Window or Mirror?

Though I am loathe to admit it, my daughter rose from bed at 04:00 to witness the nuptials of Prince William and one Kathryn Middleton. I am given to understand that approximately 1 billion of her fellow humans did likewise. I appreciate the “romance” of the proceedings, and I understand – at some marginally intellectual level – the ‘draw’ to these events, but frankly, I can’t be bothered. This isn’t because I am not a romantic (I’m not), and it isn’t because I could care less about ‘royalty’ (I can’t). It isn’t even because I can’t stand what qualifies as “newsworthy” any longer (I can’t). So, why can’t I be bothered by this grand event? Simply put, because this isn’t the royal wedding I am waiting for!

What could possibly rise above the event witnessed this morning? What could have more pomp, richer surroundings, and more meaning? Read the rest of this entry »

If you post a blog entry after being prompted to do so by a Youtube video that was posted on Facebook and Tweeted to you, does the very fabric of the universe tear? I hope not, because that’s what is happening in this post!

A Youtube video was posted that showed a compilation of soldiers ‘arriving home’. In each case, the child, spouse, or family member didn’t know the appointment was coming and was pleasantly surprised. I have posted links to videos of this ‘genre’ below. If you have a few minutes, I’d like you to watch them (the first one for sure), dry your tears, and read on.

Soldiers Coming Home – Compilation Part 1

Soldiers Coming Home – Part 2

Soldiers Coming Home – Part3

Read the rest of this entry »

It is customary around this time of year for us as human beings to review the year we’ve had, celebrate what “went well” and what we could improve on. Often, the growth opportunity is bound up in a construct called a “New Year’s Resolution”. On an internet forum that I frequent, a certain woman of faith was discussing her New Year’s resolutions and her distaste of her self, her motivations, and her ‘faith-standing’ as a result. She said,

“I keep thinking of the Scripture where Jesus said, ‘Come, Follow me’ and the disciples just dropped everything, right then, right there.. and followed. No 12 step program, no ‘easing’ into it.. they just dropped everything, and followed.. they were wrapped in just as much flesh as me…..yet they dropped everything to follow Him”.

And so they did.. but their walk was not consistent thereafter, and they went through the same growing pains we do as Christ-followers today. My response to her follows.. Read the rest of this entry »

Now, before you send me a raft of nasty emails, let me make a few things clear.

1. I do not typically watch Dancing With The Stars

2. I think the show objectifies both men and women – to some degree – and most of the outfits they wear should be illegal (and are, almost everywhere in the Middle East!)

3. I am taking no position on whether or not Bristol Palin can dance, whether or not she should ‘be there’ with Kurt Warner or Brandy gone, and in this note, I’m taking no comments on Bristol’s famous mother.

Here’s what really hacked me off on this show. First, Bristol has gotten snail mail with white powder, comments about her thighs, dancing like ‘an elephant on crack’, and death threats. DEATH THREATS!!! Seriously people, stop shooting your TV, put down the Marlboro and the coffee and go RELAX somewhere; it’s a SHOW. Second, Bristol, through one choice of her own and several by her mother, is destined to be stalked and to live in her mother’s shadow for life, and that’s sad. She’s a woman in her own right, a beautiful person, and has had to weather an incredible storm of hatred, brought on not by the show itself, but through a proxy battle of conservatives and liberals with all the vitriol you’d expect as a result. Finally, she’s on the show and she’s started to listen to the comments and read her own press; and it’s starting to hurt her heart. Today, during the comments after the second dance, she said something like, “..I know I needed come out and be a sexy girl, but I’m just not a sexy girl“.

WHAT!?!? This 20 year-old single mother is more woman than most women will ever be. She has lived to the limit of happiness and grief, she has endured, and she carries herself well; regardless the criticism. NO woman should be made to believe that she “isn’t sexy” by people with shriveled hearts, jaundiced eyes, and evil on their mind.

Men, I challenge you to treat your wives with respect, cherish them, and make them feel like queens. Make them feel “sexy”. For your daughters, please teach them what to demand from a man, teach them what godly attraction looks like, and PLEASE teach them that they are beautiful women; inside and out!

No, this is not the retelling of a tale of unmet expectations from the cable company (that serves us locally) from the perspective of a local educator; there are plenty of stories of woe in this regard, and I’ll not be adding to them today. In this piece I am looking specifically at the recent tag-line chosen by Charter Communications intended to entice us into taking all data services from their company; namely, “Let It All In”. I’d like to look at this tagline as juxtaposed against Scripture, so that we can see how far away from an eternal God our media-hungry culture has become.

First let me say that I understand that their tagline does not imply an ‘across the board’ use of everything that comes into the home, but it does imply that we should deny ourselves nothing and pour everything into our homes that our hearts might desire. Think of all the knowledge you might have if you ‘let it all in’ and think of how much you’ll be entertained as well! Read the rest of this entry »