Here is a quick 1 question quiz (but a tough one).
1.) The process of writing is? (chose one answer)
a.) Writing is a process of recording already developed thoughts.
b.) Writing is a process of figuring out what you think.
Answer: If we are to believe "Rules for Writers", (Diane Hacker, Nancy Sommers), then,"Writing is a process of figuring out what you think, not a matter of recording already developed thoughts".
Then they go on to say:
"Since it is not possible to think about everything all at once (What!, does that mean that I am not an idiot after allllahhhhh??!), most experienced writers handle a piece of writing in stages".
Believe it or not, this was a revelation to me. Oh, I had had my own informal suspicions about the whole process. But to hear it declared boldly and forthrightly, that, it is "a process of figuring out what you think", oh, my oh my.
This sounds like a very possible explanation as to what happened to me when I got online some 8 years ago. What I did not realize then was that I was being sucked right into the very traumatic process of figuring out what I thought. The process of better developing my thoughts. I logged on... I wrote... I thought... and then I rewrote, and... all of the sudden things were much clearer. And much more well developed. Including the fact that I needed to learn better how to write. And that still stands true today.
So for right now, I think I will stop writing and keep reading, "Rules for Writers". And that should help the rest of the process.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
I've Changed Majors to Applied Behavioral Science
But first, about 7 years ago, at a rummage sale for about $20.00, I picked up a nice old 4-leaf oak dining room table. Well-used but still in decent shape. Its purpose was going to be to provide a frame for a ping-pong table. It worked real well in that capacity for a couple of years and then we moved here. Since then I've been using it to feed dinner to an occasional 12-15 member Mennonite family. Now I've got the ping-pong table screwed back on its top in the dining room and my daughter is getting pretty good at it. If I can get her to just let me leave it attached to the table for the winter, we could seat 6 additional people.
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| Current shot (1/15/13) with door and windows waiting for me to put trim on
I've changed majors from Nursing to Applied Behavioral Science. I have 70 total college credits by now (64 transferable) to apply to the BS program. If all goes well, I will be doing my clinical work 20 minutes away at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys in Irma WI in about a year and a half. The nursing training I've been involved in for the past 3 years has been invaluable. But now its on to obtaining a BS degree online at 100 year old Ashford University in Iowa, toward the field of psychological counseling. The decision has a lot to do with "mind over matter" (so to speak). The "psychological" over the "physical". Not that quality nursing is not equally demanding mentally, but it simply involves a different set of skills, and a different aptitude in a different setting than does life counseling. Counseling is more of a "solo" sport - so to speak.
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Monday, December 24, 2012
Tis the Night Before Christmas.
December 24th at about 3pm in the afternoon. I'd had some smooth sailing through getting the sink plumbed and the drain hooked up in the second bathroom at my place. I've been waiting for a break in the nursing classes to get back at it. I was driving to Rhinelander after some more materials I needed, listening to a CD which I had piled all sorts of Celtic and Irish Christmas songs and carols onto, enjoying "Unto Us a Child is Born".
I thought, "Yes", this is good. I'm feeling the joy here. God, in this baby boy whom we ponder over on this day every year, coming in the person to reconcile the world back to Himself. What a day, what a time in eternity, it was when God came to visit one of probably His many worlds, and let them know that He is out there, and that all of His creation means something to Him.
But then I thought, "Would I be feeling this joy if it were not for this great piece of home-made fruit cake I'm chewing on?". "This great music on a pretty good car stereo system?" Or the memory back through the years of all of the good worldly lusts and pleasures I have satisfied during the Christmas season? Without those, would I still be feeling this joy? About the child born unto us? No, it would be a different sort of joy. Much, much greater. Much more real. Much more joyous. I mean, scream and get out of your mind kind of joy. Now. That's joy. And if it turns into a memory, get rid of it. And turn your mind again to the living God. Jehovah!!! Jesus' Father. Our Father, who calls the ones who are led by Him "His" children. Who made us with the ability to both love Him in return, or reject Him and follow after our own misconceptions, and be left behind. So we follow Him, through the Bible, where He reveals His Spirit to us, and our spirit to us, and offers to join His Spirit with ours, and make us His sons (male and female); in such a way that, "...All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). "But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (2Co 4:16 NAU)
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,...".
