Living now...

"The greatest tragedy of human existence is not to live in time, in both senses of that phrase." My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman. p. 8

Drink in the moment... Live life to the fullest... and similar trite phrases twist a profound mental and spiritual process into some sort of superficial, hedonistic escapism. As if going on a bender or traveling around the world would get you there. Living now, truly, is the privilege of the few. I am not one of the few... yet.

Hauling water...

Remember trying to carry water from the lake to your sand castle in a little red wagon? Have you ever driven livestock to market... pulled a horse trailer...? I am not sure if one is harder than the other, but for me, there is nothing quite like hauling water.

At my present age and post knee surgery, I pride myself on still being able to carry a full, 20 liter (5.283 Gal) water jug upstairs to the kitchen and flip it onto its base for dispensing. It weighs about 44 Pounds. It's an even greater accomplishment if I don't spill any water in the process.

LINDA SMITH April 9, 1951 - February 2, 2015

MEMORIAL AND CELEBRATION SERVICE

February 08, 2015   10:00 AM  (All Invited)

Her whole life, Linda suffered much physically, but she never gave up. She expressed in recent months that she was ready to go. The last few weeks, she felt even more that her time was short.

Objectifying...

“I judge no man.” (Jn 8:15)

In our natural state, I wonder if we are not all potential terrorists.

We all attempt to understand what goes on around us and embrace a world view that strikes us as consistent. Unfortunately, the way that we go about it reflects our unregenerate ego-centrism, our driving need to prove ourselves a cut above the rest. Couple that with our incomplete knowledge (i.e., ignorance), and we have the ingredients for a consistent world view, but one that is grossly over-simplistic and potentially dangerous.

Twenty two years and counting...

Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, recently broke Tom Brady’s NFL record of 288 successive completed passes at home without an interception. Awesome... and he’s still going strong. That’s right up there with Brett Favre’s record of consecutive starts as an NFL quarterback. Unparalleled grit and stamina. It must have something to do with the air in Green Bay. (Can you tell I’m from Wisconsin?)

As impressed as I am, setting records is not a driving force for me. Yet, I wonder if we are setting one anyway?  I hope not.

This hidden obsession...

I like Spotify. Other streaming audio sources, like Pandora, don't allow me to connect from a non-US IP. Spotify is not based in the US... different set of rules, I guess.

Taylor Swift dumped Spotify. I hadn't noticed until I saw it on the news. I "unliked" her enough at the outset so that she wasn't popping up anymore in my radio channnels.

One old man...

“...an old man in the days of Saul...” (1Sa 17:12)

I don't know why these passages about old men grab my attention more lately.

Jesse: grandson of Boaz and Ruth, father of eight sons, the youngest being David.

Old, but not useless. God still intends to bless Jesse; God still expects obedience from Jesse. Samuel calls him to a sacrifice... "oh, and bring your sons."