Tag Archives: Commentary on Human Condition

Reunions…

Posted on by


I chose the picture of Adam Sandler from The Wedding Singer because I believe that it epitomizes the decade of the 80s, stereotypically, better than any one image i could post. Perhaps you could find another one to rival it? If so, post the URL in a comment & we’ll break-dance fight to see whose picture wins.

A few weeks ago, I received a notice that the 20th High School Reunion for the McQueen High School class of 1987 was officially on… for the weekend of August 10-12. Which just happened to fall on the weekend after when the Bean & I are flying to Frankfurt with a team to visit our sister church there. Bummer.

Some may wonder, “Why would you want to go to a reunion?” My oldest son is in that boat, esp. because 20 years is SUCH A LONG TIME.

Part of the reason I really didn’t want to miss this one is that I was in Romania 10 years ago for the 1st reunion – I missed an opportunity to reconnect with some people that I wish I hadn’t lost contact with. The 20 year provides just such an opportunity…

(Disclaimer: I have no Bryan Adams, “Summer of ’69” “those were the best days of my life” delusions. High School was painful in some ways, but good in other ways – people ways. Friend ways. And I believe that God had me in that spot for a purpose & that 20 years later, part of the purpose may be discovered. Or, I may just get a chance to hang out with some old friends, & bring my wife into a part of my life that she has so far never been a part of. Moving to Carson City in 1987/88 meant losing touch with anyone who was still around in Reno – so by the time I was dating Joni, the people that had been in my life as friends were no longer there… remember, this was before wide-spread email, Al Gore’s inventing the internet, & ‘everybodies got cell-phones’, which made it easy or easier to keep in touch & have a plethora of means to do so.

I have literally attempted to find, just short of stalking, friends by calling their old home phone #, the only # that I had for them, but to no avail… Bean never got to meet any of my friends or the people I hung out with – maybe 2 of them, but not to actually see & talk to them. But I digress…)

So, I wasn’t going to be able to go to the reunion, though the Bean & I considered taking a later flight to Frankfurt so that I could go to the reunion. I prayed that God would work it out – believing that the desire in my heart to go to this reunion, for some reason, was a big one, & may have come from Him. If so, God, would you please make a way for it to happen?

Today, I got a note from the reunion coordinator – due to HAN (Hot August Nights!) the reunion had to be moved to the weekend of 8/3-5… dates that work just fine for me, thank you very much.

Thank you.

God’s Gonna Cut You Down…

Posted on by

Feeling a bit introspective – saw this & it got me thinking… what’s it mean “God’s gonna cut you down?” This thought was magnified as I watched the video (embedded, courtesy of YouTube) & saw many, many famous (& famously irreverent &/or non-religious) types mouthing the lyrics…

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee talkin’ to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John go do My will!”

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down

Putting it into practice personally…

Posted on by


Today, it hit me. I normally take Fridays off – it hit me that for the next couple of weeks, my Fridays (& all/most of Saturdays) will be occupied with work…

The processing begins… what about my rest day? what about the Sabbath? What do I do now that I have realized that I’ve scheduled away my day off? I have a problem taking a mulligan on this one – part of it is because I believe that the Sabbath is not just a good idea or a suggestion, but an obedience to a way of life that God has laid out for us. Not just going back to the September-December series on a Revolution of the Soul but because there is a deeper issue here: how will I put into practice this principle of obedience? It’s not negotiable, & yet I find myself struggling internally to find a justification for “just this once.” (Though it’s twice actually.) Don’t know that there is a simple, easy, quick answer to this one.

Why Girls are different than Boys #1

Posted on by

Taking a page from Shontell’s “Why I Like Mike” blog series, I’ll be posting from time to time on the joys of having a daughter. For me, growing up as 1 of 4 boys, there was little to no experience or understanding of the world of the Girl. Being married has provided a little insight, but hey, grown up girls are different than little ones. Mostly.