He finally brings us truth -- knowledge of the existence of the Father, and who the Father is. He brings us news of something greater. 'Good news', which is the very definition of the word 'gospel'. News that can produce a work of a different sort in us; news that makes the 'once invisible' now 'visible'. Full of life and light. An invisible yet tangible presence in our understanding, in our inward parts; a discernible presence that wants us to become familiar with Him. The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
(John 15:11)
It pleased God that "unto us" a Savior would be born to call us back to Him, our Creator and Father, that our joy may be made full, and that the kind intention of His will toward those who love Him be made known to them. He made us not just to return to dust, but to chose to return to Him.
Something that can make one turn away in astonishment and awe from the cookies.
I thought, "Yes", this is good. I'm feeling the joy here. God, in this baby boy whom we ponder over on this day every year, coming in the person to reconcile the world back to Himself. What a day, what a time in eternity, it was when God came to visit one of probably His many worlds, and let them know that He is out there, and that all of His creation means something to Him.
But then I thought, "Would I be feeling this joy if it were not for this great piece of home-made fruit cake I'm chewing on?". "This great music on a pretty good car stereo system?" Or the memory back through the years of all of the good worldly lusts and pleasures I have satisfied during the Christmas season? Without those, would I still be feeling this joy? About the child born unto us? No, it would be a different sort of joy. Much, much greater. Much more real. Much more joyous. I mean, scream and get out of your mind kind of joy. Now. That's joy. And if it turns into a memory, get rid of it. And turn your mind again to the living God. Jehovah!!! Jesus' Father. Our Father, who calls the ones who are led by Him "His" children. Who made us with the ability to both love Him in return, or reject Him and follow after our own misconceptions, and be left behind. So we follow Him, through the Bible, where He reveals His Spirit to us, and our spirit to us, and offers to join His Spirit with ours, and make us His sons (male and female); in such a way that, "...All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). "But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (2Co 4:16 NAU)
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,...".
He finally brings us truth -- knowledge of the existence of the Father, and who the Father is. He brings us news of something greater. 'Good news', which is the very definition of the word 'gospel'. News that can produce a work of a different sort in us; news that makes the 'once invisible' now 'visible'. Full of life and light. An invisible yet tangible presence in our understanding, in our inward parts; a discernible presence that wants us to become familiar with Him. The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
(John 15:11)
It pleased God that "unto us" a Savior would be born to call us back to Him, our Creator and Father, that our joy may be made full, and that the kind intention of His will toward those who love Him be made known to them. He made us not just to return to dust, but to chose to return to Him.
Something that can make one turn away in astonishment and awe from the cookies.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Big Universe -- Voyager 1
This artists rendering provided by NASA shows the Voyager spacecraft. Thirty-five years after leaving Earth, Voyager 1 is reaching for the stars. Sooner or later, the workhorse spacecraft will bid adieu to …
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - NASA's long-lived Voyager 1
spacecraft, which is heading out of the solar system, has reached a
"magnetic highway" leading to interstellar space, scientists said on
Monday.
The probe, launched 35
years ago to study the outer planets, is now about 11 billion miles (18
billion km) from Earth. At that distance, it takes radio signals
traveling at the speed of light 17 hours to reach Earth. Light moves at
186,000 miles per second). Voyager 1 will be the first manmade object to leave the solar system.
Scientists believe Voyager 1 is in an area where the magnetic
field lines from the sun are connecting with magnetic field lines from
interstellar space. The phenomenon is causing highly energetic particles
from distant supernova explosions and other cosmic events to zoom
inside the solar system, while less-energetic solar particles exit.
"It's like a highway,
letting particles in and out," lead Voyager scientist Ed Stone told
reporters at an American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.
Scientists don't know how
long it will take for the probe to cross the so-called "magnetic
highway," but they believe it is the last layer of a complex boundary
between the region of space under the sun's influence and interstellar
space.
"Our best guess is it's likely just a few months to a couple years away," Stone said.Voyager 1 hit the outer sphere of the solar system, a region called the heliosphere, in 2004 and passed into the heliosheath, where the supersonic stream of particles from the sun - the so-called "solar wind" - slowed down and became turbulent.
That phase of the journey lasted for 5.5 years. Then the solar wind stopped moving and the magnetic field strengthened.
Based on an instrument that measures charged particles,
Voyager entered the magnetic highway on July 28, 2012. The region was in
flux for about a month and stabilized on August 25.
