Lost in de Dust

It was quite windy even more than usual today.

Trees were blowing all around
Some fell on the ground
Crash what was that awful sound

As the wind persistently blew, the front moved along. The closer it got, the more it looked like rain and cloud. But alas, it was upon us and no water fell on us. It was a sand front. Not to be confused with a sand storm. But I guess they both occur with the same frequency in these parts. The air was thick like fog. You could not see far and the dust collected in the nose and on the car. As evening arose the sky was aglow.

defeat

Do not set yourself up for defeat. The innovator, Henry Ford, said "Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right." Of course we do not set ourselves up for defeat; or do we? Sometimes we may think along these lines, "Well, I will try it and see what happens." We are not really sure of ourselves here. Being setup for defeat goes a little deeper. We are not only unsure but lack faith. Also, we should not set ourselves up for defeat in spiritual or religious matters. This often times comes as disappointment. Disappointment comes when our expectations or hopes were not met. If we attempt something thinking that we cannot win but still expect to win then we certainly will be disappointed. Also, if we really think about it, we might be a little puzzled. Why would we expect to win while setting ourselves up for defeat.

Here is a physical example:
You are out on the soccer field kicking the ball. You are hoping to get the ball into the net. You are by yourself so there is not a goalie to block the attempt. At this point, you are probably not only hoping but expecting to get the ball into the net. So you get ready and then launch the ball with your foot. The ball goes towards the goal but not quite enough for it to go in the net. So you are a bit disappointed. Now, take a look at yourself. It is often said that where your shoulders are pointing, there the ball will go. So, look at your shoulders. You see that they were not pointing toward the goal. You set yourself up for defeat while expecting to win.

There is of course a way to work within this. You can of course launch the ball and then look at yourself and then correct appropriately. Or you could examine before acting. Before kicking the ball, stop and think. "Okay, there is the goal, align my shoulders with it.." Then launch the ball. Think about the goal, what you have to do to make it, and then do it.

Back in Time

I feel as though I am gone back in time; well, kind of. Back in the day, I spent hours at my computer waiting for things to happen. As the years flowed by I spent more and more time doing stuff at the computer. But now, both are occurring. One would expect to spend less time waiting for stuff to happen. But that is just not the case. Windows startup times of 5-minutes or more are back. Waiting minutes to get on the internet is once again prevalent. But now, it is more frustrating than back in the day. Back then you knew why. The computer had a processor speed of less than 100 MHz. Also, the modem was less than 1200 bauds so it was perceivably slow. But now with super fast processors superfluous internet connections, why the wait???

If you can read this, then your browser is not translating properly.....

They Did What??

I had some time on my hands this weekend so I went out in search of a shopping establishment of my choice. I am not advertising for them so I will not insert a name or plug for said company. I have been looking for such a store for a week or two . I tried Google maps and they listed one in town. So I drove over there. To my dismay it was long closed. So I tried an online yellow pages. I got multiple listings that just did not exist. In one instance, there is no such street number on that road. In another, it is just a field and has been for a very long time. It just boggles my mind why they have such incorrect and misleading information.

Whilst driving around, I saw a church; coincidently I saw countless churches. This church had an interesting name, Overcoming Faith. It is a nondenominational church. Hence it makes one to wonder whether the first word is a verb or adjective. They could be focused on faith and the building up of such as the faith overcomes one. Or, they could be focused on dismantling basic faith in Jesus Christ such as get over (or past) faith. It could go both ways and may possibly go the second way. This may be even more reinforced after reading the next paragraph.

I saw this humongous church aside the highway. It had a semi-trailer for an advertisement in the parking lot and the trailer looked small in comparison to the rest. The advertisement was for some gospel music singing to go on that night. I enjoy such so I decided to go. Coincidently, the radio was promoting for the show. After the morning service, the radio station was on location broadcasting and whatnot. In the naming of the church and giving its location the value of the property was given. Like it all went together. Now, I should have been a bit skeptical at this point. But I was interested in the coming praising of the Lord and looked past some of the foibles of human-types. I was taken aback when I went to the church that evening. They were charging admission to get into church that evening. I felt that this was terrible! Charging folks to get into church?

In Acts 19:23-41, Paul is prevented from speaking and taken by the local leaders to give an account. His open preaching of the Gospel prevented certain craftsmen from producing wealth from common people's religion.

