[E]rring on the side of conservatism is still erring.
Something to think about.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Err
Interesting quote from Paul Graham:
Something to think about.
Something to think about.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Rabbit
How similar you are to the Velveteen Rabbit.
You were once dead and lifeless, living amongst the toys in the nursery. The clockwork toys thought themselves to be Real, but they were not. Not really.
Then the Boy chooses to Love you, and you choose to Love him in return. From the world's perspective you get shabby. Your eyes fall out; your seams rips; your fur fades. Love is like that; it's hard on you; it wears you down.
But it is so worth it, you don't notice. You don't care. Without even knowing it, you have become Real! You are still shabby and worn (getting more so every day), but to the Boy you are Real. And that's all that matters. You Love the Boy; going wherever he may go. Loving him as best you can.
In the end you face the fire. But because the Boy Loved you, and you Loved him in return, you are saved from the fire. The same magic that made you Real to the Boy has now made you Real to everyone. You've been freed from the sawdust filled body you once had!
Get Real!
You were once dead and lifeless, living amongst the toys in the nursery. The clockwork toys thought themselves to be Real, but they were not. Not really.
Then the Boy chooses to Love you, and you choose to Love him in return. From the world's perspective you get shabby. Your eyes fall out; your seams rips; your fur fades. Love is like that; it's hard on you; it wears you down.
But it is so worth it, you don't notice. You don't care. Without even knowing it, you have become Real! You are still shabby and worn (getting more so every day), but to the Boy you are Real. And that's all that matters. You Love the Boy; going wherever he may go. Loving him as best you can.
In the end you face the fire. But because the Boy Loved you, and you Loved him in return, you are saved from the fire. The same magic that made you Real to the Boy has now made you Real to everyone. You've been freed from the sawdust filled body you once had!
Get Real!
Gödel
I've been somewhat hesitant about posting this topic. This is just an idea that's been rolling around in my head for several months. It's gotten to the point that I think I have to post about this just to get it out of my head and move on!
Douglas Hofstadter's book Gödel, Escher, Bach contains an interesting statement based on Gödel's incompleteness theorems: "In short, Gödel showed that provability is a weaker notion than truth, no matter what axiomatic system is involved." In plain[er] English, in any formal system there exist truths that are unprovable.
I'm sure Dr. Hofstadter will be appalled by my lack of understanding of his book, the parallels that I make to his statements, and links to a Wikipedia article that "kind of depresses [him]". But I'm not about to let that stop me :-)
Reading the statement of incompleteness gave me sort of a thrill. There are few things in science that match the rigor and thoroughness of a formal system. And yet, they are fundamentally incomplete.
I had a stunning epiphany about this: the idea of mystery is so deep that it's ingrained into the fabric of the Universe! It's the way everything is designed; you cannot escape it. No matter how tall we may try to build our modern tower of Babel, there will always be a Heaven above it. There will always be something beyond our grasp.
We are not built to know everything, we are designed to learn. There's always some new truth out there waiting to be discovered.
Douglas Hofstadter's book Gödel, Escher, Bach contains an interesting statement based on Gödel's incompleteness theorems: "In short, Gödel showed that provability is a weaker notion than truth, no matter what axiomatic system is involved." In plain[er] English, in any formal system there exist truths that are unprovable.
I'm sure Dr. Hofstadter will be appalled by my lack of understanding of his book, the parallels that I make to his statements, and links to a Wikipedia article that "kind of depresses [him]". But I'm not about to let that stop me :-)
Reading the statement of incompleteness gave me sort of a thrill. There are few things in science that match the rigor and thoroughness of a formal system. And yet, they are fundamentally incomplete.
I had a stunning epiphany about this: the idea of mystery is so deep that it's ingrained into the fabric of the Universe! It's the way everything is designed; you cannot escape it. No matter how tall we may try to build our modern tower of Babel, there will always be a Heaven above it. There will always be something beyond our grasp.
We are not built to know everything, we are designed to learn. There's always some new truth out there waiting to be discovered.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Trust
How often we focus on the wrong thing. We focus on the doing and the going. But is that really what God wants us to do?
Anyone can go and do. Anyone can help rebuild impoverished neighborhoods. Anyone can give money. Anyone can work hard to make the world a better place.
But we are not called to simply make the world a better place.
Anyone can go and do. Anyone can help rebuild impoverished neighborhoods. Anyone can give money. Anyone can work hard to make the world a better place.
But we are not called to simply make the world a better place.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.It is our call to allow God to change the world. We get so focused on the material actions we forget our responsibilities.
-- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."What we so often forget is that it is God who does His good work through us. We are supposed to focus on Him - worship Him, lift Him up, tell the world about Him. He'll take care of the rest.
-- Mark 12:29-31
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.The most amazing thing is - we will continue to go and do. We will feed the hungry; we will clothe the naked; we will care for the fatherless and the widow. But even more than that - we will bring them life.
-- John 14:15
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Freedom
God is working in us, and through us! We are stuck here, living right next to evil. God has set us free from this evil. But it's right next door, always knocking, always tempting. It's so easy to forget the freedom we have; to live like we are still slaves to sin.
Romans 6:6 says "our old self was crucified with him". A friend of mine pointed out years ago that crucifixion is a slow and painful death. It takes time.
We are free, but it takes time to break the habits of slavery.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Greed
Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others. - Saint Augustine
I heard this story on Marketplace yesterday. The short summary is:
- Zambia is an incredibly poor African nation
- Zambia has had a large portion of its national debt written off, to help make poverty history
- Prior to being written off, an American financier bought a portion of the debt for $3 million
- He is now suing Zambia for $55 million - the full face value of the debt
- If successful, this would drain away any benifit Zambia would have received from debt relief.
This just boggles my mind. Buy from the rich, sue the poor.
God help us.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Pray continually
Prayer should not be an isolated occurrence. It should be a lifestyle.
Take several English translations of I Thessalonians 5:17:
The picture that always comes to mind is when I think of this passage is Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof. When you see him alone, he's not really alone. He's talking with God. A free-flowing conversation, just as if he's talking to a companion on the roadside.
And he's honest! Look at this quote from the movie: "Sometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, 'What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?' "
How often do we think things like this? How often are we honest enough to admit that to God?
There are certainly those times when we must approach the Throne of Grace with reverence. We are, after all, approaching the King.
But we must also be mindful that God is our Loving Father; Jesus is our caring Brother. Our Redeemer. Our Friend. And we should approach Him as such as often as we can.
Take several English translations of I Thessalonians 5:17:
- NIV - pray continually
- NASB - pray without ceasing
- NLT - Never stop praying
- AMP - Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]
- YLT - continually pray ye
The picture that always comes to mind is when I think of this passage is Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof. When you see him alone, he's not really alone. He's talking with God. A free-flowing conversation, just as if he's talking to a companion on the roadside.
And he's honest! Look at this quote from the movie: "Sometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, 'What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?' "
How often do we think things like this? How often are we honest enough to admit that to God?
There are certainly those times when we must approach the Throne of Grace with reverence. We are, after all, approaching the King.
But we must also be mindful that God is our Loving Father; Jesus is our caring Brother. Our Redeemer. Our Friend. And we should approach Him as such as often as we can.
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