Seeing life from God's view

Rick Warren, in today's devotional, starts off by saying "The way you see your life shapes your life. It is how you define and lead your life that determines your destiny. You determine your influence over time, money, using your talents and the value you place on relationships.

Warren asks us to visualize how we might describe our life; that image is our life's metaphor. It is our view of our life that we hold consciously or unconsciously in our minds. And it is this unspoken metaphor that influences our life more than we can imagine. If we think life is a party, then our metaphor for life might be having fun. If we see life as a race, the metaphor for life may be speed and we might be in a hurry most of the time. Or, the metaphor may be family life, placing that above all else.

The problem with most of life's metaphors is that they are not God's description for your life. The Bible speaks of three metaphors from God's point of view: that life is a test, life is a trust and life is a temporary assignment. These ideas are the foundation of purpose-driven living.

Why are we continually tested in life? The Bible speaks of many tests, all to prove character, faith, obedience, love, integrity and loyalty. God tested Abraham to offer his son Jacob. Adam and Eve failed their test in the Garden. David failed his tests many times. We don't know all the tests God could give us, but when it happens, it will be to develop or prove one of the characteristics listed at the beginning of this paragraph. The tests could come in the form of minor criticism, delayed promises, major changes, unanswered prayers and even senseless tragedies.

When you realize that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life. Even the tiniest incident has significance for your character development. Every second of every day is important for growth opportunities to deepen your character, demonstrate your love and depend on God.

Life is also a trust, as we are entrusted with the things of God, His creation; and all our opportunities, relationships and resources that are gifts from God. We never really own anything during our brief stay on Earth. God just loans us the Earth while we are here. We just get to enjoy it for a while. Our culture says "If you don't own it, you won't take care of it." Christians live by a higher standard, that is, because God owns it, I must take care of it the best I can. And at the end of our lives, we will be evaluated in Heaven and rewarded according to how well we handled what God entrusted to you. That means everything we do, even the simplest of chores, has eternal implications.

Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and a trust from God. He uses finances to teach us to trust him, and for many people, money is the greatest test of all. God watches how we use money to see how trustworthy we are. Luke 16:11 says, "If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?:

Tomorrow: Life is a temporary assignment.

|

Marguerite Rooney, wife of Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" and a long time Connecticut teacher, died today at age 84. She died from heart failure. The Rooneys celebrated 62 years of marriage this year, all while Marge kept out of the spotlight; though she was an infrequent visitor to CBS's studios in Manhattan, she was well known. Walter Cronkite said, "They were a marvelous team." Son Brian is an ABC News correspondent, daughter Emily is host of a local PBS station program, "Greater Boston." She is also survived by two other daughters; Ellen, a photographer in London and Martha Fishel, an executive at the National Library of Medicine in Washington; and five grandchildren.

Andy Rooney has always been one of my favorite commentators and authors. Story from Newsday.

|

What does a stay at home dad do with his really adorable six-month old son? Take him to bookstores and have his picture taken with the authors there for booksignings. But wait, if Jeremy looks good with one celebrity, why not have his picture taken with a lot of celebrities? Click here for the pictures and the story. (He really is cute.)


|

Eva Kolavo, from Sylvania, New South Wales (Australia) was told by the NSW Court of Appeal the "distress, discomfort, disappointment and inconvenience" caused by the poor advice of her barrister was worth $11,000. But she is now pressing on with further claims she says are worth $426,000.

The story began when Eva booked a vacation to Spain back in 1996, and was paired up with an American woman for the accomodations. The American was not a good roommate, and one disagreement turned into a physical struggle with the American biting Ms. Kolavo's finger.

Back in Sydney, two lawyers told Ms. Kolavo that she could sue the travel agency for not ensuring the compatibility of her travel companion. But a judge took a dim view of Ms. Kolavo's testimony and dismissed the case. Later, she found out that her lawyers should have advised her that she would never have won the case. It cost her $11,000 for the lawyers services to lose.

A Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of Ms. Kolavo, saying that she should have not been in court at all with this case, and found for her, charging her lawyers with the $11,000 plus $31,000 in costs as a loser in the first trial. She is now pressing for $426,000 in damages from her lawyers, calling them "bunglers" and having to see a property to pay them the first time. She said, "They said I was never going to be believed, but I wouldn't have known [the case was hopeless] if I wasn't in court for the verdict."



|

We are made to last forever

"God planted eternity in our hearts." Ecclesiates 3:11. This life is not all there is. No, its not the Shirley McLaine version, where eternity is an un-specified round of reincarnation, eternity with God is forever with God. Here on Earth, we are just preparing for eternity, it is the practice round, the dress rehearsal. This life is preparation for the next.

While life here offers many choices, eternity offers only two; heaven and hell. Your relationship to God on this earth determines your relationship to Him in eternity. When you learn to love and trust God's Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest of your eternity with Him. On the other hand, if you reject Him, you will spend that eternity apart from God and His love.

Rick Warren states that when you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just the here and now, and you relize that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently. Living a life in the light of eternity will color how you handle every relationship, task and circumstance. Suddenly, many activities, goals and even problems that seemed so important will appear trivial, petty and unworthy of your attention. The closer you live to God, the smaller everything else appears.

Most of the time, we think of eternity at funerals, and you may find that talking about death is morbid or strange. It is unhealthy to live in denial of death and not consider what is inevitable. We would be foolish to think otherwise, since we know that there is an eternity that awaits us. And that is why we change in the light of eternity; realizing that all we do has a much longer term effect on us; we are preparing for eternity, and not just the end of our life on earth.

1st John 2:17 says, "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." Ponder this: There is more to life than just your here and now.

Next: Seeing life from God's view.

|

James Lileks has outdone himself once again! From the Knudson's Cookbook:

The item on the bottom is – Oh, who cares. No one’s ever going to make it. Even if you did, no one would know what it is. WARNING! The recipe contains one quarter teaspoon of Tabasco. One whole quarter! Might as well call this one FLAME CASSEROLE or the HINDQUARTERS AUGUR! Rope it off behind Police Do Not Cross tape! One ENTIRE QUARTER TEASPOON TABASCO! Do they want to kill us, or what? Jeez!

Check out Knudsons at Lileks. And please take your own barf bags.

|

What drives your life?

Everyone's life is driven by something. It could be guilt, resentment and anger, fear, materialism, approval or a hundred other reasons. Today's devotional looks at each of these reasons, and why God's purpose for our lives don't include these driving forces. As Rick Warren said, "we are products of our past but don't have to be prisoners of our future." Emotional health is a topic I have been studying for a long time, and these drivers in a person's life lead to the exclusion of God's love and love for yourself.

In summary, here are why each of these drivers are harmful to you!

• Guilt: The Bible says in Psalm 32:1: "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven!... What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record."


• Resentment and Anger: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you unless you hold onto the pain through resentment! Your past is past! Learn from it, and let go!


• Fear: Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from being what God wants you to be. You must move against Fear with faith and with love! The Bible said in 1 John 4:18: Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgement - is one not fully formed in love.


• Materialism: Self-worth and net worth are not the same! The most common myth about money is that having more will make you more secure. It won't. It can be lost through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can be found in that which can be never taken away from you - your relationship with God.


• Need for approval: The expectations of parents or spouses or teachers or children can control a person's life. Peer pressure, the approval of unpleasable parents, these are some of the ways your focus can be taken away from that whose purpose for your life is clear. The Bible is clear about this: No one can serve two masters." Matthew 6:24.

The benefits of purpose-driven living are these:

1. Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. Did you know that Hope comes from having a purpose? If you've ever felt hopeless, great changes are in store for you when you begin to live life on purpose.


2. Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren't. It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God's will. If you can't get it all done, it means you are trying to more than God intended for you to do!


