Monthly Archives: August 2008

Questioning

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I read a handful of articles before sitting at the Right to Life booth yesterday afternoon.  The timing (I’d been sent them just that morning in an e-mail) was impeccable (thanks Becky) and as I thought on them, I started having imaginary conversations where I integrated the information I was assimilating.

Inevitably the “conversation” would veer into “personal” territory and (after one awkward– imaginary– ending) I established a policy: no personal questions in a public place.

It’s not that I am secretive (HA!) or that I’m not willing to offer myself as an illustration.  It’s mainly that answering one personal question gives permission to ask another and so on until you make another statement (by implication) at the point you quit answering. (The worship leader in this clip is a great example.)

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In a similar way I think claiming to answer questions about God can become a “slippery slope,” because there is a point at which our human ability to explain or understand just fails, and part of faith is accepting that limitation.

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Apparently there’s this big-selling, self-published book out there called The Shack.

I had never heard of it before Boundless started discussing it and its questionable theology a while back, but apparently it’s not going away and they have a new article up this week discussing the implications of a part of the book.  One of those is the idea we humans have the right to question God and call him into account about the stuff we don’t like (even Job– God’s “pet”— got an earful when he tried to insist on that).

To quote from the article, God’s not the Defendant, by Gary Thomas:

For 2,000 years, Christians have believed that God sent His Son because He put us on trial and found us wanting. The proper response of humans is, “I have sinned and fallen short of Your glory. Have mercy on me.” Today’s believer and non-believer is far more likely to respond, “There’s evil in the world; God, if You really exist, explain Yourself!”

As a man who has sinned and who continues to sin, how dare I judge God for allowing sin? To destroy all sin, He would have to destroy me, as I continue to sin on a daily basis. At the very least, He would have to remove all whispers of any notion of free will; and without free will, would I still be made in the image of God?

So many people who “question” (or accuse) God concerning evil assume that they are talking about something outside of themselves, either forgetting or never realizing that God doesn’t have a continuum of tolerances for the varieties of sin.

God’s mercy to the liar or coward requires the same provision from Him as his mercy to the abuser: the sacrifice of His son, Jesus.

I love how Thomas points out the sufficiency of God’s plan: how those who wish to leave their sin now have a way, how those who don’t want to change are also provided a place for eternity.

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Life Summary for 08-08

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I “sat a booth” at my local state fair for five hours today.

Then I collected my children from my mother before meeting some friends who proceeded to keep me company and help corral kids until nearly 10 tonight.

The interesting thing about sitting a booth is that you see people you may not have seen in a long time.  And, of course, you exchange the obligatory How are you? and must make that devilishly challenging choice of how much to say.

Personally I hate “Fine.” as an answer.  Just because it means *nothing* and you might as well not have spoken.

So here’s the line I actually managed to pull off the top of my head for someone who hasn’t seen me since I was wearing my second child (in a sling).

I’m keeping busy (an equally useless alternate for Fine.): three kids under age six, teaching myself guitar and working on a novel. (At this point I get the same twinge as I do when I tell people I’m 29 and add defensively:) I’m almost finished and I’ve had an editor ask me to send it to her when it’s done.

Why I feel this need to justify or explain myself to near strangers who care no more for me than for anyone else in this aimless mass of humanity, I don’t know.

And I forgot to mention at the time I start officially homeschooling my oldest this fall.

But I’ve got another 3 hours in a different booth tomorrow, so I’m sure I’ll get another chance to try and squish it all out.

The Case Against Folding Underwear

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(Yes, another meaningless post.  But at least this one’s short.)

I can find only two reasons to fold something:

  1. To minimize wrinkles, for a better look straight out of the drawer
  2. To make it take up less space

Looking at these criteria I can see no reason to fold underwear:

  1. Most underwear fits well enough that any wrinkles are gone (or nearly so) from the simple act of putting it on.  No one who cares about wrinkles will be seeing those underwear (Or they’d better not be…), even if they were wrinkled.
  2. Underwear is the only article of clothing I have yet noticed that takes up more space folded than otherwise.

That said, I do not begrudge you underwear-folders out there your choice; I just feel sorry for the women whose husbands insist on it for (as far as I can see) no logical reason.

There.  Aren’t you glad you took the time to read this.

Pencil vs. Pen

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Pen wins.  No question.

I’d heard it before and never paid much attention: pencils write slower.

Last night (or early this morning, rather), as I was racing to capture images before they left my dream-memory I was repeatedly frustrated in my attempt to speed up by the simple… physics (I guess you’d call it) of scraping particles onto paper, rather than rolling ink.

My hand is already too slow to keep up with my brain.  I need a pen.