Always anew

A year ago I was headed overseas.  Now, I'm a married man with two kids. 

Less than a year ago I met a wonderful girl, now she is my wife.

A year ago I was thinking about what it would be like to single for my entire life.  Now I'm a family man.

Who can know the future, not me!  I can't see a year in the future.  But I'm glad I am here.

Speaking the same language

I was recently flying from Germany to the US.  As we neared America, the flight attendant came over the speaker to talk about customs forms.  She began with "Just some.information about your plane crash in America." I think something was lost in the translation.

Life is tough and then you die

In high school, I had a teacher who always told us that "life is tough and then you die" to express her of concern when we questioned the fairness of something. Her point was that bad things will happen to you so get over it.

Her philosophy is similar to that of those who say "it is what it is." And also those who express it in a more colorful manner that "crap" happens.

Sometimes it is not a bad philosophy. It is a great starting point for accepting the situation you currently find yourself in. But do not let that mean you have to accept that had to be in the position in the first place. To do so makes you a passive actor in your own life.

Do not accept that you have to be placed in a bad position because of others. Hold them accountable for their actions.

Do not accept that certain things will happen no matter what, stand up against it. Push for what the right thing is.

In order for the right thing to happen, someone must do it. That might just be you.

It is what it is, so find out what it should be and make what it is what it is suppose to be.

To tell the truth

I was posed an interesting question today, if you should always be confident, how do you know when to make something up on the fly and saying it in a believable manner verses saying I don't know.

I saw this question played out soon after, a guy was asked a question which he didn't know the answer to. He made up an answer and said it confidently.  Someone retorted, "yeah? How do you know?"  He didn't have an answer and was found out. 

I've had times in my own life when I didn't know and made something believable up.  Sometimes I got away with it, but it seems that I usually got caught.  Maybe those are just the ones I remember.  Usually some research could result in an answer, but I chose another way.

Maybe the answer is to just know all you can, then it isn't an issue, right?  If only that easy!

I can't possible know everything, but I can anticipate what I might need to know and focus on those topics.

Perhaps that is the answer, learn all you can, guess on what you need to know.

Follow the Leader

I'm reading a book by Steven Covey called Principle-centered Leadership. A most excellent book with lot of great ideas and thoughts on how to be a leader and how to get people to follow you. But how does one follow? Few people are leaders in business without a leader themselves. How do you follow that leader? What if the leader does not follow proper leadership techniques? Are you allowed to not perform to your best if the leader doesn't perform in a way that encourages and draws others to work at a higher level? Does knowing that you are capable of performing at a higher level mean that you are required to perform at that higher level, even if hampered by your leader? How do you follow? That would make an interesting book.

Responsibility

What am I responsible for? I have a job description that says I am suppose to do my job. Sometimes I notice that others who do not work for me but work with me may not be doing their job correctly. Do I have a responsibility to correct it? If I notice it after they started doing it wrong, am I responsible to tell them? Am I responsible for not telling them earlier? If I notice something, it is right for me to tell them, but it might not be my responsibility. If it is right to do something, am I responsible to do it? This is why I can't sleep at night.

Mind your thoughts

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Our mind is very powerful. It controls our body. The thoughts that we have control our actions. If we let our mind focus or allow certain thoughts to stay in our mind, that is who we will become. When we allow ourselves to focus on things that are not of God, we will soon find that our actions, our being, will reflect that. If we allow ourselves to focus on things that are of God, we will soon find that our actions, our being, will reflect that. Focus on the world and we will remain of the world. Focus on God and we will become one of His children.

Listen to the radio

Drew Kennedy has a song called AM Radio. Anyone who has been driving late at night, spinning on the radio for some music, only to find that the one good station you find faded to static 5 minutes later will appreciate it. In the chorus he says “say a prayer to save me from static, thank God for AM radio.”

In college, I would often drive from College Station back home to Corpus Christi. Just south of the halfway point along the drive was Victoria. In Victoria was arguably the greatest radio station, certainly that I've ever heard, 98.7 KTXN, Steve Coffman's Texas Mix. He called it the 100,000 Watt blow torch broadcasting Texas music up and down the coast. In high school this station came on the air wave and I was lucky enough to have spun across it on the dial. I found that late at night or early in the morning I could tune in this station in Corpus. I also found oddly enough that as I went south on Padre Island that the station came in clearer. Around Big Shell the station came in as if I was in Victoria. One day my Senior year of high school I over heard my English teacher talking to another teacher about a radio station he found that would only come in late at night or early in the morning, but was really good. He was speaking about Texas Mix. Old and young alike would shift their sleep schedule to listen.

On the drive between Corpus Christi and College Station I would look forward to listening to the Texas Mix. I would begin trying to tune in as soon as I crossed the Harbor Bridge out of Corpus and usually could get the station by Refugio. I would spend the next several hours listening until I reached the dot on a roadmap of Swiss Alps, just north of Schulenburg. It was at this point I would lose the station. Jut as I crested a hill by some antennas I would lose the station. My joy of listening to great music would turn to fists shaken in anger a I would spin the dial, trying to find a descent radio station to listen to, only to be met with static.

Run away!

Dr. Tim Walker, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, once said in his sermon that he found that when he talked to people at previous congregations that they never remembered what the subjects of his sermon's were, but they always remembered his stories.

