All the Tea in China

Well, I suppose I need to take the pledge.  No, no, not THAT one!  I’m talking about the no-political-comments-on-Facebook pledge.  You see, I have a lot of conservative friends.  And I am finding myself not quite in agreement with them sometimes.  One of the things I do not like is the tendency to get personal…calling candidates names…posting things that are only half true that were dredged up from some talking head web site.

Yes, I know, I’ve been guilty of some of that.  And I repent in dust and ashes.  My sister, bless her heart, has taken a one month sabbatical from Facebook all together.  She’s due to come back on October 1.  She’s a brave woman…for coming back after having the peace of not having to deal with some of what goes on there.

So, henceforth, I will do my best to shut my mouth (figuratively speaking) when faced with the prospect of posting something political in nature on my wall.  I do not promise to entirely refrain from posting a comment on someone else’s post, but will try to limit that as much as possible.

You see, it is so easy to say things on Facebook that just aren’t in accord with the plain teaching I find in the Bible.  I won’t bore you with references.  Suffice it to say that our speech, if we are Christ-followers, is to be “with grace,” “seasoned, as it were, with salt,” and is to be spoken “in love.”  We are to respect others, honor those in authority over us, and love our neighbor (everyone besides ourselves) as we do ourselves.  We are to watch diligently that we don’t let our tongues get the best of us.  Our tongue, the Good Book says, “is a fire, the very world of iniquity.”  We are to “let no unwholesome word proceed from (our) mouth(s), but only such a word as is good for edification…that it may give grace to those who hear.”  There is to be “no filthiness, silliness, or coarse talk” among us.  We are to “put aside” abusive speech.  And we know that Jesus himself said that “the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”

Speech that is written, electronically produced, reproduced, spoken, acted out, or whatever, is still speech…words…communication…and is subject to the paragraph above, in my view.  So I take the pledge, knowing I will fail, and sometimes fail miserably.  Yet I also know that the One who gave me the words above will see me through, will forgive, will enable, will still love me.  And that, my friend, is better than all the tea in China.

The Grandfather Clock

At the church building where I work, there is a grandfather clock in the library.  It was donated to the church in memory of a loved-one, and was built by hand (possibly from a kit) by the donor.  It’s a beautiful time piece and one can tell just by looking that lots of love went into the making of the clock.

I like grandfather clocks.  I don’t know why, but there seems to be a kind of magical quality about them that intrigues me.  The strikes of the chimes on the quarter hour are a source of peace to me, and the announcement of the hour brings warm feelings.  One of these days, I’m going to hopefully have one that will serve me the rest of my days and continue to serve whoever gets it after I no longer need it.

The clock had not run, however, since we started coming some six or so years ago.  I had always wondered about the clock; whether or not it was broken, why it wasn’t running, and whether I could try to get it going.  I talked with our lead preacher, who told me to go ahead and see what I could do with it.

I scooted the clock away from the wall and opened the back.  Seeing nothing to indicate anything broken or bad, I went ahead and wound it, started the pendulum, adjusted the feet of the clock so it was somewhat level, and left it.

Coming back a couple of hours later, the clock was still ticking and was keeping good time.  I put the clock back to the wall, continued with some finer adjustments through a couple of side doors to the mechanism, and set the time.  I also worked to make the chimes accurate with the time shown on the hands.

I only wish the clock would be somewhere where I could hear it through the day as I work here.  It’s in another room a couple of walls away, and there’s no way the chimes can penetrate through them.  I do, however, check in so to speak, with the clock to make sure it’s running and accurate.  I continue to tweak the pendulum speed to make it as accurate as possible.

I don’t know that there is any great life lesson in this little story.  Sometimes, things just are what they are.  Oh, I suppose I could wax eloquent about the passing of time or the love of the one who created the clock; or perhaps I could go into that old story about, “Did that clock just come together by chance, or was there a creator and designer?”  But I’m not going to do that today.  I’ll let you figure out any life lessons there may be for you, and I’m going to be satisfied with the knowledge that a grandfather clock that was silent for several years is running again and keeping time…whether anyone is in the room to hear and see it or not.  That will be enough for me.

What Do You Thnk We Should Do?

Well, I see that someone has looted and sacked the American Embassy in Libya and killed at least three people, including our ambassador.  And I imagine there will be all kinds of spiteful and even hateful comments from some of our number regarding the supposed impotence of the current administration…there always is.

I want you to know now that I do not take lightly the taking of a life, however it may happen.  The attack was abhorrent and totally unnecessary and evil.

Having said that, I also want to say that these things happen.  In my lifetime, I am guessing that an American Embassy has been attacked and on the news probably 10 times.  Other nations have had their embassies attacked as well.  It’s not a common event, but it’s also not unheard-of.  And it happens regardless of which political party is in office.  See the following website for information on attacks on Americans and American embassies.  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001454.html

I am just as concerned about things like the woman who pottied her twin girls in public in a restaurant at a table while they were eating.  http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2012/09/05/utah-mother-caught-potty-training-daughters-at-restaurant-dining-table/  Or the man and woman who pulled into a rest area, got out of their vehicle, and bathroomed right there in the parking area when the restroom was just a few feet away (according to my cousin, an eyewitness).

