Nothing from Nothing

When you first meet my dog you might say, "That dog hates cats".

Once you get to know him though, you'll realize what you should have said was, "That dog sure is scared of cats."

But this isn't really about cats and dogs...is it?

Some People Call this Type of Page "About Me"

but not me.

http://victorygardenfailure.blogspot.com/p/this-blog-is-simply-therapy-for.html

Married to the Sea

Go no further if you are sensitive to the particular arrangement of a certain four letters to form what some may regard as offensive language. Otherwise you may proceed and laugh until your brain hemorrhages...

What is VGF?

Modern Logic

When a person claims to be a scientist in a particular field and then fails to adhere to the standards of that particular scientific field, it becomes sufficient grounds to discredit the one proclaiming to be a scientist, but NOT to the discredit science itself.

When a person claims to be a follower of a particular religion and then fails to adhere to the standards of that particular religion, it becomes sufficient grounds to discredit NOT the one proclaiming to be of that religion, but it seems to warrant the discredit of the religion itself.

Hmmm... that's not a double standard is it?

Step carefully, anti religion is itself a religion.

I'll get right on that

If I post anything offensive, that you disagree with on a religious, social or political level, if somehow I've caused you to think that my answers aren't thee answers, or caused you to question the answers you have found, if I've made you uncomfortable, hurt your feelings or hurt your head by making you think too much..then please allow me to sincerely extend no regret at all.

Some of the best things that can possibly happen to us in life, are also the least enjoyable at the time we experience them.

So get over it.

Why not

12pm West Coast Time

You won't find true respect for authority among those people who have that authority lorded over them, that is simply forced submission.
This is prison.

True respect for authority is found in those who willingly submit to it. They will do so when they can trust those in authority, knowing they are working for the collective and the individual not against or in spite of them.
This is a team.

The exercise of power simply for the display of dominance will produce no good result for anyone and is usually counter productive for everyone. Doing so is childish, and it serves only to appeal to pride.

This is the thinking that will undermine authority and destroy a cohesive team.
It breeds resentment.

Changing a decision by listening to reason is not at all undermining your authority. All though it may not serve your pride well to admit your short coming, it is a pill worth swallowing.

In fact having made a decision which is then altered by listening reason, really only serves to underscore why that respect for it exists, by showing a rational thought process at work.

Think about it.

Super Sighs It

If you're doing it right, you're bound to fail, or at least look like you are.

It's just part of the deal.
Don't sweat it.

Who Am I

Honestly, no one really.

I'm just telling you what I see.

That's the best I can do.

Everything else is between you and God.

Hope that works out for you.

QNA

When we ask difficult questions we should be prepared for difficult answers.

Wanted...

Sometimes we choose to go where we're wanted because it feels good.

Sometimes we choose to go where we're needed because doing the right thing feels good too.

And every once in a while, those two places wind up being the exact same place, and the choice is made for us...regardless of how we feel.

It always feels better to be wanted than to be needed, but each apart from the other offer only fleeting satisfaction.

Pressing Coal

History has shown me that there is in the end very little within our control. Even that which we may feel we control will have an impact reaching far beyond our own limited perception and life spans, and so those things while not within our control are not beyond our influence.

It is thus important to be mindful of our actions in the easy times for they will become our automatic response in the difficult times.

History has also shown me that we cannot expect anyone to care more than we do about anything. Most people will care only a small percentage of the level that we do if in fact they care at all, because they too have lives filled with their own convictions and troubles we may never know.

As we encounter one another then, we would be wise to take nothing for granted, assuming that what we are being allowed to see is the fullness of the situation in the life of anyone. It is usually only a small measure of the full weight they shoulder.

We assume to possess the knowledge of God himself to assume that those on a similar path as ours will have a similar destination, and those with a different path a different destination.

We cannot possibly know the journey of another and so we are wise to listen more than speak so we may understand and encourage each other toward goodness and perseverance as we pursue God and he pursues us.

