Christmas ...
celebrations with family and friends...
silver and gold, red and green...
pink and purple.
DO WHAT?!?!?!
Yep. Pink and purple.
Despite the good sense of EVERYONE who has learned their colors, shapes and numbers, and who no longer requires the use of a sippy cup - oh no, to the contrary - we are to decorate the tree in the festive traditional holiday colors of Pepto-Bismol pink and Royal Crown whiskey purple.
Uh, not so much.
Despite the information being given to us all at allegedly the same time, when I was finally able to reach the people in charge, we were left with the loathsome choices of orange and brown (who in the Deep South decorates a tree to look like a football team from Yankee country?) or the delightfully aforementioned "pepto pink" and "slipped on the porcelain purple".
We are stuck with the pink and purple.
While Barbie accessories may indeed be festooned in enough pink to make the folks at the Pepto company wonder where all of the red dye went, there are not shelves and shelves of holiday ornamentation colored to resemble the remedy for barf.
Who'da thunk?
And purple... well, it also required more than one scouting trip to discover a shade of purple that didn't require a bag of frozen peas to take down the swelling.
But today, through skillful manipulations of how in the heck all of this shall come together in a tree that will NOT inspire the gag reflex, success occured. And all for around $100 bucks.
Now, it all boils down to December 9th and the unenviable task of coordinating the aforementioned decorations on the tree to resemble not so much a night of excess at Studio 54 under the disco lights, but a tree to commemorate our feelings on the Savior's birth.
I don't even believe the Wise Men showed up in these colors unless we have been woefully uninformed about a local burlesque review.
But undaunted, the calendar is marked and hopes remain high that a monsoon will sweep away all of the other trees leaving the monument to "Las Vegas chic" in place as the only tree in the building.
Either that or we will be require to make a substantial investment in dark glasses and
"spontaneous" power outages when people approach the said tree.
You'll know the tree when you see it, if you get to see it. It will be the one that should be next to the rundown, velveeta box on wheels down in the Dogpatch trailer court.
Merry Christmas, y'all!
November 13, 2008
November 12, 2008
Jumping the Shark
By now, this term has become part of our collective lexicon. It harks back to an episode near the end of the series run for "Happy Days".
Most everyone knows that to say something has 'jumped the shark' means that you have lost complete focus and are making a desperate bid to keep things going when everyone around you knows that a graceful exit would have made more sense.
I fear our national morality has jumped the shark and gone back for seconds.
I don't want to preach. I leave that to people more erudite and credible.
But I am concerned that the shark jumping has reached epidemic proportions.
We destroy ourselves by degrees, administering to ourselves and our nation the slow poison of decay and destruction from within.
I read a really good item from some old newspaper clippings that were in my Aunt's household items as we helped to sort and organize her no longer needed goods.
It was a bold reminder that appetites and passions can lead to the undoing of us all if not checked by boundaries and held in reserve for the right purposes.
Here is the article:
Twelve Rules For Raising Delinquent Children
1. Begin in infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way, he will grow to believe the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute. It will also encourage him to pick up 'cuter' phrases that will blow off the top of your head later.
3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait till he's 21 and then let him 'decide for himself'.
4. Avoid the use of the word 'wrong'. It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe, later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around - - books, shoes and clothing. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility onto others.
6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful that the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feast on garbage.
7. Quarrel frequently in front of your children. In this way, he will not be too shocked when his home is broken up later.
8. Give a child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them?
9. Satisfy his every carving for food, drink and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustration.
10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers and policeman. They are all prejudiced against your child.
11. When he gets into real trouble, apologize for yourself by saying 'I never could do anything with him'.
12. Prepare yourself for a life of grief. You will be apt to have it.
[FROM THE HOUSTON, TEXAS POLICE DEPARTMENT - 1959]
It's funny, the time has gone by and we are almost 50 years from the time this was written.
Critics would claim that every generation of youth was decried by the previous one as being off the mark, but the truth is, with every passing generation we have accepted things as being okay which really aren't.
In the name of 'getting along' and 'free choice', we have legislated all kinds of sin.
Shame has disappeared as a motivation for change. We don't want to hurt someone's feelings by making them feel bad for their choices. The end result is that without shame, they choose even worse things at every turn of the screw.
Eventually, society 'jumps the shark'. We are derailed from our ambitions by our own lack of personal self-control. We are removed from opportunity, not because there is something preventing us from succeeding, but because we have chosen willingly to thwart ourselves.
