its appeal to respond right away. We feel the pressure to provide an instant reply as if the requester were talking face-to-face with us.  An instant response may lead us to say something careless, something ill-thought out.  We may regret the answer when given time and hindsight.

We have complete control over most of the time we are given.  Let us not be bullied by appeals through our devices masquerading as emergencies.

BULLIES

What are bullies?  They are people who try to get you to do , or think, something they want, knowing that you do not want that same thing.  The dictionary defines a bully as:  “A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people”.

We might ask, “Is God a bully?”  God wants us to do (or not) some things we would rather not do (or would rather do).  The difference between God and bullies is that he created us and all the world around us.  He gets to set what is right and wrong, what is fair and what is unfair.  A bully did none of that.  A bully intrudes into your world with demands.  He did not create your world and has no right to make changes in it.

Sometimes a plane flies overhead.  Many times you can see it. But sometimes you can’t.  When you can hear one you know there is at least one person, the pilot, inside. Maybe there are more.  The plane’s sound has some sort of dominance in your life.  Is the plane’s pilot a bully?  In some way the pilot is infringing on your life when you did not ask for it.  However the pilot is not flying the plane for the purpose of infringing on your life or in any way to control you.  Most likely he does not even know you.  The pilot is not a bully; the bully would fly the plane for the purpose of annoying you.

What about the car playing loud booming music that is plainly heard in the cars driving about it.  Is the driver a bully?  I can’t imagine he does not know how loud it is and that all around him can hear it.  I believe he is making a statement to everyone although no one has requested it.  He is a bully.

WHAT DO YOUR GRAND PARENTS KNOW?

I think it would be worth it to ask the oldest relative you know, “did your Grand Father or Grand Mother tell you of any of their early childhood experiences?”  I told my children about how my Grand Father told me about the masts of the ocean-going sailing ships in Boston Harbor and how they looked like a forest of trees.  If they tell their children this (or if I tell my grand children this) those children - -  having eyes that see today, in 2018  - - will have seen, touched and talked to someone who has known, seen and touched someone (my grandfather) who has seen with their own eyes sights that took place in the late 1800’s  That is 150 years of eyes on this world.

We could ask people we meet with for lunch or dinner or in the church lobby the same question.  What interesting answers we would receive.  Did they experience time of great political change?  Scientific change?  Wartime change?  For example I could tell my Grandchildren about the Civil Rights march I participated in at Boston, Massachusetts with Martin Luther King.  I could tell them I have seen the beginning of space exploration and I saw the Challenger explode in the sky as I was walking to lunch.  I could tell them I lived at the tail end of World War II and during the Korean war.  I could tell them that I participated in the Vietnam War while in the Navy.  I could tell them that as a teenager computers took up a series of rooms and only governments and large companies could own them.

DUMP THE BAD ONES

I think sometimes of people who have been mean to me like Father xxx or K.H.   When I do this I hardly think of people who have been good to me like Mr. Toland or Mr. McManus from High School.  A good technique for the mind would be to put out the bad people and immediately replace the thought with the good people.

When I was first on board the USS Ponchatoula I was placed in the Engineering division as an Electrician Mate.  I was to stand watch in front of the ship’s generators.  The controls included some gauges, dials and levers.  I was to watch the gauges and turn this thing and flip that thing when it looked like things were going crazy.  No one told be what these things meant or how they worked so as a result, things went crazy.  When “things went crazy” it put the ship in danger of “losing the load” meaning all electrical power.  “Losing the Load” is a pretty serious condition. Because no one rally cared to explain the procedures and meanings of things to me to me I failed at that job. 

When I transferred up to the Operations division in the Radio Shack as a Radioman I was put on watch by the receivers and transmitters which had many more gauges, dials and switches, but the other radiomen were willing to tell me what they meant and how to use them.  Because the others cared I succeeded very well at that job.

Others have an effect on us.  We should try to center our thoughts on those have had a positive affect.

[[I have no idea if I have used the words “affect” and “effect” correctly]]

EXTENDED BRAINS - 2

I read a concept in a book about the brain which explained that other things are extensions of the brain.  For example writing extends the brain’s memory.  Telephones (via the ears) extends the brain’s hearing.  Television (via the eyes) extends the brain’s sight.  One might argue these things don’t extend the brain, they extend the sense (hearing, sight, etc.)  In any case these make the reach of the brain go beyond the physical space it occupies - - even to distant places and different times, even non-existent places and times.

The written word might be different because it doesn’t effect the brain until it is read.  Books are on the shelves of the library but my mind is not engaged by the content until I read them.  What about photographs, recordings, movies?  When we engage these are we in some way in the presence of another’s brain?

Is a picture of nerve cells transmitting a signal from one to the other comparable to brains of individuals passing along information from one to the other?  Perhaps a country is comparable to a brain, the various states or provenances exciting each other - - a collection of cells “exciting” one another.  How about a corporation, is it a brain?  Is the Earth a brain?

BOOK VS iPOD

When I use a book I have much more control over it than an iPhone.  It feels good when I hold it.  I can turn the pages forward and backward.  I have some sense in terms of “distance”, i.e. number of pages, paragraphs, sentences when I want to go back to a previous point.  When I look at it I know its contents will not have changed between the times I read from it. 

I can do the same stuff similarly on a computer or an iPad, but it’s cold and plastic.  It has advantages like bookmarking and searching but pieces of paper and a pen can do the same in a book. 

A book will not loose batters or power.  A book will not update itself.  A book in simple and does not have menus and functions you have to learn and remember just to use it.

A book does not beckon you away to something else like a software machine does:  you have to put the book down to go to something else, it’s not as easy as a mouse button and a menu.

When I am reading for pleasure I think I will stick with a book.

THE TREE AND ME

The tree is often used as an analogy for ancestry, as in a family tree.  Think of the trunk as yourself:  the ground level; and the roots as your ancestors:  basement level one, two, etc.  The branches are your descendants, your children and grandchildren; second floor, third floor, etc.

The problem with the analogy is that the roots under the trunk (you) grow unseen, ever spreading, ever larger.  There are your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and so on.  But it is impossible for the tree to represent humankind because the system can not increase forever.  At some point it must begin to shrink down to just two ancestors:  Adam and Eve.  Even the theory of evolution must start decreasing down to the original “evolved” humans or set of “evolved” humans.

I wonder what the mathematics behind all that process is?  Some factors would be:  average reproductive age, average life span, development of medical science, development of farming technology.

Another interesting view using a tree trunk to represent yourself is:  where I stand (ground level) I see many other trees.  They each have roots and branches.  At my children's’ level (first floor) they are trunks with roots (my wife and I) and branches (my grandchildren).  They can see many other trunks, each of those with roots and branches.

When we see other trunks like ourselves this is called a “generation”.

ON JOURNALING

Transcribing my old journal produces several things:

- - An exercise of the ego
- - A recollection of history
- - A re-opening of things learned or developed in the past.
- - A means of transmitting who I was and who I am to my family:
- Wife
- children
- daughters-in-law
- grandchildren
- - An exercise of writing, communication

I think the act of writing helps my think better.  It gives a feeling of some solidarity, somewhere to stick, somewhere to materialize and become visible.  It takes physical a form. 

In materializing what seemed wise in thought now looks foolish – OR – what seemed foolish now looks wise.

When I remember an event and write it down it becomes available to my family whereas I might never think of it in a conversation.  The conversation of a group goes as the group wants at the speed the group wants; it might be rude to run it the way I want.  It can be better thought out in a written form and it can have more detail written.  It can be better phrased.

ARGUMENT WITH AN EVOLUTIONIST

A few years ago (2014, in fact) I had an email discussion with a man who had changed his mind and decided to become an atheist.  He therefore adopted evolution as a world view.  I made the following points to him in a couple emails.  He never responded after email number two.

(Radioactive isotope half life proof of age.)  Why is it not possible for God to have created radioactive isotopes with a portion of their half lives already expended?  If he created the world he certainly could have done that.  G. Brent Dalrymple, an atheist advocate, and others can not create something from nothing.  Indeed, no man, or group of men can without using resources already in the creation.  No, not a single speck of dust.

The debate is about a difference between two worldviews  - - Creationist vs Evolutionist. Each must start by making basic assumptions.  They take these assumptions by faith.  One view takes the position that creation took place in six days, the other takes the view that creation is a process that has been on-going for billions of years.  It takes faith - assumptions - to hold to either view (perhaps much more faith to hold the evolutionist view).

