Category Archives: Random

Observed

I stumble around Youtube from time to time, and occasionally something really captures my attention.  I was wandering about Youtube yesterday in fact, and found a compilation video of a theoretical physicist named Michio Kaku.  To summarize and simplify the first few minutes of the video, Michio shares that everything in the universe is like Schrodinger’s famous cat problem.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, Schrodinger posits that if a cat is placed in a box and unobservable, it must be both dead and alive simultaneously.  It is only when the box is opened and the cat is observed that it becomes either dead or alive.

Schrodinger’s cat is known for seeming to be illogical but theoretical physics has found that it is a viable interpretation of how our world is working at the atomic level.  MIchio takes this concept a step further and talks about how nothing in the universe can even exist if it hasn’t been observed.  He states that the observation of something is essential to it’s creation.

Creation.  Perhaps the biggest argument of science and faith.  How were we created?

Genesis 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 

God saw the light that he created.  God observed the difference between light and darkness and then continued creating, seeing that each new thing was good.  God “sees” 7 different times in the first chapter of Genesis.  In the beginning, God created, God saw.  He observed that which he had made, and called it good.

Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

God saw me when I was unformed, when he brought me forth into this world.  He saw me then, and he sees me now.  I am seen, and I am known.

Perhaps one day we will see that science itself points to our creator, and perhaps in that day we will no longer only know in part, but instead see the entirety of the truth that God has created for us.

Snake Bite

I wasn’t supposed to be there.

I knew I should leave.  If the growing sickness in the pit of my stomach wasn’t an obvious enough indication of the danger I was facing, then I suppose my brain never had a chance as it begged me to stop, to turn around, to run the other way.

I didn’t.
Not only did I not turn around, but I moved closer to the danger.  I drew the danger closer to me.  They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but there is very little reason to hold a poisonous snake by the tail.  I wasn’t just holding the snake by the tail, I was putting it in my lap, expecting it not to bite.

I had been warned.

I didn’t listen.
Continue reading →

Little Sleepy Steps (DOP #2 2015)

Well…I got off work today at 11:56pm after leaving for work at 7am this morning.  SO…I apologize for this being just a bit late.  Frankly I am exhausted, it has been a long day of work, and I didn’t get a ton of sleep last night.  I’ll be up again at 6 to do it all over again tomorrow.

My feet hurt, my back is tired, and I can barely type straight (yeah…turns out that’s a thing…).  I thought about just posting a video and calling it a night.   I could snuggle up into my bed and drift away in just a moment.  My pillow is seductively whispering my name from just over my right shoulder, promising rest, promising comfort.  I’ll find my way there soon, but I recognize that part of this commitment to exploring peace involves giving up a bit of the comfort I have.

It is such a small sacrifice to make, seemingly meaningless really.

It is easy to point at someone like Mother Theresa who worked tirelessly to serve others and say “I’ll never be able to do as much as her”.  The truth is that the sum of her life of service is made up of tiny little decisions to pursue peace for herself and others.

I know that it is cliche to say, but even with very small steps, you can still go a long way.

So this is my small step for the night.  With just a little under 300 words, I encourage you to take your own small steps towards peace, by sacrificing a small amount of your own comfort.

Now off I go to lay down my head, a few minutes later than I wish, but with my task for the day done.

Envelope

An envelope, while it remains unopened, is an entire universe of possibilities, terrific and terrible, glorious and gross.  Once disemboweled, however, all possibilities cease to exist, and we are forced to accept the contents as they are, unchangeable, immutable.  

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I have a small collection of envelopes sitting here on my desk, waiting to be opened.  They are not bills that I am trying to ignore, or ads from some company trying to sell me some service, but cards that were deliberately chosen for me by people who wanted to express something to me as I end my time working for The Alley.

I really don’t know why I haven’t opened them yet.  I mean, there could be anything in these envelopes, but if I never open them, it only remains in the realm of possibility and can never become reality.  It’s like Shrodingers Cat stuffed into an envelope!  With each bit of folded white paper wrapped around other more valuable paper, there is the possibility that someone has written words of encouragement that will stick with me for years.  Maybe a memory of a moment that will stick with them forever, maybe something that meant a lot to them.

Of course the opposite is possible as well.  I know I have hurt people while I have worked here, I can not ignore that, and maybe one of the envelopes contains an extension of forgiveness, or a remembrance of a past hurt that I have not resolved.  Maybe I have hurt someone unaware and I will be struck by guilt over something I was unaware of until now. Am I ready to confront a ghost from my past if that is what one of the envelopes holds?  Am I prepared to fulfill the obligations that may be laid on me?

It is foolish to continue to speculate while I can answer the question outright by simply breaking the thin barrier of paper and glue.  Unlike so many other areas of life, I can have answers, and I can have them now.  No waiting is required, only a few seconds of pulling and tearing.  Which I guess brings me to the real point.

I am afraid.

Not so much of the contents of the envelope, but rather, I am afraid of what the envelopes symbolize.   They symbolize the end of one long chapter of my life (from a certain point of view it is literally half of my life) and the beginning of a new one filled with surprises and the unknown.  What parts of the last chapter will play in a role in the next?  Which people will continue to be a part of my story?  Will this be the last chapter?  (Always a possibility, however unlikely.)  Am I ready to face what lies ahead?

For all of my complaints, I have a lot to be grateful for over the last 8-15 years, and I have had some experiences that I did not deserve, and could never earn.  As this chapter closes, I know it, and in knowing it I am unafraid of it.  The next is all clouded in doubt and debt and hard work and is difficult to see a beginning to, let alone an ending or additional chapters.  I must remember that this now ending chapter started that way too.

So in a few moments, I will open the envelopes sitting on the desk next to me.  The possibilities will disappear and become definite realities.  I will no longer have to question what the envelopes contain, I will know.  I will have to respond to them as is appropriate in each individual case, I will have to react to what they contain and make choices about next steps.

In a few short days, I will begin to tear open the envelope holding the next chapter of my life, and as I slowly pull piece after piece of priceless paper from that envelope, God will reveal what is next in my life, and I must trust that he will faithfully be there to preserve me, redeem me, fix me.

As I open my next envelope, I encourage you to look for unopened envelopes of your own.  Be afraid, but don’t let that fear keep you from tearing open what God has for you.  Be afraid, but with each tear in the outer paper, ask God to use the pages the envelope holds to strengthen his kingdom.

Open your envelopes…and I’ll open mine.

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Is God Dead?

I’ve watched two movies this weekend.  One that many of us have never heard of, and one that has been all over my Facebook feed.  One film had excellent production, a large budget, and plenty of celebrity actors and actresses.  The other film, was made on a small budget, had unintentionally shaky footage, and no famous people.  One of the films is obviously a “christian” movie, and the other is not.  One has been tweeted, texted, shared and has been playing in theaters around the country for weeks and the other…while making a splash at certain film festivals, never saw a wide theatrical release.  One of the movies literally had me on the edge of my seat, ready to stand up and walk out of the room in disgust.  The other film left me, and those with me, speechless for several minutes at the end, trying to process what we had just seen.

Both movies have changed my life forever. Continue reading →