I am rediscovering Photoshop and actually taking time now to process my photos. So I spent some time this afternoon just tinkering around and heres what I came up with.
Friday, January 23, 2009
hurray for Photoshop!
I am rediscovering Photoshop and actually taking time now to process my photos. So I spent some time this afternoon just tinkering around and heres what I came up with.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Christmas break
Because you all know that I'm always behind on uploading my pictures, I'm going to cheat a little bit and upload some photos from Christmas Day.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Death of Pausanias
Pausanias was a Greek general during the Peloponnesian Wars. However, he got very greedy for power and sold his soul to the devil (i.e. struck a deal with the Medes). He tried to stay away from the Greeks and keep it a secret until the right time, because he knew he would lose everything if they knew. But they found out anyway, chased him in to the Temple of Athena and blockaded him in a room for many days. Finally when he was about to die of starvation they brought him out of the temple (because it was unlawful for a man to die in a temple) and "upon coming out of the temple, forthwith he died."
...at least, thats how Thucydides tells it....
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Cleaning Out
There is an unspoken art in many families that is mastered by some. Yet because of its unspoken nature, some of us get left behind in the mire. This is the art of moving junk.
When we were children we were constantly being told to "clean out your room" and that we will be severely punished if we did not obey and pick up all the junk off our floors. Now, be honest. How many of you, when you were asked to do this, simply gathered up your things and stuffed them in some strategic place - behind the dresser, in the closet, or pulled the classic under-the-bed number?
As we grow older though, we realize that that is not a very healthy way to live, and that half of the things we chuck behind the dresser or wherever, we actually use and miss when they are hidden so carefully. So, as we mature into young adults, yet while our parents continue to nag us about cleaning up our rooms, we laugh at ourselves and our previous foolishness. And we learn to move our stuff into neat piles in various corners of our room, or in artful sculptures on our dressers or desks.
Finally, when we are old and married and nagging children of our own (of which I know SO much about :P), we look back, hopefully smiling, at our own childhood days and how we too suffered and smarted when our parents vehemently request that we clean our room. But when we are remarking on how children never change, and how from age to age, they will ever be the same - how they will always be pulling the same stunts and excuses - we should be remarking on how we never change. One must admit that, where as we grow out of clothes and toys or books and decorating schemes, the one thing I don't think we ever grow out of is moving our junk around.
We don't realize it, but it becomes a sort of art. When we get rooms of our own, or even our own houses, we just get to spread it around a lot more. In one way, we become less skillful because we don't have to shove everything into one spot, we can spread it wherever we like so long as it looks orderly.
I, by a series of compelling events, was recently bound to rearrange my room. A conundrum sprawled itself before me. It took me two weekends to fully rearrange the wealth of my.... items. I spent much of my time standing in my doorway just thinking "where the hell am I going to move all of this? How am I supposed to fit this all back together without completely demolishing the house?" After almost a full days work, I finally have it almost all together.... I was obviously not gifted with the natural task with which some females are of decorating and furnishing a room.
But working on such a project always allows time for rumination. And as I was putting the last bits and piece of my life into a semi-logical order, I nearly laughed out loud to myself as I realized just what I was doing. I was doing almost exactly the same thing I was when I was seven. The only difference now is that we actually give it grown up names to the actions I was performing and I was actually putting dirty clothes in the hamper rather than behind my wardrobe. This is the art that no one dares breath a word about, and yet we all do so often. Laziness and a fondness for the things of the world make it hard for us to let go of these earthly things, that moths eat and thieves break into a steel. And so, we simply move things from one corner to the next, hoping that it will be less noticeable and more natural in one corner than in the other...
When we were children we were constantly being told to "clean out your room" and that we will be severely punished if we did not obey and pick up all the junk off our floors. Now, be honest. How many of you, when you were asked to do this, simply gathered up your things and stuffed them in some strategic place - behind the dresser, in the closet, or pulled the classic under-the-bed number?
As we grow older though, we realize that that is not a very healthy way to live, and that half of the things we chuck behind the dresser or wherever, we actually use and miss when they are hidden so carefully. So, as we mature into young adults, yet while our parents continue to nag us about cleaning up our rooms, we laugh at ourselves and our previous foolishness. And we learn to move our stuff into neat piles in various corners of our room, or in artful sculptures on our dressers or desks.
