I am patient, yes I am
I can wait til morning light
I am prudent, yes I am
I can see through the misaligned
My time will come
I promise you this
My time will come but until then
Until then
I am careful, yes I am
I won't step on broken stairs
I am mournful, yes I am
But the light will soon be here
'Cuz a broken man once said to me
The world don't turn in harmony
For every good and perfect deed there's a penalty
And if the good Lord gave us wings to fly
We would curse him just to feel alive
There's no point in guessin' why but to wait until
Wait until
My time will come
I promise you this
My time will come, but until then
With Julie in school, frantically filling her fixated mind with facts and philosophies, some of what she's learning about is rubbing off on me. Right now she's finishing up a small writing assignment on the poor. A subject that I think is easiest to write about and hardest to DO about. I mean, I can theorize and philosophize up the wazoo about why I think they are poor and how to keep them from getting poorer and what a Christian's response to the poor should be.. But to be honest, I haven't really dealt with it in my own life. I mean, sure Julie and I sponsor a child in Africa (his name is Shongon) I think anyone that can save a dollar a day should do it.... but what about the smelly guy outside Walmart that asked for a dollar so he can buy himself a beer? What about the nice looking lady on the lawn chair at the street corner with a handwritten sign saying, "I don't have a dollar to my name, please help"?? I don't know what to do in these situations, so my gut level reaction is to make a super fast judgment call ("The last thing this guy needs right now is a beer-I'll buy him a sandwich" "This lady is a phony" etc. etc.) and give accordingly. I, by no means, endorse this kind of perspective. But it's where I'm at. My heart breaks when I see homelessness and poverty, but I feel so helpless.
I feel like whatever I do, it's not going to go far enough to put a dent in the real problems of our society. For those that dedicate their lives to helping the poor turn their lives around- I thank you and I love you for what you do. But as for my role- I feel it is too tiny to do anything more than to hopefully just brighten someone's day for a little while.
I give what I can not because I think it will do so much for them, but because the act of giving is Christian, and hopefully it will make me less stingy with what I have. But I'm still working through all of this...
I finished my first Stephen King novel, Desperation, thanks to Jeff's suggestion. It was exciting to get spooked out by a book again... I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
My brilliant father-in-law gave me a copy of Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. I found a kindred spirit in McLaren. I love that he is completely at home with paradoxes (i.e., "I am a protestant, and I am a catholic, I am liberal and I am conservative"). He speaks truth like a kindly grandfather. I give it 4 stars.
I reread Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. This guy has been making a lot of waves lately. I appreciate this. I find it really inspiring that a guy with all of his responsibility of pastoring a church and being in such a high profile position is still able to voice his convictions and his take on life, despite it being hard to stomach for many powerful Christian voices out there. This book was decent- 3 out of 5 stars.
I kindled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland off of my iTouch and was overjoyed with the satire and nuances of the novel by Lewis Carroll. 4 out of 5.
I'm Kindling (is it okay that I'm using it as a verb?) The Count of Monte Cristo and have been pleasantly surprised with all of the extra background for the characters (I say "extra" because I've seen the movie dozens of times)... This is one of the first books I have read in which the main characters, Dantes and Mercedes, have barely been developed at all, while nearly all of the supporting characters are painted so vividly and undergo so much change. I'm only 10% through it (some of you know how monstrous a book it is-- another reason why I read it thru Kindle) but I'm thoroughly hooked.
Julie woke me up from a dream in which I was in the movie Jack Frost with Martin Short (which I have never seen, incidentally), and I helped her roll the scooter out of the basement (it's a steep incline with a narrow doorway). I watched a couple episodes of ridiculously stupid cartoons (the satire in American Dad is almost unbearable at times!), and then got to work. I folded laundry, did the dishes, swept the front pathway, fixed my leather recliner, hooked up white lights in the backyard to surprise Julie (she's been asking me to do it since we moved in 3 weeks ago!), and read about 8 chapters of The Count of Monte Cristo before falling asleep.
The job hunt is kinda at a lull... I have work for the week of September 7th, but that's all until Copa Vida Coffee opens back up on October 21st. Till then we just gotta make the money stretch!!
Oh, and I have a bicycle and it's pretty swell cuz we got it for free from our landlord.
Oh, and our new friends Naaman and Amber are taking us out to see a Shakespeare play!! Isn't that flippin' sweet? I think it's a Midsummer Night's Dream or Much Ado About Nothing.
So I came across this "Ted Talks" episode and it intrigued me:
For those of you without the time to watch it (but for some reason the time to read my banter) it's about these inventor people who have finally done it. They have made a robotic bird that more or less looks and acts like a real bird and can fly not using propellers or fans, but with the robotic simulation of a natural bird's flapping wings. It's made out of carbon fiber and is remote controlled. The bad part is that it makes a pretty loud whining noise as it flaps, and the good part is that it doesn't poop on your head.
Tim's thoughts:
Let me start by saying this is freaking rad. But then let me also say this:
Why has it taken us so long to recreate the same style of flight as a bird? They've been around for thousands upon millions of years, we've been around for just a bit less than that-- we've put countless things into the air that shouldn't be in the air in the first place... we've gone around the world and to the moon, but until now (as far as I know) we haven't been able to recreate a bird's flight. They are the masters- they are the way that God arranged animals to soar through the skies-- and yet instead of copy the bird's design-- humans have created jets and helicopters and hot air balloons and gliders (all of which I love, I'm totally not knocking them). I just wonder why the idea of flying inspired mankind to get ourselves airborne in whatever way possible, but the actual logistics of how we do it seemed to come not from nature, but from man's stubbornness to just get up there.
Perhaps there is something innate within us that resists being told how to do something by God or by anyone else. I remember a time when I was much younger and was just learning how to tie my shoe. I saw my brother tie his shoe earlier and it looked so easy, but when I leaned down to tie my own shoe, I was lost. Utterly lost. I tried this way and that but to no avail. Instead of the pretty bow that was supposed to arise, I only got knots and more knots and bigger knots. My parents were in the other room and I knew that all I had to do was ask and they would help, but NO! I was determined to do it myself. Finally, minutes (or possibly hours?) I was in tears and my dad was baffled at why I didn't just come and ask.
Throughout the course of my life my dad has often brought up this scene when I refuse his help/advice for things like love and work and finances. I'd like to think that I've gotten better over the years. But maybe that's just wishful thinking.
But I'd like to think I've gotten better. How else will I hear God's gentle whispers?
