The age old argument...with a loving answer.

This conversation made so much sense to me:

Letter 3 From (Athiest)Dad: I have another nagging question. One has to question the wisdom of a Creator who would wager so much for freedom. Is it all worth it? To create a world in which madmen like Hitler or Stalin can use their freedom to take away the freedom –and the lives- of millions of others is, quite frankly, very poor management. If He values freedom so much, why the hell did God make it so tenuous that the will of one could destroy the freedom of millions?

Response From (Seminary student)Son: The fact that we humans have such an incredible amount of potential for evil is indicative of the fact that we also have an incredible amount of potential for good. There are Hitlers and Stalins. But there are also Wallenbergs, Mother Teresas and Martin Luther King Jrs. I don’t see how you could have the latter without at least risking the possibility of the former. If we have the potential to oppress or slay millions, it’s because we also have the potential to liberate and love millions.

Thanks to: http://unequalmarriage.typepad.com/ a very thoughtful and honest blog.

One of my favorite author/preachers is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was alive in the Victorian era, and his words reflect the style of the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon


"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."—Song of Solomon 2:12.

C. H. Spurgeon:

Sweet is the season of spring: the long and dreary winter helps us to appreciate its genial warmth, and its promise of summer enhances its present delights.

After periods of depression of spirit, it is delightful to behold again the light of the Sun of Righteousness; then our slumbering graces rise from their lethargy, like the crocus and the daffodil from their beds of earth; then is our heart made merry with delicious notes of gratitude, far more melodious than the warbling of birds—and the comforting assurance of peace, infinitely more delightful than the turtle's note, is heard within the soul.


Now is the time for the soul to seek communion with her Beloved; now must she rise from her native sordidness, and come away from her old associations.

If we do not hoist the sail when the breeze is favourable, we shall be blameworthy: times of refreshing ought not to pass over us unimproved. When Jesus Himself visits us in tenderness, and entreats us to arise, can we be so base as to refuse His request? He has Himself risen that He may draw us after Him: He now by His Holy Spirit has revived us, that we may, in newness of life, ascend into the heavenlies, and hold communion with Himself.

Let our wintry state suffice us for coldness and indifference; when the Lord creates a spring within, let our sap flow with vigour, and our branch blossom with high resolve.


O Lord, if it be not spring time in my chilly heart, I pray Thee make it so, for I am heartily weary of living at a distance from Thee. Oh! the long and dreary winter, when wilt Thou bring it to an end? Come, Holy Spirit, and renew my soul! quicken Thou me! restore me, and have mercy on me! This very night I would earnestly implore the Lord to take pity upon His servant, and send me a happy revival of spiritual life!

http://www.spurgeon.org/

Where's your soul?

"It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?"

Did you catch Bono’s article in the New York Times?

Bono is a multi media artist in many a sense of the word, when I read his articles it's not only print on paper, his words have color and music. He packs a lot of idea into one inch of paragraph, and I read it twice and think about something completely different than what I thought the first time through. I like how he is so down to earth about God. And I love how he is so politically opinionated. I don’t know what his labels are, right left, left right, quasi-closet mainstream, but his opinion really sparks my interest. No matter if you love him or hate him, there’s no doubt he’s involved, totally inhabits his brain space and puts it to good use.

A quote from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?ex=1255492800&en=45d1c4ee55b8d75f&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M093-ROS-0409-PH&WT.mc_ev=click

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search…

… Your soul.

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money. Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.


So cheap of me to take a fragment of the article and make a blog post out of it. The link below is live, take the minute and get your own opinion wrapped around an interesting read.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?ex=1255492800&en=45d1c4ee55b8d75f&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M093-ROS-0409-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click

"Until the End of the World" is the fourth track from U2's 1991 album, Achtung Baby. The lyrics describe a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.[1] The first verse discusses The Last Supper; the second is about Judas identifying Jesus with a kiss on the cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane; and the final is about Judas' suicide after being overwhelmed with guilt and sadness.

Lyrics:
Havent seen you in quite a while, I was down the hold, just passing time. Last time we met was a low-lit room. We were as close together as bride and groom. We ate the food, we drank the wine. Everybody having a good time. Except you. You were talking about the end of the world. I took the money, I spiked your drink. You miss too much these days if you stop to think. You led me on with those innocent eyes. And you know I love the element of surprise. In the garden I was playing the tart. I kissed your lips and broke your heart. You, you were acting like it was the end of the world. In my dream I was drowning my sorrows. But my sorrows they learned to swim. Surrounding me, going down on me. Spilling over the brim. In waves of regret, waves of joy. I reached out for the one I tried to destroy. You, you said you'd wait until the end of the world.