Finally, when we are old and married and nagging children of our own (of which I know SO much about :P), we look back, hopefully smiling, at our own childhood days and how we too suffered and smarted when our parents vehemently request that we clean our room. But when we are remarking on how children never change, and how from age to age, they will ever be the same - how they will always be pulling the same stunts and excuses - we should be remarking on how we never change. One must admit that, where as we grow out of clothes and toys or books and decorating schemes, the one thing I don't think we ever grow out of is moving our junk around.
We don't realize it, but it becomes a sort of art. When we get rooms of our own, or even our own houses, we just get to spread it around a lot more. In one way, we become less skillful because we don't have to shove everything into one spot, we can spread it wherever we like so long as it looks orderly.
I, by a series of compelling events, was recently bound to rearrange my room. A conundrum sprawled itself before me. It took me two weekends to fully rearrange the wealth of my.... items. I spent much of my time standing in my doorway just thinking "where the hell am I going to move all of this? How am I supposed to fit this all back together without completely demolishing the house?" After almost a full days work, I finally have it almost all together.... I was obviously not gifted with the natural task with which some females are of decorating and furnishing a room.
But working on such a project always allows time for rumination. And as I was putting the last bits and piece of my life into a semi-logical order, I nearly laughed out loud to myself as I realized just what I was doing. I was doing almost exactly the same thing I was when I was seven. The only difference now is that we actually give it grown up names to the actions I was performing and I was actually putting dirty clothes in the hamper rather than behind my wardrobe. This is the art that no one dares breath a word about, and yet we all do so often. Laziness and a fondness for the things of the world make it hard for us to let go of these earthly things, that moths eat and thieves break into a steel. And so, we simply move things from one corner to the next, hoping that it will be less noticeable and more natural in one corner than in the other...
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Uganda's Hitler
I just recently come to the conclusion that the truth is, even though we have made spectacular leaps in technology, medicine, economics and the like in the past century, Man has not changed a bit since the day the Lord decided to see what he could make with a pile of dirt. (I know, I know. I'm a little slow on the uptake). I recently watched a movie that confirmed that there are at least two things in this world that have never changed. The first is Presidential campaigns. And the second is that there has always been a Hitler.
Idi Amin Dada called himself the "last king of Scotland" because he believed that he was the greatest pacifier of the world and that, because he was a friend of the British Isles, they would ask him to come in and rule their land for them as well as his own. (At least, that's how they put it in the movies). He believed he was truly restoring his country, and he had so much ambition, he believed that when he was finished he could do the same for other counties. And so, as President Amin (Forest Whitaker) traveled through Uganda, he promised the people there that while he was in office he would change Uganda. He would start new clinics to help those with severe medical conditions and severe financial problems. There would be work and food for everyone. There would be no more war (after of course, he disposed of some minor parties that he believed wished him dead). In a nutshell, he seemed to be promising them that their land "should be fair and all her people one." (Sound like anyone you have heard lately?) And yet somehow we were surprised to find that within a few months things had not changed at all. That all the new President's vows were empty and all a big show and things were actually sliding back into the well rather than racing up the mountain.
(NOTE: I am not, at this juncture, by any means bashing our President or those running for the office. I merely think it ironic that all around the world those who come into power can promise us the same things and in the end the same thing happens every time (at least to some extent). To some degree some promises are dropped by the wayside in a state of brokenness. Some of those in office just do it in a much more pronounced and obvious way than others).
President Amin could sweat talk the people until the day he died, if he was given the chance. He would promise them a sugar coated Uganda with chocolate syrup and even one of those embalmed cherries on top. With his deep, almost musical, voice booming over the heads of unsuspecting crowds, he told them, "I am the General of the Ugandan Armies, but underneath the coat, I am just like you." No wonder he won them so fast! Not only did he promise them paradise on a gold platter, but he did it with a mellifluous voice and humility too! (Course, I'm a sucker for beautiful voices, so I guess I can't speak for everyone). Yet underneath the neatly tailored army uniform, trimmed with tassels and medals was not just another Ugandan, it was another Hitler.
