Lots of Snow

Over the weekend the forecasters were calling for lots of snow... and they were right. We got nothing more than a dusting last night, but over the course of the morning we have accumulated 4+ inches. And the roads are not cleared yet! I just had to go to the Warehouse and boy was that an adventure. I was able to make it down with little trouble (crawling along EXTREMELY slow through the drifts), but coming up was nearly impossible. I am glad I made it. Coming up the side of the hill from the Warehouse there is one last big hump before it levels out, and while it was difficult coming up the majority of the hill, that hump was awful. I came to everything but a complete stop and just crawled with wheels spinning up that last 20 feet. Three cheers for maybe the first decent snow we've had this season and nobody bothering to clear the roads :-).

A Healthy Fear

Clint Eastwood is a great filmmaker and I have always enjoyed his movies. One of his most common themes is the corruption of government systems. I have to admit, many times I have watched his movies and then afterwords sat back and made excuses for the government programs or authorities that he just tore apart. In "The Outlaw Josey Wales" he exposed many of the injustices wrought on the South following the Civil War. In "Unforgiven" we saw the dangers of local law enforcement working for their own personal gain rather than for the people. In "Absolute Power" we saw how officials as high as the President can be seduced by their power into doing the unthinkable. The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration is labmasted in "Flags of Our Fathers" for their incredible propaganda program. We know that power corrups and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the older I get the more afraid I become of our government. I know that my mind is expanding because I am constantly questioning my beliefs and sometimes changing my opinions as I find truth. Well, while I in the past have made excuses for our big government, I am now seeing the importance of people like Clint Eastwood pointing out the extreme dangers posed by giving them so much power. We have seen the myth built up and propagated that the government is a good thing, something that is working for you to fix the problems in your life and make your life and standard of living better. Well, that is wrong. Our founding fathers knew that the government is something to be feared and that is why they made such a confining Constitution. Though even that has not been enough to hold our federal government in check. We need to have a healthy fear of giving President Bush all the power of the Patriot Act (a terrible name by the way, pure propaganda), we need a fear of our government's powerful propanganda network and the IRS. We need to watch everything they do to make sure they do not keep growing and taking away our liberties. We need to watch movies like these done by Clint Eastwood and not make excuses for our government, but instead watch them and learn that we need to fear our government and fight with everything we have to keep it from getting bigger and more intrusive. We need to fear this new administration trying to take away our gun rights, control our personal healthcare, second-guess our parenting methods and go so far as to mount satellite tracking devices on our cars.

Good job for Clint Eastwood and Ron Howard and all those willing to show the true dangers of giving too much power to the government.

The Sound Of Silence

As I started driving to work today, I decided to keep the radio and cd player off. I love silence, but it is often so hard to come by. I don't know what exactly it is inside me, but I often do not want silence, it scares me somehow. As soon as silence rears its head I quickly shatter it with noise, any noise, whether talk radio, audio books or sometimes music. But the strange thing is, I love silence. Why do I so often flee from something I love? There is nothing like curling up inside the warm fleece of silence to pray, or meditate, or just marinate in my thoughts. Silence is where my brain expands, silence is where the Spirit guides me into truth. Safely within silence my brain soars! My mind churns, I formulate my beliefs, write essays, solve problems! It is incredible what can happen with just a little silence. So I must make sure I set aside time for silence. I shall start a relationship with silence, court it on a regular basis, and just wait to see what happens.

Finding the Meaning In a Verse

A new believer friend joined me at the men's Bible study two Saturdays ago. Part of the homework involves us studying many verses and taking application from them. My friend was quite overwhelmed, so I typed this out quickly for him. My mother-in-law also suggested a few clarifications which I added.

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide
John 16:13 says the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth and John 14:26 says “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” In order to get the full meaning out of any verse or passage we need to begin by praying that God’s Holy Spirit will guide our understanding.

2. Read the verse

3. Find the immediate context
Find the beginning of the paragraph or smaller section that the verse is contained in. Read to get the immediate context.

4. Find the larger context
Is the verse part of a speech? Is it part of a larger thought or section? Find the beginning of the thought or speech. Read to understand the larger context.

5. Look up the key words
Which words stand out? Which words are key to understanding the meaning of the verse? Note, the biggest words are not necessarily the key words. Pick them out and look them up in Strong’s Concordance. Read other verses the words are used in to get an idea of how they are used. (http://www. blueletterbible.org/)

6. Put it together
Read the verse again with an understanding of the context and an emphasis on the full meanings of the key words.

7. Read any cross-references
Read any cross-references to gain additional insight into the topic.

8. Read any notes
Read the study notes at the bottom of the page to gain additional insights into the meaning.

9. Find the application
2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in right living. If we do not apply the verse or passage to our own life, we are not getting out of it all that God wants us to. Imagine the verse was written by God specifically for you. How is God trying to teach you, rebuke your wrongdoing, correct your thinking or show you right living? Do not over-think this. Often the simplest and most obvious truth is exactly what the Holy Spirit is trying to convey to you.

Rocking My Baby To Sleep

The room is dark, she looks around trying to focus. I drape her blanket over my shoulder and we sit down in the rocking chair and start moving

back and forth, back and forth

She pushes back and looks at a streak of light coming in through a crack in the window shades. She point and says, "Dat!" We rock

back and forth, back and forth

I pull her head down between my shoulder and collar bone, she relaxes. She moves her feet a little, pulls her head back, and then falls back into position. We rock

back and forth, back and forth

She relaxes, I feel her body melt into mine. We become one, rocking

back and forth, back and forth

The white noise surrounds us, enveloping all other sounds. Only the hum of the humidifier can be heard above it.

back and forth, back and forth

I check the clock, it has been thirty minutes. It sure does not feel like that long. We slowly stop rocking

back and forth, back and forth

I hold her close as I stand and carry her to the bed. I lay her down, she stays asleep. I gently push her blanket into her hands. I pull a pillow against her back.

She sleeps.

I turn on the monitor and quietly make my way out of the room.

She naps.

Excerpt From President Obama's Press Conference

02/09/2009

I said during the campaign that Iran is a country that has extraordinary people, extraordinary history and traditions, but that its actions over many years now have been unhelpful when it comes to promoting peace and prosperity both in the region and around the world; that their attacks or their financing of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, the bellicose language that they've used towards Israel, their development of a nuclear weapon, or their pursuit of a nuclear weapon -- that all those things create the possibility of destabilizing the region and are not only contrary to our interests, but I think are contrary to the interests of international peace. What I've also said is that we should take an approach with Iran that employs all of the resources at the United States' disposal, and that includes diplomacy.

...And my expectation is in the coming months we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table, face to face, diplomatic overtures that will allow us to move our policy in a new direction.

...So there are going to be a set of objectives that we have in these conversations, but I think that there's the possibility at least of a relationship of mutual respect and progress.

Excerpt from "Tuesdays With Morrie"

I am currently reading Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom and am really enjoying it. It is quite simply about... death. Some might think of death as a morbid subject for a book, but this book is anything but morbid. It is a very refreshing book. If I was to smash the whole book down into an anecdote, it would probably be, "To truly embrace life, you must first embrace death." Here is an excerpt of Morrie speaking:

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

Simple wisdom :-)