Segue ("seg-way") required

(I think there should be a requirement for segue between posts. They don't have to be good. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7RyqHs79l0 for inspiration.)

Speaking of injustices like Favre's back-stabbing "return" to the Jets... (I told you it didn't have to be good.)

I've been watching this show called The Pretender on hulu.com. My love for TV on the internet and eternal appreciate to Jon So for pointing me to hulu are well documented on Zloop. The premise of The Pretender is that this genius named Jarod can learn pretty much anything in a tiny amount of time. After being used by an evil corporation to do evil for many years, he escapes, and while on the run from said evil corporation, he travels around learning different vocations and righting injustices.

I used to love this show, but this time around, something has been bothering me, and I couldn't put my finger on it until the last episode I watched. Jarod was posing as a CDC investigator to expose another CDC scientist as a murderer. At the end of each episode Jarod arranges some event that exposes the murderer and forces them to confess. In this episode Jarod makes the murderer think he's been exposed to the horrible Ebola-like virus that he used to kill his victim. Jarod leaves the murderer trapped in a glass decontamination booth thinking that he's dying (although he isn't).

What I finally identified as bothering me is how ugly justice can be without grace. It can definitely be argued that this murderer deserved the terror he experienced, thinking he was dying the same way he had killed another person. Indeed, some would argue that he deserved far worse, but it just served to remind me of what I deserve and how grateful I am for grace. I'm even more grateful that God's grace isn't half-assed grace that makes us suffer part, if not all, of what we deserve.

Right now he's doing the same thing to a doctor who went back and paralyzed, then autopsied her own hit and run victim. ugh.

Couldn't Have Said it Any Better Myself

I don't even think I need to add anything. So I won't.

I also say "munce" instead of "months"

When I was a kid, I figured I'd go to Heaven as long as I got through life without cursing 100 times or more.

What I never counted on was an inability to properly pronounce words with "sk" in them,
An overwhelming ability to pronounce "sk" words as "ss" onces,
And that "asked" would be one of those words I say 78 times daily.

So here's hoping I was wrong with that >100 curses = eternal life hunch.

It's not that I particularly like the Olympic announcing, but...

For whatever reason I'm really into the Olympics this year. Maybe it's a good year, maybe I've changed, maybe I'm just looking for a reason to not write my thesis. Point is, I've been watching as much China '08 as possible. For the first time ever, this includes gymnastics.

The thing about watching gymnastics is that it all looks amazing to me. Were it not for an announcer telling me about degree of difficulty, deductions, et al, I wouldn't have any idea what's going on. Not surprisingly, this reminded me of my walk with the Lord. I'd like to think I know a bit more about life than I do about, say, the parallel bars, but the fact remains: I have to look to him to guide me. He has to be the one telling me what's right, what's wrong and what path I should go down.

It's hardly a novel thought...but it is one I should always keep in mind.

Also, it's like 127 degrees in my house.

"These are not the droids you're looking for"

My roommate Dane says that all of creativity originates somewhere in the Bible. I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell him otherwise.

It's funny because on some level I've always thought of the gospel in terms of Star Wars. Like, "the force" is the holy spirit, that invisible current of power running through God's chosen people. Then there's the way Obi-Wan Kenobi died but warned Darth Vader that his death would only make him stronger. In my (admittedly warped) mind, this parallels Jesus dying and coming back stronger in resurrection.

Then there's the famous jedi mind trick Obi Wan uses in the first/fourth Star Wars (those stupid prequels make it difficult to reference the right movie. I'm talking about the very first Star Wars ever in a theater, from like 1977). Remember it? Guards all over the Tattoine Desert are told to be on the lookout for two droids. As they venture over to inspect R2 and 3PO, Obi Wan waves his hand in front of them and tells them "these are not the droids you're looking for."

I was thinking about this as I read 2 Kings 6, where Elisha plays the role of Obi Wan:
As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.Elisha told them, "This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria.

Do you hear what I hear? Jedi mind tricks in the Old Testament? As Dane said, all creativity originates from Scripture. Makes sense to me.

What asthma has taught me

Sometimes I think my whole life was ruined by growing up with an inhaler. I mean this not because the inhaler is representative of asthma, asthma has made me weaker, etc, but because the inhaler works so darn well. Two puffs of medicine and my breathing problems are gone. It’s an instant fix.

Problem is, I’ve been using an inhaler since I was eight and somewhere along the lines I think I expect all results to be so instant. All medication should work that fast, I should be able to prepare for a marathon in a third of the time it takes everyone else and why do I have to keep waiting for this job promotion?

Plus, what takes my prayers so long to work? Will they ever work? Can’t God just snap his fingers and make things happen? What is taking so long?

Look, it’s hardly news that Christians can be impatient. We’re not immune to that problem (or any earthly problem, for that matter). But as I’ve written before (and I will doubtlessly write again), we need to think of things in God’s time. He’s the God of patience, who wants everyone to come to repentance. We just need to remember it happens on his time, not ours…which is a good thing. Sometimes the result of prayer is immediately obvious. Other times it takes a while. Thing is, as impatient as I can be for things to happen right now, I think it’s cooler when it takes a while. Like, I’m praying for growth in a certain facet of life and as I’m seemingly not growing at all, He is building me up. How awesome is that??? Like, I’m sitting at my desk not feeling any growth, but I know He’s working on me. Man, I love that.

All of which is a long way of saying:
1. I need to be more patient;
2. When I’m not patient, I need to remind myself that God is working on it; and
3. I needn’t worry about the result…He has a much better idea of how to do things than I do (smiley face)