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| That's the problem with posting once a week... each time, I end up with
five completely different things to share, and have to stick them all
in one post.
This last week:
I've discovered that "Quantum
Leap" was another good thing that came out of the '80s... somehow I
missed it the first time around.
We made some more good progress on my project at work! Always a good feeling.
I
played with Lego again! This time, with Ben S., Bart, Josiah, Tessa,
Matthew J., and even Colleen and Kristin. Check out our table
o'creations:
Josiah
apparently grew up with a careful and well-thought-out approach to
Legos... he showed me the brilliant idea of dumping the Legos on a
towel on the floor, making cleanup much easier, and allowing for more
piece-finding surface area. Yay Josiah!
And, Ben C's
birthday was Saturday - it was a grand gathering of graceful glad girls
and boisterous boys. Lots of fun was had by all, and at least 3 people
were showered. Including Mina, for the first time. He had it coming.
 I was excited to be around for the party. Yay Claremont!
Lastly, this is a well-written article on the "New Atheism." http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,71985-0.html?tw=rss.index
I have a lot I could say about this. First, read it, it's good stuff, I promise.
I like what he has to say about "certainty."
The fundamentalist christians have it... and yet their faith seems
shallow, Pharisaical, and sensationalist. The "New Atheists" have it...
and they come off as lovers of themselves: arrogant, boring, and
falsely intellectual. Both rub the author the wrong way... and rightly
so! Insincere faith and sincere error are both somehow nauseating to
anyone who has given their spirituality a second glance. To both we
must say, "look harder! If you believe, why? If not, why? Can you honestly be a whole person, and wholly satisfied, where you are?"
Faith is weak in those who need certainties. The Christians who read
this may say, "what?" at this point. But God is not insecure. He's not
in the business of giving out proof any more than he already has. And
the whole idea of a Christian's walk with God is the process of
becoming more confident that God IS, as we lean upon his love and the
things he says, and as we get to know him and love him better... but I
don't think God ever lets us be certain. He is always faithful; he'll
never forsake us, and this cosmic war has a definite way it will end,
but he wants people who will love him and trust him even when things
look darkest.
So you will go through dark times - if you are blessed.
And if you have never questioned your faith, if you have never once thought, "do I know that?", and if you have never realized that every single day
you must make the choice, saying, "there is no way I can know for sure
I am right, or that things will turn out peachy, but I will lean on
what I think is true of You" - then you are missing out.
The true
Christian has tasted and seen that when you lean on God and Jesus,
things do happen, and there is a peace there that is beyond any
understanding. The Atheist makes the choice that what is true is that
there is no God... and I imagine he is rarely surprised to find God
absent from his life. The agnostic, though, never knows the fullness or
emptiness of either. Similarly, some modern christians never really go
out on a limb to take God at his word, and they wonder why their
persecution takes the form of ridicule, and why Christianity has such a
bad name despite figures like MLK Jr., Ma Teresa, and Bono being so
widely respected.
Whew.
I've had plenty of other thoughts
fluttering through my head lately - about blessings and cursings, about
social justice at IV: Claremont, and about whether or not my cell phone
is broken. (call, people!)
Much love to you all! Love above
all - it's what atheists forget about, it's what agnostics have trouble
accepting, and it's what every person has been given freely by God. | | |
| Well, in the interests of balancing out the last post somewhat, on the
plus side, I'm: funny, patient, caring, and trusting. I'm peace-loving
and gracious, helpful and generous.
So there.
It's
just that I imagine that of the people reading this, I'm the one most
frustrated to see me yet again (still?) in a place of not being happy
with myself and lacking confidence. | | |
| I feel like I shoot myself in the foot. I am a very open guy... which
is a good thing. But who wants to be with a guy who doesn't have some
air of mystery? One can't idealize somebody you know already.
Similarly,
I'm stable. I have a job, car, and place to live... none of which I'm
excited about. How should I expect somebody else to be excited about
sharing this life with me? I want to have adventures that don't consist
just of my car breaking down. I want something both exciting and good,
but that may be too much to ask. In talking to my sister, I realized
that I have another 5 or 10 years to wait before just "being stable"
becomes attractive to anybody. And yeah, I'm not even sure I want it
for myself.
Which brings me to: lastly, I'm not too fond of
myself. I don't exercise much, but I haven't found anything that would
motivate me to do so except just for the sake of maybe being more(?)
attractive. I'd like romance in my life, but I can't dance, I always
say the exact wrong thing, and work keeps me pretty darn busy and
tired. I have a lot of bad habits... how should I expect anybody to
want to want to deal with me and all my baggage? I don't even know
where I'm going in life or what God has been up to over the last few
years (though it's not for lack of asking). On the plus side, I always
count it as a great blessing whenever people can be patient with me and
can look past all this junk (which, ironically, includes my
semi-depressed ramblings like this one).
At least I know Jesus
loves me. I may have no plans, no ambition, and no special skills,
talents, or attractiveness... but at least I have some hope of life and
love with God. That's already way more than I deserve. So life is
livable, at least, even if it's just me being spent for the sake of
others and for the sake of somehow God being glorified in my weakness
and failures. It may be broken and crappy, but at least He says it will
not be futile or unbearable. | | |
| 1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll challenge you to try something.
3. I'll pick a color that associates with you.
4. I'll tell you something I like about you.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest/funniest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours
Ahah! now it is posted here.
Mainly I use my Blogger blog now but I suppose if you leave me a comment here I'll see that too. Have a good one!
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| The balance of power has shifted...
towards friends of mine who have LJs vs. Xangas. So expect more frequent postings over at Chemist4Him (on LJ) rather than here. Go there and identify my lyric quotes! And read about my car getting broken into.
Laterz,
+Jordan
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