quite occupied, thank you very much

Sorry, friends.  Faithful few.  You’ll be lucky to get a new blog before the year’s up.  Well, besides this one, but this one hardly counts.  This one is just a courtesy.  This one will only take me a few minutes to type.

But, back to my blog post heading.  I’ve got work; choir, ESL ministry; a 20 page paper to write dealing with the intertexuality of Hannah’s song, David’s song in 2 Samuel 22, and Mary’s Magnificat in Luke; three exams, and at least several hundred pages to read in about a month’s time.

I’ll get back to you in due time.  I know you’re patient.  :)

help!

Okay Bible nerds.

I know there aren’t many of you who actually read my blog, because my posts are not that Biblically nerdy, but, I know there are a handful of you.

I need help in deciding which Bible software to invest in (in the next year or so).  Now that Logos has a version for Mac, I’m leaning toward them, but I hear that Accordance is also good stuff.  I will be using it mainly for the language tools.

Input invited and appreciated.  :)

vast dichotomy

I wonder a lot.  This is just another pondering, and hopefully not too controversial for the lover of peace that I am, coming up with blog ideas when I am supposed to be studying.   Oh, and this is also slightly related to Nate’s recent blog entry here.

Question to ponder…do you think that those who claim Christianity and shun the “secular” (meaning, anything not related to the church, whether it be media [films, music, books, art, etc.], culture, events, people, customs, etc.), staying inside the “sacred” bubble, are partly to blame for the increasingly “post-Christian” America?  And if so, what can be done to remedy that?

To use a not-so-great-but-sufficient illustration, say people never left a Christian bookstore, like Dightman’s, because it’s supposed to be a safe, relatively moral bubble for everyone.  They stayed because everything in the outside world is dirty and scary.  One brave soul ventures into the outside world, and is utterly shocked to find the rampant ungodliness, wondering how it became that way.  Shocked as shocked can be, she flees back to the Bubble where it is warm and safe, and warns everyone inside not to go outside, otherwise they’ll become dirty and scared (and maybe even scarred).

This may be my cynical self coming out again (slightly ), but I think about stuff nonetheless, and I don’t know that I’ve come up with a solid answer yet.

money

What’s the point of doing Dave Ramsey programs and such?

I often wonder why Christians do these type of budgeting plans, and I am afraid that riches are the goal most of the time.  I mean, being a good steward is not bad, by any means, nor is working one’s way out of debt.  But there should be room to wiggle around within the budget.  Ideally, we as Christians would save more to give more, storing treasures in heaven rather than here on planet earth.  What’s the point of strict budgeting if you don’t have room to give or share with others, especially missionaries, or those in need?

pet peeves

Okay, so, I know that “Christians” aren’t supposed to have “pet peeves”, because we’re supposedly supposed to have the patience of saints, or whatever.  BUT

I have a pet peeve of the year, if you can call it that.  And since I’ve no energy to do anything physical and not enough mental energy to do heavy thinking, I might as well do something slightly mental and write something frivolous.   Thus, I will write about my pet peeve of the year, and that is (drum roll, please!)…

Washingtonian driving (no offense to those amongst my friends who might actually drive this way)!

Let me clarify before you start laughing at me.

1) “Washingtonian driving” usually means the majority of people who grew up in WA, and learned how to drive in WA.

2)  I realize there are exceptions.

Having settled all that, let’s get cracking.  There are several pet peeves contained within this one pet peeve, and I will illustrate them for you.

Four-way stops. Yes, you all have the “stopping” part down, peoples, and even though this is coming from a Southern Californian, it’s true.  You stop.  And stay stopped, wondering, “is it my turn?  Should I go?  Okay, I’ll go.  Oh, wait, that person moved, so I’ll stop and let them go.  Okay, my turn now? Oh, wait…”  Um, you’ve heard of right-of-way?  ’Cause I use it, and I will go when it’s my turn, even though there are two of us going the same way, or one of us is going in the opposite direction (much to your bafflement).

Freeway interchanges. Just because you are changing freeways does not mean you need to slow down to 35 mph.  We’re still on a freeway, folks.

Speed limits in dry weather, because they drive as if it’s raining all the time.  Hey, did you know that the posted speed limit is not the maximum speed?  In other words, when the speed limit is 50, you can go 55, or even 50.  Please, please, do not go 40 mph.  You’re killing me!  And on freeways, it’s legit to go 65 miles per hour when the speed limit is 60 miles per hour.  Yeah!  Isn’t it liberating?

Roundabouts.  LOL.  I love roundabouts, even though I had never encountered them before I moved to Tacoma for the first time.  But the funny thing is, people think they have to stop before they enter the thing.

Four way intersections in which there are no stop signs; only “yield” signs. Are you sure you’re not confusing those “yield” signs with “stop” signs?  Maybe “California stops” would come in handy here.

Driving in snow.  Ha, ha.  I won’t even go there.

Passing. Yes, it is okay to pass, just so you know.  I will pass if I can (more often than not, however, all four lanes across the freeway are blocked by drivers all. going. the. same. rate).

