Shift Happens

I came across this on the blog for Western Seminary Alumni and thought it needed to be shared. The facts are a bit startling and scary!

Rosie ain't no posie

Why are we supposed to care about Rosie O’Donnell? Seriously! Each time I open Firefox (ack! You wouldn’t think I’d use Explorer do you?) my homepage of Comcast pops up. I read the news headlines and check the weather for my saved locations of Tualatin, Brno, and Baghdad before surfing to my intended website. I regret to say that this really is one of my main sources of news, reading the blip headlines, and almost without fail there is one about Rosie O’Donnell and the latest ruckus she is causing. I really don’t understand why we are supposed to care what she has to say or why we are supposed to be interested in everything she espouses. She provides no end of fodder for the media to pick up on. She is a loud mouthed, inflammatory, liberal, provocative prima donna. Who cares? She yaps about tolerance, but really just wants tolerance for her viewpoint and shows no tolerance for any opinions that counters her own. Why is she deemed worthy of so much press? I would much rather see the space and time of the writers go towards something newsworthy. Maybe the genocide going on in Africa? Maybe the degradation of women and children in SE Asia? Maybe the tragedy of the orphanage and foster care system in former Iron Curtain countries that is leading to a homeless epidemic among youth and young adults? Of if they are bent on pointing the lime light on a celebrity with something to say direct the light to Bono. If nothing else he is speaking out for a cause other than himself and doing a lot of good. Does my ranting about Rosie’s ranting somehow negate my point?

Corrie ten Boom ROCKS!

This past Saturday I was rather productive. I had finished washing the dishes and cleaning the cook top which required to be taken completely apart due to rice boiling over - oh! what a mess! It was about 8:30pm by then and I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't finish vacuuming, at least not if I wanted to keep on friendly terms with my neighbors. So what to do until 11pm when Mystery started on OPB? I picked up a book that had been in my side table for close to two years - Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom. I nearly missed Mystery I was so engrossed in the book. I had to keep a box of tissue near by as just with The Hiding Place I can't help myself from crying as I read her story. She is one of the most amazing women in the Christian faith as far as I am concerned. Sunday evening I picked up the book to keep reading and couldn't put it down. That is I didn't put it down until I finished it - at 2am. It has been over twenty years since she passed away and she still has so much to teach and show us about following God. Her complete submission and obedience is inspiring and puts me in my place for the lack of it in my own life. Reading her words always leads me closer in my own walk with Jesus and shows me how amazing life could be when truly walking with Christ as Lord. Everyone should read Corrie ten Book - including you! As if to augment the lessons I was learning this weekend from Corrie I listened to a sermon from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church in Seattle titled "Humility and Hospitality" that really centered around "long-obedience." I'm learning a lot about obedience and just how disobedient I am.

Vision from golf clubs

A couple weeks ago I decided to clean up my garage. I needed to find a plug for a thingy - Day Lab Junior - I want to sell on eBay but instead of just looking for the plug I chose to reorganize my storage as I looked and sweep the floor and generally clean up. It was a nice sunny day so it didn't bother me to be out there; I had my tunes and was dancing around and daydreaming while I wielded the broom. I became a little overwhelmed with all the stuff in my garage. Somehow my reorganizing took up more space than before. I don't understand that phenomenon. I also took some pictures of the golf bags and club I'm hoping to sell as well. The thought occurred to me: "Maybe I should just sell everything!" I realized it would be a relief in many ways to be able to sell everything I have, so liberating and freeing. I could actually make the day dream I was enacting in my head of living in Europe a reality. But then I started to think about all my books and I didn't like the idea of parting with them. I realized that with a vision of something greater I could lay aside my attachments to my home, art, inherited silver and crystal, maybe even my books; but that vision needs to be there first and it needs to be divinely given. Then I read the Slice of Infinity newsletter from RZIM: At Home in Mud and Darkness I do not want to be like the rich young ruler, so I am praying for vision. I know I am in some weird holding pattern limbo land, that something new is on the way, but I am praying for a God given vision for the next part of my life. Amazing the philosphy and insight you can get from some old golf clubs.

