Archive for the ‘The Human Experience’ Category
November 18th, 2009
After 600+ posts, I’ve neglected this blog for some time. It sorta makes me sad. I’ve been busy and distracted. Though as I sit here now, I have a little time. I’m listening to the Lost Dogs. Working a bit in Flash. Wondering what to do next. I feel a little sick. Hoping to kick that soon. Need to work on the house. But not before lunch. It’s good to see you old friend. Perhaps we’ll spend more time together soon.
January 7th, 2009
So I’ve decided to create some New Years Resolutions. I don’t usually do New Years Resolutions, but I figure the new year is a good time to start (da-dum-cha). Here are my resolutions:
1. Learn Something New, in Depth
I’m thinking it’s going to be finances. From 401ks to Roth IRAs, bonds, saving for retirement, maximizing money, giving, etc. I can’t think of many other things that could impact the rest of my life more (aside from the spiritual). As such, I’ve started a blog: http://www.money.deptof.com My hope is to spend an average of at least 5 hours a week researching/writing about finances and money. That’s 260 hours in a year, or a little under 11 full days of studying and writing.
a. Action Item: Read 8 Books (2 a quarter) and review them
b. Action Item: Spend 5 hours a week reading, researching and studying. Could include writing as well.
2. Study Proverbs
I got a commentary of Proverbs by Bruce Waltke and I want to dig in. It’s two volumes and I think it will be my goal to go all the way through proverbs, and his books, this year, studying Proverbs in depth.
a. Action Item: Read 1 chapter a week, plus commentary.
3. Lose Weight
I know, but my goal is to loose 18 lbs in 6 months. That’s 3 lbs a month. Even if I didn’t change my eating habits, I could probably loose that much just by working out more. But I’m still going to try to change my eating habits – I need to for health reasons.
a. Action Item: Drink 2 glasses of water 15 minutes before I eat, if possible.
b. Action Item: Work out at least 3 times a week
c. Action Item: No seconds
d. Action Item: Limit Eating Out
We’ll see how all this pans out 
September 30th, 2008
This weekend JPaul quoted someone – I have no idea who – who essentially said “a man who thinks a lot sabbaths with his hands.” This is really true. It’s hard for me to stop creating, stop doodling, stop building when I am “resting.” I either need to be out (asleep), reading a book, or creating/planning to create something. Yesterday I sabbathed with Brad. He did most of the work, but I helped him finish the piping for his french drain in the back yard. It was a good time. We talked a lot, spent a good amount of time in the sun, and got some good work done. Then I helped him keep his kids for a while when his wife went to get her hair did. It wasn’t how I planned to spend my sabbath day, but it was good. Really good. It was nice to run around barefooted all day outside. After all, Moses had to kick off his sandles in God’s presence, why shouldn’t we do the same?
September 28th, 2008
Mr X was the CEO of the financial business firm X & Son and was often hired to do consulting for major corporations internationally. Once he was walking alone in Asia when a 9 year old girl came and offered her body to him. He glanced up, seeing the girl’s pimp staring at him. He was not tempted by her inquiry but felt compassion for her. He stooped down and ask her in his best Mandarin if she’d like to be freed from the sex trade business and go live in his house in America where she would be well fed, taken care of – she could go to school and learn, etc. She did not know what to say, she could not imagine being free – what is free? Why would you want to be free? He stood up and walked away. The next day he returned with a million dollars and gave it to the pimp saying “I’m taking this girl back to the states with me.” The pimp accepted the offering and told him to take the little whore.
Mr X took the young girl back to his hotel room, stripped her. He filled the tub with warm water and lifted her into the tub. He scrubbed her down with a sponge, cleaning the dirt from her face, the blood from her body. He lifted her out and dried her, put her in new, clean pajamas and laid her in bed. She went to sleep almost immediately as he stroked her head and sang her sweet songs.
When she next woke up she was back in America laying in a beautiful bed with silk sheets. There were flowers on the dresser and light poured through the lace curtains into the room. She cracked open the door, then peaked her head out. Her room sat at the top of a grand staircase, the sweetest aroma filled her nose. She started down the staircase and saw a golden brown puppy bounding up the stairs toward her carrying a floppy bunny rabbit in it’s mouth.
