For the past seven years or so I have been a fan of carrying a small bag with me that holds all the things I believe I need to handle whatever I might face during the day. A few friends (and family) have mocked me for my bag, calling it my “man purse”. I don’t care because I like having all this stuff handy and I don’t like my pockets full of stuff.
December brought two changes to my Every Day Carry (EDC) bag.
Pam gave me a new bag for Christmas. I had been using a bag Adam used when he was in second grade. As you probably know I am cheap.
I have a new name for my bag. It is my possible. I read “The Revenant” and learned that the mountain men always kept close a small bag, called their possibilities bag or possible, to keep themselves prepare for all the possible things they might face. My bag is a possible and Eric G is wrong when he calls it a man purse. So there.
Anyhow here are the things that I keep in my possibles bag.
Whatever book I am presently reading. At the time of this photo it was an autographed version of Jurgen Moltmann’s work “The Passion for Life“. Yep that’s right it is an autographed copy.
Leuchtturm Whitelines journal – a journal that allows me to digitize photos of the pages and send them to Dropbox or Evernote.
Cheapo headphones – I don’t buy expensive headphones because I’ve killed every good pair of headphones I have ever purchased. The cheap ones seem to last for me so I have chosen poorer quality sound that last, rather than better quality sound that I kill and then feel bad about.
A Tapestry Carabiner & 550 Fire Cord Paracord – that’s right it is paracord that has a fire starter line within it.
Cheap BIC lighter – to be replaced with a flint & steel in the future because I think it is more fun.
A Makey Makey Go – Pam bought this for me for Christmas. It allows me to turn almost anything into an input device for a computer. It is quite fun. I’ve used it a few times at Emy J’s when I was bored.
Mini first aid kit – picked up for free from St. Michael’s hospital with a few bandages, sanitizing wipes, antibiotic cream, and a few over the counter drugs (most importantly BC Powder).
Twin tip Sharpie markers & BIC Atlantis Pens – the best inexpensive pen there is.
I haven’t blogged about Ferguson because I don’t really know how to express my jumbled up thoughts on the situation. So I’ll just share what New Orleans Saints Tight End Benjamin Watsonwrote concerning his thoughts. I like what he said. I like it a lot.
At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:
I’M ANGRY because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes.
I’M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.
I’M FEARFUL because in the back of my mind I know that although I’m a law abiding citizen I could still be looked upon as a “threat” to those who don’t know me. So I will continue to have to go the extra mile to earn the benefit of the doubt.
I’M EMBARRASSED because the looting, violent protests, and law breaking only confirm, and in the minds of many, validate, the stereotypes and thus the inferior treatment.
I’M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.
I’M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn’t there so I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.
I’M OFFENDED, because of the insulting comments I’ve seen that are not only insensitive but dismissive to the painful experiences of others.
I’M CONFUSED, because I don’t know why it’s so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don’t know why some policeman abuse their power. Power is a responsibility, not a weapon to brandish and lord over the populace.
I’M INTROSPECTIVE, because sometimes I want to take “our” side without looking at the facts in situations like these. Sometimes I feel like it’s us against them. Sometimes I’m just as prejudiced as people I point fingers at. And that’s not right. How can I look at white skin and make assumptions but not want assumptions made about me? That’s not right.
I’M HOPELESS, because I’ve lived long enough to expect things like this to continue to happen. I’m not surprised and at some point my little children are going to inherit the weight of being a minority and all that it entails.
I’M HOPEFUL, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents. I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors. And it’s a beautiful thing.
I’M ENCOURAGED, because ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn. BUT I’M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through the his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that’s capable of looking past the outward and seeing what’s truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It’s the Gospel. So, finally, I’M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.
As you hopefully know by now mid-term elections happened yesterday. Maybe you voted, maybe you didn’t. Maybe there was mix of the candidates you voted for winning and losing, or perhaps your candidates pulled a flush and either completely won or lost. Perhaps you actually don’t like candidates from either of the big parties and you struggled with even the possibility of the candidate you support winning anything past a local election. Whatever the outcome I would like to remind you that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ then no government or politician is your hope.
Yep this is kind of what I meant. We should be annoying.