Once you have the faith you can use whatever evidence you find to support your view, or abandon one view for the other.

I take the view that God created the world in six days to include the sedimentary layering of the Grand Canyon and the presence of radioactive isotopes that have apparently expended some portion of their half-lives.

Evidence is simply the presence of observable facts such as the half-life of isotopes or layering of geologic sediments.  The difference in world views determines what we do with the evidence.  What we do with that evidence requires assumptions and reasoning.  The reasoning part is easy,  it either stands up to the scrutiny of other (responsible and honest) peers,  or it doesn't. 

But,  try as you may,  there are always assumptions.  A good scientific paper lists the assumptions.  It then presents the evidence and draws conclusions about the evidence.  Some scientists have drawn the conclusion that isotopic half-life proves millions of years of evolution.  Other scientists do not accept the conclusion.

(The Scientific Method)  I understand what the Scientific Method is.  I never meant to imply that scientists do not work hard and they are not honest with their results.  I believe most evolutionists and creationists hold their beliefs sincerely,  though some from each camp have resorted to bickering and name-calling.

Man has free will and can decide to believe either the evolutionist or creationist view.  When pressed a person must eventually choose between:  “Did God create what we see and experience?” - - or - - “Is all part of natural processes that have no particular meaning?”

The creation is either old (trillions of years), or new (7000 to 8000 years).  Some scientists personally choose to believe that there is a God and that he is the creator of what we see and experience.  other scientists reject that notion.  At some point every scientist chose what group he/she would belong to, and he/she did it through faith.  They chose:  “I believe there is a creator” or they chose:  “I do not believe in a creator”.  This is why I say it's a matter of faith:  some choose to see the evidence as pointing to a creator and others do not.

As for transitional forms - -  evidence from the fossil record showing a transition from one species to another - - there are none.  To my knowledge there is no uncontested evidence of transitional forms.  The fossils show only discrete species and none that demonstrate a transition from one type to another.  Apes are always apes, and men are always men.  If evolution is true - - and the earth is millions of years old - - there should be lots of them.  They should be all through the fossil record.  They should be existent today.

Some might say, “the transitional form only exists for a short period before the more permanent form takes hold.”  On an evolutionary time scale this transition would be a sort of a “flash in the pan”.  Why do we not see “flashes in the pan” today?  We do not see them.  It takes faith to believe the “flash in the pan” exists.

THE HEARING VACUUM

My hearing has the affect of making me a person alone though amid a group of people.

HIGH VOLUME - - Oddly when the volume is high it grates on me rather than making it easier for me to hear.  It is difficult for me to to filter out what is noise and what is being sung or played or spoken.  This is true particularly if there is any reverberation, as being in a large room or when (as in church music) the audio man adds reverberation because he has a fondness for the affect.  When this happens in church I find myself in a fit of negativity.  I must endure it while all the others enjoy it.  If I can not endure I must stand outside until it ends.  The effect is to isolate me, to make me alone in the room, apart from the experience of the others.

IN A GROUP - - It’s the same way at a small group or with the family.  If I can not catch on to the subject, or make out what they are saying, I just have to wait until they are done and try to catch on to what comes next.  I am just taking up space.  I am not invisible because they can see me, I am physical because they can not pass through the space I am occupying, but otherwise I am just not there.  I have to wait until they are through.  They think I am participating but I am not.  They think I am having a similar experience as they, but I am not.  This is exacerbated when many are talking at once and I am not standing close to the talker or the talker is not talking directly to me.  Functionally I am alone in the room, all by myself, until the others get through.

THE COFFEE MAN

As I was sitting on the front porch one morning the man in the Coffee Truck drove by.  He had a lot of stops to make there being a lot of construction sites in the area at that time.  He had more to do than I because he was driving a route to sell the coffee.  He has to earn money, he had to make a schedule.  I don’t have to earn money because I have already spent decades earning money and had funded a retirement.

I could drive a coffee truck too.  I could either own one, or work for someone.  In a way it is easier to work for someone because he, not I, would have to responsibility of the ownership of the truck and the provisioning of the merchandise and all the ancillary expenses and responsibilities like insurance, registration, maintenance, proper business paperwork and taxes (for starters). 

If I worked for him he would put a demand on me to show up on a regular basis and he would be in trouble if I didn’t.   But I did not work for him.  I could have bought a coffee from him, but I didn’t.  I already had my coffee and the freedom to drink it.  I didn’t even make it, my wife did.

Like him, I once had work obligations and a schedule.  All that do have them have built this country.  Everything rests on the backs of the laborers, farmers, craftsmen, professionals . . .

Thank you Coffee Man.

PRESENT DAY WRONG DOERS

Since men are sinners we have been doing wrong for all of our existence. We look back to Adam’s son, Cain. He became angry that God did not value his sacrifice at the same (or greater) level than his brother Abel's. He was so enraged that he murdered Abel. Cane considered his works as a sacrifice, a sacrifice of works rather than blood. There was more labor in growing crops than raising animals. When he saw Abel's gift preferred before his own he became insanely jealous. Maybe he thought, “I have to plow, sow, reap, and transport this stuff. All Abel has to do is watch his sheep feed themselves and reproduce. God’s not fair; I worked and Abel skated. God should value me more than Abel.”

Are we in a figure murdering each other for jealousy over God’s gift to another and over the blessing of God for another? Are we troubling our own souls and spoiling the life of another?

The Moabites hired Balaam to curse the Israelites as they came to the Promised Land. But God prevented him from doing it, though he tried several different ways to get around the prohibition. He was doing this because he was being paid. He was seeking profit for doing some kind of spiritual work.

Do we seek riches in the doing of God's work? If not in money are we doing it to achieve some sort of advantage? We should do God's work because it is right. We should do God's work for God's profit, not our own. What are our real reasons for what we do in the church? Is it to worship God: or is it to “put our hands together” and jump up and down in some sort of hype?

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram sought to take the place of God's appointed men, Moses and Aaron. We forget that God positions the ones he wants to be leaders in the church. We should seek a church position to benefit God's work, not for self status. Are we seeking a position within the church body for the sake of our status?

TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN

Do you ever think of the easy life we have?

So you are standing there out in the woods while it’s raining.  You really do not like the idea of staying that way and would like shelter of some sort.  If you are going to have one it will take some thinking, materials and a schedule to build it. You will need some sort of plan in your mind of how it should be constructed.  You could build a lean-to using a tarp (if you had one), or of branches.  Whether or not you are aware of it you will have to schedule time to erect the shelter.  You should do it when you can, where you can and do it before it rains.

More permanence than a lean-to requires either a cave or a log cabin.  You must schedule again:  a time to locate a cave or to clear a site and gather trees.  Set aside hunting for now, find and gather the materials, then spend time building.

Want the convenience of more rooms?  You must schedule gathering yet more lumber, or stones, and set aside time for the construction.  Remember that time will include making a detailed construction plan and scheduling effort.  Arrange other activities, like food gathering around building the structure.

Want an inside bathroom?  Kitchen?  More planing, scheduling and gathering of materials required.  Have you thought of the tools you will need?

It’s nice to have other people around to grow our food, transport it to market, provide building materials and assemble it into housing, to generate and distribute electricity, to keep us safe from the few men who are criminally dangerous.

We rarely think of those things, or thank God for those things.  We should.

AVOIDING THE SANCTUARY

A few months ago I was sitting outside from a Saturday evening church service in the church’s cafe.  We were trying yet another new place.  I was using the cafe because I anticipated the music was going to be TOO LOUD.  Sure enough, it was.  Sitting out here the music, though softer, seemed loud enough to sing along with, the way it should have been inside.  The LOUD MUSIC in so many of these churches makes me want to avoid worship altogether.  I decided I would not enter the “sanctuary” for the sermon once the “music” stopped.

Does this have to do with my age?  Yet I see lots of people near my age sitting and listening in these places.  Is it just me and my particular set of ears?

Are the people (musicians[?]) behind the microphones subjected to the same levels of volume?  When these people reach my age will they have hearing difficulties similar to mine?

Out here even the voices seem TOO LOUD.  Are they really?

Whatever the case - - whether it’s them, or me - - I am clearly not of their group.

The voice that came out later, which I assumed to be the sermon speaker, seemed completely out of character with all that came before.  At the start it compared to Garison Keeler from “The Prairie Home Companion”.  But wait - - he picked up steam, like a train leaving a station.

