A Dark And Quiet Room

(The previous report is here.)

A guest report from Crystal Ben-Ezra

(The next report is here.)

This is just me, running at the mouth a bit as I consider if I want to do anything with this audioblogging thing. My guess is that I’ll at least do the Wal-Mart report for a while. If nothing else, it will amuse me. And really, in the end, isn’t that what’s important?

Audioblogger: Speak Up!

So now you can blog in audio….

I’m looking forward to trying this out.

If you’re looking for another blog to add to your list, here’s one: Mark Jackson. He is a pastor in California who is also a boardgamer. Hooray!

You can even listen to his interview on GeekSpeak from Boardgamegeek here, if you’re interested. Warning: this is an MP3 file….

So here I am waiting for Crystal to pick a pattern while I twiddle my thumbs so I thought that I would take advantage of modern technology and post something to my blog. This is being written from my cellphone, by the way. If nothing else this will help ward off the evil mind control says that they have in the lights here. I would write another haiku but I am not feeling particularly inspired. Oh, Ben, notice the capital letters. At least one of us still remembers how to use them ;-P

Google Earth

I am at a loss for words to describe how insanely cool this is. Even beyond the satellite imagery, there is an entire community of people busy linking locations in the world to Internet information that goes with it. Pictures, statistics, locations….

Unreal.

I feel like I should write something

It should be something grand
or maybe something sad
or how about mad
or maybe a little glad
maybe something sensual
or maybe something bland

I feel like I should write something
but instead I’ll go to bed

Good night!

I spent ten minutes last night trying to pull Yoda out of a drainpipe using a pair of chopsticks. Should I be more disturbed about this than I am?

An article about blogging and pride from Pastor David Bayly. And, lest there be any confusion, I’m not hoping that he will link back to me.

So, I happened to be perusing a copy of Enrichment, when I stumbled upon a couple of interesting articles. The first was entitled “John Owen, Prince of Puritans”, which is a short biography of John Owen. (Surprise, surprise). The second, entitled “Stirred By A Noble Theme — The Book Of Common Prayer”, is about the use of prayer books and similar practices in worship. Lest there be any confusion, the author was encouraging their use.

Now, in order to understand why I think that this is a big deal, you need to understand that Enrichment is a journal of the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination. Yet here they are, looking at Reformation ideas (yes, that includes the Book of Common Prayer) and encouraging their consideration.

So, here’s my question: what are Reformed people doing to learn from the Pentecostals? Or do we think that we have nothing to learn from them? Apparently they are not too proud to look outside their own religious tradition to learn more about the God that we all profess. Can we say the same?

It’s coming!

For those of you who don’t know why this is nifty…I’ll get back to you.

Last night, I sat down with my wife and sister to watch the next couple of installments of Babylon 5, which we are borrowing from Ralph Mazza, who is a friend of ours. I had heard good things about this television series, and so far, they are all being borne out.

The second episode that we watched last night was called “Believers�. (For the Trekkies out there, this episode was written by David Gerrold, who wrote the classic Star Trek episode “The Trouble with Tribbles�.) Oh. My. What a powerful episode. The premise is quite simple, actually. A child of an alien couple is dying. The doctor on the Babylon 5 station says that a simple surgery will save him. However, the religious beliefs of this couple say that performing surgery will release the soul of the child, destroying him. So they refuse to allow the surgery to be performed. So, Dr. Franklin is trying to figure out a way to change their minds so that he can save this child’s life.

It was powerful. But, at the end of the episode, I was sad.

The different characters wanted to condemn the parents for the stand that they were taking. Don’t misunderstand; they loved their child greatly. They would sit with him and hold him while his breathing failed. They would cry over him and comfort him. But there are more important things than life. Principles worth dying for. What’s wrong with that?

And try as they might, the different characters could not. Dr. Franklin merely asserted the validity of his beliefs over the parents, even to the point of disobeying Commander Sinclair, who decided that he would not overrule the parents’ decision. Commander Sinclair wanted to overrule them, but on what moral authority could he make that decision?

And that’s the rub, isn’t it? If you believe in moral relativism, how can you condemn these parents? What makes your belief any better than theirs?

The answer is simple: nothing.

And I was sad, because I thought about all the people who are morally adrift, wanting to reach out, help others, and change the world…but they can’t, because they don’t have a firm moral position on which to stand.

How very sad.

My father reads this blog from time to time, so this is for him.

Hi, Dad!

Guess what? I found that website with your sermons on it. My, is that a hyperlink that I see? I believe that it is….

When I wrote my little ditty about Polarity the other day, I wasn’t expecting this. Now I’m curious how they found out. I registered at their site; perhaps they are keeping me under surveillance…

Um, I need to go sweep my house for listening devices now.

From that Other Room: Folding A Map: The Introduction.