All of my life Haiti has been the poorest of nations in the western hemisphere. It has struggled continuously and endured the dismissive and reproachful attitudes of her neighbours in North, Central and South America. Haiti has always been a disaster waiting to happen.
Only relatively recently (in the 1980s) did we intervene, when the stench of the atrocities perpetrated by "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier became too much of an offense to our righteous sensibilities. Then, when the military committed a coup and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was exiled to Africa, we did little. The fate of Haiti once again fell into internal disarray and our relationship with them was relegated to the bureaucratic morass of international diplomacy. And the country languished without proper government, institutions, social services or effective international support.
Haiti as a nation was/is the "homeless street person" of the Western Hemisphere. We all continued to go about our daily business, averting our eyes whenever our pursuits led us to pass by them. We watched Haiti's sister nation, the Dominican Republic, raise itself up from its own poverty and comforted ourselves with the thought that "a rising tide lifts all ships". But we believed lies and would not look at the truth. Denial is the strongest of human sins.
On January 11th, 2010, our "homeless person" fellow nation was on fire as we went to work in the morning. Our neglect and indifference over the decades resulted in establishing circumstances that compounded the difficulties of attempting to help Haiti. Our shock and dismay is now mingled with our shame and regret as we trip over one another to rush to aid the wounded and dying - cursing the circumstances that hinder our benevolence. Circumstances that we could have changed if we had chosen to be engaged with Haiti rather than ignore her.
In "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens the ghost of Jacob Marley retorts strongly to Ebenezer Scrooge when the miser offers an excuse for their mutual disinterest in human affairs and benevolent causes. Scrooge says, "It's only that you were a good man of business." "Business!" cries Marley in reply. "Mankind was my business! Their common welfare was my business!"
I read Dickens' brilliant words every year - and every year I am personally convicted by those lines and compelled to reassess my own engagement with those who have less than I. While I am aware that many, many people and organizations exist to do good and caring works - many already in Haiti before the earthquake - I am also aware that many, many, many injustices lie unattended because political, social, economic and spiritual leadership fails.
In the light of events in Haiti we are - at least I am - sickened by our recent (and not so recent) history that testifies how we will go to extraordinary lengths to address issues in foreign lands, especially when - at least from the perspective of our corporate and political leaders - there are compelling economic reasons to do so. We will send our sons and daughters to die - and they will go willingly - when the stakes seem most likely to threaten our luxurious lives. But we will not sacrifice even a small portion of our opulent lifestyles to lift another people up so they can be stronger, safer and have greater dignity if there seems to be no immediate benefit for us. At least not until they are on fire.
Haiti is a hard lesson. I pray fervently that we, who are blessed beyond what words of any language can adequately describe, might learn this lesson well. That addressing the needs of others is always in our best interests, for when we do so we help ourselves - so intimate is our connection to one another on this tiny planet that we share. And that we might come to realize that when we do offer comfort to others we act in love that touches the very face of all we hold most sacred and good.
In speaking of charity, benevolence and simple care Jesus of Nazareth said, "Whenever you do this to the least of my brothers, you do this to me."
Shalom
Showing posts with label soapbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soapbox. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Monday, January 26, 2009
Budget Rant
I haven't put up a good old rant in a while so hang on kiddies, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
Tomorrow's budget promises to offer more spending than Imelda Marcos on a shopping junket on Rodeo Drive. Over 34 BILLION in government money that does not exist yet is to be earmarked to begin being pumped into the public trough. The sound of the hogs coming to root will be deafening. If this plan goes forward our government will burn through 100 BILLION dollars that do not exist yet (that's how much of the national debt we paid off in the last decade) by the year 2013.
And why?
Because Jack (The Sky Is Falling) Layton says that we are in "the worst financial crisis since the 1930's"? Because Michael Ignatieff "sort of" agrees with him? Not so fast Jack & Mike. Unemployment was higher in the 1980's recession than it is right now. Today Canadian unemployment stands at just over 7% and it was 27% in 1932. It is today a far, far cry from every third person out of work as in the Great Depression. Also in the 1930's the numbers didn't include students or most women. We are enjoying far, far higher employment today as a percentage of our total population than at just about any other time in our history.