FEET WASHING

Jesus set an example by washing the disciples’ feet. In those days it was necessary to have the servant wash your guests’ feet clean from all the horse and donkey poo they would get as a normal part of traveling from one place to another. The washing meant that the guest would not mess up your clean house. Our house must be kept clean. Imagine reclining at table in the ancient Roman fashion and smelling your neighbor’s dog-poo feet.

The significance is that Jesus cleaned the feet: his actions made them worthy of entering the house. Peter had to allow Jesus to wash his feet; he was not wanting the Lord to lower himself to the task. Similarly we have to be willing to allow our feet to be washed, to be helped to be better through others’ advice, aid, etc. And we must wash our brothers’ feet: be willing to help them. But before everything we must allow Jesus to wash out feet. If we go to someone’s house (and heaven is Jesus’ house) we must respect the wishes of the owner; it’s only polite.

GOING ONTO A SIDING

One day I wanted to write in my Journal.  I had the beginning of a thought about what I might write but as soon as I opened the Journal I became distracted by a place I with a paperclip. When I turned to a blank page I no longer remembered the subject.

I wonder how much I should worry about incidences like this.  Is it a sign that I am progressing into dementia?  Is it old age?  Is it merely a normal thing”

Every once and a while I will loose my train of thought.  I will start talking or writing about a subject, briefly think of something else, and then have a blank mind about the subject I started.  Often I can struggle back to it, but for a while it just doesn’t seem to be there - - an apparent blank space.  Sometimes I need someone to remind me.

Later that day a younger person said that the same thing happens to them.  Should this comfort me or are we both a little off?

I get irritated at the way “old folks” drive and react on the road. Though It surprises me when I realize that I am also an “old folk”. My night vision is not as good and my reactions are slower. Maybe I too drive slower than I used to. I once read that a sign of old age is that they no longer see speed limit signs to be challenges.

MAN VS WOMAN

One night Lizzie had an opportunity to speak at a Church about her book, SUBMISSION IS NOT SILENCE.  I was tasked to say something but I did not know what to speak.  I thought perhaps I should address how men should react to women.   As I remember I said something generally along these lines:

I believe men generally may be more direct and task oriented than women.  Many women do not seem as forceful in nature.  We as men must be careful not to over-express male characteristics so that we override women.  We risk making them feel abused and purposeless.  We can isolate ourselves from them and loose their constructive input.

The truth is that men need subtlety to temper their directness and they need to take thought of how the achievement of their tasks effect other relationships surrounding them.

Conversely, women need to keep the task in mind and not get lost in emotion and details.  They need to realize that sometimes people’s feelings have to take second place to the achievement of a goal.

To me it is obvious that men and women need each other, hence:

- - God saw it was not good for the man to be alone.
- - They shall be joined together and shall become one flesh.
- - Male and Female made he them, in the image of God made he them.

The way men think:
- - Marshaling
- - ordering
- - instructing
- - coaching
- - directing

The way women think:
- - relationships
- - Feelings of others
- - Comfort and beauty of the nest
- - Proper direction and nurture for the family

In the end we will take no earthly accomplishments out of this world:  no money, no status and no fame.  As we present ourselves in heaven we will carry with us only the relationships we have built.

WHAT I LIKE TO DO

Some guy said I could discover my passion in 30 minutes if I listed everything I could think of:

- I don’t know if I’m passionate or just crazy but I will work at a software problem until I either get it fixed, or dissolve in frustration.
- I like to design things
- I like two draw out the designs figuring out the nuances and potential strategies as I go.
- I like to build things.
- I like to finish things (as in applying stain and varnish).
- I like to polish the website.
- I like to travel.
- I like to help someone to solve a problem, specially if I know how to do what they are having a problem with.
- I like to imagine things.
- I like to manipulate data - - without caring what the data represents.
- I like to observe scenery (to include nature and man made places like cities, industry or construction).
- I like to play drum set and percussion.
- I like to get finished packages together, thorough packages: as in reports, websiets, assembled items.
- I like to learn about endeavors that others do:  how they do t, why they do it, how they developed it, how they adapt it to different situations, what is the process.
- I like to be part of a team that functions well together.
- I like to act and do things the correct and moral way.
- I would like to protect and deliver others from suffering wrong.
- I like to discover more efficient ways to do things and write things.
- I like large construction projects:  bridges, ships, buildings, civil engineering projects (dams, roads, tunnels).
- I like to discover or develop better, more robust methods.
- I like to devise and construct things that benefit others (and myself).
- I like thinking type projects.
- I like railroads and trains.
- I like large machinery.
- I like being in the woods, country, seaside, mountains.
- I like boating.
- I like playing in music ensembles.
- I like geology.
- I like technical drawings, explanatory drawings in books, etc.
- I like to diagram things or ideas.

After all that, I still don't feel particularly passionate.  I guess passion comes in the moment, not as some sort of continual burning.

HAVE INFLUENCE?

I wonder how far my influence really reaches.  It’s difficult for me to think it reaches beyond my fingertips.  I suppose this is a very negative way to look at it.  Surely it does not reach if I am not among other people, either physically or verbally (phone), visually (YouTube), or other ways (in writing like internet, email or letters).

If I do not seek these things out - -  the ways of being among people - - I can not waste my time bemoaning that I have no influence.  If I do not try to make myself of consequence, then I will be of no consequence.  If I look in the mirror I should smile at myself because I am the only one who’s going to get it done.

I am a very valuable man:  Jesus thought so - - thinks so - - so don’t waste it.

Small dreams bring small results.  Big dreams bring big results.  No dreams bring no results.

CALLING TO READ

Have you ever seen a book on a bookshelf which is calling you saying, "Read me! Read me!"  If there is any book like that surely it is the Bible. It does actually do that.  There are many, many passages that call a person to read or hear its words.
   
When an individual regards the Bible as the word of God -- and reads it -- he forever becomes a different person.  Such individuals are catalysts of change for everyone about them.  The readers unavoidably influence even those who have no regard for the Bible as special.

Those cultures that have seriously regarded the Bible were changed at their roots by it.  As a result of that, every other culture in the world has been forever changed.

 Even the ones who hold to the view "there is no God" have been solidly and unquestionably influenced by the book about God -- the Bible.  If the no-god believers were to attempt to reverse the influence the Bible they would have to undo thousands of years of history.

Each man and woman has at their fingertips access to a huge bank account. It is a mountain of wealth -- the wealth of God's wisdom, instructions, and wishes for us. Yet not many have tapped this tremendous source of God-given wealth provided via his written word, the Bible. In it we can know who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. Few, however, actually read the whole book. Of those who have, not many have read it more than once or twice. Yet through the pages of the Bible God urges us to read. The Bible speaks in many places of man's need put in the time to read its words.

FOR RICHER OR POORER

Here are my ideas about why sometimes the rich get richer:
.
RICH GET RICHER - - - But POOR GET POORER.
.. Comes from wealthy family - - - But poor comes from poor family.
.. Taught how to handle money, assets - - - But poor not taught how to handle money, assets.
.. Has education, specially advanced education - - - But poor has No or little education.
.. Thinks of the future - - - But poor thinks only in the present.
.. Has positive attitude - - - But poor has negative attitude.
.. Keeps good company (i.e moral and like-minded friends and associates) - - - But poor keeps bad company.
.. Seeks competent advisers - - - But poor does not seek advice.
.. Has supportive, uplifting family - - - But poor has a non-supportive family.
.. Comes from stable community - - - But poor comes from unstable community.
.. Has some money or position from which to start and the vision to use it - - - But poor has nothing to start with and no idea of how to change.
.. From a community that seeks to advance it’s own (there are many good communities, but the Mafia would also qualify) - - - But poor from a community that seeks to keep it’s members at the same level.
.. Has helped and is willing to help others - - - But poor restrains self from offering help to  others.
.. Willing to accept help - - - But poor will not accept help.
.. Thinks about wealth a lot (perhaps to the exclusion of more important life/family issues) - - - But poor gives no thought to wealth.
.. Has fortunate time and chance - - - But poor has no luck (Not just the excuse, “I’m not lucky”, but actually is not in the right place at the right time..
.. Recognizes opportunity - - - But poor does not recognize opportunity.

STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT

     Star light, star bright, I don’t know what I think I might . . .
I wondered today if the part of God’s attention toward us and the creation is not a very small part of the total of all that God pays attention to.  We think of his attention toward us as if that is all he has to do.  In fact, whatever part of his “time” he spends on us, however small,  is 100% of all the time we have.  We have our being in him, not he in us.  How can we hope to comprehend the boundaries of God?  Can we say things about him the way we so confidently say we know about distant stars?  We say how big they and how far they are and how hot they are and what they are made of by using only an infinitesimal speck of light gathered through a telescope and processed through a spectrometer.  We start with what we have in front of us on earth (as in helium gas and a prism) and presume the same rules apply uniformly throughout the universe. 

