One would hope that you do more than survive, thrive.
I often wonder why so many people do what they think "ought" to be done instead of what they want to be done? Unless their is a moral/legal imperative against something, why not do it? If you can do something, why not do something that makes you happy?
Perhaps the root lies in our subconscious breeding, a strange mix of the protestant work ethic, Victorian stoicism, and the general working-class idea of life-as-suffering. Although I do believe in a life of some restraint, why be miserable?
That said, I think my camera and a new paintball gun are calling me. After all, it is my day off.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
What a coincidence!
I should clarify that ALL of these issues were unknown until yesterday morning:
I went downstairs to retrieve a plastic tote for Angel to swap seasonal cloths. While down there, I heard water dripping (never good).
I discovered a very leaky shut-off valve in the hot-water-tank's cold water intake and the valve came apart when I tried to fix it (over 50 years old). I shut off the house's water and went to Home Depot for a replacment valve. With additional muscle (and know-how) from my father-in-law, the valve was replaced and I turned the water back on to the house.
With the water back on, I was watching for leaks and noticed that the gas vent on the water tank was swiss-cheese and had been knocked loose by the earlier pipe-persuasion. CO alert! I'm sure the only thing saving us in the past ten years had been the general draftiness of the basement/house.
While inspecting the damage to the exhaust pipe, I heard a 'snapping" noise and got dripped on as the dish washer kicked into a new cycle. Looking up, I noticed electricity arching to a pipe and water coming through a hole in the floor above me.
A sensor in the dishwasher above my head had given out and was now pouring a few gallons of water into the basement and on to my head. Luckless, or not, it was draining down the power wire and through a hole in the floor instead of into the rest of the kitchen. My earlier electrician/carpenter job was not water proof and ran right by the pipes I had just fixed.
That night, after the whole string of events, I couldn't sleep for some reason. To settle my fears, I walked around the house and checked the various detectors; all of the fire detectors on the ground floor had low batteries and the CO detector... had a dead battery.
Maybe my oldest daughter's malaise has been a coincidence, the strain of a growth spurt. Maybe my own narcoleptic feelings have been from lack of sleep and stress... but maybe not. Whatever the cause, one possibility has hopefully been eliminated.
What a coincidence.
I went downstairs to retrieve a plastic tote for Angel to swap seasonal cloths. While down there, I heard water dripping (never good).
I discovered a very leaky shut-off valve in the hot-water-tank's cold water intake and the valve came apart when I tried to fix it (over 50 years old). I shut off the house's water and went to Home Depot for a replacment valve. With additional muscle (and know-how) from my father-in-law, the valve was replaced and I turned the water back on to the house.
With the water back on, I was watching for leaks and noticed that the gas vent on the water tank was swiss-cheese and had been knocked loose by the earlier pipe-persuasion. CO alert! I'm sure the only thing saving us in the past ten years had been the general draftiness of the basement/house.
While inspecting the damage to the exhaust pipe, I heard a 'snapping" noise and got dripped on as the dish washer kicked into a new cycle. Looking up, I noticed electricity arching to a pipe and water coming through a hole in the floor above me.
A sensor in the dishwasher above my head had given out and was now pouring a few gallons of water into the basement and on to my head. Luckless, or not, it was draining down the power wire and through a hole in the floor instead of into the rest of the kitchen. My earlier electrician/carpenter job was not water proof and ran right by the pipes I had just fixed.
That night, after the whole string of events, I couldn't sleep for some reason. To settle my fears, I walked around the house and checked the various detectors; all of the fire detectors on the ground floor had low batteries and the CO detector... had a dead battery.
Maybe my oldest daughter's malaise has been a coincidence, the strain of a growth spurt. Maybe my own narcoleptic feelings have been from lack of sleep and stress... but maybe not. Whatever the cause, one possibility has hopefully been eliminated.
What a coincidence.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Nurse's
Nurses are a funny bunch. Ninety percent are female and (guessing) three quarters are on their second marriage; the other portion of them are either newlyweds or vehemently single (after being divorced). One in a few hundred are still happily married to their first love.
In observing them (from my desk perch at the nurse's station), I've noticed a few generalities:
1. Nurses tend to want to be needed and enjoy (to a point) having to take care of someone and "fix" them.
2. Nurses pour themselves into their work with little or no return from the patient (emotional or otherwise).
3. Nurses don't like confrontation and learn to be passive-aggressive.
There are always exceptions and, as a whole, a good nursing floor becomes like an extended family where true interaction, conversation, and support happens on a daily basis. After all, we spend 1/3 of our lives together in close proximity and go through life and (yes) alot of "the valley of death" even on the calm floors.
