Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Warm Fuzzy lists of Memories

I recently received a list of warm memories. You've gotten them too I'm sure. You know, those lists that bring back memories of days gone by and how we've lost the innocence of those times through an onslaught of laws and innovation that have stolen a bit of Americana.

I love these lists. There are a bunch of them that have been circulating in email circles for years. The elicit warm memories of days gone by. I like reading them and remembering. Over the past several years I've had the opportunity to attend several High School Commencement ceremonies. Almost always, someone gives a speech regarding the memories that that graduating class holds dear. I'm always amused at how the earliest memories they have are so new! But they talk about them in the same tones as me when I talk about growing up in the 50s.

Funny though, the lists always mention "somebody" stealing away all of the values suggested within the list. That's a revisionist's view of history in my opinion. I think that people weren't so "warm and fuzzy" about life DURING the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Back then I suppose they waxed nostalgic about the 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s. They probably woe d about how everything was going to hell in a hand basket back then too.

Here's a recent list I've received several times over the past 5 or so years.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the

1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O. K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own
good and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's a great list of warm memories.

The last 50 years of inventions and improvements are the result of these people's creativity and innovation. Yes, that's true. And here is a partial list...

...cable Television with 99 channels
...video games.
...motorized vehicles to replace pedal pusher cars.
...gummy worms
...jolt cola - "all the sugar and twice the caffeine"
...about 1000% increase in cartoons
...a junk-food hamburg joint on every other corner
...a society where separation of church and state is more about protecting the state from churches than it is about protecting churches from the state.
...the birth control pill - which fostered the idea that sex is mostly about personal enjoyment and nothing about having babies, which then fostered the idea that abortion is simply another personal choice.
...a society of litigious individuals unable to take responsibility for anything who so often sued everyone with any money that we necessarily need seat belts, warning labels on anything we consume, childproof lids, lead-free paint and bicycle helmets.
...unbelievably real violence depicted with uncanny accuracy on every television show and movie we see every day; all in an effort to so sensationalize the mediums that we're seemingly unable to resist watching. Which, of course, serves to pad the pockets of the Hollywood moguls producing them. But that's their purpose anyway, right?
...the "numbing down" of violence by the aforementioned productions to such a degree that BB guns are now a "viable weapon" instead of a pretend toy.
...a need for approval by everyone for everything to the extent that we all believe that we should, by right, never have to be disappointed. And we believe this so completely that we almost literally force everyone to succeed even if the success is completely "manufactured." Even though no one "loses" with such trumped up benchmarks, nobody really wins either because true success by achievement has become an "evil" thing that supposedly separates people, rather than something to be looked upon with admiration.

Yes, we enjoyed all of those listed things. But we are culpable for their demise at the same time. We raised the succeeding generations. We set the benchmarks. We allowed the changes to happen. We appointed or elected the morons who sit on the bench and allow companies to be successfully sued on the behalf of idiots who maim, burn, shoot and slice themselves with the products those companies produce, making those same idiots millionaires in the process. We allow criminals, child molesters, to get away with murder and gross indecencies again and again under the guise of building their self-esteem at the expense of their victims. We create laws that allow drunks the privilege of driving again and again, while drunk again and again. After all, that drunk is somebody's dad and what would happen to those kid's self-esteem if dad had to spend time in jail because he broke the law?

Yes, I would love to go back to a simpler time too. It's certainly fun to reminisce. Unfortunately, my freedom still ends where someone else's nose begins. That means I don't get to choose the things on the list that I want us all to “go back to.” But I can foster an environment in my home where right is right and wrong is wrong. I can tell my children that sin still exists. I can tell them that although there is gray, there is black and white too. Just because something isn't illegal does not mean it's not wrong and that just because something is legal does not mean it's necessarily right.

My granddaughter watches TV; movies and cartoons and kid's programs. She also paints with watercolors and felt tipped markers. She makes snow angels and "helps" hang Christmas lights. She runs a hundred miles an hour and needs to be reminded to slow down in the house. She eats candy and lots of it. She also needs to eat her vegetables first. She likes to cuddle with grandma and wrestle with dad. She sings and dances to any music playing. She's learning to count; in both English and Spanish by watching a cartoon program. She rides her bike and struggles with the pedals. She gives her baby sister hugs and kisses, but sometimes wishes mom would put her back in her belly. She's only two and a half, but she prays before meals and before bed. She goes to church with her mom and dad and sings the worship songs until she goes to the nursery. She knows how to spit - "outside only grandpa" - and giggles when she does it.

It's fun to reminisce. But our lives really aren't much different now than “back then” if we don't let them be. We are as responsible for the changes around us as anyone else. Change is inevitable and it's no different for us than for our forefathers before our grandparents.

Want to really go back?

Give up your...

...microwave oven
...glass top range and self-cleaning oven.
...double well stainless steel sink
...satellite and cable TV
...remote controls
...DVDs, VCRs and Tivos. (Of course if you really want to watch a program, you'll need to be sitting in front of the TV when the TV people say so.)
...video tape rentals. (What's wrong with going to the theater anyway?)
...heck! Give up the TV altogether! (Now, there is a real solution that would probably work to restore the days of yore. But even though I know that, I don't DO it. I simply won't choose to give up some of the TV I watch!)
...fuel injected, computer controlled automobile engines. (Yeah, I really miss sticking my head underneath the hood of a car and prying open a frozen choke on a 20 degree winter day.)
...instant, push button connections via cell phones to your spouse and kids.
...efficient gas furnaces and water heaters. (Think the cost is too much? Try shoveling coal... I seem to remember a house we lived in where coal was still used. Somehow that missed the list.)
...music CDs (why use these? What was wrong with scratchy, fragile vinyl records anyway? Remember the warm fuzzy of running down to the store to buy a new stylus? (that's a record player needle for you youngsters – ask your dad what a record player is.)).
...Oh! and most of all, give up all these Emails!

The list gives us pause to remember a sepia toned time of nostalgia. But it misses the point entirely with two things.

Take an honest look at this statement:

>You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up
>as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own
>good and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how
>brave their parents were.

Now that's one telling statement. It shows the heart of the problem in two areas; our concept of government and our thoughts about bravery. First, I thought this was a government of the people. At least that's what I was taught. Aren't lawyers subject to the laws of our country? So, they are, in the end analysis, subject to what we, the people, allow them to do via our voice in a representative government. "They" didn't regulate us for our own good. "We" did. Or more correctly we let them do it for us while we sat warm and toasty in our easy chairs, remote control in hand, and entertained ourselves with the tripe emanating from the tube.

Second, as far as bravery goes, I don't get it! We fought wars on foreign soil to promote what we are unwilling to defend at home. That's not bravery, that's complacency. Brave fathers turn off the TV/VCR/Satellite/Mp3 player/CD/Radio or whatever and take their children out to teach them about life. Brave fathers know how to say no with a velvet fist. Brave fathers spend time with their children exploring their interests and build quality young men and women in the process. Brave fathers become "guides on the side," encouraging their children to achieve in the areas where they are blessed.

Brave mothers demand a few family meals a week. Brave mothers turn off the television while the meal is on the table. Brave mothers lead by example, doing the work instead of demanding the work be done by someone else. Brave mothers bake a pie and take it to "that" family in "that" house and attempt to befriend them. Young men and women see such things and learn from it. Most people watch "that" family from inside their home and tell each other what "they" did now. Young men and women see such things and learn from them.