Starting with Copernicus it takes a large highly educated group of us many decades and millions of dollars to do it.

Unlike the stars, which hardly give us anything,  God has given us the Bible which provides us much more than a few bands of differing color.

GOD'S DIRECTIVES

There are several words that repeat in Psalm 119 that refer to how God provides us direction:

WORD . . . What God says to us either through writing (the Bible) or through someone else (an evangelist, pastor, friend, a book).

WAY . . . What we observe from what God says or how he acts.

PRECEPT . . . A principle prescribing a particular course of action or conduct.

COMMANDMENT . . . A direct instruction from God.  This can be in writing, as in the Old and New Testaments.  This can be spoken to an individual human or group.

LAW . . . A set of rules of conduct or procedures established by God or an authority.

STATUTE . . . A particular rule, perhaps part of a body of law.

ORDINANCE . . . A more refined part of a statute perhaps specific to an activity or a certain group of people.

JUDGMENT . . . An opinion that is expressed to further refine an interpretation of a law, statute or ordnance.  This also might be rendered by a judge in a courtroom or by a legislative body.

TESTIMONY . . . A declaration by an entity or witness about the meaning or effect of a law, statute or ordinance.  This can be given by God about what he himself has said or done.  Or it might be given by those who have been affected by a law, statute or ordinance.

DOWNPLAYING YOURSELF

(On October 2009 I wrote:)
You could not have persuaded me yesterday of anything positive about myself.  I would have had a negative answer for everything you said.  I was determined to believe myself worthless.

But why not be determined to find worth and value?  Why be determined to see the no value in a finite life.  Why not rather see its eternal value and consequence?

No matter what anyone thinks about your worth, God provided his life for yours even when you did not know about it.  He thought – and thinks – a lot about you.

It is an insult to God to denigrate what what he thinks and does.

STEP OUT OF THE PAST

Years ago I wrote in my journal:

Last night I had some trouble while going to sleep because my mind kept bringing up things I thought should not be in the mind of a godly man. These were thoughts of wrong sex, or of being violent, or of someone or group being violent toward me. I realized, "These are not the sort of thoughts God would want me to have." Then I said, "I do not want those thoughts". And then, "God, please help me to think good thoughts." I seem to run around this circle several times before I either go to sleep or I break into good thoughts.

Last night I tried to think, "What was there about my childhood that was happy or satisfying, fulfilling?" I could not think of one single thing.*

Apart from my Mother, I don’t think anyone cared if I was around.**

It takes a lot of hard work to undo some of the things entrenched from the past. No matter what in the past might have been happy and fulfilling, what matters most is: what is happy and fulfilling to you today? No matter who cared (or did not care) for you in the past, who cares for you now? Although the past has a hand in forming us, its grip is not so firm that we can not live in - - and change in - - the present time.

* Not exactly true.  In school, I found Band and Science to be fulfilling.
** As I became older, and became more of a person, and not an annoyance, the situation became better.

ALTERNATE BIBLE STORY INTERPRETATION

Its OK to interpret bible stories alternatively.  Some bible stories have an accepted, often repeated, interpretation.  But it’s a worthy exercise to think of an alternate interpretation.  Indeed, you may have never really accepted the “usual” way. For example, there is a “standard” way of perceiving Job's friends.  The usual is to say the "Friends" are not really friendly.  In fact they are glad about Job's calamities.  They are really competitive fault-finders.  They are seeking Job's downfall and don’t mind disheartening him.

If that’s true why would they sit with him for seven days?  Why would they come to see him at all if it was only to find fault?  They could find fault with Job easier by staying at the market place or at the bar.

But there is an alternate way to view Job’s situation.  Let’s suppose the friends are real and are concerned about his calamities.  Not knowing about Satan’s involvement they assume Job has responsibility.  They want to warn him.  By guessing at what may be Job’s faults they are really seeking to find a solution and rescue and uplift Job.

The story of Zacharias also has a standard interpretation.  People usually suppose he is a tax collector and therefore uses his position to rob others.  They say he is a sinner because they assume all tax collectors rob.  They extend this assumption toward Jesus. They think Jesus ought to know who and what this man is and therefore avoid, or even admonish him.

The alternate is to say, yes, he is a tax collector but that's just his job.  It’s a job like a farmer or a shop keeper has a job.  Being a tax collector does not automatically make him a robber.  Jesus knows that he is a man like any other and knows (because God knows these things) this man has a softer heart than most of the others standing about.

Sometimes it’s good to investigate an alternative view of the “usual” interpretation.  It may help us to expand our thinking.  But our motivation for this ought not to be for the purpose of making ourselves stand out from most other people in a thrust to be noticed. 

Often the “usual” interpretation is usually the best.

THE HERE NOW AND THE NOW HERE

Maybe life as I am experiencing it has an intimate connection to the spiritual world.  Jesus said something like:  “As I am in the father so are you in me;  as the Father is in me so am I in you”.  (Look at John 17 and preceding).  He was physically in the world (we could have seen him and touched him and heard him) yet he talked with the Father.  He said, “My Father and I are one”.

So that should be true between Jesus and us today - - we are in him and he in us.  We should treat our daily living as if we are also somehow also presently in heaven.  What if a veil could be pulled back and we could see the spiritual beings about as it was done for Elisha’s servant when he saw the heavenly armies?

How do I adopt an attitude of living my physical life and realizing, experiencing, that I am at the same time living the spiritual life?

I’ll bet we have been tricked into thinking that the physical is now, and the spiritual comes later.  Or we think that any spiritual event is unusual in the physical course of events.  What if the spiritual is coursing along at all times but we have made ourselves unseeing and unhearing toward it?  If everyone else chooses to be blind should we follow meekly along and be blind too?

What do I do to see?  What do I do to listen?

- - Keep looking to see spiritual things
- - Keep listening to hear spiritual things.
- - Keep reading the Bible and rehearse the passages that support spiritual intimacy and perception.
- - realize that “the kingdom is at hand” means it is at hand, it is here, it is a natural thing.
- - Realize your “natural” perceptions could well have a supernatural component.
- - Embrace your “natural” perceptions and ask God to show you what he wants you to supernaturally know.

ON FINDING OUT ABOUT CANCER

I wrote this in my journal on May 29th, 2007:

On 28th of  May I went to the emergency room of Dr. Philips Hospital for the rectal bleeding I had been experiencing.  The bleeding had been going on for about two weeks but on the 29th it was quite heavy.  That morning I was scheduled to fly to Texas for a week's worth of work but my wife and son demanded I cancel the trip and go to the hospital instead.  On Monday the 4th of June I was discharged with a diagnosis of an invasive carcinoma a short distance in on my rectum near the anus.

I saw my primary care doctor, Dr. Myer, for the first time on Tuesday 5 June and went back to work in the afternoon.  I am presently scheduled for a consultation with the colol rectal surgeon, Dr. Farrarra 7 June and a PET scan the afternoon of that same day.

I thought today how the lord has blessed me by giving me a job while this course of events is going on rather than be being retired and just doing hobbies.  It afforded me extra health insurance I would not have had.  The job and the exercise will (secondary to God’s work) help me to overcome this invader in my body.

I do not feel fear.  I do not feel apprehensive.  I do not question God.  I accept it as God’s plan for me.  Perhaps he has some wonderful and fruitful work for me to do and only this type of training can prepare me.  Maybe this is only to start my boys, my girls and my grandchildren thinking about how transient life is, and how grateful, appreciative and involved we should be in each moment of it.  We should maintain an awareness of how moment of this present life affects and flows into the next.

Perhaps I am dumb, not feeling fear, not being nervous or apprehensive.  But then how can “the peace that passes all understanding” be explained?

POINTS FOR ME AND MY BOYS

It’s OK to lose a few screw drivers along the way, but don’t be lax or foolish with your tools.
Try know what your gifts are and try to use them.
Develop the things you like.
Overlook being always right.
Learn how to be a good friend.
Protect the innocent and the weak
Develop your organizational skills; that starts with identifying what they are
Never stop educating yourself.
Be honest with yourself: when it hurts but also when it feels good.
Know how to perceive a wife.
Know what being a spiritual leader means.
Know what being a Father means.
Know what being a Son means.
Know what being a Brother means.
Know what being a Man means.
It is important to select and spend time with good people.
People who are not good affect what you set your goals to be.
Thinking type work always comes before labor type work.