Now I agree that the manufacturing sector in southern Ontario is having a bad time, relative to recent years, but let's be honest for a minute here. Manufacturing jobs have been bleeding away from the industrialized western world for more than two decades and frankly, if the businesses in southern Ontario didn't recognize this and make some plans to diversify then this would have happened sooner or later. So it's sooner.
I have been reading the top auto magazines for 30 years and the editors and pundits of the auto industry have been literally begging and pleading with the Detroit so-called "Big Three" to "wake up and smell the coffee" for most of that time. I was in the parking lot at Safeway today and I parked my Impala between a Toyota Tundra and a Toyota Camry. That problem didn't happen to the auto industry last year. It's been coming for quite a while, and while I believe government can help workers with the transition, propping up an industry as obtuse and inflexible as the North American auto manufacturers makes about as much sense as holding a beer drinking contest to promote sobriety. As an interesting aside, there are now more people employed in Great Britain in automotive design, manufacturing, supply and distribution than when British Leyland owned everything. Foreign ownership made the industry BETTER there, not worse.
Back to our "bail-out" budget. The Bank of Canada just announced that they are predicting that the recession we are in will end as soon as September. That's just 9 months from now. And we have no chartered banks in any sort of situation that could be considered even mildly problematic. Our banks could probably loan other banks money right now. And we don't have mortgage companies that are sucking up dollars faster than a fat kid with a Slurpee on a hot August afternoon. American mortgage giant Freddie Mac just announced that "about 30 BILLION more dollars" would keep them afloat for a while longer. There is no such silliness going on north of the 49th parallel.
What IS going on up here is the fact that we are the highest taxed nation in the G7. We are in the top 10 world wide and we work about half the year before we start getting to the money we can spend on ourselves and others can use to create wealth, jobs and a vibrant economy. The truth is that the money we need to spend our way out of this recession doesn't have to come from the Canadian Government's Mastercard - all they have to do is leave it in your pocket and mine. All the government has to do is get it's taxation jackboot off the throat of small and medium businesses - who employ the vast majority of Canadians and who generate most of our true wealth. But nooooo.... The lobbies of the multinationals, the unions and the special interest groups will suck up the cash and determine where the wealth goes before the entrepreneurs even get a chance to make their case.
In Canada the modus operendi of our Federal Government is to take as much money from the people as they can and "redistribute" it through programs. Inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic. But hey, we vote these guys and gals in and then they believe they can do what they want, or worse they try to figure out what we want and do what we want - sort of.
Now I KNOW you are smart. A person is smart. But people are dumb, panicky and stupid (Thanks Agent K). And what we need right now is for an adult to walk into the room and get everybody to settle down. Unfortunately for us, the adults are hiding out in the staff room and they've barricaded the door. And we are panicking because we are being told to - not because our situation is as bad as is being touted.
Now will the new budget and the wrangling over it wreck Canada? Probably not, at least not right away. We have so much and we are so wealthy that it's going to take a lot of mismanagement and waste to truly run our country onto the rocks, but the feds are giving it their best shot. No, I think what will happen will be what so often happens. We will miss the opportunity to be great. We will miss the opportunity to break out and leave the hurting USA and other economies who hitched their wagons to that misbegotten star in our economic dust. We will once again win the silver or the bronze or at least make the top 10. And the most frustrating thing about that will be that for the vast majority of us that will be "good enough".
We could be "The Next BIG Thing", but we'll settle for being "the next best thing".
*sigh*
BTW - I'm not the only one who thinks deficit spending is a bad idea for Canada.
Tomorrow's budget promises to offer more spending than Imelda Marcos on a shopping junket on Rodeo Drive. Over 34 BILLION in government money that does not exist yet is to be earmarked to begin being pumped into the public trough. The sound of the hogs coming to root will be deafening. If this plan goes forward our government will burn through 100 BILLION dollars that do not exist yet (that's how much of the national debt we paid off in the last decade) by the year 2013.