Brave coaches tell little Joey that he won't make the team this year. Brave coaches tell Joey's mom that he's willing to spend some time with Joey to help him learn how to make the team the next time even though there is no guarantee. Brave parents know that not every child is talented in every area. Brave parents notice their children's gifts and find ways to build upon them. Many parents want their child to be shielded from any disappointment. But that's not the real world and fostering that "entitlement" attitude in children is just plain wrong. Sooner or later we all have to deal with shattered dreams and terrible losses. Dealing with the loss of a position on the little league team is a great way to get started. Especially so if a brave dad would come along side of that kid, discover his gift or talent and begin building on it. Losses help make success all the sweeter.

Brave people stand up for what's right and condemn what's wrong. Pure and simple. Some things are just wrong. Most people watch what happens around them and shrug their shoulders. Brave people get on the telephone or go to the meeting and begin finding out how to make a difference.

Am I a gloomy gus? I don't think so. I think that the good old days still exist. We just don't see them. We don't choose them. We don't fight for them. I like the list. I really do. I remember all of those things with fondness. I hope that my children and grandchildren remember the days we're living in now and create their own list of fond remembrances about them. Likewise, I'm sure my great, great, grandfather's grandfather would look at the life my grandfather lived and shrug his shoulders with wonder too.

The lawyers and governors of our country can't steal our valued lifestyle unless we let them and that is not their intent. They've got Email too. Let them know. Let the congressmen, senators, governors, presidents, military officials, business owners, pastors and priests know what you believe is important about life in America. It's easy to do. If you truly believe they are in control and stealing the American lifestyle out of our hands, tell them about it. Who cares if they think you're old fashioned or "out of it." They already do anyway. You can tell by their actions and legislation and sometimes by the personal choices they make.

I'll tell you what, here's your challenge for the week: Turn of the television. Really. See if you can do it. turn it off and do something else. Want a suggestion?

How about making a difference in the lives of the children you wish had it as good as you did. How about starting a knitting club, a chess club, a writing club, a wood working/gardening/jogging/computer/video/radio/shortwave/cooking/bird watching/painting/modeling/whatever-else-you-can-think-of club. Call the local school and ask to have a statement put in the bulletin announcing that you're starting it. Get involved with some kids. Teach them about the stuff on the list. Get them involved with something other than TV/Entertainment choices. Tell them about how great life was back in the day you grew up. Teach them about life as you know it now. All you have to do is tell them the stories. They'll listen. They love to hear stories. You can make a difference that can bring back the values of days gone by.

Or you can watch TV.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Connect, Listen and Do. Become Something.

November 14, 2005

The dove is a peaceful bird. It is a gentle bird that scratches the ground looking for seed for its food. Unlike a raven, which would have fed on the dead carcasses of animals killed by the flood, the dove needed to find dry ground near seed bearing plants in order to eat. It also needed some material with which to begin building a new life outside of the ark. Noah chose wisely. The dove-test was perfect. Noah would test the waters, so to speak, with these birds to find God’s will. When the dove came back with an olive branch in its beak, Noah knew that the time to leave the ark had come. Now he only needed God’s confirmation of what he probably already knew. He tested one more time, sending the dove out into the new wilderness. This time the dove did not return. Now Noah knew for sure. God told Noah to come out from the ark along with all of the creatures inside. So Noah becomes Adam part 2 and human kind begins to build life on earth once more.




We often speak and think about being in the “center” of God’s will for our lives. We often sit in dissatisfaction waiting for an answer to appear out of the great ether. We stumble, heartbroken and worried, wondering why God doesn’t show us a clear answer to the question, “What am I here for and what should I be doing.” That question is important to be sure, but it is not the fundamental question we should be asking. Rather, we should be asking ourselves, “Since I am here for God, what should I be becoming?” God is not here to serve us; we are here to serve God. We often become so occupied with thoughts about our plight and concerned with ourselves that we forget that we are here to focus on God and His glory. We stumble in the darkness bumping into the beams of our myopic little arks wondering why God doesn’t turn on the light. All the time the light has been hanging in the middle of the room beaming it’s blinding brightness to the farthest reaches of existence while we cover our eyes with dark glasses made from solid sheets of self-centeredness.



If we would, even for a moment, stop and listen to God we might get the answer we desperately seek. For some reason we’d rather crawl around in ignorance beneath a shelf full of knowledge rather than stand up and grab a volume of the exhaustive encyclopedia of wisdom and knowledge God. Then, when we feel like we aren’t getting all of the blessings promised to us through word of mouth stories and half-forgotten sermons, we wring our hands in worry that God won’t bless us. We even suggest the idea that we won’t believe these “promises” until God proves them to us! Such thoughts are misguided, self-centered misapplication of the reality of God. Yet God is faithful to stand and wait for our spirit to stop listening to the world and begin listening to him.



Noah spent time with God from the time before the flood. God called his walk righteous. A righteous walk comes from the application of three things. First Noah must have spent a great deal of time in conversation with God. Every day and probably all through the day Noah and God would have talked. This concept is easy to understand. Each of us has the capability to hold conversations with many people all through the day. We talk while we are at work, at school, during leisure time, during meals and everything else we do. Why would talking to God be any different?



Second, Noah listened to God. We listen most to other people. Each day we are given hundreds, maybe even thousands of thoughts and ideas from others. We use them as we see fit. Some of these thoughts are virtually worthless in regard to making weighty decisions about life. But some are significant and in using them, we become better, more capable people. Listening to God is not different in function. His answers are always beneficial. Our problem is that we have rarely been taught how to listen. We call our conversations with God prayer. But our prayers mostly consist of a want-list. We typically explain to God our situation and how it affects us. Then we ask him to fix it. We ask him to fix it our way. We ask him to fix it in our time. The possibility that we might be wrong in our method or that God might have an opinion about how and when to “fix it” doesn’t often enter into the answer-equation. We often complain about unanswered prayer when we don’t see results to our petition before the last echo of “amen” can no longer be heard in the room. We would do much better in our quest, if we’d stop chattering for a few minutes each day and instead, sat quietly and listened.



Third, Noah used the wisdom he was given and got busy doing something. Noah did not wait for a sign; he tested the conditions of the situation with what he knew. Once the ark landed Noah began a testing process. That testing process took some time. He sent out a raven. Noah knew that the raven had a good chance of survival in this new, hostile world. Ravens eat dead things. There would be plenty of dead things. Plus the raven had a definite, proven mode of transportation. A raven could come and go, seeking out life in the new world in many directions. It would not easily tire. It could survive in the hostile world outside or return to the safety of the ark if necessary. I wouldn’t have done any good at all to send out a rhinoceros or rabbit. A large, scavenging bird was a perfect choice.



Once the raven test gave a positive result, Noah sought out additional information by refining the first test. This time he sent out a dove. The dove test was used three times. Each time the answer the test results gave Noah was slightly different and carried a different meaning. The first dove test gave Noah the answer, “not yet.” Noah knew conditions outside the ark were close to being ready from the results of the raven test. But the refined, dove test did not confirm his raven test conclusion. The test was performed again. This time the results were slightly different, but the conclusion was not yet confirmed. The third test gave Noah the confirmation. When the dove did not return, Noah knew that life outside the ark was possible for he and his wife and his sons and his son’s wives.