In one of his sermons, the subject escapes me, he told a story a football coach and how to make decisions. The coach said that when faced with a 3rd or 4th and short situation that he found the best way to call the play was to turn around and get a drink of water and not look at his quarterback. This way the quarterback would be forced to decide the play on his own and the coach escaped having to make the call.

I find that when a tricky decision is needed to be made immediately or a task is about to be handed out that I don't want to undertake that it is a great time to take a coffee break.

Our Kind Shall Not Pass This Way Again

Lawrence Millman wrote a book called Our Like Will Not Be There Again. The book is about rural Ireland, but I have always liked the title and associated myself with it, especially in the outdoor setting, though I usually get the title wrong and call it Our Kind Shall Not Pass This Way Again.

I worked two summers at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. I was a Ranger, preparing scouts for their trek, teaching them wilderness survival skills, camping techniques, and going with them on the trail for the first few days. Philmont had been a scout ranch since 1938 and I enjoyed looking at the old photos of scouts, hiking in their uniform, though they were usually posed.

Perhaps easily impressed by their sharp appearance, I acquired a 1960's scout uniform and began wearing it on the trail. I would only hike with an external frame, usually opting to not use the waist strap, trying to mimic the ruck sacks the scouts use to use. I would often read about life at Philmont in the early days and would often times go hiking to explore some of the earlier camps.

Wearing 1960's Scout uniform and an external backpack while working on orienteering with a crew. Note bedroll instead of a sleeping bag and lack of use of chest strap.


Posing with black bear in 1960's Scout uniform

On one of these expeditions, I went to a place called Stony Point. Stony Point had been a day camp, a hiking destination for the scouts, back when Philmont was called Philturn. The only thing remaining of Stony Point is some old firepits and tin cans. While exploring the area, a Rocky Mountain Big Horn walked out. These were known to be in the area as the state of New Mexico had released some in the Wheeler Peak area just west of the ranch,. According to the Camp Director however, this was only the second sighting of one on the ranch he knew of. The big horn ewe came out, saw me, walked a half circle around me, and settled on a spot about 10 yards away, drinking water from the rocks. I sat there with the big horn for 15 to 20 minutes before I spoke to it, half expecting it to speak back to me with some message from these scouts of old. The ewe just looked at me, so I got up, walked a half circle around her, then departed from Stony Point, following the path of an old Jeep trail, back to the modern era.

The area was also home to several towns that were centered on mining or lumber. One of these towns, Ponil Park, exists today only as a ghost town. There are a few foundations left, the bed of the old railroad, and the graveyard. I often times visited the graveyard, studying the stones, taking pictures, and thinking about the people who lived there. Another graveyard existed in a canyon appropriately named Graveyard Canyon. I visited this graveyard, photographing it and mapping it. I once took a group of scouts to another other graveyard in the Valle Vidal near Seally Canyon that existed, though I know not what the place was called. After doing so I felt as if I had disgraced the site and verbally apologized to those who remains laid there, as if they needed it or could hear it.


Railroad bed in the North Ponil Canyon


Gravestones in Ponil Park

The land was also home to the Anasazi. There was a cave that was well rumored to exist in a box canyon that contained several artifacts from the Anasazi. I set out on an expidition to find the cave, taking information with me from those who claimed to have been there before. The expedition failed, I never found the cave, but did feel as if I was closer to these people who once called the land home.


Anasazi Petroglyphs

Wearing these clothes, choosing to not utilize the gear that modern technology offered us, and hiking in their footprints, I felt connected to a group of scouts I had never met or even seen. Perhaps connected to the people who lived on the land before the UU Bar ranch was created. Perhaps to the people who lived here before the Europeans arrived. Knowing few would tred in these footsteps again, I felt like I was the last of a people passing, as if our kind would never pass this way again. I felt I was a member of a group of people, as if only time separated me from them, as if I was born too late.


Grassy Creek in the Valle Vidal


Little Costilla


View from Mountain Lion Canyon Meadow

Our kind will not pass this way again, or perhaps our dreams will not create this reality again.

What is sin?

What is a sin? The question came up with the classic question, if you were harboring Jews and the Nazis came to your door, would you lie? We both agreed that lying in this case would be justified, but for different reasons. His justification was that while the person was sinning as the Ten Commandments say thou shall not lie, they would be able to repent in the future. So by sinning, lives would be saved and the person could repent for their sin. I argued that the person did not sin in lying. My justification for this is that while the Ten Commandments do say to not sin, Jesus reminds us of what the goal of the Law was, to love God and to love your neighbor. Jesus broke several commandments, for which he was called out on. He justified himself, in one instance saying "is it better to do good or evil?" Perhaps by not lying I could feel that I had not sinned, but I did evil by allowing innocent lives to be taken. But if I lied, I would be doing good by protecting the innocent lives.

So what if a person was on trial, and I knew that this person was evil, that if they were not in jail that they would harm people, and that they were on trial for something that they were innocent of. Would I be justified in bearing false witness to make sure this evil person did not do harm? I would be saving innocent lives, but I would not be justified.

Micah 6:8 tells us that we are to love justice, give mercy, and walk humbly with God. To lie in this situation would not be loving justice. This does make an assumption that our justice system is just, we will operate under that assumption. To intentionally lie in this case would be against justice. While this person would get what was coming to them, we would not be justified because we went against justice. We should instead stand up for this person who was falsely accused, for then we would be supporting justice. But in doing so, we would have to find a way to protect the innocent lives we know are at risk.