Each time Voyager
re-entered the highway, the magnetic field strengthened, but its
direction remained unchanged. Scientists believe the direction of the
magnetic field lines will shift when the probe finally enters
interstellar space.
Other clues that Voyager
has reached interstellar space could be the detection of low-energy
cosmic rays and a dramatic tapering of the number of solar particles,
Stone said.
Voyager 1 and a sister
spacecraft, Voyager 2, were launched 16 days apart in 1977 for the first
flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Voyager 2, traveling on a
different path out of the solar system, has experienced similar, though
more gradual changes in its environment than Voyager 1. Scientists do
not believe Voyager 2, which is about 9 billion miles (14.5 billion km)
from Earth, has reached the magnetic highway.
__________________________________________________________
And the next planet it would come to is 40,000 years away. Really, a trifling speck of time in terms of eternity. An interesting proposition for those that love the Lord. And His visit. And His promise.
40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
_________________________________
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (John 1:10)
He was here! And His promise and His Spirit He has left here with us!
__________________________________________________________
And the next planet it would come to is 40,000 years away. Really, a trifling speck of time in terms of eternity. An interesting proposition for those that love the Lord. And His visit. And His promise.
40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
_________________________________
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (John 1:10)
He was here! And His promise and His Spirit He has left here with us!
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
The Election, in my opinion
"No ideas" was beaten out by "No ideas with a level head".
Times are not good. America is being outdone economically. The "American dream" is being forced to now slowly come awake. "It's not good to live in a dream world" and we see why now as we look at what our country has become. The prosperity of inheriting a big wide open land full of valuable space and resources has ultimately made us lazy both physically and mentally. Our industry has left. We mistake Christian values for Mormon values (Mitt Romney), not knowing the difference. Not even knowing how to define or practice marriage ourselves we have let it fall into a mere legal category. We sit around at every chance we get and watch games and stories on t.v. So what would we expect from all of that? I think it is reasonable to expect a society with "no ideas".
We do indeed need to tear a lot of things down in this country and start from scratch in many ways, but we need to do it carefully, because everything that is there is there for some important reason. The only way we can succeed in going through the changing process is to do it in a deliberate and unified manner... and the way things are going, that's the new "dream world". The new sound track would probably have to be, "To Dream the Impossible Dream".
We are going to have to change the way we think, and who we listen to. In fact, we are going to have to "think", and then we are going to have to "listen", or we continue down take the low road whereon the foolish dream becomes a very real nightmare.
The real beauty is that God was in Jesus letting His creation know about Him and how His economy works. And that there is yet one more new world to journey to for those who listen to God's call to them. Not to be left behind.
The nursing program I am in is consuming all of my time right now. That will eventually change. See you then.
Times are not good. America is being outdone economically. The "American dream" is being forced to now slowly come awake. "It's not good to live in a dream world" and we see why now as we look at what our country has become. The prosperity of inheriting a big wide open land full of valuable space and resources has ultimately made us lazy both physically and mentally. Our industry has left. We mistake Christian values for Mormon values (Mitt Romney), not knowing the difference. Not even knowing how to define or practice marriage ourselves we have let it fall into a mere legal category. We sit around at every chance we get and watch games and stories on t.v. So what would we expect from all of that? I think it is reasonable to expect a society with "no ideas".
We do indeed need to tear a lot of things down in this country and start from scratch in many ways, but we need to do it carefully, because everything that is there is there for some important reason. The only way we can succeed in going through the changing process is to do it in a deliberate and unified manner... and the way things are going, that's the new "dream world". The new sound track would probably have to be, "To Dream the Impossible Dream".
We are going to have to change the way we think, and who we listen to. In fact, we are going to have to "think", and then we are going to have to "listen", or we continue down take the low road whereon the foolish dream becomes a very real nightmare.
The real beauty is that God was in Jesus letting His creation know about Him and how His economy works. And that there is yet one more new world to journey to for those who listen to God's call to them. Not to be left behind.
The nursing program I am in is consuming all of my time right now. That will eventually change. See you then.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Vitalists - Seeing God in Nature
Vitalism would be one of the earliest branches of science. And it may just be the last one standing in the end. Generally, these days it is held in low esteem. And rightly so in many cases. Vitalists tend to conclude that there is some final unknown force out there in creation driving everything else, which is apart from what can be scientifically explained, . Secular science would call that unscientific. Are these men "cranks" (quacks)? Mainstream science would try and have it seem so. Vitalists are however yet some of the most brilliant men in the halls of scientific reasoning. Some are godless, others are god seeking, and others even God lead? So are they merely seeing God in nature, or not? What is going on there?
