Facebook Religion

Social media, plus the nature of American culture, has given rise to a new brand of religion. Now we have the church of Oprah, and the doctrine of Facebook.  And...you don't have to put on nice clothes and trek two or three miles to worship.

Now we worship the gods of happiness and self-fulfillment.  Instead of following Jesus the Christ, we follow our heart and self-realization. We want happiness and fulfillment, and we want it on our terms. The "archaic" 10 commandments and Biblical principles of service and selflessness, have been left behind.

Personal autonomy has replaced obedience.  Now our "god" is most likely ourselves, and Jehovah is ignored. And, we think or ourselves as "progressives", but there is little new about all this.  Only our modern means of communication and dissemination has progressed.  The biblical record, and history, remind us that there is "nothing new under the sun".

Yep, we have "progressed" back to about 100 BC.  Congrats!

Life Review: Christmas Traditions

I grew up in a rural N GA family of 5 boys plus mom and pop.  My father was a self-employed barber who made around $13k annually whilst the kids were home.  Which is to say, we were lower, lower middle class, but didn't know it.  We knew our family didn't have much money, but didn't give it much thought.

Christmas involved a trip to the woods to find a scraggly white pine, which was then laden with lights and decoration, almost to the point of collapse.  I don't recall too many other decorations, though special Christmas food and candy was prevalent.

Our tradition was to get up very, very early to see what Santa had brought, then, when everyone was up, we would tear through all the wrapped presents without any order or delay.  We got plenty of loot, but it could not have been expensive loot, because we had so little money.

We were a pretty close family and everyone wanted to be together.  The food and fun abounded, so no one paid that much attention to the gifts, though they were a central part of Christmas mornings. We centered Christmas in the Living Room, and it had a fireplace, so every Christmas we built a fire and burned a good bit of wrapping paper, but fortunately never had a chimney fire.

Christmas was pretty much the KEY holiday of the year, and was much anticipated. There wasn't much stress, at least from our perspective. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and the weather varied, but our family pleasures seemed pretty independent of all that.

We probably have preserved a lot more of the tradition than I realize.  Our own artificial tree still bears ornaments from our old family decorations.  But much of family is the pleasant memories that arise from times past.  And, though I don't recall many specifics, I do clearly recall Christmas being a fun, family, loving time.

And that's enough.

Things You Can't Blog About

As this crazy year draws to an end, I think of all the things I CANNOT write about.  Well, in truth, I guess I could, but I am NOT prepared to endure the fall-out that likely could arise.

It is odd to me, that as history moves forward, there becomes more and more stuff that we can no longer discuss. If I bring up sexism, or sexual harassment, or lots of other things, there is NO position one can take without attracting hostility.

And, I assume that most thoughtful people have questions, thoughts, ideas, that they, like me, cannot discuss, because surely someone will be offended.

In fact, I am guessing I could attract some rough comments just by mentioning these, without even commenting particularly on any of them!

Strange world eh?

Oh, no offense meant by that last question.

I Never Thought of Butterflies (and moths)

On the radio a few days back, someone was talking about how much food caterpillars eat in their short phase of life.  I don't recall exactly, but it was many times their body weight.  And then, miracle of miracle, at the end of the caterpillar phase, they instinctively hang upside down, somehow encase themselves, and then metamorphose into a beautiful, (or sometimes humdrum) butterfly or moth.

Most middle-school kids are familiar with this process, and I have known about it since about that time in my own life (though we didn't divide up into middle-schools in those days). But, I never really gave it much thought until I heard it recently.

How would my neo-Darwinian evolutionist friends explain this odd process of maturation?  How could natural processes find any possible advantage in hanging from a branch and changing the animal's total form and system.

As an aside, think about ALL the needs to sustain flight capabilities.  The animal, whether bat (mammal), bird, or insect (think bumble bee), must have a light enough body to be lifted, big enough wings to generate that lift, and energy systems to support wing motion.

Darwin famously explained that evolution requires small step-by-step progression into a new creature.  What intermediates would a butterfly have?  How would this huge metamorphosis occur?

Doubtlessly my evolutionist friends have some explanation, but in the end, it is a faith commitment on their part.  As for me, I can't summon enough faith to buy some contrived just-so story.  Not saying it didn't happen, I am merely reflecting my own small faith.

As the man with the mute son plead to Jesus, "... help thou my unbelief!" (Mk 9:24)  But of course, I, like that man, my plea is that I trust in Jesus more, not in evolution, because, it doesn't matter to me whether or not evolution is correct.

The Oddities of Bloggitying

I started this blog back in Feb. of 2012, when Brenda and I moved to Ostersund, Sweden to live for a semester.  We decided I should write about the events around us, chiefly so we could be reminded of our experiences- hence the name of the blog and the url.

This particular blog allows me to see how many folks have visited the blog each day, and offers a graphic of from where it was viewed.  This is interesting.