3. Knowing your purpose focuses your life. Some of us can be easily distracted. And that means life is keeping you spinning without stopping, without getting anywhere. The power of focus is easily seen in light. A diffused light has little power or impact, but use a magnifying glass and light can be concentrated enough so that the rays of the sun can set paper on fire. And super-concentrated light, as in a laser, can cut steel as easily as wood. If you want to your life to have impact, focus it! Stop trying to do everything; do less, do that only which matters most.


4. Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Nothing energizes like passion, and purpose always produces passion. It is usually meaningless work that saps our energy, not overwork. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose.


5. Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. Many people try to build a legacy on earth. What people fail to realize is that all achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, tributes are forgotten and reputations fade. What matters most will not be what others think of you, it is what God thinks about your life. A wise use of time is to build an eternal legacy, through the purposes of worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship and ministry. This life is a rehearsal for the eternal life with God!

Tomorrow: You were made to last forever.

|

I noticed that someone landed on my blog as a result of an AOL search for "Dunkin' Donuts in Maple Shade, NJ." Having never been to Maple Shade, which sounds like a pretty-enough town, I tried the search myself and found that I was not only at the top of the search list but the only one. And that was for my "Took A Walk" post back in August of 2003. And I didn't mention the Dunkin' Donuts in Maple Shade, either.

So, in the interest of Public Service, I am happy to announce that Dunkin' Donuts is in Maple Shade, New Jersey, and this link will send you there.

You can leave now.


|

For many years, my late wife and I would joke about the "conspiracy" that put corn products, especially corn syrup into most prepared food. We took note of this because our son was sensitive and allergic to corn products. Take a look at the labels in your food cupboard or refrigerator and see how many items have corn syrup in it. Such things as pickles, bread crumbs, and canned spaghetti. Corn syrup is most represented by its use as a sweetener in soft drinks, such as Coke and Pepsi, and most all of the kids drinks, such as Hi-C and Sunny Delight. It is a sweetener in most breakfast cereals and breads. Because of the tremendous use of corn syrup and corn meal in prepared products, I cook all of the meals that Andy and I eat from scratch and use mostly fresh ingredients.

Now come word that the ubiquitous use of corn syrup may have a very dangerous side effect. A Reuters news story has described a possible link between the consumption of corn syrup and the onset of Type 2 diabetes. This would not surprise me in the least. Consumption of soft drinks is higher in this county that anywhere else in the world. I have known people who drank 3 liters of Coke a day. With the emphasis on carbohydrate control in some diets, this may slow down slightly the consumption of soft drinks (in three liters of Coke, the equivalent sugar content is supposed to be 30 teaspoons.)

I seem to remember long ago, perhaps in the early seventies, that corn producers were worried about selling their crops, and subsidies were low. The government, as it is accustomed to do, probably ordered the corn producers to find new markets and develop new products to sell corn. Then began the migration away from sugar as a sweetener to corn syrup. No more Sugar Frosted Flakes or Sugar Pops! Though Corn Syrup Pops or Corn Sweetened Flakes is less appealing to the marketplace, the manufacturers simply dropped the "sugar" from the name. Of course at that time too, sugar was being blamed for all kinds of things, including hyperactivity (since disproved,) and tooth cavities (which you can get from corn-sweetened products too.)

This is an issue I will be following for a long time. And I hope that artificial food colors go under the microscope next.

|

You are not an accident

Long before you were concieved by your parents, you were concieved in the mind of God. Isaiah 44:2a says "I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born." God even decided how you were born. Whether your birth came as a result of wanting children, "unplanned," or raised by a single parent, God knew what His plan was and why you are here. It didn't matter if your parents were good, bad or indifferent. He made you for a reason. Nothing is arbitrary, it is all for a purpose.

The motive for creating you was His love. Ephesians 1:4 says, "Long before He laid down the earth's foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love." No accident there, God is not haphazard or imprecise. Think about how perfect our environment is to live on this Earth. A news report once said that a four degree rise in global temperatures would kill millions of people, through floods, rain and drought, plus melting of the polar ice caps. You can't live anywhere else in the solar system we know, the conditions become unhospitable five miles up in the air and impossible beyond that. We live in a purposeful environment, one that provides for the people of God.