Acts 8:18-24 tells of where Simon was rebuked for wanting to buy spiritual gifts from God.

Note: The church mentioned in paragraph two clarifies the grammatical usage of the first word in their title. They neither choose adjective or verb but something more confusing. They describe like it is a verb but label it differently so they can be straightforward without being overtly misleading.

So its Va Hockey Day

So I tune in to my favorite teams game tonight. I pleasurably discover that they played a solid game and are leading going into the last period. Last period half over, still playing well. Then, that's it! They let the game go. The announcer even proclaimed that rigor mortis had set in on the team. They just give the game away in the last 10 minutes for no reason.

Am I looking at it wrong? Should I be happy that my team was winning and playing for almost all of the game? Or should I let reality sink in and realize that they schlubbed the end of the game. Because afterall, it is how you finish that counts right? If I have an 'A' in my Phonology course (which I currently do cause we've only had 1 assignment as of yet) for a good deal of the semester but then at the end have an 'F', then I do fail. All of the doing well just does not count.

Kind reminds me of life. You can be 'good' all of your life but mess it up and then check out. All of the good just did not amount to a hill of beans (which will not do you any good in the hereafter anyway).

Jumalateenistus Avec Psalmos

And to think of things that boggle the mind. The Psalms are divine ryhmes of praise and inspiration. Well, in the original Hebrew they were. They were not just read aloud in that confused monotone speech that one might hear it in now. No, in the Hebrew they are versed to be sung or in a singing-like manner. Most folks maintain that this cannot be translated over into other languages. Study the Bible in school and that is what you hear. But some folks just do not listen. Brenda Boerger has done some wonderful translating over into English of the Psalms. She is not the only one to translate Biblical Poetry into other languages. But she did share in Chapel today and then later in an academic forum go into more the details of translating them. It was great to sing out the Psalms in a meaningful manner that was relevant to the original meaning.

Some folks are up for a challenge. Sometimes that challenge just pays off. And sometimes it may not seem like the challenge is going anywhere but to bury you. But seeing the goodness of some endeavors is good enough to cause one to look up and push on through and the unimaginable.

A Dog's Life?

You always thought that dogs had it easy.. Welcome to my world.

This is what I feel like. Always mulling over complexities in my mind. Also just mulling over engineering related items as well. Always have to figure the dynamic loading on the floor joists upon walking in a room. Or to calculate what is the safe weight, and thus the amount of overloading, of the stage at chapel.

Just something to think about. Even though some other may look like they got it easy or in simplicity; you just might be surprised....

Wandering Through Life...

What is this that we wander around so. It is quite overwhelming or perhaps enamoring. We can be saved yet still can wander. No longer lost but like sheep without a master wandering to and fro. But we do have a master, great and powerful, true and holy.

To speak of other continuing elements of this world to which we most fall prey. Enamorment with a certain other than our own. Why do we get enveloped so? In the midst of our running to and fro we see some other and drop our step. Some flush profusely and others connive endlessly. Our minds step into high gear with hopings and plannings of something so dear. But to our dismay, unnoticed we go by the derailer of our day. We try and we hope and some even pray. For these things we think good, however evil or sweet our minds might be. For at times we have a short wait and others a long strife. But come it does and dreams are crushed. Dreams, like their namesake, are built on dreams, not elements founded in reality. Crashing through our lives this hope turns to torment. We live yes, but wonder how and why and even if it is worth doing so. But time, the nocturnal enemy, always slips by. Whether through our fingers or hair, gone it must be. Though for some short and others long, a memory our shattered dream has become.

One might think to stop here, but no, on the charade goes. Visions of fancy must again dance through the stage of our minds and play out in some way in our lives. Again, only to be built up and torn down with rue. But we yet continue. Continue to advance we perceive. Where, we are not quite sure but still we know we are travelling onward.

But back to the start. Where are we at? Still proceeding to some goal? Well yes, actually. After all, we are chasing something that is only in our minds but echoes in this world. That is why we never arrive nor grasp. That is why we wander around in the world so lost.

Happy?

Without strong affection and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that Being whose code is Mercy, and whose great attribute is Benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained.

Oliver Twist
by: Charles Dickens

Great quote from long ago. Also great truth is contained in that sentence. How can we be happy apart from our Creator and life giver?

Ohhh, Linguistics!