Our society now rewards laziness as if it is some delightful new virtue. We pay corrupt businessmen for making lies seem plausible. We celebrate sin as if it is not a big deal and that those who don't see it the way that is the politically correct form for the day are somehow bigots.
It's time for a rewind, rewrite and do over.
We can't erase the past, but we can change gears and avoid the continued opportunity to pass over the shark in hopes that today won't be the day he jumps up and bites us in the butt with the natural consequences of stupid choices.
Just thinking while doing a bit of surfing this morning...
Most everyone knows that to say something has 'jumped the shark' means that you have lost complete focus and are making a desperate bid to keep things going when everyone around you knows that a graceful exit would have made more sense.
I fear our national morality has jumped the shark and gone back for seconds.
I don't want to preach. I leave that to people more erudite and credible.
But I am concerned that the shark jumping has reached epidemic proportions.
We destroy ourselves by degrees, administering to ourselves and our nation the slow poison of decay and destruction from within.
I read a really good item from some old newspaper clippings that were in my Aunt's household items as we helped to sort and organize her no longer needed goods.
It was a bold reminder that appetites and passions can lead to the undoing of us all if not checked by boundaries and held in reserve for the right purposes.
Here is the article:
Twelve Rules For Raising Delinquent Children
1. Begin in infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way, he will grow to believe the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute. It will also encourage him to pick up 'cuter' phrases that will blow off the top of your head later.
3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait till he's 21 and then let him 'decide for himself'.
4. Avoid the use of the word 'wrong'. It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe, later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around - - books, shoes and clothing. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility onto others.
6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful that the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feast on garbage.
7. Quarrel frequently in front of your children. In this way, he will not be too shocked when his home is broken up later.
8. Give a child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them?
9. Satisfy his every carving for food, drink and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustration.
10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers and policeman. They are all prejudiced against your child.
11. When he gets into real trouble, apologize for yourself by saying 'I never could do anything with him'.
12. Prepare yourself for a life of grief. You will be apt to have it.
[FROM THE HOUSTON, TEXAS POLICE DEPARTMENT - 1959]
It's funny, the time has gone by and we are almost 50 years from the time this was written.
Critics would claim that every generation of youth was decried by the previous one as being off the mark, but the truth is, with every passing generation we have accepted things as being okay which really aren't.
In the name of 'getting along' and 'free choice', we have legislated all kinds of sin.
Shame has disappeared as a motivation for change. We don't want to hurt someone's feelings by making them feel bad for their choices. The end result is that without shame, they choose even worse things at every turn of the screw.
Eventually, society 'jumps the shark'. We are derailed from our ambitions by our own lack of personal self-control. We are removed from opportunity, not because there is something preventing us from succeeding, but because we have chosen willingly to thwart ourselves.
Our society now rewards laziness as if it is some delightful new virtue. We pay corrupt businessmen for making lies seem plausible. We celebrate sin as if it is not a big deal and that those who don't see it the way that is the politically correct form for the day are somehow bigots.
It's time for a rewind, rewrite and do over.
We can't erase the past, but we can change gears and avoid the continued opportunity to pass over the shark in hopes that today won't be the day he jumps up and bites us in the butt with the natural consequences of stupid choices.
Just thinking while doing a bit of surfing this morning...
November 10, 2008
Pillar of Salt
I don't know why, but this particular day, the idea of someone turning into a pillar of salt seemed to be one random thought that wouldn't leave. Salt is an essential element to our bodies, not enough and you can't function well, too much and it functions poorly in other ways. It requires balance.
Here are some salt facts: (trust me, there is a point - besides the one on my head!)
SOURCE: http://www.healthmad.com/Nutrition/Important-Things-You-May-Not-Know-Regarding-Common-Salt.32582
When fire and brimstone rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, it wasn't because the people didn't all have the same rights and privileges. Lot's wife wasn't turned into a pillar of salt because her civil rights were violated. They chose to misuse their God-given agency and put themselves into peril.
Both of these happened because the people chose to 'lose their savor', they had chosen to become 'good for nothing but to be trodden under foot of men'. I don't hash through this. If the Bible said she was turned into a pillar of salt, she was.
But what a deficit she left in the lives of her family members who had to go on without her!
An interesting point I read on another website about this was that Lot's wife looking back wasn't an isolated moment of weakness, but rather a visible representation of a life which was focused on the things of the world instead of the things of God.
I think that may be more true than most of us realize. We don't tend to slip into sin and corruption overnight. It's an insidious process that takes time. The flaxen cords which bind so lightly at first become heavy chains from which escape may be genuinely impossible.