Perhaps, the key to their working relationships is just that, we are forced to work together. Not for the paycheck, but because we have a common goal. If a nurse has a tough patient, we all feel it, we all help, we all listen, whether we like it or not, whether we like them or not.
If you become isolated and withdrawn on a nursing floor, you'll quit, which is a known weak spot and weapon. If someone doesn't help others or carry their load, they become shunned in increasing degrees. Sooner or later, the offender either comes around or quits.
I wonder if the same things happen in marriage; unequal loads lead to isolation which leads to quitting and then divorce.
In observing them (from my desk perch at the nurse's station), I've noticed a few generalities:
1. Nurses tend to want to be needed and enjoy (to a point) having to take care of someone and "fix" them.
2. Nurses pour themselves into their work with little or no return from the patient (emotional or otherwise).
3. Nurses don't like confrontation and learn to be passive-aggressive.
There are always exceptions and, as a whole, a good nursing floor becomes like an extended family where true interaction, conversation, and support happens on a daily basis. After all, we spend 1/3 of our lives together in close proximity and go through life and (yes) alot of "the valley of death" even on the calm floors.
Perhaps, the key to their working relationships is just that, we are forced to work together. Not for the paycheck, but because we have a common goal. If a nurse has a tough patient, we all feel it, we all help, we all listen, whether we like it or not, whether we like them or not.
If you become isolated and withdrawn on a nursing floor, you'll quit, which is a known weak spot and weapon. If someone doesn't help others or carry their load, they become shunned in increasing degrees. Sooner or later, the offender either comes around or quits.
I wonder if the same things happen in marriage; unequal loads lead to isolation which leads to quitting and then divorce.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Yes, you can believe in Santa Claus (still being written).
Why do we lie to our kids?
Why do we play make-believe?
Why do we tell them there is a Santa Claus?
Do we tell them about violence and death? Probably not. A toddler's mind tends to incorporate any problem or threat as a threat to themselves. For example, a violent act on TV is interpreted as a potential violent act to them; after all, it's "happening" only a few feet away from their faces. So, we shield our kids from the truth of violence, war, death, and alot of other things to protect them from trauma.
Do we tell them about the daily struggle for money, food, and shelter? Hopefully not when they're very young. Children are not (with child-labor laws and such) responsible for the financial well-being of the family and, if they cannot affect the family finances, mental stress on the child is pointless and a bit cruel.
If withholding the truth is a lie about reality, then we lie to protect our kids from trauma and things in this world that are beyond their control, but the more appropriate term, I think, is fantasy.
Do we tell them cheaters never prosper? Most of us do. Do we believe it... probably not. Parents teach their children fables to instill morals that don't always jive with what is easy or real life. By the time most kids have gotten into kindergarten, they've figured out the truth. Are they somehow crushed by the truth of the realization that their parents lied to them, or do they see the value in the lesson and continue to teach other children the same? Most fables are idyllic and not realistic.
A fantasy world is idyllic.
Is that a lie?
We tell them things that help them grow.
We tell them things that bring them joy or prevent despair even if they'll find out on their own later in life.
We tell them things that have a moral even if it isn't always true to "real" life.
Will you discourage make-believe and play?
Will you teach your children morals, even if it's a fable?
Will you let Santa get in the way of Christ?
To tell kids there is a Santa is fun make-believe and good imagination.
To tell kids about Santa teaches that there are rewards for being good, even if life says otherwise.
To tell kids about Santa does not preclude Christ unless you let it.
I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Let your children be children until they have to grow up.
I'm sure your girls will be fine women and so will your grand-babies down the road.
Santa will not prevent that any more than the fantasy we let our children live in every day to protect them from the other "realities" all around them.
Why do we play make-believe?
Why do we tell them there is a Santa Claus?
Do we tell them about violence and death? Probably not. A toddler's mind tends to incorporate any problem or threat as a threat to themselves. For example, a violent act on TV is interpreted as a potential violent act to them; after all, it's "happening" only a few feet away from their faces. So, we shield our kids from the truth of violence, war, death, and alot of other things to protect them from trauma.