As important as I think voting is (and I do think it is very important) no politician or, especially, political party is the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom on earth. Jesus is the one who has brought about and will one day finalize the kingdom of God on earth. I am therefore convinced that we need to vote our consciences, pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and constantly hold all our political leaders and parties, whether we voted for them or not, accountable to do the things Jesus would do if He were in our government. Jesus cares for the weak. Therefore, we should encourage the government we vote for to care for all those who are weak. Jesus cares for justice for all. Therefore, we should makes sure the officials we vote for do also. Etc. Etc.
Paul says the following in 2 Corinthians 12:7:
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Now Paul wasn’t talking about politics. Nope, this verse was about God making sure that Paul stayed humble. However I believe our political leaders need the same thing. Followers of Jesus need to be “thorns in the flesh” of our political leaders to make sure that their achieved power doesn’t build up their pride and keep them from doing what they ought to do.
So why not be a thorn in the side of your elected political leader. Annoy them, bother them, pester then. I think it’s a good thing to do.
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If this new plugin for my blog works then right above my text should be a photosphere of where Marc & I tried to duck hunt today. A photosphere is a pretty cool panorama like thingie that is a part of the stock android camera. It is a panorama that does a °360 wrap photo. I like it because every now and then it is nice to be able to show an complete rather than just taking a photo of one spot.
For example, today I wanted to show Eric, who I usually go duck hunting with, exactly how much water this spot had around it. You don’t know this but the banks of the river that Marc and I were hunting today are usually about 10′ in front of us and, while I have heard the area floods during the Spring, I have never personally seen water outside of the river. It was all around us today. Basically Marc and I were hunting in a swamp. A great place for Wood ducks, unfortunately just not today. So we’ll see if this wordpress plugin allows me to embed photosphers or not. If it does then you can see the swamp we were walking through at 5:30 this morning.
Thankfully we should have cold weather soon, which will push Mallards down from Canada and I will be able hunt at my personal favorite spot. Right now that spot is under 24″ of water. Hopefully that will change soon and I will be able to start going there. The photo at the top of my post is that spot and I am looking forward to using it.
I have a love/hate relationship with conspiracy theories. The love part is that I am fascinated by the ability that some have to turn almost anything into a conspiracy. There is always some dark agenda just right behind any random bit of news. There are strings that are being pulled behind all world events and only a select few are smart enough to see these strings. The rest of us are just dupes. In my opinion, there is a lot egoism behind conspiracy and fear thinking – I’m smart enough to figure this out, while you are just like all the other sheep (BTW you are more than welcome to call me a sheep – sheep have a very favorable connotation in scripture). I also think conspiracy thinking has a fascinating interplay of all-powerful forces and complete ineptitude. “These people really know all about this event and they are just trying to keep you in the dark” and yet they are so inept that a guy living in his mom’s basement is able to figure out their secret. Like I said I find it intriguing.
The fear part? Well this conspiratorial thinking often becomes the excuse for people to act in the most inhumane manners. This type of thinking works off people’s fears and fear is a powerful motivator to do things that normally nice people would never think of doing. Fear let hateful actions masquerade as loving actions. “I’m only acting like this to protect my family.” For example, apparently some of the Sandy Hook conspiracy people have harassed the parents of some of the kids who were killed in the shooting. What type of heartless nut would pester these heartbroken parents? “Well,” the claim goes, “it isn’t really heartless because the whole event was staged and the parents are just actors.” This would make such harassment as cruel as me telling Clint Eastwood that I know he didn’t really shoot people in “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (my favorite movie and one that you should go watch right now). In fact, the people spreading the conspiracies and fear would probably say that confronting lies, and the actions those lies are used to encourage or discourage, is actually a good and loving thing to do. Fear is such a powerful motivator that it takes hate and makes it look like love.
Why am I posting this? Well because I am tired of seeing conspiratorially/fear based thinking on my social media feeds. My feeds aren’t full of such thinking because the majority of my friends don’t go in for that type of stuff. However, I do have a few such “friends” and unfortunately their posts that are based on fear get a lot of attention and therefore end up showing up on my feeds. The good news is that using the Old Testament I believe I have come up with a method that will make the sightings of fear based thinking and action even more infrequent within my news feeds.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 states:
20 But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’ 21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
When you think about it this was really a pretty good system for preventing false prophecy. You want to say something about the future and think it might draw a little attention? Well you better make sure it is accurate because there is a pretty steep cost to pay if you are wrong. But there isn’t really a cost to pay now for making outlandish predictions or claims. You can say that Oreos have been created to be addicting through a mass North Korean plot to take over Instagram for use as a weapon of mass annoyance, and six months down the road when this is proven wrong nothing will happen to you. Since there are no social ramifications to encouraging mass hysteria there is no real incentive to make sure that what you post is true. Nope, there’s no need to even check snopes.com for a quick debunking, since it costs you and I nothing to be wrong. This wasn`t true for the prophet who had to be worried about being stoned if he/she was wrong.
