Worldview is only 3 days away!! I'm *so* excited. I'm dying to go. I've been looking forward to this for nearly 10 months.
I was required to read two books for WVA. The Deadliest Monster by J.F. Baldwin, and a book on Servant Leadership, by Randy Sims. Both were really good books. I really liked the Baldwin book especially. It was very well written, used tons of easy to understand logic, and was fun to read. It's basically an introduction to Worldviews. It talks about the stories of two monsters. Frankenstein and Jekkyl & Hyde.
The basic overview of Frankenstein is that he was created "innocent" and "pure", inherently good, with a desire to improve his life, and other's lives. When he eventually becomes "evil" he blames it on the fact that Society corrupted him. He tried to be good, and others shunned him (for various reasons).
The overview of Jekkyl and Hyde: Man cannot save himself. He cannot be "good" no matter how hard he tries. He will always have some part of him that is bad that he cannot overcome on his own. Realizing this is the key to helping him overcome his bad self.
Every single person in the world holds one of these two views.
1). Man is inherently good, can save himself, and needs no higher power.
OR
2). Man is inherently evil, can do nothing to save himself, and needs a higher power to save him from ultimate destruction.
As a Christian, I hold to the 2nd worldview. Non-Christians, even religious ones, adhere to the 1st.
The thing that really stuck out to me in the Frankenstein story was the fact that Society corrupted him. Okay, think of it this way. Man is inherently good. Society is composed of Individuals (who, keep in mind, are inherently good). When a man/monster/ attempts to do good, Society (which is composed of inherently good individuals) shuns him. As a result, this man/monster is "corrupted" and turns "evil" and "bad". As a result of SOCIETY. Which is, as you well know, composed of GOOD humans. How do Good people end up corrupting a Good person?? You put two goods together, and you should NOT get EVIL. Something's not right here, folks. Makes you think, doesn't it. Now, since I'm not very smart, and logic has never been my strong point, I'm sure someone will be glad to point out any mistakes I've made.
So anyway, looking forward to WVA...
And to playing Frisbee tomorrow!! I'm psyched!! I got some new UnderArmour, thanks to Kathy, Rachel, and Colin giving me gift certificates for various reasons. So I can't wait to try that out.
And...I'm trying to get over this cold thing that has decided to settle into my lungs and immediately develop a mini metropolis.
I just finished my Physics class for the year. I got a 99% average in that...and I've got 2 more sections and a test to go in Pre-Calc and I'll be done with that. And with School!!
I went to a New Student Orientation at the local community college on Wednesday. Boring. Didn't really learn a thing. We talked to a lady in Student Services afterwards, and she answered all the questions that I had. So, I'm going there this fall, and taking two classes. After I get done with the Fall and Spring Semesters, I'll transfer out to one of two colleges here in town. One's a private University, and the other's a State University. I'd rather go to the Private one. :)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Beam me up, Scotty!!
Okay, so I'm learning about light and LASER's in my physics class. My teacher mentioned something about slowing light down to...no speed at all. That's right. Einstein said that light couldn't go faster then 186 282 miles/second. He never said anything about slowing it down though. Of course, it's common knowledge that light passing through glass, water, or other substances will slow down, but Physicists at Havard have now discovered a way to STOP light. And then start it again, with the original speed and intensity. Check this site out.
My Grandma (dad's mom) died this last Tuesday. She was 91 years old. She really was the Matriarch of our whole extended family. Married 66 years to her husband (who passed away last November), she lived a very full life, and is now in Heaven with my Grandpa. I could go on, but I think that this is really the only good tribute to Grandma. Words seem to not be able to convey her spirit.
Prince Caspian comes out on Friday. I can't wait. I'm going Sunday...that's a whole WEEK away. AAHH!! I hope the soundtrack is good. I already want it. :)
The Symphony had their last concert last night. The played a lot of old musicals and pops music. Elvis even came and sang. The concert was called "A Trip down Memory Road." It was a tour of Route 66 and some of the famous places that lie along that road. It was really good...as always. I got invited by the director's wife to a party at an exclusive restuarant after the symphony. Sadly, I had already arranged to go to Steak and Shake with my friends. Oh well. There's always next time.
Back to the study of good ol' Light Amplification of Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Yehaw.
Laters.
J
My Grandma (dad's mom) died this last Tuesday. She was 91 years old. She really was the Matriarch of our whole extended family. Married 66 years to her husband (who passed away last November), she lived a very full life, and is now in Heaven with my Grandpa. I could go on, but I think that this is really the only good tribute to Grandma. Words seem to not be able to convey her spirit.