If there was no God, we would all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe. As Rick said in the book, "You could stop reading this book, because life would have no purpose or meaning or signifigance. There would be no right or wrong, and no hope beyond your years on this earth." Many people live their lives like this is the only way there is. But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning when we make God the reference point of our lives.

Tomorrow: what drives your life.


|

It All Starts with God

It's not about me. It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than what you can make of it, whether it be your happiness, fullfillment or peace of mind. Bertrand Russell, scientist and avowed atheist, once made the comment, "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless." You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.

There wasn't any question in my life as to the meaning of life, that has been part of me since I was 13. But though I was a church member and participant in ministry at church, some things remained a mystery to me, or hidden from my view. We can't focus on ourselves to find out why we are here, I knew that. But to know that God, in His infinite wisdom, created me, and knows what my entire life will be until I die, did that because I am here for God too. I get to choose my spouse, my career and many other parts of my life but I don't get to choose my purpose.

Lots of brilliant philosophers over the ages tried to find out what their purpose in life was, what the meaning of life really is; and the best they could come up with is a guess because they saw it in human terms. Self-help books aren't any help, because they assume that you are going to help yourself. There is an alternative to all this "speculation," and it is revelation.

Colossians 1:16b states "Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." To see how I fit into God's purposes, stay tuned. 39 days to go!


|

What are the 40 Days of Purpose? Pastor Rick Warren, in his book, "The Purpose Driven Life" presents God's plan for the purpose in your life. Are you one that has always wondered "what on earth am I here for?" This book will have the answer for you. And to present this effectively, a campaign in my church, as well as several thousand across the country, will host small groups to study the Purpose Driven Life in 40 days. Over 8000 churches have participated in this campaign since 2002. Rick Warren's book has been at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list.

Most importantly for my church, we have been working on twelve 'aims' to make the church more accessable to future generations, make it a praying church, an evangelical church and more. By being a Purpose Driven church, which is not a denominational label or other "name" for our church, we can fulfill God's desires for our worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism to grow through our members and friends; and their committment to these purposes.

Other blogs, for instance this one here has chronicled their journey through the 40 days, and I will do the same, beginning today. I hope this is helpful for at least only one of my readers, that knowing what your purpose in life is will be a sure blessing to you.


|

Today is Opening Day for the local Little League, of which my son is a part. His pitching arm is very strong as he showed in practice this past week, and is very accurate for called strikes. But I had heard that 12 year olds cannot pitch, so I am not sure what will happen to him this year. Anyway, pictures of the team will be done at 11 and his game at 2. I hope that Andy, along with the other older kids on the team, can inspire the younger kids in the spirit of team building, to make a successful run at the season.

It is also Opening day in a different sort. Our church's 40 Days of Purpose, the campaign to read and understand what our purpose is, begins tonight with a cookout of hot dogs and hamburgers, and a satellite simulcast of the kickoff hosted by Rick Warren, author of the book "The Purpose Driven Life." Our church has formed over 50 small groups to meet once a week and discuss what each has read in the week and talk about how meaningful it is in our lives. The book is like a devotional, and has 40 short chapters in it. I'll be talking about what I discover during my 40 days here on Out of the Blue.

There has been an incredible amount of preparation for this at our church, and I want to get there early and take some pictures. I've been installing a second video projector in the senior high classroom this week, and worked to get it displaying the satellite signal. A lot of work, and I hope we have enough people to fill that room as well as the main auditorium!

Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!

Update: Sunday April 25: Andy's team won the opener, 12-10!


|

Seen at BeneDictions:

THE HOKEY POKEY
by William Shakespeare

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke.
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from heaven’s yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ‘tis what it’s all about.


|

... or How Young Women Make Their Way in a World of Wimps and Barbarians.

