Meditations on ~ Hebrews 4:13-15 (New International Version)
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
~ I love this and at the same time this kind of freaks me out. I mean how many times I have done things that I now that no human knows but it still was not privet. I love the fact that God also see the evil and the injustice that occurs in life. It is comforting to know that God can see those times that the world fails to be fair. I also like the idea that when you do those things that is good and right even in the face of other choices. The last line is one that we need to keep in mind --- we will answer for our lives LIKE IT or NOT… we have a responsibility to live our life well!!
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
~ I at times like to think that Jesus is more than a friend someone that is very HOLY and keeping that supernatural even mysterious level of Spirituality alive. He is our High priest and as such we need to learn to heed his leadership as such.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
~ I like to think about this part of Jesus a lot. I know that I am human and how many times I have failed. Yet here is the statement that Jesus has been down the paths I have and did not fail. Yes, I know He was fully God and the idea that any temptations could have effected him I know ridicules. Yet if he was tempted that means he can understand the thought pattern that I face and at least why my human failures do occur. I think the human Jesus went through the mental anguish of being human so he could fully relate to each of us.
The high priest led the worship in the sanctuary; He presented the sacrifices to atone for people’s sin. Now Jesus leads us in worship for he is that which is to be worshiped and His one act of sacrifice for all time and for all sin!
This is very hard and inspiring --- much like the whole of the Christian faith Journey…
Monday, July 9, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Technology or humans?
An article in technology section in my local paper about the new ATM’s have me thinking about the way we humans are striving to replace ourselves. What is the reason we want to replace people like bank tellers and cashiers? Now do not get me wrong I am love technology. I mean I am writing this on my laptop that is connected to my wireless network that I have three other computer systems hooked up to. I have full digital cable and if I had the money I would have a wall mount plasma HDTV. I love technology but I want technology I control.
I went to the famous W-mart store the other day and there are eight self serve lines and they had people waiting to use them, while there were two cashiers with no one in line. I went to the cashier and asked if this happened often? She replied “not often but it does happen.” I could not help think about replacing six cashiers with computers. It only takes one person to run four self serve stations. That would work out to a lot of profit for a store, no doubt about that and I use them myself. I found myself looking at the cashier and wondering does this lady feel obsolete or on the edge of a computer replacing her.
The article on the new type of bank ATM said that will act much like the self check out. My bank’s ATM takes checks but it is with a deposit slip and then it has to be verified by humans. This new ATM will not need human approval it will read as many checks as you want to put into it and process them instantly. It will have full capabilities for you to do anything you need to do at a bank short of robbery. There go those jobs and those people!
I read online that there is a robot in Japan that is a dance instructor. It reacts to slightest movements of its “partner” and responds accordingly. They have it sort of human looking, sort of. They are planning on making its mate also. Well there go dance instructors and even more human contact! Not that I dance but some people can and want to learn. I understand the need for progress and the replacement of dangerous jobs like those on the bomb squad but what I am really having a hard time with mans drive to replace our selves in every jobs.
Where are we heading? Maybe we will get lucky and soon we will walk into our doctor’s office and sign into a machine and then step into another machine and it will scan us and dispense some medication or maybe a screen will flash “BEND OVER”! I do not really believe in alien probes BUT we could make it happen, if we keep up! Not to mention, being a man do not even want to think about a machine saying tune your head and cough!!!!
I see technology as a water fall we can not stop the flow but I fear there is a nasty fall coming and that fall is not good for man. In the Bible there is story about all the people got together and wanted to build a tower to heaven. The wanted to be united as one and build this amazing thing, God said NO, it was too dangerous. They did not know how the atmosphere worked and many would have died. So I wonder if we are “all” working on creating artificial inelegant computer that is smarter than we are, if God will spare man from himself again or will God let us have our own way this time?
I like people, I like talking to people, I fear mans drive to improve our lives is leading to a place where normal working class people will have no place to work. If they have no place to work where will they get money? If they have no money how does society support them? We need to keep progressing but we need to do so with thought about others and their lives.
Why are we driven to replace ourselves? Why are we driven to create a life form with out feeling or compassion? Do we see ourselves as failures and inefficient? Are we losing the ability to have compassion and feelings ourselves? I really am not sure I want to answer these questions because I am afraid of the answer! The Matrix my never be fully real but if continue in the path we are heading then what are we doing to ourselves? Where are we heading? I think we are much like those in the story of the tower of Babel in the Bible we all agree on improving technology but with out knowing why or what dangers we face. We have other people out there thinking about this – See the Matrix, I-Robot, and AI for movie examples. We could create a technologically advanced world or poverty ridden people.
