Fragments of Thanks

Even today when I hear sirens, I hear the beginning of the Inspector Gadget theme song. I hope I never grow up.



Unseen Villains are the best. Also, what kind of wine does Claw drink anyhoo?
My guess: sparkling red wine that runs about 8 bucks retail.

Thanksgiving came and went. My mother-in-law asked everyone at the table what they were thankful for. I hate that kinda stuff although I am sure I will do it when I am a grandfather. I feel like I am thankful for most everything except broccoli, people blocking lanes when they are in the wrong lane and take it out on the rest of us, physical pain, roaches, cancer and death. That about sums it up right there. In case your wondering my answer was "Everything but physical pain".

My inner guru says this, "It is good to poop. It is better to poop at home." Meditate upon that for awhile. It's true in the literal and metaphorical sense.

You know what I want for Christmas more than anything? Just the time off. That's the best part.

I gave my oldest daughter some of my old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. I thumbed through one of them and one of the endings has you end up at the "fat kid's camp". How 'bout those 1980's. Ruthless, I tell ya. 

This book scared the poo out of me as a kid. The premise is basic enough, you are stuck on a spaceship when a "Space Vampire" invades your ship - trapped with no where to go and no help coming.  Terrifying for a 10-year-old. I would stare at this picture, horrified and yet intrigued enough that I couldn't look away.  Sometime when I was reading the book I had the worst nightmare of my life - this very vampire pictured chasing me everywhere I went, including a disembodied head mocking me.  Just looking at it today is still a little creepy. I left this one up in the attic. In time, it's possible the children will be brave enough to face up to the Space Vampire, until then, it waits, biding its time ever so patiently.

Just finished HG Wells' The Time Machine. Not too shabby. Two thumbs up as it's like the first Sci-Fi novel ever, it's quaint but actually not too shabby. Gets pretty cool at the end.

Working on a big project for my two girls for Christmas. Should finish up my inks this week and can begin coloring it soon after. I hope to be finished with the project a little after finals is over with.

The Peru trip is looking more likely, we need 3 more apps to make it official this week, and I think we'll get there.

Starting working on a series watch of Star Trek: Voyager. After 6 episodes, I am happy enough to keep watching. I would rate one as "Excellent", 4 or so as "Good to Very Good" and 1-2 as "Eh, Ok, I see the ending coming from a mile away but it's Star Trek and it's not so bad".

My favorite breakfast tacos are: bean and cheese, potato and bacon and potato and egg and cheese.

I gotta run must clean up house with visitors coming over for lunch tomorrow. Until then, LIVE STRONG but don't take drugs or wear silly wrist bands.  Or lie. Or generally be a douche like Lance Armstrong.  So generally, just ignore that I typed that out.

There and Back Again: The Beatitudes, Part I

When I started blogging back in April of 2010, one of my ideas was to write some biblical commentary. I had started a blog at some point in 2009 centered on my amateur efforts at biblical commentary. However, I got busy with life and I was quickly interested in other projects along the way. That failure gave me the idea of a "blog of lowered expectations". I would create a blog without a theme; it would be a repository of ideas, new and old, finished or unfinished. Hence the "fragments".  This post brings me back full circle. I'm finally getting around to posting some of my commentary.

This first (?!?!) series will be on the Beatitudes. My original idea was to post what I had saved on my PC with some minor edits and additions but I just can't operate that way. For example, I had an actual introduction to the Beatitudes but I re-wrote 95% of it. Present Neil is never happy with Past Neil and Future Neil just giggles at the both of them. So, go figure. I have no timetable to getting this done, it may come and go or if I get on a roll, I may just start popping them out rather quickly. Time will tell.

Introducing the Beatitudes 
Matthew’s fifth chapter begins Jesus’ "Sermon on the Mount". It is the centerpiece of Jesus' ethical revelation and contains many of Jesus’ most well known sayings. It has been debated, dissected and generally misunderstood over the centuries. The sermon delivers a radical vision of what the Kingdom of God is like. If you're a believer you can't help but feel a little uncomfortable reading the text. It is uncompromising in it's ethical and moral standards.

More importantly, the sermon sets Jesus apart from other wandering Jewish teachers. There is no doubt that Jesus' teaching established something different than what came before. Whether or not he intended to create a whole new religion, I'll set aside for another time. In the sermon, Jesus tells us that the conventional wisdom of the ages is worthless. The Kingdom of God runs counter to the Kingdom of Man. It shouldn't be a surprise to find out the Greek word used for "Kingdom" is the same word that is used to describe "Empire" when people referred to the "Roman Empire".

The sermon begins with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are series of eight (more like eight and a half) formula statements on who is "blessed". The word beatitude comes from a Latin term meaning "happy", "fortunate" or "blissful" (Wikipedia, man). The key phrase in the Beatitudes is "blessed" so it's important to explore what the term in Greek really meant. Most translations go with "blessed" but others chose "happy", "fortunate" or even the phrase "God blesses".

I'm not a big fan of translating the word "happy". It might have some value in revealing some of the original word in Greek - but I don't think it encompasses all the meanings in my understanding of the concept.

