Tongues and prophets

It is funny that over the past year or so, a few people have surmised that I may be able to prophesy. Which is nice, having that confirmation, as I sense that that has been the case as well.
What is too bad, however, is that I can't do cool things like tell you how you're gonna die, or be able to predict individuals' futures with pinpoint accuracy. Or figure out winning lottery numbers (awfully handy), or determine the date of the end of the world (awfully scary).
However, that aside, it has also been pointed out to me that prophets have never really 'fit in' to the societies that they have been placed; they remain the outsiders and the outcasts, as they say things that disturb the current comfortable reality that society lives in. Which, I think, also has become increasingly poignant to me, as I have noted that some have desired that I 'cease and desist', that I would 'conform to the norm'.
I'm not sure how I feel about being the 'voice in the wilderness'...

Keep away from dangerous objects, including yourself

I have stated before that I am a terrible klutz, but this is ridiculous! As some of you know, I'd spent the past four weeks with a thumb bandage, as I had managed to chop off part of my thumbnail, and was wearing it to protect the underlying tissue until it grew back.
Well! Wouldn't you know it! Not even a week after I stop wearing the bandage, I managed to burn two of my fingers on the same hand! No third-degree burns, to be sure, though it is quite stinging, so it's a little bit worse than first-degree. This stinks!

Amusing ourselves to death (apologies to Postman)

I hadn't realized I hadn't posted for quite a while. Nothing particularly much to note, as I was working out of town. However, when I do go out of town to work, it's the only opportunity I have to actually watch television. (Incidentally, as a complete aside, I heard on the radio today that the larger plasma HDTVs use four times more power than conventional television sets. That's a lot. It makes me wonder, as people are clamouring to get these admittedly impressive machines, how it's going to affect power usage in the next few years).
I must say, I still cannot understand how people have time to watch television, especially for hours at a time. I am also concerned about the quality of what is actually available. I am not sure of the appeal. To me, television, for the most part, appears to be a mind-numbing, intelligence-sucking, vacuous form of being comatose. I know, I've watched my fair share of cartoons and such growing up, but I just find that there's not much to see.
And really, don't get me started on movies, as that is a whole other topic. A social outing where you sit in the dark with your friends, such that you can't talk to them or see them for hours, and then you go home. Fun.

Faith-defying gravity

What is becoming increasingly commonplace for me is listening to old friends who have chosen, for various reasons, to walk away from the faith. Not necessarily to embrace another one, but just walking away from this one.
One of my friends told me the other day that for them, their faith was like a Jenga tower, and as they grew older, supporting blocks in the tower were taken gradually away, until, inevitably, the whole tower fell over. Yet they were incredulous that people like myself, have belief that seems to defy gravity. It suspends there, a Jenga block all by itself, hanging in mid-air, even when all the other structures around it have been knocked off.
I can sympathize; I know there are many paradoxes, many inconsistencies, many hypocrisies, many institutional roadblocks that don't make sense. They make you shake your head, wonder "What?", break your heart, make you angry. I also understand that there are many veils that conceal truth, deliberate and otherwise. I further understand it is hard for us to really see Truth; we understand it dimly, as through an old mirror. I also know that there are many cultural, historical and traditional roadblocks that have greatly mutated and changed the faith over the years; some for the better, many for the worse. I can see all this and understand why this isn't sufficient for some to keep faith, to hold onto hope.
So why do I, and many others, still defy gravity? How is it possible, without a leg to stand on, that I still have hope? I have no idea. I suppose part of it has to do with grace, but even that explanation I find tenuous; does that mean others have experienced less, or deserve less, somehow? That, I can't believe. However, I think there is much I don't understand, much I don't know. I don't know how this all ends up in the wash, as much as I'd like to be Queen of the Universe and bring all benevolence and justice to the earth. I suppose it's also a bit of a "crutch" statement in saying that I'm glad that I'm ultimately not in charge, but that Someone Else is. Is that good enough?
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I'm not sure if it can be that concrete; if one is that sure and certain, is it really faith after all? Perhaps I just have a dogged determination that what I've been told is True, and I cling to that hope, and that is all, at the end of the day, I can really do...

One of these things is not like the others

Sometimes, I must say, I feel that I'm torn between several different viewpoints, and have a hard time figuring out where I "fit" in the spectrum... however, this picture reassured me a little bit... credit due to Dave Coverly...

Why birthday parties are a good indication of eternity

So, nothing much of great excitement or import has occurred recently, but last night, I had an invigorating chat with a good friend. One of the topics that I had expressed had been concerning me of late, is how our appetite for real transformation and eternity is so small, that our imagination for the eternal is so limited, that we do not desire it, and we do not long and crave for it.
Small children, in anticipation of their birthdays, are whipped into such a frenzy that EVERYTHING revolves around the birthday party: how many of their friends will come, what lovely presents are going to arrive, how amazing the cake and ice cream is going to be, how much FUN they're going to have. Children can be excited for weeks in anticipation of its arrival (having small attention spans, however, I suppose it's hard for them to be excited more than a few weeks in advance), savouring and anticipating every moment on that day. Some will act "extra good" in order to make sure that the day will be all that they hope it will be. Some will invite every kid that they know on the planet, in order to maximize the gifts and the ice cream available. Some can't sleep in the dizzying excitement of what will happen!
And, folks, this is for a child's birthday party. I often wonder why we cannot muster the same kind of enthusiasm for an even greater celebration. Why our visions and dreams are so limited (to our own nation, our own kind, our own people), that we cannot see larger, cannot see all the 'kids in the neighbourhood' who also are coming to the party. Why we are not so dizzy with anticipation that all we strive for, all we seek for, is that eternal celebration. Why we kind of don't really want everybody to come to the party either.... I can't figure out why we think this way...