Do we tell them about the daily struggle for money, food, and shelter? Hopefully not when they're very young. Children are not (with child-labor laws and such) responsible for the financial well-being of the family and, if they cannot affect the family finances, mental stress on the child is pointless and a bit cruel.
If withholding the truth is a lie about reality, then we lie to protect our kids from trauma and things in this world that are beyond their control, but the more appropriate term, I think, is fantasy.
Do we tell them cheaters never prosper? Most of us do. Do we believe it... probably not. Parents teach their children fables to instill morals that don't always jive with what is easy or real life. By the time most kids have gotten into kindergarten, they've figured out the truth. Are they somehow crushed by the truth of the realization that their parents lied to them, or do they see the value in the lesson and continue to teach other children the same? Most fables are idyllic and not realistic.
A fantasy world is idyllic.
Is that a lie?
We tell them things that help them grow.
We tell them things that bring them joy or prevent despair even if they'll find out on their own later in life.
We tell them things that have a moral even if it isn't always true to "real" life.
Will you discourage make-believe and play?
Will you teach your children morals, even if it's a fable?
Will you let Santa get in the way of Christ?
To tell kids there is a Santa is fun make-believe and good imagination.
To tell kids about Santa teaches that there are rewards for being good, even if life says otherwise.
To tell kids about Santa does not preclude Christ unless you let it.
I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Let your children be children until they have to grow up.
I'm sure your girls will be fine women and so will your grand-babies down the road.
Santa will not prevent that any more than the fantasy we let our children live in every day to protect them from the other "realities" all around them.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
An open letter to a friend
I read your November 6th blog entry (I read them all and check back almost daily). After reading it, something in the next blog on my daily reading list caught my attention; I see a correlation.
"Reason #3 we talk about grace is because it threatens the self-righteous. This is a good thing. Self-righteous people, whether they are unsaved and don't think they need a savior, or already saved and prideful-- are threatened by grace because it erases any merit from human comparisons. People actually love to be reminded that 'nobody's perfect' because misery loves company, and because once we grow comfortable with imperfection, standards for greatness revolve around comparing our lives to the lives of other people. No one in this camp would ever admit it, but they are secretly grateful for the Hitlers and Stalins of the world. They allow us to feel so much better about ourselves. Grace, however, does not allow such self-satisfaction. Needing grace forces us to accept the truth about ourselves, that since the standard is absolute perfection rather than comparative goodnes, we need saving just as much as a Saddam Hussein did. That Mother Theresa needed rescuing just as much as Osama Bin Laden does. And this is always painful. But it is also always necessary-- "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6)."
Perhaps our church's problem resides in the self-righteous' reaction to the "outside," which, as Josh (the above blogger) points out is a bit of a co-dependent relationship. If the heathens or other "offenders" come to the full realization Grace, which induces Faith, than the self-righteous system falls apart. In a nutshell, some must be denied grace in order for self-righteousness to propagate. Therefore, if I allow full grace to someone and validate it with unhindered, no-strings-attached, bread breaking or celebration, I condemn and validate my own sin, which, in a system with no grace, is a scary place; live by the sword, die by the sword.
Just a thought.
"Reason #3 we talk about grace is because it threatens the self-righteous. This is a good thing. Self-righteous people, whether they are unsaved and don't think they need a savior, or already saved and prideful-- are threatened by grace because it erases any merit from human comparisons. People actually love to be reminded that 'nobody's perfect' because misery loves company, and because once we grow comfortable with imperfection, standards for greatness revolve around comparing our lives to the lives of other people. No one in this camp would ever admit it, but they are secretly grateful for the Hitlers and Stalins of the world. They allow us to feel so much better about ourselves. Grace, however, does not allow such self-satisfaction. Needing grace forces us to accept the truth about ourselves, that since the standard is absolute perfection rather than comparative goodnes, we need saving just as much as a Saddam Hussein did. That Mother Theresa needed rescuing just as much as Osama Bin Laden does. And this is always painful. But it is also always necessary-- "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6)."
Perhaps our church's problem resides in the self-righteous' reaction to the "outside," which, as Josh (the above blogger) points out is a bit of a co-dependent relationship. If the heathens or other "offenders" come to the full realization Grace, which induces Faith, than the self-righteous system falls apart. In a nutshell, some must be denied grace in order for self-righteousness to propagate. Therefore, if I allow full grace to someone and validate it with unhindered, no-strings-attached, bread breaking or celebration, I condemn and validate my own sin, which, in a system with no grace, is a scary place; live by the sword, die by the sword.
