Buying Used Cars

is moral living relative? or is there a book, an enormous red book with gold letters stamped on the cover, that lines out every scenario one might amble up against? i am finding my life is becoming more unmoral by my childhood standards. as i grow i am becoming more a relativist, basing my actions on scripture, feelings, and the past.

there is a passage in 1 peter 2 which speaks of being careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. i am becoming more and more convinced when we are called to live carefully we can’t just live as moral examples. a postmodern mind will consider your lifestyle a wash since morals have become dismissible. if we aspire to reach our world we must live as socially minded people. so when our neighbors accuse us of wrong due to a slip up of one of our straight laced morals; they will see us in prisons, soup kitchens, setting up schools, adopting, empowering, crossing racial barriers, buying used cars, etc. and recognize we are trying to live as foreigners and give honor to God.

Mimi and a Mystic

my good friend...well possibly my only friend recently bought a very cute new dog. this dog (mimi) is extremely friendly and at this point seems the be the polar opposite of what you’d expect from a puppy.

the first time i picked up this little pooch i gazed lovingly into its eyes and all i could see was a jim henson creation from the dark crystal, a mystic. don’t get me wrong this dog is adorable but what do you think? do they have a similar look?

Pearly Whites

teeth. i honestly loathe them. ever since i was a child i’ve had the english gene curse. as first grader i was stricken with a front tooth which would not slip into place. the only answer was to go under the knife and have a thin slice of gum cut out; in order to attach a brace to which would pull the tooth from gum world into the exposed. there i was at my class picture in the midst of classmates with cute holey smiles and me metal face.

my intense dislike of teeth has continued and progressed to wishing they were all made out of titanium which would function as normal ivories do. it would solve the problem of getting home late and stopping by the bathroom to paste up and scrub away when all your physical self wants is to lay down. the only draw back is i would become metal face once again.

i haven’t been to the dentist in probably 3 years. i don’t want to go one bit. but in the back of my mind i am haunted by the 3 minute timer my parents used to make sure we brushed long enough. i know my dental demise is inevitable if i don’t bite the bullet, but could i be the one who gets away with it? i really will never know.

Cool and Clean

i think it takes a very patiently attentive person to clean a toilet. seriously, have you ever been so close to the porcelain god you can see all the nooks, crannies, and curves? down there it’s cool…calm…relaxing in a way.

part of my job is to clean. hence i have a love-hate relationship with a toilet brush. at first i always hate it but as the stained white (sometimes black) emerges into an uncontaminated bowl i embark on a daydream about sanitation. it only lasts a few moments, but in those fleeting chunks time i see a job well done.

at this point part of me thinks i should liken the above to god washing away my dinginess or how all of us should do humbling things to build our character. yet they seem too contrived. toilet cleaning should be an island on its own, an untouchable. so next time you clean your toilet relish in it.

When Things Fall Apart

"you dropped something." i was told as i leaned over the lake attempting to hold the boat against the pushing wind. i glanced down to see the ipod i had purchased a few days for my wife’s birthday sinking to its death.

this past week i have found myself breaking/ruining my possessions on a regular basis. dings in a car, a hole in a wall, breaking my chain saw, and continual mower blade replacement. i’ve never been a klutz but as my 20s wane i am observing my ability to think ahead and sidestep these complications is dissipating.

i honestly thought i would make it until at least 50 before i began noticing the short comings of the mind. yet here i am barely an adult (in my opinion) losing focus and destroying what should endure my contact.

Up North

i ran away to the woods. it was my only solution to 15 years of organized education. i was 21, freshly shaven and seeking solitude. i felt strongly the will of god was an opened field with an occasional burning bush to shift navigation, needless to say i hadn’t seen a burning bush, so i left chicago and moved to grand marais, minnesota.

“seek and ye shall find”. i found my solitude. during a good week i could go 2 or 3 days without seeing anyone other than my roommate buster (alaskan husky). i was forced to live with myself during the 30 below nights and 0 degree days. i had to stare deep into my lusts, loves, and dinner creations with no one but god to unpack it with. i wish i could say i learned something like the deeps and wides of gods love, but i’d be giving a false face to this experience. however, looking back solitude took me out of my books and placed me next to a creator who earnestly desired to live with me.

Blogging

what does it take to blog well. i have a feeling this is what most of us consider as we begin to indulge ourselves with typing and posting. is there some unspoken way to write either scholarly or poetically or could a blog simply look like this:

I walked the dog. Her name is Rosie. We went to the pasture next
door and found a big pile of horse stuff. Rosie was interested in it I
was not. blah blah blah.

i could come up with stuff like that. rather i hope to be thoughtful and for me being thoughtful means thinking about writing all day. for example my job entitles me to a fair amount of walking. today as i walked i decided to think about my ***NEW*** blog and how to cleverly parallel life to the experience of a big spider i knocked off a light and squashed with my foot. at the end of the walk i was no farther along to blog stardom then when i started. no unparalleled parallels. no rousing words, no stimulating ideas, all i had was a pocket full of litter and an extra pen.

what does it take? the more i think about it the less i care. i must admit so far the words scattered across this screen have been very very humbling. so i've decided to just write. do it for yourself and enjoy it.