And why?
Because Jack (The Sky Is Falling) Layton says that we are in "the worst financial crisis since the 1930's"? Because Michael Ignatieff "sort of" agrees with him? Not so fast Jack & Mike. Unemployment was higher in the 1980's recession than it is right now. Today Canadian unemployment stands at just over 7% and it was 27% in 1932. It is today a far, far cry from every third person out of work as in the Great Depression. Also in the 1930's the numbers didn't include students or most women. We are enjoying far, far higher employment today as a percentage of our total population than at just about any other time in our history.
Now I agree that the manufacturing sector in southern Ontario is having a bad time, relative to recent years, but let's be honest for a minute here. Manufacturing jobs have been bleeding away from the industrialized western world for more than two decades and frankly, if the businesses in southern Ontario didn't recognize this and make some plans to diversify then this would have happened sooner or later. So it's sooner.
I have been reading the top auto magazines for 30 years and the editors and pundits of the auto industry have been literally begging and pleading with the Detroit so-called "Big Three" to "wake up and smell the coffee" for most of that time. I was in the parking lot at Safeway today and I parked my Impala between a Toyota Tundra and a Toyota Camry. That problem didn't happen to the auto industry last year. It's been coming for quite a while, and while I believe government can help workers with the transition, propping up an industry as obtuse and inflexible as the North American auto manufacturers makes about as much sense as holding a beer drinking contest to promote sobriety. As an interesting aside, there are now more people employed in Great Britain in automotive design, manufacturing, supply and distribution than when British Leyland owned everything. Foreign ownership made the industry BETTER there, not worse.
Back to our "bail-out" budget. The Bank of Canada just announced that they are predicting that the recession we are in will end as soon as September. That's just 9 months from now. And we have no chartered banks in any sort of situation that could be considered even mildly problematic. Our banks could probably loan other banks money right now. And we don't have mortgage companies that are sucking up dollars faster than a fat kid with a Slurpee on a hot August afternoon. American mortgage giant Freddie Mac just announced that "about 30 BILLION more dollars" would keep them afloat for a while longer. There is no such silliness going on north of the 49th parallel.
What IS going on up here is the fact that we are the highest taxed nation in the G7. We are in the top 10 world wide and we work about half the year before we start getting to the money we can spend on ourselves and others can use to create wealth, jobs and a vibrant economy. The truth is that the money we need to spend our way out of this recession doesn't have to come from the Canadian Government's Mastercard - all they have to do is leave it in your pocket and mine. All the government has to do is get it's taxation jackboot off the throat of small and medium businesses - who employ the vast majority of Canadians and who generate most of our true wealth. But nooooo.... The lobbies of the multinationals, the unions and the special interest groups will suck up the cash and determine where the wealth goes before the entrepreneurs even get a chance to make their case.
In Canada the modus operendi of our Federal Government is to take as much money from the people as they can and "redistribute" it through programs. Inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic. But hey, we vote these guys and gals in and then they believe they can do what they want, or worse they try to figure out what we want and do what we want - sort of.
Now I KNOW you are smart. A person is smart. But people are dumb, panicky and stupid (Thanks Agent K). And what we need right now is for an adult to walk into the room and get everybody to settle down. Unfortunately for us, the adults are hiding out in the staff room and they've barricaded the door. And we are panicking because we are being told to - not because our situation is as bad as is being touted.
Now will the new budget and the wrangling over it wreck Canada? Probably not, at least not right away. We have so much and we are so wealthy that it's going to take a lot of mismanagement and waste to truly run our country onto the rocks, but the feds are giving it their best shot. No, I think what will happen will be what so often happens. We will miss the opportunity to be great. We will miss the opportunity to break out and leave the hurting USA and other economies who hitched their wagons to that misbegotten star in our economic dust. We will once again win the silver or the bronze or at least make the top 10. And the most frustrating thing about that will be that for the vast majority of us that will be "good enough".