Since there is this so-called "unknown" involved in the explanations contained in the scientific doctrine of "vitalism", it opens itself up to many a form of scientific quackery and conjecture - things that sound good to some men but still cannot be explained rationally or convincingly. These conjectures one can quickly wade through and get out of the way. Yet, that same "unknown" still exists. It is there, for both the Christian believer and the unbeliever...waiting to be reckoned with. It is there, this unknown vital force.
It is there. Every man can see it. It is that power that we find as we get farther and farther toward the end of the hierarchy of particles we know as forming "matter". The very end of this chain of matter - is not the end. The sequence of things getting smaller and smaller, and smaller, far beyond something that which even our imaginations can keep up with.
Those electron fields which we now know make up the atom and determine matter (matter as we know it) are unimaginably more complicated than the known universe. How these tiny particles rearrange themselves to form all of creation, we don't even begin to understand - we just know that they do. They are but the tip of a vast iceberg of yet smaller and smaller particles. The mindless interplay of atoms (or so scientific limitation concedes) tells us almost nothing meaningful about the make-up of creation which lies beneath them. If anything, it exposes to us more of what we do not know. And inevitably, it is that very "correct" scientific reasoning which we use day in and day out that both takes us beyond those electron fields, and into the unknown, and to our chagrin, also leaves us there. "Where is it?", "What is it?", "Where did it come from?". It's there! There to the Vitalist's conclusion, that "the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining" - the Creator His self? The Creator's version of life! It is, and by the very God who told us that His name is, "I Am" (I simply Am), it is. All agree that it is there. This vital force that determines. It is no mystery, and it is beautiful.
(Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verse 9)
And He has not left us here alone.
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever ; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans ; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.(As spoken by Jesus regarding He and his Father, the Godhead, the Creator Himself, in John chapter 14)
Nor has He left us here as orphans. And as we can see, He has some very long-term plans for us (a "vital" interest), our Father does, the Father of the universe, unencumbered by science.
Just a few quick thoughts this morning.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Does the successful outcome of the Donor-Conceived rest on their personality (dull-minded vs. curious-minded)?
_______________________________________________________
Please first read the following link - http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140477014/donor-conceived-children-seek-missing-identities
Can we ethically give away our sperm or egg (our own children) to comfort childless couples?
Is that fair to them?
Are we using the children in that way for something they would rather not have been a part of? Something that perhaps even they have the right not to be subjected to?
Questions arise. Was the knowledge of there family history carelessly sold away from them?
I think there is a tough (or maybe not so tough) moral question here.
Even in the presence of both good and bad outcomes, there is a dilemma, and it argues that children are not a commodity that we can rightly buy and sell.
To me, it makes abortion look pretty good; in that, abortion effects a living, not-conscious, developing physical entity, but a sperm/egg donation effects a conscious fully viable soul - one standing in front of us holding us accountable for his/her technologically enabled life.
Should the donation require that the donor accept that his/her identity will be available to the adult donor-conceived child? Would that significantly change the number of donations, or merely the quality of donors? Would doing so head off these bad outcomes in a humane way that could be acceptable to both the donor and the donor-conceived?
Feel free to share some thoughts.
If you think this is a challenging issue, then wait until we get to In Vitro Fertilization.
Please first read the following link - http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140477014/donor-conceived-children-seek-missing-identities
Can we ethically give away our sperm or egg (our own children) to comfort childless couples?
Is that fair to them?
Are we using the children in that way for something they would rather not have been a part of? Something that perhaps even they have the right not to be subjected to?
Questions arise. Was the knowledge of there family history carelessly sold away from them?
I think there is a tough (or maybe not so tough) moral question here.
Even in the presence of both good and bad outcomes, there is a dilemma, and it argues that children are not a commodity that we can rightly buy and sell.
To me, it makes abortion look pretty good; in that, abortion effects a living, not-conscious, developing physical entity, but a sperm/egg donation effects a conscious fully viable soul - one standing in front of us holding us accountable for his/her technologically enabled life.