Noah used the wisdom gained from continual conversations with God. Noah used answered heard from listening to God. Noah tested conditions looking for confirmation from God. Noah lived his life in the center of God’s will. His righteous lifestyle set him apart from everyone else and garnered God’s favor. His struggle was not easy and ours won’t be easy either. He lived in horrible conditions during his salvation from the flood. We may not have a cushy ride either. His family endured tremendous hardship while Noah lived God’s plan for his life. So might ours.



The story of Noah’s ark is not “warm and fuzzy.” Sunday school Noah and the bathtub ark do our children and us a huge disservice. They take away the horror of Noah and his family’s salvation from the deluge. Noah must have had incredible heartache and nights of tossing and turning. He must have questioned “God’s will” in his life many times during the ordeal. Yet, his daily continual connection with God gave him hope. His learned habit of listening gave him safety. His dedication gave him power over the forces of the world around him.



Our choices aren’t much different. We too can tap into the vast knowledge, wisdom and hope of God. Our choice to converse with God on a continual basis is given to use every day. Our choice to listen to God is ever present. Our choice to get up and test the conditions is at our disposal any time we want to stand up and make it happen. God is still faithful and just. He is still all knowing and wise. He is still capable of miracles. He still desires us to turn to him. He is a God of power and strength. He is a powerful God, made of love. That love gives us the choice to turn to him or to turn away. We make the choice of what we will be. His will for our lives is there for the asking. What we become is up to us.

Friday, November 11, 2005

A Bump of a Different Kind

November 11, 2005


The morning of “the day” came as the sun rose as it always did. A look out the window revealed that the boat was very close to land. The water had receded to a level where it had become an object held back by the land which now defined the world. The morning chores of tending to the animals went along as usual. The anticipation of coming to rest on solid ground may have even waned a bit. Still, the belief that it would happen was still real although a little fuzzy.

The bottom of the ark inched ever so slowly, closer and closer, minute by minute toward it's resting spot beneath it. Yet, the boat dwellers inside didn't see much, if anything, change. Their life would go on, requiring them to accomplish their daily tasks. Life for them would go on normally. There was no expectation that today was “the day.” But it was.

The ark hit solid ground and it shuddered when it did. The boat dwellers felt the shock of the ark's bottom striking ground and immediately knew what it meant. The time had come for life to change in a substantially material way. In only a matter of days, the ark would no longer be a boat. Rather, it would be a land-bound animal hotel; the largest barn ever to exist. It was the seventeenth day of the seventh month.

Questions about life, what was going to happen and how would they live, would have been raised. You can imagine the conversations. “Let's go get our chores done quickly. We'll have an early supper and talk about what we should do now.” How much longer would they stay inside the ark? When could they release some of the animals? Should they stay on the ark and simply live their making it their permanent home? Many questions and few answers for now. They would need to wait a while longer to understand how this all would play out. The murky, muddy, soggy world outside would not sustain life. They knew that. But how much time would pass before the earth was ready to sustain life again? That was the question.

They waited, watching the water now quickly receding below them, drain away in rivers and streams. Each day another little stream would dry up; a small pond would become visible and a lake would recede into a meadow area, but devoid of life. The rocky outcropping they landed on would hold them solid as another nearly three months would pass. On the first day of the tenth month most of the mountains around them could clearly be seen. On the fortieth day after the ark grounded, Noah performed his first test.

There must have been many conversations about how to know when it was time to leave the ark. Why not just open the door and walk down the gang plank? They certainly could use the ark as a home base. They could walk around on the mountain side, watch the progress of the recession of water, begin to make some plans about where to live. What would be the harm in that? But Noah was more in tune with God than to take on these decisions himself. He'd seen others who took control of their lives assuming that God was there only to help them with their agenda. They had no real answers to their questions then and the life that they struggled through didn't even exist now. No. Noah would not make the decision about when to leave the ark himself. He would rely on his righteous, daily walks and conversations with God to reveal the true answers. God was not there to serve him. He was there to serve God. He knew that with keeping that attitude his life would be abundant. He knew that even if he and his sons along with his wife and theirs needed to start life on the earth again, he could only accomplish the task if God was directing it. So he would wait upon the Lord.

He could, however, seek answers in the physical world as well as the spiritual. So on one morning he took a raven, a hardy, strong bird with spiritual significance and released it to the air. The raven has long been known in many cultures to be a bird of death and creation able to scavenge for food and live in the most hostile environments. It prefers dead food as opposed to live food. It may be that Noah used the bird because of it's scavenger attributes. Or maybe because of it's reputation of being a creature that can bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds. In any case he released the Raven to the wild where it flew back and forth until the water had dried up. Noah was using the Raven to test the conditions in the world outside the ark. He would not make a plan to leave the ark until God told him to do so. The raven was part of the process of seeking God's direction. The raven test would begin the process to determine if living in the new world was even possible. The raven could survive almost anyplace and if he could survive outside the ark, maybe other beings could too.

The raven flew back and forth, back and forth from the ark to who knows where and back. Noah had a good idea that God's new world was beginning to be ready. He needed another test. A test without as good a chance for survival. A test that would indicate that a more frail being might be able to survive. He chose a dove for this test. Dove's are more “earthly” creatures than ravens. They seem to have progressively adopted urban areas as their natural habitat and breeding ground. We see them in our world strutting along the ground looking for seeds and nest building materials. Noah knew that the dove would begin the process of building a life as soon as vegetation was growing. Once vegetation was know to be growing, life for humans outside the ark could begin. He released a dove, with the knowledge that if it returned, the world was not ready.

The dove fluttered away and Noah waited. The scripture tells us that Noah was a righteous man and so we can be fairly confident that his prayer went out to God as the Dove went out to the world outside.


... more later

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

A Bump On the Horizon - part 3

Imagine the excitement shared on board as progressively, day by day, the boat slowly floated lower and lower. The boat wasn't anchored, according to scripture, so it would have revolved slowly toward the starboard or port side as the wind pushed it this way and that. The view out of the window framed a constantly changing picture of the new world. Sometimes the view would be encouraging. Other times the view would not be so pleasant. Sometimes the view reminded them of the beauty of God's creation. Other times the view would be a murky, muddy reminder of what had been their world for so many years. The reminders of the former world were all around them; broken pieces of lives never to lived again.

There was hope though. As the new world slowly gained focus, the group on board anticipated the next big event. They all must were wondering what it would feel and sound like when the ark finally, for the first time in over a year, hit the earth with a thud. Who was to say it would land on level ground? Would it be on rock? Mud? Bow end up or leaning toward the starboard side? They would have to wait until it happened to know for sure. The anticipation made a change however, and their lives were better for it. Because they knew that when that thud finally resounded through the decks of the craft they were one step closer to the reality of a brand new world.

In the mean time, the mountain lion and the yak, the platypus and all the rest needed water and food. Even through the wonderful anticipation that they would eventually hit land, their daily life routines didn't change much. The tasks of daily living still demanded attention. They know that one day that routine will change. But right now, with hope set upon a new life in a new world, they tended to the routine that must have become very tedious by now. The needs of all the life around them had not changed. They needed to perform the duties to which they'd been assigned months ago even while they looked forward to the day when they'd leave the drudgery and tedium behind and walk down the ramp to dry ground for the first time.


