Merry Boxing Day

I'm a bit late posting this, but here is a part of the Christmas story. In this part, some astrologers from far away came to see Jesus. Jesus attracted all kinds of people, didn't he? From poor Jewish peasants to royal astrologers who didn't follow the same religion as Jesus did, many people saw something special about him.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

The Bible--it's good but let's be realistic

A while back I wrote about some ideas I've rejected. Now I want to expand on a couple things.

"I've rejected the idea that the Bible is infallible."

"I've rejected the idea that more church involvement, more prayer, or more Bible reading will automatically make a person happier and closer to God. (Or did I ever believe this one?)"

The idea that the Bible is infallible seems to be based on circular reasoning. I can't believe that it's inspired by God just because it says so. And even if I could believe that, the part that says "All scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16) might not actually refer to the whole Bible. If the timeline that some fairly conservative scholars put in my Bible is correct, 2 Timothy wasn't the last book of the Bible written, so how could that verse refer to books that weren't written yet? And does "inspired by God" necessarily mean "infallible"? If a movie is "inspired by a true story," that doesn't mean it reflects the original story completely accurately. If God himself said the Bible is infallible, I could believe that. And if Jesus is God in the flesh, I could believe him. The Bible says Jesus said, "Scripture cannot be broken," (John 10:35), but that couldn't be referring to the New Testament, and something about how he just gave that a passing mention mid-sentence makes me wonder if that really wasn't his point. Or maybe I'm just looking for a cop-out.

And on the second topic, I used to read the Bible just about every day, pretty consistently. While I can't deny I learned some good stuff, and I matured during that time, it didn't make me super happy and I didn't feel close to God, despite what some preachers promised. So that's why I maybe never believed that reading the Bible would have some automatic amazing effect.

But when it really comes down to it, the Bible is an amazing book. Infallible or not, automatically life-changing or not, I have found it inspiring, convicting, just plain interesting, and sometimes just plain boring. And I still believe a divine message somehow comes through, but not necessarily in the form of answers; sometimes it's in the form of questions. I still try to read it regularly, and I'm still inspired, enlightened, and puzzled by it.

If there are any preachers out there who are inclined to make lofty promises about what will happen when people read the Bible, I'd suggest being more realistic. I suspect you'll get more people to actually stick to reading the Bible if you don't make promises like that.

So if you aren't all that familiar with the Bible, pick it up and read it. I promise it won't automatically revolutionize your life.

Engaged!

If I've talked to you in person or on the phone since Sunday, or if you're my friend on Facebook, you may have already heard my news: I'm engaged! Cathy and I are planning to get married next summer.

Cathy is smart, funny, beautiful, athletic, understanding, and caring. She's my best friend and the love of my life. I'm thrilled to be able to spend the rest of my life with her. (I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn't nervous though. This is a big step!)

If you want to see some pictures from the proposal, I posted some on Facebook, along with the story of how it happened. You don't even need to be a Facebook member to see it!

Driving away a customer

Recently, the Movie Gallery store near my house shut down. I was disappointed, because they occasionally called me to offer me free movie rentals. So when I went to rent a movie recently I had to check out other nearby stores.

I went to Rogers Plus, found a movie I wanted to rent, and went to sign up for a membership. The guy informed me that memberships cost $10 per year, but by renting or buying movies there I'd earn points. It would take 15 rentals (or less purchases) to earn enough points to earn back the $10. I'm guessing I don't rent 15 movies per year, especially now that I have a girlfriend. (Now I'm at home alone less often on weekends.) So I left the movie on the counter, said, "I'm not renting this," and walked out of the store.

Then I went to Blockbuster. They had the same movie there, and they didn't make me pay $10 for a membership. They had an optional rewards program that cost $10, but they didn't make me sign up for it.

I wonder if Rogers' $10 program is optional. If it is, their employee sure didn't do a good job of making that clear. If I misunderstood him, I would think he would've figured it out when I changed my mind about renting the movie. Or maybe he gets paid commission for everyone he signs up for that program, so he didn't want me to think it's optional. If that's the case, it backfired. Maybe it didn't hurt him any more than if I'd just rented the movie without signing up, but it hurt his employer. I'll probably never rent a movie there unless they tell me that the $10 program is optional.

Goodbye to my other grandma

About a month ago, we lost my grandma on my mom's side, and this week, my grandma on my dad's side passed away. Again, I've been taking it ok, but please pray for me and my whole family, especially my dad and his siblings. This all seems pretty quick, but like my mom's mom, my dad's mom had deteriorating health, probably even worse, so I think it was her time to go. I'll miss her.

I am not a serial killer

I made that last post just to spite someone. A friend and I were talking about this blog, and she told me that at one point she'd browsed my blog and couldn't find any signs that I'm a serial killer. Later that day, I just couldn't resist posting this. Note the fine print at the bottom that kind of blends in with the background. (The link in the fine print wasn't there at first, so it blended in even better then.)

