Thursday Theology

I've been thinking (WARNING!!!),
Does it really matter what I think about (or if I think about) God?

I recently saw an illustration that showed if our sun was the size of a single red blood cell, our galaxy (the Milky Way) would be the size of the United States of America!
Our Milky Way Galaxy is just one of around 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

I mention the grand size of the universe to justify my thought that the Creator of all of this probably doesn't care what John thinks about God (or about anything else, for that matter).
However, I do think that what John thinks about God matters to John and to the people with whom John interacts.

A God big enough and powerful enough to create such a grand universe is too far outside of my understanding capability. 
Having said that, I feel that it is important to note that I do believe in the existence of a Creator, and God works out to be an accepted name for this Creator. In all honesty, I'm still trying to work out how the person of Jesus works into the whole picture. It is contradictory to say that we are too insignificant for God to take note of us and then also believe that this same God would personally visit us to set us on the right path of how we are to live and love throughout our insignificant lives.

From observing nature from its simplest parts to the vastness of the universe, I have deduced that our Creator loves harmony. From the instinct driven societies of ants to the trillions of complex galaxies that exist, there seems to be both chaos and order and yet both exist in a harmonic dance that defies understanding.
While nature tends to create things in order, it also devolves into chaos.
It's the circle of life. (cue The Lion King music)

Some life circles are relatively short and small. In the case of our sun, it is a bit longer -- about 10 billion years.
My point here is that I really can't begin to comprehend eternity. I need to keep things at a level that I can understand. I understand that I can be a decent person today, or I can be a jerk. I think I have spent more than my share of time being a jerk, so maybe I'll try being kind today. 
It is a little weird that a one time Southern Baptist evangelist no longer cares about eternal life but instead believes that he (I) needs to focus on the actual life being lived. It's also weird that the teachings of Jesus are more about living life than about what comes next.
Hmmm...?

John 

Inspired (but still working on motivated)

On our recent travels to Mexico we met an inspiring young friend of our daughter-in-law. 
This brilliant young woman apparently regularly takes on new hobbies or interests, pours herself into learning them, and then moves on to learning something else. At the time we were together she was learning to play the piano. She had purchased a small portable keyboard and would practice playing as she made time for it.

I'm thinking that I should do something like that with the abundance of time that retirement affords me. 
There are three things that come to mind that I should work on:

1)  A few different friends have been on me to re-engage in magic. It is an incredibly fun hobby, but requires a good amount of time and practice if one is going to perform for audiences. Maybe I need to adjust my mindset from the past standard of a semi-professional performer to sharing some simple and amazing entertainment with a few friends. That simple kind of change in perspective might help me work on performing at a slightly different level.
    It would also force me to work on a different genre of magic than I have done in the past -- close up magic vs parlor or stand-up magic.

2)  Learning Spanish. It's just something I need to do.

3)  Last summer I bought a ukulele with the idea of learning to play it. I worked on it for a few weeks and set it aside. I'd probably prefer to take up guitar playing again, but the uke was affordable and I really don't see a reason not to go ahead and learn it.

I plan to make some regular time for each of these activities/learning experiences. 
I have a local friend that will encourage me in the magic department, and may have a person or two that I can converse with in Spanish. I don't know of anyone that can help me with the ukulele so I may be on my own with only YouTube to help me with that.

How are you growing your mind?
What are you learning?

John

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is not the kind of music that I typically listen to. Most of the time you will find me listening to classic rock. 
However, I have started listening to some more contemporary music like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, and others that I can't recall at the moment. I hear them on Pandora's Taylor Swift and friends (or something like that) station. While I still can't tell you the name of a single TSwift song, I just figured that it would be a shame to share time on earth with perhaps the most prolific songwriter ever and a top tier entertainer and not listen to and appreciate the excellence of her craft. Her songs seem to tell her stories like country music, but she doesn't sing or perform like a country artist (thank God!).
Besides, I like what I've read about her as a human being. She seems like a genuinely good person. 

Any Swifties among my regular readers?
What are your favorite songs of hers?
What other artists or genres should I be listening to? 

John

Philosopher's Stone

I was going to write about this morning's prompt from my online gratitude journal:

What lesson have you learned the hard way? A long, windy path almost always teaches us more than a short, straight one. Embrace the struggle.