... to be continued

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

A Bump on the Horizon - part 2

Every day someone would peer out that little window and note how much of the bump was visible that day. Each morning, as soon as the sun was high enough to provide light to see by, a comparison would be made to the day before. The blind faith required to rise each morning to do the daily task of caring for these thousands of animals became more and more hopeful as each day progressed. That little bump, maybe 75 miles away was the embodiment of hope for each of those people. That hope made life easier, maybe even bearable for a couple of them.

Morning after morning someone must have kept track, testing the progress of that bump. After several days that bump would have be recognizable as the peak of the tallest mountain on the horizon. No longer would the discussion work its way around wondering what the bump was. Now it could be seen. Land. A glimmer of promise that this incredibly hard ordeal might be over. The eight hapless boat dwellers would indeed be able to leave the confines of the ark and establish a land born home again.

The day came when a second bump appeared and then a third and then a forth. The original bump became more and more recognizable as having peaks and valleys. They may have named them so they could keep track of each bump's progressive revelation. “Look at Paramount Peak this morning Japheth. Over on the west side, there's another little outcropping that looks a bit like a horses head.” “Yes. I can see it! I wish we had a way to move closer to it.” “I God's good time. In God's good time.”

Eventually, so many peaks were visible that the viewpoint of the world would fundamentally change. No longer would it seem to be a world of water. Enough land appeared that the paradigm viewpoint would shift from bumps rising out of the water, to water receding from the land. Now they would keep track of how far the water went down each day rather than how much higher did the peak rise. The change in focus was the shot in the arm they needed to really get excited about their future. Not only did their viewpoint about the earth change but so did their outlook on life. God's blessing came in a subtle but very significant way. The solid rock was still there and there was comfort in knowing that eventually they would place their feet upon it.


...to be continued.

Monday, November 07, 2005

A Bump On The Horizon

November 7, 2005

For forty days and nights the rain never stopped. I suppose for a few days the ark just sat there, where it was built in Noah’s back yard, while the 8 inhabitants inside adjusted their planned routines. Outside the arc the water would slowly rise. Noah’s neighbors, friends and acquaintances plus a couple of hundred others who had heard about this monstrous boat probably would have been begging and pleading to gain a spot on the craft. It may have never rained before. But it wouldn’t take very long for people to figure out what was happening around them. A few would raise their glasses and party on too. But once they noticed that they were standing ankle deep in water they would have begun to second guess their safety.

By the biblical account, there was only one way on and off this barge. That door had been shut by God. The people on the outside without a doubt had constructed rafts and garnered fishing boats to stay on top of the water. They floated around this huge box of Noah’s for a few days, in the rain, slowly floating higher, up the side walls of the ark. I’d guess they hoped that they could eventually get on top of the vessel. But as the water rose the ark itself would have begun to float. At that point in time, the people on the little crafts floating around the arc would have had little hope. Eventually these “hangers-on” succumbed to the storm and drowned, leaving a sum total of 8 persons on earth.

Noah and his crew must have grieved the loss of life. Friends and relatives. Brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, all gone. Livestock and houses and stores and barns and gathering places, all gone. Forests and groves and parks and meadows, all gone. For the next year on that arc, when anyone gazed out of the one window on the arc there wouldn’t be anything to see but water and whatever was floating in it.

The ark bobbed around the seas for what must have seemed to be forever. Then the wind began to blow. Noah and his sons must have given each other a knowing glance, wondering if the wind would bring another storm. How could they take anymore? Why were they spared in the first place. Even through the fortunate circumstances they knew they were in, there must have been days when wondered both why were they spared why they shouldn’t have been. This wasn’t a case of holier-than-thou self-righteousness on their part. This was a time of extreme, heart-breaking and gut wrenching grief.

After a few months of the sea-sickening churning, rolling and bobbing of this floating box of a barn they would have wondered if it was worth it at all. Wouldn’t it have been better to have died instead? The biblical account doesn’t indicate that they knew how long this would last at all. Of course they had plenty to eat. After all they had every animal on earth below decks. As long as the grain held out, they’d have fresh eggs. The waiting must have been excruciating.

Then, one windy day, just barely visible through that one small window on the watery world around them, a bump appeared on the horizon. Whoever saw that first bump must have taken a heart quickening second look with a double blink of his eyes. I wonder if he waited a day or two before telling anyone just to be sure he was really seeing something or if he was imagining a hopeful end to this horrible nightmare. Or maybe he ran to the others to have eight pairs of eye come take a look now before it disappeared. “Grab a notebook! We’ve got to document this!”


... to be continued.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Time At Hand

Noah and his three sons and their mother and wives lived on a 450' long, 75' wide and 45' high 'boat' for over 1 year. They were responsible to care for themselves and all of the animals in the known world; which, at the time, were all of the animals they had with them. All other living creatures had been destroyed. The flood waters must have been filled with the carcasses of hundreds of thousands of creatures. The dead bodies of dogs, cats, birds, horses, monkeys, yaks, goats, sheep, pigs, men, woman, children and babies would have floated and rotted and all over the earth. That is not the picture we see in the Sunday school hand-outs we give to our children. But that is the reality.

We commonly hear about the safety of the arc during the storm. But rarely if ever do we actually hear about or consider for ourselves the realities of this story. The are may have been the safest place on earth during that awful year. But it would not have been a pleasant place to be by any stretch of the imagination. The daily barrage of visual horror outside, on the water, would certainly have turned the stomaches of the 8 people on board. Only the most calloused, uncaring person could go unaffected.

The amount of work for those 8 must have been overwhelming. Just imagine, for instance, the daily task of distributing fresh water to each of those animals. Each day, without a day off, for over a year, someone needed to rise each morning, choke past the smell and vision of death all around, grab a bucket of water and hall it to the baboon, screeching and jumping around in it's cage. Every so often, someone would need to shovel out the dung from the stable of horses and mules and donkeys and zebras. Where did all of that waste go? My guess is that it went out a chute or other small opening, above the waterline and into the murky ocean of death outside. The ark may have been safe, relatively speaking, but it surely wasn't a fun place to be.

So what does that tell us about God's “shelter from the storm” for us? Can it be that God will save us from death but not always in a pleasant manner? Surely that is a conclusion that can be drawn. Noah and the seven people with him may not have been on the equivalent of a Caribbean pleasure cruise, but the alternative wasn't a good choice by far.

But God's safety was brought to Noah more than 100 years earlier. Noah had a generous amount of time to prepare. God's provision came with ample amounts of time. Plus, the very thing that gave the opportunity to Noah in the first place was Noah's habit of spending time with God and abiding by the knowledge of life that time spent with God provides. What conclusion does that lead too? It seems obvious. The time needed to prepare for the most cataclysmic events in life is available to us right now. The time is “at hand.” How will you spend it?

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Bogged Down In Details

When Noah received the instructions to build a boat he must have been overwhelmed by the gravity of what was going to happen. He would have wrestled with understanding the immense project that he was given to undertake. The macro view of this project would have staggered the mind of anyone. The facts of this project were simple enough. The world was to be destroyed by a flood. Noah was to build a very large boat. A selection of animals was to be housed in the boat for protection from the flood. When it was all done there would only be Noah, his wife, his sons and his sons' wives.

