Emotional Waters

I just got done watching a documentary styled movie called "What the Bleep do we know" which was predominantly focused on Metaphysics...(Specifically, Quantum Physics with a touch of the easier to swallow neuro physics)...but I actually rented it because of the cover statement "Science and spirituallity come together in this mind bending trip down the rabbit hole". When I see statements like these I have to make an effort to keep my gaurd down and allow myself to be hopefull. It's important to lend an ear and to know what their is to know, but so very often the science approach to the spiritual is an abomination. A constantly changing mutation of what they can handle and of what they desire.

Now, you could state that organized religions do the same. Such as that they appease their followers but you would be very wrong in that statement. Most demand change or some type of betterment which is not easy and often not fun wether you do it because you should or because you want to. You could also say that Christianity itself has been mutated into so many varieties over the years and in all honesty you would be correct, but the mutations all stem from a core belief which is the one to follow and compare to. A claim which a science approach has no ability to make. At any rate reading a tagline like the one on the cover leads a person in my shoes to the almost certain conclusion that they will make interesting claims within the science realms and then follow it up with damaging claims of the spiritual world.

My defenses aside their were several parts of this movie which I wanted to talk about. Some were good and some were bad. As follows...

Good Things:
1.They made a good presentation on the field of neurophysics and it's applications in life. Though the songs and animations got hokey for a while they really hit the nail on the head with how people go about their lives both in and out of emotional boxes. They also made a good point as to what addiction is and how it works. If thier is a field of physics out their that is destined to change lives I hope it's this one. It was by far the most important, accurate, and usefull part of the movie.

2.They made several very interesting statements on the ideas and implications of quantumphysics. Some were very cool and a bit surprising to hear. Such as the existance of material in two places at one time which is something they have already achieved in several american laboratories. Things that truly defy what we believe is possible. Things I can't properly explain with the vauge memory I have of what I was told during the film.

3.One of the neatest things that was on the show, and one of the ways the scienists tried to tie into spirituality, was the Japanese scientists (Dr. Masaru Emoto) experiments on water. He, essentially, put water in a series of bottles and labeled the bottles things like "get sick and die", "love", and "thank you" and then left them outside over night in the cold. The next day he photographed them in their crystalized form and they were all amazingly different. Not just a little different or randomly different. They had changed to resemble the labels in that the negative ones were discolored nasty looking whil the positive ones were quite clear and beautiful. Each different than the next and all done, apparently, by the labeling of words and the feeling they held. I did not do extra research on it, but it would be neat to do so some time.

4.Something I thought was interesting, perhaps in its simplicity, was the definition of spirituality which a scientist presented in the film. He was not talking of God or religion but about that intangeble thing we feel but can hardly understand. Some people just live with it as is while others direct it towards nature or new age philosophies. Still others aim it towards organized religions. In every case though it stems from a base feeling. In the film the man says something to the effect of it's the feeling of connectivity to something greater than ourselves which seems to hold true in my experiance. Before my days as a believer and follower I was always connected to something more and still am. It was almost tangeble to me but I never knew what to do with it exactly so I just spread it out over many things untill He came and gathered me up. I still hear many saying "I'm not religous but I am spiritual" and I know what they mean when they say this. I felt that way as well once, maybe you did too. So I thought that this definition, though simple, was quite accurate.

Bad Things:
Besides giving slight credibility (being that these are scientists and people tend to believe what they are told by those perceved as smarted/wiser) to the abstract ideology of customiable spirituality, the idea that it is whatever you want it to be, and the overall feeling of the movie which brought my mind to the mess which is scientology this movie was an interesting pick. I did learn some things but I am sorry to say that the tagline does not live up to its expectations. Even the professor of theology, the only non-science person in the film had nothing to offer in way of connecting or describing how sicence and spiritual are connected. In fact he was possibly the most devistating to cause. Him and one woman really got me riled up, she would make statements that were uterly rediculous concerning spirituality backed with nothing but her own determination and then in the next scene speak intellegently about science which she was able to back and explain properly. It's these moments where people who are searching will put their trust in those who don't deserve it. I could write an entire series on correcting her statements but their would be no point and so I'll leave it at that or this already long post will explode.