As I thought about what I was going to write for the blog, I was thinking about how I would label the post and didn't think that any of my current labels fit it well. I thought that maybe it was time for a new label -- or maybe even time for a new, separate blog all together -- one that expresses different philosophies of life.
Nah, I don't need that. I usually just write that crap here but haven't really labeled it as such.

Like most people, I borrow philosophy from others and adapt it to my own personal experience. I also have my own philosophies that I have arrived at through experience, contemplation, and observation.
Different faith communities and faith leaders have given us many good philosophies of life. Christians and Buddhists have many books and practices that have gone beyond their own followers' lives and influence the general public in many ways. I imagine that the same is true for Islam, but I am less familiar with those teachings. There are also a great many atheist philosophers that give us deep insight into the workings of humanity in relation to each other and to the world around us.
While philosophy isn't truly a science in that it relies more on observation and logical analysis rather than on empirical evidence, I still find it a fascinating study. 

The philosopher's stone is a reference to the ancient alchemy of searching for a tincture or powder to change base metals into gold or silver. It is (or was once) believed also to give long life or immortality and its roots are both ancient and diverse. I don't know that the alchemy of the past and the philosophies of today hold much in common, but I think I'm going to use Philosopher's Stone as the new label for my philosophic ramblings.
I'll get around to sharing my answer to today's prompt on another post. For today I'll leave you with a link to an old favorite tune by VanMorrison -- The Philosopher's Stone

John

I've been peopling

Tuesday night - small group class/meeting.
Wednesday - day baseball with many bus loads of school kids present.
Friday night - out with friends to hear our friends play music at a large, crowded brewery.
Sunday - morning church, afternoon ballgame, evening appreciation dinner for the volunteers at the overnight shelter. 
Holy smokes! 
That's a lot of people contact for this grumpy old introvert.

(Speaking of grumpy old introverts -- Chris and I finally got around to watching A Man Called Otto last night. Good movie.)

I still have my Tuesday night class this week and our friends are playing at another local brewery on Friday, but I should have plenty of isolation time to build the necessary energy for these people encounters. 
The pandemic and our rural home with its comfortable deck has probably contributed greatly to my enjoyment of staying away from large gatherings of people these past few years.
Getting back to going out in more public gatherings is a little challenging. Even for the two ballgames that I went to this past week -- I went alone. I did have conversations with people around me. The days were pleasant outings and I'll be attending quite a few more games (mostly alone) throughout the season. It's about a 30-40 minute ride on the motorcycle (depending on the traffic) and I generally park far enough away from the stadium (maybe a half mile) so that parking is free. The ride and the walk are both good for me.

Today I will be staying at home and trying to figure out what to do with my current mowing situation. The used mower I bought over the winter isn't performing up to necessary standards (not making it up the steep hills) so I'm going to have to find out why. In the meantime I'm going to need to keep the yard part of the property mowed with the push mower. Since the yard is relatively flat, I may try the rider, but then again, the walking exercise is good for this fat old guy.

It's time for a people free day!

John

Getting to know you

Tell me some thing about you that most people don't know.
This past Thursday night our barchurch pastor was absent as it was opening night for her daughter's high school musical, Footloose. Her daughter had the female lead.

That brought me back to the days of my own high school musicals. 
My junior year I played the role of Conrad Birdie in the musical Bye, Bye, Birdie. In our show, Conrad Birdie made his entrance to the auditorium on a motorcycle that was provided by a local dealer. The Kawasaki 125 had a tendency to die if it wasn't warmed up well. As the show began, I was out in the back parking lot riding the bike and just having fun. Then the stage manager comes running out screaming that I'm on! I killed the motor. He ran through the halls pushing the bike with me following. When we got to the auditorium doors, I sat down on the bike, combed my hair and there was my cue! The doors opened, I fired up the bike, and made my entrance right on time! 

Sure, people that have known me for most of my life know about my high school drama/chorus days. For most of my current friends and acquaintances, this is probably a surprise.

What's your "I bet you didn't know..." moment?

John

                                                                circa 1977

Earworm

I was contemplating what to write about this morning and considering how small the pandemic has made my world. It's a Small World popped into my head for a moment and kind of made me chuckle. I'm not one to generally get a song stuck in my head, but Chris is. She listens to music often and has a bunch of old songs drifting around in her head. Mentioning a lyric from one of those songs or singing a line or two can bring it to the forefront of her mind and it quickly becomes the dreaded earworm.