Some specific details regarding how the boat was to be built were given as well. These details were sufficient enough to get the boat building project started but not detailed enough to specify how each board and nail were to be set. Noah would need to determine such details on his own or he would need to delegate those specifics to someone he trusted, with the knowledge to get that part of the project accomplished.

Noah's main job in this huge effort was to focus on God's voice. He needed to continue to communicate with the Almighty one who gave him the task to begin with. H needed to focus on trusting the future outcome, knowing that God is true to his word. He did not need to get bogged down in detail work himself. God's special knowledge about the “hows” and “whens” would be left to God. Noah only need concern himself with the next task on the list of things to do.

Noah could have begun thinking about how the animals would be gathered together. Maybe he could have done a little research on animal behavior. He might have begun questioning how all of those animals would arrive in his back yard. How would he and his sons herd this menagerie onto this enormous boat? The scripture says each species went on to the boat according to it's kind. So there must have been some way to segregate animals into manageable categories. There needed to be some way of distributing food eventually to each individual animal.

Noah trusted God to bring the animals to the ark. He trusted God that he'd be provided the skills required to build a completely organized floating barn that would sustain all of this life for as long as God required. Trust and obey. Noah's only foreknowledge was that God was in control.

We often get bogged down in the minutiae of the task at hand. We understand the project. We possess the skills to accomplish the deed. We know the people to contact to find information about the skills we are fuzzy on. But often we wait for every detail of the project to be well defined and thought over before we begin. God doesn't require us to possess absolute surety about the tasks he gives us to do. After all, the very thing required to communicate with God in the first place is faith. God commands us to have faith. Faith, the evidence of unseen things, calls us to believe that the outcome will be accomplished while the details are left unknown.

We build a relationship with the creator of all things. We here his voice in thoughts and urgings. We understand the task. But often times we sit, thinking about details and questioning the wisdom of the project. What we should do is take the specifics we do have, as incomplete as they may be, and get started knowing that the God of mystery, knowledge and wisdom will “bring the animals in” when the time is right.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

No Doubt

November 1, 2005

Faith. How can you “just believe” something? What kinds of experience do you need to have with someone to believe that an event will happen or a condition will come to be based upon what they tell you? Imagine the situation for Noah. We find in Noah a man who's lifestyle and who's daily walk was so in step with the Lord that the Lord called him righteous. The Lord found him to be blameless among all the people of his time. It's good that Noah walked with God every day because God told Noah a frightening story. God told Noah that everyone except his immediate family would soon die.

The bible is not specific enough to tell us exactly how many people Noah knew. It does not tell us how many other family members of Noah were living during that time. It would seem logical that he would have had brothers and sisters. He might have had aunts and uncles living at that time too. The Lord told him that they would all die. His friends would die. The people on the street that he saw every day would die too. As a matter of fact, according to the biblical account every person he had ever seen in his entire life would all be dead except for his wife, his three sons, and his sons' wives.

All of the animals save those he took with him would perish. The houses and farms and shops and stores would all be completely destroyed. The meadow and the grove and the hollow and the field and all of it's beauty would no longer exist. A massive flood of water would completely take it all away.

Nothing like this had ever happened before. There were no leading indicators in the stock market of life to suggest that “Oh. Yes, I've seen this once before. It's likely that a flood is going to occur.” By all accounts we can probably say it had never even rained before! Further, God tells Noah to build a huge boat on the scale of the Queen Mary for those times. Incredible! There is no history in Noah's time to give him any confidence in what he was about to do. None whatsoever. Yet Noah, with the simple faith of a child doing his mother's bidding, puts in place plans to accomplish the task one timber, one board, one nail at a time every day for a hundred or so years, slowly building a monstrosity in his back yard. He couldn't hide this from anybody. His faith was put on display for the whole world to see for over a hundred years.

What kind of faith do you have? Let's say you wake up today and you feel impressed by God during your morning prayers to paint your house bright orange. All of it. Orange siding. Orange shingles. Orange doors, windows, shutters, and trim. Do you think you would do it? What do you think your neighbor would say? Would he ask you something like, “Hey there. I see that you are painting your house orange. Um... what in the world are you doing that for?” Would you say, “God told me to.” Or would you make up a different story?

The strength of your faith will indicate your willingness to go beyond the call of the normal. Your faith can only be built bit by precious bit through the investment of time. There simply is no other way to build it. Investing time in someone will slowly define how much trust in things not yet seen you are willing to have in what they say. Each of us can predict the future in some respect. Simply stating “I'll be there at four o'clock this afternoon to pick you up.” is a prediction of a future event. If you say that every day for thirty days and if you never fail in that task, it's reasonable to believe the same thing will happen the thirty first day. The time has been invested. The history has been written. The by-product is faith.

Noah walked a righteous life on a daily basis with God. He talked with God and he listened. Every day. Probably many times each day. Maybe continuously during the day. Maybe he never stopped communicating with God. There must have been an tremendous amount of time spent together for Noah to have even a glimpse of the faith it required to build that boat. He couldn't harbor even a speck of doubt that this would not happen. He couldn't. He couldn't because his faith told him otherwise. He needed to have absolute faith.

We each have a choice about every minute of our lives. God is willing to communicate with you at a heartbeat's notice. If you lack faith, begin investing time in that conversation. Begin reading his word each and every day without fail. You will be amazed at the vision it can provide. I don't know that you will ever have the faith to build a monument to a conversation to God like the arc would have been. But I do know that your life will be hugely blessed. I have that faith. I have that faith because I've experienced it in my own life. Try it for thirty days and see for yourself. Your life will be better. Of that I have no doubt.

Monday, October 31, 2005

God Spoke

God spoke. Out of his mouth came words. Powerful words. Words that created the earth out of water. The water was created by his word. How much power does a word have? God's words have ultimate power; the power of creation, the power of love, the power of comfort, the power of condemnation. His power is demonstrated in word. He is effortless in his ability to accomplish anything because all He needs to do to produce anything, physical or spiritual is to speak. His word is pure power.

We speak quickly and often. Our words stream forth in a never ending flow about everything we see. Our opinions are made sometimes quickly and often without thought. Why don't we take a minute to tap into God's power? We have the resource at our disposal. We also have a choice. The power of God to speak and solve our problem, answer our question, make our path clear is ever present. But we must chose to do two things. 1. Approach God with an open heart and mind knowing that He will give help. 2. Listen.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Consistency

Daniel Chapter 6.

Consistency. Chapter 6 of the book of Daniel tells a story of jealousy in government. Daniel was good at what he did. He had been appointed as one administrator of three who were overseeing 120 bureaucrats in charge of the account of the king, Darius. Because Daniel had obvious skill performing this duty, Darius decided to make him the overseer of the entire kingdom. The administrators and bureaucrats, being overcome with jealousy, decided to trip Daniel up in a point of lawso that Daniel could legally be killed. But Daniel was of such character that no legal reason could be found. So they manufactured a temporary law they knew with absolute assurance that Daniel would break.