Moral of the story...I need to break posts like these into smaller pieces, sorry. ^_^

Eeeeek!

Tonight I went to "Field of Screams" with a group of friends. It consisted of a hay ride, a scary barn, and a scary 3D building. If that doesn't sound scary to you then I explained it accuratly enough. But, it was fun because of the company. Good company can do that.

We met up at Mascots house after work and had pizza, which I shouldn't have eaten, and then split into two cars to drive to Lancaster where the event was being held. We had gotten the VIP tickets so we wouldn't have to stand in line in 40 degree temperatures all night and wow it was worth it.

We started out in the "Den of Darkness" which was the best of the three. It was put together well considering how hokey these things usualy are. If any of them made me a bit scared it was this one. Their was a spot when you basically had to crawl in the dark through a, seemingly,narrow attic crawlspace. For those of you who don't know I am a touch claustraphobic and so I silently had a small panic attack at first. Thankfully reason and logic came back to me and I followed the group through the darkness clinging to the shirt of the person in front of me. The cling technique is one which we all imploied(sp?) in that building. This was also the place where I had a geek bonding moment. In a room we had to walk through a man with a chainsaw (minus the blades) and a girl who was made up to look like she had been cut in half rather messily stoped what they were doing to say, "nice hat." I was of course representing all of geekdom with my blue and white wool beenie with "geek" written on it. They were all like "me too" and stuff. It was a cool moment even though I reacted like a geek would. =P

After that we went straight to the "haunted hay ride" which proved to be entertaining and even relaxing. Entertaining because, as hay rides go, this was well done with little skits and props and surprises as well as really cool scenery and relaxing becasue they would play the different theme musics to horror movies as we moved into different areas. These theme songs (instrumental) are actually quite soothing and beautiful when seperated from their video counterparts. The crisp night air, the beautiful night sky, and the gentle rocking of the wagon thing realy, if only momentarily, took me away from the ongoing event.

After that was over we went on to the last part which was the scary 3D building, I forget its name. Over all it had its moments but was a forgetable experiance. The 3D glasses fogged up the entire time, ruining their effectivity, and the place was so well lit that when you took them off to see you could then see everything. Nothing was a surprise at that point. I mean their were a few neat effects in a couple rooms but basically it was a flop.

That was it really. We got some hot chocolate and left for home were we watched "high tension", one of the goriest but good movies I have seen in some time. It's also one which I'd like to talk about for a bit but not now. So the night was a good one you would think, but wait! Remember that pizza that I "shouldn't" have eaten? Yea, that was a real mood killer. I guess the experiance got the better of my nerves because my stomach was non-to pleased with me and from the point of arrival at the field of screams I had to go to the bathroom. I know why it happened and it had nothing to do with bad pizza or scary places, but I doubt you want to hear about this part of the evening so I'll let it go.

Was still a good night all things considered...

Overlap

Lately I have spent a good amount of time on Wallpapers over at dA and I don't know how many of you go over their to see my stuff so I thought it would be good to post some stuff here as well. Below are thumbnails of some wallpapers with the comments I posted. If you click on the thumbnail it will open a full version.

This is something that I have been feeling lately. Surrounded, exhausted, and frustrated...but unwilling to give up. The verses help explain some, but as with us all the exact reasons are more personal (though I'm fairly sure many of you could sympathize). Anyway, this is also the first time I tried using a raster editor as well as the vector stuffs. Unfortunatly I don't have uber skillz in Photoshop so I had to use Corel Photopaint which I learned at work. (sigh)




This is a vector-by-memory of a cloud I once saw. At the time it was the only cloud in the sky and it was a little one at that. The strange and unique thing about it was that even though their had been no rain for days this cloud seemed to be carrying a rainbow inside of it. I know that doesn't make sense but that's what it was doing. Wish I had my camera at the time...



Here is another wall from an image that I had slated for use from a Deviant Model. Kayleigh posts up rather breathtaking photos of herself and has a gallery packed full of them. Good style, IMO.