Terrence Moore's essays on the state of young people from his perspective are an indication that the major contributors to the character-building and morale-building of young people is seriously flawed. You may have been raised in a generation where parents (note the plural) were primarily responsible for the way their children learned what being a responsible and accountable adult was all about; through examples of character, politeness, fairness, and a moral life modeled by the parents to the children. Or, you might have been in a dysfunctional family, as most of us were in some way or another, where what the parents modeled to us wasn't something we wanted to continue as adults ourselves.

I see that the backlash in the sixties with permissive parenting was an incorrect reaction to (overboard) corrective parenting in the fifties and began the slide toward parents who couldn't be the best example for the children. Moore relates in his essays that the schools also had a hand in the moral shaping of children, and I see that schools have been in serious decline as they are hamstrung by Federal and state regulations and new teaching methods that "evens" out the educational process to avoid stressing one or any sub-group of children. Being sure there is "self-esteem" in every child cancelled sports programs that provided competitive outcomes, playground games were stopped where a child was called "out," and positive push for marginal students sometimes created graduates without the ability to read on a twelfth-grade level. Thankfully, some state programs such as the MCAS in Massachusetts and the State Exams in New York are checking the ability of the schools to produce educated children; though they are not without criticism.

Moore's article on the girls in this generation have had to make serious compromises because of the extremes of boys and men, called "Wimps and Barbarians" in the previous article. To be sure, young women have had opportunities to grow in areas and occupations that were unheard of fifty years ago. As Moore states,

In the new gender-blind world promising careers open to talents, young women have found unprecedented opportunities in science, medicine, academia, letters, and the law. Title IX has ensured that no stone is left unturned in allowing women to wrestle, play lacrosse, or bass fish competitively. But today, many young women are suffering from the aftermath of the sexual revolution and the extreme demands of the radical feminist agenda. These movements have made it far more difficult for them to find honorable men to love them.

In this world view, honorable men are in short supply, and many young women face dating with "anxiety, hopelessness, disappointment?even dread. " The men they meet, immature still as an adult, disappoint and provide slim chances of finding real love. Sociologists write that girls are born with an innate dream of Prince Charming, coming to rescue the Princess and living happily ever after. This dream begins to erode in dysfunctional families, where true happiness does not exist, and worse, divorce exacerbates a view of an honorable man in their eyes; someone whose qualities and character is something they wish to have in a husband someday. It is not surprising to me then that some women marry men that are themselves a picture of the wrong man she assembled in her dreams from her experiences growing up. But for the rest of the women who stubbornly stick to the dream, they realize that it is compromise that they must make to find Mr. Right, or at least, Mr. Right Now. Moore expresses this as:

But looking for Mr. Right Now has taken an enormous toll on their lives and emotions. The decision to look, or settle, for Mr. Right Now might be described as Heather's Compromise. Heather, today's young woman, is tempted continually to compromise her ultimate happiness for the momentary attention of an undependable young male on his terms. Young women respond to this temptation in roughly three ways. According to their different responses, we might call them party-girls, perennial girlfriends, and romantics: the first have lots of sex with lots of men; the second become continually "involved" in relationships; and the last are those women who hold out for something better.

The article, from the Claremont Review of Books, is worth a read. For myself, it is troubling to discover that the next generation of young men and women will be ruling this country someday. We've already seen examples of barbarians in public office; witness Jesse Ventura. And examples of party girls abound in the public eye, and the media is only too happy to bring them to you, as if they are supporting their life style. For the women who don't fit into the party girl or perennial girlfriend model, the romantics might hold the most depressing view. As Dawn found when she received an email from a married friend with a link to the Moore article wrote, "...Still, I couldn't help releasing a silent sigh (worse than an audible sigh, because it's repressed) when I read the first line of his e-mail:

The URL is for an interesting article that does a nice job of nailing why single women are doomed."