We could be "The Next BIG Thing", but we'll settle for being "the next best thing".
*sigh*
BTW - I'm not the only one who thinks deficit spending is a bad idea for Canada.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Lies, Gossip & the Internet
About once every couple of months or so I get a email that purports to be a true story about some shocking, unfair or disturbing event that I have heard nothing about previously through the various media channels I monitor. While I'm not an obsessed news junkie (please keep your opinions and snickering in check for a moment), I do like to think I'm reasonably well informed across a range of topics and a bit too informed on a few I really enjoy. Still I receive these "e-rumors" with enough regularity that I feel I must respond. It is interesting to note that although most of my friends and contacts are "Christian", and these messages come from many of them, few of them have considered what impact on their witness is caused when they forward an untrue story to their email list.
I am including the text of my latest e-mail response to one of these "e-rumors" below in the hope that the two or three of you who read this blog might take this cause to heart and at least consider doing what I do in response to receiving such a message.
Dear Friends,
As much as I enjoy getting messages from you, I really only have time for ones of truth and value (humour is good, too). The story attached to the original email I received about the removal of studies related to the Jewish Holocaust in WWII at the University of Kentucky is a hoax. Please follow the link I am providing to see the article regarding this posted at Truth or Fiction.com.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/holocaust-kentucky.htm
While I encourage people of good conscience to be informed and to oppose (and seek support for opposing) evil and wrong things, I believe we all would agree that there is no benefit in 'tilting at windmills'. Here are some helpful guidelines I use to help me weed out the truth from lies.
1. Be suspicious of any story that does not include a verifiable citation. If the story claims to be from a particular media outlet but has no live link to the original included, then go to - or contact - the claimed media outlet to get verification. The more information included with an article forwarded to you the better the likelihood it is a true story. Live links to real websites are best, but having the information as to the media source, date the article appeared and an author byline included are also good signs of reliability - but the most important thing you can do is confirm the story yourself. If you do not confirm the story and forward it anyway, you are vouching for its authenticity. Be careful lest you attach your name to a lie. From a moral perspective doing so is to engage in gossip.
2. Be suspicious of any very scandalous, shocking or outrageous story that you have heard nothing about through regular media channels - unless you never follow news, which is an issue all of of its own. It is unlikely in the extreme that the media would 'miss' or even suppress a story that would cause a strong reaction in you (and certainly a large number of other people) because of the obvious benefits they would gain by reporting it. If you believe the majority of western media is controlled to the extent that serious and disturbing stories are routinely being deliberately not reported then I'm afraid you are not going to follow my suggestions, regardless. I do believe in media 'bias' but that's not the same thing as willful suppression. The best defense in regard to media bias is a good offense. Set yourself up with a variety of media sources so you can sample what is being reported from a wide range of perspectives. I also suggest adding a site like http://www.maisonneuve.org/ which offers an alternative to traditional established Canadian media while interacting with what those media outlets report. Another good perspective is available from http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=178 which offers a decidedly Christian perspective on Canadian news, albeit from a somewhat narrower viewpoint.
3. Put the link for Truth or Fiction.com in your browser's favourites so it is just a click away. If you cannot verify an email news story that has been sent to you, just check it out at this website. In the case of the message that prompted this response, I simply searched the word "holocaust" at the Truth or Fiction.com website and the story about this hoax was the first item it found. I have used Truth of Fiction.com for almost 10 years now and I have yet to be unable to verify or debunk an email message I have received.
4. When you get an email hoax do what I did. Respond to the sender(s) with this information. I have also been trying to spread the word about internet and email hoaxes for 10 years and I still have to do this about two or three times a year. It would be VERY helpful if we could harness the same power of the World Wide Web that brings these annoying untruths into our lives to spread the word about how to deal with them properly. At the very least you can teach your children how to deal with these messages properly. That would be, in my opinion, your minimum responsibility.
Thanks for reading this (if you did). Thanks even more if you take some steps because of the message.
Shalom
Thursday, March 27, 2008
And Now A Word From Our Sponsors...