A dear friend once told me that "words are medicine." They can be used to heal or they can be used to kill, if they are given in the wrong prescription at the wrong time. Both Hitler and Amin must have known that, because that is what they did. They used their words like a drug on their people to give them a patriotic high so to speak. But overtime, the people began to feel the effects as it wore off, and they couldn't make the drug work anymore. After time the drug stops working and you have to turn to something else. But, when the people won't take the drug anymore, that puts the distributer out of a job causing them to turn somewhere else (to be exiled or die as Hitler and Amin eventually were).
So, I guess the question is, when the world is faced with Hitlers and Amins (not forgetting the Stalins and the Castros or even the Nero's and the Mussolinis!), how many people do they have to kill before we can see through the sugar coating? Why do we only allow those who would destroy us have the gift of rhetoric? Should not the "art of speaking well" be also given to those who would use it for the well being of others?
The last question then becomes, are we fated to always be cursed with tyrants and murderers as our captains? And the answer is yes, as long as there is still Sin and Satan in this world. But there is a solution to all of this that is often overlooked. "Wherever there is injustice, you will find us. Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find.... " not the Three Amigos unfortunately. Some one much, much more helpful. Though the world be broken and smashed by Satan and his host of generals, there is always going to be Christ with is arms stretched wide.
Idi Amin Dada called himself the "last king of Scotland" because he believed that he was the greatest pacifier of the world and that, because he was a friend of the British Isles, they would ask him to come in and rule their land for them as well as his own. (At least, that's how they put it in the movies). He believed he was truly restoring his country, and he had so much ambition, he believed that when he was finished he could do the same for other counties. And so, as President Amin (Forest Whitaker) traveled through Uganda, he promised the people there that while he was in office he would change Uganda. He would start new clinics to help those with severe medical conditions and severe financial problems. There would be work and food for everyone. There would be no more war (after of course, he disposed of some minor parties that he believed wished him dead). In a nutshell, he seemed to be promising them that their land "should be fair and all her people one." (Sound like anyone you have heard lately?) And yet somehow we were surprised to find that within a few months things had not changed at all. That all the new President's vows were empty and all a big show and things were actually sliding back into the well rather than racing up the mountain.
(NOTE: I am not, at this juncture, by any means bashing our President or those running for the office. I merely think it ironic that all around the world those who come into power can promise us the same things and in the end the same thing happens every time (at least to some extent). To some degree some promises are dropped by the wayside in a state of brokenness. Some of those in office just do it in a much more pronounced and obvious way than others).
President Amin could sweat talk the people until the day he died, if he was given the chance. He would promise them a sugar coated Uganda with chocolate syrup and even one of those embalmed cherries on top. With his deep, almost musical, voice booming over the heads of unsuspecting crowds, he told them, "I am the General of the Ugandan Armies, but underneath the coat, I am just like you." No wonder he won them so fast! Not only did he promise them paradise on a gold platter, but he did it with a mellifluous voice and humility too! (Course, I'm a sucker for beautiful voices, so I guess I can't speak for everyone). Yet underneath the neatly tailored army uniform, trimmed with tassels and medals was not just another Ugandan, it was another Hitler.
A dear friend once told me that "words are medicine." They can be used to heal or they can be used to kill, if they are given in the wrong prescription at the wrong time. Both Hitler and Amin must have known that, because that is what they did. They used their words like a drug on their people to give them a patriotic high so to speak. But overtime, the people began to feel the effects as it wore off, and they couldn't make the drug work anymore. After time the drug stops working and you have to turn to something else. But, when the people won't take the drug anymore, that puts the distributer out of a job causing them to turn somewhere else (to be exiled or die as Hitler and Amin eventually were).
So, I guess the question is, when the world is faced with Hitlers and Amins (not forgetting the Stalins and the Castros or even the Nero's and the Mussolinis!), how many people do they have to kill before we can see through the sugar coating? Why do we only allow those who would destroy us have the gift of rhetoric? Should not the "art of speaking well" be also given to those who would use it for the well being of others?
The last question then becomes, are we fated to always be cursed with tyrants and murderers as our captains? And the answer is yes, as long as there is still Sin and Satan in this world. But there is a solution to all of this that is often overlooked. "Wherever there is injustice, you will find us. Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find.... " not the Three Amigos unfortunately. Some one much, much more helpful. Though the world be broken and smashed by Satan and his host of generals, there is always going to be Christ with is arms stretched wide.
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