lightbulb...

It has now become an incorrigible habit of mine to write poetry during our history TOG meetings. I pay attention, but verses just seem to come. Anyways-- here is tonight's poem--it's a summation of an analogy of my life. My life is like a lightbulb. If you still wonder what I mean after finishing reading, just ask.

lightbulb.

In the middle of a room
Stands a lamp--with the lightbulb on.
Shining into every dark corner,
Dispelling any gloom.

Despite the brilliance given,
There is still fragility,
A split second of off and on,
And failures in the living

Let my life resemble
This light; for You.
I may break easily
But Your hands assemble
Anew.

Your power is pulsing, flowing,
Lighting me up for the world.
Coursing through my veins and heart,
In the middle of the room I am glowing.

If I lose hope; shatter into pieces,
The light grows dim; darkness returns.
I'm human, I'm fragile I know,
But Your love for me still reaches.

Let my life be a light for You,
Though I break, You make anew.
In the middle of the darkness, surrounded
I'm nothing, lest in Your power am founded.

 five: millions of pieces.
 four: come together again.
three: power to shine bright.
two: darkness reaches.
one: ___ ___ ___
       light.

Flight School...

     Have you ever wanted to learn to fly? To "slip the surly bonds of earth" as Gillespie Magee succinctly put it? Now, there is an opportunity to do so. In an Aviation Magazine article here, long-time pilot and educator, Barry Schiff offered a $3,000 scholarship for any young person above 16 and under 21 to learn to fly. The winner of the scholarship can attend the flight school of their choice.
   
      Needless to say, I am definitely interested in this opportunity; its wonderful when chances like this are available. In order to win the scholarship, you simply have to submit a 500-word essay explaining why you would like to learn to fly as well as a color photo of yourself. If Mr. Schiff deems your essay to be excellent, and yourself to be handsome, you will win his scholarship, along with other flight-oriented equipment. Cool? Yep. All entries are due by December 15, and are subject to his own opinion and liking, etc.
 

  Need I say more?

Cookies...

     Did you ever wonder, what makes the grass grow? Did you ever wonder, what makes the sun shine? Did you ever wonder, where Girl Scout Cookies come from?

     In answer to the first two questions, God is the one behind it all; as for the third question, the way the cookies taste, God could be behind that too. However, the Girl Scout website says differently. Apparently, the Girl Scouts do not make the cookies themselves, but are only the door-to-door solicitors of goodness. Two outside companies make the cookies themselves: "ABC Bakers" and "Little Brownie Bakers". These companies are licensed by the Girl Scouts of America to bake the Thin Mints, Do-Si-Do's, and Samoa cookies. Just in case you were worried, all of the cookies are Kosher.
     According to the website, the best selling cookie is the Thin Mint, closely followed by the Samoa and the Peanut Butter varieties. No preservatives are used in the making of the cookies, and no animals are hurt in the process of the baking. All of the chocolate used comes from a free trade zone, and not from obscure cacao farms with the beans picked by children. Although some of the cookies say "Sugar Free" they still might possess a small amount of High-Fructose Corn Syrup, making them not diabetic cookies.
    This ends the line of information about the Girl Scout Cookies, and here ends any philosophical status that my blog may have had. Next up--where do the Boy Scouts get all of their popcorn?

And yes, the packages are 100% recyclable.

Alive...

Another poem spurred on by History last night....


Welcome to my world
Everything is up and down.
Blacks and whites look more like grays,
And there's no direction in this town.

Why can't everything be crystal clear?
My thinking isn't straight.
Looking for a note in all the noise,
Can anything change my state?

I've tried and I've tried, but I still am lost.
I've lied and I've lied, but the truth still haunts me.
Reason only leaves dead ends and confusion to life;
I thought I was living, but is there life in me?

I've looked at everything under the sun,
And yet, the answer hides.
My eyes are open but I don't see,
The Truth that's on all sides.

You surround me; lifting my life up
Yet I ignore Your love and focus on my day
Life is senseless when You're not involved
I choose Your light, Your life--
And in Your arms I'll stay.

Nothing is true unless the Truth is real.
Nothing is living unless Life has awakened it.
Direction is circular without the Way that is Straight
And the One who redeems your life from the pit.

Come awake and come alive,
By taking the hand held out to you.
There's love overpowering and sweet.
There's Christ that makes all new.

Amen.

Monkeys or Equality...