"Why do you do this to me?" seems to be a familiar lament from her.
Occasionally I'll hit on a song that she likes and doesn't mind for the first couple of times through, but then she's ready to move on -- and can't.

Are you one of those people that are susceptible to the dreaded earworm?
Are there songs that regularly get stuck in your head?
Listening to music seems to help in getting rid of stubborn songs, but some have a way of quietly creeping back into your thoughts, don't they?

What are the songs that you know are going to be stuck in your head for a time? The moment you hear the first line you think, "Oh crap! Now I'm going to be singing this all day!"

I guess I'll have to write about that small world thing another day.

John 

Social Distancing

Social distancing is right up my alley. Over the past few years, I've spent a great deal of time in this new practice. I've also managed to get myself entangled in a few regular group gatherings. (Ugh! Even typing out those words makes a part of me cringe.) Unfortunately, volunteer service rarely takes place in a social distance friendly environment.

This morning I'll be watching the online broadcast of The Venues weekly worship as the church is complying with county's health request to cancel all activities where 250 people or more will be gathered in one place. That's probably the responsible thing to do. I don't know if the smaller gathering of our midweek bar church will be cancelled or not.

It would probably make people uncomfortable if I was out and about today, anyway. My normal spring allergies have kicked in and I've been doing a fair amount of coughing from post nasal drip, as well as frequent sniffling and nose blowing. I'm pretty certain that it's nothing more than that. I don't meet the criteria for Corona virus testing so maybe I'll just stay away from people for a short while.

I imagine that I'll encounter a few more people on the walking trail today. During the week I can walk several miles with only seeing one or two other walkers. It's one of the perks of retirement.

Truthfully, I will miss seeing many of my church friends today.
But I am willing to isolate myself for the good of the general public!

Keep your distance,
John

John, Chapter 19

John 19

In summary --

This is the story of the crucifixion.
Because the Jewish High Council doesn't have the authority to sentence Jesus to death under Roman rule, they bring him to the Governor for sentencing. Pilate doesn't see any reason to sentence him to death and the Jews have to work hard to convince him that Jesus deserves to die. Rome doesn't care that the Jews are charging him with blasphemy. They don't believe in the God of the Jews. So the Jews say that Jesus claims to be a King and that makes him a threat to Caesar.
Several times, Pilate tries to release Jesus, but he eventually relents and delivers Jesus to be crucified.

My favorite verse --

17 ...and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

In today's vernacular, we use bearing our cross to mean a burden or struggle we live with. In Jesus' day it meant you were about to be executed in the most brutal of ways. Because the people of the day were familiar with crucifixion, none of the gospels tell of its brutality. When you think of something that is extremely painful, you might describe it as excruciating. That word and its meaning come from the pain of crucifixion.

Something to think about --

If this was the end of the story, it would make for a pretty poor religion to follow. Oh sure, the teachings of Jesus are still good -- except for that eternal life thing. I'm not sure how that works if God is dead and buried. But this isn't the end of the story. In some ways, it's just the beginning...

John <><

Here's a little bonus for you.

I Resolve to Evolve

Yeah, sure there are things that I need to do -- old habits that need to be set aside and new routines that need to be established. It's weird that we can pick a date on a calendar that inspires us to get started on those things that we just as easily could have started any day last month or last year.

None the less, that day is today and is as good a day as any to resolve to do better in the coming year. Here are a few things that I hope to improve on:

     First are the normal better health resolutions -- more exercise, better diet, lose weight, yada, yada.
If you want to follow my progress on those, go to my other blog -- Healthy Living (by an unhealthy guy)

     Then there are the self improvement/be a better person sort of things.
In problem solving we are often told to look at the big picture. I think I need to spend more time paying attention to the little things --
the little things at home and in my marriage; taking better care of Chris and our household.
the little things in my extended family; paying attention to the achievements and the hurts of others.
the little things in our environment (doing my small part),
the little things in our community and the people that seem to get lost in the big picture.

I really don't know how any of this will look in 2019. I just get the sense that I need to be a better me. I need to listen more and talk less. I need to see more of what is going on around me. I need to do more for others.