Maybe I’ll use this as my “You’ve Been Stoned” image.
So stoning is my philosophy now. If you decide to speak prophetic warnings (i.e. “this is what is coming down the pipe, folks”)1 and what you say doesn’t happen then I am going to FIGURATIVELY stone you, i.e. nix you from my social media feeds. So if you say there is a vast right wing conspiracy out there or that the lefties are actively trying to destroy America or that some agency/organization is secretly hiding information from the American public that will harm us all or if you post pretty much anything that Jennie McCarthy has said or linked to THEN you better have some VERY GOOD supporting evidence and it best come true quite soon or I will be nixing you from my feeds. I might even create a nice little graphic to post and let you know that you have been nixed. Maybe something fun that says “You’ve Been Stoned” or something similar. Yeah, that would be fun.
Now this goes just for those that are on the fringe of my relational world. It isn’t for my family and friends that I see/interact with a lot. Y’all may still be nuts but you are either family, and therefore you are my crazies, or you are people that I have actively chosen too associate with, and therefore at the very least I find your craziness fun. Also I’m okay calling out my true friends and family when the craziness gets a little to close to promoting hate and they do the same for me. Of course, I will still probably excuse myself to go to the restroom or get a fresh cup of coffee if you start talking about this junk. If you aren’t in either of the previous two groups (i.e. we don’t have a genetic/familia connection or I haven’t personally spoken or corresponded with you in a long time) then you are fair game. Post your craziness at your own peril … well at least peril from my news feed, because there will be no actual peril for you in your real life. In your real life you can spew all the craziness you want too, because I won’t have to listen to it.
Now I understand that there have at times been actual conspiracies, of which I am very thankful for their discovery. I remember the Watergate Scandal and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. I am thankful that these conspiracies were discovered and called out. I just don’t think the type of people pointing out these conspiracies were/are the same as those that are claiming a lot of the fear based things now. If the website you are linking to believes every conspiracy on the face of the earth, then I think it is safe to assume that their journalism isn’t of the highest quality (yeah I’m talking about you Infowars). If you find and post a genuine conspiracy or fear then I will be on your side. If you post something that ends up not coming true, or usually even close to being true, then you should be prepare to be nixed from my social feed.
I know this will crush you because it is so important that I read your posts. Just get back at me by “stoning” me too. I’m sure I will miss being able to see all you erudite links and posts. It will be tough but I’ll try to manage without them.
So unverified email forwarders and link posters beware. The stonings commence now.
SIDE NOTE – If you found this post via my Facebook feed, congrats you haven’t been stoned … Yet. If you didn’t see this post on my Facebook feed … Well … Uhm … This is awkward … Hey look at that very pretty stone right there.
SIDE SIDE NOTE – You should hold me to this same standard. If I make conspiratorial, fear based, false predictions/statements you should “stone” me too. I will also expect a cute little graphic telling me I have been stoned.
“future telling” is only one part, and not even the biggest part, of Old Testament prophecy. The MUCH larger part is “forth telling” or in other words, “this is what God has told you in the past that you seems to have forgotten about.” For purposes of this post I am just using the much smaller future aspect of prophecy. [↩]
I wish I could remember where I either heard or read Jürgen Moltmann describe the relationship her perceived between our fear death and our city planning. Unfortunately I can’t remember the source so as to cite it. I will briefly describe what I remember and then add the fascinating info I learned from the wonderful podcast “Backstory” (which you should listen to if you are a history buff).
150 years ago if you were close to a non-accidental death you would probably be at home and die at surrounded by loved ones. Once you died your body would be taken care of, washed and prepared for burial, by those same loved ones. You would would be left in your, or a family member’s, parlor for a wake, and then be buried in the center of the community next to the church, where your loved ones who pass by you regularly. You would be dead and yet still a part of the community.