To lie in the first case is justified because the government was unjust. To lie in the second case is not justified because the government is just. I think. We must ensure that we love justice, give mercy, and walk humbly with God for this is what he desires.

So given this, how was Rebekkah justified in telling Jacob to lie to Isaac that he was Esau?

Who do we follow?

My freshman year of college I had a professor who recommended that we read biographies. I'm sure he even had us read one, though I don't recall what it was. He said we should read biographies because people before made mistakes and we might as well learn from them instead of repeating them.

Based on his recommendation, I read the biography of Ben Franklin and Nelson Mandela. Learning from the mistakes of others made sense, and I saw the principle applied in my work. In teaching, I would seek out the research of others, those who had tried things in the classroom, in order to see what techniques worked and what did not. In the military, I often read the reports of others to gain ideas about what to put in future reports or recommendations to make about operations. Little work is of my own, perhaps the processing part, but the ideas come from others.

In life, when faced with a new problem, it is easy to find someone else who has gone through the same thing and seek their advice. But what happens when you go through something and can't find that person? What if you were doing something you knew many others had done before you, but you didn't know any of them and no one else you knew knew them. What if you had to do something and had no idea what was about to happen?

Perhaps in the future someone else will follow this same path and I can lend them my map, the path that I took to arrive at where I am now. It won't be perfect, I made mistakes. So did those before me. I tried to avoid their same mistakes. If you are coming behind me, heed my stumbles, find another way around. Perhaps we are meant to go alone sometimes.

At least we're all OK

One morning at Sunday school at a United Methodist church, a lady talked about how a local Methodist school was having to reduce its services because their donations had decreased with the recession. The class all agreed that it was a shame this was happening. One member commented that it was a shame that people wanted us to send our money overseas when we had such a great need at home. Most agreed. The church was about to start an $8 million construction project to build a new sanctuary, a local Methodist school reduced its services due to lack of funding.

Love and sorrow in Pensacola

I was in Pensacola, Florida for the night last night. The highlight of my visit was getting to go to Whataburger for breakfast. Living in a state that doesn't have Whataburger, it is a big deal to get to go to one when the opportunity arises. That opportunity was this morning.

I had a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit for breakfast. I cried tears of joys.

I read the ketchup package that said "MFG for Whataburger San Antonio, Texas." I cried tears of sorrow.

My love of Whataburger was slightly tarnished when they left Corpus Christi and moved the headquarters to San Antonio. But the shine returned as I bit into the HBCB, with honey butter dripping off my chin and oozing off my fingers. Oh the goodness of Whataburger.

Momentous Moments

I missed two momentous moments in my life the other day. One, my truck turned 90,000 miles. Two, I turned 10,000 days. How could I have missed such important milestones?

Time Machine

The Internet Archive has a program called the Wayback Machine. Using the Wayback Machine, you can view how websites looked in the past when the machine cataloged the pages. I find the news websites to be the most interesting, to see what the headlines were on a specific day, especially since I know how the story turns out.

Today I was looking for a file on my computer when I came across an old profile that was setup on my computer when I first got it. When I first got my computer, it had Windows XP home addition. I had bought Windows XP Professional for the computer I had prior to this one so I thought I would just upgrade it. It seemed like an easy process until I executed it. I put the CD in the computer and said "upgrade." The computer said that since the version already installed was newer than the "upgrade" it would have to erase the OS and reinstall the new one. I said, sure! What's the worst that can happen?

Well, the worst that could happen was the OS was deleted and all my drivers were gone for my computer. The computer didn't come with restore CD's, instead it recommended using Windows Restore. Well, that doesn't work well when you erased the OS! Dell offered to fix the problem for a subscription fee of around $100 and Microsoft left me on hold for over an hour. I almost gave up hope until a friend recommended the Help Desk at school.

They did it! Not only did they diagnosis the problem in minutes, they even offered to download all the needed drivers from the internet and burn them onto a CD for me, all for free!

I thought I had lost everything, that my files were lost forever. Little did I know that lurking on my computer was that profile from the first few months of my laptop.

One of the files I found was a drawing a friend of mine made of his girlfriend. He had met a girl and started dating her and since I was out of the state for the summer I asked him to send a picture. Not having any pictures, he made a drawing. Spitting image!

Let us not forsake one great commandment for another

When the lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”he responded with two commandments, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. He then says that upon these two commandments hang all the laws and prophets. Clearly these are fundamental in determining how we should behave as Christians.

Before Christ ascended into the heavens, he told the Disciples go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that he commanded them.

I have several friends who are currently in the mission field. Now, granted all Christians are “in the mission field,” but when I say they are in the mission field, I mean that they are out acting with the sole intention of spreading the word of God. Now this should be a goal of all Christians, but many of us do this in conjunction with our daily jobs or lives. We wouldn’t call our jobs mission work, it is just something we do in life where we have the opportunity to spread the Word. For many this is in subtle ways, such as lifestyles or actions, though the occasional opportunity arises where one can have a talk with someone else about the Gospel. But for missionaries, they are “doing God’s work” so to speak.

