It’s All About Perspective
I have had a long few days at work and will have a few more in the coming weeks. So, when I got home I wanted to relax and just veg out. That is not what I got to do. First I was grateful that my mother offered to make me some eggs and bacon. On a side note, bacon is one of, if not my favorite foods; followed closely by a good pepperoni pizza. As I was starting to sit down to relax my sister asked for some help with building the new vanity for our bathroom. Not what I had wanted to do, but I truly enjoy building things so I was willing to help. After finishing my dinner, yum bacon, and completing as much of the vanity building process as possible before I install it tomorrow I went downstairs to read and relax.
As I began reading my mom and sister began talking. First one, then the other! I was getting annoyed, but decided that it was my own fault for sitting in the family room where they were likely to interact and talk. My sister left and things quieted down, then my mom kept stopping her reading to tell me about the neat things in her book. She had just gotten a new Bible and was stopping every few minutes to tell me about a neat thing in it. First was the timeline at the front, it even had things like the founding of Japan and the invention of false teeth. Next was about something called the harmony of the gospels. It lets you see where the stories in each of the gospels fall in comparison to the events in the other gospels. Finally, she was sharing about the biographies of people found through the Bible in the books the people are central characters in.
If I am going to be honest I was getting annoyed. I had come downstairs to read and relax, and here she was stopping her own reading to talk to me and distract me from my reading. Then God got ahold of my heart and turned it around on me. Here I was sitting calmly and rationally reading Radical and struggling with loving God and living for Him. But there, mere feet form me my mom sat enthralled with God, and the features of her new Bible that could help her grow closer to God. Her sharing was caused by upswells of joy about her love letter from God and the new ways it would help her understand God and his love for her better.
With those thoughts my perspective changed, and I was glad, some might even say happy that my mom was stopping me to share about what was exciting her. This is just a reminder of how important our perspective of events and circumstances can be. Seek God in each moment, ask Him to help you find the perspective that honors Him throughout your day.
Am I a Doer or a Hearer?
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
This scripture has been bouncing around in my mind for the past few days. I came across it while doing a devotional reading the other day and I have been thinking about it since. Am I a Doer, do I live out God’s Word? Or, am I more of a Hearer, someone who hears God’s Word then continues on living my life as I always have? These questions are magnified as I am reading through two different books that both challenge how we (I) are living out our faith. David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Last night we had a Bible study that was talking about chapter 4 in Crazy Love entitled Profile of the Lukewarm. The video we watched to start things off was powerful and asked a tough question. How many of the people who walk through your churches doors each week will you actually see in heaven? This question stands out even more with the release of Rob Bell’s new book that many are probably correctly labeling as having a Universalist prospective.
But with James 1:22-25 rattling in my mind my thought is how well am I living out my faith. Or put another way, if you asked the people who know me how they know I am a Christian would it be because of how I lived, or because I said I was.
Over this past week I have been wondering what I should do about the disasters that hit Japan. I have always wanted to visit the country. I have a love for their culture including their animation, but what can I do? I have been praying for them, as much of the world has, but I want to do more. Is it enough to send some money, should I try to find an aid organization that I could go with to help out first hand, would that make more of a difference, or would the money be better spent by sending it to a known organization like World Vision?
The Problem with Prewriting a Blog Post
I am working to update my blog 3 times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Sometimes I have an idea for a blog and write it out ahead of time. I had one of those moments on Thursday. So I sat down and typed out my thought and ideas to have a post for Friday all ready. I then uploaded my post and set it to automatically publish on Friday.
Friday morning I woke up extra early, got dressed and shoveled my driveway. As I checked the twitter updates I first saw about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I reflected that my revelation from the day before made even more sense, prayed for Japan, Hawaii, and any other locations threatened by the tsunami. I got ready and left for a full day of subbing at a local high school. Saturday night I realized that my post had automatically published, but I could have made it more powerful by making a reference to Japan and how my issues seemed much more insignificant in light of the recent tragedies, but it had already published the post.
Now, do I go back and edit my post? Do I republish it once it is edited to try and drive more traffic to it? Or do I let that post stand as it is and move on? What do you think is the best way to handle this situation?
How good do you have it?
Today I am finding myself very frustrated. I am frustrated with a local retail store that I purchased my new MacBook Pro through. I am frustrated with Apple computers. Both of these are leading me to be frustrated with myself as well.
I am frustrated with myself because I realized that if my biggest problem is that my new expensive computer has not come in I really do not have much too be upset about. There are so many larger, more life defining problems for millions of people. Yet I sit here frustrated and upset because my new toy has not come in yet.
I am praying today for God to help me keep my “problems” in perspective, and to reach out and help those who have real problems.
What is Ash Wednesday
According to Wikipedia Ashe Wednesday is
Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent’s way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one’s penitence is found in Job 42:3-6.
And just to show Wikipedia is right on the money here is what Catholic.org had to say
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.
I was interested because, I never really understood why we put ashes on our foreheads. Growing up I had them put on me because it was what I was told to do. Then when moved and changed denominations and I don’t remember having ashes put on my head anymore. The church I currently attend does not have an Ash Wednesday service, so with everyone celebrating it I was interested in why it is done.
As I read through the purpose of Ashe Wednesday I find it interesting that the main idea is one of repentance and humility. I wonder how many of the people who go to a service today and then walk the streets with the ashes on their forehead are doing it for that reason, and how many are doing it because of tradition(the “It’s what I’ve always done”).
Do you celebrate Ash Wednesday with a church service/mass? Do you celebrate Lent by forsaking luxury or giving something up? Or, do you have other ways of fostering repentance and humility in your walk with Christ?
A Possible future?
This video was made by Corning, a glass company, so it includes a lot of specialty glass. But, I think their vision for the future is interesting. I know some of what they are showing already has real world working prototypes. Microsoft has already created devices that work very similar to some of what Corning shows, the one that came to mind first was their Surface devices. I know that during a CES keynote a year or two ago Microsoft also displayed a surface device and a PC interacting with a Smartphone (not one made of glass though) like in the video.
So my question is, how long do you think it will be before we see this technology in our everyday lives?
Tedward's Ramblings 