It's not like I think the John of January 1, 2019 sucks or is a terrible person, but the truth is -- he isn't that great of a guy, either. So my simple resolution for 2019 is to grow. I resolve to evolve.

What's yours?

John <><

Christmas songs that don't suck!

There are several radio stations that have banned a certain Christmas song and much written about such decisions and the controversial message of the song.
This post isn't about that.

The Venues Church is going through a sermon series entitled Christmas Songs That Don't Suck.
You might think that the series would focus on Christmas hymns and the message that they bring to this Christmas season, but you would be wrong.
Yesterday the Rev Dev brought a message from the Christmas classic Frosty, the Snowman.
Frosty doesn't seem like the person you would turn to for any life lessons, much less for something of a spiritual nature.

I invite you to take the time to join us for his message.
If you want to skip the opening worship music (pease don't), go to the 23 minute mark and it will bring you in at the song just before Rev Dev comes in with his message.
You can also follow the link to past messages in the series -- Santa Clause is Coming to Town and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Enjoy!
John <><

Hakuna Matata

I'm enjoying a new Ethiopian coffee today...
Hakuna Ma Latte

I think it means -- No worries, I have my coffee!

Have a great Sunday!
John <><

Nov 8: National Adoption Awareness Month

Did you know that November is National Adoption Awareness Month?
I know several wonderful people that have expanded their families and enriched their lives by opening their hearts and homes to children that needed families. I am honored to know them.

One friend recently posted this saying with pictures of her kids.



When I think of adoption and the great need to belong to something greater than ourselves, I usually think of this song by Chris Rice.



John <><

It's Baseball Season!

It is actually Baseball Season Eve as I write this.
It's a little embarrassing to admit that I'm a little bit like a kid on Christmas Eve. I mean I'm cooler than that because the jittery excitement is all on the inside and it's a long season rather than a single day, but I am excited, just the same.

To celebrate the beginning of baseball season and to share a little bit from The Good Book, here is an old favorite for your listening pleasure.
Play Ball!



John <><

You're Gonna Miss Me ... or not

It's right around freezing in the Ozarks this morning. The forecast is for the temps to climb one or two degrees before starting a downward trend, so we're pretty much at the high for the day. The cold weather makes the upcoming trip to the tropics even more appealing.

Since I'm not one of the daily bloggers and sometimes go extended periods without posting, I doubt that anyone would miss me if I failed to post for the coming week or so. I expect the resort to have some internet service available, although I don't know if it will be available by the pool or beach.
That's okay since I don't plan on spending time on Facebook or keeping up on the latest political side show or center ring happenings. I have my books and cigars -- no wifi access needed.
I will probably post some pics to Instagram (shared to Facebook) when I can and if opportunity allows, I'll write something here.

If previous trips are any indication of how things will go, I'll be up early enough to enjoy a simple breakfast, coffee and some quiet time long before Chris gets up. If internet is available from my breakfast table I'll keep up with my daily Haiku and try to share something from our trip. If that's not the case, I'll see you (so to speak) when I get back.

Here's a little music for your Sunday.
Even though I know I wouldn't be missed, it's nice to think I might be...
(Hint -- for full view, click on the video title instead of the play symbol)


Btw -- Thanks to my son (he was a teenager at the time), I can no longer listen to this song without hearing her say "You're gonna miss me by my taco..."
I know it's "...talk. Oh..." but you'll hear taco from now on, too.
You're welcome.

John <><

2018: chapter 1, page 1

2018

Table of Contents

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

*****     *****     *****

January 1

This year's story begins cold and clear.
The sun is shining and it looks beautiful outside!
But it is cold! 0 degrees (-17.8c to the rest of the world)!

The rest of the crew is still sleeping as I sip my morning coffee. Soon we will be out for breakfast (or lunch) and then the kids (Aaron and Jenny) will be on the road to Chicago. Hannah and Daniel will be preparing for the house closing at the end of the week and Chris will be back to work tomorrow after her 6 weeks off from surgery.