Let us think about all this the next time we turn on our TOM-TOM or On-Star, the next time we surf the web on our I-Phone while waiting in line. Think about this as we let our cars park them selves, as we check out our own stuff a W-Mart or say good morning to an ATM as we make a deposit. I love technology but I also love people and I think we need to progress with a purpose and that purpose should be to love and help fellow humans not replace them.
I went to the famous W-mart store the other day and there are eight self serve lines and they had people waiting to use them, while there were two cashiers with no one in line. I went to the cashier and asked if this happened often? She replied “not often but it does happen.” I could not help think about replacing six cashiers with computers. It only takes one person to run four self serve stations. That would work out to a lot of profit for a store, no doubt about that and I use them myself. I found myself looking at the cashier and wondering does this lady feel obsolete or on the edge of a computer replacing her.
The article on the new type of bank ATM said that will act much like the self check out. My bank’s ATM takes checks but it is with a deposit slip and then it has to be verified by humans. This new ATM will not need human approval it will read as many checks as you want to put into it and process them instantly. It will have full capabilities for you to do anything you need to do at a bank short of robbery. There go those jobs and those people!
I read online that there is a robot in Japan that is a dance instructor. It reacts to slightest movements of its “partner” and responds accordingly. They have it sort of human looking, sort of. They are planning on making its mate also. Well there go dance instructors and even more human contact! Not that I dance but some people can and want to learn. I understand the need for progress and the replacement of dangerous jobs like those on the bomb squad but what I am really having a hard time with mans drive to replace our selves in every jobs.
Where are we heading? Maybe we will get lucky and soon we will walk into our doctor’s office and sign into a machine and then step into another machine and it will scan us and dispense some medication or maybe a screen will flash “BEND OVER”! I do not really believe in alien probes BUT we could make it happen, if we keep up! Not to mention, being a man do not even want to think about a machine saying tune your head and cough!!!!
I see technology as a water fall we can not stop the flow but I fear there is a nasty fall coming and that fall is not good for man. In the Bible there is story about all the people got together and wanted to build a tower to heaven. The wanted to be united as one and build this amazing thing, God said NO, it was too dangerous. They did not know how the atmosphere worked and many would have died. So I wonder if we are “all” working on creating artificial inelegant computer that is smarter than we are, if God will spare man from himself again or will God let us have our own way this time?
I like people, I like talking to people, I fear mans drive to improve our lives is leading to a place where normal working class people will have no place to work. If they have no place to work where will they get money? If they have no money how does society support them? We need to keep progressing but we need to do so with thought about others and their lives.
Why are we driven to replace ourselves? Why are we driven to create a life form with out feeling or compassion? Do we see ourselves as failures and inefficient? Are we losing the ability to have compassion and feelings ourselves? I really am not sure I want to answer these questions because I am afraid of the answer! The Matrix my never be fully real but if continue in the path we are heading then what are we doing to ourselves? Where are we heading? I think we are much like those in the story of the tower of Babel in the Bible we all agree on improving technology but with out knowing why or what dangers we face. We have other people out there thinking about this – See the Matrix, I-Robot, and AI for movie examples. We could create a technologically advanced world or poverty ridden people.
Let us think about all this the next time we turn on our TOM-TOM or On-Star, the next time we surf the web on our I-Phone while waiting in line. Think about this as we let our cars park them selves, as we check out our own stuff a W-Mart or say good morning to an ATM as we make a deposit. I love technology but I also love people and I think we need to progress with a purpose and that purpose should be to love and help fellow humans not replace them.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
WHAT ARE YOU?
Finding your path in this crazy world is like stumbling out of bed in the dark and finding your way to the bathroom. You are driven to move forward by a force that you can feel even though your body is not in a functional mode. You kind of know the path but you hit things with your arms and many time your pinky toe. If you took this same path during the day time you would never hurt yourself. In fact you would see everything that stood between you and you target.
