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“The nature of a paradigm is such that it cannot change unless it is replaced" - Sarah Sumner
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
IDT - A Poem
life contained in paper charts
describing symptoms, issues, pain
family, meds, and needed aid
wrapping existence into plans for death
without emotion I listen
listen to names read from lists
listen to descriptions that don't do justice
that don't really see what is total
descriptions given with genuine care
yet can't come close to narrating a life

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posted by Unknown @ 9:24 AM   0 comments
Monday, April 14, 2008
An Apple Man

It is true. I have made the switch. I am an Apple man. My wife and I bought our first Macbook last week. It is really cool. I have wanted to switch for a while now, but I was afraid. Yeah, thats right, afraid. Afraid that the Mac universe would be too difficult to navigate; that I wasn't "creative" enough to own a Mac; that I need to drive a Jetta and drink Starbucks. To be frank, I had this sneaky suspicion that all the hype I had heard about the Mac was just that hype. Hype stirred up by a clever Ad agency that thrived on getting people to believe that it is "cool" to own a Mac. I wasn't convinced that it would be a better computer with a better operating system.


Well, I have had the Mac for a week now, so I have held my judgment so that I could play with it. Let me say, I was wrong. Very wrong. Now you PC users are going to say that I have to say this so that I can justify the purchase. I already took one computer back and I am not afraid to do it again. I was wrong because the hype is real. This is by far the most useful and user friendly computer that I have owned. And guess what, I have not recieved a program error message yet. I recieve about 5 a day with my PC which is running Windows.


So, I am stating out loud in front of the Computer Universe that I have switched sides. I am an Apple Man, and this will be the first of many Apples I will own. If you have been wondering about the Mac, test it out. It will make a believer of you.

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posted by Unknown @ 3:40 PM   7 comments
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Head and Heart
Just read Mark 6:34-44, you can read it here. It got me thinking of how we view resources. When I say resources, I am not just talking about money or material resources, but time, energy, wisdom, knowledge, as well as other things. In this passage Jesus expands the present resources to far exceed the needs of the people. The disciples were not sure what to think, even after it happened, because it doesn't make much sense when this type of thing happens.

We have all grown up to learn basic math skills accompanied by an unconscious understanding of the law of physics. In our world resources are scarce, although not so much in America, even so, we know that when something is gone it is gone. Yet Jesus breaks these aforementioned rules of creation and stands them on their head. The resources that these disciples posessed seemed limited but turned out to be so much more in the hands of the one in which "all things were created".

Now to me. My wife and I have been talking today about where God might be leading us in a few ways, and quite frankly I have looked in the basket and there just doesn't seem to be enough bread and fish to feed these dreams. I am very much a "seeing is believing" type of person, although I try to see with eyes of faith. I have a history of being "skeptical" about the miraculous even when it happens to me. Don't get me wrong, my theology holds within it an understanding of God's miraculous ways. I believe he can heal, mend, create, fix, provide, give wisdom, and much more. But I think the problem with this is where the belief comes from: my head.

I overheard a very wise woman today saying to group of people that true faith is in the head and the heart. If it is only in the head it doesn't work. Sure we can know with our heads that God can do anything, but do we believe with our hearts? So, I know (intellectually) that God is fully capable of taking what little time, resource, and energy Tif and I have and expanding it in an unexplainable way, breaking all the rules of physics and the space time continuum, because he is by definition God. But do I believe with my heart? This is a whole other leap. Knowing requires an understanding of theological concepts. Believing demands an investment of expectation. Can I expect something that seems so unlikely up against the laws of nature?

So, I pray today that God help my heart catch up with, teach, and compliment my head. For it is in both that faith is born. We can't do with out either.

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posted by Unknown @ 10:34 PM   2 comments
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