If there is need among us and we are able to assist with we should do so without hesitation. There will be many times we will not be able to assist. Whatever the case prayer should always be our first course of action even if it can be our only course of action.

Take nothing for granted, what we see, we see through the lens of or own experience, but it may not at all be the reality of anything in the end.

Bury the offenses you endure, forget them without need for apology, so that you may see past them to the heart of the matter, for the heart is deceitful above all else.

God only knows what is happening within our lives and hearts, and the destination of our paths. So let us each treat the other as though God himself were directing their path, because he just might be, even if it doesn't look at all as we think it should.

Consider perhaps it may be greater training now for a greater purpose later. Pressing coal after all is a very dirty business, but worth it in the end.

So be good to yourselves, but of far greater importance, be good to each other.

Crazy Is Not Insane

If  you are capable of questioning your own sanity, there's probably still hope for you.

Some of the most insane, illogical people I know are so certain of the contrary, that they would sooner convince you to question your own sanity and logic before they ever considered questioning their own.

I guess that's the thing about crazy people, to them what they do, and how they think makes perfect sense. 

It's the rest of the world that makes no sense.

Entre'

As long as you don't wear a hoodie in the rain, and walk through the wrong neighborhood (minding your own business) on the way home from a convenience mart you'll probably be just fine.

We don't tolerate that kind of nonsense around here.

Everybody knows that kind of behavior has "pot grower" written all over it and we won't have it.

Solidarity

Say Dist

If you really want to crush the spirit of someone simply set unknown expectations on them, and don't enable them to achieve those expectations which are known.

This way failure is all they will know and all you will have to acknowledge.

You will have total control as they struggle to succeed.

45 and 20

The greatest question life will throw at you is how much defeat can you endure before you quit.

It is the question we all will face and the answer is different for everyone.

By our response we will discover what we feel is worth fighting for and what it is we will let go of in exchange.

Everything, however, is not an option.

This is process that will show us who we truly are, if we are introspective and  honest enough to look.

We will find that in which we truly believe as we experience the results of those beliefs.

But everything is never an option.

hold

It's funny how long 15 minutes can seem when you're on hold with nothing but silence from the other end.

Racers 1

Did you know that racism isn't just an American problem? 
Did you know that it also exists between people of the same race? 
That it is a factor in history as far back as there have been races? 

In fact, I've heard that there's one race that consists of only 10,000 people. 
I think it's called the 10k race.

If you're going to be a racist you better have good running shoes.

Honesty is not the best policy (long version)

A soldier dies and no one notices. Some dude from Glee overdoses and everyone loses their minds...

That was the Facebook post that inspired this:

The news business is a business. They report stories that sell advertising time to pay for air time. The bottom line of business is always the bottom line. Period. It's why businesses exist.

But consider this...

1) When a huge multi passenger plane crashes the national news reports it. You might hear the name of the pilot(s) but you don't generally hear the names of the victims unless they were well known or could be sensationalized.

That's how they sell it.

2) When a small plane with pilot and passenger crashes the local news covers it, maybe, but almost always hear the names of the victims and the pilots.

That's how they sell this.

3) When John Denver crashed his plane he crossed both 1 & 2. Everybody covered it because of the name.

It sold itself and so this type of news is where the real money is at.

As one of my friends said," "News" is no longer an impartial discovery and reporting of facts rather a revenue generating opinion forming machine..."

True enough but my real point was this: They're all newsworthy.

I'm just saying tragedy on a large scale doesn't afford individualized coverage because it's simply not cost effective to the news business to report it in that way.

Consider the overwhelming volume of tragedy we invite into our homes everyday via "the news" that we're supposed to care about. A whole world of tragedy in our little families and homes.

It's no wonder we've become desensitized and complacent. A life time isn't nearly enough to treat each tragedy with the consideration they deserve, and each lifetime has it's own share of tragedy to consider as well.

I also can't imagine what it's doing to/ for our kids, but that's a whole different subject. Perhaps for another blog post.

So we have to ask the question : Does the news actually reflect what people seem care about or do people actuality reflect what the news seems to care about?