CONNECTING THINGS

Everything is preceded by some other thing.  And everything I’m doing has something else coming after it.  What I’m doing has been helped - - or hindered - - by what I did before.  What I do now can help, or hinder, what I will be doing.  It’s like everything has sticky spider webs attached to it.

I am blessed because I can isolate myself in the moment.  I can ignore the spider webs.  I don’t agonize about what I did, or didn’t do.  I don’t fret about what is next.  Or, maybe, this is a non-blessing.  Maybe I should be thoughtful of how one activity connects to the next.

But on the other hand, I often don’t have the best I could have in the present because of what I’ve left out of what should have come before.  Also I don’t take the opportunity to set up for what is supposed to come next. If I did, it would make it easier for myself.

At the time of procrastination I could replace my for-the-moment self with a reflective, evaluative and forward looking, planning self. 

This would take place at a very time when I don’t want to make any changes.  Maybe I feel this way because I’m between two for-the-moment periods.  Since I am for-the-moment, and don’t presently have anything to do, I feel uncomfortable.

Yet my tendency is always to stay the same.  Changing from one thing to another is something I don’t want to do  - - I want to stay the same, stay the course, whatever it is.

THINKING OF VALUES

While I was still at work, I wondered if I was doing anything that actually had value.  I asked myself what could I write down to tell another of the value I added to a project or a task?  What would that paper say?  In the process it became apparent to me how valuable writing it could be. 

We often get a short distance in time from events and can not recite their true significance, we can not recall the value.  We forget.  If we do not spend some time in analysis, we fail to recognize important details, occurrences and aspects of the events we just completed.  Our memory fades with time.

Once I realized this I came up with three or four areas where my presence did add value.  I realized also there were other areas where I could have added value if events had been slightly altered.  I wrote a list of things to measure.  Measurable items are the ones to which you can assign quantities.  With the list in hand I had a record of my accomplishment and a device by which I could plan future strategies.

Such a list would be valuable to reinspect at later times to see if I could identify additional items to quantify or additional areas where my presence had an effect. Using such a list I could also analyze each task planned for the future to identify other possible quantifiable items.  I could ask each time:
- - What today can I quantify, can I add a quantifiable item to the list?
- - What sub tasks within a quantifiable item can I quantify?

Such observations must be written, kept and reviewed to have any value.
- - This would get me into the frame of mind to quantify things
- - This would help me identify what sorts of things can be quantified.
- - This would help me with the language of quantification:  what should I express, how should I express it?

KILL OR MURDER?

My wife recently wrote the following.  I liked it so much I decided to post it here:

"I like your inquisitive mind...and your question from Psalm 137:9...its still banging around in my head...

"The God of the Bible is not a god we can make up:

"In the Bible are two meanings for putting a person to death: (1) is to kill, (2) to murder. 

"Murder is a sin and God calls for the death penalty.  The other: to kill is the responsibility of a government or the military to dispense justice.  If we are sinned against, vengeance is God's option and He uses government to create law and order and to give us justice.  Our responsibility is not to seek vengeance.  Our job is to forgive...but, Roxy here is something helpful, I think:

"C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity has a freeing explanation of forgiveness:

" 'Does loving your enemy mean not punishing him? No, for loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment - even death.  If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged.  It is therefore, in my opinion, perfectly right for a Christian judge to sentence a man to death or a Christian soldier to kill an enemy....'Thou shalt not kill,' (Jesus)...There are two Greek words used in the New Testament for putting to death: the ordinary word to kill and the word to murder.  And when Christ quotes that commandment He uses the murder one in all three accounts...I am told there is the same distinction in Hebrew (in the Old Testament).  All killing is not murder any more than all sexual intercourse is adultery...'

"In Psalm 137, it is referring to justice: God is the One to handle it.  When we forgive we are not pretending we do not "see" the injustice, it is laying down our inclination to pay back.   Forgiveness (and I'm getting this understanding from C.S.Lewis chapter on forgiveness) is "fighting" the hate and hoping the person who hurt us will become a better person. Always remember:  "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Romans_12:19

"One more thing:  Edom called for Jerusalem to be demolished (Psalm 137:7) (they ) were a historically evil enemy to God's people. Some people have darkened hearts...only God knows what their judgment should be."

LESSONS FROM WEIGHT LIFTING

I learned some things form the time I was doing weight lifting that apply to life in general.   Before going to the gym I apprehended the upcoming weight lifting sessions to be burdensome, threatening, worrisome and frightening.  The following contrasting statements show what I mean:

THOUGHT:  You think of how hard it will be to be under the weight.  REALIZED:  The point of lifting the weight is for it to be hard.  No effort = no adaptation.  When it is hard, it is good.

THOUGHT:  You wonder if you will fail.  REALIZED:  You may fail every once and a while.  You need to be close to that point.  You may not know where that pont is unless you fail.  When you experience failure you know where the point is, then in successive sessions you can come close to  but not cross over the failure point.

THOUGHT:  You wonder if your form will be bad.   REALIZED:  Some times mistakes in form teach what good form is.

THOUGHT:  You wonder if you will injure yourself.  REALIZED:  It is good to have the fear of injury, that keeps you in good form and not over trained.

THOUGHT:  You wonder if people will be in your way.  REALIZED:  If you are not in the gym you do not know how many people will be there.  In fact I found most of the time all has been clear.

THE BODY FOR LIFE CONTEST

Lizzie and I once participated in a physical fitness contest named “Body for Life Challenge”.   The goal was to build strength while losing weight.   We did not “win” but we learned many things more valuable than a trophy or lines in a record book.

While we were in the process of training, I wrote in a journal:
It was hard to get out to the aerobics today.  I wanted to make it an “easy” day, but thought, “this is a contest and you don’t win contests by doing things the easy way, the other contestants are not taking it easy.  They will gladly run past those who are taking it easy.  After you eliminate all the ones who take easy days you have left the ones who are trying hard.  These are competing against each other.  In this class you have to struggle and persevere to win.  It may be you are outclassed by some of the contestants but to assume so and let up on some of your own drive is to allow the others to run past you.  Until you are past the finish line you do not know who the winner will be.

In any case, the real challenge is to strive against your own limitations.  No matter what anyone else does you must run past yourself.  It’s a matter of ruling your body, your mind, your spirit, for these are what must be enhanced so that they can compete against any other.  If you do not master yourself you will overcome no other.  True, God may not have made your body like a professional athlete’s.  Perhaps it is physically impossible for you to win the Tour de France, or to finish the Iron Man.  But even if you could, you have to deal with yourself on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis.  It’s your reluctance, your tiredness, your pain, your exhaustion you must deal with and not the difficulties of someone else.  Only in dealing with yourself will you advance in dealing with others.

All this is also true for activities that relate to the spirit and to the character.  It’s you that needs to pray, it is you who needs to read the Bible, you who needs to reach out to others.

As I wrote that day I realized we were coming to the final push . . . “We only have three weeks left in the Body for Life Challenge.  From how we look right now it does not appear we will be in contention for any of the prizes.  Yet we dare not let up in any of our effort.  Who knows, the judges may select us for some reason.  It would be no comfort to have let up, let the contest end, and always know we did not put a hundred percent into it.  If we never hear a word from the contest officials, yet we tried until the last day, we will know we will have tried right until ten feet past the finish line.  Finish up, don’t wind down. 

TRAINING NEW CHRISTIANS

The value of a new, uninitiated Christian, one who has been saved from a background removed from church attendance, is that in his freshness, never being influenced by tradition, he can understand the Scriptures free of possible error introduced over the years by the tradition of men.

On the other side of that coin tradition built through the years by earnest men who have studied the Scriptures can keep new believers from wandering into erroneous territory.

To be protected from error one must read the Scriptures for himself.  Then he has some background against which he can compare to what his teacher is telling him.  It takes time to build up this background.  It also takes time to gain an apprehension of the organization behind the teaching.

A question worth asking is: “what does this man gain by teaching me this, does he have an angle or agenda?  Is the result of this teaching to advance the position or influence of the organization he represents?”

FARMER OR HERDSMAN

Noah believed God for things that had not yet happened - - things for which, I suppose, there was no indication they would happen.  But he thought those things so real he dared not go against them - - he feared God; he knew God would do what he said he would do.  His neighbors may have thought him a fool but Noah proved them foolish by his doing of the things God told him.  What God said happened. 

