Category: personal

Okay, first off please don’t take the title literally. I am not saying anyone is ignorant, other than me. The title is just meant to be something catchy. Did it work?

Second, I’ve found a new podcast that I enjoy listening to. It is called “Philopsophize This” and it has been quite good thus far. During one of the episodes it mentioned what is known as the Socratic paradox. The paradox is that Socrates said that he knew one thing that others around him didn’t and all of his wisdom came from that one source of knowledge. What was this knowledge? According to Plato Socrates constantly described it this way.

“I know one thing: that I know nothing”

If you think about his Socratic method of learning through constant questioning this makes perfect sense. Acknowledging how little I know is a great starting place, no matter how much I actually know. In fact, the people I know who are really experts on a subject usually are the ones who seem to acknowledge how little they actually know about the subject they are an expert in.

It always scares me a little when a person constantly responds with “I know” during a conversation. It concerns me even more when I find myself wanting to respond with “I know.” Why do I feel the need to say that? Saying “I know” kills conversation. Saying “I don’t know” or even better nothing encourages conversation. It encourages learning. It opens doors rather than shutting them. Pride pushes for me to try and prove to someone that I know something. Humility encourages me to learn from everyone and assume that I don’t know as much as I think I do.

I think this is just as true of faith as it is anything else. Admitting how little I know produces reliance upon Jesus, whereas thinking I know a good bit produces pride and self-reliance. I hope today I realize that I know nothing.

A few months ago I bought this flash light from Amazon because I had a gift card that had $4.70 left on it and the light was the only thing in that price range that I wanted. The light has dropped in price now and is less than $4. A seriously good deal for a light that kicks butt. It is really wonderful.

Small, bright, and sturdy. A great combination. I guess that I will have to buy a couple of these for the boys for Christmas.

I started my rounds as the chaplain for my companies in Marshfield early this morning. All went well.

Per my usual I “checked in” at the places I went to via foursquare. I use this because through a combination with IFTT

I am able to have my “check ins” automatically placed into my Google Calendar and this gives me some accountability for where I have been.

Any I went to check in at one of my companies only to discover that it isn’t listed on foursquare yet. No big deal I can correct that. I saw that I could “check in” for the whole city of Marshfield. When I did I discovered that one of the “tips” left for the city was that the roads “suck” and that “the people suck too.” Well that’s nice to know. I am sure Natalie G. will be glad to know that all the people of her hometown suck.

Thanks for the helpful info Foursquare users.

SIDE NOTE – the image to the right is a screen shot showing the statements. Enjoy.

Round two of the Burger Experiment took place yesterday. This time Noah and I were joined by Pam who for some reason didn’t eat a burger so she doesn’t really have anything to add to this post. As a family we love Hilltop but for some reason I have never eaten one of their burgers. I usually go for the Chicken Flippers which are fried chicken cook in fish fry batter. Mhmm, good stuff.

The burger unfortunately wasn’t as good as the Chicken Flippers. Both and Noah and I were excited about the burger. It looked really good and smelled even better. As soon as my burger arrived I realized that they had forgotten to bring me the mayo I had asked for on my burger. Strike one. While waiting for a little mayo to be brought by the waitress I took the top bun off the burger and discovered that the slice of cheddar cheese I had asked for on the burger wasn’t there. Strike two. On the good side while I waited for my burger to have cheese melted on it I tasted a little of the burger juice left on the plate and it was great. This really got me excited about the burger and I was ready for its return.

So when the burger came back I was ready to eat it. My response? Mhem. Definitely not worth eating again. The patty itself was quite good but the bun is horrendous. Soft and mushy. Strike three! I don’t think they did anything to the bun other pull it out of its bag. Come on people. Toast the bun! This is important. The soggy bun took what would have been a very decent burger and changed it to a waste of my time.

The garnish isn’t as big of a deal for me but it wasn’t to my taste. They garnished the burger with a leaf of lettuce. One solid leaf. Personally I tore it up and put it back on the burger. Why not slice or tear the lettuce up? I think it is better for the eating experience.
The fries, on the other hand, were the saving grace. Hilltop’s Brew City fries are great. They really are quite tasty. The fries were enough for Noah to rate the overall experience as a 7 1/2. I can’t go that high because the burger was really not very good. We’ll gladly go back to Hilltop again but I will stick with my usual – Chicken Flippers and Brew City fries.

My overall rating – 5 1/2.

Right now the plan for next week is The Point After or Arbuckles. We’ve heard good and bad about both.

It has been a few years since I have read N.T. Wright‘s “Surprised by Hope.” It is an excellent read (I think most things by Wright are) and a great bargain at $1.99 for the ebook. Amazon and Google have it for that price and I would assume Barnes & Noble does too. I love finding great books at great prices. The sad thing is that unfortunately I often find them after they are no longer on sale.