Wedding

Yesterday I preformed my first wedding ceremony. It was a good experience. The bride and groom are friends of mine but were not themselves for the weekend. They were pretty stressed but everything came together. They had to overcome a lot in the planning of this particular wedding, most things went wrong.

The day came and went. There were about 170 guests. The ceremony was nice and went well. Except for one small thing; the sound guy didn't play the que for the Groom and I to make our entrance from a back room. We had no idea that the processional was going on without us, I guess everyone assumed that was how it was supposed to be even though that's not how we practiced it. The bride, upon reaching the front of the church had to point out that the groom and minister were absent. A groomsmen politely asked us to come out and join them all. So, not a great start. After that, everything went well. I did not really enjoy the process but I'm glad I did it and I am honored that they wanted me to do it.

This morning I made a presentation to my supporting congregation. It went well, I will have private presentations with the leadership team, and also the mission committee on Wednesday.

Donny

I've been thinking about my friend Donny quite a bit recently. He died unexpectedly last May. I worked with Donny for two years before he passed and got to know him pretty well. He had a wife and young child, he was 39. Donny didn't take care of his body; I think maybe he was was angry with his body because he had been confined to a wheel chair since he was a freshman in college. I heard he overdosed on pain medication but I don't really know what happened. I don't know why I've been thinking about him so much these last few days but I have, and it forces me to recognize that our lives here are finite. More so that I am really comfortable with. Donny was angry at God and I don't know what his relationship was really like.

Donny was an inspiration to paraplegics he often spoke publicly for charities and worked with people who were new to their chairs. He was a star player on a national champion roller basketball team. I remember him climbing the equipment shelves in the warehouse to get things from the top, jumping curbs, and carrying more boxes than the rest of us.

I hope he is happy.

Internet

I have acknowledged before that I live online. Everything I do is online. That’s why I am dieing. My internet has been on only for a second or two at a time for the last two weeks. When we moved in we signed on with Comcast simply because there was nothing else available. I assume many of you have had problems with Cable internet as well. There is a very simple explanation as to why this is the case. Remember how I used to be a Broadband Service Technician? Cable TV, Phone and Internet run on a system called Broadband, that just means there is only one ‘line’ or piece of copper that everything runs on, the internet signal is the highest and runs on the very outside of the piece of copper. That means that if ANYTHING touches the line: a bird pecking, a squirrel chewing, a tree falling, a rock shifting, even high or low temperatures, the line will permanently be unstable. PERMINENTLY. Even if a very skilled technician repairs the broken part, he still much connect the new and old lines together with means he will create a cut or ‘splice’ in the line.

AT&T is now available and we are switching. This will come with its own problems, but it should be significantly more stable.

Gambling

In many cultures traditional Christianity has demonized the practice of gambling. Pointing out cases of addiction it is spoken of alongside drinking alcohol as sinful activity. I'll save the conversation about alcohol for another time, though I can't help but mention that Jesus drank alcohol.

I have several thoughts on the subject of gambling and Christianity. 1st, if anyone can point out where this dogma comes from I'd be happy to take note. As best I can tell it is derived from the passages concerning financial stewardship. If one is branding this action a sin based on it not being good stewardship I'd like to point out that cable TV, a trip to the movies, eating at restaurants, and going on vacation would also be sinful under this line of reasoning. I would like to point out here that the Apostles gambled after the death of Judas in order to replace him. It was their way of understanding God's will.

Next, we seem to have demonized a game more than others, to the point of ludicrous injustice. Poker is often spoken of in the discussion of gambling. While racing and fighting are the oldest competition on which to be gambled and the lottery is the most popular, poker seems to be singled out. The game its self is often thought of as sinful, even when removed from gambling. Back in my years of traditional Christian education playing poker was expressly forbidden even when there was no gambling involved. Playing poker without money is no more gambling than playing Monopoly with children. As a side note I do want to point out that this same institution hosted an annual Spades tournament in which there was an entry fee and a prize awarded to the winning team. THAT IS GAMBLING!

This brings me to my next point. While some non-gambling is labeled as sinful, some gambling is acceptable. I think the most extreme case of this is the stock market. Many Christians play the stock market and even make there living or fund retirement by playing it. In most forms of stock trading one buys tokens based on the odds of them gaining value, these tokens fluctuate in value based on lots of variables. The person then sells the tokens at a gain or loss based on how the odds worked out. That is almost exactly how poker works too.

I do not have a problem with the stock market, because I do not have a problem with gambling, but I welcome someone to explain to me how the two are not either both acceptable or both unacceptable by Biblical standards.

I really do welcome it. While I obviously have expressed a bias, I am open to learning the logic behind this cultural/religious phenomenon.

Mother's Day

I catch a lot of slack when I say that I don't like Christmas. I do not reject it based on religious reasons, I reject it because it is used by companies to brainwash and obligate people into reciprocal quazi-gift giving. At least Christmas has mediocre historical legitimacy as a holiday.

Valentine's Day is several times worse. A holiday all but made up by Hallmark to push card sales after Christmas, Valentine's Day is nominally based on Saint Valentine. Just as Christmas, it is no more about good will then Saint Patrick's Day is about the Christianizing of Ireland; rather, it is entirely about corralling American culture into this required gift giving. A gift that is required is not a gift, it is a payment. For any of you who claim these gifts are not required, try not giving your wife a gift on Valentines day.

Mother's Day (and Father's Day) is even worse. With absolutely no historical basis it was created outright by Hallmark to boost card sales in early May, a time lacking of Holiday's. Now, a person who does not give a gift (or a card) to the mothers in their lives on this day will be demonized as a mother hater.

Since a gift which is required is a payment. And since The positions of wife and Mother are relationships that deserve and require year round respect. To require a nominal sacrifice on these obscure days is not only ludicrous but, in pure definitions; prostitution.

Why have we sunk to this level? Why do we allow our culture to turn such a great relationship into meaningless business?

Mother's Day is not a holiday. Go ahead, call me a crazy woman hater.

The Illusion of Reality

One usual day a man called Wan was walking along his common path to work as was his custom. That day he came alongside another man as he did other days as well, this man is called Cerro. The two men moved along beside one another enjoying the world around them and considering their existence. Wan told Cerro about his theory that something existed outside of their understanding. That this entity intimately altered his actions. Cerro expressed to Wan that such a thing was impossible and that Wan should go to work, get something to eat, exercise, and feast on the vast amounts of knowledge at the local library. So he did, and thought no more of it.

One usual day a spec called One was walking along his common path to work as was his custom. That day he came alongside another spec as he did other days as well, this spec is called Zero. The two specs moved along beside one another enjoying the world around them and considering their existence. One told Zero about his theory that something existed outside of their understanding. That this entity intimately altered his actions. Zero expressed to One that such a thing was impossible and that One should go to the CPU, visit the CR-ROM, run in RAM, and feast on the vast amounts of knowledge at the local HDD. So he did, and thought no more of it.