She came to a table spread with juices and fruit, pancakes and waffles, muffins, bacon, sausage, pastries of all kinds – anything she could want was there and she certainly ate her fill.
Mr. X came down, and delighted, she ran and threw herself into his arms grateful for rescuing her from her past life of slavery. He had given her freedom – a freedom she could once never imagine. She could eat, learn, have friends, play, chase butterflies, run, pet the puppy, pick flowers. She was truly free and for the first time in her life, truly happy.
But she soon wandered outside and noticed the neighbor boy standing in his yard. He must’ve been 17 years old. Something inside her still knew her past life and pulled her back. She went to him and offered to sleep with him. He took her up on her offer – then she went home.
She felt dirty again but she still got to enjoy the perks of living in Mr. X. He had given her freedom beyond comprehension and joy but for some reason she still wanted more. She decided she’d go try to hire herself out. So she would tiptoe downstairs and sneak out the back door to go into town where she would offer herself for money two or three nights a week. Soon she had a business with many regular customers. She was making more money, but for some reason felt dirty doing it.
Periodically someone would walk by and ask if she was lost, ask why she was out so late, ask if she needed help getting home. She would always flee back to the house when they asked, but would sneak out again the next night.
One night a man she was with got drunk at beat her till she was bloody, black and blue. As she limped home she became fearful of the morning.
Soon she began skipping breakfast because she didn’t want Mr X to know she was hurt, for she knew she would have to explain herself.
One night she was beaten so severely she passed out and was dumped in a gutter.
She woke the next day hurting – her body was broken, but she was clean and laying in her bed. Mr X was sitting over her stroking her hair and singing to her. He smiled at her as she looked at him. He opened his mouth at spoke “My child, I have bought your freedom, I have given you access to all joy, I have breathed into your dead body new life, I have taken you from a foreign place, from being an orphan, and have put you in my house and adopted you as my own. I have cleaned you with my own hands and fed you all you could eat. And you began sneaking out at night… you began whoring yourself out once again, returning to the slavery I freed you from. Do you think I did not know? Do you think it did not break my heart? I wept every night, waiting for you to realize what you were doing. I knew you would have to learn your lesson the hard way. And now I beg you, stay here. Learn from the pain of bondage, open your eyes and see the life I am offering. Stay with me as you did the first weeks you were here in my house. Never again whore yourself out. Stay here, live, breath, have life, have all that is good, eat to your fill, be clean, enjoy the good things that I have given you, but do not return to the bondage you were once subject to. You can have all I have to give, all I ask is that you do not return to your old life. My child, cling to all that is good, abhor all that is evil. Stay here with me forever.”
September 2nd, 2008
Today has been a good day. Bare-foot stepping through the dew. Tossing plastic discs into chained buckets. I sat on the playground and shivered for the first time in a long while. The sun peaked out with near blinding beauty. Mostly calm. Wonderful. Today has been a good day.
Murray Gell-Mann: Beauty & Truth in Physics. Some refer to him as the man who knows everything. You could say the Mann knows everything – or maybe just something about beauty and science. Is it any wonder that God created the universe? With all the beauty in math, who can deny? Plenty sadly. Plenty sad.
There are a number of things that stir my affections. These are two – Math and the chill of morning. Today has been a good day. And it’s only 8:30 in the morning.
August 26th, 2008
Here’s an incomplete list of things that stir my affections for Christ. Perhaps I’ll add to it.
August 25th, 2008
Matt Chandler wrote about what stirs his affections for God. I started thinking about it and I had a hard time. I think that’s just where I am. I don’t know what stirs my affections for Christ – that’s a pretty big issue. If I think hard about it I can come up with a few of my defaults, but I can’t come up with much that has done it lately. This will give me something to think on as I drive to and from work today…
June 6th, 2008
I feel as those I must do something creative, artistic – that I must invent something, create something, program something, etc… Like a woman who is 9 months in, I feel as though I need to give birth.
June 3rd, 2008
He sat there with his feet and mind turned inward, trying not to cry.
“* asked if we wanted to come down and debrief – so we did. We just sat there staring at each other. * said that’s what you do. So that’s what we did.”
August 6th, 2007
Like I said before, I feel very frail – especially today. God has been especially gracious to me though – He’s lifting me out of the pit, out of the mire and clay. Now, will I sing?