I mispell things!
why didn’t i go fishing more this summer?
i don’t really have a good answer for this question. of our four years in wisconsin this was the summer that i did the least amount of fishing. this is a sad and terrible thing. i still did much more fishing this summer than i ever did in louisiana but that doesn’t make up for the fact that i probably did a third as much fishing this year as any of the other summer’s we have been in wisconsin. this will not happen again!
today’s question comes from the quote of the week at emy j’s. the above photo is the quote. i think it is a great point. being discontent can be a terrible and selfish thing when it is focused on just me and my circumstances. it can also be a wonderful thing when it is focused on those around me and those who are JESUS in disguise. if i am discontent over the circumstances that the needy face or over the barriers that are placed in the way of people desperately wanting to experience GOD’s love then this discontent will encourage me to make changes. i like that type of discontent.
so my question is simply …
am i too content?
am i too comfortable with the way things are? is it too easy to live life right now? to minister in these circumstances? if so i hope and pray that GOD will move me to the point that i am discontent and i will do all i can with HIS help to change things. may i have a holy discontent and may it move me.
i haven’t blogged my questions for a few days but i have been writing them down in my journal. so here they are:
day #5 – question #5
why don’t we call former president george h.w. bush, george bush the elder, which would sound very awesome?
i was recently reading some articles related to pliny the younger and it made me think how former president george w. bush could be called george bush the younger and his dad could be george bush the elder. how much cooler would that be? you know it would be amazingly awesome.
day #6 – question #6
why didn’t i get an elmo document projector before now?
i used the elmo this past sunday night at tapestry and i used it again last night when i spoke at the uwsp intervarsity large group meeting. i think it is effective but i KNOW that it is a blast for me to use.
day #7 – question #7
how often is the motivation for power behind what i do?
here’s what i mean by this question. recently i have been looking into the events of king henry viii of england and the english reformation. part of my study has been a realization of how many people who have been canonized saints by certain religious groups have often just been people of power acting to keep their power. there are tons of pious people who have been wonderful examples of faith in CHRIST. these are people who should be looked to concerning how to follow JESUS. yet so often we celebrate power and those who achieve it. we give them pious motivations when their motivations were usually more worldly in their nature. this is strange to me since i am trying to follow in the footsteps the LORD WHO displayed HIMself in the SON as weak. HE WHO has all power became weak in order to defeat the powers that fight against all that is good. so why do i so often celebrate power and try to achieve things through its means?
pam will write a longer blog post on our garage sale. she is a great writer and therefore you should read what she posts. i’m going to talk about our garage sale as a basis for my question :
why do crazy people always seem to zero in on me?
we had one guy come to our garage sale who bought a $1 item and then spent the next 30 minutes telling me about how child safety principals had been developed by president nixon and the then director of the central intelligence agency george bush (at least he proclaimed that bush was cia director then though bush wasn’t actually director until president ford was in office) as a means to help them institute the new world order through the implementation of “nafka” (which i assume is nafta).
you might want to re-read that last statement.
this individual stood over my seat and lectured me concerning how not giving a one year old child a choking hazard was making kids weak enough for the government to subjugate. this individual said that when he was a kid his dad had him driving a tractor around their farm and once when he accidentally drove the tractor over a 50 pound bag of potatoes his dad shot him with a gun in his arm.
again, you might want to re-read that last statement. let it sink in a little.
his dad shot him in the arm when he was three years old. apparently kids really were tougher back when he was a child. i was worried about his one year old grandson desiring to chew on a lincoln log and accidentally choking which seems kind of lamed compared to being shot when you are a three year old.
anyhow the conversation went from child safety to a lecture concerning the downfall of america due to “nafka,” the new world order, and the republican party.
my question revolves around the fact that i am wondering why he zeroed in on me. there were plenty of other people in our drive way and he focused on me. you can ask pam, the “interesting” people always seem to laser in on me. there most be some scent i realize that draws “interesting” people to me. i just want to know what it is.
why in the world are we doing a garage sale?
i have no idea but pam wanted to.
