Part of me wishes I could offer him the certainty of fundamentalism I learned as a child, that I could just pressure him into faith by making him afraid of hell and the possibility that Jesus is coming back at any moment. It would feel a lot more secure to hear my child assert, "Jesus is the one true God" instead of "I want to become a Buddhist." Yet I know at it was these realities that nearly destroyed my faith when I discovered there was a bigger world, and I won't do that to my son. If Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world, then he is also the Savior of my children. I can teach them about him. I can bring his Love into our home.
I wonder how I will handle these types of conversations with my son.
If it can't keep its promises, if it can't avoid resorting to
trickery, if it can't keep itself from subverting the power of its
search engine for commercial ends, and on top of all that if it can't
even deliver the highest quality search results at a default
setting--the most basic thing people have come to expect from Google,
the very thing its name has become synonymous with--why should you
trust it with your personal data?
We think we do. We think we're doing a good job at that, but how do
you really show someone love? You spend time with them. You stand with
them. You be with them. I think that's a big part of what love looks
like.
The State Fair of Texas(R) has selected Big and Bright as its
theme for the upcoming 2012 season, which begins Sept. 28 and runs
through Oct. 21.
Is it too early to start getting excited about the Fair?
Leading the way will be a Chinese Lantern Festival featuring
illuminated and animated displays as large as 50 feet high and 300
feet long while fairgoers visiting Cotton Bowl Plaza will be
entertained with an all new production of lights and graphics
displayed on the facade of the historic Cotton Bowl stadium.
...the second strategy question is: Should you produce a mobile
website or develop special mobile apps? The answer to this question
today is quite different from what it will likely be in the
future.
tl;dr: Mobile apps are king today, but
mobile websites are the future.
The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nurembrg
Chronicle(1943); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine, the
text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of
Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and
imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise
aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in
Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius
took a liking to the prisoner -- until Valentine tried to convert the
Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death.
Because here's the deal, does I'll Fly Away make any sense when it's
sung by rich people of power and privilege? I mean, what the heck are
you flying away from? Life in suburbia? The Caramel Macchiatos at
Starbucks? The vacations at the beach? The fact that you have clean
water, indoor plumbing, central heating/air, and two cars? ... So of
course when the privileged sing the song it sounds theologically
shallow. The privileged shouldn't be trying to fly away. They should
be worrying about the injustices at the gate.
…
In sum, I’m back to the realization that Christianity sounds
different–theology, hymnody, and the bible itself–when heard from
the margins of society. What doesn’t make sense at the centers of
power, prosperity and privilege often make a while lot of sense on the
periphery.
It's all very superficial and annoying. Awards, however, are often
designed to be slightly controversial and draw attention. Otherwise,
nobody would write about them. It's part of the game. So, a few
editors decide on stupid nominees, bad winners, and weird anomalies,
typically over lunch. Decades ago, I was in such a meeting and one of
the managers rigged a specific award because he was getting laid by
the "winning" company's PR representative. Whatever works.
He may not be your kind of guy, but just watch this video of him playing
up there without all the assistance and he will definitely show you what
it’s like.
What happens when people have the "illusion of privacy"? Naturally,
they feel more comfortable in sharing information, uploading photos
and videos online, etc. Once they feel more comfortable about doing
so, they do it more often. This, obviously, is the intention of
Facebook, and many other corporations.
Instead of having a doxological orientation (how does this bring
glory to God) or a christological orientation (what does this say
about Jesus, King and Lord) or a theocentric orientation (how does
this all reveal God), we too often judge whether something is good by
asking selfish pragmatics: How does this help me?!
It was easier before, when the path was wide and straight.
But, truth be told, I was faking it. I was pretending that things that
didn’t make sense made sense, that things that didn’t feel right felt
right. To others, I appeared confident and in control, but faith felt
as far away as a friend who has grown distant and cold.
Now every day is a risk … but the view is better, and, for the first
time in a long time, I am fully engaged in my faith.
When asked which command was the greatest, Jesus said:
'You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first
commandment.
[Matthew 22:37-38][1],
New Revised Standard Version
I take this to mean that God does not want us to check our brains in at
the door. He demands our whole mind. That includes the part that asks
questions, the part that thinks rationally. He wants our whole heart.
That includes the part that hurts when people suffer and cries when he
realizes he was part of the problem. We must ask the hard questions, use
the brains he gave us to make sense of this world, and use the talents
he gave us to change the parts of the world that make no sense.
The vote to close schools felt predetermined. Once the human element
was removed, it was the most rational thing to do. Of the eight voting
trustees, the first five voted to pass the proposal. Upon hearing the
fifth, there was an audible groan in the main chamber. Fighting back
tears, parents began to pick up their weeping children and exit the
room ... parents, teachers and children left 3700 Ross either in
silence, deflated or in the same tears they've been shedding for
months.
The question just came up at work, do you use one “l” or two when you
spell the past tense of cancel (canceled or cancelled)? It turns out
both are valid, but which one is preferred?
Maeve Maddox at DailyWritingTips says:
The double l in cancelled is British usage; the single l is American
usage... In American usage, the final l is doubled only when the
stress falls on a syllable other than the first.
Where British usage calls for levelled, libelled,
quarrelled, and travelled, American usage has leveled,
libeled, quarreled, and traveled.
American usage agrees with British on annulled, controlled,
patrolled, and extolled because the stress falls on the second
syllable of these words.
Gone are the dollar and percent-off coupons, morning only sales,
additional markdowns at the register and all the "gimmicks," Johnson
said. It will get rid of signs with promotional prices above the racks
telling shoppers how much of the artificially inflated "full" prices
they're getting. To make things even more simple, prices will no
longer end in 99 cents.
Henry has adjusted quite well to life on this earth -- it's his
parents who are having difficulty adjusting to life with him. We love
this little guy to bits, but we're not always sure what to do with
him. Henry is healthy, eating well, pooping up a storm, and only cries
when he needs a diaper change or something to munch on.
I didn’t believe at love at first sight until January 10 at 2:25am when
I first set eyes on my son.
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