Now if you are close to a non-accidental death you are most likely in a hospital surrounded by professionals. Actually, if you are really close to death you will most likely be pushed away from the regular hospital population to a special hospice area, almost like we are afraid your death will spread to others who are supposed to get better. When you die your body will then be handed over to other professionals who will clean and prepare your body for burial by pumping you full of chemicals. These chemicals will allow your spread out family members to make it to the funeral home for a your funeral, which will most likely be held in a funeral parlor. You will then be buried on the outskirts of the city in a cemetery that will require your loved ones to make special trips in order to see your grace.
When I read/heard this I was amazed by the point that was being made – a connection between a fear of death and our city planning. Then this week I listened to the “Backstory” podcast “Grave Matters.” This podcast episode is a history of death and mourning in America. One of the segments deals with the amazing amount of influence that the massive death toll of the Civil War has had on American culture. Much of modern ritual around death and burial is shaped by the Civil War and the understanding of the “good death” at that time. The basic understanding of a “good death” was to:
to be ready for death
to died at home
to die surrounded by loved ones
to die at peace
The Civil War made much of those four goals impossible for many. Death happened suddenly, away from home, surrounded by enemies and strangers, in fear. Thanks to better development in chemical embalming the funeral industry tried to jump into the breach. Embalming meant that a chemically preserved body could be shipped back to the family. Professionals then encouraged people to no longer hold the wake in the family parlor. Instead, they created funeral parlors for people to use for their wakes. American culture reacted by disassociating the word “parlor” from the home. If parlors were now a part of the funeral homes, then to avoid the idea of death we would change the name of that room in our homes. So we picked a new name that would be the most opposite possible of the parlor room that we used to use for wakes. We picked “living room,” which ironically is still where the least amount of living in most homes takes place.
I have heard the Frog in Boiling Water story many times but today I heard a podcast that mentioned the science behind it. The story/metaphor goes like this.
If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out immediately because it feels the pain and senses the danger. Where as if you put a frog in ambient temperature water and slowly raise the temp to boiling it will sit there until it dies.
It is a good metaphor for a lot of things that go on in life. Of course, just because it is a good metaphor doesn’t mean that it is true and that was what the podcast talked about. You can read the whole thing on the wikipedia page concerning the story. My favorite parts are three things concerning the story:
One researcher (trying to find a physical location for the soul) determined that a frog with its brain removed would stay in the slowly heated water to its boiling point, while an intact frog would jump out. Makes me laugh just typing it out. Might as well of tacked the frog to the bottom of the pan and then said a tacked down frog doesn’t jump out of the slowly heated water.
One researcher pointed out the story most be false because frogs never stay still for experiments, or much of life. Therefore, it would`t matter what the temperature of the water was the frog would jump out of the container if it could because that is simply what frogs do.
Finally one researcher pointed out that if you put a frog in boiling water it won’t be able to jump out because it will be dead.
It is still an excellent metaphor for many things that happen in life. We will put up with a lot, even much that is bad for us, if it only happens incrementally.
I bought my phone used off of Ebay for use on Ting and it came with a few musical selections already on it that weren’t mine. The only reason I noticed this is because every now and then when scanning my music I would see something and think to myself “how did I get that.” I don’t usually notice it too much because I am usually listening to specific music rather than a random shuffle of everything on my phone. Today I noticed some music that was too much for me to ignore. An album from one of the Twilight movies has apparently been lurking on my phone for the 8 months I have had it. That was too much and I tracked down all the errant music and deleted it. I am a little ashamed of some of the music that the previous owner left on my phone (two full albums from the Voice) and I now feel like I need to take a shower.
While great for running music Rage Against the Machine isn’t very conducive for sermon preparation. On the other hand, Music for Airports by Brian Eno is awesome for sermon prep. Robert Johnson & Etta James aren’t bad for sermon prep either.
I pretty much only have three sources of music selection now:
My past – Either the constant rotation of (The Clash, The Police, U2, & Bob Marley) or the rediscovery of (recently this has meant Kansas & the Dead Kennedys) music that I listened to in my younger years.
My kids – Adam and Noah end up introducing me to groups that they listen to that I think are actually good. I try not to admit this to them because I don’t want them to get big heads.
NPR bumper music – It is amazing the number of bands that I have grown to like simply because their music acts as bumper music during certain NPR podcasts that I listen to.
Rich Mullins’ A Liturgy, A Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band is one of my favorite albums ever. I have recently gone through a kick of listening to it again and it still isn’t old. All the better with the rainy weather we have had all week long.
A quote from Martin Buber’s classic I and Thou that is hitting me pretty hard right now.