This started out as something completely different and ended up becoming a scrap pile of things left over from other Walls. The ramp is one that I use 5 or more days a week. Bleh.





This is part one of a two series set...the second is soon to follow and is a bit more up beat.




Part two of the series. In the end they didn't come out much like I had hoped but it still passes the motive and concept of the work.





This is one of four wallpapers with the same theme, one which I love. I originally wanted to put the man outside of the hourglass as if he had been in the bottom of it and managed to break out of it. With the sand spilling onto him as he sat there holding his head. Their were a few other ideas that came up but this is what I'll end it will. Enjoy.

Stalling Out

Sometimes I am so happy about being energetically unstable, but not this time. This time I would rather go home and be ready to do things which are waiting for me, fun stuff. Maybe energetically unstable isn't the best way to say it. Whatever, the point is I've been sleeping alot lately. Even when I get plenty of rest I just want to put on a nice CD/DVD and lay on the couch for a few hours (napping). It's not that I even feel better afterwards. I just want to close my eyes and drift off to sleep. Of course then I can't sleep at night and end up getting a total of eight hours anyway. Messes up my sleeping schedule and creates an ugly cycle.

Their have been times in the past when I would hit the couch because I was having trouble dealing with life in some way or if I was super bored. Some people drink, some get very social, and some dive into a hobby, but I tend to power down. Even so this is not one of those times. Life is good right now all things considered. Not lacking in things to do that is for sure and their are no obvious pressures weighing me down. So, unless this is diet/excersise related I'll chalk it up to a rut again. If you've read my "Some mood music?" post a while back know that I go through phases regarding music. The same can be said for many things. Change is a constant. When in regards to either energy or motivation though I call the phases "ruts" and just try to get through it. A rut will usually hit me once every six to twelve months and can last up to a month on its own. I don't know of a way around it.

I might think it were some form of depression but generally speaking I'm not known to be emotionally/chemically unstable. However, I am known to be lazy at times. Nah, being lazy once and a while is one thing, but being lazy for a month at a time is something else.

Still, it's good that I am going back to the GYM tonight and that I got a ton of sleep yesterday. Now, if I would just start eating better...

Feel the burn?

Wow, I finally got to the GYM tonight. Good thing too, I've reached the early stages of falling apart. My easy upkeep physique is not so easy now. I had been meaning to go sooner but to be honest was lacking in both will and courage. Will in the lack of motivation to do something so exertive even though it was needed. Courage in that I am not someone who tries new things/places with ease. It's a social problem I believe. Anyway, I loved it. All I did was use the stationary bike for an hour but man am I exhausted. In fact I may just sleep right here in front of the compy tonight. Somebody get a fork, my legs are done.

Though it's expensive I'd like to get a membership there. Since I don't have TV, I need to work out, and this plan solves both of those problems it would seem like a good idea at least a couple times a week. If I don't pay for the monthly membership it's gonna cost me 10 to 20 a week which is about what the membership would be anyway. I really liked the setup in there and the fact that they are open 24 hours Monday through Thursday. Works for me cause I like to go after 9 and I won't be getting out of work untill 7:30 on most nights anyway.

A GYM membership should help me get back into shape quicker than what I have here at home. I mean I like to hit the weight bag every week along with jump rope, pullups, an abe cruchy thinger, arnis training, and the usual non-equipment things but even when I get in the mood to do those things I am not breaking much of a sweat. The only thing that I can do sustained to the point of a good workout it seems is the weight bag and I usually bust my hand or pull a muscle before I can get 15 minutes in. Everything else I have trouble with. The jump rope messes with my inner ear problem and I get dizzy. The Abe cruncher thing gives me indegestion half the time. Sheesh.

Anyway, I'm happy that the first night is done. The second will then be as easy as the hundredth. I think I'm gonna go sit in front of the fireplace for a few minutes and listen to the crackle before bed. G'night all.

Jack...is...Back

Here we go again. Good old Jack Thompson is offering to pay 10k to any charity if someone will make a video game of his design. For those of you who don't know Jack is an attorney who makes his fame by telling the uneducated what he believes is happening to the youth of today because of video games. He has a habit of making very uneducated statements and in this move, absent-mindedly mocking his own agenda a bit. "Way to go Jack!" Sadly I don't think he even understands this or at least he didn't at the time. Thankfully, even those who are against gaming violence (ie, NIMF) have abandoned Mr. Thompson after this proposal.

