Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some...

Ok, I'm kind of glad that I didn't get anything written yesterday, because as I perused the email and news today, I came across this story.  108-3 GirlsBasketball Game Raises Questions.  People are complaining about such a wide margin of victory being unsportsmanlike and ugly.  That the winning team should have done something besides continue to score.  That something must be done so that when these two teams meet again (which they will as part of their schedule) such a blowout doesn't happen again.  I agree with that last one, something should be done.  The team who lost should be taking that score to each and every practice between now and that rematch and busting their butts to make sure they are not obliterated like that again.  There is at least one line coming out of the article that the school that lost is a school for underprivileged kids, and this blow to their self-esteem could be very damaging.  The coach and the school and the team should be using this teachable moment to create an opportunity to teach how to raise self-esteem by getting up when you're knocked down, learn from the past, and better one's self in the future.  Part of sportsmanship is learning how to lose, is it not, even learning how to lose big?

Somewhere along the road scattered with participant ribbons and unused score sheets, we have gotten the idea that kids shouldn't be subjected to being better or worse than each other.  What is missed in that mindset are the great lessons that should be learned by coming in last or ending the game with a 0 on the scoreboard.  Lessons like how to improve one's own game.  Lessons like maybe your talents don't match the game or position you're in.  Lessons like looking for what you did right and need to continue doing, and what you did wrong and need to fix.  Lessons that extend far off any ball field and far past any grade.  Instead, the lesson trying to be taught mostly by the writers and commentators on this particular story, since both schools say they have moved on from the subject already, is that it is better to just cut things off before the score gets that high, or for the team in front to pull back and not try so hard in the interest of not embarrassing their opponent.  The only thing anyone learns from that lesson is to depend on others around them to account for their own slack, which anyone living in the real world knows is not how anything works. 

Do we need to drop kids directly into situations and expect adult reactions from them?  Of course not.  But we also can't shelter them from losses, coming in last, or getting blown out the entirety of their childhood and magically know how to handle it as adults either. 

Short blip, more tomorrow

It's times like these I wish I was a late night talk show host.  Those guys can spit out something totally random, look into the camera with a dumbfounded look, and move on.  Unfortunately, while random may work really well on the internet, the dumbfounded look just does not translate well.  So, I will get this blip up tonite, and promise to get some more up tomorrow to make up for it, ok?  Glad to hear you agree.

My (more timely) reaction to the Tuscon Shooting

Ten days ago, a lone man shot and killed six people and wounded thirteen others, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords.  Nine days and about twenty-three hours later, people were declaring that the attack was directly motivated by the horrific, hateful rhetoric coming from the conservative side of politics.  Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party were declared responsible for the attack, as though they themselves had pulled the trigger those multiple times.  As actual research, journalism, and investigation happened, it quickly came to light that the accused shooter (I love how even though he was dragged from the scene, legalism still demands he be referred to as accused) had a long history of bizarre behavior, rants against capitalism and public schools, video of him burning an American flag, and a reading list populated with Hitler and Marx.  Sounds like a serious right-winger, doesn't it?  But, the old saying goes, a lie gets around the world before the truth can get it's shoes on.  The right is still on the defensive from the accusations, while pulling out more and more examples of the left's more frequent and more blatant calls for violence and death against their political opponents.  Another old saying comes to mind, the best offense being a good defense. 

The whole thing has really showed how low people will sink.  Calls for gun control, hate speech laws, and more protection for lawmakers have all hit the legislative floors in these ten days since the horrific massacre.  Death threats against Sarah Palin shot up.  One of the injured was taken for a mental evaluation after shouting "You're dead" at a Tea Party leader.  Granted, I think that one was an outburst of stress and grief, and hope that it will lead the gentleman to get some help, but it still is an example of people's reaction to this tragedy. 

I personally am disgusted by anyone who used the shooting to further political goals, especially so quickly.  The bodies weren't even cold before accusations started flying.  It wasn't much longer before those bills in Congress started flying.  Look up and see if any of your representatives were those taking advantage of the opportunity, giggling like ghouls at a fat man's funeral at the possibility of getting pet projects passed.  Hopefully it upsets you enough to take action.  These types of opportunistic politicians are a major problem in our government right now.

Can we use this tragedy to study what drives people to such acts?  Absolutely.  Might that study and discussion lead to some adjustment of laws and attitudes?  Possibly.  Does time need to be given to mourn and heal first?  Common sense says yes. 

Prayers go out to all the victims and their families. 

Windows or Linux faith?

