Jesus Knows You’re Here

I received this over email:

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said, ‘Jesus knows you’re here.’  He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.  When he heard nothing more , after a bit, he shook his head and continued.  Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires,  clear as a bell he heard ‘Jesus is watching you.’ Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice.  Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.  ‘Did you say that?’ he hissed at the parrot.  ‘Yep’, the parrot confessed, then squawked, ‘I’m just trying to warn you that he is watching you.’  The burglar relaxed. ‘Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?’  ‘Moses,’ replied the bird.  ‘Moses?’ the burglar laughed. ‘What kind of people would name a bird Moses?’  ‘The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.’

Ivory Coast on the Brink of Genocide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/ivory-coast-brink-genocide-election-crisis

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_re_af/af_ivory_coast

Now is the time to act to stop genocide before it happens in the Ivory Coast. Use conversations, talks and sermons, emails, and blogs to stop potential horror.

No Image

God has no image, and neither ultimately do we.

Self

Our names and identities reveal and conceal who we are.

Humor

To be really funny, you have to have suffered.

Love

True love is imprinted in every cell.

Biggest Jumps Ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqhlfz9GQPE&feature=player_embedded

Beautiful, inspiring, with a mystical quality (via Kim Komando).

An Amazing and Loving Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Fyey4D5hg&feature=player_embedded (via Kim Komando)

This is what the owner said:  “Presenting, Useful Dog Tricks!! Whoever said tricks can’t be useful? Jesse loves helping around the house, and I just love his happy attitude and smile on his face). Our relationship is based on mutual respect, understanding, and trust.”

A Review of the Net Neutrality Debate

http://lifehacker.com/5720407/an-introduction-to-net-neutrality-what-it-is-what-it-means-for-you-and-what-you-can-do-about-it?utm_source=Lifehacker+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4306c49fc7-UA-142218-1&utm_medium=email

An excellent review. The internet is key medium of information and news exchange for coming decades. Corporate attempts to control the flow will limit freedom and transparency. Government regulations have their limitations and dangers, but the power of corporate control is much more harmful and pernicious.  (Via Gary Yarus)

Finding the Source

We feel our way to the Source

Transforming Destructive Impulses

Transforming destructive impulses into something good is a key part of shalom (wholeness) for human beings.

Bad Can Lead to Good

Sometimes doing the wrong thing leads to good: Gen 50:20.

Golf Bloopers

I feel pretty good about my golf game now:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sERwdGY_ITU&feature=player_embedded

Pachelbel’s Canon in Dance Form

This is hilarious:  http://www.tvkim.com/watch/244/kims-picks-playing-classical-music-for-laughs

The US Military Green Revolution

The military is leading the way on environmental inititatives. I hope the rest of the country will follow:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/opinion/19friedman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212 (via Dianne Bazell)

Bank Auditor Scandal

FYI:  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/crisis-dominoes-start-falling-with-lehman-auditor-20101220?print=true

Bank Break-Ins

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/business/22lockout.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

This is not the way a stable society acts.   It is not good for the residents–or the banks in the long run.

MERS and the Housing Crisis

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/l-randall-wray/merss-smoking-gun-part-1-_b_794713.html?view=print

We need to fix this not only because it’s wrong, but because it is destroying the middle class and will destroy the banks as well.

Net Neutrality

FYI.  http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/help_stop_destruction_of_the_free_internet_now_20101226/

Jon Stewart as Change Agent

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/business/media/27stewart.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

We often think of comedy and satire as letting off steam or entertainment.  However, a brilliant comedian can use them and his laugh pulpit to shame those who would deny our commitment to the suffering heroes of September 11, 2001, and to push the government to honor its promise to those who protect and defend our nation.

Outsourcing

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_overseas_hiring

If we want to alter this trend, the US will have to improve its educational levels and make sure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes (which they are not because of loopholes).

The decline of educational quality in the US is part of the reason for this.