So I have recieved two emails asking me if I want to allow 'advertising' on my blogsite. I track my numbers using Statcounter so I KNOW that I am staying very close to maintaining the truth of my tagline - "writing for an audience of one - reaching even fewer". It has to be a scam of some type.
Never the less, and I have received no consideration at all for this, I am going to exhort the 3 of you reading this to check out a dental hygiene product I have begun using.
I have always had trouble flossing. My teeth are tight, crowded and crooked (especially on my lower jaw). I have a small mouth (OK guys - yuk it up to your heart's content on that one), and I have short, stubby fingers attached to meaty palms. I shred regular floss and it gets stuck between my teeth so I have to use extra slippery stuff that is even harder to hold and control. Sheesh.
Well enter the new Reach Access Flosser. If you've tried other flossing tools and given up, take heart, this sucker works! It takes me less than a minute to floss completely down to my gum line and between each tooth with no shredding, gagging, slobber or muttered cursing.
If flossing is difficult for you, or simply inconvenient, then get thee hence to thine apothecary's shop and purchase this modern marvel of applied technology. And what's more, we really need the help as our dental coverage has been "adjusted" and cleanings are covered only every 9 months for us now. So hopefully this will help us keep our teeth and gums healthy until we can visit our hygienist.
There! I've done my good deed for the day/week/month/year/decade/century/millennium.
'Nuff said!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Signs of the Apocalypse
Over at my friend Lee Distad's blog are a number of disturbing entries that have gotten me thinking about the "end of days". Certainly my parent's generation witnessed cataclysmic events, and so have I from the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11. Still when many strange and inexplicable things begin to happen people are often inclined to see destruction looming on the horizon.
Whether it is the voice of satirical investment advice trumpeting the imminent demise of the investment market or yet another article documenting how the once-mighty Sony has lost its way in an even more dramatic way, the general market news isn't very good it seems. And for those of us withnothing little in the way of investments this comes as even more of a shock as we have not been paying that close of attention to anything having to do with money.
The utterly astonishing is now passing for the highest of quality these days. Those who claim some level of education or to at least be in the process of obtaining knowledge can't pass the weakest pop quiz. The marketplace is rapidly becoming a third-world minefield of substandard and dangerous import products. The marketing sharks are going after your money through the lives of your not-as-yet teenagers. And private equity firms are prepared to finance every bad idea they can get their hands on.
Then there's the fact that Lee created 7 new posts in only one day leaving me with a hopeless backlog to catch up on. And finally, Lee is mediating grace and forgiveness between previously warring factions in a manner that might make all pastors unnecessary in the very near future. (Undoubtedly, Lee will modestly demure regarding his involvement in this affair, but we the cognoscenti know differently.)
It sure looks like the apocalypse to me.
Shalom
*I hope!*
Whether it is the voice of satirical investment advice trumpeting the imminent demise of the investment market or yet another article documenting how the once-mighty Sony has lost its way in an even more dramatic way, the general market news isn't very good it seems. And for those of us with
The utterly astonishing is now passing for the highest of quality these days. Those who claim some level of education or to at least be in the process of obtaining knowledge can't pass the weakest pop quiz. The marketplace is rapidly becoming a third-world minefield of substandard and dangerous import products. The marketing sharks are going after your money through the lives of your not-as-yet teenagers. And private equity firms are prepared to finance every bad idea they can get their hands on.
Then there's the fact that Lee created 7 new posts in only one day leaving me with a hopeless backlog to catch up on. And finally, Lee is mediating grace and forgiveness between previously warring factions in a manner that might make all pastors unnecessary in the very near future. (Undoubtedly, Lee will modestly demure regarding his involvement in this affair, but we the cognoscenti know differently.)
It sure looks like the apocalypse to me.
Shalom
*I hope!*
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
If ya can't beat 'em.
My pirate name is:
Iron Sam Cash
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Get a BETTER name.
He's named after a bird.
A little bird!
Jack Sparrow (pah!) meet IRON SAM CASH!