When many people think of or talk about missionaries in the mission field it seems that there are two types. One group is made up of people who are like preachers whose job is only to convert people to Jesus. The other group is made up of people who do medical work or construction work, who do good things for people but never actually speak the word.

My friends who are missionaries have shown me through their lives that while the avenues of spreading the Gospel may be different, both commandments can be fulfilled. One may use the love of neighbor as a way of expressing the love of God to someone or to create the opportunity to spread the Gospel. The other uses the Gospel as a way of getting close to someone to love them as themselves.

In our daily lives one should not forsake one commandment for the other. Love of God and love of neighbor are both commandments that we are to live by. They are not exclusive of each other, but must both be done. We love others because God first loved us. If we love God but not our neighbor, we accomplish nothing. If we love others but do not share the love of God, we are doing it for our own glory.

Shaver in the Court

In a news story that is only fitting for a country song, Billy Joe Shaver was acquitted in a Waco court today after testifying that he shot a man in the face outside a bar while acting in self defense. Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall went to support their friend. His attorney was the same attorney that represented David Koresh.

Steven Krytak tweeted from the courtroom and provides a very interesting take. You can read his tweets on his twitter. It includes great tidbits like "He may be a honky tonk hero and he may have written a lot of wonderful songs... but on that day, he was a honky tonk bully," Toben said or Toben asked if Shaver was jealous Wanda was talking to Coker. "I get more women than a passenger train can haul, I’m not jealous," Shaver said and Prosecutor Beth Toben is questioning Shaver. Asked him if he had broken his neck in a barroom brawl. Shaver said it was a friendly thing.

Here is Billy Joe Shaver and his son Eddy.

Breaking Free

The church I currently attend is named after the founder of the religion, John Wesley. However, my church has seemed to decided that we will no longer follow the methodical practices that Wesley taught in the Methodist Societies, though we will keep the name Wesley.

What Wonderous Love is This

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

How to impress people

A few years ago, I was put in charge of a committee to determine the new mission statement for the school I was a teacher at. The first thing I did was read a text book from college that had a chapter dedicated to writing school mission statements. In the chapter it recommended using the phrase "prepare students to be ethical global citizens." The main justification for using the phrase was that administrators would be impressed with it. I included the statement with my proposal to the group and was able to preserve it until the draft was presented to the principal. The principal wrote back to the group that she liked the proposal, but really really liked the line "become ethical global citizens." When the proposal was sent out to the entire school faculty, the biggest response was to remove the line about global citizens as it didn't make much sense. The book was correct, the administrators were impressed, however it failed to mention that the statement was worthless.

There are lots of ways to impress people without actually having to be productive. I'll share a few of these.

First, when you give a presentation, use a pie chart. Your presentation doesn't need to require the pie chart, but including it will impress people. A friend of mine was giving a presentation and gave me a rough draft. I recommended that he add a pie chart. He said he didn't need it, which I agreed with. However, he conceded when I told him that people would like it. He added a pie chart that was quite meaningless and added nothing to the presentation. When he gave the presentation the feedback included the statement "great pie chart."

Second, make spreadsheets. People are impressed with Excel. Spreadsheets can be intimidating and therefore demand respect, so when you are able to use Excel, you are clearly one who must be listened to. It is highly recommended that when you prepare the spreadsheet that you do not organize the working portion of the spreadsheet. Leave that part messy and confusing. It adds to the intimidating aspect of spreadsheets. But make a highly organized, really neat box at the bottom with the results. They will also be impressed if you can insert inputs into the spreadsheet and have all the numbers change at once. It makes for a great show. If you find that the spreadsheet is not very necessary, add color to it. Everyone loves color. I created a pretty simple spreadsheet once that calculated how many teachers were needed to teach a subject based on the number of students taking the course. I could have just used a piece of paper to divide the number of students taking the class by the number of students allowed per teacher by the state, but instead I made a complex looking spreadsheet with an input and output box with some colored arrows decorating the blank spaces. The department head was so impressed with the Excel sheet that he recommended that I take over his position.

Finally, add Macros to your Excel and Word documents. The Macros needn't be necessary, they will be highly impressive for the very fact that they are Macros. If you don't know how to write Macros, find a document that already contains the desired Macro and cut and paste it. That is already more than most people can do, so you will be able to impress people despite your inability to create Macros. I once made a cover sheet that included a Macro that would determine the length of the underscored line in the "From:" line based on the length of the originator's name. This could have been done by using ctrl+u, but I used a Macro that I copied and pasted from another document I found. My boss was so impressed with the Macro on the cover sheet that she mandated that everyone had to use my cover sheet.

Utilizing these three easy methods will insure that you impress people without having to do anything productive.

Questions to Ponder

This past week I met with a pastor. He asked me questions that no pastor had ever asked me before, yet are questions that my pastor should ask me.

Where are you in your walk with God?

What do you struggle with?

What can the church do for you?

Perhaps another question might be, why hasn't your pastor asked you these before?

Listening to Classic Literature

A few years ago I first heard this song Odysseus by Brian Keane.



Now I have never read read Homer's Odyssey, but thanks to Brian I am familiar with the story. Listening to this song might be as good as reading the Cliff notes on the book. The moral of the story is the same whether you read the book or listen to the song, Homer's Odyssey is jacked up.

Letters in the Mail

Bill Carlisle and Bobby Gregory wrote a famous song called No Letter in the Mail. Here it is performed by some Canucks, the Spinney Brothers.