Should the donation require that the donor accept that his/her identity will be available to the adult donor-conceived child? Would that significantly change the number of donations, or merely the quality of donors? Would doing so head off these bad outcomes in a humane way that could be acceptable to both the donor and the donor-conceived?
Feel free to share some thoughts.
If you think this is a challenging issue, then wait until we get to In Vitro Fertilization.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Since last post of January 19, 2011
It all started here. . .
. . . my mother Jeannette Saunders-Schossow died after her second bout with an aggressive form of uterine cancer in two years. She was 84 years old. This is a picture of she, myself, and Deanta. It was the last time she was to be sitting outside in the sunshine, alive. I'll talk more about her later.
I bought a house. Great location. Nice neighborhood. Not much of a house (nice little house next door came with it) on 2.2 acres of land. But. . . a nice little spot underneath the heavens.
Then I tore the second story off . . .
...tore everything else off...
...put a new second story on, and then tore the kitchen off.
And rebuilt it.
I'm trying to finish it up before the snow flies. I'm starting a new job in a month as a CNA. I'm trying to keep from being buried by a pharmacology course which I seem to have to put about 6 hours-a-day study time into. I'm out of horseshoeing. I'm also presently having the long-time bookkeeping methods of my farrier business tested with an audit from the WI Department of Revenue, and my bookkeeping is not faring very well. I am looking forward to not being as busy in about 2 months; after which time I am looking forward to adding on to The Useful Record.
I'm also going to add a lot more house pictures to this post.
. . . my mother Jeannette Saunders-Schossow died after her second bout with an aggressive form of uterine cancer in two years. She was 84 years old. This is a picture of she, myself, and Deanta. It was the last time she was to be sitting outside in the sunshine, alive. I'll talk more about her later.
I bought a house. Great location. Nice neighborhood. Not much of a house (nice little house next door came with it) on 2.2 acres of land. But. . . a nice little spot underneath the heavens.
Then I tore the second story off . . .
...tore everything else off...
...put a new second story on, and then tore the kitchen off.
And rebuilt it.I'm trying to finish it up before the snow flies. I'm starting a new job in a month as a CNA. I'm trying to keep from being buried by a pharmacology course which I seem to have to put about 6 hours-a-day study time into. I'm out of horseshoeing. I'm also presently having the long-time bookkeeping methods of my farrier business tested with an audit from the WI Department of Revenue, and my bookkeeping is not faring very well. I am looking forward to not being as busy in about 2 months; after which time I am looking forward to adding on to The Useful Record.
I'm also going to add a lot more house pictures to this post.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Hymn: Faith is a Living Power from Heaven.
Words: Petrus Herbert, in the Bohemian Brethren’s Kirchengeseng, 1566; translated from German to English by Catherine Winkworth, Lyra Germanica, second series, 1858.
Faith is a living power from Heaven
That grasps the promise God hath given,
A trust that cannot be o’erthrown,
Fixed heartily on Christ alone.
-
Faith finds in Christ whate’er we need
To save or strengthen us indeed,
Receives the grace He sends us down,
And makes us share His cross and crown.
-
Faith in the conscience worketh peace,
And bids the mourner’s weeping cease;
By faith the children’s place we claim,
And give all honor to one Name.
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Faith feels the Spirit’s kindling breath
In love and hope that conquer death;
Faith worketh hourly joy in God,
And trusts and blesses e’en the rod.
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We thank Thee then, O God of Heaven,
That Thou to us this faith hast given
In Jesus Christ Thy Son, who is
Our only fount and source of bliss.
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And from His fullness grant each soul
The rightful faith’s true end and goal,
The blessedness no foes destroy,
Eternal love and light and joy.
(What a beautiful translation this is)
We'll have to give the voice another year or two.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Parable of the Prison Wall
I had found this Mennonite handout which I then took the liberty to change a little bit. Now it captures the spirit of what happened to me after I got rid of my television set. I began to detoxify and intensify my mind apart from the T.V., which I never had watched excessively anyway. That thing which had always been considered the "idiot box". The seemingly harmless, very entertaining, seemingly miraculous moving picture screen, which can make anything and everything seem real, when, of course, none of it is. And in the course of presenting it's own make-believe reality (I'm talking about movies and stories), it competes with real life to define our reality for us. And it wins.