Martin Buber – Smart man, funny name, awesome beard.
Even in the original relational event, the primitive man speaks the basic word I-You in a natural, as it were still unformed manner, not yet having recognized himself as an I; but the basic word l-It is made possible only by this recognition, by the detachment of the I.The former words splits into I and You, but it did not originate as their aggregate, it antedates any I. The latter originated as an aggregate of I and It, it postdates the I.
Martin Buber, I and Thou, p. 73-4.
I’m not sure I could adequately express the thoughts that are running through my head as I struggle with this quote. I am just amazed at the thought of us defining ourselves as “I”s through separation, which those produces an “It” because a “You” requires relation. Treating others as objects/”It”s leads to “I”s and separation, whereas being in I-You relations leads to union and an understanding of each other and ourselves in relation to others. In I-You relations we understand ourselves through a connection with a “You”, while I-It relations to us defining ourselves through separation.
I believe the God Who is relational in His being created as to be relational creatures,
I called Pam to talk through some of this and see then blew my mind (yep that’s right, my wife is as smarter as Martin Buber). She mentioned from her knowledge of child development that babies do not initially recognize themselves as separate from their parents. The infant/parent relationship is so tight that the understanding of “I” in that relation doesn’t happen till later. The “I” in that relation comes out of the initial “I-You” relation. Whereas objects are initially understood as separate. How do experts determine this? That is a question that you would need to ask Pam. She explained a little but not enough for me to be able to describe it adequately.
Struggling with understanding the implication of what Buber has written. How often have I defined myself through treating others as an “It,” rather than my “I’ coming out of and I-You relation?
Buber is brilliant, while I am not the best and conveying his brilliance. See, I think I just defined myself through separation from Buber.
I am not entirely sure that I really knew what Spring was in my BW (Before Wisconsin) life. Yeah, I went through the calendar time period that is called Spring BW. Yes, I noticed flowers sprouting and romance in the air BW. Sure I could tell a difference in the temperature each day and the lengthening of the day BW. But Spring in Wisconsin is different.
I am not trashing on the other places I have lived BW. I have pretty much loved certain things about every place I have ever lived. Being raised in Alabama there is something special about driving and seeing dogwood trees blooming all over the woods. The wildflowers that grew like waves of color along the roads in Texas were an amazing part of Spring. The opening of trout season in Missouri with anglers “fishing” shoulder to shoulder, while odd, is an intrinsic part of Spring in the Ozarks in my mind. Finally, the Mardi Gras season in Louisiana (and Alabama since Mardi Gras in the US started there) and the community that forms around bringing a King Cake to the office every day are linked with Spring for me.
But Spring in Wisconsin is different and it has to do with the Winter we just went through. In the Winter many people up here do just like many people in the South do during the Summer. They hole up in the homes. This isn’t true of all. Lots of us loved the outdoors during the Winter. Still being outside in the Winter is different than the Spring (and Summer). You don’t really lounge around outside during the Winter, or if you do it doesn’t usually go that well. We enjoy Winter activities, but I am not sure that is the same as enjoying the Winter environment. That changes when Spring starts to show up. People get excited about the longer days and the warmer weather. I am typing this in Zest coffee shop while I wait on an appointment and I have already heard two people greet each other by saying something similar to ” Spring has finally arrived. Isn’t it wonderful.”
People in Wisconsin LOVE the Spring. When we moved to Wisconsin and Pam started working at UWSP she was told that at one time the university had an unofficial holiday called “50 degree day.” This was the first day of Spring that the outside temperature hit 50 degrees or more. All the professors would cancel class and/or the all the student would skip their classes and everyone would party on campus. Imagine 10,000 people celebrating the weather.
This still sort of happens. Yesterday everyone flooded outside. It is whats happens in Wisconsin when Spring starts to display itself. Everyone goes outside. Maybe they are running or biking. Lots of dogs are being walked. People work on cars and yards. Frisbees are thrown by grandparents and grandchildren. Supper becomes a house optional experience. Really, it feels like EVERYONE is outside. Yesterday while running I saw a couple of people who had actually moved their recliners outside. They were just sitting outside talking.
That’s what Spring feels like up here in Wisconsin. A time when everyone rushes outside for whatever reason they can think of and the roads feel kind of like a parade because of all the people walking around on them. The rush outside is infectious. Even tough the calendar says Spring started a few weeks back, yesterday it felt like it really had begun. Happy Spring.