Alright, I've been a bad blogger.  It's been a few weeks with no update.  I've got several good excuses, but I'll save them for a later date.  I will share one of the bad excuses though, since it is providing some inspiration.  This post is being typed on my latest project, a Debian Linux box.  If you don't know, Linux is that other operating system, as opposed to the ever present Windows.  It comes in numerous flavors, or distributions, most of which are available for free.  In addition to the great price, it will run (acceptibly well) on hardware that runs screaming if you approach it with a Windows XP installation disk. This salvage box has a 300mhz Celeran cpu and 300 some odd meg of ram.
So why does it have a small user base?  Because we have gotten used to the point and click automation of Windows.  Remember the last time you had to update your Flash player for your favorite Facebook game?  It took three or four clicks, correct?  I've been trying to get Flash on this thing for several days nows, trying various packeges and finding there seems to be a bit of a hiccup in the process.  It is frustrating, but entertaining and educational at the same time. 
I find some parallels between this and faith.  Much faith in today's society is similar to that auto-pilot, not reallly knowing what's going under the hood, point and click Windows experience.  Bible literacy is down in the Church, and poll after poll says that Americans identify themselves as Christian, yet those same polls show attitudes and beliefs on things like morality, origins, absolute truths are not in line with the name.  We think it is enough to show up at church on Sunday, know a few verses, and we'll get into Heaven.  But much the way that many modern web warriors have never seen the inside of their computer tower or laptop, much of the current Body has a limited knowledge of how the faith they profess works, because they haven't bothered to pop the hood.  
This silly Linux thing doesn't do very much unless I tell it exactly what to do.  In order to tell it what to do, I have to know all the right commands, file paths, and programs.  Christianity doesn't work (provide the peace that passes understanding, lead us on the path God intends for us, get us to Heaven) unless we really understand the right directions (that we are to follow) and attitudes (humility, serventhood).  For Linux, there are stacks and stacks of documentation, included with the system, written up, and in groups of fellow users.  For Christianity, there is our main user manual, the Bible, lots of other documentation of varying accuracy and usabiltiy, and fellowship with other believers to help us with our questions, our hard times and our good times.  Neither one is easy, for both there is no auto-pilot, but it's a much better trip when you have a better idea exactly what is going on.

It's That Time Again

We have arrived.  The final countdown is in progress.  In a mere five days, we will be celebrating Christmas.  This means so many different things to so many people.  To some it is a day off work, to some it's holiday overtime on their paycheck.  For some it's getting presents, for some it is giving presents.  There are those who enjoy the time with family, those who don't so much, and those who don't have a family to enjoy.  It is a time to celebrate for many, for others a time to complain. (Although the latter usually don't contain their complaining to a single time of year...)
It's interesting that Christmas was not celebrated at all in the early Church.  It appears that Christmas didn't show up on the scene until around the fourth century.  Also interesting is that the Bible doesn't give us a solid date to put the birth of Jesus on, unlike Easter (during Passover, well documented) and Pentecost (not quite as solid, tradition puts it 50 days after Easter, there are 40 days documented in the Bible that Jesus taught before He ascended to Heaven, with another 10 days of waiting in Jerusalem thrown in).  No, this isn't a diatribe about how Christmas is an evil pagan distraction from true Christianity.  Just another reminder about where our focus is supposed to be.  Jesus' birth was miraculous, it was the fulfillment of a prophecy from God, but it was only the beginning.  The purpose of Christmas was to get to Good Friday (Jesus' death on the cross), and the purpose of Good Friday was to get to Easter (returning from death, having paid the debt we all owe for sin, opening the door to Heaven).  So my wish this Christmas is that as we sing songs and fellowship and give gifts is that we remember there is a shadow of a cross over the Nativity scene, that the Babe in the manger was the means, not the ends.  Merry Christmas, and God bless.

A Small Victory, But The Battle Rages On

Ok, I've been avoiding politics for a while, but today was a big jump in the right direction.  A Federal judge declared that the Obamacare mandate to force individuals to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.  This is the good news.  The bad news is that for one, the people in charge of our government had to be told this by a judge. Evidently they are lacking the ability to actually read and understand the U.S. Constitution enough to know what they should have learned in eighth grade social studies.  The second piece of bad news is that there are a whole lot of people in the country who also lack that ability and still think it is terrible and evil that our government can't force it's citzens to engage in business those citizens don't want to engage in.  Emmanuel Goldstien, of 2600 magazine, tweeted that he is "About to leave a country where the mere notion of universal health care is unconstitutional. Looking forward to rejoining civilization."  (@emmangoldstein if you want to read it youtself)

Like so many issues that get lots of press in today's political world, the focus is in the wrong place.  Would it be terrible if every American could walk into any hospital or doctor's office and get whatever medical care they needed?  No.  Is it feasible?  No.  Does our federal government have the Constitutional power or mandate to provide this kind of service?  No.  That's supposed to be the end of the story.  No feel good, wouldn't it be nice if we did, emotional appeal.  The Congress and President Obama, before any bill was proposed, any press release written, or any public opinion polls taken, should have looked to the Constitution and said "Does the Federal government have the right and ability to provide any of this?"  The current administration is far from the first one that is guilty of not asking those questions, nor does either party have clean hands on the matter. 

So, if this is such a pervasive problem, what is the solution?  First is education.  We The People need to get back and learn the Constitution, it's limits, it's powers and it's intents.  Second is accountability.  We need to show our elected representatives that we know what they can and cannot do, and hold those officials responsible when they step outside the bounds.  That's what this recent mid-term election was.  But will the momentum hold up, or will we get distracted?  Andrew Jackson, Thomas Paine, and Wendall Phillips all gave us varations of the famous quote "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."  There will be legal appeals of this ruling, and more importantly, there will be future elections. 

