YABB

(Yet Another Blogging Break)

Lots of stuff happening at work (another person left, meaning more work dumped in my lap), and also working on an editing project at home (nights/weekends).

It's not all bad, though...when I do have some free time (!), I'm trying to read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, before it's due back at the library. It's only 1,400 pages or so...

Perspectives

In India, it's already Independence Day, as the country celebrates 61 years of freedom. It's a day of mixed emotions, as many remember the violence that followed as the country was sliced into three pieces: India, (West) Pakistan, and East Pakistan. A quarter century later, India helped East Pakistan gain independence as the country of Bangladesh. I still remember the air-raid sirens and citywide blackouts during the war.

In another part of the globe, a struggle for independence is raging. It's interesting that most of the Western media see Russia as the "bad guy" in this conflict. To the people of South Ossetia, the Russians are heroes, to whom they owe their lives. I don't pretend to understand all the intricate details of the conflict, but a Russian coworker confirmed that the story is portrayed very differently in that part of the world. It all depends on perspective.

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be an immediate end to the conflict in sight. Like so many territorial disputes (India/Pakistan, Israel/Palestine) the coals of the fire are being fanned at the moment between Georgia and South Ossetia, but the embers will continue to smolder even if South Ossetian independence is realized.

Musical Monday: Sing praise

I've noticed that God seems to be closer at times in my life when things aren't going so well. It's easier to pray for intentions or intercessions, rather than just pray. We cry out to God in a variety of ways, and there's usually enough pain in our lives and those of others close to us that crying out signifies hardship or sorrow.

Then there are times, for no particular reason, that I want to cry out in praise, in amazement at his creation, and the blessings he's bestowed on us. Here's Michael W Smith doing a much better job of it than I could:



Edit: Molly at adventures in mercy is saying much the same thing today, but in a much more profound and meaningful way.

Mark your calendar

The first major joint public appearance by McCain and Obama will be hosted by...

...Rick Warren. There will be a live webcast on August 16 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. This should be an interesting discussion, to say the least.

Hat tip to Phil Haslanger for news of the event, and also for an interesting commentary titled Evangelicals Outside the Box.

15 Years

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary, so this song is for D:

Life on Mars

No, not the David Bowie song :) That takes me back, though, to a story about another celestial body. I still remember this passage:

"Stubbins, look!—A tree! You see that, way over there at the foot of the mountain? I'll swear it's a tree. And if it is, we're all right. It means water, Stubbins, Water! And we can manage to exist here.—Water and Life!"

from Doctor Doolittle's Garden, by Hugh Lofting

Ever since Phoenix landed on Mars (May 25, 2008), the issue of finding evidence of water has been shuttling back and forth. So far, the thinking is that (liquid) water may have existed on Mars at some time in the past, but probably not on the surface. Today, a press conference announced the results of research that's still in progress, and the results are...inconclusive.

The mission deliberately landed in the polar region where it was thought that vast deposits of ice existed. Conventional logic and biochemistry dictate that where there is ice, there may have once been liquid water, and where there is liquid water, there is a possibility of life. Dr. Doolittle had that in reverse, and on the moon, but the idea still holds.

Why are we fascinated by the possibility of life (even microbial life) on another planet? I know I was, from a very early age, but I've always been convinced that God created the Universe such that life would not be confined to an insignificant planet in a nondescript solar system in the outer arms of a conventional spiral galaxy.

For some people, finding evidence of such life is unacceptable, for it destroys their Christian worldview. For me, it would only serve to confirm the power and majesty of the Creator. Some day, I believe we'll have the answer. But not today.