Moore closes his article on the paradox that exists for young women who must compromise or wait. Sometimes, as women find out, the man they marry doesn't turn out to be the husband she thought. Moore relates this story from one of his classes:

Once while teaching the topic of chivalry in a Western Civilization class in college, I put the question to a "barbarian" student: If women refused to be around you if you cursed in front of them, stared at their chests, and in general acted in a lewd and drunken manner at parties, would you clean up your act? His answer was straightforward. "Yeah, of course. Who wouldn't?" Should romantic women across the nation make their preferences known by their great power of refusal, and should increasing numbers of perennial girlfriends come over into the camp of the romantics, young women would regain their natural capacity of commanding men. As surely as day follows night, young men would have to reform their character in short order.

This has been an amazing series, and one that I hope we all can learn from. It is possible to raise boys with that middle ground, and girls will not have to draw themselves to extremes to date and marry. Will this reduce the divorce rate? Perhaps partially, but more important to that is the concept of selflessness, which pictures the "undying love" of the romantic. The extremes of the young men and young women are a selfish existence that cannot survive a marriage without change. I can only hope for the future of our children.

À bientôt!

|

Finally, a day without rain. The river that runs through our neighborhood is at flood stage, but isn't affecting anything around us, just further down the road. I m deliberately looking for signs of Spring now, you know, buds on the trees, flowers, anything, anything!

Well one other way I can tell Spring is here is that Andy has baseball. And I don't know if I am missing something, but it seems like he is at practice or a game almost every other day, including Sundays. I'm not happy about the Sundays, but as far as I can tell, most practices are after church is over. The Monday night games interfere with my Purpose Driven Life meeting, though and the Tuesday night games with his peer-grief meetings. And I thought other families had it bad with more than one kid (and I'm sure you will share those with me!) A total of 21 practices and 16 games over the next month!

And to top it all off, I have another sinus infection. Fortunately, I went through the fever/chills/sore throat early, and will visit the doctor (hi, how are ya!) for some antibiotics. He will remind me that the allergy shots will help prevent the infections, and I will tell him I have no time for the shots, I'm running to baseball right now.

I've received a lot of email on the preceding post, "Wimps and Barbarians." Check out the full article and come back and join the discussion. Monday, we will talk about the girls in a similar light.

I'm off to visit M Saturday (yay!) and Sunday, our church will have a great evening service; since there was a decision to cancel regular evening services, the one meeting on the third Sunday of the month will be packed with testimonies and song. Just the kind of spiritual recharge I need. Have a great weekend, my friends!

|

I have been reading material for research, primarily in single parenting, and sometimes I discover articles that don't quite fit the mold. Terrence Moore is a principal of a K-12 school; before that, he was a Marine and a college professor. Moore has been in a position to study the roles of boys and girls as they mature into young men and women, and discovered something I think I knew about thirty years ago. Here's how he puts it:

I have deliberately tried to figure out whether the nation through its most important institutions of moral instruction—its families and schools—is turning boys into responsible young men. Young women, always the natural judges of the male character, say emphatically "No." In my experience, many young women are upset, but not about an elusive Prince Charming or even the shortage of "cute guys" around. Rather, they have very specific complaints against how they have been treated in shopping malls or on college campuses by immature and uncouth males, and even more pointed complaints against their boyfriends or other male acquaintances who fail to protect them. At times, they appear desperately hopeless. They say matter-of-factly that the males around them do not know how to act like either men or gentlemen. It appears to them that, except for a few lucky members of their sex, most women today must choose between males who are whiny, incapable of making decisions, and in general of "acting like men," or those who treat women roughly and are unreliable, unmannerly, and usually stupid.

The article, Wimps and Barbarians, explores the possible reasons our nations young men are not getting the training to become responsible young men. In a book that also speaks of the topic, "Bringing Up Boys," Dr. James Dobson believes it is the breakdown of the family structure and a lack of role models; with dominant women and the message of the Hollywood Establishment guiding the growing of young men. In some ways, that explains the "wimps" as, In Moores's words, "...suffer from a want of manly spirit altogether. They lack what the ancient Greeks called thumos, the part of the soul that contains the assertive passions: pugnacity, enterprise, ambition, anger. Thumos compels a man to defend proximate goods: himself, his honor, his lady, his country; as well as universal goods: truth, beauty, goodness, justice."