I got a letter in the mail today. It was a very nice letter, a length correspondence from a friend of mine. This is the first personal correspondence I have received in the mail in a month. Now, I probably have received personal correspondences in the mail at a greater frequency in the past, but certainly never more than once every two weeks. Two summers I worked in a place that did not have regular internet access and I didn't have regular access to mail. There, I received hand delivered personal correspondence on almost a daily basis.

What is it about a physical letter that is so special? I receive personal correspondences in emails on almost a daily basis. I enjoy them and get excited when I see I have an email waiting for me from certain people, but not like when I get a letter in the mail. Emails may stay in my email inbox for a few days, possibly even months, but will soon be deleted. Currently in my inbox, the oldest personal correspondence is only 6 months old and will probably be deleted soon. But of letters that have been mailed to me, I have some dating back to 2003 and have no desire to ever throw them away. Why are they different?

The internet is great, it connects me to people, information, and allows me to do things that in the past would have required more time. Some of the people I am connected to are friends who are separated by distance, one of which is 6600 miles away and that is going over the pole. Even though we might talk about the exact same thing in an email, I value the physical letter that I get in my mailbox. The email will be read, probably several times, but soon deleted. The letter will be read multiple times, then placed in a box where I will every so often retrieve it and reread. Why the difference? Could it be that though the internet keeps me connected to those who I can not be physically with, I still value physical proximity? Could it be the physical letter brings me closer to the person than a virtual email could do? Could I just be old fashioned?

When all else fails, think!

I just finished reading a book called Aircraft Down! Evading Capture in WWII Europe by General Philip Caine. The book is a collection of 6 true stories of Allied pilots and aircrew that went down in occupied Europe or Italy and evaded capture and made it back to friendly forces. It does a great job depicting the loneliness they felt, their heart-felt thankfulness to the Europeans who risked everything to aid them, and describing their journey from the beginning of their final flight to their ultimate return home.

In the final chapter of the book, General Caine writes about what made the evaders successful. The success comes down to a few common traits, to will to survive, trust, patience, ability to adjust, confidence, perseverance, positive attitude, good judgment, and thinking. His assessment is very similar to the assessment in the National Geographic Adventure article, Terrorists at the Tea Party. The ability to think and control one's mind and body is vital in emergency situations.

I like to think that I have many of these characteristics, but it is hard to know until one is tested by fire. If anything, I at least acknowledge the need to have these skills and characteristics. Now I just have to wait until all else fails and see if I can think.

Thinking without knowledge

I found these statistics from England interesting.

33% of school children think their teacher is an alien
75% of school children think aliens exist
72% of school children think aliens are friendly
< 10% of school children can name all 8 planets in the solar system

They are thinking, but do they have knowledge?

Looking in the mirror

When I was younger, I use to think that people in their mid to upper 20's looked uglier than they did in their teens and 30's. Looking in the mirror at myself, I still agree with my assessment.

A Song to get Dressed to: This Week's Song of the Week

It is once again Friday and time for our somewhat weekly Song of the Week. How could this week's not be General Larry Platt's original song, Pants on the Ground?




USA Today has a great article on the General, General Larry Platt: A Closer Look. The General is a civil rights worker with quite a storied past. September 4, 2001 was even Larry Platt Day in Atlanta to honor his work.

A great song and certainly an even greater man.

It's OK to Think

Todd Snider has a song called Keep of the Grass. The song is about a world full of rules. You can read all of the lyrics here.




We have a lot of rules in life. Anytime something goes wrong, it is almost a guarantee that a new rule or law will be made to correct what happened. Is our problem a lack of rules?

In New York City, they have rules on what can be used in food. Now granted some rules should probably be used,The Jungle showed us that. But New York's rules go further than just not allowing people to be ground up and sold as lard. Restaurants in the city cannot use trans fats. They are currently looking at reducing the amount of salt that can be in food. Now, yes these things may be unhealthy, but do we really require a rule to be healthy?

With all these rules, we are missing two very important ones. The first rule, law, or instruction should be "Think." It is very easy for people to get by without thinking. After all, when something goes wrong, we just make a new rule. There wouldn't be a need for a new rule every time if people think. The second rule should be "Do what needs to be done." This would require the person to do for themselves what needs to be done and to do for others what needs to be done. If one thinks and acts, the rules become unnecessary. With these extraneous rules, it removes and even impedes thinking as the person is not required and sometimes even punishes the person who thinks because they act outside of the rules. Things would still go wrong. This would be OK though, as long as the person thinks. As with any rules though, they must have some sort of enforcement. The enforcement would be simple, "A person will be responsible for what happens because of their actions."

It should be OK to think, however, it seems that we would rather just have rules and laws.

You'll fly the way we want you to fly

I enjoy adventures and this week was full of adventures in the skies.

I took a plane trip from Georgia to Texas, including a leg of flying between Hartsfield-Jackson and DFW. The day I flew to Texas, there was a bad weather system over Dallas. The storm dumped snow, created ice on the roads and runways, and had heavy winds. As a result, the airport was reduced to one runway and we were delayed 4 hours leaving ATL. Once in the air, we proceeded to DFW. Upon arriving in the airspace, we were informed that the airport had closed its last runway and we were put in a holding pattern making left turns out east of Dallas. After an hour, the captain informed us that we were out of fuel and were being diverted to Houston Intercontinental to take on more fuel. We landed in Houston, took on fuel, and were told that DFW had reopened one runway. We flew to DFW and landed, 8 hours late. Since it was so late, my rental car company was closed and I had to find another rental. I left DFW about 9 hours later than planned.