I'm probably taking this whole Johnny Depp/Cap'n Jack Sparrow thing too far but, hey - PIRATE!
Arrrr!
My pirate name is:
Iron Sam Cash
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Get a BETTER name.
He's named after a bird.
A little bird!
Jack Sparrow (pah!) meet IRON SAM CASH!
I'm probably taking this whole Johnny Depp/Cap'n Jack Sparrow thing too far but, hey - PIRATE!
Arrrr!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Pirate!
OK.
My wife bought tickets to the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Three days in advance of the day we will go. She's home right now watching the first movie, and will likely watch the second movie too before we go on Saturday to see more.
My marriage has officially gotten very crowded now that Johnny Depp has moved in.
First there was the safely quirky "Edward Scissorhands".
Then the innocent and cute "Benny and Joon".
Next thing I know the guy's playing "Don Juan DeMarco" with every woman in North America.
And now the guy's a PIRATE and he's everywhere I LOOK!!!
But can I go on and on about Marg Helgenberger...(gimme a break guys - I'm a bit older, OK?)...Noooooooooooooooooo!!
Bloody pirate!
*spits*
My wife bought tickets to the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Three days in advance of the day we will go. She's home right now watching the first movie, and will likely watch the second movie too before we go on Saturday to see more.
My marriage has officially gotten very crowded now that Johnny Depp has moved in.
First there was the safely quirky "Edward Scissorhands".
Then the innocent and cute "Benny and Joon".
Next thing I know the guy's playing "Don Juan DeMarco" with every woman in North America.
And now the guy's a PIRATE and he's everywhere I LOOK!!!
But can I go on and on about Marg Helgenberger...(gimme a break guys - I'm a bit older, OK?)...Noooooooooooooooooo!!
Bloody pirate!
*spits*
Going Off On the Links
This title is slightly humorous because I don't golf - sort of. Indeed, I've frequently threatened to call my memoirs "The Pastor Who Would Not Golf". The Scots - my tribe - may have invented the game, but a Scot gave it the most accurate description ever. Robbie Burns said, "Golf is a good walk, spoil'd."
I have to be truthful though, I play computer golf, only because I can do so on the easiest setting and thereby kick everybody's butt. The thing that scares me is that after playing all of Tiger Wood's PGA Tour '06 I only made one hole-in-one! How rare would that achievement be on the expert setting?! It would probably be frustrating enough to make Billy Graham go postal.
I know a lot of pastors who golf, but I just don't get it. This gig is frustrating enough without going out and volunteering to take on some more. It would be like being an auto mechanic who always bought the worst cars reported in the Lemonaidcars Report just because he - or she - didn't think there was enough stress in their lives or grease under their fingernails.
Anyway, digressions aside, I'm just here to point you to the "links" section of this blog. If you've wandered here by mistake as 99.9% of our visitors do and you've figured out that this is a CWOT (Colossal Waste Of Time) as 99.9% of our visitors do then I hope you'll find something amusing to follow in my links list. This list is still evolving and will undergo periodic changes and updates, but it is probably the most accurate reflection of my tastes and interests on this page. Try not to let your pity for me overwhelm you, and maybe click on a few.
**WARNING**
As a note of caution, due to the very nature of the intermessnet some links may lead ultimately to places with questionable material for viewing at workplaces or by minors or by narrow-minded 'fraidy-cats.
In the first case - go back to work! There's nothing you need here for that quarterly report. Seriously, your company is paying you for your time. Do you really want to have to explain this to the sys-admin? I mean playing Sudoku online is one thing, but getting caught looking at my blog - that's just sad!
In the next case, if you don't know what your kids are doing online why don't you just build a basketball court or skate-park for them in the middle of the Trans-Canada Highway? Or maybe buy them a Colt .45 revolver but refuse to send them to firearms safety training? Again, seriously now, what are you thinking? If you've been paying even the most cursory attention lately you'd know there are more ways for your kids to get into trouble on the internet than there are ways to use/lose/spend money in Las Vegas. Those children are your responsibility, so suck it up and exercise some parental prerogative - and don't say you're "scared" of your kid. I know you can take 'em! And hey - you're the parent - who says you have to fight fair?!