Instead of watching the T.V., I've gone about to learning the German language, science, health, about God's miraculous words, His presence here on earth, and even about the many provocative little curiosities that come to mind throughout the day (thinking and reading about how this and that works, and about how this or that is made). With that computer in front of you, you, as well, have a beautiful tool with which to do that. And beautifully, I managed to find a rich, plain, spiritual people to be around (that is, when I need to be around someone), who build their 'real lives' meaningfully and plainly on the words of God, with which, in the company of His Spirit, He did not leave us here alone.
I found this handout (granted, especially after changing it a little) to be a nice illustration of what happened when I made a break through the hole in the wall; and now, what it's like looking back at the problematic world of the T.V. from the outside.
The picture on the prison wall was impressive -- a quiet lake, forests of richly colored trees, rolling hills , and clear, blue skies. Three inmates worked long hours to paint the scene.
Then they added one more outstanding detail. All around the edge of the picture, they cleverly painted in the gray of the prison wall to look like a broken wall. Now it appears that one is looking through a gaping hole in the high block wall to the beauty beyond. Apparently they are reminding themselves that the full reality of the scene can only be realized outside the prison walls. -- they are restricted in the enjoyment of that beauty.
What a lesson for us! Without the gift of the Spirit we are bound in a prison of temporary and fleeting pleasure. Inside the prison we try to find pleasure and satisfaction. We create illusions and imagine all sorts of things that may bring fulfillment. We pursue watching sports and entertainment. We seek wealth and try to buy our way out of boredom or stress with money. But again and again we are brought back to the cold hard reality of our prison wall.
The artistic inmates understand an important element of their condition. They can get a moments satisfaction when they view the scene on the wall, but the true beauty is beyond. They cannot sense the calm of the quiet lake, the stately grandeur of the trees, and the peace of the rolling hills. They can only imagine it and long for it.
Likewise we cannot find true peace while being held captive by the t.v.
We turn it off and it has left us with nothing; nothing, but further dependence on it.
Be careful. It's easy to be one of these captives. And, if you are one, then you truly may not know what you are missing outside of it's walls. High definition t.v. will truly bring a life which is highly defined by t.v. . . ., creating a distant, distorted view of things for you that only has meaning within it's own walls. Staged, concocted, highly scripted, if not - most of the time - purely pretend. And it's fun. At least what little there is that has any creativity or artistry left in it. But the danger is that it can, and does, take the place of things that we should have a more real perspective of.
As it continues to create it's own manufactured reality, I often wonder what is happening as . . . it out-competes the larger reality.
All I'm sure of is of the good things that have happened to my time since I've set it aside. May you experience the same.
Leave the nasty thing behind. Visit the T.V. on your computer once in a while. Wean yourself from it slowly. There's a whole big world out . . . don't let the T.V. completely twist it and dumb it down for you! Science..., literature..., reinvigorate your curiosity! Reality is so much neater than fiction. Inexhaustible, incredible, real.
There. I had to get that out.
Instead of watching the T.V., I've gone about to learning the German language, science, health, about God's miraculous words, His presence here on earth, and even about the many provocative little curiosities that come to mind throughout the day (thinking and reading about how this and that works, and about how this or that is made). With that computer in front of you, you, as well, have a beautiful tool with which to do that. And beautifully, I managed to find a rich, plain, spiritual people to be around (that is, when I need to be around someone), who build their 'real lives' meaningfully and plainly on the words of God, with which, in the company of His Spirit, He did not leave us here alone.
I found this handout (granted, especially after changing it a little) to be a nice illustration of what happened when I made a break through the hole in the wall; and now, what it's like looking back at the problematic world of the T.V. from the outside.
The picture on the prison wall was impressive -- a quiet lake, forests of richly colored trees, rolling hills , and clear, blue skies. Three inmates worked long hours to paint the scene.
Then they added one more outstanding detail. All around the edge of the picture, they cleverly painted in the gray of the prison wall to look like a broken wall. Now it appears that one is looking through a gaping hole in the high block wall to the beauty beyond. Apparently they are reminding themselves that the full reality of the scene can only be realized outside the prison walls. -- they are restricted in the enjoyment of that beauty.
What a lesson for us! Without the gift of the Spirit we are bound in a prison of temporary and fleeting pleasure. Inside the prison we try to find pleasure and satisfaction. We create illusions and imagine all sorts of things that may bring fulfillment. We pursue watching sports and entertainment. We seek wealth and try to buy our way out of boredom or stress with money. But again and again we are brought back to the cold hard reality of our prison wall.