Maybe both are the case, but whatever the case is there is a far larger issue underneath all of it, in fact there are many. Too many to address here.

So I'll simply say here what I tell my kids: Just because it's true doesn't mean you have to say it.

Perhaps we should consider discretion, more than honesty as the best policy.

Just my two cents.

Work Place Violence

If work place violence ever became acceptable, I would develop a fighting technique that included moves with the names like:

Three Hole Punch
The Staple Remover
The Binder

Of course I might need to learn how to fight first.

Shhh

I suppose if I could offer you only one piece of advice before I died...

...well, I'd probably just try to remain silent as long as I could

pleH

Sometimes we let the kids help, not because we need the help, but because they do.

Goats

If you don't want your goat to be gotten don't make your goat so easy to get.

A Portrait of Jesus

Recently I had a conversation about all the pictures of white Jesus in which I was asked why there were no pictures of black Jesus. Of course there are plenty of pictures of black Jesus.

What I pondered in the end was the true nature of that conversation and it got me to thinking about the physical versus the spiritual image of Christ.

The explanation I've found for the resulting appearance of Christ as portrayed in any work of art, is simply attributed to the desire of either the artist or those commissioning the work to make Jesus  relatable in physical appearance, to the surrounding culture.

If people are to spiritually identify with Christ they naturally tend to do so more easily if they can also relate to him physically, or as sharing / suffering in their own afflictions.

That makes sense enough. But the reality is that no one knows what Jesus actually looked like, since he never posted a profile pic on his Facebook account. I jest, but you get it.

The problem as I see it in trying to depict the physical appearance of Jesus is that by his very nature, his ministry and his work, he transcends race.

So by depicting him in any appearance, white or black, we can also misrepresent him and give means to others to associate him with the stereotypes inherent to them regarding not so much the image we present, but what that image represents to them.

Whatever the motive, however pure in doing so, we do run the very real risk providing the means to a grave injustice to Christ's cause by affording a means off putting others to him and the purpose of his actual ministry.

That's just a symptom though.

The problem really comes into play in that we also often tend to approach scripture and Jesus himself in the same manner we approach the art.

That is we try to make sense of either by fitting them to those things we most relate to in our own situations, rather than seeking out what the actual intention was meant to be in the situation which it occurred first.

It's somewhat understandable because I think what we're actually seeking is the bond of mutual affliction. I get it.

It's not wrong to want to identify with something in the person of Christ. It is in fact why many people become Christians. He is relatable if we truly examine him.

That aspect of relation was a part of his ministry in becoming flesh, to be in relationship with us, at least to my limited understanding of things.

I think it's really just human nature at it's core to do so even among each other. We judge by appearance and I believe that in larger part it's simply a primitive survival tactic. Viewed in that light one would be foolish not to do so.

This perhaps may lend some insight as to why we fear that which we do not understand, it is simply a primitive survival response.

This what I see whether I see people wearing band t shirts, or displaying tattoos, and other visual identifications, whether they acknowledge it or not. However unconsciously, those people are making a statement to say, this is the tribe to which I belong. In case you too are of the same tribe, you can be at ease with me we have this much in common. I am no threat to you because we have immediately established a mutual understanding on some level.

However this also serves as a way of warning those not of the same tribe to watch out for potential danger and keeps us somewhat alert for signs of threat.

The heart of the problem in all of this, however difficult it is to admit to ourselves and aloud, is that on many levels we try to associate God with our tribe rather than denying ourselves to be to associated with his. We fear that which we do not understand and rather than reject God we try to change God.

The bottom line is that God made us in his image and we feel inclined to return the favor.

That should be a reprehensible thought to consider.

Facebook: The Black Hole of Productivity

7 am:
Man, I'm thirsty, but so very tired and comfy. What to do?

Oh hey, look, a Facebook notification on my phone...

This will just take a sec...

8 am:
I'm still thirsty and tired, I'm running late and I've said too much.

The First Third

Why is it that the answer to so many of the problems of First World people seems to be found through Third World people?

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Money, that's why.