Procrastination

Yup, there are plenty of things I should be doing. I have an application for a teaching position that I have given myself a deadline of submitting tomorrow that is on the desk in front of me that should be given my full attention. It isn't. Why? Because I do not want to write a "Christian philosophy of education." I have random thoughts and ideas but I can't muster the mental energy to turn them into complete coherent sentences. Instead I have just wasted a couple hours on You Tube. The greatest find is in the previous post. Another one of my finds is a guy with the user name "mattpaleboy" who you can also find at campjinx.com. While some of his podcasts can be rather crass (Santa Claus) some are stinking hilarious like the one about his wife's phobia of cats or the world series of Uno game. It is a family thing, his two sisters, brother-in-law, and brother get in on the action as well and don't forget dad - he has a couple podcasts too. So if you have a need to waste time, if you are an out of practice procrastinator take a cue from me, a world expert procrastinator and check out the Leonard family.

such silly fun

I've only seen this commercial on the geeky sci-fi channel but it should have a wider audience. I laugh out loud til I'm snorting when I see this ad. Maybe it has something to do with my mother's obsession with bunnies or the fact that I grew up in a home with bunny paraphernalia that multiplied about as rapidly as if they were real, but I find this somehow sadistically funny. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Another book

I just finished a book this morning that I want to recommend. It is called "My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran" by Kader Abdolah. It is one of those books that is supposed to be fiction but seems so real that you forget. How much is inspired or taken from real events I don't know but the whole story sweeps you up and carries you off on a magic carpet to Persia as it struggles through successively oppressive regime changes. For those with an interest in Iran and that part of the world the book provides interesting insights to the culture and struggles of the people.

Favorite Quote:
"Loss is an experience that eventually leads to a new road, to a new opportunity to think of things in a different way. Losing is not the end of everything, but merely the end of a particular way of thinking. If you fall in one place, get up again in another. That's a cardinal rule of life."
-By Mohammad Mokhtari as printed in the second to last chapter.

Easter Eggs

This is pysanky, Ukrainian egg decorating. About once every couple years I am inspired to try my hand at it again. This year I had to cheat and fill in some lines with a white paint pen. I think it takes me a couple years to forget how exasperating these eggs are to make, but I guess the end product is worth it. I've had a few people ask to learn how to do this. If you are interested in trying your hand at Pysanky let me know!

A major Good Grief! moment

Well, this morning I did it. I realized one of my fears. Living along I have this fear that I will have an accident and need help but no one will be there to help me. This is part of the reason I usually carry my cell-phone with me around the house. This morning I was going downstairs to fix my morning cup o' java when somehow my foot got tangled in my pajama bottoms and I tripped. I grabbed the banister but I couldn't regain my balance. I tumbled down the last third of my steps coming to a crash landing on my wood floor with my head. The thud my head made echoed and sounded horrible. I laid there in my entry-way a little dazed and angry, taking stock of my body. No bleeding, no black out - I could see the dirt on the floor perfectly well, just a burning sensation along my right leg. I finally sat up and looked at my leg. I must have hit the corner of a couple stairs pretty hard since I have a couple good raw rug burns on my knee and shin. I can't quite figure how it happened. The pajamas I was wearing this morning are rather short as if I'm expecting a flood, so how my foot or rather my toes got stuck inside the hem is beyond me. I was wearing my 'house shoes' some old Birkenstock sandals, which probably didn't help. If I were wearing socks they may have slipped back out of my pant leg. Anyhow, I got up and made my coffee still angry with myself and slowly the fear crept in, "what if I have a concussion?" Good grief! I probably do have a slight concussion, I hit the ground with my head hard after falling six steps and I have a raging headache to prove it. I'm more upset about the fact that my chiropractor finally had gotten a couple kinks in my back worked out yesterday and I was feeling really good, but I undid some of that work. Back to the doctor. What a way to start a new month!