And you may ask, why I knew this thirty years ago? The descriptions of the behavior Moore describes as "wimps and barberians" is something I've witnessed in college, and know those same people as the same today. I hate to bash my gender, but some men are cartoony version of men. As a parent, with little time to go for the influence you can have before they leave the house, it is a ten-alarm call to be sure that he grows up knowing what a real man, not what a caricature of a man, is.

The article by Terrance Moore is worth a read, and open for discussion. Next time, I'll look at the girls and the compromises they incorporate into their lives.


|

For the Christian, Easter is Resurrection Day, the day that celebrates how Jesus rose from the grave to fulfill His words and to be again in Heaven. John MacArthur asked today, "what if there was no resurrection?" He quotes the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 for the answer: "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied."

On this Easter Weekend, my hope is that you remember why Christ died for all of us, every single one of us; so that we may have eternal life with God, forgiven of all our sins. Have a wonderful weekend!


|

This is too funny: why you shouldn't post your picture on the Internet!


|

The de-Cluttering of my home is proceeding slowly but surely, with two large trash bags full of magazines, papers, junk, etc. out the door. I decided to box up the cassettes and give them away to someone, somewhere. So far, I have cleaned my bedroom and study of debris and clutter, and feel pretty good about it. Interestingly, I found this article on exactly what I was doing.

Downstairs in the kitchen, a doorway's frame tells a tale. When Joann first was diagnosed with the ovarian cancer, family and friends began to write on the frame words of encouragement. Some of these are poignant, some funny, but all hopeful and I know was instrumental in helping Joann feel encouraged during the time she was actively fighting the cancer.

Now, it is memories that these "door posts" have become, and for me to go on, I am going to critically document all of the writing on the frame, photograph and transcribe, and put it in a book that will go into her memory box (a storage box of various things that were meaningful to her in life. I began that as a repository of history for my son someday.) Here are some of the posts on the frame.



Eventually, I will need to remove these writings to redecorate the kitchen. I began the documentation as some were becoming smudged with people touching the frame.

Have a wonderful day!

|

In researching the basics of emotional health for the single person, regret is one of the top emotions that we deal with that can be baggage in a new relationship. I tried to explain this in succinct terms for a study in my single parents group, then while listening to my own radio station, a song played with a meaning I have never heard before. The song, "Burning Bridges" by the Mike Curb Congregation, sings of turning one's back, and later regretting the decision that could have changed your life.

In a search for the CD, a reviewer named Bill Startt on the Amazon web site said this about the song: "I saw this movie after coming home from Nam, the theme song "Burning Bridges" just passed by most people but to me it meant something . In My life time I have burned many bridges turning my back on marriges, women, giving away houses cars everything I owned and just walking away all to my regret in my later years not the material things but the lives I left behind. When I'm buried this is going to be played at my funeral. I got home ok my body with a little wear and tear but my but my soul changed. I hope this song helps anyone who needs it at this point in their life. God speed for my fellow vets. "

The song was also featured in the movie, "Kelly's Heroes." Here, the lyrics of the song.

Friends all tried to warn me
But I held my head up high
All the time they warned me
But I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me
But I guess I didn't care
I turned my back and
Left them standing there

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Joey tried to help me find a job
A while ago
When I finally got it I didn't want to go
The party Mary gave for me
When I just walked away
Now there's nothing left to say

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Years have passed and I keep thinking
What a fool I've been
I look back into the past and
Think of way back then
I know that I lost everything I thought I that could win
I guess I should have listened to my friends

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Burning bridges lost forever.