Asking The Right Questions

      It's an age old question.  What happens to people who haven't heard the Gospel when they die?  We know that accepting Jesus is the only way to Heaven, and the only other option is Hell, so if a person dies in somewhere or somewhen where they lived their whole life without ever being told about Jesus, what happens to that soul?  Now that you're contemplating that, think about this: how is that question really relevant to God’s plan?  Obviously He knows what happens to them, and has the situation under control.  My thinking that maybe this is not the correct question we need to be asking. 

            Following that train of thought, I looked to the Scripture to see if this is a habit of mankind, this asking the wrong question.  When the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman to be stoned they asked, “What shall we do with her?”  Peter asked if seven times is enough to forgive someone who has wronged you.  The Magi went to Herod and asked where the king of the Jews was.  Both the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign that He was the Messiah.  Even the disciples asked for signs of the end of the age.  As we look at God’s answers to these questions we can see how He can lead us from incorrect questions to righteous answers. 

            The story of the adulteress woman who was brought before Jesus is told in John 8:3-11.  The Pharisees were attempting to trap Jesus, knowing that either answer they were expecting, (stoning or releasing the woman) would cause trouble, one from the Romans, who wouldn’t let the Jews carry out a death sentence, the other from the Jews themselves, who would not agree with such a disregard for the Law.    Instead, Jesus gave them an answer that showed God’s mercy and reserved judgment for Him alone, that being of course “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  The Pharisees came with a legitimate question, even though they brought it with selfish intent, and got an answer that pointed those who were willing to listen God’s purpose.  An interesting side note to the story is that the Pharisees appear to have doctored the Law a touch to suit their purposes.  Deuteronomy 22:23 states that if a virgin pledged to another man commits adultery, both her and the man are to be taken out and stoned, and Dt. 22:22 says that if the woman was another man’s wife, then they still are both to be put to death.   So here we have man’s question of what are we to do with those who are sinners and offenders, followed by God’s answer of show mercy on them as you have been shown mercy upon by Him and leave the judgment to the only one who is truly worthy of leveling judgment, and who will handle said judgment in His time.

            The next question we will look at is Peter’s asking how many times we must forgive someone who has sinned against us in Matthew 18:21.  Peter thinks that seven times should be plenty for us to bother with.  But Jesus’ answer raises the bar by quite a bit.  Depending on the version we read we either get seventy times or seventy times seven, which comes to 490.  Either number gets the point across, that love keeps no record of transgressions. (1 Cor.13: 5) If you love someone, you will not keep a track record of how many times they have wronged you just so you know when you have to stop forgiving them for it, or to hold over their heads, or for any other reason.  Jesus then tells the parable of the man who was released from the large debt he owed his king, and then threw another man in jail for a lesser debt.  We see man’s question of searching for a limit on how far out of our way we have to go to forgive others, followed by God’s answer, which reminds us how far out of His way God went to forgive us. Jesus later told the disciples that He had a new commandment for them to love each other as He had loved them (John 13:34).  Jesus goes on to demonstrate how we are to love by reinstating Peter even after his denial of Jesus, once again giving us God’s answer to this human question. 

            In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus what the signs will be of His second coming, and while He does give a long description of many things that will happen leading up to the second coming, He reaches His main point in v. 42-44, saying that instead of worrying about what the signs will be, always be prepared, because we will not truly know when He is coming until He does appear.  This answer is followed by a tale of a good servant and an evil servant, one who takes proper care of his master’s possessions and one who abuses his master’s possessions, and then two parables, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, all of which focus not on what the signs of the second coming will be, but on believers always standing ready in their faith, faithfully awaiting it, always prepared for it. 

            So what is the point of all this? The point is to always ask to see things from God’s perspective instead of ours.  God’s plans may not make sense from our perspective at the time, but they always work out.  When we try and work God’s plans out our way, trouble is assured.  We see this shown throughout the Old Testament.  When the nation of Israel consisted of Abraham and Sarah, they took their way to try and fulfill God’s promise, which opened an enormous can of worms.  When Israel demanded a king, wanting to be like the other nations around them instead of how God wanted them to be, it led to a divided kingdom and captivity.  We also see how following God’s plans will succeed when we follow them as in the fall of Jericho.  One of the finest examples of keeping God’s perspective comes from the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego.  When faced with either a fiery furnace or obeying God, they came back with “our God has the power to save us, but even if He doesn’t we will not bow to your god.”

             We can find other examples of people asking the wrong questions in search of right answers in the Bible, or sometimes asking the right questions to the wrong people.  The Pharisees and Sadducees went to Jesus demanding sings that He was who He claimed to be, instead of looking to the Law that they were supposed to know so well, and watching for the continued fulfillment of the prophecies about Jesus. 

            So what of the question that started this train of thought?  What is God’s answer to the question of unknowing unbelievers?  I believe that it is given to us in the Bible, in Matt. 28:19-20.  God is in control of those souls and knows His plan for them.  Our job here is to reduce that number as much as is within our calling and our God given talents.  So let us keep our minds clear our eyes on Jesus, and our questions correct.