The proposal being that Jack will give the game company "Take Two" 10k towards any charity of his chossing when someone develops a game for him that he designed himself. And this is where it becomes just silliness. A.) A game these days costs more than nothing (six figures easily) to make and the only money mentioned was the charity money. Obviously this is not as much about getting the game made as mouch as making another scandal, but we already knew that. B.) In the game a father whos son was killed (by men who were trained to kill by playing games) goes on a rampage against gamers. Killing his way to the "Take This" game company where he kills the owner and her family. Then the man continues his rampage across country hitting game related places and murdering eveything in site. A bit violent for a non-violent activist don't you think?

I'm sure we've all met people at some point who seemed to have a need to defy logic itself with their own agendas or ideals. (I can think of one who embodies it for my own life to date.) People who, if they would just take time and think outside their own boxes, might see a successful run or two. For example, Jack decided to burn every bridge he could find when what his cause needs is bridges. He has taken shots at the very game desginer that he is trying to get to acomplish these changes. He has attacked the gamers as a whole. wow. In this day and age (and society) I can't think of many I'd want to anger less than the technical youth. Half of these "kids" could dismantle his livelyhood in a matter of days, if they wished. The point being that at every turn the man determines to do the least effective thing. Creating little by little a scar over the issue of video game violence. By the time this guy's done their may be no chance for change in the gameing world not to mention their may not be anyone willing to step up to the challenge following his act.

Not that the man doesn't have a point. Video games can be ultra violent and surprisingly instructive to the watchfull eye. To make matters worse kids are all too capable these days of getting what they want. Including their choice of video games. But you simply can not go about this the wrong way. When dealing with kids whose average IQs are better than your own, precision is required. If Jack would just take the time to research and grasp the situation it would be a wonderfull thing or at least potentially. But then that's not why he's doing it all now is it? He seems to be more interested in fame than accuracy. More interested in making noise than saying anything of worth. I'd be laughing...if it were a joke.

Intelligent Design

So, we have been hearing a lot about this stuff over the past several years if not more. We saw how some loudmouths who claimed to be fighting for freedoms manage to censor religious rights and even certain social foundations based in religion within this country. Amazing that these people have survived for so long being as thick headed and ignorant as they are, but that could be said of soem on both sides I suppose. Another post, another time.

I assume we have all heard about the Intelligent Design contraversy if only in context to the school system. Intelligent Design (ID) being a philosophy/movement to reintroduce God into a society that has become eager to have Him removed. Or another interpretation (science-wise) would be the science of detecting design in the world that goes beyond human design. Attempting to play against Evolutionists and Naturalists on their own playing field.

Of course these opponents aren't to happy about it for the most part. Making claims that, at a glance, seem a bit stupid. They have claimed that it is simply an attack on science, which I have never heard someone say or support in my 26 years. Biblicaly I have never found support for religion to denounce science unless certain values and priniciples are at stake. They also say that it doesn't fit the true or legal deffinitions of science or scientific theory. In all honestly it only meets a scarce few of these requirements but is it really trying to be a science?. (On a side note the requirements for something to be "scientific" are simply hilarious, not difficult just absurd.) According to Phillip Johnson, creator of the Wedge Strategy and aparent head of ID, this is simply a way of repackaging creation by God (not creationism which is very broad) to help bring it back into schools as well as the scientific community. It has never really been about science more than philosophy.

Personaly, I don't know exactly what to think about it yet. You would think that I would be quick to get behind it and don't get me wrong I am behind it, but it isn't a simple topic. Their are so many angles that people are coming in on this one. Politically, Socially, Religiously, and of course Scientifically if not others. So much to factor in and so many chances to be had. So many opinions and so many processes. Sheesh. But if it can manage to accomplish the two goals it has set forth than more power to it. They never taught Evolution as origin in my high school but we did have the theory of evolution in biology. I think any place that teaches Evolution (or any of its sister theories) should also offer something along the lines of ID. I wouldn't mind at all if they managed to make a science out of it either. It would be a sience of looking for Gods fingerprints more than proving His existence but I imagine that their will never be such a thing as that at least not in the scientific community.