I am a serial killer

I have a confession to make. I am a serial killer.

Actually, I'm not. I've explained this post here.

Not quite everything I believed in has lied to me

This post is inspired by the song "Where Are You?" by Our Lady Peace. They didn't sing this song at the concert I was at in July, but thinking about this song back then inspired this post. It just took me a while to get around to writing it. Anyway, here are the lyrics:

Hey you
Have you felt like this before?
You got style but ain't got soul
Are you happy now?
Are you happy, tonight?
Or did Punk Rock get it right?
Is there no future in sight?
Oh is it different now? Is it different?

Come up
Come up come on, come on
Where are you? Where are you?
I'm kicking and screaming
You're not listening
Where are you? Where are you?
Everything I've believed in, has lied to me
But this could be the best day, of my life
The best day of my life

eh you
Have you got everything you want?
Or do you want more than you got?
Is it different now? Is it different, tonight?
Or did Jesus get it right?
Or is the devil behind the light?
Are you happy now? Are you happy?

Come on
Come on, come on, come on
Where are you? Where are you?
I'm kicking and screaming,
You're not listening
Where are you? And where are you?
Everything I've believed in, has lied to me
But this could be the best day of my life

Ohhh sons and daughters,
Mothers and fathers,
Everyone's waiting for our luck to change
Sons and daughters,
Mothers and fathers,
Everyone's waiting, waiting

Cause this could be the best day
And this could be the best day
And this could be the best day, best day, best day

Come on
Come on, come on, come on
Where are you? Where are you?
I'm kicking and screaming
You're not listening
Where are you? And where are you?
Everything I believed in has lied to me
And this could be the best day
And this could be the best day,
And this could be the best day best day, best day
And this could be the best day
And this could be the best day,
And this could be the best day best day, best day of my life

For me, this song gets me thinking about my faith in God. I don't believe that everything I believed in has lied to me, but I've rejected some things that I used to believe. And maybe the times that I rejected those ideas weren't the best days of my life, but they were good. It feels freeing, and it makes it harder for people to control me by telling me what to think. A few ideas that I've rejected:

I've rejected the idea that the universe around us gives scientific evidence for God's existence.

I've rejected the idea that the Bible is infallible.

I've rejected the idea that God created each species separately, not from a common ancestor, or that God had to intervene in evolution to create the diversity of life that we see.

I've rejected the idea that the Bible has to be totally historically or scientifically accurate, or even infallible, to deliver a divine message.

I've rejected the idea that conservative politics reflects God's values better than liberal politics does.

I've rejected the idea that more church involvement, more prayer, or more Bible reading will automatically make a person happier and closer to God. (Or did I ever believe this one?)

Maybe sometime I'll list some ideas that I wasn't raised with that I have also rejected. What ideas that you were raised with (religious or not) have you rejected?

The funeral

My grandma's funeral was on Tuesday. She had picked these verses from the Bible to be read there:

"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."--something Jesus said in Matthew 28:20

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."--Revelation 2:10

And one of the songs she had picked was "Let Me See Jesus Only." I couldn't find the lyrics online, but here is the chorus:

Let me see Jesus only
Jesus only, Jesus only
Let me see Jesus only
Only he can satisfy.

If you get a chance to read the verses to this song, give them a read.

Goodbye Grandma

Some of you that know me may have heard that my grandma passed away on Thursday. I've been taking it okay, but I appreciate your thoughts and prayers for my whole family, especially my mom and my uncle who've just lost their mom.

Maybe we are a threat

For several years, I've subscribed to the Persecution and Prayer Alert from Voice of the Martyrs. Every week, they send news about persecuted Christians, and sometimes they urge their readers to write letters or emails to governments in defense of these persecuted Christians. Once in a while, I've written letters (but I guess it's been a while).

The Voice of the Martyrs website has some letter writing tips and I think they used to have some examples to follow, but I can't find any right now. In an email to a foreign government, I seem to remember saying something like, "The Bible teaches us to submit to our governments and obey the law, so Christians in your country are not a threat to your government," based on a sample letter I'd read. While it's true that as Christians, we are supposed to obey the law when it doesn't mean disobeying God, something about what I said didn't sit right with me, even as I wrote it. Maybe I'd already heard about how the church had been involved in bringing down communism, mostly peacefully, in Poland. Or maybe I realized that when people have a higher loyalty than their own government, that can non-violently undermine a government.

The more time that passes, the less I believe that Christianity is not a threat to oppressive governments. Sometimes I'm not even sure how it works, but when we serve a God who "opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6), oppressive people and institutions can't stand forever. And if God can conquer death by dying, maybe Christians can conquer oppressors by submitting to them while being loyal to God above all. (But that's easy for me to say, sitting here, experiencing relatively little persecution.)

Ironically, I'm probably less sure of God's existence than I was when I wrote the letter I mentioned.