Good Morning Sonshine

Every once in a while I find someone that turns out to be an open window to a darkened room, they awaken me like the morning sonrise.

They are a cool refreshing breeze of morning air helping to clear the room of the thick stench of spiritual morning breath after a very long slumber.

There have been a few, but only a few.

That's all I really need to maintain the balance.

You Know Why?

Don't confuse A truth with THE truth and don't imagine anything is quite what you imagine.

A good liar must work. They use their own imagination to make the story, but ultimately know that a lie must contain at least some truth to be effective. Since most people would rather believe a convenient lie over a convicting truth and will go along with some really screwy stuff rather than verify.

The best liars however, know that one can tell a truth without representing the truth. They have to do very little work at all. They use the imagination of the audience to fill in the blanks. They know the best lies simply require selected partial truths and people will fill in the details of their own convenience and conviction for them.

Live in truth and you will know the lies. Live in lies and they are all you will ever know.

You Know Why?

Don't confuse a truth with the truth and don't imagine anything is quite what you imagine.

A good liar must work. They use their own imagination to make the story, but ultimately know that a lie must contain at least some truth to be effective. Since most people would rather believe a lie of convenience over a difficult or boring truth.

The best liars however, have to do very little work at all. They use the imagination of the audience to fill in the blanks. They know the best lies simply require selected partial truths and people will fill in the details of their own convenience so they may hear what they choose.

Live in truth and you will know the lies. Live in lies and they are all you will ever know.

There's no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in quit.

Dave

Dave, I'm leaving, I must be on my way
The time is drawing near
My train is going, I see it in your eyes
The love, the need, your tears
But I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
So please believe me, my heart is in your hands
And I'll be missing you

'Cause you know it's you Dave
Whenever I get weary and I've had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it's you, Dave
Giving me the courage and the strength I need
Please believe that it's true
Dave , I love you

You know it's you Dave
Whenever I get weary and I've had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it's you, Dave
Giving me the courage and the strength I need
Please believe that it's true
Dave , I love you

Dave , I'm leaving, I'll say it once again
Somehow try to smile
I know the feeling we're trying to forget
If only for a while
But I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
Please believe me, my heart is in your hands
'Cause I'll be missing you
Dave , I love you
Dave I love you

Ooo-oo-oo-oo, Dave

Blessed are those who pay no attention

I can't tell you how many home schooled theologians I've encountered in my life that use the level of opposition they receive as a kind of twisted justification for continuing in their "wonky" weird ways. 

They can't seem to be convinced that being persecuted in Jesus' name is far different from being persecuted for misusing his name.

Remember these helpful tips: 

1) A person can be sincere and still be sincerely wrong. 
2) If you can stir Kool-Aid you can start churches. 
3) Listen to the teachers but then double check the text as well. 
4) Know the truth and you will spot the lies.

AWESOMENESS

My new favorite response on an application:

Q) Have you ever applied to this company before? 

A) Yes 

Q) When?

A) Two minutes ago when I accidentally hit enter

Guess who's getting a call from me about a job!

The Best Policy

Honesty is not the best policy, discretion is.

Classical Gas

Tonight I had a 5 year old helper as we changed out the florescent light in the laundry room.

She learned a bit about tools, and such, but she also learned the very important lesson that bodily gas is simply a byproduct of hard work.

Faith

People need to be believed in, and they need something to believe in.

FFF

Ironically, people often desire forgiveness far more than they desire to forgive. They fail to perceive that forgiving and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin, and not at all two separate coins.

After all how can we possibly understand what is involved with the forgiven of our transgressions if we poor ourselves cannot / do not forgive those same transgressions against us?

Chevy

It is love that inspires true change, not change that inspires true love.

If you are not loved as you are, you are not truly loved.

Just Answer the Question Please

Hear me out here, I'll be brief. I really just have a simple question...

In addition to, and perhaps because of ADHD, I sometimes have poor recall in regard to personal history and event chronology.

It seems that I can also retain some events with amazing detail. It's usually just brief moment(s) pertaining an event rather the the entirety of it.