Their is so much to read behind this Intelligent Design controversy that I honestly gave up for now so I could go back to other things, but it will very likely be a long fight. Something that will have me both smiling and shaking my head in the future.

A Fable...

Oh, what a game. This is a jem as far as I'm conserned. I'm so happy with it that I thought I'd post about it. We all know how impressed I was with BF2 and why, but this game is a wholy different matter. Remenicent of the Neverwinter days.

In the game you start out as a child who looses everything to a raid on his town. In the wake of this raid you are found by a man from the Hero's Guild. The hero's guild being a place in this world that gathers those with special talents and strong wills. Over the years your character grows up in front of you while honeing his talents and learning the ropes. Eventually you are of an age where they can't do much for you so you go out into the world. Which is pretty large considering the many continents in the game. You can run around sight seeing or take different quests which result in experience, money, and reputation. Over time both experience and reputation points get applied to your character. Reputation points go to how others perceive and react towards you. A reputation for doing good things makes people friendly and excited around you while a rep for doing bad things makes people mouthy and even run away. Pretty neat. The experiance points, gained through fighting and completeing quests, get applied to you characters abilities. The game allows you to build up the character in three basic ways with several sub-sections to each. Strength, Skill, and Will. Will being the substitute for magic in the game. Over time the more you enhance your abiities in strength the more your character shows the change. In the begining you are a scrawny kid but by the midpoint you are like a pro wrestler. Each way you develop the guy will start to show off over time.

Another neat thing is that the world in-game is consistant and ever moving, just like ours. Or pretty close for a game. It keeps track of time and must have a ton of scripts running just for it. For instance I came to a town one time but it was night time so all the shops were closed, which is what I had come to do. Normally, you can go to the local tavern/inn and grab a few hours sleep for a price to spend the time untill morning, but this time the beds were all taken. So I found a nice spot and stood there watching the sun come up, literaly. I watched it move up over the mountains and then across the sky as the patroling gaurds stopped at their street lamps and put them out. The sky changed all the colors of a real sunrise or sunset. It was an strange feeling and pretty neat too. As I looked around town the doors to the shops started to open up one at a time and a man or woman would say they were now open for business or greet the patroling gaurdsmen. The same thing happens in the evening. Everyting shuts down slowly. Street lamps are lit, children are called home for the evening, and people start to close shops or homes.

I even bought a couple of houses and renovated them. Nice places in nice towns. At the moment they are rented out to two families of those towns but I can kick them out if my character ever decides to get hitched. Currently their are a ton of AI ladies that want to get married and I even have a wedding ring in my pocket but I don't have time to tend to a lady while on so many quests. I hear if I don't keep up relations she'll get angry and divorce me so I can't do the husband thing any more than take the office of mayor which was offered to me earlier. Wild stuff.

These types of game are rare in that they meet so many needs and wants within the genre of RPG/Adventure games. All of this is not necessarily new to the gaming world I think, but it is neat to see such a reactionary game. Not one that is fixed and rigid or one that is solely focused on the main plot. This kind of game manages to include all aspects of gaming within its genre. The wanderer, the roleplayer, the random guy, the casual gamer, the focused main plot guy, the powergamer, etc. Everyone can find something in this game.

Well, it's not all good actually. The game is not all that stable and tends to crash out every couple hours. On occasion it dosen't start up on the first try either. Oh, and I had to reformat to get it to install correctly. Minor problems. (^_^)

A Whirlwind Call

Yikes! What happened here? If it weren't for the money I'd have to say it's time to quit my jobs. If I were independantly wealthy I mean. Today I was offered, though tenatively, the position of youth director...I think...at a local church that I have never been to. Ok, settle down Dan. =P