Love isn't blind; it's myopic

"That's what you do when life hands you a chance to be with someone special. You just grab that brownish area by its points and you don't let go no matter what your mom says."
--Buster Bluth after he found love with his glasses off

You don't know what love is

"You do what you're told
But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold."
--Nine Inch Nails

"You don't know what love is
You just do as you're told."
--The White Stripes

Notice a theme here? Love is supposed to be unselfish, and doing what you're told might seem unselfish, but these writers don't seem to think that's a good thing. So your homework this week is to look for situations where the most loving thing to do is not what you're told.

Rambling about warm weather

Maybe I should get something to cover the windows in my car. After a day of work during the summer, the car is always hotter than the outdoors, especially on a sunny day. At least it cools off quickly, thanks to air conditioning.

Meanwhile, I come home, step into the house, and feel a blast of cool air. And I don't have air conditioning at home. I do keep most of the curtains closed while I'm at work though. It is hot in the house, but at least it's not as hot as the outdoors on a warm day. And I don't have to wear as much clothing in the house as in the car! (Clarification for potential roommates: I don't go naked outside of my bedroom and the bathroom if other people, including roommates, might see me. Don't worry. Or don't get excited.)

But even though it's cooler inside and there's less of a dress code, it just feels better to be outside on a hot day.

Crashing a ceilidh

After Montreal, the vacation continued through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. While we were driving on Prince Edward Island, Cathy noticed a commercial on the radio for a ceilidh. (According to dictionary.com, a ceilidh is "an Irish or Scottish social gathering with traditional music, dancing, and storytelling." By the way, the "dh" is silent.) We thought this would be a good chance to experience some east coast culture, hear music, dance, and that sort of thing.

So we arrived at the Benevolent Irish Society hall that evening and found a room full of middle aged and elderly people sitting in chairs listening to a live Celtic band. The music was good and the hall was packed, but it really wasn't what we expected. Nobody was dancing (for one thing there wasn't room), and there was a lack of people our age.

We sat and listened for a while, and then we noticed that Nick was asleep. (He said he can't really just sit and listen to live music, no matter how good it is.) We figured we wouldn't stay until the end. Then Cathy suggested that we go and dance in the parking lot. I have to admit I dragged my feet a bit, but it was a good idea. We figured out that a polka step seemed to work with the song, so we danced. Then we got our other friends. Nick told the ticket guy what was going on and asked if they could teach us a dance. So a few people came outside to teach us a folk dance. After we sort of got the basics, they asked the band to play a song that would go with the dance.

By intermission we were pretty sure we'd stay for the whole event. After intermission, the same people taught us another folk dance and then asked the band to play a song to go with it. So by then, everyone in the hall knew we were there and knew what we were doing. After that dance, we sat back down and listened to some more music. I think Nick stayed awake this time. Afterward, we thanked the band and our teachers. I got the impression they enjoyed teaching us those dances.

So I want to thank my friends, especially Cathy and Nick, for taking a somewhat disappointing evening and turning it into one of the most memorable parts of the trip. You made a lot of people's day. And a big thank you to the warm, hospitable people at that hall in Charlottetown for accommodating us and passing on a bit of your culture.

Almost finished in Montreal

I'm almost finished my time in Montreal, and then we're off to New Brunswick. When we arrived here, a friend and I got in a cab to go to the place we're staying and meet up with a couple more friends. I tried telling the cab driver how long we'd be there and asking what he recommended doing here, and he didn't really understand. So I told him how long we're staying in French. I couldn't figure out how to ask what he recommended doing. But we continued to talk in French for a few minutes.

It was surprisingly natural to be speaking French again. Of course, I'm far from fluent, and I haven't spoken a whole lot of French on this trip, but what I knew came back faster than I expected. And I think the cab driver spoke slowly so I could understand him. Maybe in Edmonton, it just doesn't feel natural to speak French, especially when most of the French-speakers I know speak English better.

(New readers can go back and read what I wrote in July and August of 2006 when I did my French immersion program. I haven't tagged these posts yet, but when I do, they should be tagged "French.")

Highlights of "The Fidelity of Betrayal"

I finished reading the book, "The Fidelity of Betrayal" by Peter Rollins a while back. I already commented on it here before I finished it. Here are a few other highlights:

In reading Nietzsche [Dietrich Bonhoeffer] too became concerned that Christianity had become an anemic ideological expression that not only appealed to the infant within humanity but that fundamentally stood in the way of our becoming strong, intelligent, and courageous human beings who reflect our dignity as being formed in the image of God...

Bonhoeffer wondered whether it is possible to embrace God out of love and lightness of heart, out of a seduction that is caught up in the call of God rather than the need of God.

--page 102-103

The question is not whether God exists but rather what God has said.

--page 138

When thinking through issues to do with morality, religion, the world, and social action, people can introduce and employ the richest thoughts of the various intellectual disciplines, because the truth that Christianity affirms does not impact these discussions in terms of content but rather in terms of approach, demanding that the conclusions we come to bring liberation and healing.