Prince Caspian comes out on Friday. I can't wait. I'm going Sunday...that's a whole WEEK away. AAHH!! I hope the soundtrack is good. I already want it. :)
The Symphony had their last concert last night. The played a lot of old musicals and pops music. Elvis even came and sang. The concert was called "A Trip down Memory Road." It was a tour of Route 66 and some of the famous places that lie along that road. It was really good...as always. I got invited by the director's wife to a party at an exclusive restuarant after the symphony. Sadly, I had already arranged to go to Steak and Shake with my friends. Oh well. There's always next time.
Back to the study of good ol' Light Amplification of Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Yehaw.
Laters.
J
Monday, May 5, 2008
Mistake!!
I apologize...a few posts back, I made mention of the fact that Luke was one of Jesus' Original Twelve Disciples...that's not the case. In my eagerness to indemnify my role as the psuedo-persona of Luke, I jumped the gun. For those of you I led astray, I'm sorry. For those who were paying no attention, and didn't see what I wrote, shame on you. For those who were paying attention, and didn't bring the fact to life, what's your problem??
Thanks to O for pointing out the problem.
Thanks to O for pointing out the problem.
Teenage Mutant...humanoid.
Ach...I'm tired. Always have been. Always will be. I guess I'll learn to live with it. What can I say? I'm a teenager. It's my perrogative to stay up late. Except I break the trend there, cause on a normal school week, I'm up by 6:00, sometimes by 5:00...I suppose I could go to bed earlier...but what would be the fun in that??
I've had two people in the past week ask me the same sort of question. "Why is life so hard sometimes?" My answer, generically:
First, if life was a breeze, how boring would that be?? The thing that makes our lives exciting (beyond the fact that we live to serve our Creator God, and honor Him with everything we do) is the ups and downs of everyday things. The stuggles (fill in your struggles), the fun times (fill in the fun times you've had recently), the heartaches (losing loved ones, or whatever else you can think of that would fit here....like knowing me :D), the joy of serving others, the love we feel in our hearts towards our friends. All of these things make life what it is.
The key is to be content whatever happens, knowing that Christ will give you the strength to press on. Look at what Paul has to say:
Philippians 4:11-1311 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Second, Seek to please God. To do that you must have faith.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
I think it was John Wesley* that once said something like this: "If I know that tomorrow will be a long day, and will cause me much anxiety and stress, then I purpose in my heart to rise one hour earlier, to thus spend more time with my Dear Saviour, who gives me the strength to get through the day." Wesley had the right idea. Sure, getting up an hour earlier cuts off an hour of time when you could be sleeping. I mean, if tomorrows a long day, then you go to bed earlier and sleep as long as you can, right?? But sleep wasn't the important thing to Wesley. Yeah, you need sleep, but when it comes to the end of a day, and you are tired, even with sleep, it's gonna be God that keeps you going with a right heart attitude, not your tired, angry self.So, to wrap up, whatever you do, do it to God.
Paul:
Colossians 3:23, 24
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
*I'm really not sure who said this..if any one knows for sure, let me know. And remember, it's an paraphrase of the actual quote.
Okay, now that I've got my preaching in, I'll move on to other things. I wouldn't want my readers to be bored. =)
So..the reason I'm tired...well, this weekend has been a little hectic. On Friday, the orchestra had a performance. We got to play on stage where the city Symphony plays. That was cool. We were playing for an all-town high school orchestra competition. It really wasn't competing against any one else, just against ourselves. Remember what I've said about Federation?? Lots of stress, really important? Let's just say that this performance far exceeded the importance part. This was the biggest performance of our year. It wasn't really stressed as that until the day of, and then everybody found out that this was a really important performance. We did really good. There were 3 judges. The highest score possible was a 1 (that = an A, and a 2 = a B...and so on). Out of the 3 judges, two gave us 1's, and the other gave us a 2+. So we did pretty good.
On Saturday, we worked at a college garage sale. Basically once this specific college here in town gets out for the summer, they go through all the dorms, clean them out, and sell all the clothing, books, and things of that sort that they find in the dorms. Last year, over $11,000 was brought in. And they really don't charge a lot for the stuff. I got some really nice name brand sweaters with the tags still on them for $2 each. The thing is, they bring this stuff by the truck load into the rec center where the sale is gonna be, and dump it on the ground. Books, makeup, purses, jeans and coats all in the pile...Then all of it has to be sorted. Clothes by size, shoes by size and pairs, books by genre and type, etc...I leave that to the ladies. I sorted books for several hours, just cause I like to organize things, but mainly I went to the dorms and helped haul stuff away.