Sorry, I am a bit wound up rigth now. See, a few weeks back my Mother told me a story about a church that her friend goes to. In this church their was, to my knowledge, a young man who was very active and able in leading others to Christ and his church. He had gathered up quite a few young people there when he passed away. In his passing, again to my knowledge, their was something of a void in the youth of that church. Since then people have been trying to get things back on track, but are having a small amount of trouble with these youth as far as keeping them focused and interested. So somehow my name finds its way in to a conversation and I hear that they might want me to speak to the youth. About my exsperiances or maybe something else. Then today I call and talk to this womans husband. A very good man I believe who has put forth a great deal of effort in the wake of the troubles. He is a good example of a spiritually mature(ing) man, if a single conversation can elicit such an observation. I was however blown away with the opportunities that were presenting themselves. I even felt bad in a way for turning down the position of part time youth director, but I very much want to help in some fashion. (Not because I want to be involved in youth ministries, in fact I was avoiding that. I just love that opportunities to serve in bigger and bigger ways are popping up. Seek and you shall find.) So I am sitting down to gather ideas to speak on and my mind is racing with topics and applications. Pertinent info to speak on which will form bonds and hopefully provide some type of insite. Or so I hope. Again it will ultimatly be left to Him. As it should be.

Side note:
Born again. That was one of the things the man on the other line asked me right away. That was the only thing that threw me off the entire (wonderfull) conversation. Am I? Yes, but by definition a born again is one who has been born of the flesh (already dieing) nad then born of the Holy Spirit (in faith and by grace). So then any real Christian, anyone touched by salvation through Christ, is a born again. Essentially then all christians are born again. Having thought that out, though maybe I missed the point, I wonder why people say that? It is very possible that he did not see a difference in saying christian and born again. Maybe I'm the only one who is trying to continue a distinction. Very possible. In the past I have heard others, saved and un-saved, make a clear distinction between the average christian and born again christians. I don't see a reason and I guess they didn't have one. Sometimes people just do things and think things without reason. Like me trying to figure out why someone would try to use a word in a way that he probably didn't even intend. The man probably saw no difference in the two words. My history has done this to me in the past. Things I'm used to hearing still haunt me even though they don't apply now. Anyway, this was just a thought I had to follow through. Don't mind me.

Diamonds or Pearls

Every year (or maybe less) their is an email sent around work. It's one that I am suprised people still send around but I like to get it, fill it out, and send it back out. It's one of those "get to know your friends" emails. Where a set of maybe 25-30 questions are to be answered and then you send it out to everyone who might want it so they can read your answers. The person who gets it from you then clears your answers, fills in their own, and sends it out again. Much nicer than those chain emails that often contain pleasant messages, but always end with an obnoxious statement like "forward this to 10 people in the next 5 minutes and something great will happen to you" or "you have to forward this! don't be a jerk and let this stop with you." Can't stand those regardless of the contents.

Sorry, off topic a bit. So one of the questions this time was "Diamonds or Pearls?" Keep in mind I have a tendancy to try to hard and think to much about my answers. My mind didn't wander to which is prettier, harder to find, or which I have a liking to. Instead I thought solely on the creation process of the two and how they relate to our lives. Keep in mind I am pulling this info from memory which may be a bit off...

Diamonds are essetially just carbon atoms in coal or lead or some other minereal base that have been heated and pressureized for a while. A long while. Until the bonds of the carbon are rediculously strong and dense. Aside from some lazer cutting and polish the diamond is ready to go. So the diamond is like the person who through time, great pressure, and high temperatures will grow to be strong and of high quality. A person who perserveres through such hardships and troubles would become a highly effective tool. Or simply a gem among gems. They would be a sight to behold and something to be admired.

Pearls are basicaly a coated piece of sand or other debrise that got stuck in an oyster, clam, or mussels shell. The creature, unable to find a toothpick, slowly covers the foriegn element with a liquid of some kind. Over time the coatings round out and aside from some spit shining create a full pearl. The pearl is like the person who was unable to rid themselves of a specific trouble and through the years and the pain managed to survive. Turning the pain into something good. Something that could not have been gained without such hardships. Something of great value within themselves.

