Not Intentional
This evening, the teacher asked us what we were doing for our spirtual renewal.
“What are you doing about your spiritual growth?”
“What do you do, each day, each week, each hour, whatever, to achieve spiritual renewal?”
“Specifically, what do you do?”
This question battery was a lead in to a talk on Lectio Devina, but I don’t want to talk about that (uh oh…)
I did not participate, other than to listen to the other attendees. My lovely wife elbowed me and urged me to talk about my growth activities, but I decided (as is usually my case) not to volunteer any information.
She didn’t like that, and let me know about it on the ride home. I told her that my revelations would not have added much to the evening (and they probably wouldn’t have.) She really didn’t like that. I think she’s convinced that my words will cause awe and wonder. I don’t think so. So be it.
But that wasn’t why I kept silent. The real reason I didn’t volunteer my growth activities is because I don’t have any. I don’t have a plan. I don’t have a strategy, and I don’t plan activities to enhance my growth. I am just not intentional about my spiritual renewal.
I didn’t spout off about my plan and activities, ’cause I didn’t have any. And I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t.
Anyway. While the others in the room were describing their activities (reading the word, meditating, memorizing prayer, etc.), I was looking at a picture. A picture in my head.
I saw one of those red and white fishing floats (a bobber — fitting) 
on the surface of a body of water, rising and falling with the waves on the surface. I was the bobber.
No intentionality. None. Just riding the wave.
Now don’t get me wrong. I read, I pray, I memorize, etc. I do the same activities the others described. I just don’t do them with intentionality.
I read my Bible. Daily. OK, I LISTEN to the audio version for Job, Psalms, Isaiah, and the other books that are broken up into lines of poetry. I cannot read poetry, or any other text where the lines are broken like that (maybe I do have a form of autism or Asperger’s.) Do I grow spiritually from regularly reading (listening)? I think so. But I don’t feel right telling a group of people that I read my Bible daily in order to grow spiritually. I don’t read with the intention to grow. I read because I love and have to read.
I pray (funny — every time I say or hear the word “pray” I immediately hear Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” in my head.) I’d like to be able to talk to God like Job did. But mostly I just ask, “Why?” I’m not very good at personal relationships. I think my inability to relax in interpersonal relationships (with normal folks and with God) is an area of my life in which I’m still insisting on autonomy (now that’s interesting –in the one area of my life where I’m actually trying to interface with the creator of the universe, and I’m insisting on control. Get me.)
I don’t meditate. While I can sit for hours without moving, I cannot seem to quiet my mind. I’ve been taught more than one technique, and have tried many times. Meditation was huge in the 70’s and 80’s when I was going through all those alcohol rehabilitation programs. I just never got it.
I’m looking for a graceful way to end this little ditty.
I’ll just aplogize to Mary for not talking (again) and go away…..
Not Enough to Do ….
I caught Dr. Helen’s blog on Autism yesterday, which led me to read the article she referenced. From there, I read about Dr. Simon Baron Cohen, and I was led, ultimately, to the Autism Quotient test.
From the AQ test site:
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.
Well, I couldn’t help myself, and took the test. I scored 32.
Hmmmm…..
In Addition to Stupid Flakes….
Back in May, a a judge in Cali (the U.S. District Court for California’a Eastern District) dismissed a complaint filed by a woman who said she had purchased Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries ’cause she believed that Crunchberries were real fruit.
That lady probably saw those commercials where the Cap’n and the Crunchberry monster were vying for the berries from the Crunchberry bushes….
crunchberry bush?
Seemed real to you too, didn’t it?
While dismissing the case, the judge noted another case that had been dismissed earlier — something about Froot Loops
not being made of fruit (froot?) — same law firm filing suit, different plaintiff.
There are, when you think about it, plenty of fish in the sea for similar lawsuits, and similar consumer disillusionment(s?)
“Special K” — Is it really special, and what is “K”?
Chicken Fingers —-
Count Chocula —
Frankenberries — them berries again
Grape Nuts — grapes? nuts? what are grape nuts?