The law was simple enough, under penalty of death, the citizens of the kingdom could not worship any other god or man except the king for thirty days. The end result, of course, is that Daniel was convicted of breaking this bogus law and was sentenced to death by animal dismemberment in a pit full of hungry lions. We are familiar with the story of how Daniel was saved any harm at all and gave credit to an angel who closed the mouth of the lions.

But one point that should be noted, possibly above all others, is that Daniel was prepared for such a cataclysmic event due to his consistency in his prayer life. Upon learning about the law, Daniel first goes to his prayer room to pray. His commitment to the true, living God is shown to be preiminent. The ironic twist is that it is exactly that consistent, daily shown commitment that even made the scheme possible! And it is exactly that consistent, daily commitment that built the relationship between God and Daniel that enabled the salvation to happen.

There is only one method to building a relationship between two persons. If a relationship is to be built, time must be spent. Daniel chose to have a relationship with God. He built that relationship by spending time praising, talking to, listening to, and thanking the one true God.

Daniel went to his prayer room three times each day “just as he had done before.” Why did the law work? Because of Daniel's consistency. Why did it ultimately fail? Because of Daniel's consistency. Why was Daniel spared? Because of his relationship with God. Why was that relationship so worthy of such grace? Because of Daniels steady commitment to a consistent, daily, even hourly communication with God.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Satisfaction. In the 12th chapter of the gospel of Luke we read about the Rich Fool.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on you guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Then Jesus tells the story about the rich fool. This farmer who had produced an abundant crop. But instead of celebrating his good fortune, he instead devoted his attention to determining how to get more. To have more, he needed to build bigger barns to store the additional crops. So he began building barns.

Now, there is nothing particularly wrong with having more or building barns. But Jesus tells us to “watch out” because greed easily becomes the focus. Concentrating on having more instead of being more traps us into a shallow life with shallow rewards.

19 And I'll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for may years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

“But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”

Whoa! While building the barns, while concentrating on what he could have, the farmer may well die! Ah, there is a tragedy. Imagine, all of that concentration on building barns. He's not even a carpenter. He's a farmer. He's not even doing what he loves to do because he's concentrating on how to have more.

Later in the chapter, Jesus tells the crowd that it is much better to concentrate on giving more and letting God provide the abundance. He compares a lily to king Solomon, one of the richest men in history. How beautiful is the lily and yet it's beauty comes at no cost at all.

It's really a matter of how you measure satisfaction. Will you find satisfaction in building abundance? Or will you find satisfaction in building up those around you. Will you invest in having more for yourself? Or will you invest in give more to others? Will your focus be, “I need more?” or Will your focus be, “I have so much to give.” Sometimes it is easier to imagine what will be written on your headstone. Imagine these two possibilities, “Here lies Joe, he built barns.” or “Here lies Pete, he built lives.”

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Build a Boat

Patience. How long did it take Noah to build the Arc. The Arc was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 3 stories high. It certainly must have been the largest boat ever built at that time. Noah only had a few hands and hand tools to build it with. Every day for years he would have needed to saw a board, put it in place, hammer a few nails and then determine where the next board would go. The daunting task of constructing this enormous vessel would have taken hundreds of years. He would have done this with thousands of curious looks over time. He probably heard 10,000 sneers and jibes. But Noah was patient. He had an ability to remember the reality of God's Words. He certainly must have concentrated on that memory minute by minute by minute, day after day after day.

Why can't we be patient for even a year? A month? A day? God has his purposes for each of us. We worry and fret and wonder, “Where is God? Why does He not answer my prayer?” and we prayed only minutes ago. A 1000 years is as a day and a day as a 1000 years with God. Today is a good day to start practicing the art of being patient. Wait on the Lord today with a mind full of the knowledge that God is in complete, well timed control. He will be faithful. His purpose will be accomplished. Bless God with patience and begin living in peace.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

My Son Matt - The Bass Player

This is my son Matthew. He's a musician. At heart he is an amazing person. He's very creative in very many ways. Currently he's working in Florida and North Carolina with a friend of mine in the recycling business. He's raising as much cash as possible in preparation for attending Ferris State University in the 2006 Winter term. I miss him. But he'll be home in a few weeks. Posted by Picasa

Yeah. I'm Cool.
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Watering Grandma's Flowers
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Sunday, June 19, 2005

An old newsletter article still makes sense.

I took a year off from teaching at Harvest. But next fall I'll start with the adult class again. I was looking through some old notes today and found this short article that was written for the Harvest Community newsletter. It reminded me of a seminar breakout session I attended last week that Steve Wiggins taught on devotions for worship leaders. I think its worth reading again. The dates aren't significant any longer so ignore them.

Picture yourself on a hill near a small town in the country. You have been met with the most incredible circumstances you could have ever imagined. The events of the previous few weeks have brought the highest highs of victories and the lowest lows of death. Not sure of your own safety, you look around anxiously awaiting the moment when armed guards might come from just out of sight to drag you away to most certain death. You know that trumped up charges could be brought to a courtroom in order to ensure your elimination from society. Yet, even as those thoughts race though your tired mind, you look upon the only person you know that had experienced that exact same scenario. He is alive and well, standing before you and teaching you new things, just as he always did. In the past he taught you about life; about a new life with a new way to look at everything. But his message today on this hillside is just a little different. Today he is teaching you that the burden of taking those “new-life” messages to a world of “old-life” people will be carried by you!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." It’s called the great commission and it is meant for each of us. But how? How can we ever become prepared enough to make disciples, baptize people, and teach them to obey? It is a formidable task indeed. Yet the command has been given by the Christ; Jesus himself.

The command was given in the closing paragraphs of the gospel of Matthew just before Jesus disappeared before his disciples’ very eyes. What an amazing site that must have been. They stood there eyes wide open and mouths agape no doubt for a good long time. Until a couple of fellows dressed in white asked them “what are you looking at? This Jesus will come back one day, in the same way he left you just now.” Yeah, right. Uh, but just exactly what are we supposed to do now? Good question. It was a good question then. It’s a good question now.

In the ensuing days the beginnings of what we know as the Christian church began. These humble beginnings that virtually exploded on the planet were brought about by common people like you and I who see the incredible value and good that comes from carrying out the command to take the gospel to the world. These disciples were simple people who knew an incredible new way of thinking, of living, of looking at the world. They couldn’t wait to share it with everyone they met. So it is with us.

The Holy Spirit was sent to “live within them.” He empowered their everyday skills and common language into an unstoppable force that changes the world even today.
The church to which we belong today was born from those empowered, yet common, skills. We gain encouragement from knowing that the Holy Spirit continues to empower each of us to be able to carry on the great commission. All we need is to gain a little understanding of God’s word, listen to the Spirit, and do some ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Reading and sharing our thoughts and insights about God’s word with each other is a wonderful way to begin some basic training. It’s simple really. The more of God’s word you have “hidden” in your heart, the more prepared you become to carry on the commission of Christ. There is no better way to share what God is teaching us in His word than to gather for a few minutes each Sunday to study and share.

Our adult Sunday school class is targeted specifically at learning about God’s word. We began a journey through the bible beginning at Genesis 2 and ½ years ago. We have come so far! We have learned, shared, laughed and cried together. We have grown closer. We’ve grown closer to each other and closer to God’s word. But most importantly, we’ve grown closer to God. That’s because God speaks to us through His words. And His words are mighty powerful.