Something I will keep in mind for the commentary is the fact that we have two versions of the beatitudes. The first comes from Matthew 5 and the other from the so-called "Sermon on the Plain" as recorded in Luke. Luke's version only has four beatitudes (along with corresponding "woes"). I am no scholar so this brings up important questions I have about the hypothetical "Q" source that served source material for Matthew and Luke (the material that Matthew and Luke share that is not shared by Mark). As we discuss each beatitude, I will tackle both versions (or lack thereof) into account.

Here's an overview of the people who are "blessed" (the Luke version is in parenthesis)

• The poor in spirit ("the poor")
• Those who mourn ("those who weep now")
• The meek
• Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ("those who hunger now")
• The merciful
• The pure in heart
• The peacemakers
• Those persecuted for righteousness sake ( Luke records "when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man").

According to conventional wisdom, most of the characteristics on this list wouldn't be considered "happy", "fortunate" or "blessed". Rather, just the opposite. Where the world sees failure and rejection, Jesus sees blessings. As I unpack each of these beatitudes we'll see just how they act as a positive on a believer.

Just reading the list reminds me of how "other-worldly" being a Christian is supposed to be like and how "unChristian" I am.

I don't want to be poor or be sad. I'm more shy than meek and I don't hunger enough for righteousness. I am merciful only when it's convenient for myself or those I love. I'm more self-interested than pure of heart and I am only a peacemaker because I don't like conflict.

The truth is, I'm a work in progress.

This reminds me of the fact that I am too afraid to pray for wisdom because I'm too afraid of how God will teach it to me. All the same, I look forward to the challenge of wrestling with these Kingdom Characteristics. Maybe it will help my journey towards being who I want to become.

Fragments Here, There and Way, Way, Way Over Thre

Sometimes students drive me crazy.

On Monday in my World Cultures class I asked for ideas, thoughts, images or anything that came to mind when I said the word "Islam" and/or "Muslims".

....Silence......

After a few rephrasing of my question an older student finally said, "bin Laden". Okay, good talking point. I am happy for someone to start us off with something a little controversial. So I write "bin Laden" on the whiteboard, hoping for more.  Still there was more "silence"...I decided to call on a student by name, "Chris, what do you think of when you hear the word 'Islam'?" Silence and then he shrugs. I write "shrugs" on the board. Ok, I'll try another. "Simon, what do you think when you hear the world 'Islam'"? "Uh..I don't know." So, I write that on the board as well. 

PEOPLE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?????

Yes, I finally started getting some feedback after that response.

Today in the same class, I walk in and I feel the energy level of the room. It was a "Sleepy Sunday Afternoon After Lunch Close to Nap-time Level" . I asked if they would like to do jumping jacks or walk around the building. I actually got a few smiles on that one. VICTORY.

This is part of the semester where you really start disliking classes as a whole. No, not all the students just the class itself. I actually really like a few of the students as individuals in that class. But as a whole, something is just off. Likely, it's all me (no, I don't really believe that).  I have two of my five like that. However, the other three are great (really) so that's a good thing - thankfully, I always end each day with a good groups of students.

Saturday we were in Costco near the meat. There was a huge meat thing (no idea what it was but it was about 3 feet long). I looked at my four-year-old and held it up,  "Hey, E, look, human leg!" E, looking concerned, "Really?". "No, we don't eat humans. Would you want to eat a person?" Without missing a beat, "A dead person."  Five second pause, "...if I was an animal."  My weird little girl!! So proud. :)

Stuck in my head all day long. So, so good. Basically what I want my rock music to be:




Last night I read through Book 67 (on women and marriage) of the Sahih al-Bukhari.

And I have three words to say:

HOLY CORN DOG.

I will have more, much more to say on this doozie collection of hadiths. I have to say most Muslims I have meet are either living with a horrible case of repression, disconnection or ignorance (or they actually believe this stuff).

Before you read the excerpt take this short quiz.

Muhammad is about to describe who he saw in hell as "the majority of its dwellers". Guess which of the following were roasting the most?

A) Rich People
B) Women
C) Hypocrites
D) Disbelievers 

Your answer.....

He said, "I saw Paradise (or Paradise was shown to me), and I stretched my hand to pluck a bunch (of grapes), and had I plucked it, you would have eaten of it as long as this world exists. Then I saw the (Hell) Fire, and I have never before, seen such a horrible sight as that, and I saw that the majority of its dwellers were women." The people asked, "O Allah's Messenger ()! What is the reason for that?" He replied, "Because of their ungratefulness." It was said. "Do they disbelieve in Allah (are they ungrateful to Allah)?" He replied, "They are not thankful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors done to them. Even if you do good to one of them all your life, when she seems some harshness from you, she will say, "I have never seen any good from you.' "

Now this tradition is mentioned 2-3 additional times in the hadith from different witnesses.  In my understanding, this confirms that the saying is more reliable and deemed more authentic as compared to a source that is only recorded once in the collection or by one witness.

I got to watch some TV to relax -- I've been online for TOO long tonight. Best wishes, eat well and don't forget to always turn your blinkers on when changing lanes.

Goodnight sweet internet.

Quote of the Day

I called my wife on the way out the door at work to let her know I was leaving. The brief phone call ended abruptly with this closer:

"I have poop on my hands I have to go."

Thought of the Day

If you are the parent of small children and aren't tired, you're not doing it right.