The other day, I made my yearly trip to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. Yes, the one and the same. As the name implies, it deals, not with the history of our nation (that is the museum a few blocks down), but with the history of our world, and most importantly: nature. In the wax figurine caveman displays, and the new, several thousand dollar "Origins of Man" exhibit, the museum also kindly informs the innocent tourist that yes, this shortish, ape-like, less-than-handsome man, was his or her ancestor from 8 or so million years ago. Talk about long-lost relatives. Essentially put, man evolved from monkeys; the same theory that has been furthered for decades by much of the scientific community. In another section of the museum, the curator has constructed another new exhibit, about race. This well put together exhibit concerns itself with informing the visitor about the ins and outs of racial segregation and bigotry. As I perused the hall of the "Race" exhibit, after having looked at the "Origins of Man" displays, a thought came to me: both of these displays contradict each other. How? Let me explain.

Several of the Natural History Museum's displays propagate the theory that all of mankind originated in Africa. This claim is based on the fact that most of all of the 'transitionary' ape fossils such as Lucy have been found in Africa, specifically in the Kenya/Tanzania region. Also propagated is the decades old theory that man evolved, an idea originated by Charles Darwin in the 1800's. This type of evolution refuses a God as the Creator of the world, and as a being in the world. To sum up--the museum states that man evolved, thereby disallowing any action of God, and thereby arguing against the existence of God.
So where's the contradiction? I came across the contrary argument in the 'Race' exhibit.

The essential argument made by the displays on race was that all men are created equal. The info boards took a quote directly out of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal..." But wait a minute, look back at the quote: "...that all men are created equal..." Created? Yes, that is what the Declaration states. If man is created, that denotes a Creator: God. So despite the fact that one wing of the museum denies a Creator and a God, another portion of the museum claims a Creator and a God in order to have equality. Contradiction? I think so. But wait, you say, the word 'created' is just semantics. Evolution creates as well. In that case, look at the first part of the quote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." The interesting thing about self-evident truths is that there are none, apart from God. Why? Look at Stalin's Russia in the 1900's: Stalin's communist regime rejected any and all parts or references to God. Alright, so what? In his nation, was equality, or any other individual right for that matter, respected? No. Obviously, the truth of equality was not self-evident to Stalin. Why? Because he rejected God. Only God is the Truth, and only God is the Self-Evident Truth.
This leaves the museum in a quandary: should it elevate the evolution of man in the interest of keeping a more atheistic view, or should it be concerned about the equality of man in race, and admit there is a God?

Keep the monkeys, or keep equality, but you cannot have both.

Arabic Lesson (contd)....

For those of you who waited patiently to figure out what the two men were saying in Arabic yesterday--here is a translation.

Ahmed: Hello! My name is Ahmed
Najeed: Hello to you.
Ahmed: What is your name?
Najeed: My name is Najeed. Where are you from?
Ahmed: I am from Kuwait. And you?
Najeed: I am from Tunis.
Ahmed: Nice to meet you. How are you?
Najeed: I am fine, praise God. And yourself?
Ahmed: I'm good, praise God. Hello.
Najeed: Hello to you.
(both men look at each other strangely; staring at the other's eyebrows. They turn, take three paces in opposite directions, and fire. The duel is clearly spontaneous in nature. Both miss, then run off-stage)

Now, due to my amateur Arabic skills, the above translation may or may not be up to par, but it gets the gist of the conversation.

Arabic Lesson...

Arabic is a neat language, full of variety, color, and yes, words. Have you ever wondered what a short conversation might look like? Here we go:

Ahmed: Ahlan wa Sahlan! Ana ismi Ahmed.
Najeed: Ahlan biik.
Ahmed: Ism HaDritak ee?
Najeed: Ana ismi Najeed. HaDritak mineen?
Ahmed: Ana min al-Kuwayt. Wa HaDritak?
Najeed: Ana min Tuunis.
Ahmed: Itsharrafna. Izzayy HaDritak?
Najeed: Ana kuwayyis, il-Hamdu lillaah. Wa HaDritak izzayy?
Ahmed: Ana tamaam,il-Hamdu lillaah. Ahlan wa Sahlan.
Najeed: Ahlan biik.
(the two exit stage left and stage right, taking care to cross upstage and downstage at least once, and gesture wildly, leaving the audience wowed, stunned, and confused.)


Have no clue what the two men just discussed? Translation will be posted tomorrow, or for the impatient, Google Translator is always available.