I am writing because the viewership has fallen of late.  Back a month ago, over 30 views a day was common giving monthly views of over 1000. The viewers were mostly from USA, but included China, Western Europe including Sweden, Mongolia and Russia, with occasional views from South America. We have friends all those places, and more, so this was not that strange, except maybe for Russia.

On some strange days the viewership would spike up over 100.  Strange. And those spikes have now stopped.

It is amazing how I lose sight of the prize.  I write for us to remember, so why does it matter how many folks view the blog daily.  Rationally it doesn't matter, egotistically it does.

So, if you are a regular reader, thanks muchly.  I appreciate you, and your occasional comments.  Pls be patient.

But I am amazed at how I become competitive with myself.  Why?  What's the point?  There is NO reason, yet I do it again and again.

Thanks be to G^d for His grace and mercy.

A Day in the Woods

Last week (Week before Thanksgiving) I did something I had not done in over 25 years. I was deer hunting with a friend, who agreed we should hunt all day long... daylight to dark!

This is a long time in the deer stand, but in my old age, it is not has long as it used to be. Indeed the day went by surprisingly fast. First the pre-sunrise beauty of the sky lit by the coming sun.  then, the glory of the sunrise, seen almost exclusively with those whose work requires them to be early to work and work in a place that can see the sun.  Get up early over the next few weeks and see what I saw.

The area was rich with squirrels and chipmunks.  In deer hunting, you must be alert for the flick of a deer's tail, or the twitch of an ear. So, every squirrel hop, every shake of the tail, draws my attention. The gray squirrels are relatively big and bold.  The tiny chipmunks are maybe a tenth the size, and are very shy.  Squirrels may hop casually here and there, but the chippys run at full speed most of the time.  One chipper had a burrow in front of my stand. Late in the day, he made several trips along a log that led from the scattered acorns to his burrow just beyond the roots of the log.

Surprisingly there weren't that many birds, one here or there.  But there were two birds that I loved to see.  Frist was a small hawk.  It may have been a Ssharpshin, or maybe a Cooper's, but my woods were part of his hunting area, so I saw him a couple of times. Near dark a young turkey gobbler decided to roost in a tall oak in front of my stand. He flew up, moved up the limb a bit and scouted out his surroundings. I was afraid to have a turkey in clear site of me.  If I saw a deer, and moved to get my rifle on it, the turkey would surely spook. So I didn't want to turkey sitting so close.  Fortunately, he was equally unhappy with me, so he flew east and left me alone.  to the east, was his flock mates, and I saw several of them fly up and pick their roost.  I am not sure why, maybe this is typical, but several of the big birds changed roosts a couple of times.

I saw several deer from that stand, and I LOVE seeing deer in the woods, which is why I would spend a day afield.  But there is so much more to see, in a day in the woods.

On the Road Again

By the time you read this, I will have been to, and returned from, a business trip in Washington DC.  The last time I was here was last June, when I ran into that family from our church.

I am not sure why, but I am not thrilled to be making this trip.  It pays well, and it is challenging, but it is also stressful. My flight will be at 1018 Monday, which means I have to be at the airport a bit early to avoid the morning rush hour.

I will stay in the same hotel as last trip, and my two meetings will be in places I have previously worked. My job will be about one-third as long. It will be stressful anyway, but it is part of the job.

This particular job has been much more stressful than most. It is a contentious job, and my colleague on the other side has been difficult. But it pays well.

I have solicited prayer.  I am praying that G^d will use me to be salt and light for Him. And, that is always true- whether working or vacationing.  L^rd keep us in the center of your will, and use us for Your kingdom.  Amen.

Life Review: School and Sacrifice

My four brothers and I did NOT attend the elementary school for which we were zoned.  We went to Canton Elementary instead.

So what?

Well, my mother did NOT drive.  The School bus for Canton Elementary did NOT service our home, because we weren't in the school district.  This meant that our parents had to figure a way to get us to and from school every day.  And, this was more trouble than it might sound.

Regardless, why would our parents do such a thing?  In those days there was NO HOME SCHOOLING, and in our town, there were NO private schools.  So, because our parents wanted us to get the best foundation for education, they did what they could to get us in the best school available, Canton Elementary.

It paid off, I think.  My older brother got a four-year scholarship to the US Naval Academy, as did I. My next brother got a scholarship to a fine private college, Berry College.  My next brother didn't go to college, and my youngest brother went to a couple of colleges before graduating with a teacher's degree.  And that was all from a poor family before student loans were available.

Most of us have graduate degrees, some of us more than one.

Education, is a dangerous thing, as I have written before, but it can also be a very useful thing.

Thanks mom and Dad for making the sacrifice that gave us the foundation of education we needed.  And, thanks to all those teachers a Canton Elem.

If you can read this, thank a teacher, and your parents.