The lyrics, courtesy of LyricsXp.com
The song written by Mike Curb and Lalo Schrifrin.



|

I find this site eerily fascinating and troubling at the same time. Elena is a nuclear scientist in Kiev, and her passion is motorcycles. Her other passion is riding into the "dead zone" around Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear power plant disaster. She speaks of the coincidental connnection between the name Chernobyl, which means "wormwood' and Revelation 8:11, which tells of the star named "Wormwood:" "the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter." Traveling through the Ghost Town, which was a bustling city in 1986, you can't help but think that this is what the cities will look like in those end times. It is a sobering look, almost voyeristic, but Elena can't get too close to some parts of the city as the radiation is still too strong. She speaks of people climbing to the roof of the tallest building to see the split in the containment building, and that is the last thing they saw.

History; and a troubling chapter in it. Thanks, Bene Diction for the link.



|

I may have admitted this before, but I am a saver of things. Yes, I am a clutter person. It's strange that in some aspects of my housekeeping, there is order and clarity (and dust, whoops!) but hidden in the corners, piled in the boxes, strewn across my desk is stuff that probably shouldn't be there.

Now, some of these things were holdovers from my wife and her decorating style, which I agree with. So, though the corner cabinet seems to be layered in glass, it is orderly and pretty. I did take out some thirty tape cassettes from another cabinet and rearranged things inside to make it neater. Now, the cassettes are on my dining room table.

Which brings to mind, what will I do with these? I don't have a tape player in my car anymore. I seldom use the cassette deck in the living room or the study. And, why do I have a tape from "Mary, Fred and Terry," or some other artist that had a "flash of genius" and we bought into their five minutes of fame. And of course there are tapes that presumably were copied from other tapes, which means we didn't own the other tapes (does the RIAA go after tape copies made sixteen year ago?) There are more tapes, yes, boxes of them in the study closet. What will I do with all of these?

My dilemma is that since I am a saver, I believe, somewhere in my subconscious, that I will have a need to use these things again someday. That the advice given me in books such as "Cut The Clutter, Stow The Stuff" just doesn't work; you know, if you haven't used it in six months, throw it out. I know for a fact that most of these cassettes, for example, haven't been listened to in twenty years, about the time I bought my first CD player (the Sony portable, built like a tank.)

I look at magazines and articles and think, "I'll save this." For when? For what? Believe me, with the amount of stuff in my house and basement, I'd need a dumpster. Yet, I think the reason for holding on to stuff is not that I'll need it again, but that it is sentimental in some way. And that goes smack into my progress on my grief journey.

I read a post by a widow on a message board, one who lost her husband three years ago, and decided that it was time to pack up all the wedding photos, family pictures, etc. so she can continue the healing process and be ready for a relationship, presumably unhindered by reminders of the past. I'm thinking that in my house, it is wall to wall pictures, and I don't feel read to put them away, as it feels like I am removing some of the safety in my life. And maybe that is the crux of the problem. I hold onto stuff because it is like a warm blanket on a cold day. The stuff is comfortable to have around. It is familiar and stimulates a reaction. So, what to do?

I will have to make a conscious effort to separate the history from the chaff, and embark on a no-holds-barred clutter campaign. It will have to be in a mood of detachment, it will have to be swift, and take no prisoners. I am sure I will hold up at the family pictures, though. I don't feel I am ready to put those away. I'll let you know how I make out.

Have a wonderful week, gentle readers!

|

Just one look at the MSNBC front page gives me lots of stories without having to comment too much.

1. Forecasters scale back job hopes. Great.

2. Gateway closes 188 stores, lays off 2,500. I could have told you that those stores wouldn't stay.

3. Amazon deforestation tied to beef imports. Huh?

4. Report: About 900,000 children abused. (tears)

5. Puppy Love - It's Better Than You Think. Not love of puppies, puppies that love you.

6. Today: The Quest to find America's 'Domestic Diva," the sucesssor to Martha Stewart. Maybe you?

7. Anti-American Voices Grow in Iraq. Sure, we've been there too long.

So long.

|