Mother Reads to Child- Not any more!

For the last month, I have admired from afar this statue on the UB Campus.

I assumed it was a tribute to mothers faithfully instilling a love of reading in their pre-school child.  Today I got to see the statue up close, and was I surprised!

Not sure what the artist intended, but the message has changed.  Books have been replaced with personal lap-top computers.  Now in many ways this statue is prescient (look it up).  Many times in Sunday School and Church I look over to see a friend with their Bible on their Ipad, Kindle, Nook, or whatever.  Even as primitive as I am, I have, on occasion read a bit on my wife's Kindle.  As an old fuddle-duddie, I don't really like reading a non-book text.  Books have weight, they have a convenience of their own.

On the other hand, whenever I need to find a particular Scripture, I go to the WWW.  Clearly G^d is not constrained in any way in how He chooses to act.  He can speak through a Kindle as well as He can through a rock.

So, it matters not how we read G^d's truth, the main issue is to read it often, and read it carefully.  Happy Bible reading.

Some Great Advice!

This morning I am scheduled to visit the Batswana National Olympic Committee office.  I wanted to keep my Department Head, Jimoh Shehu, informed, so I let him know of the visit, and asked for his advice.  This is the advice he gave,


"Advice? Listen with your ears, nose, eyes, tongue, skin and spirit."

Wow, now that's some good advice.

In the first chapter of the book of James, the Holy Spirit says it in a slightly different way, "¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry...".  The wisdom becomes more obvious when trying to learn a new culture.  You really have to listen to learn.  You have to pay attention in order to pick up the underlying messages.  That is hard to do when you are talking.

Want some good advice?  

"Listen with your ears, nose, eyes, tongue, skin and spirit."

The PE Gang

Pictured below are some of my colleagues.  This is part, because I think our department has 15 regular faculty.  Compare with our UA Kinesiology faculty which numbers only 10! I think UB PE has about the same number of undergrads as we do at UA,  except our Grad program is MUCH bigger, numbering  60+.

I have met many of our folks, with several dropping by my office to introduce themselves.  This is not as easy as it might sound as our faculty are spread among at least 5 buildings that I know of, and there are likely more.

In the USA Kinesiology faculty, we have a pretty international group.  We have 3 Brits, One Russian, and I am the only Latino.  We have had an Aussie, and a Canadian.  The UB faculty is over 25% internationals.   Walking around campus you see a large variety of nationalities.  I know Nigerians, South Africans, Austrians, Ethiopians, some Middle Easterners,  some Indians, one Irish professor, and one Bulgarian, plus some I am forgetting.

G^d calls us all, without regard to race, nationality, or ethnic group.  The Christ loved us enough to die for us, regardless of our bad ethics and worse attitudes.

G^d the Merciful.  G^d the Gracious.  G^d is love.  Sure enough!

Best Burger Ever!

My sweet wife and I have eaten a LOT of burgers over our short lives.  Although we are not burger aficionados, we know a good burger when we taste one.  Of all the places we have eaten burgers, who would have ever guessed that the best burger we have ever tasted was in Kazungula, Botswana!

Here's a delicious burger on a toasted bun.  It has fried onions on top and a tomato that has also been lightly grilled.  There are no condiments, but it doesn't need any.

It was so good, I insisted that we go back and meet the chef.  Tim Indeble from Zimbabwe was happy to share his recipe.  He seemed very pleased that we were bragging on his cooking.

Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.  Prov 22:29

The Christian Advantage

I am always a bit nervous talking, or even thinking, about the great advantages that accrue to Christians.

I fear that my motivation will change for the worse.  I am NOT a fan of those who make claims that, "Jesus will solve all your problem", or "Following Jesus is the way to health, wealth and general prosperity".

I think those claims forget that Jesus told us to take up our Cross, not our bank account.  The listing in Hebrews, the roll-call of faith, also mentions those who were persecuted, sawn in two, etc.  To be honest to Scripture, we cannot solely focus on the Blessings of Christianity, without considering the cost.

But, with that caution in mind, it strikes Brenda and I, the great advantage of being part of the Church worldwide.  We meet so many fine Christians, everywhere we travel.  In a few minutes we can often get hints as to the depth of commitment.  But, when a person claims to belong to the Christ, and evidences that reality, we instantly know a lot about them, and have a connection as strong, or perhaps a bit stronger in some ways, than blood.  We are part of the Family, not by accident of birth, but by the Will of G^d and the Blood of the cross.

And, that saves some preliminary fiddling around.  At the recent retreat with a congregation we have only visited once, we felt such kinship with many of the attendees.  We met teachers, doctors, plant managers, students, parents, all kinds of folks.

This kinship is a tremendous gift from G^d.  Brenda and I perhaps get to see it more than others, but think about what a great blessing this is.

Thank you L^rd that you PUT us in this Body of Christ, together, united, kin, believing together, working together, and enjoying fellowship.

Thank you L^rd.  Now to write G^d that thank-you note I was planning...

Great Financial News!!

Brenda and I are truly Blessed.  We have so much for which to be thankful.

Now there is one more thing for which we Thank the L^rd.

We are now............... billionaires.

So you doubt me, eh?  See for yourself.

Well, I guess I was a bit too humble, we are actually $5 billionaires.

But don't worry, we won't let it go to our heads.

This brings up an interesting issue.  Scripture is clear and redundant.  We are to eschew wealth.  We cannot serve both G^d and money.  The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil...

Yet despite this, almost everyone I know would like to have a little more money.  As Montgomery Burns of the Simpson says,  "I'd give up all my wealth... for just a little more."

It's a constant battle for me to steer away from "every form of greed".

I am content.  L^rd give us full contentment.  Amen.

Invisible Lions

One of our quests in Kasane was to seen lions or leopards.  Shortly after entering Chobe National Game Reserve, we got word that a  lion had been spotted nearby.  Our guide advised us that it was a "black maned" lion that had been relocated to Chobe.  Lions were killing cattle and instead of shooting the lions they moved them to reserves such as Chobe.  He said these "outsiders" were a bit more cranky and aggressive than local lions.

Pretty soon we saw lion tracks.

We drove up to the River bank, but the steep slope downwards to the water kept us from seeing much.  We circle around trying to get a view and hoping the lion would show.   Across the valley, we saw two vehicles pulled off looking at something.  Could be a lion, our guide speculated, so we took off in that direction.

No lion, but a nice look at a pair of big Cape Buffalo.

So, this trip, we never caught up with the lions. Lion tracks covered the road.  There was NO doubt that the lions were there.

Kinda reminds us of G^d.  For whatever reason, probably for our own protection, G^d does not physically manifest his being.  However, as Scripture assures us, there is NO lack of evidence that G^d is with us.

There's lots of tracks, for those who know what they are looking for.