It would be a hard life wouldn't it? Being one of these people. Having a lifetime of struggle to stay above water or a lifetime with a single thorn in your side. Even more so it would be difficult to turn these problems into a thing of beauty. Many pearls are made spotted and many diamonds are made cloudy. It isn't easy, but it is impressive and worth our appreciation. Do you know someone who lives under a great weight or with a thorn always in their side? Have you ever said they would be better off without it? If so, do you still think they would be better off without it? Hard to say considering it is not a 100 % success rate among clams, right. I tend to think so, but I suppose their are always exceptions.

In the end I think I wrote that I didn't care much for either, which isn't really a good answer to the question. But I didn't think that was the place to ramble about my thoughts on the two choices. This is the place for oddball ideas and crazy ramblings. Lucky you. :wink:

Good day to be Day

(Deep Sigh) What a nice day. The only thing that didn't seem to go exceptionally well would be work and even that was more of a lack of progress than a rough time. The weather was great, had some nice conversations, got some goodies in the mail, bumped into a few people some new and some old, did some shopping, and topped it off with a little backyard get together.

Sometimes I think I need to accomplish things to be satisfied. I can spend weeks in that mindset forcing myself to keep moving on things and then at some point it will hit me that I have forgoten to appreciate things along the way. I wonder how that happens, though I suppose it is a simple matter of getting to focused, to task oriented. It started to hit me that I wasn't enjoying things like the sky, or the fall breeze, or sitting and mulling over questions at night. I mean, sheesh, I couldn't even write a normal blog post. I was only concerned about catching up and getting things out of the way which wasn't working anyway. =3

What an ugly way to live I think, being that focused. Always looking for the next thing to do and finish. Not really stopping to smell the roses. Not that it doesn't have some benefits. I mean you are sure to have done many things both for yourself and others, but at what cost. I think I'd rather fall behind and still be able love life than become a type of slave to my ambition. Lol, "my ambition." That just doesn't sound right coming from me.

Anyway, tonight was nice to sit with my friends and listen to their thoughts and experiances in Handuras. They had spent a week over there working with a childrens hospital, if I am correct, by helping clean it up and playing with the kids. One of the group leaders, mentioned that some people had commented on the shortness of the missions trips that americans take. How if they really wanted to be effective, really wanted to help, they would have to stay longer. Maybe a month or so. I can understand the where they are coming from in a sense but really I disagree. Every act of God bares fruit. Granted it may not be an abundant harvest and it may not be the best fruit that it could be, but it is a good fruit in that it was spawned from a desire to help in Gods name. So essentially, every little thing done for Him (in context), is worth doing. True, the more the better, but that statement does not negate the positive effects that my friends had over there with those kids. True, the needs are greater than the efforts we as a country have put into the situation, but God is still working on both ends of it.

Give it time. Let Him do his thing.

Par for the Course

Ok, so since this has taken me 6 times longer than expected (entirely my fault) and I don't often talk about it I thought this would be as good a time as any to mention some of the ups and downs of this course so far. This is by no means a summary of the class, it is just some of the things I either enjoyed or didn't know before.

One of my favorites things in this course was Typology which is everywhere in Genesis. It is one of those things you kind of pick up on but didn't know their was a term and study form behind it. Once you know about it you see it even more than before.

Typify: a.) To serve as a typical example of; embody the essential characteristics of: a painting that typifies the artist's work. b.) To represent by an image, a form, or a model; symbolize or prefigure.

Typology: a.) The study or systematic classification of types that have characteristics or traits in common. b.) A theory or doctrine of types, as in scriptural studies.

One of the more common examples of typology in Genesis would be the sacrifice of Isaac on Mt Moriah. Isaac typifies the christ here in many ways such as when he carried to wood up th mountain that was to be the fire for his sacrifice. In a similar fasion the Christ carred the wooden cross which He was to be nailed to as a sacrifice. A fairly obvious type would be that both Isaac and Jesus where the only sons of their fathers and where loved greatly. Isaac belonged to Abraham and Jesus belonged to God. Another type in this situation is that both Jesus and Isaac were promised births. The birth of Jesus was foretold long before Isaacs time and Isaac himself had been a promised seed to Abraham. In both the sacrifice at Mt Moriah and the crusifixtion of Jesus the father and son walked together to the event. Also, both Jesus and Isaac willingly submitted to being the sacrifice that their fathers wanted. And finally, after the event on Mt Moriah Issac seems to almost disappear. Jesus, likewises, ascends into heaven after the events of the crusifixtion and resurection. Their are many more though and some are much more potent than this. Another very common type is the appearance of Melchizedek in Genesis 14.