The other is cheap labor in developing countries.  Corporations are able to take advantage of this labor without suffering financial consequences in the US.  However, corporations should contribute sufficiently to the national community that makes it possible for them to exist and thrive.  Otherwise we will not be able to maintain our standard of living and quality of life.

The rise of transnational actors like multinational corporations and the decline of the power of nation states has negative consequences such as this, but it also promises new kinds of structures through which humans will govern themselves.  Corporations have their own interests, and communities have theirs.  Just as corporations protect themselves, communities will have to do the same.  Corporations are driven by economic goals, but communities have moral concerns.  This divergence in interest will inevitably force communities to find others ways of asserting themselves, as national governments find themselves unable to act.  These communities may exist as places, but they may also form as virtual entities.   Instead of looking at a global map with nations, we may be beginning to see the emergence of another kind of map with different governing entities.

The Energy Inside You

When you think you’re exhausted, inside you there are many deeper pools of energy from which to draw.

The Mistakes the Spies Made in Numbers 13:30-33

What was the mistake the spies made when they scouted the land of milk and honey?  They allowed fear to overcome trust.

What was another mistake the scouts made?  They focused on what others thought rather than on what there were to do.

What was another mistake?  They assumed that size was more important than wits.

What was another mistake? They acted like slaves rather than free persons.

What was another mistake? They were there to figure out how, not whether.

What was another mistake?  They exaggerated rather than coolly assessing.

What was another mistake?  They could not leave the past and move forward.

What was another mistake? They could not envision an alternative to their current situation.  They preferred the familiar and the customary to change.

What was another mistake?  They quit.  They just gave up.

The Fundamentalism of Atheism

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3820/way_beyond_atheism:_god_does_not_(not)_exist

This is excellent (from Nelson French).  Negative theology is where I would place myself, though I must admit that I am willing now to make some statements:  “God is not a thing, but energy in its purest, rawest, and ultimate form”; or “We should stop using the word ‘God’ and start saying ‘Source’ or “The All’ or ‘The All That Is'”; or “God is nothing (no/thing).”  Of course, my statements are inherently limited and limiting because of the nature of language, but I still believe that we can speak in proximate terms.  In any case, Wallace is correct:  atheism is generally an inversion of fundamentalism.  Very well said and apropos.

Early Hominids: The Denisovans

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/science/23ancestor.html?hp

Another branch of the hominid tree.

Free Will

Free will often means the choice to do what we should do anyway.

The Maple Tree and Me

There is one main difference between me and the maple tree in my backyard.  It is always who it is.  Sometimes I forget that about myself.

World Progress: The Joy of Statistics

For those frustrated with politics and bad news, take a look at this video.  It shows the general trend of the world toward healthier and more prosperous societies. Countries are converging, and the world is improving.  Thanks to Nelson French for this video!:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

Vanessa’s Wedding

From Dianne Bazell:  A Jewish family celebration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZ4ZTTfKO8

American Heroes: Those Who Ended Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

One of my favorite Martin Luther King quotes: “The arc of the moral universe is is long, but it bends toward justice”
http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/blog/american-heroes

The Importance of Net Neutrality

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/the-most-important-free-s_b_798984.html

Wisdom Requires Mistakes

You do not acquire wisdom without making mistakes.

Creation Never Stops

Gen 1:1: “When God began to create . . . “: Creation never stops.

“Ben Franklin’s Nation

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/opinion/14brooks.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212:

David Brooks: “America should focus less on losing its star status and more on defending and preserving the gospel of middle-class dignity.”

Heart and Mind

Feeling is the basis for all thought. The heart is the foundation on which the mind is built.

The World Needs Healthy USA

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/opinion/15friedman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212

Tom Friedman discusses the importance of US stability and health to the world (via Nelson French).

Harvests

Fallow times lead to harvest times.

Carrying Our Ancestors with Us

Ex 13:19: Just as Moses carried the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, we all carry our ancestors with us wherever we go.

The Present and the Future

Not knowing the future is a gift allowing us live in the present.

“Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y:

“The constant stream of stimuli offered by new technology poses a profound new challenge to focusing and learning” (via Nelson French).

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