The artistic inmates understand an important element of their condition. They can get a moments satisfaction when they view the scene on the wall, but the true beauty is beyond. They cannot sense the calm of the quiet lake, the stately grandeur of the trees, and the peace of the rolling hills. They can only imagine it and long for it.
Likewise we cannot find true peace while being held captive by the t.v.
We turn it off and it has left us with nothing; nothing, but further dependence on it.
Be careful. It's easy to be one of these captives. And, if you are one, then you truly may not know what you are missing outside of it's walls. High definition t.v. will truly bring a life which is highly defined by t.v. . . ., creating a distant, distorted view of things for you that only has meaning within it's own walls. Staged, concocted, highly scripted, if not - most of the time - purely pretend. And it's fun. At least what little there is that has any creativity or artistry left in it. But the danger is that it can, and does, take the place of things that we should have a more real perspective of.
As it continues to create it's own manufactured reality, I often wonder what is happening as . . . it out-competes the larger reality.
All I'm sure of is of the good things that have happened to my time since I've set it aside. May you experience the same.
Leave the nasty thing behind. Visit the T.V. on your computer once in a while. Wean yourself from it slowly. There's a whole big world out . . . don't let the T.V. completely twist it and dumb it down for you! Science..., literature..., reinvigorate your curiosity! Reality is so much neater than fiction. Inexhaustible, incredible, real.
There. I had to get that out.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
The Unrighteous Steward (Let's call it done for now, but, with a whole lot more to be said)
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I have heard this passage used in several different interesting ways.
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Luke 16:1
Of course, for those of you who prefer God's word rendered in the 400 year old (Pre)Middle English poetic literary style used in the King James Version, then you have the interesting word, Mammon, used in this passage.
I've heard a number of pastors render the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward as being less than ideal behavior that we somehow nonetheless should model.
In fact, I've never heard it rendered any other way.
Which is unfortunate.
This, to me, is the core lesson:
9 This I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into eternal dwellings.
It may as well be a curse.
Making friends through unrighteousness will get you a place, along with your new friends, in their eternal dwellings. You don't want to be in those eternal dwellings. You've made friends with the world; not with God. You've squandered God's goods and now have tried to reverse your fortunes by making friends with the world through unrighteousness. Now, you've got a big problem. You are an unrighteous steward.
I've seen pastors portray this passage in two ways; one, as a legitimate example of a sort of biblical shrewdness; and two, as all money/wealth (mammon) being unrighteous, and us as being out in the world just doing the best we can in spite of it.
The later is wrong because the Lord "has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant". He doesn't begrudge financial wealth, at times he is complimentary of it, but He does always put His own value on it. That value is temporary. Even often times merely carnal; nonetheless, "Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity". He told Jerusalem that if they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. Financial and spiritual; each sphere according to it's need. He does not begrudge wealth or prosperity. He does, however, warn us of it's distracting, defiling nature; which, in turn, is impossible to overstate.
Let's go back to the Steward. When called to give an account to his master for his performance he was found to have squandered his master's goods and was going to be fired.
After the Steward concluding he was to weak by himself to labor, and too proud to beg, he resorted, basically, to stealing by which to make friends and buy his way into their good graces. In fact, all the way into their eternal dwelling places.
The master praised him -- for acting shrewdly like the sons of the age, not like the sons of light. Let's ask exactly what kind of praise that is? It's the kind of praise you don't want to here coming from the Father of light. It is judgment.
Our master, tells us that He is opposed to the proud, gives grace to the humble. He tells us that friendship with the world is hostility toward Him. That whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy to Himself.
There is a clear distinction in each verse between the unrighteous actions of the Steward and the alternate correct actions.
That is, to be, not unrighteous, but faithful, both in the very little and in the very much. If you are unrighteous in some of the small, then how can you be faithful in the big? And therefore how can you be entrusted with any of it?
If you are going to opt for the wealth of unrighteousness, then who is going to trust you with true riches?
If you cannot be trusted in the use of that which is others, then, who will give you something as your own?
Here is a nice reminder about exactly what is what . . .
" For this reason I, Paul, . . . if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace . . . , as I wrote before in brief. . . to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. . . to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, . . . for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, . . . that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God…Amen.