Now if a person wanted to do this process logically one would awaken and sit on the side of the bed for a minute allowing there senses to gather and eyes adjust to the night or what light there was in the room. Then the trip to the bathroom would be uneventful and a lot less painful. What do we do though? We hop out of bed and force our way to the bathroom causing untold pain and destruction along the way.
Life reminds me of this process a lot of times. We are driven by a force to move forward to get to a destination. We do not really know where this destination is but we have to get there. We stumble through life finding ourselves and making a mess all along the way. I know I have kicked my life’s little toe many times!! Some call the destination the will of God for your life others call this your destiny. I have heard it said that to be happy one must follow the “will” of God or fulfill ones destiny. The thing that has always ticked me off about these people that say this is when you asked how they never had or have an answer. Oh they would have some platitude or brush off statement like “pray” “read the bible” “follow the Spirit” or “it will find you.” You know what that brakes down to? The highest form of BS.
We ask our children what do you want to be when you grow up and they have funny answers like a firefighter, a dog, or with my son a golfer. Never have I heard someone say I want to be a mid level manger that can be fired anytime or I want to be a miserable person that has had many “careers” while I find out who I am. Never do they say I want a job that I might not like but pays the bills. No they want to be something they find interesting, exciting and something they are interested in. What happens to these dreams and hopes? Why do they change? I know that children grow up and they develop understanding of how to become things such as doctor and it is hard. What if Michael Jorden had given up when cut from freshman year or Ronald Ragen had given up when not cast as lead in high school? These talented gifted men would have never become the historical figures they are today.
I think instead of struggling in the dark of life looking for who we are we need to see what we are. Are we a firefighter, a golfer, a doctor, a preacher, an artist etc… what are we? Is there anything that we are talented at that we can not become? See I grew up very poor I know that money can buy ones future but I can tell you that I have not got my BA and now close to my MA free or easy but I have done it and so can you.
The main thing is we also need to look at who we are not. I for example am not a chemist I have not got the talent for mixing things; I am not an investor I (sadly) do not have the ability to see money before it is made. There are many things I am not I just do not have the ability to do. I can learn and be ok at anything but it would be hard if not miserable for me to do so.
I have spent a lot of years trying to become a “preacher/pastor.” Why? Well I have the talent to teach things, anything that I can understand, I can relate back to others in a way they can grasp. I have the ability to care about others both physically and spiritually. I love to read and understand theology and things about God. So growing up in a very Pentecostal home that meant I was “called” to the ministry. To lead the lost home, to shepherd a part of Gods flock. What I realized just recently is that the gifts I have (what I am) do not correlate to the gifts one needs to do this job. I looked at the skills of most preachers/pastors they have an ability to motivate and lead people in projects and unity. They have the ability that others just naturally follow their lead. They have the ability to open spiritual conversation with non/un churched people and lead them to a relationship with Jesus. These are gifts I have never had.
I do have the ability to listen so I can help those (individuals and small groups) with personal problems, I can teach those looking for insight on theology or life issues, I can love those who are hurting, I can listen to those that need a compassionate ear. These are my gifts and I need to fully embrace them!
Remember all those people that said “all you have to do is follow the will of God? I do not want to be another one SO here is my thoughts on it --- There is a verse in the bible that says God will give you the desires of you heart. I do not think he was talking about cars and money. No I think he is talking about those things that motivate you, that drive you, which you feel fulfilled in. Many times in the Christian realm we think that the only real effective people for God are those that preach and teach and save the lost but think about it for minute. It is a kingdom; He needs teachers, garbage men/women cooks, maids, farmers, counselors, preachers, sales people, etc… He puts a desire in your heart for a reason that is for you to fulfill that is your place in His kingdom. We might all want to be special and WE are in God’s eyes for if we fulfill our part of the kingdom with joy and satisfaction than we have done the will of God for as we do his will we will change the Kingdom for the better.
For me the balance in this is/has been slow coming. I see now that while I can affect the Kingdom very much it will not be in the way that I have been taught, told, prophesied over, perhaps brain washed is a little strong but close. No, I have a part to play as a caring, loving person that loves God with his whole heart, mind and body. I can help people around me find answers for their troubles and pains. I can teach about the things I understand about God and life. This is not an easy thing to realize at 30+ years old. Yet on the other hand it feels good finding out what and who you are because then you can be happy following the masters plan for your life and just maybe aviosd kicking life’s pinky toe!