--page 161

And when I wrote about this book before, I mentioned the glaring question: Why make an unconditional commitment to Christ? Well, here's one thing he says that seems to address that question, not necessarily the main thing he says on this topic:

While certain beliefs are affirmed as a means of reflecting upon the faith of Jesus, these beliefs can never take the place of, or fully describe, that faith. A metaphor that may help to illustrate this relationship concerns a beautiful, bright-white dove that, one day while flying through the air, imagines how high and fast she could soar if only the air, with all its resistance, did not exist. Never did this dove realize that it was the air she cursed, with all of its restrictive forces, that allowed her to rise up in the first place. We must endeavor to understand then how the common critique that Christianity offers a particular, "narrow" stance in relation to the transcendent fails to understand that this "constrictive" location is itself a privileged opening into the transcendent. It is only by locating oneself in a narrow particular site, perceived as such, that one can gaze beyond it.

--page 137

I find that many of Peter Rollins's ideas seem true based on my own experiences. Maybe I can't give logically defensible reasons for agreeing with him, but the things he said just resonate with my own issues with Christianity and help me move beyond these issues. Yeah, there are some things he says that I'm not so sure about, but don't take that as a criticism of the book. I agree with this book more than a lot of what I hear from Christians, including my own church.

The writing style is fairly academic, so at times that made it harder for it to keep my attention, but the ideas usually made up for it. I also wish he got more personal. We see very little of his own experiences here.

I recently started reading Shane Claiborne's book, "The Irresistible Revolution." The back of the book says, "This book will comfort the disturbed [and] disturb the comfortable." I think "The Fidelity of Betrayal" could have a similar effect. I'm a disturbed Christian, and I found the book refreshing. But to Christians who don't feel like they've ever had their illusions shattered, it could be disturbing.

Montreal

This summer, I'm going on vacation to Montreal, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia with a few friends. Now that I have the trip planned, I keep noticing other people who are going to Montreal. I know at least two other people who will be visiting Montreal while I'm on the east coast. I work with someone who just got back from there. Offhand, I can't remember anyone else, but there may be more. And they say Canadians don't like to vacation in Canada.

[Update: I know another person who's going to Ottawa soon after I leave Montreal, and he might visit Montreal too.]

Chalk River

So the Chalk River reactor got shut down again, and this time it could take several months to start it up. (Some background information in case you're unfamiliar with it: the Chalk River reactor produces about half of the world's medical isotopes. It's more than 50 years old. There's more information on Wikipedia.) So now Canada has to ration its medical isotopes and I suspect other countries have to do this too. Obviously the highest priority cases will get precedence, but a lot of other people are going to suffer because of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if people die too. Many elective surgeries will be postponed. These surgeries may not be a matter of life and death, but these people will definitely suffer. I have a friend who's waiting for wrist surgery that keeps getting postponed. Although this isn't related to the isotope shortage, it does show how important elective surgery is. Her wrist has been in pain for a year and she can't do much with that hand. Although she doesn't show it much, it's very frustrating!

I work in an industrial facility, so I understand that it's unrealistic to fix a serious issue in a short time. We're probably stuck with the isotope shortage for a while now. But many Canadian governments have neglected to keep that reactor in excellent shape. When the quality of life and even the survival of so many people all over the world are at stake, there has to be a long-term plan to provide a secure source of isotopes. I also wonder if it's realistic to have several smaller reactors all over the world rather than so few large ones. That would give us better backup during shutdowns like this one. When the next election happens in Canada, I hope to see the major parties give a workable, long-term vision for our supply of medical isotopes. I'm not a one-issue voter, but this issue will definitely be on my mind.

Night shifts

Tonight is my second night in a row sleeping at home. Before that I worked eight night shifts in a row. I was helping with starting up the sulphuric acid plant at work. We made a bunch of changes to the control system while it was shut down for maintenance, so they got me and another engineer to rotate shifts during startup to troubleshoot the control system and help the operators get used to the changes.

This was my first experience with consistent night shifts. (I helped with another plant startup last fall for about a night and a half, and those times weren't nearly as scheduled.) So here are a few of my thoughts:

I got to know some people a lot better. When a big part of our job is just to be there just in case someone needs help, interesting conversations can happen.

Sometimes it's nice to have some time when I don't really have to do anything and it's still considered work. Normally if I've got nothing to do on one project, I pull out a different project and work on it.

In twelve-hour shifts, especially when there are less people around for conversations, there is too much time with nothing to do.

Just like when I helped with that other startup last year, I got kind of tense waiting for stuff to happen. When I arrived on certain days, I didn't know exactly what time the most important stuff would be happening, and neither did the bosses. I need to learn to get less tense when things get delayed and I'm waiting around. I also didn't like not knowing how many nights I'd have to work.

I don't regret trying night shift, but I don't want to do it regularly.