I don't know why certain things stick and others don't, but it has at times been the catalyst to both forgiving and forgetting...not in that order perhaps.

I can at times be quite perceptive about very subtle things, not just words but situations. That said, sometimes I am a bit too certain about reality of my skewed perspective or recollection as well.

Whatever the case I tend toward the unconventional view on most things.

Blessing and curse, help and hindrance. But I do attribute what little sanity I may possess to these attributes.

So please don't misunderstand me as being less than sincere when I ask you:
How is it that I know you again?

A Waist of Time

I've always thought that it would be great of there were a clothier in Madison County called "The Britches of Madison County". 

So tonight, I Googled it...

Guess what?! 

It doesn't exist.

What does exist however is a really bad, and judging by the text, a really old short story by that name.

 https://www.quickbase.com/up/66p836ie/g/rr/ej/va/britches+of+madison+county.pdf

Between Puppies and People

Love can be a very difficult thing to endure.

Substitute

There's no substitute for experience... or big speakers for that matter.

I Don't Know

...three words which I use continually to answer most of life's biggest questions.

I don't' know

Good, Better, Best

There is one person that will always know whether or not you've done your best. 
YOU. 

So do your best, even and especially when you don't feel like it. 

Your "best" may look very different from day to day, but trust me, you'll regret doing that much less than not having done it and you'll be far better for it in the end.

Double Down

There is within my own life, an absence that serves as a continual reminder that our seemingly tiny and barely significant lives, have more depth and distance of impact in those of others than we can possibly ever know or imagine during our own.

A reminder that in the end no matter how insightful we might be, our own vantage point does not in fact reveal the beauty in the whole of the design as it is seen by the designer.

It is then important to bestow love and time in generous proportion, even and especially to those people who for no obvious or apparent reason, exist within our own lives, rather wasting our lives away by simply trying to get through them.

Trust me, someone, somewhere is watching you, observing you, taking their cues from you, you might inspire them... or you may be the final factor in breaking them... and yet you may never even realize that they exist.

You will impact them and they will remember those words and actions, that to them were profoundly significant, for years, things that came so naturally to you that you will have forgotten they ever happened in mere minutes.

No one can really say what is happening within someone else, or what burdens they may silently carry but they might just be enough to turn your nothing into their everything. I know... because I have been the recipient of such a profound and casual grace found in what I now call the five words that saved my life,"I'm glad I met you."

So enjoy your seemingly tiny and barely significant lives because they are neither tiny or insignificant. They are bigger and better than you will ever know, even in the smallest of details.

Take great care not to get so bogged down by the details of your own life that it requires the absence of another's to understand its impact on yours or the very real and invisible impact you may have in theirs.

Think about it... as though something very big hung in the balance...because it does.

Be good to yourselves, but more importantly be good to each other.  Solo Cristo Salva

Happy Birthday Derek, and thank you Phillie Mike. Thank you both for the bittersweet gift. This one's for you.

The Freedom to Fail

Imagine...

 ...the irony of failure as the catalyst to a far greater success 

Imagine...

...the realization of failure as the inevitable destiny of even your greatest efforts
...liberation from the need for acceptance
...freedom from performing for the approval of others
...no insecurity in your daily living and decision making 

Imagine...

...no fear of even your greatest mistakes putting you in worse position
...the freedom to realize the best and worst in yourself
...no fear of judgement because it has already been passed
...unmerited success in spite of all that failure

Imagine...

...the irony of success as the catalyst to a far greater failure

 Imagine...

...the inability to accept this level of failure
...believing in only yourself
...clinging to false hope
...striving to achieve the unattainable
...spending your life in pursuit of death

Now Imagine...

 ...that you're not imagining any of this at all


This is the Jesus I know...  
...imagine that 

 

 Solo Cristo Salva

Lady Ranincorn Translations

Watch "Lady Rainicorn Translations Korean to English (Part 1)" on YouTube

New Joke

Q) What do you call someone who only goes to church for the communion wafers?

A) Snackreligious