I do wonder at times, we often hear about the imperfect in our world as having 'feet of clay'.
Might we also consider the level of salt in our lives...?
How salty am I?
Here are some salt facts: (trust me, there is a point - besides the one on my head!)
SOURCE: http://www.healthmad.com/Nutrition/Important-Things-You-May-Not-Know-Regarding-Common-Salt.32582
Salt is very important for survival of most of the animals and particularly human. Without salt, the process of removing the excess of acid from the different body cells especially brain cell is hampered.
Salt balances the blood sugar level in our body and prevents muscle cramps.
Salt generally prevents the excessive saliva production, if you drool on your pillow, check your salt level.
Hospitals & private clinics make good fortune by charging around $300 for salt water also known as saline 4 bottle installed. But they won't disclose the fact that what the patients require is more salt and water in their diet.
There is vast difference between refined salt and unrefined salt as far as nutritional value is concerned. The taste of refined and unrefined salt is very different.
Refined salt or the common salt which we use daily in our food is 99.9 percent pure sodium chloride. It contains Aluminum silicate for it's free flow property.
Unrefined salt which our ancestor used in their food is only 98 percent pure sodium chloride. The rest of 2 percent is other minerals. Research has revealed that there are hundreds of different minerals and around 79 basic elements found in natural salt. Some important minerals are: salts of Potassium, calcium, phosphorous, Magnesium, Manganese and many more.
In the process of making the refined salt, all the essential trace materials known as impurities is removed and the salt is heated to very high temperature to crack down the original molecular structure of the salt.
So just how might this relate to the story in the Bible of Lot's wife?
Okey dokey, let's try this on for size:
- The mother is very important for survival of the human family. Without the mother, the process of caring for the family and removing the traces of the world from our home and from our thoughts is hampered. Men are good at doing a lot, but women do tend to be more easily entreated when it comes to spiritual matters.
- Mothers balance the good and the bad within the family. They can be the emotional barometer of ‘success in the home’.
- Like salt, Mothers prevent the family activity from cramping up the calendar with overloaded schedules and crashes of obligations.
- When children have trouble sleeping at night, the generally need their mother. While Dad can fit the bill sometimes, there are other times when only Mom will do.
- You can pay a lot of money to hire people to do what a mother does in the course of a day, but seldom do the experts tell you that no amount of money will ever replace “a mother’s heart”.
- There is a vast difference between a woman who is refined and approaches life with a personal elegance and one who lacks any sense of character. Emotional nurturing comes from a woman who knows her worth and has a savor all her own to help her balance out her responsibilities to others against the responsibility to self.
- The tastes of refined women and unrefined women are very different. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are wrong, they are just very different.
- A pure woman is comprised of many elements of the Spirit and has a free flow of tears whenever life is stressful or the Spirit of the Lord moves upon her in a personal way.
- An unrefined or uncultured woman in gospel terms is filled with the pollutants of the world. While she may look okay from a distance, up close she might be toxic or leave a bad taste in your mouth from the example she shows.
- Finally, the process of refining a woman is much like refining salt or silver. Both require high sustained heat (or trials) in order to remove the impurities of life and leave the finished product as something that is desirable and to be desired.
Lot missed out on that particular benefit as his helpmeet went in another direction. Because of her choice to look back onto the wickedness she was commanded to flee, she was turned into a pillar of salt. Like Brylcreme, a little dab will do you, but she was a truckload salt lick which became a 'see what can happen to you' moment for a millennia.
When fire and brimstone rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, it wasn't because the people didn't all have the same rights and privileges. Lot's wife wasn't turned into a pillar of salt because her civil rights were violated. They chose to misuse their God-given agency and put themselves into peril.
Both of these happened because the people chose to 'lose their savor', they had chosen to become 'good for nothing but to be trodden under foot of men'. I don't hash through this. If the Bible said she was turned into a pillar of salt, she was.
But what a deficit she left in the lives of her family members who had to go on without her!
An interesting point I read on another website about this was that Lot's wife looking back wasn't an isolated moment of weakness, but rather a visible representation of a life which was focused on the things of the world instead of the things of God.
I think that may be more true than most of us realize. We don't tend to slip into sin and corruption overnight. It's an insidious process that takes time. The flaxen cords which bind so lightly at first become heavy chains from which escape may be genuinely impossible.
I do wonder at times, we often hear about the imperfect in our world as having 'feet of clay'.
Might we also consider the level of salt in our lives...?
How salty am I?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)