Was Noah a farmer or a herdsman, or both?  As a farmer it would have been easier for him to grow crops while the four men (Noah and his sons) built the ark.  If he were a herdsman he would have to move the flocks around to keep the pastures fresh.  This would have made the construction much more difficult.  In either case, he had to produce enough extra to fund their subsistence, materials and construction of the ark.  This indicates the possibility that he may have hired the work done from people from outside the family.

For such a large structure he and his sons would have needed plenty of “free time”, time away from providing subsistence.  Primitive construction techniques would also consume time.  Did they use contractors, suppliers?  If they did, they needed the funds to pay them.  They probably ran a very successful farm, or they had large flocks over wide areas with many employees to oversee them.

VIBRATIONS

We perceive vibrations at least two ways: as light and as sound.

The visual artist takes a paint brush and with thought and skill (little or much) captures the vibrations of light - - colors - - in a single place for us to view as a picture.  This static color show is concentrated in one place, with all the relationships frozen for a length of time - - as long as the picture lasts.  It is all concentrated in the picture, which does not change, which lasts for a while, and which many can see.  The viewers all see the same unchanging thing.  In a painting or photograph the sun does not rise or fall and nothing in the scene moves.

The sound artist works to produce interesting vibrations either by himself or with others.  But a single tone or note makes little sense until there is change in tone.  Even many voices together make no sense if there is only one tone.  A single note, or a single chord soon becomes boring; so movement - - rhythm - - progress from one tone to another is necessary.  When one voice moves to different tones it is melody.  When many voices move together it is harmony.  Melody and harmony each require some kind of rhythm or progress from one tone to the next.  Thus the progressing sounds must take up some length of time.  Once the time is done the work of art is finished - gone.

Visual and sound art are different.  Visual art is thin, it takes up only specific vibrations which do not change in relationship and which can last for long periods.  Sound is fat, it must take many changing vibrations and change in relationships which last for a specific length of time.  Paintings can hang in art museums for hundreds of years.  Once a music concert is performed it is over.

THE INCONVENIENCE OF SELF CONTROL

The need to use self control comes at inconvenient times.  They come at times when I am not listening for direction, or don’t particularly want to seek direction.  For example, last night I stayed up late because a) I am used to staying up late and because b) I wanted to do a crossword puzzle.  I did not even think to seek for God’s advice much less dedicating the time to God.  I was busy with the activity I wanted to do.

There seems to be two easy ways to slip off the path of self control.  One is pursuing a path you are "used to": an established routine, something familiar, a habitual activity.  Another is doing something you "want to do": something easy you enjoy and it feels good at the time.

But what I’m used to and what I like to do (crosswords, for example) may not be what at that particular time is the most profitable for me.  More profitable things might be:  memorizing Scripture, reading a book, or practicing drums or another musical instrument.  For the long picture literature and music are more noble things than the number of crosswords I complete or the TV programs I watch.

Maybe I should recognize these "used to it" "want to do" times.  Recognize that they exist, that they will appear at inconvenient times, and make plans to resist them.

SETTING ASIDE SELF CONTROL

How sweet is it to think of self control when I am removed from temptation and, how dim the goal of self control seems when temptation looms near. I remember one night I had the opportunity to a) control my eating, b) study the scripture, and c) practice the congas. Instead I watched PBS. It seems easy to quickly push the right things aside so I can take advantage of the less useful things. It's as if I realize the right thing will have it's way and I won't get to do the less useful thing. Accordingly I just pass quickly as possible over the right things putting them aside. I'm good at doing that and thereby I miss a) the Spirit of God and b) the benefit of accomplishing the right things.

I need somehow to stop the rush. How do I do that? Do I look at my watch and make myself think about what I’m doing for one minute? Two minutes? Do I quote scriptures? Do I say aloud to myself the choices I am considering, announcing to myself the benefits I will have from doing of the good things? Should I do ten push-ups before I can commence on the bad thing? Sit-ups?

I may be my own worst enemy when it comes to acting on my feelings. The things I feel like doing (watching TV) will not benefit me whereas the things I do not feel like doing (memorizing, practicing) will greatly benefit me. This is a case where working from the mind is better than working from the feelings (maybe it always is).

ASKING FOR SELF CONTROL

I noticed at one time in my journal I was asking the Lord for self control.  I seems odd for me to ask the Lord to give me self control since I am the one who should be controlling myself.  I thought either should have it or, minimally, I should want to develop it.  I am the one who should be controlling myself.  If another controls me, it is not myself.  Certainly I would not want someone to force control over me, yet there may be times where I need some assistance.  If another assists me in my control is it a flaw in my spirit or is it it an opportunity to develop my spirit?

I need to consider if I need assistance the Holy Spirit is known to be our "helper".  What is wrong with asking the helper to help?  Self control is identified in the Bible as a "fruit of the Spirit".  Since I have the Spirit residing within me, the fruits thereof are available to me.  This alone is a justification for me to ask.  Not asking for help might be a demonstration of being insensitive to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps if I would ask and then listen I would hear.  Certainly if I do not listen I will not hear.  If I do listen I might hear.  Perhaps the habit of asking and listening increases my sensitivity to hearing.  This may build to a point where I will more thoroughly know God:  know what his will is, sense his direction of my life, feel his direct presence.  This could result through the practice of listening for God's guidance. 

REINS

Jer 17:10 - - The Lord searches the heart and tries the reins of a man in order to give every man according to the man’s ways and according to the fruit of the man’s doings.

God has a continuous view into each person’s thoughts, intentions, feelings, hopes and emotions.  As we can control a horse’s direction with reins, the Lord can control our direction but gives us decisions to make.  The question is: will we obey Him?  Once God tries us (pulls on our reins), he rewards or corrects according to what we have been thinking or according to how we have acted.  Once our thinking or acting has produced a product, he rewards or corrects us for that product - - according to the accomplishments, or mess, we have made for ourselves.  God is directly involved with our lives.

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (2Ch.16:9)

ONLY THE APOSTLES ARE WORTHY

A reformed pastor I was listening to said of the “you” in John 16:13 that it was written to the Apostles and not for us.  I wrote in the builtin when he preached it:  “If the ‘you’ is only the apostles according to the context, then should we throw the Bible aside and ignore these verses?  Context only applies = Apostles = Early Fathers = Tradition.  Tradition interprets the Scripture.”  We have to be careful of men’s logical devices such as this one, since they can take us the wrong way from the truth.

At the time I was feeling very sad, almost to tears, for the idea that God does not communicate to me, only to the Apostles, only to this pastor.  Can I take nothing from Corinthians because the book was written to the Corinthians?  Can I take nothing from the Psalms because it was David writing to God?  Or - - is what was good for the Corinthians also good for me?  Are David’s feelings like my feelings and the answers from God also valid for me?  Was what was said to the Apostles also valid for me?

In v25, when Jesus says “I shall show you plainly of the Father” does it mean that at this time, at the coming of the Holy Spirit, that he will show it only to the Apostles?  If this is only for the Apostles then does John 14:15 - 19 mean that only the “yous”, the Apostles, get the Holy Spirit”?  Does this pastor have a lock on Bible meaning that I, the peon, the non-seminary trained dolt, can not have?

Maybe rather the “Apostles” or “disciples” (KJV) are those who are closest to Jesus in a personal commitment level.  They follow closely to him, depending on him, while others come and go.  They are capable with their own intellect to interpret the Scriptures.  They represent Christians while the others, the well trained egotistical others, represent the religious lost.

BUT ITS MY PARTY

At the turn-of-the-century (August 1999) I had a birthday party at my house with my family and some others. During that party my wife and children gave me a djambe which is a type of drum. They all started to sing and I played along with them with my drum. After the first song one of the women there asked if I could play any softer, so I just put my drum aside. Her husband was obviously upset and remained upset the rest of the evening. The others played and sang at my birthday party but I was not welcome to play my drum in my own house.

This helps you to thin out your guest list for future events.

DOES IT MEAN WHAT IT SAYS

I went to a men’s Bible study at a church I once attended where the pastor trotted out his “the primary purpose of the Old Testament is to show Jesus Christ” routine.  I don’t dispute it is A purpose of the Old Testament but I wonder about being the PRIMARY purpose.  It makes it seem that anything else we get out of reading the Old Testament is of lesser value - - value that is inferior.  Therefore any other application we can draw, since it is inferior, can be lightly esteemed or even discarded.  According to this man such applications are more or less worthless.