Animal Crackers —
Smurfberry Crunch —
Boo Berries —
Girl Scout Cookies —
Pop Corn Chicken —
Buffalo Wings —
Nerds —
Baby Oil —
Head and Shoulders —
Dr. Pepper —
Mr. Pibb —
Fruity Pebbles —
Dove Soap —
Dove Bar —
Million Dollar Bar —
Coke —
and what about the Poo Poo Platter?
The Best Record of All Time
I watched a movie on the DirecTv thingy the other day — a little thing called The Lather Effect.
It was – is? – supposed to be a sort of The Big Chill for Generation X.
Now, The Big Chill was loaded with music from the 60’s.
The Lather Effect music was from the eighties. The poor, deprived, eighties.
Every ten minutes or so (it seemed), one of the Lather characters was dropping the stylus on a vinyl LP track and declaring “Now THIS is the greatest record ever made!!”
I got to hear A-Ha doing “Take On Me,” two nothing songs from English Beat, and two (really!) versions of Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian.”
To top it off, one of the women in the flick slapped on Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and said that IT was the greatest record of all time.
Ack.
A couple of weeks ago, I “saved” my vinyl LP collection from the shed and brought the crates inside. I lost a number of my best records during the “I’m Starving” sales back in the early seventies, but there are still some goodies in the boxes.
Ten Years After’s “Criclewood Green,” for example. Ten tracks on the album, and each track just kills any of the “best record’s of all time” from Lather.
Some examples:
“Working on the Road,” a pretty good ‘road song’
“50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain”
My Favorite —
Anyway —-
Circles
We people on earth are like little droplets hitting the surface of a great body of water. Plop we go, and immediately start sending out waves of sounds, motions, EMOTIONS, and, well, influences.
These influences emit from me to you, and from me to everyone else within my circle of influence. Your influences travel out until they touch me and everyone else within your circle of influence.
When we are touched by another’s circle of influence, we are forever changed. When we change, our circle changes.
When our circle changes, everyone whose circle we’re contacting changes also.
This is our life. Everything I experience changes me. I change everything that experiences me.
On the water’s surface, at least.
My circles of influence are what my pastor refers to as “lateral relationships,” the relationships among me and those with which I interact.
I like the fact that I have some influence.
I wonder what I’m doing with it. I wonder how many folks I’m hurting, or helping. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m doing anything at all.
Here are some “Circle” songs for your listening enjoyment.
Billy Preston, doing his oldie “Will It Go “Round in Circles”
Marshall Tucker Band (with some extra help) doing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” (I really like this)
And Joe Satriani doing “Circles.” (gooood)
A One anna Two ….
PETA Protests Chicken Dance At NASCAR Race
Posted: 10:19 am EDT April 21, 2009
Updated: 11:15 am EDT April 21, 2009
TALLADEGA, Ala. — PETA is taking on what it describes as a new affront to animals: NASCAR fans doing the chicken dance.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Guinness World Records Inc. on Monday to ignore an attempt to set a world record for the largest group chicken dance at the Talladega Superspeedway, site of the Aaron’s 499 race on Sunday.
The reason? KFC is the sponsor of the record attempt, and the animal rights group says the fast-food company is cruel to chickens.
A KFC spokesman defended the company’s treatment of animals and said it hoped to get 125,000 race fans involved in the mass dance.
As one observer said, “I think PETA is worried that the chickens will die of laughing too hard.”
Headlines
Iran opens nuclear fuel facility
Iran’s president has inaugurated the country’s first nuclear fuel production plant, making what correspondents say was a defiant speech.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cast doubt on Iranian claims of major progress.
“We don’t know what to believe about the Iranian program,” she said at a news conference in Washington.
CIA shuts down its secret prisons
N Korea leader appears in public
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has made his first major state appearance since he had a suspected stroke last year.
TV pictures showed him attending a parliamentary session where he was re-elected as North Korean leader.
The session coincides with a separate announcement that North Korea is to revise its constitution.
No details have yet been given, but there is speculation that the changes might be linked to who succeeds Mr Kim.