I understand boys – so when we had 2, I didn’t have any issues knowing how to deal with & parent them… part of me has taken great joy in mystifying & amazing the Bean with how I can predict how the boys (esp. Joey) will act – I’m not a mind reader, its just that boys aren’t too complex, if you get my drift.

Girls are different. They look in the mirror all the time. They watch their expressions, when they cry, laugh, talk, you name it. I continually find myself amazed at the attitude, observational skills, personality, interests, & sheer emotional spectrum that my Weezer regularly functions in.

Which leads me to “Why Girls are Different than Boys #1” – the Weez is looking in the full-length mirror WHILE doing her homework. All of the sudden, she jumps off her chair & hikes her pants up. Way up. To the skies. She looked like Jimmy Cagney’s character in “Angels with Dirty Faces” when he wore his pants up to the middle of his chest. (All the cool guys did this, I’m told, even Cary Grant, which is the topic of another blog.)

I have to ask: “What are you doing?”

Her reply: “I’m trying to look like Mrs. Smith.”

(Mrs. Smith is a teacher at the Weez’s school.)

Do clothes make the man?

Posted on by


From Mark Cuban’s blog… Wondering who Mark Cuban is? Here you go.

Why am I such a suit hater ? I’m not a suit hater, I just could never think of any good reason for any sane person to wear a suit in the first place.

Exactly what purpose does a suit serve ? Why in the world are so many people required to wear a suit to work ? Do the clothes make the man or woman in the western world today ? Does wearing a tie make us work harder or smarter ? Is this a conspiracy by the clothing, fabric or dry cleaning industry to take our money ?

Or are we all just lemmings following a standard we all know makes zero sense, but we follow because we are afraid not to ?

If you are a CEO , are there not better things your employees could spend money on than multiple suits, ties, dress shirts, dress shoes, dress socks, dry cleaning, and all the other associated costs ? Gee, no suits would be the same as giving your employees a tax free raise. Think that might make them happy ? Or do employees consider having to spend money on suits a perk ? BLOGMAVERICK.COM SUIT RANT

Syndromes…

Posted on by

A report from The Times – London

A 2006 Church of England report warned that disagreeable congregants, together with the pressures of the church’s “feudal system” bureaucracy, were turning priests harshly negative and creating an “irritable clergy syndrome.” One of the report’s authors told The Times of London in December that priests are bothered by “having to be nice all the time to everyone, even when confronted with extremes of nastiness,” such as aggressive and neurotic parishioners.

I wonder what the symptoms of “irritable clergy syndrome” are…

Lies, Damn Lies, & Statistics or Why Christians scare people in this & other countries…

Posted on by

A snippet:

Evangelicals Behaving Badly with Statistics
Mistakes were made.

by Christian Smith

American evangelicals, who profess to be committed to Truth, are among the worst abusers of simple descriptive statistics, which claim to represent the truth about reality, of any group I have ever seen. At stake in this misuse are evangelicals’ own integrity, credibility with outsiders, and effectiveness in the world. It is an issue worth making a fuss over. And so I write…

And

Why do evangelicals recurrently abuse statistics? My observation is that they are usually trying desperately to attract attention and raise people’s concern in order to mobilize resources and action for some cause. In a world awash in information and burdened by myriad problems, some evangelicals may justify the problematic misuse of statistics to get people to pay attention to what they think are good causes. But this is inexcusable. Such desperation, alarmism, and sloppiness reflect the worst, not the best, in evangelicalism…

Read the whole article HERE

You can also revisit what THIS BLOG said about the rampant alarmism last January – if you get lost, read the day one, day two & day three posts.

I thiink I’ll do a series on this one. Alarmism. Statistical abuse. Christian Marketing. Might be fun.

More good news…

Posted on by


Repent…Jesus Christ will judge you?

What the heck?! I’m on the list.

NOTE: Mr H wanted to know if the picture above was taken of the guys who yell the “good news” at UNR. Answer is no, but this picture is of the UNR campus visitors, though while they were blessing UC Davis with their presence & their message.