Why then should we have an Old Testament study if the only answer of worth must be “How does this demonstrate Christ?”

What do I do with a scripture that says, “All Scripture is given for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”?

So, now that I know (according to this pastor) that the Bible is only about Christ, what good is the rest of it?  All I really have to do is see how it relates to Christ, then close the book and forget about the rest since it is minor anyway.  Once I know the one important fact - - that the writing is somehow showing me about Christ - - what else do I need to know?

If I want to find out about homosexuality I should read contemporary books about homosexuality.  The Bible may define the homosexual act as wrong but, so what, since that is not the main intent of the Scriptures, which is to reveal Christ, not necessarily to teach us what is right and what is wrong.

It it permissible for me to ask of the Bible, “does it mean what it says”?

Here are three statements encountered from that particular Pastor:

Statement 1. “Because the culture today is different from the culture of Biblical times we can think of things differently than what the Scriptures say.”

This depends upon what the overarching intent of the Scripture is.  Although some things are definitely different between past and present cultures, other things are comparable.  The role of family, for example, existed and was important in the past as it is today.  While I may not tend sheep as many in ancient Biblical lands did, I can learn from the role of the shepherd basic, important character traits like faithfulness, watchfulness and diligence.  A problem arises when we try to relieve ourselves from the types of personal and social responsibility that is called for in the Scriptures:  for example a life-long marriage to one person.  Because in this present day culture it is easy and acceptable to get divorced does not mean it is an option to choose because it is convenient.  Because today’s society embraces sexual intercourse between people of the same sex does not relieve us from the prohibition of that activity as expressed in the Bible.

Statement 2. “The primary purpose of the Scriptures is to reveal Christ and other revelations are of lesser importance.”

Of course the revelation of Christ is important - - crucial - - to the eternal life of any person, but to say other lessons that could be learned from the Scriptures are of “lesser” importance seems to be a semantical trick.  We know that knowing Christ is vital, yet we still need to know other things like:  we should not kill, we should not steal, we should not commit adultery, etc.  Clearly we must first breathe to stay alive after which we need to do other things like drink water and eat food.  I can not (or at least I should not) pick up The Book, learn about Christ, and then toss it aside as if it’s all I really need.  There is so much more of inestimable value to be found, if we will but pay attention.

Statement 3. “The context of certain Scriptures eliminate the reader from taking the plain meaning of the text as for himself.”

Without an example of a specific scripture this statement makes no sense.  It seems to me you have to first know the plain text meaning of the words you read.  Then you compare what knowledge you have of the context to the meaning of the text.  From the comparison of the text and context you arrive at a conclusion about the intention of what was written.  Whatever conclusion the reader arrives at has meaning for the reader.  What I think this pastor was really wanting to say is that he only is capable of interpreting the meaning.   The average parishioner must look to him, the seminary graduate, for the correct interpretation.  He once said, "The Holy Spirit teaches your pastor, and your pastor teaches you."  The Pharisees said that too.

SENSES

The Scripture speaks of the “Lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.”  I notice there is no mention of the “Lust of the ear” or the “Lust of the nose.”  Is this because there is some special property of vision?  Is there some way that this particular sense has more power to be damaging? Is it wired more directly into emotions and passions not being filtered first through the thinking mind?

A nude body is of the eye, but music is of the ear.  You can sexually arouse yourself by seeing images of nudes.  You can even imagine morally damaging visual scenes.  But can not sexually arouse yourself through music absent any visual image.  Today’s options include music videos.  If you heard the music without ever seeing the video could you get the same impressions (thoughts, emotions and feelings) as you could be seeing the video?

You can get impressions through the lyrics of music.  The lyrics can carry sexual messages.  Lyrics can be carried and reinforced by music, but the music does not carry the message.  Music without lyrics can  not carry the visual image.  The song “The Stripper” by itself will not convey the image of a stripper, the listener has to have, if fact, seen a stripper’s performance.  The imagery of the stripper, once seen, can be overlaid on the music in the listener’s mind.

Can the music alone give all people the same visual impression?  I’ll bet not.  I’ll bet ten different people could get ten different visual impressions from a piece of music – even one with lyrics, but if all ten saw a video with the music they would all get the same impression - - that of the videographer, not necessarily of the one who composed the music or wrote the lyrics.

The song, “the Song Remembers When” talks of a song being able to evoke a strong memories of a past event.  But it was an event that had a host of other senses tagged to it - - not the least of which is what was seen when the event occurred.  These are the events inside the head of the listener, not of the song writer. The lyricist has his memories, visual or otherwise, and the listener has his; they are not the same.

CHOICES THAT SEEM PREDESTINED

I don’t hold with the theological doctrine of Predestination.  But there is a reason to find value in the theory of the “Predestination” position - - not as the sole position, but as a balance for the “Free will” or “Decisional” position.

Joseph said to his brothers, “You decided to do evil to me, but God used it for good.”  God had determined that Abraham’s seed would go into Egypt and grow there.  Joseph’s brothers on their own volition decided first to murder Joseph, but then to sell him into slavery.  Although their free choice was for evil, by God’s sovereignty the results of it turned out for good:  God’s good, Joseph’s good, the brothers’ good, Israel’s good, and even our good.

To say God made Joseph’s brothers decide to do murder is to say that he made his creatures do something which is against the nature of God himself.  They must have chosen to do the evil.  God, being good by definition, converted the evil into good.  But God, being in existence at all times (past, present and future), knew before the bad happened that it was going to happen.  He did not preclude the brothers’ bad decision.

We should not be afraid to make choices, or be made to think that our choices have no real meaning or effect because some others are fully persuaded about predestination.  “If God has predetermined things what choice do we have, is there really any choice at all, why bother?”  Because, as Joseph’s brothers did, we have options before us that we can choose.  But we should also know that God has all firmly in his control and in the end his will will work for the good.  And if God has all in control, we can see he will be more than willing to give us the power to accomplish his will.  And if we fail to accomplish his will God will make it come out his way anyway in spite of the mess we make.

If Joseph’s brothers can choose evil, then so can we.  But, as an extension to this, we can also choose good.

At some time we are going to be in a place where we will have to choose - - we will not have the luxury of passing the choice by.

EMOTION CHANGES DNA

I Read an article that said emotions from negative social activity, like being rejected or ignored, actually changes our DNA.  They cause emotional or psychological results that can eventually express as physical results.  I quote a portion of this article:  “Within 40 minutes, they and other researchers have found, these experiences affect the expression of individual genes, determining which parts of our DNA are turned on or off . . . they have found, [these experiences] can change how DNA behaves.”

So we are to believe that emotion changes DNA.  I have been taught that DNA is a chemical structure within a cell.  It is supposed to resemble a helix, a double coil, having rungs like a ladder.  The "rungs" of the ladder are our genes.  The article states our emotions are supposed to change these genes.

I suppose if someone, who I thought liked me now says he hates me, has made my genes change.  How could you know my genes have changed?  How can this be proved? Will a piece of skin be taken from me, frozen, sliced up, dyed and microscopically analyzed to show the changes?  This presupposes a skin sample was taken before the "rejection" so it could be compared to the one taken after the "rejection" that the differences could be observed.  Do I need to take a blood test, will that work? 

Remember, this all takes place within 40 minutes so we can not allow for the possibility that the emotional trauma may have physical manifestations resulting in lack of care for physical maintenance or safety.  Even if we allowed 40 hours could not eating or lack of sleep (resulting from the despondency) change my genes?

This seems absurd to me.  I doubt if sad (or angry, or happy) emotions can express directly as physical gene changes.  I don't believe it has any bearing in truth.  This statement seems to be a contrivance to have something exciting and provocative  to write about

Maybe time and physical / psychological experiments will prove me wrong, but until then I'll file this away in the "Wacco" bin.

