Bumptop Prototype

BibleMap.org

BibleMap.org

Closed to Interpretation

After serving two wretched days in jury duty, I've been thinking about how interesting the jury selection process is. Then I began wandering into thoughts about how interesting it is to see that God would allow justice to be so incredibly vulnerable to our frail, inadequate human interpretation. This then led my mind to ponder how interesting it is to see that God leaves not just justice, but virtually everything open to our flawed interpretation.

But this morning, as I was driving to work on the Garden State Parkway and passing by exit 135, I realized that there is at least one thing that God does not leave open to our interpretation: how much he loves us.

Not when he began loving us, or when he does and does not love us, or why he loves us, or how he loves us...but how much he loves us.

When, why, and how become secondary, and in fact become of increasingly and infinitely lesser importance the closer we get to understanding and embracing how much he loves us.

Of all the things he could have made absolutely clear to us...theological conundrums, measures of justice, our precise progress in sanctification...God chooses to convey how much he loves us, the measure of which is, of course, exemplified, personified, and carried out most physically on the cross, but which is also seen so clearly in each breath we take, everywhere in the Bible (OT and NT), in all the small and big moments in our days, weeks, months, and years, so long as we remain sentient enough to see it.

He does not allow any room for our own interpretations when it comes to the extent of his love for us. It is enduring, inexorable, full, and so much more.

Now it is left to us to respond.

Rocky Balboa - The Speech

Rocky Balboa: Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!

TGIF

Hate and Love

First, a tangent.

I think I'm the only person in our entire office that wears Cons. This is kind of cool, cos it makes me cool, unique, and hip. I speak the complete truth when I say that approximately four out of every 10 people I pass everyday can't help but to glance at my shoes. Some people just flat out stare at my feet as we pass each other. I'm serious. At times it weirds me out, but mostly it makes me feel incredibly cool.

But, as with all good things in this fallen world, there is a - to accompany this wonderful +. When you go #2 in public bathrooms (at least the dastardly ones that leave the bottom 12" open for all the free world to see, about which I have a theory), your feet are inevitably and horribly exposed. This is a problem for a guy such as I (yes, I'm a part-time rapper) since I wear such awesome sneaks. Since no one else wears them, on the days that I wear my Cons and go #2 in the bathroom stalls, depending on the stall I sit in (the handicapped one in the far corner is the only safe one), everyone who walks in is likely to see my Cons and make the connection that "Ah-ha! It's that cool kid with the Cons! He's taking a dump! HAHAHAHA!."

And *poof*, just like that, my coolness factor plummets to zero.

Now, back to the point I originally wanted to make here.

I've only been at Ask.com for about a month and a half, but so far I really enjoy my job there. I think most of it comes from hate.

Let me explain.

I hate spam sites. Whenever I see them, I get incredibly irritated. Why? I can't place all of my hatred into words, but it's mostly because they waste time, eat up valuable resources, are unhelpful, and some of them actually make people money.

We hates them, doesn't we Preciousss? Yes, we hates them, we hates them all!

Strangely enough, when I think about this I realize that it is this hate for spam sites that drives my love for my job. My hate for spam sites allows me to really enjoy fighting against them. My hate for spam sites fuels my love for not only my job, but the Internet as it should be, though it never will.

There are two branches that grow from this sapling.

First, my life here on earth should be like this. My hate for the fallen nature of this world...shattered families, miscarried love, poorly chosen words, disoriented creations...my hate for these things should fuel my love not only for my life here on this earth as a covert soldier for the other side, but also my love for the world as it should be, as it was created to be, though it never will...in this lifetime. And this longing for a perfect world, for heaven, will enable me to love this present world better.

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." - C.S. Lewis

Secondly, I remember the words to that wonderful hymn...

See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

- 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross' by Isaac Watts

This idea of love's relationship with hate appears to be biblical.

"Let those who love the LORD hate evil..." - Psalm 97:10

"To fear the LORD is to hate evil..." - Proverbs 8:13

"Hate evil, love good..." - Amos 5:15

I may be assuming too much, but I think that when Christ lived his life on earth, as he was praying in Gethsemane, as he was arrested, as he had his flesh beaten, as he carried the cross, and as he was nailed to wood with cold, bitter nails, his hate for sin, disillusion, and separation fueled his love for God and His children, and for all the grace, kindness, and redemption that would flow from their reunion.

So, yes, in a sense Lucy is right. Love and hate are always at war with each other, and like Linus, many times we feel this tension. But that isn't the whole story. There is enough evidence to indicate that love and hate can actually work in beautiful unison to produce brilliant results, and along with them, joy, renewal, and peace.

This foolish notion has already been carried out to the fullest measure by God, but it remains ours to taste of it each and every day in new and stirring ways. It is part of the gracious overflow that runs so strongly through us.

May this divine paradox be evident in our minds, hearts, and lives.

SNOW!

9:24 a.m.


9:28 a.m.

Suh-weet!

iPhone

It's finally unveiled.

Read about and look at Apple's long-awaited and extremely, painfully sexy iPhone here.  (Live updates.)

Smorgasbord

♠ First off, I heart Gilbert Arenas.  Yes, I have publicly declared my affections for a man.

(Gotta love Mr. Redd's smile in this photo.)

The dude is straight up sexy.  I'm serious.  His cinematic game-winning shot just confirmed that.

He didn't even look at it go in!  What a pimp!  The smug look on his face as he shot the ball and afterwards was priceless.

After the game he said, "My swag was phenomenal."

The 60 points he dropped on Kobe and the Lakers...his underdog, zero-to-hero history...his refreshing candor in interviews...his freakish skills on the court...for all these reasons Number 0 is quickly becoming number 1 on my list of favorite NBA players.

Carry on, sir, carry on.  We are enjoying every moment of your overshadowed brilliance.

♥ A nose hair fell into the cup of coffee I was drinking this morning.  I didn't want to reach my finger into the cup to fish it out, cos that would have looked really awkward to my co-workers.  So, I just let it stick to the inside of the cup and proceeded to finish the coffee.  The nose hair is still stuck to the inside of the cup, staring at me.  I can't wait to throw out this cup.

♣ Some online goodies: 1) If you are incredibly bored or have an incredible amount of free time, play Samorost1 and Samorost2.  They're really pretty, challenging, and fun Flash games and are related (obviously).  The first is simpler than the second.  I beat Samorost1 yesterday at work (yes, it was a slow day).  If you want to cheat, there are walkthroughs available online.  2) Here's a fun list of urbane insults.

♦ "Fashion is something that goes in one year and out the other." - Anonymous

I will strive against fashion in 2007...literally and metaphorically.