Mixed emotions

Today is a day for giving thanks, for appreciating how much God has blessed us. Over the past 12 months, we have indeed been blessed in many ways.

My thoughts and prayers, however, are in another part of the world: one that is far away but very close. I feel anger, sadness, and I'm struggling with the usual questions. After I read a fellow blogger's post, I was reminded how God calls us, even through dark times:

At the moment I am more angry than anything else at the loss of life and damage to buildings that are familiar and dear to me.

When I step back and think about it, at the reports of daily violence from every corner of the globe, it seems to me that the world is becoming a dark place indeed. My message to myself is simple - the darker it gets, the more candles I will light.

There is much meaningful good I can do and much help I can bring to people in need. Perhaps it will balance out the evil. That sounds very corny, but I believe it is the only way. How else can you and I change the world?

Thanks, Deepa, for the reminder.

Musical Monday: Drought

At a recent small group discussion, we discovered a common bond: all (three) of us felt a growing distance from God over the past few months. Yet, as the leader said, "I know the distance has increased. The thing is, God hasn't moved."

In my case, the gulf has widened largely due to various life- and work-related changes that seemed to all run together for a while. One of the casualties of this was my regular Bible reading.

It may sound odd for a nonliteralist like myself to place such importance on regular Bible reading. More often than not, when I read the Bible, I find myself taking issue with what is written, or delving into the history of how it was written. Yet it's more than just a discipline; I found that it helped strengthen my often-tenuous connection with the One who inspired the words. Too often, after being pressed for time, I decided to leave it for the last thing in my day. Well, guess what happened then?

So now, I've found a new way to get back into the discipline (and, hopefully, to strengthen the connection once again). I use an electronic Bible on my iPhone, and read during my lunch break at work. So far, it's been working. Baby steps...

...and speaking of baby steps, here is one of my favorite songs. I realize I've posted this once before, but I never grow tired of it.




Like Keith Green, Rich Mullins' time on this earth was too short. Maybe God needed another talented musician in heaven. But Rich was about more than the music, and he left a powerful legacy. Here's an excerpt from one of his concerts that's worth watching (approximately 9 minutes):

Birthday gift

D and I don't make a big deal about birthdays anymore. Mine was yesterday...an uneventful day, except for the birthday presents:

a wheelbarrow (with about 500 parts that had to be assembled)...

and 8 cubic yards of topsoil in the driveway.

It's a long story.

Musical Monday: In remembrance

For tomorrow: some messages are best conveyed by closing your eyes and letting the music wash over you. Or, in this case, by a blank screen. The battles change, but humanity remains the same.

Which Simpsons character are you?

I guess you never know yourself as well as an online quiz does!


I'm Krusty, who are you? by NoHomers.net

A new era?

I went into work today feeling better about this country than I have felt in the last 8 years. I discovered I was not alone.

There's a lot to be done, and once the euphoria wears off, President-elect Obama will have to deal with the mess that he inherits. As a BBC News report says,

"Mr Obama has made history by winning power. As he attempts to make history in the way he exercises it, he will be weighed down by high expectations. He is going to need all the many gifts--and all the luck --that got him here."

And, I might add, a few prayers.

There is, as expected, a lot of bickering online from both sides of the fence. However, it's heartening to note that a few people can rise above partisanship when it comes to expressing their opinions. Here's a comment posted in one of the local newspaper forums:

Congratulations to our new President elect -- while I did not vote for you - I hope for the best. I trust in you to reach out to the many who did not vote for you like myself and work for changes that we can all unite behind -- it can be done. There is ample opportunity to reform government and bring efficiencies forward that will allow you to help those who need help the most and with a goal to make as many as possible self sufficient and independent and at the same time bring it within a balanced budget and allow us to reduce its size relative to the rest of the economy which hopefully will remain a free market and private sector driven economy. We can strengthen and not limit personal freedoms and liberties (i.e. please don't try and impose the 'Fairness Doctrine' upon our airwaves and other free speech media). We can and must remain a strong nation -- ready to defend our freedoms and democracy and be willing to extend our strengths and offer protection when necessary to others who seek the same freedoms and liberty and protect the weak from those that would seek to enslave and take those freedoms away.

I know........sounds a bit too optimistic....but then that's just me........Once again, congratulations Mr. Obama -- my new President elect - may you govern wisely.

With more opponents like that, I believe change can indeed come to Washington.

Edit: What, no music?

This song inspired me when I came here 22 years ago. Today, once again, I feel like singing.

Recap

Last week was filled with activity both at home at around the world, and I didn't get much time for blogging. In the style of the ubiquitous "word clouds," here's a quick recap:

back to work eye exam new snowblower Halloween potato chips infomercials earthquake in Pakistan terrorist bombs in Assam children's church World Series ends editing project time change small groups seven-course dog meals happy dog fighting cancer praying for healing