Okay, those are the main parts of the pet peeve.  I know some of you can relate to my frustration in this matter, so feel free to add to the list.  ;)

To kind of balance out the silliness of this post, I will now kindly point you to a very non-silly and extremely thought-provoking post by a fellow seminary student here, on the current state of the church in America (mostly in relation to culture/missions), and what it might look like in the future (post-Christian America?).  I might even take that topic and run with it on here in the near future, if time allows.  Enjoy!

ah, yes.

the green, the grey, partly cloudy days, slow drivers, great food, wonderful music, yummy coffee, intriguing art, free spirits, lovely rain, gobs of studying, beautiful books, old friends…yeah, I’m back in the Pacific Northwest, friends!

Until I get settled into the new groove, there will not be a whole lot of blogging goin’ on.

Catch you then!

just do it

Friend, if you are waiting for God to tell you what to do with your life, chances are you’ll be waiting for a long time.  If you’re idle and waiting for God to break the silence, well…all I can say is, the book of Proverbs will convict you about that, and you are probably (obviously) missing out on many present opportunities.

I am not saying that God will never tell you what to do.  God is more creative than every single human being’s imagination put together.  He just might.  I am just saying it is not the normal thing.

If you tell me that God “called you” to this profession/occupation, I am going to ask you what you mean by that.  If you say God placed a burden on your heart, okay, fine.  God places a “burden on your heart” for many things.  But many believe in the notion that everyone has a calling, and God will tell them what it is, and how to fulfill it. (By the way, I wrote a little book review dealing with the subject of calling and vocation here, so I will try not to repeat what I wrote already.)

Um, here’s something from my closet of secrets: God hasn’t told me what to do with my life.   Am I a weirdo because I haven’t (supposedly) found my calling?  Is something wrong with me, or, dare I ask, should I even call myself a Christian?

Answers: no, no, and yes.

No doubt, there are many scriptural accounts of people being “called” by God to do great things.  What I mean by that is, God actually spoke to them with a real live voice, be it in a dream, or in a vision, or, just in a conversation.  What I then ask is, what about all the people who were contemporaries of those aforementioned, but not mentioned in the Bible?  They seem to be greater in number than those to whom God gave special revelation/s.  Surely there are many godly people not mentioned, and we will never know if God spoke to them in a dramatic way, or even in a not-so-dramatic way.  The tendency is to zero in on those portrayed in scripture and say, “Oh, look!  God told Abraham where to go.  He totally floored Paul when He spoke to him on the road to Damascus, and also guided him through dreams and visions!  And look at Jeremiah; God told him his occupation [not a very glamorous one, I dare say]!  That means God will speak to me through rainbows and tell me what to do, because it’s normal!”

Newsflash:  that is not the norm.  Chances are very good that you’ll never be an Abraham, Paul, Jeremiah, or [throw in someone to whom God spoke in the Bible].

So, my advice to you if you are trying to decide which way to go and what to do: carefully weigh your options with prayer and wise counsel, read Proverbs, and DO IT if wisdom says “yes.”  God may or may not speak to you, but He is sure to place you where He sees fit, for your good, and for His glory.  Just don’t sit around.

i got nothing

Nothing really new or novel, that is.  Sorry to disappoint you, friends.

I’ve been housesitting this week, so it’s just me with two dogs and two birds.  I talk to them, because there is no one else with whom to carry on conversations, even though I’m doing all the talking. 

And then it dawned on me – I do not think I am the loner I sometimes claim to be.  I might be okay with being a loner for one or two days, but after that, it’s not good.  I crave interaction, even though I’m predominantly an introvert (which means I must work at expressing myself verbally), and I watch television so I can hear other voices.  And after a couple more days of not interacting with anyone else, I easily fall into a hermit style of living, which keeps me inside the house (and reluctant to be social).  I could fall, dead, on the floor, and no one would notice, except for the dogs.  Sad.

I think what Jack on LOST said is true; if we don’t live together, we’ll die alone.

on metaphors

I have a thing for metaphors.

After I had quite the nerdy discussion with someone about similes versus metaphors, I got to thinking about why I like metaphors so much (yes, RB, those include similes ).

Here’s what I came up with.

1) We use them everyday, and don’t even realize it.

2) Because the imagery provoked by the metaphor communicates much better than just a sentence with adjectives, a sentence interpreted according to literal definitions and syntax, and I’m a visual person. (You could say that all words have their connotations and thus provoke a certain imagery, but I’m speaking of pictures.  You know what I mean…a picture paints a thousand words, right?)  This is the main reason I use metaphors in poetry so often.

3) They make me think, and if you know me well, you know I like to think.  A lot.

The problem with metaphors, though, especially with many literary pieces (and this is why I scored higher in the math section of the CBEST than on the reading section…stupid multiple possible interpretations!), is that they sometimes contain so many different possible interpretations, one could spend years debating.  But guess what?  Most likely (meaning, there are exceptions), you will never know the real meaning and intent of the metaphor unless you are the author of said metaphor.

So, the very thing I love about metaphors is the very thing that sometimes annoys the crap out of me.  What gives?

quote of the week

“Guys can communicate by sounds.

“Girls are so sophisticated they have to use words.”

[courtesy of the musical genius, Danny-boy.]

I got news for you, bro.  Words have sounds.

Also, thanks for pointing out that women are smarter.  Haha.