Man vs bug

What a grand and glorious day today, I think we have finally welcomed in spring with all her warm caresses and smiling sunshine kisses.

I have stripped of my winter duds and am layering shirts with tank tops to accommodate the afternoon heat. My peas are finally up a whole half-inch, and my husband’s pumpkins and watermelons that he started in his clever cold frame have put on 6 inches since they broke ground.


The curious tulips that braved the end of winter to herald the coming of the new season are just about spent in the warmth and the beautiful red and yellow and purple petals are falling.


A good breeze loosens the blossoms from our backyard apple tree and pear tree and I stand in a shower of petals. It is a moment to mark; you are only allowed so many petal showers in any given year. Thank you God for grand and glorious moments such as these.

And along with the entire splendorous scene, comes the bugs.

Pause for a smile, its all part of God's amazing plan.

Big bugs, lovely bugs if you are a chicken scratching dirt in your happy home, but accursed bugs, if you are in your back yard minding your own business in the airspace of a wasp that sees your presence as an intrusion.

I hear the buzz, I see the hovering creature, my skin crawls, the hairs on my arms bristle and the adrenalin courses through my veins as fight or flight kicks in.

Of course I retaliate, I bat bare handed in the air in front of me to try to shoo the offender away. That only seems to spark the jesting fighter in this damnable bug, because it does not retreat.

Is that really a buzz I hear, or is that little tiny laughter?

I am further attacked. So I flee to a safe distance and watch with a hateful glare the beast that has driven me from my garden. Day in day out, spring brings the wonderful and the not so wonderful.

Last week I was out to coffee with my lovely friends from Curves, and we were like 4 spring birds on a branch. The chirps were flying fast and furious, and we just couldn't finish a sentence fast enough to get onto the next idea that we wanted to share. Our conversation was heavily cafeinated and I really think we did solve the world’s problems. 'Hello...President Obama?' Well in the midst of this flurry I learned a new fact!

Yes, I'm sharing; I was told WD40 is a wasp deterrent and killer.

My response, "Wwwwhhhaaaaatt???"

I was incredulous. How did I live this long with those nasty creatures from the lower world and not know about this innocuous home remedy? So I did a little research and low and behold there are thousands of uses for this miracle in a can.

Remove strong glue
You didn't wear protective gloves when using that super-strong glue and now some of it is super-stuck to your fingers! Don't panic. Just reach for the WD-40, spray some directly on the sticky fingers, and rub your hands together until your fingers are no longer sticky. Use WD-40 to remove the glue from other unwanted surfaces as well.

Separate stuck glassware (guilty: I do this all the time)
What can you do when you reach for a drinking glass and get two locked together, one stuck tightly inside the other? You don't want to risk breaking one or both by trying to pull them apart. Stuck glasses will separate with ease if you squirt some WD-40 on them, wait a few seconds for it to work its way between the glasses, and then gently pull the glasses apart. Remember to wash the glasses thoroughly before you use them.

Remove chewing gum from hair (I wish I would have know this back in the day)
It's one of an adult's worst nightmares: chewing gum tangled in a child's hair. You don't have to panic or run for the scissors. Simply spray the gummed-up hair with WD-40, and the gum will comb out with ease. Make sure you are in a well-ventilated area when you spray and take care to avoid contact with the child's eyes.

Relieve arthritis symptoms (?????)(I'm still incredulous)
For occasional joint pain or arthritis symptoms in the knees or other areas of the body, advocates swear by spraying WD-40 on the affected area and massaging it in, saying it provides temporary relief and makes movement easier. For severe, persistent pain, consult a health care professional.

Remove stickers from glass
What were the manufacturers thinking when they put that sticker on the glass? (I say that a lot, 'what were they thinking') Don't they know how hard it is to get off? When soap and water doesn't work and you don't want to ruin a fingernail or risk scratching delicate glass with a blade, try a little WD-40. Spray it on the sticker and glass, wait a few minutes, and then use a no-scratch spatula or acrylic scraper to scrape the sticker off. The solvents in WD-40 cause the adhesive to lose its stickiness.

These uses were found here:http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/extraordinary-uses-for-wd-40/article24059.htmlAlong with too many more to list. Have barnacles on your boat? Yup, WD40 will take care of them. Bloodstains? Yup, use as prewash. Burrs in animal fur? mmm hmmm. Use before combing. Got flies on your cows? I'm telling you!!! The list goes on.

But the primo use as far as I'm concerned is retaliation, sweet revenge.

Had you fooled did I? All this fluff and pink and soft music and pretty vintage pictures led you to believe I was a sweetheart pacifist. HA. I am loading for bear, suiting up, buying 2 cans with the nozzle and getting the ladder out. (They sneak into the holes in my eaves) Gonna turn the tides of this war!

Hasta la vista baby



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