i just finished talking with one of the barista’s at emy j’s (for those of you not from point emy j’s is the coffee shop that i use as an office much of the time). the barista told me that there was an attempted armed robbery last night at emy j’s. a guy came into around 8:45 pm (15 minutes before closing), ordered some ice cream, paid for the ice cream, then pulled out a knife while the register drawer was open and said “i’m sorry but i am going to need all the money in the drawer.” there were two female baristas at j’s at the time and the one who took the order said “i can’t do that” and quickly closed the register back up. the guy then went down to a bp convenience store and tried to rob it. i don’t know if he was successful there or not.
i have mad respect for this barista at the same moment that i would chew her butt out if she was my child. of course, i also have a huge smile across my face as i am typing this because the guy not only didn’t get any money but actually paid for his ice cream.
why did george lucas make the prequels to star wars episodes iv, v, and vi?
i think i probably know the answer to this question (money) but i ask it more as a lament. as in a fan of the original trilogy screaming up at the sky “why!?!?!?” the first three movies were so good. “a new hope” and “the empire strikes back” are absolutely amazing movies and “return of the jedi” still rates as a good movie (though i believe you can see the beginning of the end in the ewoks).
knowing when to quit is such an important skill.
BONUS QUESTION – why did francis ford coppola make the godfather part iii? again this is basically a lament.
why am i willing to sacrifice so much (quality, taste, money, etc) for convenience?
we do not use microwave popcorn in the terrell home. the reason for this is because as the maker of the pop corn i believe the 3 extra minutes it takes to make popcorn in my whirley-pop
i give up so much for convenience. i love a good cheeseburger. mcdonald’s and burger king do not make good cheeseburgers. they do, however, make cheeseburger very fast and always the same. i can usually get in and out of their restaurants quickly. these places are great for when i am traveling. i can count on them to be the same in wisconsin or alabama. they have their place. they are convenient.
i know that quality usually takes time. of course, i still often settle for inferior things and personally do inferior work because it is easy. why do i do this? i’m not real sure that i want to know the answer to this question.
among the books i am presently reading (i usually have around three on my plate at any given moment – 1 non-fiction book on various subject, 1 work of theology, and 1 work of fiction that i read at night before going to sleep) is daniel pink’s book “a whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future
chapter 4 begins with a wonderful story from gordon mackenzie of hallmark cards. mackenzie would often do guest speaking at schools and he would open each engagement with one question. i’ll let daniel pink tell about that question.
(mackenzie) would look around the classroom, notice the artwork on the walls, and wonder aloud who created the masterpieces.
“how many artists are there in the room?” mackenzie would ask. “would you please raise your hands?”
the response always followed the same pattern. in kindergarten and first grade classes, every kid thrust a hand in the air. in second grade classes, about three-fourths of the kids raised their hands, though less eagerly. in third grade, only a few children held up their hands. and by sixth grade, not a single hand went up. the kids just looked around to see if anybody in the class would admit to what they’d now learned was deviant behavior.
mackenzie uses the story to connect with the corporate hairball
when we are kids we ask tons of questions and people celebrate our questions. it seems as though somewhere along the line we begin to think that only trouble makers continue to ask questions. we see questions as threats. we start pretending like we know the answers and staying silent lest someone discover that we don’t.
i think this is particularly true in faith communities. we expect and celebrate people asking questions before they are followers of JESUS. we continue to encourage people to ask questions when they are brand new followers of JESUS but it seems like at some point we start to consider asking questions a bad thing. we act as if questions are the opposite of faith.
it actually seems to me that it might be impossible to have faith without some form of questions. after all, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (hebrews 11:1). to me “hope for” and “do not see” seem to imply action in the face of not knowing completely (i.e. questions). instead of bringing my questions out and trusting and acting in the midst of them i often find myself pretending like i have all the answers. what a sham! i have tons of questions. i may know the ONE WHO is the ANSWER but i still have more questions than i can express during my waking hours.
so i am going to steal an idea from all these “30 days of …” memes there seem to be on the internet and start my own. for me the next 30 days will be “30 days of asking questions.” i hope to ask some good ones and i would love to hear some of the best questions you have recently heard or asked.
this post is merely to make you guys and girls that don’t live around central wisconsin jealous. we have tons of concerts in our community band shell which sits along the wisconsin river. what do i mean by tons? well how about weekly band programs in the shell in addition to a few special weekends and weeks of concerts? labor day weekend is always jazzfest which is a ton of fun because it is free laidback music.
this is what i listened to for an hour and a half after we finished a wonderful night of tapestry.