I have heard this passage used in several different interesting ways.
________________________________________________
Luke 16:1
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 "And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' 3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ; I am ashamed to beg. 4 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' 5 "And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master ?' 6 "And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe ?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 "And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly ; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. 9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much ; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?________________________________
Of course, for those of you who prefer God's word rendered in the 400 year old (Pre)Middle English poetic literary style used in the King James Version, then you have the interesting word, Mammon, used in this passage.
Mammon, on one hand, is a term derived from the Christian Bible used to describe material wealth or greed. The word itself is a transliteration from the Hebrew word "mammon", which means "money.Mammon means money. In these passages -- that is in the KJV -- mammon has the connotation of money based wealth.
I've heard a number of pastors render the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward as being less than ideal behavior that we somehow nonetheless should model.
In fact, I've never heard it rendered any other way.
Which is unfortunate.
This, to me, is the core lesson:
9 This I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into eternal dwellings.
It may as well be a curse.
Making friends through unrighteousness will get you a place, along with your new friends, in their eternal dwellings. You don't want to be in those eternal dwellings. You've made friends with the world; not with God. You've squandered God's goods and now have tried to reverse your fortunes by making friends with the world through unrighteousness. Now, you've got a big problem. You are an unrighteous steward.
I've seen pastors portray this passage in two ways; one, as a legitimate example of a sort of biblical shrewdness; and two, as all money/wealth (mammon) being unrighteous, and us as being out in the world just doing the best we can in spite of it.
The later is wrong because the Lord "has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant". He doesn't begrudge financial wealth, at times he is complimentary of it, but He does always put His own value on it. That value is temporary. Even often times merely carnal; nonetheless, "Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity". He told Jerusalem that if they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. Financial and spiritual; each sphere according to it's need. He does not begrudge wealth or prosperity. He does, however, warn us of it's distracting, defiling nature; which, in turn, is impossible to overstate.
Let's go back to the Steward. When called to give an account to his master for his performance he was found to have squandered his master's goods and was going to be fired.
After the Steward concluding he was to weak by himself to labor, and too proud to beg, he resorted, basically, to stealing by which to make friends and buy his way into their good graces. In fact, all the way into their eternal dwelling places.
The master praised him -- for acting shrewdly like the sons of the age, not like the sons of light. Let's ask exactly what kind of praise that is? It's the kind of praise you don't want to here coming from the Father of light. It is judgment.
Our master, tells us that He is opposed to the proud, gives grace to the humble. He tells us that friendship with the world is hostility toward Him. That whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy to Himself.
There is a clear distinction in each verse between the unrighteous actions of the Steward and the alternate correct actions.
That is, to be, not unrighteous, but faithful, both in the very little and in the very much. If you are unrighteous in some of the small, then how can you be faithful in the big? And therefore how can you be entrusted with any of it?
If you are going to opt for the wealth of unrighteousness, then who is going to trust you with true riches?
If you cannot be trusted in the use of that which is others, then, who will give you something as your own?
Here is a nice reminder about exactly what is what . . .
1 John 2:16 -Finally, Paul, after being said to have been breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord; and being guaranteed rich financial gain and esteem, instead, gladly makes tents for the rest of his life, enduring the constant stonings and beatings and imprisonments, just to be able to now serve the Lord, and write the most powerful and earth shaking letters to the world about the fullness and the breathtaking beauty of the Spirit left within Him there by God; the Spirit of His Son Jesus , who's crucifixion Paul would no doubt have been in hearty agreement with. God on earth, crucified, who had soon visited Paul with a divine stewardship for him, to pass along to others, that Paul now wishes us all to comprehend and experience and take hold of . . . .
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but it is from the world.
" For this reason I, Paul, . . . if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace . . . , as I wrote before in brief. . . to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. . . to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, . . . for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, . . . that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God…Amen.
It's a "stewardship", in the arms of an unfathomable love by the Creator of the universe, which we are freely invited to comprehend, who, would like to have His love reciprocated; and all of which, delivers to us the amazing gift of an undeserved inner strength, and a joy, that does not come to us by means of the "wealth of unrighteousness", after all, the wages of the wealth of unrighteousness is darkness, sorrow and death, but which comes instead from 'the wealth of righteousness' that is abundantly supplied to us through the Spirit of God, working in us.
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