Thursday, June 28, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Heaven Help Me...
I was talking to someone the other day who made the following comment:
“success and money are not important to me. The most important thing in life is making sure my kids get to Heaven”
Hummm.....
This statement is a bit troublesome for me for a couple reasons. If Heaven is an important part of one’s belief system, then it would only seem to make sense that one would want his family to be together there. I get that. The problem I see is this thing called free will. I don’t think it’s our decision as to what or who our kids choose to be in life. We can try live and model certain things...we can expose them to things and should protect them from others, we can have hopes and dreams for them... I just don’t think it is healthy to attempt to have control over things we ultimately have no control over. I think I’d have to say that as a father the most important thing to me is making sure my daughter knows that whatever choices she makes in life(good or bad), that she will always be loved, accepted and welcome in our home. Maybe people should worry more about whether they themselves are going to get there. The sheep and the goats parable tells me there may be some surprises in the end, if there is such a thing as Judgement Day.
The second issue for me is the tendency Christians have to focus only on the afterlife. I’m miserable, the world is falling apart, my wife can’t stand me..OH well, it’ll all be better in Heaven. There something terribly flawed with this way of thinking....What about the here and now???
What’s the most important thing in your life? I’m curious....
“success and money are not important to me. The most important thing in life is making sure my kids get to Heaven”
Hummm.....
This statement is a bit troublesome for me for a couple reasons. If Heaven is an important part of one’s belief system, then it would only seem to make sense that one would want his family to be together there. I get that. The problem I see is this thing called free will. I don’t think it’s our decision as to what or who our kids choose to be in life. We can try live and model certain things...we can expose them to things and should protect them from others, we can have hopes and dreams for them... I just don’t think it is healthy to attempt to have control over things we ultimately have no control over. I think I’d have to say that as a father the most important thing to me is making sure my daughter knows that whatever choices she makes in life(good or bad), that she will always be loved, accepted and welcome in our home. Maybe people should worry more about whether they themselves are going to get there. The sheep and the goats parable tells me there may be some surprises in the end, if there is such a thing as Judgement Day.
The second issue for me is the tendency Christians have to focus only on the afterlife. I’m miserable, the world is falling apart, my wife can’t stand me..OH well, it’ll all be better in Heaven. There something terribly flawed with this way of thinking....What about the here and now???
What’s the most important thing in your life? I’m curious....
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
In My Opinon
That NOISE !!!....relentless... penetrating...nauseating....Do you ever feel like turning “IT” off, shutting it out..telling it to f#%@ off? It enters mostly through the ears, crawls inside your head and nests among the grey matter. If allowed to stay long enough it becomes like an annoying static, lodged in those deep places, as irritating as an unreachable itch. I am speaking of opinions, of course. The “unbiased” TV journalist, the weak kneed politician, the insecure religious mouth, the fame seeking newspaper columnist, the searching blogger, my own thoughts... I know everybody has opinions, and they’re entitled to share them. I’m all for expression and dialogue and the learning that can come out of the communicating of them. It’s healthy to express oneself. It’s important for the progression of society, I truly believe that. I just get tired of them, that’s all. When the sheer number and tone of them echo off the insides of my cranium and begin to sound like the honking of a low flying flock of Canada geese, I get irritable. But I must ask myself, if they irritate me so, why do I hunger for them ??? Hummm...
When I really think about it, it is not so much the opinions themselves that bother me so much...it’s the punctuation. Huh? You see, these days we are bombarded with opinions from every angle through every medium imaginable. Why is it that they are most always followed by periods and exclamation symbols, but rarely with question marks? Are we that insecure in our opinions that we are unwilling to risk changing them by changing the punctuation to curved lines instead of straight ones?
My problem is that I listen to and consider them all. I have discovered that Truth can be found in the oddest of places so I figure all opinions must be considered. Unfortunately, a lot of them make sense to me, even when coming from opposite ends of the spectrum...How does one choose a direction to follow when there appears to be more than one reasonable path to take? How does one choose when they sometimes lead in opposite directions?