Saturday evening, my two younger sisters and I went to Arts Fest. It's a...you guessed it!! A Festival of ARTS!! Yeah. Anyway, 3 or 4 of the younger orchestras and 2 of the choirs played and sang at one of the performance areas. After we played, we went out to eat at Braums, then came back downtown to hear the city Symphony perform their annual Symphony Under the Stars pop concert. It's a free concert, and really is a blast...but this year, it was really cold once the sun went down.
Today, Monday, I did the exact same thing as I did on Saturday. Except I stayed there all day, instead of just most of the day. And tomorrow, we go back to finish up. Wednesday, the sale opens to the public. If you live close to town, and you know where "town" is, let me know, and I'll get you directions so you can go to the sale.
Okay, I'm typed out, and I want to go to bed. I'm sure you are quite tired of my random ramblings by now. I don't blame you. Until next time, Khuda hafiz.
J
I've had two people in the past week ask me the same sort of question. "Why is life so hard sometimes?" My answer, generically:
First, if life was a breeze, how boring would that be?? The thing that makes our lives exciting (beyond the fact that we live to serve our Creator God, and honor Him with everything we do) is the ups and downs of everyday things. The stuggles (fill in your struggles), the fun times (fill in the fun times you've had recently), the heartaches (losing loved ones, or whatever else you can think of that would fit here....like knowing me :D), the joy of serving others, the love we feel in our hearts towards our friends. All of these things make life what it is.
The key is to be content whatever happens, knowing that Christ will give you the strength to press on. Look at what Paul has to say:
Philippians 4:11-1311 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Second, Seek to please God. To do that you must have faith.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
I think it was John Wesley* that once said something like this: "If I know that tomorrow will be a long day, and will cause me much anxiety and stress, then I purpose in my heart to rise one hour earlier, to thus spend more time with my Dear Saviour, who gives me the strength to get through the day." Wesley had the right idea. Sure, getting up an hour earlier cuts off an hour of time when you could be sleeping. I mean, if tomorrows a long day, then you go to bed earlier and sleep as long as you can, right?? But sleep wasn't the important thing to Wesley. Yeah, you need sleep, but when it comes to the end of a day, and you are tired, even with sleep, it's gonna be God that keeps you going with a right heart attitude, not your tired, angry self.So, to wrap up, whatever you do, do it to God.
Paul:
Colossians 3:23, 24
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
*I'm really not sure who said this..if any one knows for sure, let me know. And remember, it's an paraphrase of the actual quote.
Okay, now that I've got my preaching in, I'll move on to other things. I wouldn't want my readers to be bored. =)
So..the reason I'm tired...well, this weekend has been a little hectic. On Friday, the orchestra had a performance. We got to play on stage where the city Symphony plays. That was cool. We were playing for an all-town high school orchestra competition. It really wasn't competing against any one else, just against ourselves. Remember what I've said about Federation?? Lots of stress, really important? Let's just say that this performance far exceeded the importance part. This was the biggest performance of our year. It wasn't really stressed as that until the day of, and then everybody found out that this was a really important performance. We did really good. There were 3 judges. The highest score possible was a 1 (that = an A, and a 2 = a B...and so on). Out of the 3 judges, two gave us 1's, and the other gave us a 2+. So we did pretty good.
On Saturday, we worked at a college garage sale. Basically once this specific college here in town gets out for the summer, they go through all the dorms, clean them out, and sell all the clothing, books, and things of that sort that they find in the dorms. Last year, over $11,000 was brought in. And they really don't charge a lot for the stuff. I got some really nice name brand sweaters with the tags still on them for $2 each. The thing is, they bring this stuff by the truck load into the rec center where the sale is gonna be, and dump it on the ground. Books, makeup, purses, jeans and coats all in the pile...Then all of it has to be sorted. Clothes by size, shoes by size and pairs, books by genre and type, etc...I leave that to the ladies. I sorted books for several hours, just cause I like to organize things, but mainly I went to the dorms and helped haul stuff away.
Saturday evening, my two younger sisters and I went to Arts Fest. It's a...you guessed it!! A Festival of ARTS!! Yeah. Anyway, 3 or 4 of the younger orchestras and 2 of the choirs played and sang at one of the performance areas. After we played, we went out to eat at Braums, then came back downtown to hear the city Symphony perform their annual Symphony Under the Stars pop concert. It's a free concert, and really is a blast...but this year, it was really cold once the sun went down.
Today, Monday, I did the exact same thing as I did on Saturday. Except I stayed there all day, instead of just most of the day. And tomorrow, we go back to finish up. Wednesday, the sale opens to the public. If you live close to town, and you know where "town" is, let me know, and I'll get you directions so you can go to the sale.
Okay, I'm typed out, and I want to go to bed. I'm sure you are quite tired of my random ramblings by now. I don't blame you. Until next time, Khuda hafiz.
J
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