Just a thought.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Wedding, the Ring, and Remembrance
Note: In an attempt to tie together the three milestones of the Christian walk, I used the following as a short talk before presenting my newly baptized daughter with her first communion. It seems to have been well received, but I did it as a power-point presentation. I'm going to try and flesh it out in an essay form.
The Wedding (part1)
In Isaiah 61 and again in Matthew chapter nine, our relationship with God is described in terms of a wedding. In saying "I do" to the all-encompassing call of God-the-lover, to return to his arms, as a prodigal bride, renouncing the rebel yell of sin (of which Satan is merely the flag bearer, not the origin), in our wedding vow, we begin the first step (self-invited or not) of the Christian journey called Salvation.
I personally accepted Christ's call when I was in first grade. A fire-and-brimstone preacher came to my small Brethren school. During chapel service, he presented a picture of damnation so vivid and real that, when I lay in bed that night, with trembling fear and sincerity, I accepted the lifeline to heaven with a simple silent prayer. In my bed, face down in my pillow with tears or anxiety and relief, I went to sleep for the first time (even at that young age) knowing that, if I died, I would go to heaven. It was a feeling of complete security and faith that I have never experienced since.
Everyone who takes part in baptism first publicly acknowledges their salvation (the wedding vow). My oldest daughter Alexi, when she came us with her desire to be baptized, told my wife that she had accepted Christ silently in her bed just like I had twenty-five years previous.
It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. No matter what might happen, I knew I'd see her again in heaven. That night, our family danced together at a wedding feast (one that might be mirrored down-the-road).
The Wedding (part1)
In Isaiah 61 and again in Matthew chapter nine, our relationship with God is described in terms of a wedding. In saying "I do" to the all-encompassing call of God-the-lover, to return to his arms, as a prodigal bride, renouncing the rebel yell of sin (of which Satan is merely the flag bearer, not the origin), in our wedding vow, we begin the first step (self-invited or not) of the Christian journey called Salvation.
I personally accepted Christ's call when I was in first grade. A fire-and-brimstone preacher came to my small Brethren school. During chapel service, he presented a picture of damnation so vivid and real that, when I lay in bed that night, with trembling fear and sincerity, I accepted the lifeline to heaven with a simple silent prayer. In my bed, face down in my pillow with tears or anxiety and relief, I went to sleep for the first time (even at that young age) knowing that, if I died, I would go to heaven. It was a feeling of complete security and faith that I have never experienced since.
Everyone who takes part in baptism first publicly acknowledges their salvation (the wedding vow). My oldest daughter Alexi, when she came us with her desire to be baptized, told my wife that she had accepted Christ silently in her bed just like I had twenty-five years previous.
It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. No matter what might happen, I knew I'd see her again in heaven. That night, our family danced together at a wedding feast (one that might be mirrored down-the-road).
Sunday, August 16, 2009
No need to deceive
It is not by altering our testimony that we are to hope to win an audience, and it is not by hiding the light of the gospel under a bushel that you or I shall discharge our obligations to our Lord. We must speak up for Christ, and so speak up for Him that men will be moved to ask us the question, "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" ~Spurgeon
To deceive is to lie.
A prayer meeting disguised as a party
Is a lie.
A sermon made to look like a party
Is a lie.
An "Alpha" meeting billed as a party
Is a lie.
Good intentions, if put in anything but the truth,
Is a lie.
The main purpose of a gathering is what it is.
If it isn't a party, don't say it is.
If it is a prayer meeting at the stroke of midnight, say so.
If it is a class, not a party, say so.
Why hide the intention of something?
If it is boring, spice it up.
If it is tedious, help it move along.
If it is complicated, teach it well.
But don't lie about it.
To deceive is to lie.
A prayer meeting disguised as a party
Is a lie.
A sermon made to look like a party
Is a lie.
An "Alpha" meeting billed as a party
Is a lie.
Good intentions, if put in anything but the truth,
Is a lie.
The main purpose of a gathering is what it is.
If it isn't a party, don't say it is.
If it is a prayer meeting at the stroke of midnight, say so.
If it is a class, not a party, say so.
Why hide the intention of something?
If it is boring, spice it up.
If it is tedious, help it move along.
If it is complicated, teach it well.
But don't lie about it.
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