I returned to Georgia today. Leaving DFW this morning was delayed by about 45 minutes because a part was broken. They ended up swapping out our plane. We made it to ATL and the captain came over and said he would appreciate it if those who did not have to make an immediate connecting flight remained in their seats and let those of us who did go. I had 45 minutes to make my flight, so I stood. I remained standing for 15 minutes on the plane. The jetway broke and they had to bring in an electrician to fix it so we could deboard. Now with 30 minutes to make it, and 4 terminals to go, I hot footed it to my connecting flight, making it after the entire plane was loaded. I got to the gate and couldn't find an agent, so I walked down the jetway to find one. I found one, but she was not happy to see me. I was chastised for walking down the jetway. Returning to the counter, I gave her my ticket and she then admonished me for being late. Finding that my explanation that I was looking for an agent and I was late because of multiple mechanical failures involving my last flight was not satisfactory for her, I promised to not do such things in the future and boarded the plane, just as they locked the door.

I love adventures!

I Don't Understand You

I have a hard time understanding people. I do not do well when I try to anticipate what someone will do or try to find the hidden meaning in what they say or do. I have tried to get better at this and to spend time analyzing their actions and to be able to anticipate their next action or to determine how they feel about something or to perhaps even read their mind. What I end up with instead are guesses that are based on preconceived notions that have a very low probability of being right. I do not understand why you do what you do and I will not be able to know what you will do next.

The Pensacola Lighthouse

The Pensacola Lighthouse sits on the grounds of NAS Pensacola, shining its light as a beacon to mariners entering the Pensacola Bay.



I have seen the lighthouse everyday while in Pensacola, but had not visited it. Yesterday I made the 177 step climb to the top of the tower. It is well worth it.

Tours of the lighthouse occur every Saturday, from 12 - 4, May through October.



The current lighthouse was lit in 1859. It stayed manned until 1965 when it was automated. The Keepers' Quarters were next door and housed the Keeper and family, as well as the Assistant Keeper and family.



Supposedly at some point in its past, someone was murdered in the southeast bedroom. The floor is said to be stained with blood that never came out. Do you see it?



Through out the night, the Keeper would climb 177 steps to the top of the lighthouse to keep the light going. We followed in his footsteps.



As you climb the steps, you pass various windows, each offering a new perspective in elevation and bearing.






177 steps, wrapped around the center pole, climbing 191 feet above the water.



Upon reaching the last step, you come to the light, the purpose of the lighthouse, shining 27 miles into the night.



But for us today, the purpose of the lighthouse is two fold. To walk in the footsteps of the lighthouse keeper who kept the light to protect ships and their crew, and to enjoy the views offered by the lighthouse.

Change

Change is inevitable. The seasons inevitably change. The warmth of summer will turn to the cool of fall and the cold of winter. The land inevitably changes. Mountains grow where the land was once flat. Rivers dry up where they once ran wild. The Man in the Mountain crumbled. Kilauea continues to erupt, increasing the size of the island of Hawaii. People inevitably change. Babies are born. Peoples' bodies show the wear of age. Children who were once small are now large adults. Death continues to reign over all who live. The weather inevitably changes. The rain of one day turns to the sunshine of another. The heat of one day is replaced by the coolness of the next. Relationships inevitably change. I meet new people. I discover things about people and dissolve the relationship. I discover things about people and strengthen the relationship. I lose touch with people I know as time and distance separate us.

But do I have to change? Just because a relationship changes, do I have to change in response to that? Will I some day have to make a decision to change from where I am today?

Everything changes, but does that have to include me?

It is a good thing we have eternity to get this right

Today in church, the message was on Mark 9:38-50. The pastor started out with talking about favorite verses in the Bible. He asked us to think of ours and mentioned a few of his. One of those was John 11:35. In 4th grade when he was assigned to memorize his favorite bible for Sunday school. Being a smart man, he quickly decided that John 11:35 was his favorite. He wrapped it up by saying that no one's favorite verse is Mark 9:44. I quickly glanced at my Bible to see what verse 44 was. Well, that is when I found that there was no verse 44, it goes straight from 43 to 45 to 47. The pastor then said that no one he has met has said that they liked the verse saying to cut off your hand if it causes you to sin. Turns out that that is verse 43, not 44. The footnotes of my Bible say that verse 44 and 46, which are the same as 48, are included in some ancient manuscripts, but not in modern translations. I tried explaining to the pastor after the service that verse 44 wasn't in the Bible, but he was just expecting a hand shake and a good morning and was confused by my comments.

So the pastor was right, no one's favorite verse is Mark 9:44, but not because it talks about cutting off your hand, but because it isn't in the Bible.

I'll add this to my favorite bloopers in church that I have witnessed, most of which were caused by me.

Other great bloopers include:
#1) Forgiving Jesus of his sins

In church, the congregational prayer was printed in the bulletin. The pastor was leading it and as a congregation, we said "Jesus, your sins are forgiven." I mentioned it to my grandma who didn't notice who mentioned it to the pastor who also hadn't noticed.

