:: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 ::

The ways of the Lord

The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom. As far as the sky is above the earth, so high above our ways are the ways of the Lord. I've always thought that the following fictitious document illustrates this point nicely.

:: Richard 16:51 :: (0) comments ::
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Koi Cafe, Highly Recomended

Due to chain of events that involved cold weather, a fire and failure to communicate I spent Tuesday evening enjoying the food and environment at Koi with friends instead of feeding the homeless with the Salvation Army.

Koi submerges you in art, the walls were covered with photography by a local photographer, the background music was world beat influenced ambient jazz (for lack of a better term) and the food was a master piece. Fore example we had amazing Yam wedges, and I don't like Yams as a rule. I'd try to describe the rest of the menu, but you really need to read it, try it for yourself.

BTW they also have free WiFi :)

- Peace

:: Dave King 12:38 :: (4) comments ::
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2,000 years after...

2,000 years after a resurrection we never witnessed, facing a future that seems more or less insoluble. We’re not deluded into believing we can return to the idealized modernism of the ’50s. And still we’re not yet willing to throw in the towel and succumb to nihilistic despair. We still hope beyond hope. We groan. We struggle. And we cry out—not defiantly into the void and not to some man-diluted, manufactured god who can’t satisfy. We cry out to the God we hope is actually here.

From 2,305 Words On "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Curt Cloninger in the Nov 2006 issue of Paste.

- Peace

:: Dave King 12:27 :: (4) comments ::
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I'm Very Gracious...

Kevin invited us over for American Thanks Giving. He cooked his first Turkey and made his first gravy paste. It was wonderful, a good time was had by all. We listened to American jazz, pop and W. quotes. This one fit the night:

Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious. I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well.

Here's wishing all my American friends a Gracious Thanks Giving!

- Peace

:: Dave King 12:58 :: (1) comments ::
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Thank You...

:: Dave King 19:42 :: (2) comments ::
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I got a little bigger present than usual

My birthday present is a little bigger than usual this year...



My wife bought me a house.
I'm very happy, It's like I want to invite everyone on earth to the house warming.

We'll be packing over the next few weeks and a few days before Christmas we'll be in our new digs.

Dave, Kevin, Leighton, anybody reading this, colour yourselves invited!

:: Michael 16:42 :: (10) comments ::
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Suckling on the Breasts of the Godess

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

1st Peter 2:1-3.

While working through this passage at Xalt last night, I hit me for the first time that babies of course crave breast milk and that there was no other substitute at the time. Leaving us with the image of Suckling at the Breasts of the Lord. Now there are strong male images in the passage as well, so that leads me to the heretical thought that the image of God encompasses both Male and Female.

- Peace

:: Dave King 12:10 :: (2) comments ::
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Offended the Wheel god!

Broke a spoke on my way into Fish Creek Park, it jammed into the cogset rendering the bike unride-able. Had to walk 2km back to the house to get the Element, rescue the bike and drive to work.

After work I needed to fill up, after filling up the Element wouldn't start, having issues with the car battery. Had to call AMA.

Sigh.

- Peace

:: Dave King 21:53 :: (4) comments ::
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Michael's orthodoxy

Is it better to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason?
Answer: neither.
Scripture shows clearly that God cares not only what we do but why we do it, that we believe and what/who we belive in.

Mt 23:23 - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Notice the phrase "These you ought to have done" and that justice and mercy and faith were also matters of the law.

Mt 23:25 - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (26) Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Notice the word "also". Yes we can be overzelous for the letter of the law (I think that's why Jesus warned us to beware the leaven of the Pharisees) but that doesnt diminish the law

The Pharisees had the outward appearance of orthodoxy but inwardly they ignored the word of God.