Freedom

In 2000 and 2001, during my one-year Christian studies program at North American Baptist College (which is now called Taylor University College), I took a class on the religions of the world. During the course, we visited a few religious institutions including a Jewish synagogue, a Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, and a Sikh temple. There were a few optional visits that I didn't go on too. I heard about one where a group visited a Buddhist temple. As a Buddhist talked with the Christian college students about inner peace and nirvana, one of the students said that she had found inner peace through Jesus.

When I heard about this later on, I privately wondered if she had the same definition of "inner peace" as Buddhists have. Buddhists have a very high concept of nirvana/inner peace. It includes a complete absence of suffering and desire. Many believe it takes many lifetimes, through reincarnation (thousands of lifetimes or more, if I remember right). Besides the question of definitions, I wondered if this girl was really experiencing inner peace or if she believed she had inner peace because someone told her she did. And a question prompted by my previous blog post: was her sense of inner peace simply an escape; an "opiate," if you will?

(On a side note, I'm not saying a Buddhist understanding of inner peace is better than a Christian understanding. One question to ask: does a life without suffering and desire have less joy than a life where suffering and desire can be redeemed and result in something good?)

I think as Christians, we have the same problem with the idea of freedom. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free" (John 8:34-36, NLT). We get told that if we've accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior, we're free. Yet I don't think I'm really experiencing that freedom. I know I can't put absolute trust in my own feelings, but I can't ignore them either. I can't keep listening to people who tell me I'm free; I have to pursue freedom.

Opiate of the people

Here's something I read on another blog:

Marx was right

Here, the leader of a Christian organization says that faith in God can often be an "opiate" rather than what it should be. I think he makes a good point.

Bullying

Last year, I wrote something about the need to fight anti-gay discrimination, even if we believe homosexual activity is morally wrong. If you still think these efforts are unnecessary (or even bad), please read this article:

Teen Commits Suicide Due to Bullying

I know one article probably won't completely change anyone's mind, but I hope it gets you to keep thinking about the issue. This guy didn't identify himself as gay, but a severe lack of tolerance for people who fit gay stereotypes and a severe lack of people sticking up for the guy led to his death.

Sex changes

Several years ago, I volunteered with The Mustard Seed, an organization that helps poor people in inner-city Edmonton in various ways, including serving meals and giving away donated clothing.

One day when I was there during a meal, one of the staff asked me to go to the clothing storage area and find a skirt for a man who had just come in. Yes, you read that right. This man was dressed as a woman, but not very convincingly. It was pretty clear he was a man. I went to the clothing storage and found a skirt and whatever else this person had asked for.

Later, I was watching the entrance with a new volunteer. This volunteer looked over at the cross-dresser and said, "People like that don't even deserve to live."

I was surprised to hear him say something so hateful, yet I wasn't willing to speak up.

I don't think I ever saw that volunteer again. Maybe he made a similar remark to someone on staff and they told him he shouldn't come back. Or maybe he decided on his own that he couldn't handle being in the same room as a transvestite or transgendered person.

I don't know if the man in the skirt was a transvestite (someone who likes dressing like the opposite sex) or transgendered (someone who thinks they should be the opposite sex). But either way, he clearly faced hatred. Now the Alberta government is planning to stop funding sex change surgeries for transgendered Albertans. Based on what I've learned about transgendered people, they feel like they were born the wrong gender, even from a young age. As far as I know, most of them were born with the body parts of a single gender, not both. This seems to be a much deeper feeling than simply not liking the way they look. Feeling this way can lead to severe depression and even suicide.

I don't know how much of the depression comes from the transgendered feeling itself and how much comes from the social stigma. I suspect some of both. So whether you support or oppose government funding for sex change operations, please oppose hatred toward transgendered people. Treat them like normal people. (And if you ever want tips on how not to treat minorities like they're normal, watch any episode of "The Office" where Michael deals with black people or gay people.) I'm sorry for not standing up for that guy at The Mustard Seed, and the next time I encounter hatred like that, I intend to say something.

Meanwhile, an article about this issue also mentioned that they're cutting back funding for youth suicide prevention. So now some teens could die because the government wants to save a few bucks? Does our government really care about our mental health?

A non-Easter story for Easter

A long time ago, a prophet said:

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
  for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
  and to proclaim that captives will be released
  and prisoners will be freed.
He has sent me to tell those who mourn
  that the time of the Lord’s favor has come."

Several hundred years later, Jesus read this in public and said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!"

What truth isn't

"What is truth?"
--Pontius Pilate

A couple of months ago, Irish philosopher / theologian / pastor Peter Rollins visited Edmonton. I first heard of him last year when the Wittenburg Door interviewed him. He intrigued me. (Sample quote: "God spoke to me, repeating four simple words: 'I do not exist.'") But I got quite sick when he was in Edmonton, so I didn't get to see him. I decided to order a book of his instead. The one I got is called, "The Fidelity of Betrayal." Here's an excerpt:

When the truth affirmed by Christianity is thought of as constituting a series of factual claims open to being assessed by intellectual experts, Christianity opens itself up to a corrosive form of doubt that threatens to destroy it...