And if you happen to be one of "those kids" just cruising the 'net let me say this - if you wouldn't look at it with your mom or dad looking over your shoulder why the heck would you look at it ever while your young, inexperienced and helpless butt is still being fed, clothed and sheltered by your parent's hard work and sweat? They're the ones paying for the IP you're using and you spit on them by breaking their rules and disappointing their expectations? Wanna be a grown-up? Pay the bills sunshine - and don't complain. Until you can do that you owe your parents your obedience. Don't break their trust in you. It's impossible to completely repair. I know from personal experience.
In the third case, just know this - I may see stuff from time to time that is ugly, profane, frightening, gross, violent or otherwise icky. But I don't revel in it. It's not my desire. And the truth is that, in life, the divine is found often amidst the profane. Christ was called a "friend of sinners" and accused of having what Garth Brooks would have called "friends in low places". But Jesus wasn't low. I know I'm prone to temptation and sin, but I am trying to not be afraid to go anywhere or face anything if it will help me understand others and follow Jesus closer. There are many disturbing things in this world, but ignoring them will not change them. We need to face them with the mind of Christ and see what God is already doing. If you close your eyes, you close your heart.
Hey, I suddenly feel much lighter. Blogging can be therapeutic!
*Breathes deeply - a smile steals across his face.*
Shalom.
I have to be truthful though, I play computer golf, only because I can do so on the easiest setting and thereby kick everybody's butt. The thing that scares me is that after playing all of Tiger Wood's PGA Tour '06 I only made one hole-in-one! How rare would that achievement be on the expert setting?! It would probably be frustrating enough to make Billy Graham go postal.
I know a lot of pastors who golf, but I just don't get it. This gig is frustrating enough without going out and volunteering to take on some more. It would be like being an auto mechanic who always bought the worst cars reported in the Lemonaidcars Report just because he - or she - didn't think there was enough stress in their lives or grease under their fingernails.
Anyway, digressions aside, I'm just here to point you to the "links" section of this blog. If you've wandered here by mistake as 99.9% of our visitors do and you've figured out that this is a CWOT (Colossal Waste Of Time) as 99.9% of our visitors do then I hope you'll find something amusing to follow in my links list. This list is still evolving and will undergo periodic changes and updates, but it is probably the most accurate reflection of my tastes and interests on this page. Try not to let your pity for me overwhelm you, and maybe click on a few.
**WARNING**
As a note of caution, due to the very nature of the inter
In the first case - go back to work! There's nothing you need here for that quarterly report. Seriously, your company is paying you for your time. Do you really want to have to explain this to the sys-admin? I mean playing Sudoku online is one thing, but getting caught looking at my blog - that's just sad!
In the next case, if you don't know what your kids are doing online why don't you just build a basketball court or skate-park for them in the middle of the Trans-Canada Highway? Or maybe buy them a Colt .45 revolver but refuse to send them to firearms safety training? Again, seriously now, what are you thinking? If you've been paying even the most cursory attention lately you'd know there are more ways for your kids to get into trouble on the internet than there are ways to use/lose/spend money in Las Vegas. Those children are your responsibility, so suck it up and exercise some parental prerogative - and don't say you're "scared" of your kid. I know you can take 'em! And hey - you're the parent - who says you have to fight fair?!
And if you happen to be one of "those kids" just cruising the 'net let me say this - if you wouldn't look at it with your mom or dad looking over your shoulder why the heck would you look at it ever while your young, inexperienced and helpless butt is still being fed, clothed and sheltered by your parent's hard work and sweat? They're the ones paying for the IP you're using and you spit on them by breaking their rules and disappointing their expectations? Wanna be a grown-up? Pay the bills sunshine - and don't complain. Until you can do that you owe your parents your obedience. Don't break their trust in you. It's impossible to completely repair. I know from personal experience.