#2) I read the wrong scripture in church

In my church growing up, one Sunday a month, the youth read the scripture. Since I was the only youth who went to the early service, I was the one who read it once a month on behalf of the youth. Sometimes someone told me I was reading, usually I just showed up at church and saw my name in the bulletin. One Sunday I arrived at church, saw my name in the bulletin, and looked up the scripture. I do not remember what the Sunday was, but it was a specific Sunday that would have used specific scripture. I noticed that the scripture listed was not for the Sunday and was probably a chapter off. I told my grandma that I was going to ask the pastor if it was the next chapter that was too be read. She said that the pastor knew what he was preaching on and choose the specific verses for a reason. Very well, don't argue with grandma. I get up, read the scripture, then sit down. The pastor begins saying "Thanks for reading, however we had a typo in the bulletin and it should be the next chapter."

#3) I edit the morning Scripture

Another morning, I arrived, saw my name, grabbed the Bible, and headed up to read. Standing in front of the microphone, I begin, "He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and," I looked at the next word. Joses. I mutter to myself "whoa that's a weird word," jerking my head back as I remembered there was a microphone in front of me. I glance at the pastor sitting next to me. Should I asked them for pronunciation help? I look back to the audience. Does it rhyme with Moses? Is the J silent in Hebrew? Lots of questions! I decided to just skip over that word and move on to an easy name, Simon. Luckily my hesitation was quick enough that no one noticed.

#4) False start on the Lord's Supper

One Sunday I was at a church I had been attending for a while. By chance, I hadn't taken communion before in the church. While I was walking in, I was asked if I would help distribute the elements. Sure, this can't be hard. When it came time, I succeeded in passing out the elements and placed the plate back on the cart at the back of the sanctuary, grabbed my bread and wine. Partook, then sat down. The pastor then said "As we join together in the bread, are we not united in Christ? Let us now take the bread together." Opps! My bad...

#5) Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

When I first went to college, I decided that I should expand my vocabulary. To show off my collegiate vocabulary, I would use big words, even if they didn't fit into the situation. One night at Bible study, we were studying the Holy Spirit and I said "Jesus said he was going to send us the adversary." I got in my big word! Yes! The Bible study leader said "what?" I repeated eruditely, "Jesus said he was going to send us the adversary." "I think you might want to look that one up." Turns out the appropriate word was advocate, not adversary. Isn't blasphemy of the Holy Spirit the unpardonable sin? Ekk!

It is a good thing we have eternity to get this right!

Day at the Museum

Today I went to downtown Pensacola. One of the places I went to was the TT Wentworth Museum.



Museums are extremely important. They teach us things that our teachers refused to teach us in school. Take today, I learned about the curious case of Charlotte May Pierstorff. Pierstorff holds the distinction of being the only person to have been mailed via the US Postal Service.

In 1914, she wanted to visit her grandparents who lived 75 miles away on the otherside of some mountains in Idaho. Her parents couldn't afford a train ticket, so they instead bought some postage stamps. She was under the weight limit for parcel post, so the USPS mailed her. She rode the baggage car on the train to her grandparents' town. Upon arriving to the town, the mailman delivered her. Shortly after, the Postmaster General banned the mailing of humans.

Why did my teachers deprive me of such essential knowledge???

How do you make a teacher?

Yesterday a guy in a class I am in said I looked like a teacher. Well, there is a good reason for that, I am a teacher. I have a teaching license and have experience in teaching. I know the struggles and joys of being a teacher, because I have been there. I know the theories and models of teaching and various situations in which they are appropriate because I have studied them and used them in a practical setting. When I am sitting in classes, I often wonder on how to make them better by changing the presentation or the curriculum. How the assessments designed or gauging the level of teacher-student interaction. What does it take the make a teacher?

A teacher must know their subject. You cannot teach if you do not know. But they must be more than just a subject matter expert. It is not enough for the teacher to just know the material for their job is not to know but to teach.

The teacher must also understand the student. They must know their life desires. What motivates them. What their life is like and how their situation affects their learning. What expectations they have. What they already know. What they have learned. You must know the student to teach him.

A teacher must understand how to teach. They have the information that the student needs, but they must find how to deliver the material to the student in a practical and successful manner. They must know when to push the student and when to pull the student. When to teach the student and when to let the student learn. When to encourage the student and when to walk away from the student.

The teacher must care about the student. They must have a desires to see the student succeed. They must want the student to learn. They are to be an example, a role model for the student. Someone to be respected and someone who respects. Someone who will defend the integrity of the student.

A teacher cannot be a book. A teacher is alive and interacts with the student. A teacher is more than just someone with a inflection in their voice. It is the most noblest of professions and must be approached as such.

I do my part, you do the rest

The other day in bible study, we were talking about sharing the gospel with others. Some people felt that the best they could do was to invite others to church and let the pastor do the rest. Sometimes this is a viable option, just bringing someone to church can be enough to get them started on the path to Christ or connected to a new church. However, we cannot expect the pastor to do all the work! Jesus said for us to go to the ends of the world and make disciples of Him, not to go and get other people to do the work. We do work together and there is certainly nothing wrong with bringing people to church, but are you prepared to do more if necessary? Peter tells us "Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason regarding the hope that is in you, yet answer with gentleness and reverence." Are you ready to do more than just bring them to someone else?