Our journey has brought us from the beginning of man to the historical beginning of the church we know today as Harvest Community Church. Just this past week we began reading and learning from the New Testament book of Acts. In the next couple of weeks we’ll begin seeing how the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ, empowered the men and women of Jewish and Roman cities of the bible to start a movement that would eventually thread it’s way to the top of Sixth Ave hill in Lake Odessa, MI. Incredible! Jesus’ great commission began on a hill in Galilee and now continues on a hill in Michigan.

That same spirit is waiting to help you take part in this great commission to take the “new-life” message to the “old-life” people on the hillsides of our little part of the world. Every Sunday after the morning worship service and fellowship time we continue to ground ourselves in God’s word; to hide it in our hearts in hope and knowledge that we will bring it out later on to help someone else.

The Bible. You must hide it in you heart. It must become a part of you. It will change you. Of that there is no doubt. But rest assured it will be a welcome change. It will be a change that enables you to stand on your own; grounded in the knowledge of the very word that created the entire world at the very beginning of time. That’s what the adult Sunday school class is all about. Please join us as we continue studying God’s word together.

Friday, May 27, 2005

CBS News | Viagra Report Spurs Reaction | May 27, 2005 18:58:04

CBS News | Viagra Report Spurs Reaction | May 27, 2005 18:58:04

Gee, I was always told, when I was young, that masturbation would make you go blind. Seems that when you're old just getting ready will do the same thing!

What a week for male enhancement drugs and sex in general. Gosh, we let convicted sex offenders get the stuff with government supplied money. That's pretty stupid is seems to me. I've always thought that when a person has "paid their debt" they should be put back on an even plane with everybody else. So maybe this will seem a little out of line. Sexual predators getting Viagra on government money would be like the local sheriff giving a rehabilitated killer a loaded pistol.

To continue the never ending barrage of sex in America we have a new way to sell hamburgers. Does Paris Hilton have ANY talent worth all of the attention? She is very pretty. There is definite sex appeal in the ad. I haven't actually seen the commercial though, except on the news programs. Maybe it would have been better if they'd just left it alone.

So let's see. In America, you must be pretty and sexy, not fat, able to perform sexually, not addicted to porn, a real man, a sexy woman, morally just, a conqueror of many, and on and on. We are bombarded with sex everywhere in almost everything. But we'd better not make an innuendo that someone else could possibly take as sexually offensive or we'll end up in court and forever vilified for our actions. We're prudish if we see any problem whatsoever with ads like the Paris Hilton spot. I don't get it. Mixed messages abound everywhere.

I suppose that when I was 10 years old or whatever, there was some other dude about 50 years old expounding upon how morally corrupt the world had become at that time. I wonder where he is now and if he thinks, in retrospect, that it was really as bad as all of that.

Hey, I wonder if any of those sex offenders taking government viagra went blind? No. I don't suppose we'd get that lucky.

mjv

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Spending a Day

I spent the day in my studio working on a DVD project for a customer from the Hastings area. I also spent plenty of time in my basement computer shop working one of my brother in law’s computers. I spent the day setting up my keyboard so I could practice a some piano licks for an upcoming wedding. I spent the day doing stuff I like to do. I wish I could do that every day.

Now I’m writing a little bit. That’s a good thing too. Life is pretty good when you can do the things you like to do. Today, for me, life was good. I’m going to leave it at that.

See you tomorrow.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Union Bank Project Finished

May 9, 2005

I delivered the Union Financial video today. Melanie took a look at it and is pleased. Man, it’s great to have that one knocked off my list. The project was good for me to do because it reminded me of how much I like being creative. I had a great time actually doing the work. But it pressed my schedule a bit too much. That led to a bunch of stress.

A financial report is basically a lot of figures compared to a lot of figures and it figures to get pretty boring. So the challenge becomes how can I make all of the data interesting. Well, basically I boiled the data down to the relevant fact that a viewer would want to know. Then I created a graph to show the big mess of data, dimmed it and added the pertinent fact overlaid on the top.

But that only helps the data. Adding pics, with motion, did the trick in between each graph. That was pretty fun actually. I honed my skills with my software a bit and found some new tricks for my bag.
Overall, I was very pleased and apparently so is the bank. All in. All done. Just got to send them the bill. What a relief. Now on to the next thing.

I’ve got about 6 more video projects to go. Man, if I could make a decent living doing that out of my shop! I’d be there in a heartbeat.

It's May 8, 2005 - Mother's day

Or more accurately, May 9, 2005 12:15AM. I’m finally burning the Rev 4. DVD of the Union Financial Annual Meeting video project. Far from my best work, but a long way from trash, I hope it will pass muster with the uppers at UFC.
I like the opening montage of old photos. It’s sort of a warm and fuzzy look at a bank’s remodeling and grand opening in the late 1950s. I wasn’t there, we didn’t move to Lake Odessa until 1963, but I do see an old class mate in one of the photos. He was six years old at the time. As I recall, his grandfather was the bank president at the time.
I created an animated version of the printed annual report. I like that too. Royal music in the background gives it sort of a PBS-ish look. It’s all in gray’s so it looks silverish and even if I do say so myself, it’s very cool.
I tried my best to have the video look like something other than a fancy Power Point presentation, but when you have so many graphs you only have so many options. It really needs some on camera interviews to break up the data. But I got the impression that they wanted to limit the cost. So no new video this year.
I’m thinking about approaching them to shoot a different sort of video for next year. I’d like to produce a real day-in-the-life kind of thing. I’d set up a couple of their best customers to be the subjects. Gathering real B-roll footage and using close up, multi-cam interviews could really make the thing special. I’d love to get back into producing some television programming and I could use such a piece as part of a resume. But it would take so much time. I’m not sure I can handle the strain on my schedule. Still, it my get me out of this Lakewood gig. That would be a good thing.
I’ve got to go get some sleep. I’ve been hammering this project too hard. But a deadline is a deadline and the closer they come the shorter the days are. When I hit the sheets tonight it will be with the comfort that the thing is finished. At least until the bank gives me the final change orders! I hope they’ll be happy with it as it sits. I’m double scheduled already for tomorrow night and Tuesday is the show! I’ve run out of time. I wonder if I’ll ever recover from the lightening strike over spring break. Man I need those days back.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Adventures in Macintosh Part 1

Friday, March 25, 2005

So I’ve had this PowerBook for about 10 hours now. What a day it’s been. I’ve had about three of those hours to actually get to know my new Mac. Here’s the story so far.

As I unpacked the computer I couldn’t help but notice how detailed the packaging was. In my life as a K-12 technology administrator, I’ve had the opportunity to unpack over 100 Dell or Compaq laptop computers. Nobody has packaging like Apple. Nobody. It looks like its been designed by the same people who design the cases.

The case is a work of simple art. Clean lines of machined aluminum. Everything fits together with close tolerances. I’m impressed. The top opens easily, yet the hinges are tight. No bouncing screen like the Dell Inspiron 8100 I replaced last November with a new Dell Latitude 600. This is one nice box to be sure.