Incidents like these (and they aren’t all “potty” incidents) tell me that some among us have less than an adequate understanding of how to take care of even the basic needs of humans.  If we can’t appropriately relieve ourselves, can we really expect that we will be able to feed ourselves, house ourselves, care for our health, and raise families within the norms of society?

We live in a broken and sinful world.  We know that.  We know that things happen that are sick, abhorrent, and evil.  And the continuous news cycle of the Internet and cable TV brings home more of this kind of stuff than we really want to know and certainly much more than we used to be aware of.  Yet my guess is that things aren’t all that different from years ago…we just hear about it more often.

The wise man of the Old Testament, Solomon, said that there is nothing new under the sun.  He’s right, of course.  Those things we abhor today are the same things that have been going on (and have been abhorred by decent people) for centuries and eons.  People will always amaze us with their lack of social graces, uncouth behavior, and sinful lifestyles.  So what are we as Christians to do?

We could wring our hands and worry ourselves to death.  Or we could write vitriolic posts on Facebook and talk about how bad the current administration (whatever the political stripe is) is handling things.  We could call down fire and brimstone (so to speak) on those infidels who have done these things to us (eye for an eye).  We could talk about those who are uncouth and sinful as moronic, imbecilic, and evil.  Or we could do what Jesus said and love our enemies, do good to those who spitefully use us, love our neighbor, go the second mile, turn the other cheek, pray for those who are against us, offer a cup of cold water in His name, and go into all the world and preach the gospel.

What do you think we should do?

Content to Listen

Our church custodian likes to play music when he’s working in an area.  Most of the time he has some kind of Simon and Garfunkel CD in his player, and has it turned up relatively loud as he works in large areas and is somewhat hard of hearing to boot.  I enjoy hearing snippets of songs I’ve known for many, many years and sometimes just hang around until a song is finished.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have had a storied and wildly successful career.  Starting in the days of Greenwich Village and the folk era, (discounting a stint they did in the late 50’s), they have managed to make themselves a sound unto themselves and have forever changed the landscape of music from that time to this.  Other than Peter, Paul, and Mary, this duo is probably the most recognized and the most revered in the folk genre coming from that era.

Recently, I purchased a DVD which gave the background to several of the songs that they made famous.  The DVD consisted of interviews of the two and interviews with others associated with them, as well as parts of live performances and studio stints.  One of the things I was struck by was the extraordinary lengths they would go to in order to get a certain sound.  Everything from using an orchestra to recording in a cathedral was used in their songs.  They would take great pains to make sure it was just right.

By far most of us who have listened to their songs don’t have a clue what they did, how they did it, or the extreme lengths they went to at times to obtain the recording as it is.  And that’s OK.  Suffice it to say that there is something magical and special about many of their songs that have caused them to endure these many years.  And that magical-ness may well be those extra touches they put to the recordings.

Garfunkel performed in Wichita recently.  Sadly, I didn’t have the money to spend on tickets for the performance.  I’ll be content, however, to occasionally listen to the wafting of a CD as it plays “The Boxer” or “Scarborough Fair.”

More Fascinating Scientific Facts

Every once in awhile I regale you with things I find that are unusual, weird, or just plain fantastic.  So it is today.  There are several facts of a scientific nature below that I’ve found (on the Internet, of course).  Enjoy.

1. There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body – laid end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times.

2. At over 2000 kilometers long, The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth.

3. The risk of being struck by a falling meteorite for a human is one occurrence every 9,300 years.

4. A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons.

5. A typical hurricane produces the energy equivalent of 8,000 one megaton bombs.

6.  The highest speed ever achieved on a bicycle is 166.94 mph, by Fred Rompelberg.

7. We can produce laser light a million times brighter than sunshine.

8. The combined length of the roots of a Finnish pine tree is over 30 miles.

9. The oceans contain enough salt to cover all the continents to a depth of nearly 500 feet.

10. The interstellar gas cloud Sagittarius B contains a billion, billion, billion liters of alcohol.

11. Polar Bears can run at 25 miles an hour and jump over 6 feet in the air.

12. Polar bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras, due to their white fur with great insulating capacities..

13. The average person accidentally eats 430 bugs each year of their life.

14. A single rye plant can spread up to 400 miles of roots underground.

15. The temperature on the surface of Mercury exceeds 430 degrees C during the day, and, at night, plummets to minus 180 degrees centigrade.

16. The evaporation from a large oak or beech tree is from ten to twenty-five gallons in twenty-four hours.

17. Butterflies taste with their hind feet, and their taste sensation works on touch – this allows them to determine whether a leaf is edible.

What We Really Need to Know

I think it’s time, this political season, to recall some basic things we all learned (or should have learned) at a very young age.  These are things that should guide our thinking, behavior, and relationships.  They are at the core of who we are (or should be) and deserve our attention and adherence.  They help us make the world a better place for our having been here.  Perhaps we should even use these things to help us make our decisions on who we will cast our vote for in the upcoming elections, based on how well we think the candidate adheres to these basics.

And we can, as adults, expand on the concepts as we consider them.  For example, number 8 implies the availability of clean water and food.  Is the candidate grateful for that availability in his/her life, and is he/she mindful in a useful and positive way toward those who do not have that availability?  You can expand many of these in similar ways.

They are things we learned at a young age, as written in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. Clean up your own mess.
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play  and work every day some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
    hold hands, and stick together.