Thus the truth affirmed by Christianity ends up being treated like any other set of factual claims, claims that are provisional and open to being proven wrong. Even if one believes that the various claims within the Bible are wholly accurate, it is always possible that a new discovery in archaeology, history, or biblical scholarship will overturn the current body of evidence. Apologetics, in its attempt to defend the factual claims of the Bible through the use of reason, thus implicitly affirms the very philosophical outlook that undermines its own project, placing the truth of Christianity in the realm of rational reflection and thus into the realm of reasonable doubt and provisionality.

This has the effect of placing the Christian idea of truth upon a very tentative and fragile foundation, one that could not possibly justify an individual's unconditional commitment--one that would not be able to embrace Jesus' statement that one ought to lay one's life down for one's faith.

--page 92-93

By the way, for those of you who don't speak Christianese, "apologetics" is the rational defense of Christian beliefs.

I can identify with this. I get pretty irritated when people use bad arguments for the truth of Christianity, but I've come to realize that I can't possibly thoroughly evaluate every argument for and against the existence of God, resurrection of Jesus, etc. Even if I put a ridiculously large amount of time into it, I probably wouldn't even come close, and meanwhile I'd miss out on actually living the life God created me to live. But when I am confident that a particular argument sucks, it makes me feel like these people want me to turn my back on my rationality.

The book makes it clear that we don't need to turn our backs on rationality, but our faith shouldn't be subject to rationality either.

This leaves a glaring question: why make an unconditional commitment to Christ? I haven't finished the book yet, but I think he's going to explore this question. I don't know if he's going to give a clear answer. But based on the track record of this guy and other writers who think like him (like Brian McLaren), I'm sure I'll find his reasoning more satisfying than Pascal's wager and plenty of other arguments for being a Christian.

Amazing Grace

About ten years ago, I was on a trip with the high school band. We were waiting outside a building before we played at a band festival, and some people in the school choir started singing "Amazing Grace." This was a public school choir, and I'm sure some of the members weren't Christians. And at some point during high school, we played "Amazing Grace" in band. As I said, it was a public school.

Just last week, when someone asked me to play some music on the train on the way back from band practice, he asked me to play "Amazing Grace," and he may have been drunk or something. Before he made that request, I don't think he said anything that sounded spiritual, and he swore like a sailor. (I wrote about this encounter last week, and I didn't include most of the swearing.) It felt good to be asked to play that song in particular. It can be an honour to share God's grace in some small way.

I can't think of any other old hymn that has such a broad, timeless appeal.

What is it about this song that makes it so timeless and its appeal so broad, even to people who most of us wouldn't think are Christians? Could it be that they really do realize their need for God's grace but they don't want the "Christian" label? Or do they not believe in God but consider the song a simple and beautiful expression of a beautiful idea?

I know that some songs tend to cut through my own cynicism and doubt about Christianity, if only for a while. Sometimes it's simple, classic songs like "Amazing Grace" that do that best.

Saxomaphone

Last Tuesday, I was on the train on the way home from band practice. After I got on the train and sat down, a guy had a question.

"What's in that case?" he asked, referring to my saxophone case. He sounded like he wasn't all there mentally, maybe drunk or mentally ill. (Some people have bad gaydar; I have trouble telling what's impairing a person mentally. And my gaydar probably isn't very good either.)

"A saxophone," I replied.

"Were you just rocking out?"

"I was at band practice."

I think he thought I was in a rock band or something, and I tried to explain what kind of band I'm in (a concert band, kind of like a high school band, but with adults), but he kept interrupting and didn't seem to get it. And he talked about Homer Simpson saying "saxomaphone." It was all semi-intelligible.

"You play guitar too?" he asked.

"No."

"You fucking asshole. You play music but you don't play guitar?" Judging by his tone of voice, he didn't mean this as a serious insult and he wasn't going to hurt me, but he was quite surprised that I play music but don't play the guitar.

Then he asked me to play something for him. So I asked where he's getting off, and he said he's getting off at the next stop, which is two stops from the end of the line. "But I'll stay on the train until the last stop if you play something." I found myself wondering if it's illegal to play a musical instrument on the train, but I guessed that nobody would care, so I started setting up the saxophone.

"You'd better rock out."

I was having trouble even thinking of a song that I remembered how to play, but as I finished setting up, I thought of a song we had just played at our concert last weekend called "Fidgety Feet." I think it's a ragtime song. We had the melody near the start of the song, so I played that small part of the song.

"Cool. Can I have your phone number?"

"Um. No."

I thought of another song that I know that would probably be more familiar: "Heartbreak Hotel." He seemed to enjoy it, and another guy on the train applauded a bit. I was starting to enjoy this.

"Do you know that Lisa Simpson song?" At first I thought he was referring to the part of The Simpsons theme song where Lisa improvs on the saxophone. That part of the theme song changes once in a while, so I don't remember any specific versions. Then he said something about Michael Jackson, so I thought he might be talking about the "Lisa It's Your Birthday" song. I didn't know how to play that song, but I remembered a little bit of The Simpsons theme song from when we played it in high school band. So I played a line or two of that song.