I opened the power supply first. Knowing that this computer just arrived from China yesterday and had been sitting in a warehouse for a while, I knew the battery should be fully charged before I went mobile. Once I had the power supply plugged in, I sat down in my easy chair, picked up the Powerbook and plugged the power supply connector into the side-mounted connector. The connector looks like an oversized RCA jack and the power supply has the related plug. As I plugged it in a ring round the perimeter of the plug briefly turned green and the changed to amber. Ah, the Apple engineers thought this feature through nicely. The connection is verified by the light. The color of the light indicates the battery state. My guess is that the ring will turn back to green once the battery is fully charged.

I pressed the power button conveniently mounted on the face of the computer in the right hand speaker grille. That Apple sound played and I knew I was on my way. The OS went through its very friendly set up routine. I wondered if it would find my wireless network. I expected that it wouldn’t since it is set up to not broadcast its name. My suspicions were confirmed when I had to bypass the network setup stuff.

Once I had the initial set-up completed I set the wireless configuration. Fairly easily done once I changed the WEP key setup to look for a 40 character ASCII key. The Powerbook associated with my network, grabbed a DHCP issued network address and I was off an running on the Internet. First order of business add some entries to my blog to begin describing my new adventure in the world of Macintosh.

An amazing world

Friday, March 25, 2005

It’s absolutely amazing. I ordered this Powerbook on Wednesday afternoon (March 22, 2005). I issued a PO to Wade Oehler in Irving, Texas for a 15”, 1.67Ghz, Superdrive Powerbook and asked him to add the three year extended warranty, an extra power supply (to leave on my desk) and the iWork software program.

Once the PO got to Irving he put the order process into place. I have no idea what that means at all. I only know that I got an order confirmation email before the end of the workday.

I received a shipping confirmation email the next morning that had tracking numbers for both Apple and for FedEx. So I checked the status. I was surprised to find that the order had shipped already. The original order confirmation said that I should receive the shipment on or before April 4, 2005. That’s 12 days from the order date. I figured that gave them plenty of time to ship the unit since I had not requested any faster shipping method.

But the shipping information on the FedEx site said that the unit had shipped on the evening of the 23rd. I thought; “Hey, this thing should be hear by Monday!” Wait a minute, it arrived at the FedEx ramp at 8:16PM on the 23rd. Then it got moved to some other shipping point and arrived there at 10:36, after the cut off time. But it’s only 3:00pm now. Double check – where is it being shipped from? I assumed Cuppertino, CA or Irving Tx. But it might have been some other warehouse too. It says: “Shanghai, CN.” Hmm… CN, Connecticut is CT, what’s CN. Oh! Shanghai, China! Well that explains the possible April delivery date.

This morning, Friday, March 25, 2005, I checked the status again, fully expecting to find that it was on some FedEx receiving dock in the states waiting to be air shipped to a local delivery depot. But FedEx was way ahead of that. The package left Shanghai at 10:40 the previous evening. I guess the cutoff time must have something to do with overnight delivery times because it left Shanghai 4 minutes after the cutoff message. To make a long story a bit shorter, by 8:43 on Friday morning, it was on a Lansing, Mi, USA delivery truck.

Too bad our offices are closed today for the Easter holiday. But Lake Odessa is a small town and I routinely see the FedEx truck driving around. So I got in my pickup and took a drive. 10 minutes later I saw the FedEx truck on the main drag. I identified myself to the driver and upon displaying proper ID and affixing my signature to his pick-up register, I had the Powerbook in hand.

Yes. It’s amazing, I’m typing this on a brand new Apple Powerbook on Friday at about noon. Wednesday, two days ago, it was in a warehouse in Shanghai, China. What an amazing world we live in.

A Brand New Powerbook G4

In the last couple of years or so, I've been watching the development of the OSX operating system. Apple dumped the old OS, revamped a version of UNIX, BSD Linux I think, slapped a new interface on the front end and created a very elegant and user friendly OS.

I've hemmed and hawed ever since about becoming a "Switcher." I even bought a G4 PowerPC once and implemented it into my audio and video studio. That lasted about a month before I sold it. I liked the OS, but it wasn't fast enough to edit video really and I have a bunch of Windows plug-ins for ProTools that I couldn't afford to replicate on the Mac. That was a year and a half ago.

Being a Network Admin at a K-12 school district, I have the opportunity to see and evaluate a lot of software. I also have the need to upgrade equipment and the mandate to be stingy about it. Thus the revisit to Apple OSX and the Macintosh. I have a lab with 5 year old computers, Pentium 400 Celerons, running Windows 98. That lab is probably the most current lab at Lakewood High School. As a matter of fact it is the most current lab in the entire district! That's a sad fact, but true. Enter the Mac Mini. For $479 per seat (26 seats) I can upgrade that lab to a very capable state. I just have to make sure the OS will play nice with Windows 2003 server, Active directory and the rest. I'm told it will.

So I've been researching these Macintosh computers, OSX and the applications available for them. In short, I've been very impressed. I am also impressed with Apple's very up front commitment to education both with hardware and with software. Al I need is some assurance that the OS will really do what they claim. So I've made one small Switch. I ordered a Powerbook G4 for my own use.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

The Call

Why do some people want to be mechanics and others want to be farmers, while some want to become lawyers at the same time a different person wants to be a musician? What is it about "the call?" Why are some so successful at accomplishing those desires? Why are some people incredibly blessed to make their living by doing something that, to them, is more like play than like work?

What is it that you want to do? What would you be doing right now if there wasn't something else stopping you? What is your 'calling?'

The bible says ”If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:7-14 NIV)

Read that again carefully, first is the condition; "remain in me and my words." Are you doing this? If you believe that God is the creator of all things, then who could know more about life and how things work? Hide God's words in your heart. Find other Christians and get into a bible discussion or study group. Begin to 'remain' in Jesus and his words. Start by reading the bible every day. Maybe just a few verses or a chapter. Don't make it laborious. I prefer to start my day with bible reading. It seems to set that tone that helps me accomplish my purpose for the day. I can tell you this from personal experience that my life seems to "straighten out" with daily bible reading at the start of the day.

Second is the instruction; "ask whatever you wish." That doesn't mean "I wish I had a new truck." It means that you can talk to God about anything. Life, studies, football, how things work, how you should act, what you should say, what you should write. It means that God will supply you with what you need if you meet the first condition.

The last part; "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." means that God wants to be glorified by what we say, think, do, and create. It also says that God is glorified by your accomplishments in life because you are known as a man of God. Imagine that! God is glorified when we do the things, with His help, we want to do in life. Things that we'd want to do anyway! He supplies the desire, the knowledge, the ability and the motivation. We accomplish our heart's desires which pleases us, and He gets a kick out of the whole thing! Amazing!

You see, it's the perfect plan for imperfect creatures like us. We remain in God's fellowship and learn his word. We ask for his wisdom and help in whatever we do. God supplies the knowledge for us to accomplish our purpose, our calling. God is glorified by seeing that we are successful and are known as his children. Pretty awesome, right?

Now, if you're caught up in something other than your calling, it's time to reevaluate your position in life. Isn't it? Can you make your living, doing your calling? Maybe you can. I'd start with learning God's word and developing that relationship first. Then, I'd begin asking for direction, knowledge and wisdom. After that, I believe it will all fall into place. Try it. Prove me wrong or right. Start your day, for the next 30 days with reading the bible for about 30 minutes. I dare you.