WHAT A FAST IS, IS NOT

ACCORDING TO ISIAH 58
According to Isaiah 58 this is what a fast in not:
- - Finding pleasure (we do it to get something that will give us pleasure)
- - Exacting our our labors ( we require God to pay something back for our inconvenience)
- - For strife and debate (we are at odds with someone and want God to take our side against them)
- - Smite with the fist of wickedness (we want harm to come to someone else)
- - Make our voice to be heard on high (we want our will to prevail in the courts of heaven)
- - To afflict our soul (a time to make ourselves uncomfortable, perhaps thinking we deserve it)
- - Bow down the head as a bulrush (it is not good for us to be happy, we must be sad to please God)
- - Spread sackcloth and ashes under us (make a public demonstration of our discomfort)

What a fast is:
- - Loose the bands of wickedness (from ourselves, from other people)
- - Undo the heavy burdens (things that are too difficult for us or others to bear)
- - Let the oppressed go free (we help the oppressed gain freedom, or release ourselves from oppression)
- - Break every yoke (the things that are controlling us or others, the things for which we need to give up control)
- - Deal your bread to the hungry (do with a little less in order to feed some hungry)
- - Bring the cast out poor into your house (give up space, privacy)
- - Cover the naked (do with less clothing so that others can have at least some clothes)
- - Not hide yourself from your own flesh (endure some inconvenience for the aid of your relatives)
- - The yoke (do away with the unhealthy associations where others are bad for you and where you are bad for others)
- - Putting forth the finger (Stop looking at others for blame and ignoring your own, sidestepping responsibility)
- - Speaking vanity (Stop talking so much about things that have no lasting eternal value)
- - Draw out your soul to the hungry (seek for a few opportunities to feed the poor)
- - Satisfy the afflicted soul (rather than than thrusting the non-repentant aside provide spiritual aid for them)

BE NOT SILENT

There is the old saying:  "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree -- the harder you beat them, the better they be.”

My Wife has written a book, Submission Is Not Silence.  I think some people react to the title itself without knowing its content.  Some have said things like “submission is good”, “submission is commanded by the Bible”, “wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord”  When they stop there, never expanding on what they mean, it becomes obvious they have either have not read, or have not fully read my Wife's book.  She never says submission is bad.  She says some forms of submission as administered by some authorities or some men is oppressive, and that it is not good to be silent about it.

She says it is not good to be silent about or to endure truly oppressive submission.  For example it is not good for a woman to submit to being beaten by a man.  She should speak and tell him it is wrong to beat her when reasoning could accomplish what he wants.  If that did not work she should report him to the authorities.  In this country the authorities view wife-beating as a crime, and it is.

It is obvious certain submission is good, and we all submit much of the time.  We all stop for traffic lights.  We drive (in the USA) on the right side of the road.  We don’t speak in church when the pastor is speaking.  We don’t beat up people because they disagree with us or annoy us. 

Some have said "Submission is in the Bible” inferring anything objecting to absolute submission is to speak against the Bible.  When submission is oppressive and harmful it needs to be opposed.  That’s what World War II was about.  Even God does not force absolute submission; we are all free to say, “There is no God”.  A woman should not remain silent if she has an idea that may be better, and she certainly should not remain silent if she is being abused.  Hence the title of my wife’s book:   Submission Is Not Silence.  If some had read beyond the title page they would have realized that.

The saying may be cute, and it may roll off the tongue, but it’s not true that, "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree -- the harder you beat them, the better they be.”

SEVEN TIMES AROUND

On Memorial Day in 1998 I was trying to replace the rack-and-pinion of an old Oldsmobile.  It was a very frustrating job with many time stoppers, the culmination of which was trying to get the clamp from the steering wheel apparatus back onto the shaft of the rack-and-pinion assembly.  Working until 10 pm that night I remembered all the old Navy language.  During my sleep (which was uncomfortable because of a sore bruised back from laying on the concrete) I had a dream.  In it I saw the clamp slipping easily onto the shaft and two holes matching up.

When I continued the job two days later I started by walking around the car seven times praying.  After a little fiddling I noticed a notch on the side of the shaft which looked as if it was supposed to accommodate the pinch bolt.  I rotated the steering wheel to match this notch and the clamp “fell” onto the shaft just like in the dream.

I think God was speaking to me about this.  I Think he gave me the dream to encourage me and to show me the nature of how the two parts would come together.

When I walked around the car seven times, like Joshua marched around Jericho, I felt silly and I wondered if it was doing any good.  Maybe those marching around Jericho also felt silly and wondered if it was doing any good - - yet the walls fell down, and the clamp fell onto the shaft.

The Bible software I use shows me the phrase “seven times” occurs 33 times:  Gen_33:3, Lev_4:6, Lev_4:17, Lev_8:11, Lev_14:7, Lev_14:16, Lev_14:27, Lev_14:51, Lev_16:14, Lev_16:19, Lev_25:8, Lev_26:18, Lev_26:21, Lev_26:24, Lev_26:28, Num_19:4, Jos_6:4, Jos_6:15, 1Ki_18:43, 2Ki_4:35, 2Ki_5:10, 2Ki_5:14, Psa_12:6, Psa_119:164, Pro_24:16, Dan_3:19, Dan_4:16, Dan_4:23, Dan_4:25, Dan_4:32, Mat_18:21, Mat_18:22, Luk_17:4.

FROM PROMISE TO LAND

Psalm 105 speaks of remembering and rejoicing in what the Lord has done.  It speaks of the progress of the Children of Israel from Abraham’s time to the promised land.  He gave the promise to Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  He preserved Israel in the places where they were and in the places where they were to come.  He sent Joseph before them to prepare a place in Egypt.  He brought them to Egypt and developed them into a great number.  He delivered them from slavery.  He brought them to the promised land. 

Promise, Start, Develop, Transition, Delivery

For Israel these elements applied to:
- - The initial stage (the giving of a promise, beginning of a concept)
- - Start of an undertaking (the founding patriarchs)
- - Development of the undertaking (growth in Egypt)
- - Moving of the undertaking toward its purpose (delivery from slavery)
- - Formalizing and establishing the purpose  (bring into the promised land)

Can we look at broad pictures like this and see comparisons in our own lives and families?

- - The initial stage
- - Start of an undertaking
- - Development of the undertaking
- - Moving of the undertaking toward its purpose
- - Formalizing and establishing the purpose

STANDING AGAINST SCORNING

According to Proverbs 21:11:  “When the scorner is punished the simple is made wise:  and when the wise is instructed he receiveth knowledge.”   A scorner is someone who unjustly speaks words of disgust against someone or something else.  He disapproves.  He belittles.  This is not a healthy situation and it is a good thing to correct it.  The scorner needs to be publicly told his words are damaging and are not helpful.  Apparently when this reproof happens the simple person now perceives the scorning for what it is.  When they make this perception - - that scorning is a damaging activity - - they become wiser than they were.  Once someone becomes wise they can increase in knowledge.

Several things happen when you publicly stand against scorning:  a scorning is stopped, exposed for what it is, and people are instructed toward wisdom.  The scorner is also spotlighted for what he is.

WRITE IT DOWN

Sometimes I think what I write is not worth writing if it is not related to Scripture or somehow addressing my relationship with God.  I am tempted to think that I should not write it. 

Yet my innermost thoughts are open to God and he knows most of them are neither related to Scripture nor to Him.  If my innermost thoughts are open to him then whatever I write is even more open because it is recorded, it takes a solid form - - writing does not vanish like thoughts do.  Whatever I am should be as open to me as it is to God.  In other words, I should be able to remind myself of the ground I have covered.  That written thought might serve as a sort of marker or mile post from which I can determine a correction (or confirmation) of the direction my life is taking.  It won’t do to restrain myself if the restraining holds back my development. 

The writing time would be a problem if it encouraged a direction away from God.  But, even then, having it on paper might make the mistake so obvious that it identifies it as something that should be avoided. 

When I re-read these things later I find important markers that help to direct (or redirect) myself.

OLD PRINCIPLES STILL APPLY

When we have a difficulty or question about Scripture what should we do?  We can ask:  what does the Scripture tell us to do (think, act, etc.), what do we want to do (think, act, etc.), and how are the two different?  Then we can ask:  is there an honest way to resolve the differences?  If there is no honest resolution, what are we gong to change; our ways, or the meaning of the Scripture?  This sort of question can come about when we notice the differences between the culture of Biblical times and our present time.

It is not that we should ignore the cultural setting in which God sets forth his principles, but if God has set forth a principle in one culture, and the principle was true (by definition God’s principles are always true) then it will be true in any other culture or time.  The application of the principle may take different forms between cultures.

We cannot change the principle.  If we do we are saying God wrote an irrelevant book:  we are saying sections of it have gone out of date and have lost their meaning.  Therefore we are effectively saying we can determine on our own, and without God’s input, what is the best way for us to act.  If we throw out part of God’s word, what other parts can we throw out?  Which of God’s principles can we selectively disregard?

We do not throw out any part of Scripture.  We ask God for wisdom to know how his principles apply in our times.