Then he asked me, "Do you know how to play 'Amazing Grace'?" I do know how to play it, so I played a verse. He tried singing along for a bit of it. Like his talking, it was semi-intelligible. We were almost at the end of the line, which is where I get off, so I started putting away the saxophone. He asked if I could play a bit more, but I said I have to go. As I got off the train, he was still sitting there, semi-intelligibly singing another verse of "Amazing Grace."

Irish accents

This morning on The Bear (a local radio station), Yukon Jack went on a rant complaining about fake Irish accents. (To hear it, go to the Yukon's Big Yap page and listen to the March 17 thing. But at the time of writing, it's not posted yet.)

This got me thinking. I wonder if St. Patrick could do a good Irish accent. Because he wasn't Irish either.

Shameless self-promotion

This Sunday at 2:30, I have a concert! I'm playing the alto saxophone in a band of about 50 people. The concert is in the Old Strathcona area of Edmonton. Tickets cost $5 to $12, depending on your age and when you buy them. There's more information available on the Cosmopolitan Music Society website. Hope to see you there!

And there will be food afterward.

Being an elite athlete is overrated

"StrengthPlanet.com reveals that the average elite athlete will die by the age of 67, considerably lower then the 76 year life expectancy of the average North American."
--"Fame's Dark Shadows", Edmonton Sun, March 1, 2009

Sometimes it seems like my most active friends and acquaintances are the ones who need more medical treatment. Usually it's from strains, sprains, and breaks from being active, not cancer, heart problems, or other issues that are connected to less healthy lifestyles. It seems like they're "out of commission", unable to participate in hiking, sports, and stuff more often than my moderately active friends. Some of the older ones have some serious knee and hip problems too. This doesn't make me want to be as active as them.

And now I see this article saying elite athletes tend to die 9 years earlier than the average North American. The article is mainly about the high-risk lifestyles that some athletes get themselves into, but I wonder if it has anything to do with over-exertion too. Many athletes take supplements and work out like crazy to focus on conditioning their bodies for a specific activity. I wonder, does this conditioning help them live longer, more satisfying lives?

Of course, being too inactive is filled with problems too. I'd like to improve my fitness somewhat, but I'm satisfied with not being anywhere near the caliber of a pro athlete. Besides, I'm 27. It's pretty rare for anyone to get into pro sports at that age.

Disclaimer: Don't take health advice from an engineer, especially when most of it is based on anecdotal evidence, not scientific studies.

A song

There come times in every Blogger's life when we post song lyrics that we didn't write, and we give no explanation for why we picked that particular song. For me, this is one of those times.

I started thinkin' 'bout
The rest of my life
I found myself just looking out for
Trouble and strife
Someone with whom I'll spend
The rest of my days
But if I ever said I wasn't
Set in my ways
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

What kind of fool
Doesn't think about it?
What kind of fool
Doesn't think about it?
You'd have to be a fool
Not to think about it

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

Who'll make a man out of me?

One thing I know about
The rest of my life
I know that I'll be
Living it in Canada
I know I said I'll share
The rest of my days
But I was only
Going through a phase

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

What kind of fool
Doesn't think about it?
What kind of fool
Doesn't think about it?
You'd have to be a fool
Not to think about it?

--Sloan

Pocket dialing

It's probably been a few years since I first heard of "pocket dialing"--phoning someone by accidentally pushing buttons on your phone while it's in your pocket or purse. The most frequent victims are people with names that start with A, like yours truly.

I got my first cell phone in May of 2005. I moved out on my own for the last time in September of 2007, which would have encouraged more people to put me (not just my family) in their list of contacts. Yet I don't think I was ever a victim of pocket dialing until this year. It's happened three times already and the year is still young. If I remember the first time right, a friend accidentally called me, realized it, and hung up. I saw his name on the Missed Calls list, so I called him back and he explained. The second time, it was the same guy, and I got to listen in on part of a conversation. Not an interesting conversation though. And today, my uncle accidentally called. I couldn't figure out who it was at first until he said my cousin's name. He probably still doesn't know he did that.

Why is this suddenly happening more than it was before? Did flip phones suddenly get less popular two months ago?

The fundie in all of us

My last post was about fundamentalism, and I'm going to continue that theme. I said then, "Even fundamentalists don't like fundamentalists; they just don't think they are fundamentalists." But that begs the question, am I a fundamentalist? I don't think I am, but I know people with more fundamentalist opinions than me who probably wouldn't consider themselves fundamentalist. And I definitely have some opinions that are more fundamentalist than some. I think there's a God who actually revealed himself to some humans. I think he even took on human form as Jesus. I believe in an afterlife and a God who judges and shows mercy. I avoid fornication and drunkenness. I'm not trying to appear holier-than-thou; I'm just saying some of these things wouldn't make sense to a lot of people. And I'll admit I question pretty much all of these things, because they don't always make sense to me either.