C.K. Chesterton said, “It is the mathematician, not the poet who goes mad. While the mathematician tries to build a bridge across the infinite, the poet swims in the sea.”
I, like most people, am part mathematician, and part poet (with perhaps a little bit of couch potato thrown in) Like a mathematician, I am constantly trying to fit all the sensible opinions together into a harmonious matrix. Unfortunately, my Grande Harmonious Theory of Coexistence has not been quite worked out yet. Most attempts to solve it result in a white-noise of short circuitry between the ears and a feeling of complete madness creeping in. I am then reminded of Chesterton’s quote. It is only then, after a bit of mathematical gymnastics that the poet in me accepts that life is infinitely complex, our diversity is endless, and it is all one big mystery. The problem is that swimming in the sea does not come easy to some of us. I need land to orient myself or all I see is waves and feel the undertow.
And so, this week I have chosen to exercise the couch potato in me. I am going to pull the rip cord, inflate my water wings, feel the coolness of the sea on my skin, rest my limbs, put my head back and simply float.....
Yesterday I took my new guitar out of its case, placed my nose into the sound hole, closed my eyes and slowly breathed in...I let the smell of handcrafted wood diffuse into the deepest crevasses of my brain. Sweet, earthy, pure, calming. With my eyes still closed I pulled the pick across a G-chord. The vibrations swept into my ears and replaced the static in my head. Cleansing, purifying, harmonious, mysterious...
In those brief moments I was closer to Truth and in tune with the rhythm, fragrance, and mystery of life than a lifetime of scholarly opinion could ever offer.
But, that’s just MY opinion....
When I really think about it, it is not so much the opinions themselves that bother me so much...it’s the punctuation. Huh? You see, these days we are bombarded with opinions from every angle through every medium imaginable. Why is it that they are most always followed by periods and exclamation symbols, but rarely with question marks? Are we that insecure in our opinions that we are unwilling to risk changing them by changing the punctuation to curved lines instead of straight ones?
My problem is that I listen to and consider them all. I have discovered that Truth can be found in the oddest of places so I figure all opinions must be considered. Unfortunately, a lot of them make sense to me, even when coming from opposite ends of the spectrum...How does one choose a direction to follow when there appears to be more than one reasonable path to take? How does one choose when they sometimes lead in opposite directions?
C.K. Chesterton said, “It is the mathematician, not the poet who goes mad. While the mathematician tries to build a bridge across the infinite, the poet swims in the sea.”
I, like most people, am part mathematician, and part poet (with perhaps a little bit of couch potato thrown in) Like a mathematician, I am constantly trying to fit all the sensible opinions together into a harmonious matrix. Unfortunately, my Grande Harmonious Theory of Coexistence has not been quite worked out yet. Most attempts to solve it result in a white-noise of short circuitry between the ears and a feeling of complete madness creeping in. I am then reminded of Chesterton’s quote. It is only then, after a bit of mathematical gymnastics that the poet in me accepts that life is infinitely complex, our diversity is endless, and it is all one big mystery. The problem is that swimming in the sea does not come easy to some of us. I need land to orient myself or all I see is waves and feel the undertow.
And so, this week I have chosen to exercise the couch potato in me. I am going to pull the rip cord, inflate my water wings, feel the coolness of the sea on my skin, rest my limbs, put my head back and simply float.....
Yesterday I took my new guitar out of its case, placed my nose into the sound hole, closed my eyes and slowly breathed in...I let the smell of handcrafted wood diffuse into the deepest crevasses of my brain. Sweet, earthy, pure, calming. With my eyes still closed I pulled the pick across a G-chord. The vibrations swept into my ears and replaced the static in my head. Cleansing, purifying, harmonious, mysterious...
In those brief moments I was closer to Truth and in tune with the rhythm, fragrance, and mystery of life than a lifetime of scholarly opinion could ever offer.
But, that’s just MY opinion....