Now if a person wanted to do this process logically one would awaken and sit on the side of the bed for a minute allowing there senses to gather and eyes adjust to the night or what light there was in the room. Then the trip to the bathroom would be uneventful and a lot less painful. What do we do though? We hop out of bed and force our way to the bathroom causing untold pain and destruction along the way.
Life reminds me of this process a lot of times. We are driven by a force to move forward to get to a destination. We do not really know where this destination is but we have to get there. We stumble through life finding ourselves and making a mess all along the way. I know I have kicked my life’s little toe many times!! Some call the destination the will of God for your life others call this your destiny. I have heard it said that to be happy one must follow the “will” of God or fulfill ones destiny. The thing that has always ticked me off about these people that say this is when you asked how they never had or have an answer. Oh they would have some platitude or brush off statement like “pray” “read the bible” “follow the Spirit” or “it will find you.” You know what that brakes down to? The highest form of BS.
We ask our children what do you want to be when you grow up and they have funny answers like a firefighter, a dog, or with my son a golfer. Never have I heard someone say I want to be a mid level manger that can be fired anytime or I want to be a miserable person that has had many “careers” while I find out who I am. Never do they say I want a job that I might not like but pays the bills. No they want to be something they find interesting, exciting and something they are interested in. What happens to these dreams and hopes? Why do they change? I know that children grow up and they develop understanding of how to become things such as doctor and it is hard. What if Michael Jorden had given up when cut from freshman year or Ronald Ragen had given up when not cast as lead in high school? These talented gifted men would have never become the historical figures they are today.
I think instead of struggling in the dark of life looking for who we are we need to see what we are. Are we a firefighter, a golfer, a doctor, a preacher, an artist etc… what are we? Is there anything that we are talented at that we can not become? See I grew up very poor I know that money can buy ones future but I can tell you that I have not got my BA and now close to my MA free or easy but I have done it and so can you.
The main thing is we also need to look at who we are not. I for example am not a chemist I have not got the talent for mixing things; I am not an investor I (sadly) do not have the ability to see money before it is made. There are many things I am not I just do not have the ability to do. I can learn and be ok at anything but it would be hard if not miserable for me to do so.
I have spent a lot of years trying to become a “preacher/pastor.” Why? Well I have the talent to teach things, anything that I can understand, I can relate back to others in a way they can grasp. I have the ability to care about others both physically and spiritually. I love to read and understand theology and things about God. So growing up in a very Pentecostal home that meant I was “called” to the ministry. To lead the lost home, to shepherd a part of Gods flock. What I realized just recently is that the gifts I have (what I am) do not correlate to the gifts one needs to do this job. I looked at the skills of most preachers/pastors they have an ability to motivate and lead people in projects and unity. They have the ability that others just naturally follow their lead. They have the ability to open spiritual conversation with non/un churched people and lead them to a relationship with Jesus. These are gifts I have never had.
I do have the ability to listen so I can help those (individuals and small groups) with personal problems, I can teach those looking for insight on theology or life issues, I can love those who are hurting, I can listen to those that need a compassionate ear. These are my gifts and I need to fully embrace them!
Remember all those people that said “all you have to do is follow the will of God? I do not want to be another one SO here is my thoughts on it --- There is a verse in the bible that says God will give you the desires of you heart. I do not think he was talking about cars and money. No I think he is talking about those things that motivate you, that drive you, which you feel fulfilled in. Many times in the Christian realm we think that the only real effective people for God are those that preach and teach and save the lost but think about it for minute. It is a kingdom; He needs teachers, garbage men/women cooks, maids, farmers, counselors, preachers, sales people, etc… He puts a desire in your heart for a reason that is for you to fulfill that is your place in His kingdom. We might all want to be special and WE are in God’s eyes for if we fulfill our part of the kingdom with joy and satisfaction than we have done the will of God for as we do his will we will change the Kingdom for the better.
For me the balance in this is/has been slow coming. I see now that while I can affect the Kingdom very much it will not be in the way that I have been taught, told, prophesied over, perhaps brain washed is a little strong but close. No, I have a part to play as a caring, loving person that loves God with his whole heart, mind and body. I can help people around me find answers for their troubles and pains. I can teach about the things I understand about God and life. This is not an easy thing to realize at 30+ years old. Yet on the other hand it feels good finding out what and who you are because then you can be happy following the masters plan for your life and just maybe aviosd kicking life’s pinky toe!
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