My least favorites are Evidential, Presuppositional, and Classical apologetics. Actually, it's not that I don't like the them I just don't like how people seem to go about it. I meen each of the three forms has within it several variations and none are appreciated by the majority. Each has its own faults when put under scrutiny but each has something to offer as well. Of them all I would currently choose the presuppositional form. It is the closest one to my personality and how I approach people. On the other hand Evidential would be great to have a firm grip on because when people say things about how scripture didn't really happen or can't be documented I could correct and then direct them to the truth that many many things have been documented. The combination of these events, places, people, and timelines goes a great distance in removing the doubts of the casual opposition.

I also loved how much prophectic verses I had missed before as this is the 3rd or 4th time I've read Genesis but had never picked up on them before. Another thing, and probably the most influential, was how detailed the relationships were compared to how before when I basically read on my own. Getting to know the characters and the author in such an intimate way helps to feel a connection to each situation and each person which I hadn't been able to grasp before. In almost every verse I was led to feel a connection to the plot or the character. When they were doing well I was happy and when they were doing poorly I felt sorry for them. This, though the most important to me, is by far the hardest to summarize.

Overall it was a good class regardles of how slow I moved at it. I have the lectures scanned in as pdf files but didn't upload them yet. If you are interested you can download them later.

Sickly

I’m sick.

No big surprise right, everyone gets sick. It’s nothing bad just a small sinus infection or bout with flu. The real danger for me is the aftermath when the sinuses are draining away as I sleep filling and my lungs with their icky yuckiness. That’s when Mr. Bronchitis comes. I don’t like that guy. We never get along well. Mr. Bronchitis is an old acquaintance from my childhood. Whenever I would get sick it would drain into my lungs and then we would hang out for a week or so. It used to require drugs to fix but I got tired of that so the past few times he showed up I have fought it without. Taking Nyquil and cough-drops, breathing steam, coughing up crap, and using the inhaler for a week. Letting my body fight the good fight. It’s not as easy I guess as getting a prescription from the Doc but that’s fine with me. The easy route is popular but not always necessary. (I do keep an eye on it so no need to panic.) If I get that sick I’ll call and go in for meds. There’s only been one time in my life (since I have been “in charge” of myself) that I underestimated things and thankfully someone was there when I went down. For now the waking coma that is Nyquil/Dayquil will be enough for me. It’s almost funny waking up to a night of Nyquil sleep. Everything is slow for a while and I have a hard time ending dreams. This morning I was standing in the shower talking to myself about something that was as random as a dream would be. Apparently leftover uncollected thoughts from the night before. No idea what the thoughts were though. They disappeared as I woke up the rest of the way.

So, I believe that when you struggle through something (physical, emotional, or other) and clear it you become stronger from that experience. To clarify that thought a bit I am not saying that I am less susceptible to another bout of flu or that I think I can’t be beaten by such illnesses. I’m just saying as a general rule hardships and perseverance build character and strength in people. The hardest things in my life have been some of the best things in my life. Relationships, Personal Demons, Spiritual Maturity…these things are worth hitting head on. Just remember to hit them with a will to see it through and a mentality that knows it doesn’t have the end answer. Difficult requirements for a difficult job.

Anyway, I’m at work right now on a Monday, half doped up. I will be leaving at lunch time. Shouldn’t have even come in today. Too late for that now. Tonight I wanted to finish the last 9 questions in this course but I don’t know if I’ll have the stamina for it. Was supposed to do it Friday but I spent the night finishing the X-Men Legends game (which was awesome) and then on Saturday I was going to finish it but spent the whole day watching the GitS:SAC anime series (26 episodes) that came Friday. Sheesh… If it weren’t such a nice weekend overall I would call it a waste in lue of the questions that remain un-finished.