It would be more accurate to say that I don't like fundamentalism than to say I don't like fundamentalists, because I have friends who are more fundamentalist than I am. But are they truly fundamentalists? I know I don't define the line between fundamentalism and...um...not fundamentalism.

While most of us would consider fundamentalists to be quite conservative, can't some liberals be kind of fundamentalist too? For example, the people who oppose any public religious expression.

In what ways are you sort of fundamentalist?

Impotent fundamentalists

I found some interesting thoughts about fundamentalism for those of you that don't like fundamentalism. (And really, who does? Even fundamentalists don't like fundamentalists; they just don't think they are fundamentalists.) Here it is:

Fundamentalism isn't too violent; it isn't violent enough

Psychic postal workers

This week Canada Post seriously impressed me. I got some mail with my name on it. The first thing I noticed was that someone had circled the postal code, which was incorrect. (They usually do that when the sender gets it wrong.) I thought to myself, "I should tell the sender my real postal code." Then I saw that the address was wrong too, and that's when I really became impressed with our postal service.

But maybe it's not as impressive as it sounds. The only mistake in the address was replacing a "1" with a "7", and the address with the "7" doesn't exist. "7" does kind of look like "1". I'll have to tell the sender though.

Ice on the road

To get out of my little neighbourhood, there's just one road I can take, but I can go in either direction on it. This isn't a very major road--no bus route or anything--so the city doesn't clear the snow. Last week, I noticed something odd about it: at both ends, one driving lane is basically clear, and the other is covered in bumpy ice. (And of course, the parking lanes are snowy and icy.) In both cases, the lane for cars entering the neighbourhood is clear, and the lane for people leaving is icy. (After driving a short distance into the neighbourhood, you'll find that all of the lanes are covered in ice, but now I'm getting off topic.)

I can only think of one explanation: people drive on the entering lane with warmer tires. Would that make this much difference? Does anyone have a different explanation?

Becoming less conservative

I've heard that Winston Churchill said, "If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain." It turns out this isn't true, but I'm going to talk about that quote today anyway.

By these standards, my brain has been atrophying over the last several years. My parents have generally supported right-wing political parties for as long as I can remember, so I was raised with a conservative bias. I let myself be influenced by other conservative people too, so by the end of high school, I might have been more conservative than my parents. Come to think of it, they might have been more moderate than I thought.

Conservatives tend to favour smaller government and lower taxes. This made sense to me. If people pay lower taxes, they can buy more, stimulating the economy. If companies sell more stuff and pay less taxes, they can hire more people, stimulating the economy. I cared about poverty too, but the old "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime" made me think conservative poverty-fighting programs were just as good as liberal ones.

More recently the media has talked about how the American economy did so much better under Bill Clinton than under George W. Bush. I know the president isn't the only factor, but here was a big example of economic success under a liberal leader. Last year, Scott Adams (the writer of Dilbert) commissioned a survey of economists to find out which presidential candidate they thought would be best for the economy. Overall, they favoured Obama over McCain. It also turned out that more economists are registered as Democrats than Republicans. (To anyone who thinks political affiliation biased the results: in general the Independents favoured Obama. Also, the fact that there are more Democrats than Republicans in the survey shows that economists tend to favour liberal policies in general.) So there's more evidence that liberal policies could be good for the economy.

Changes in my faith in God (yes, I'm still an evangelical Christian in case you're wondering) have made me less inclined to support socially conservative causes too, but I'm not going to get into the reasons for that today.

I've still never voted for the Liberal party. I'd generally consider myself moderate, not so much liberal or conservative. But my recent votes against the Liberals have had more to do with integrity and leadership than with policies.

What men really want

What has every man wanted for the last 3000 years?

It's not looks...

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
She is like a merchant’s ship,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.

Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.

She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with the other civic leaders.
She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants.

She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.
She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.

Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

--Proverbs 31:10-31 (NLT)

It's not cooking, cleaning, or sewing ability...

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond
I want a girl who knows whats best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes
I want a girl with the right allocation
Whos fast, and thorough, and sharp as a tack
Shes playing with her jewelry, shes putting up her hair
Shes touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt,
And a loooooooooooooooong jacket

I want a girl who gets up early
I want a girl who stays up late
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity
Who uses a machete to cut through red tape
With fingernails that shine like justice
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass
She is fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack
Shes touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt,
And a long, long jacket

Nanananananananananananananananananananananananananananana

I want a girl with a smooth liquidation
I want a girl with good dividends
At citi bank we will meet accidentally
Well start to talk when she borrows my pen
She wants a car with a cup holder arm rest
She wants a car that will get her there
Shes changing her name from Kiddy to Karen
Shes trading her MG for a white Chrysler Le Barron
I want a girl with a short skirt,
And a loooooooooooooooooooooong
Jacket

Nanananananananananananananananananananananananananananana
--Cake

So what do these two ideal women have in common? Strong business sense.