And I'll be back to my simple routine of ...well, I guess I don't really have a routine.
A little routine would be a good thing. I want my 2018 to have a little consistency; at least in some areas. I'm okay with taking life as it comes at you, but being prepared by being healthy takes some steady planning.
The fitness plan for January is in place and the first goal is simple -- get healthy and in shape. I'll be over on Healthy Living a little more often as the year begins and keeping up with health and fitness over there. I'll try to get there later today with my early goals.

More reading and more writing are also in the plans for 2018. I just finished two fiction books which were enjoyable reads. I should read more fiction.
January will also include some Spanish refresher time in preparation for our February trip to the beaches of Cancun, Mexico.

We each have our own stories to write.
We each begin the year with blank pages.
As we begin to fill in those pages with the stories and what will be our memories of the days to come, I leave you with this thought...

In the latter part of 2017 a black and white photo challenge made its way through Facebook. I like the classic look of black and white photographs, but is no way to live life and a poor way to remember the past. For 2018, I will choose to live life in full color.

Here's a little bonus.
I'm no longer a big fan of country music, but this song speaks to living life in color:



John <><

A Christmas Story

Did you know...

The year was 1818.
The place was the small village of Oberndorf near Salzburg in the Austrian Alps.
A priest named Father Joseph Mohr was preparing for the midnight worship service on Christmas Eve. When the plans were nearly completed, someone found out that the organ was broken. Father Joseph's plans for a wonderful evening of worship were ruined.

The priest was inspired to write a song that proved to be a fitting song for this solemn service.
The words began, "Silent night, holy night..."
He quickly penned the words and gave them to the organist, asking him to come up with a melody. That night, the song was sung as a duet and accompanied by a single guitar.

It was published in Germany in 1838 and wasn't published in English until 1863.

Imagine...
if it weren't for a broken organ and an inspired priest in a small Austrian village on Christmas Eve nearly two hundred years ago...

Here is an acapella version of the Christmas classic.

Merry Christmas,

John <><

Note: If you click on the title in the pic, it will open fully in You Tube.

Christmas re-run

Here is a Christmas post from eight years ago. 

Hmmm...
Again, this year my Christian testimony has been called into question. I have to admit -- each time, it does cause me to reflect on my beliefs about the Jesus that I strive to follow. I know that I can do better, but I sincerely feel I am stumbling and struggling along the narrow and difficult path that Jesus talks about.

In the past few weeks I have given much more thought to my Un-organized Religion posts and will have more to say about that in the coming year.

Once again, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas from a heathen and a pagan on the side of the rebel Jesus.

http://outofmyhat.blogspot.com/2009/12/from-heathen-and-pagan.html

John <><

Jesus is my friend

Jesus is my friend is the theme for Day camp at Baptist Hill. Day camp is for our youngest campers. They are preschool age.

During this morning's "Meet the staff" portion of the day, the Camp Manager and summer staff introduced themselves to the kids and parents and told a little about what they would be doing for the day.

Typically, the summer staff doesn't do a lot of the daily activities for camps that come here. The summer staff is the worker group for the camp grounds, not for the individual groups that come to camp. Day Camp and Intro to Camping are the two exceptions where they are the leaders for Bible study, music, and crafts.

When it was my turn to introduce myself and tell a little bit about my part at Baptist Hill, I wanted the kids to know that this is a place where they can come for many years. For these little ones, this is their first exposure to Baptist Hill. I told them that I have been coming to kids camps long enough that I have now done weddings for some of the kids that came to camp as children!

"That means he's really old!" was what I heard from one of the summer staff!

Yeah, some days that's how I feel.
But not today!

I sat in on the first session of Bible story time, but decided against visiting the craft and music sessions. I am enjoying sitting in the sun, sipping a soda, and listening to the sounds of nature as I share these thoughts with you and get ready for our worship time. Looking at the little kids and their parents makes me realize that I am probably older than some of their grandparents. I suppose that from their perspectives, I am really old.
I guess I can live with that.
sigh

I had a nice ride out to camp this morning -- 50 rural miles on the motorcycle with classic rock on my helmet radio. That's a pretty good way to start any day and just what I needed to prepare myself for a day with a bunch of kids. I'll probably need a longer ride to help me get my mind right afterwards!
Some days it takes a lot of curves to get my mind straightened out. This might be one of them!

Jesus is my friend
Something for adults to be reminded of, as well!

John <><

I Don't Wanna Pickle...

How about a little music for TBT?



John <><