Friday, June 09, 2006
Books
When I was younger the only reading I participated in involved books about hockey, filled mostly with pictures, and the Guinness Book of World Records. I can still remember the pictures of the worlds heaviest man who reminded me of a bowling ball with limbs, the world's tallest man having to crouch to get through a doorway and the largest ball of string, which to me was the greatest wonder of the world. My two least favorite subjects in school were English and History, and they were always my lowest marks. It pained me greatly to have to read through any book and most attempts I made were miserable failures. With a history devoid of literature, I find it somewhat peculiar how much I have grown to enjoy words, a well constructed sentence, the ability of a great author to paint a picture with words, and I am impressed by the way in which of a bunch of words bound into a book can change my very existence and the way I see world.
I bought my first digital audiobook this past week off iTunes, and it was bittersweet. I am excited because it is Jpod, by Douglas Coupland, one of my fav authors, but it seems somewhat strange not having the feel of paper and the smell of ink to make it real. The digital format is devoid of anything organic and seems so lifeless. This is a bit odd because I am pretty much all digital in my music purchases now, and I have not felt a sense of nostalgia for the cd, or magnetic tape. For some reason, it would seem books are different. On the flipside, I no longer have to listen to Brandon radio in the morning and can look forward to hearing Coupland on the drive to work.
On the topic of books, there is a new movie coming out today called, A Prairie Home Companion, I am looking forward to seeing. Garrison Keillor whose radio program is the basis of the movie, authored Lake Wobegon Days, one of my all time favorite books .
I bought my first digital audiobook this past week off iTunes, and it was bittersweet. I am excited because it is Jpod, by Douglas Coupland, one of my fav authors, but it seems somewhat strange not having the feel of paper and the smell of ink to make it real. The digital format is devoid of anything organic and seems so lifeless. This is a bit odd because I am pretty much all digital in my music purchases now, and I have not felt a sense of nostalgia for the cd, or magnetic tape. For some reason, it would seem books are different. On the flipside, I no longer have to listen to Brandon radio in the morning and can look forward to hearing Coupland on the drive to work.
On the topic of books, there is a new movie coming out today called, A Prairie Home Companion, I am looking forward to seeing. Garrison Keillor whose radio program is the basis of the movie, authored Lake Wobegon Days, one of my all time favorite books .
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Too Juicy !!!
My daughter loves juice. More specifically, she likes Five Alive, Passionate Peach, and to be honest, this is the only variety of juice that she will drink. Because she is also a little diva, she will only drink it out of a juice box with a straw.
When my daughter says "Daddy, I want a juice" , this is very easy for me to respond to because I know exactly what she wants.
So tonight, I responded to her drink order by raiding the fridge, and delivering the goods.
I was a bit surprised by the, "daddy, it's too sour" response but the reason was soon easily discovered..... I bought Citrus instead of Peach......
We would love our daughter to expand her juice palette, as you cannot find Peach Five Alive everywhere, and let's be honest...There's a lot of great juices on the market. So, I asked, " Why don't you like this one?"
Her response....."It's too juicy!"
I'm still trying to figure out what this means.
When my daughter says "Daddy, I want a juice" , this is very easy for me to respond to because I know exactly what she wants.
So tonight, I responded to her drink order by raiding the fridge, and delivering the goods.
I was a bit surprised by the, "daddy, it's too sour" response but the reason was soon easily discovered..... I bought Citrus instead of Peach......
We would love our daughter to expand her juice palette, as you cannot find Peach Five Alive everywhere, and let's be honest...There's a lot of great juices on the market. So, I asked, " Why don't you like this one?"
Her response....."It's too juicy!"
I'm still trying to figure out what this means.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Starbucks
A couple weeks ago I was reading somewhere about how hot Starbucks coffee is reported to be, and thought to myself that it didn't seem any different than coffee temperature anywhere else. This morning I made my routine stop for a Grande Bold to go, handed over $2.11 in correct change as per usual, and drove off to work. As I lifted the cup towards my face for that first mouthful of delicious brew, imagine my surprise as the defective lid came flying off and half of a steaming Grande Bold emptied onto my lap.
For the record, Starbucks coffee is indeed extremelty hot.
For the record, Starbucks coffee is indeed extremelty hot.
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