Isa 29:13 - Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

Is it important what we believe? Just do a word search on "believe" in the new testament. (there are 16 references in John's gospel alone)

Is it important that this belief changes how we behave and how we think? Joh 3:3 - Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (3:7) Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

:: Michael 14:21 :: (0) comments ::
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3150 km Sigh

After needing to put in a new front fork and upgrading my drive train I did some ridding yesterday and got past the 3150 km mark. That was my goal for the end of September. At this point I don't seem me getting to 3800 for 2006. I still have a slim shot at making 3600 and I'd be able to say that 2006 was my best year ever.

On the up side, I saw around 200 Canadian geese flying overhead yesterday. I also saw a deer in Fish Creek Park.

- Peace

:: Dave King 09:14 :: (0) comments ::
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A generous apostasy?

Dave and I were discussing "a generous orthodoxy" and while everyone knows that ideally one should be both loving and correct, the question came up as to whether it is better to be generous without being orthodox or orthodox without being generous. Dave suggested that it was better to be generous without being orthodox. I've been wondering how far that can be pushed. For example, if the unorthodoxy pushes one into heresy or apostasy is that still better than being orthdox without being generous? I'm beginning to think that the answer is not only a tentative yes, but a resounding yes.

In paragraph 24 of Pope Benedict's Encyclical God is Love, the Pope emphasizes the importance of charity (generosity) in the Christian faith by directing our attention to Julian the Apostate (the Emperor who officially renounced the Christian faith in favor of paganism - this surely counts as unorthodox). The Pope notes that Julian had his pagan priests perform works of public service for the very purpose of competing against and bringing about the demise of the Christian faith. To be blunt, he left the Church and led people out of the church. How could being orthodox without being generous be worse than that?

When we realize the essential nature of the practice charity, we must also admit that for champions of orthodoxy to fail to practice charity is to lead people out of the Church without leaving the Church ourselves. For an enemy of the Church (like Julian the Apostate) to lead people out of the Church is to be expected. But for someone inside the Church to lead people out of the Church constitutes something more than becoming an enemy - it is becoming a traitor. Let us therefore thank God for the mercy he offers to everyone, especially traitors like ourselves.

:: Richard 09:00 :: (6) comments ::
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10 Years of the 'Smart Fridge'

Is it just me or has the Smart Fridge been on the horizon for about ten years now?

- Peace

:: Dave King 16:12 :: (1) comments ::
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Like Dancing

Like Dave King, I am a big cycling advocate. This morning, if the rain freezes, the roads will be absolutely unridable. And at any rate it seems the wrong time of year to talk with most people about bike riding.

Nevertheless the story below was so unexpected and beautiful to me that I wanted to share it:


http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1108/p20s01-lign.html

:: PsySal 00:42 :: (3) comments ::
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On the Edge

:: Dave King 21:04 :: (0) comments ::
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The Long Winters MP3s and Video

From the Long Winters' MP3 page:

Clearly, it would be presumptuous for us to expect you to enjoy our music without having heard it. Thus, please help yourself to full-length, high-quality versions of our songs in the popular MP3 audio format. Provided courtesy of the band and Barsuk Records.

The mp3s are good but the video for Fire Island is the Long Winters at their best.

- Peace

:: Dave King 18:19 :: (0) comments ::
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Out of the closet?

I suppose it had to happen eventually - I got found out. I was at the life-chain rally in early October and a (former) co-worker saw me and so the people at work know now. We all went out for drinks and the former co-worker showed up and she starts out with "so, you're anti-abortion?". I'm not too good at thinking during a conversation (one of the world's worst debaters) and I began to wonder how to navigate this situation with courage and compassion.

The next remark caught me totally off guard: "I should kick your ass :)". Before I could blurt out "see the violence inherent in the system" (which in my case would have taken about an hour), she switches the subject in the interests of keeping this happy and polite.

This leaves me with a few questions: Why does it feel like the conversation started out in a self-centered and irresponsible fashion but got "aborted" before it got inconvenient? If I had been spotted at a gay-pride rally and someone said even jokingly that they should kick my ass, how long before HR would take swift and drastic action?

:: Richard 09:10 :: (5) comments ::
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