In the third case, just know this - I may see stuff from time to time that is ugly, profane, frightening, gross, violent or otherwise icky. But I don't revel in it. It's not my desire. And the truth is that, in life, the divine is found often amidst the profane. Christ was called a "friend of sinners" and accused of having what Garth Brooks would have called "friends in low places". But Jesus wasn't low. I know I'm prone to temptation and sin, but I am trying to not be afraid to go anywhere or face anything if it will help me understand others and follow Jesus closer. There are many disturbing things in this world, but ignoring them will not change them. We need to face them with the mind of Christ and see what God is already doing. If you close your eyes, you close your heart.
Hey, I suddenly feel much lighter. Blogging can be therapeutic!
*Breathes deeply - a smile steals across his face.*
Shalom.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Too Serious
There hasn't been much that could be called "amusing" in "a musings" lately. I just re-read my entries and it's no wonder nobody reads this stuff. I'm positively morbid lately. Sheeeesh!
So here's my attempt to lighten up.
What can you find on most middle-class North American Christians and also on their Bibles? - (Love) Handles.
What's the single most popular Christian bumper sticker?
The one that best covers the scratch on the bumper.
If a "Pastor's Office" is the position of authority and responsibility he or she is the steward of within the church body then what's a "Pastor's Study" for?
About 20 hours a week if their sermons are going to be worth listening to.
What's the best way to frustrate a fundamentalist Christian?
Tell him or her that you don't agree with them, but stubbornly refuse to argue about it.
If obesity is becoming a world-wide problem then what will it mean when we sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand"?
God may soon be suffering from carpel-tunnel syndrome.
When I was a kid I thought the benches in church were called "pews" because of the way they smelled.
My dad used to say, "Point weak? Pound pulpit harder!" I used to think that was how they came up with the term "Bible thumper".
In grade 8 everyone in my class agreed that if our math teacher asked "How do you find the hypotenuse?" on our geometry mid-term we would all answer "Look for tracks around the watering hole." He did. We did. He didn't think it was funny. We thought it was hilarious.
The first time I was in a Catholic Church I thought the folding kneeling rails were padded footrests, but that they weren't very comfortably placed.
Hey I said it was an attempt! It was not qualified by any adjectives.
On Sunday the Pastor bragged that he could write his sermons in the time it took him to walk from the parsonage to the church. Believing that quantity might lead to quality the Church Board sold the parsonage, which was next door to the church, and bought a new home for the pastor on the other side of town.
Excuse me now, I need to go for a long walk.
Shalom.
So here's my attempt to lighten up.
What can you find on most middle-class North American Christians and also on their Bibles? - (Love) Handles.
What's the single most popular Christian bumper sticker?
The one that best covers the scratch on the bumper.
If a "Pastor's Office" is the position of authority and responsibility he or she is the steward of within the church body then what's a "Pastor's Study" for?
About 20 hours a week if their sermons are going to be worth listening to.
What's the best way to frustrate a fundamentalist Christian?
Tell him or her that you don't agree with them, but stubbornly refuse to argue about it.
If obesity is becoming a world-wide problem then what will it mean when we sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand"?
God may soon be suffering from carpel-tunnel syndrome.
When I was a kid I thought the benches in church were called "pews" because of the way they smelled.
My dad used to say, "Point weak? Pound pulpit harder!" I used to think that was how they came up with the term "Bible thumper".
In grade 8 everyone in my class agreed that if our math teacher asked "How do you find the hypotenuse?" on our geometry mid-term we would all answer "Look for tracks around the watering hole." He did. We did. He didn't think it was funny. We thought it was hilarious.
The first time I was in a Catholic Church I thought the folding kneeling rails were padded footrests, but that they weren't very comfortably placed.
Hey I said it was an attempt! It was not qualified by any adjectives.
On Sunday the Pastor bragged that he could write his sermons in the time it took him to walk from the parsonage to the church. Believing that quantity might lead to quality the Church Board sold the parsonage, which was next door to the church, and bought a new home for the pastor on the other side of town.
Excuse me now, I need to go for a long walk.
Shalom.
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