He has no obvious successor, and rumours of his illness last year led to international concerns about the country’s long-term stability.
Huge rallies spark Thai shutdown
Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has declared a public holiday to help security forces deal with mass anti-government protests in Bangkok.
Tens of thousands of supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have brought the streets of the capital to a near standstill.
The protesters say Mr Abhisit came into office illegally and must stand down.
Georgians rally against president
Thousands of Georgians have gathered outside parliament saying they will not disperse until the president resigns.
Protesters, numbering up to 60,000, blamed President Mikhail Saakashvili for defeat against Russia in August’s war and said he had stifled democracy.
The opposition alleged that dozens of members were arrested before the rally – a claim denied by the government.
‘Civilians die’ in Sri Lanka zone
At least 60 civilians have been killed by shells fired in a no-fire zone in Sri Lanka in the past 24 hours, a senior health official there says.
Two health facility compounds in the north-east region were also hit, Dr T Varatharaja told the BBC.
Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped by the fighting between the Sri Lanka military and Tamil Tigers rebels.
The military has denied responsibility for the casualties, and the rebels have not responded.
Dead mayor re-elected by US town
Voters in a small town in the US state of Missouri have re-elected
their popular mayor to a fourth term, several weeks after he died of a
heart attack.
He won by a landslide, securing 90% of the vote in the 723-population town.
Horrors of KLA prison camps revealed
The man spoke plainly as he explained the horrors he lived through
in a Kosovo Liberation Army prison camp 10 years ago. He told me about
how he watched people beaten with steel pipes, cut with knives, left
for days without food, and shot and killed.
“What can you feel when you see those things?” he said. “It’s something that is stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. You cannot do those things to people, not even to animals.”
As the man talked, his mother paced nervously in the nearby kitchen. She was panicked and tears were streaming down her face.
“They’ll kill him, they’ll kill him,” she moaned, clutching one of her grandchildren.
Chad captures rogue legionnaire
Security forces in Chad have captured a French Foreign Legion soldier who allegedly killed four people, including two comrades and a UN peacekeeper.
His arrest by Chadian gendarmes followed a massive military manhunt.
A French officer described the soldier, who had fled across the southern Sahara on a stolen horse, as “deranged”.
These headlines and leaders are all from the bbc.com site. I copied and pasted them to this piece, and then added my own smartass punchlines/comments at the end of each blurb.
I read the whole thing again, and erased my stuff.
harangue
I wonder, sometimes, why we do the things we do.
I watched American Idol again tonight. My wife and I watch the show every chance we get. We’ve been watching since the season the blond Oklahoma girl won.
But that girl’s name slips my mind.
So does the name of the Forrest Gump guy who won the next year.
The bartender dude who won last year? Couldn’t name him on a bet.
I can remember three names — Kelly Clarkson, Reuben Studdard, and Chris Daughtry. I remember Kelly because she sang tonight and she has some serious pipes (though the song she sang — “It Sucks Without You,” or something like that — really did suck.)
Reuben I remember because he’s a big guy who sings gospel/soul.
Daughtry’s name I remember because my wife has repeated it often enough over the last couple of years that it’s burned into my Psyche. She seemed to like him.
She has informed me that this season’s Adam Lambert is “cute.” (I didn’t remember his name either. I had to go to the AI website to find it.)
And the judges! Paula’s caterwauling grates like fingernails on a chalkboard. Randy’s constant, “yo, man,” and, “…just keepin’ it real, man,” makes me want to jump out of my Lazy Boy (with the feet up) and bitch-slap him. Simon? OK, I like Simon. And who is that other judge?
Seacrest is a simpering idiot.
I’ve never bought a recording by any of the folks I’ve seen on the show. I probably never will.
Why do I watch? My interest is thoughtless. Momentary.
And why am I writing this diatribe in the early morning hours about a TV show that I claim not to care about?
I dunno. Like I said, I wonder sometimes.
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Black Coffee
A friend of a friend posted a Humble Pie you tube video of Black Coffee as a tribute —
I liked ….