It is just a name, right?

I have been talking to some friends about the concept of dating. I do not like the idea of dating. To me, it just seems like that you are putting on a false front to try to impress the other person. My friends disagreed and in the course of our discussion, I figured out something about dating that I am against. I think this is why I have been against dating. To me, dating implies a commitment to the other person, albeit a low level commitment. I would not be able to make that commitment to a person that I barely knew. Perhaps it isn't dating that bothers me, but making the commitment to a person that I do not know. Before I dated someone, I would want to know them first. Is this something that I am actually doing different than others, or am I just changing the name dating to friendship?

What do you want?

What do you want in life? What do you want from your job? Do you want money? A sense of accomplishment? To be recognized? What do you want from relationships? Do you want to have a lot of friends? Do you want to have a few close friends? Do you want to date? What do you want out of your free time? Do you want to relax? Do you want to do hobbies? Do you want to spend time with others? Do you want to just make it last? What do you want?

I don't really know what I want. I could tell you what I want, but do I live that way? I could tell you from my job I want to have enough to live, but I take home much more than I need to live and still manage to spend it. I could tell you in my free time I want to be outdoors, read, and write. But I do not spend the majority of my free time doing these things. I could tell you in my relationships I want to have a few close friends. And I do. But I could also tell you that I do not want to date, but have and some of those close friends would say that I do want to date.

Maybe I should figure out what I want. Right now, I want a cup of coffee so I can sit outside and read.

Simplicity

I've been attending a Sunday school class the past few weeks that I have really enjoyed. The people in the class are senior to me by 20-50 years, but they have accepted me and made me feel welcome.

We have been studying the book of 1st John. John often writes in the book that if you are of God, you will love others. If you do not love others, you are not of God. One of the questions raised in the class by a member was if one can know for sure if they are saved. That I believe in Jesus but I still do some really bad things so I am not sure if I am saved.

I went to the coffee shop that afternoon and thought about the question. I wrote some ideas about how to know if you are saved along with scripture justification.

First, can we know if we are saved? Yes (1 John 5:13)

So how can we know? Well, I jotted down a short test.

1. Do you believe? (John 3:16)
2. Are you striving to not sin? (Romans 6:1-14)
3. Do you live by God's word? (1 John 2:3)
4. Do you strive to do good? (James 1:26 - 27, James 2: 14-26, 1 John 2: 5b-6)
5. Are you producing fruit? (Galatians 5: 16-24)

If you can answer yes to these questions, then you are saved

A few weeks ago, in the post post was Chaos in the Church!, I wrote about a sermon I heard. Part of the sermon dealt with knowing if you are saved. The pastor kept it simple. Do you believe in Jesus? Then you are saved.

I think the pastor is correct in his simplicity. I think my original test maybe a little too long. A better test would be:

Did you know God loves you? Do you believe in Jesus? Yes? Great, you are saved, Now go and Love.

Back in the Saddle

It has been a few weeks since I have been hiking. Yesterday I got back in the swing of it by hiking at Mistletoe State Park. I hiked the Cliatt Creek Trail and the Rock Dam Trail.

I found the trails in the book Hiking Georgia by Donald W. Pfitzer.



I arrived at the park and paid my $5 entrance fee. I then parked in the parking lot immediately by the fee station where the trailhead is.



The Cliatt Creek trail is marked by white blazes. It is a two mile loop with 18 natural trail markers. They are described by the nature guide available at the trail head.

The trail is in a second growth forest. The original forest was cut down for logging and farming.


The Cliatt Creek trail.



The pines are loblolly pines.




An American Holly.



An Eastern Red Cedar.


The trail is connected to the Rock Dam Trail, which is a 5.5 mile loop trail. They meet up by the Cliatt Creek.



The Rock Dam Trail is marked by blue blazes

Continuing on the Rock Dam Trail, I came to a junction.



I first went to the left and checkout the creek.



After wards I returned to the junction and continued to the right along the path. I ended up at another junction where both trails immediately dead end. Looking around, I realized that I hadn't seen any blazes in a while, even though I was on a trail. I did the most obvious thing and kept going. I made two sweeping arcs looking for the trail or blazes. After not finding anything, I did the right thing and went back down the trail the way I came until I found a blaze.

Returning to the junction, I found the blue blaze.



The trail crossed the creek continued. I kept an eye open for the blue blazes.

Later I came to another junction.



Luckily they clearly marked the posts.



I found a place by the creek and ate lunch. I packed a sandwich, carrots, and vanilla wafers.



After my lunch, I continued down the trail and 100 yards later, found a picnic table at the Rock Dam.







View below the rock dam.

In addition to the rocks at the rock dam, there were a lot of cool rocks along the trail.



I of course had to climb on the rock.




A large rock that split open.

Part of the trail went along the bottom of an eroded creek bed.



I found this awesome tree!



I thought it would be a great place to take a photo and took a bunch of different poses. I set the camera on a log and ran to get onto the branch.



I didn't make it the first time.



The Rock Dam Trail runs back into the Cliatt Creek trail.



Continuing on the Cliatt Creek trail, I came across this interesting scene.



The trail ended behind the office, just across the street from the trailhead.



There were a lot of fungi growing along the trail.



There was also a lot of fauna on the trail. In addition to the following animals, I also saw some deer.



I look forward to returning.