Rebel

There seems to be a growing number of Christian men who are revolting against their desire to own this beauty. I am revolting against that revolt. When my Verizon plan expires it shall be called: "Mine."

A short and brilliant poem for the iphone.

Ahem...

"The iphone
I will own."


Thank you, thank you.

No, don't try it. No amount of guilt will deter me from this. I know all the problems of the world and I know how much they cost and I know that my Razr works just fine and I know that I don't really neeeeeeeed an iPhone like I neeeeeeed the Lord but ye without a DVD player, fancy Treo, Car with bells and whistles, expensive haircut, expensive Fridge, or cool guitar cast the first stone.

What Petunia Muffin Really Does While You're at Work

Extremes Pt 2: Paul and His Comic Conundrum

One day a few summers later, for some reason, we all turned up at Paul’s house... The whole gang. Paul came out all excited and started to immediately talk about a comic book character as though we had just finished a fantasy war and were still 12 years old. Paul was now 16 and we were 14. We tried to be enthusiastic, but we were stunned at how extreme Paul was acting. He thought because he felt one way about the comic book world that everyone should feel the same way about it. He was still seeing the world through comic book eyes and wanted us to see it that way too. Had we been that extreme?

Naaaahhhh.

However much we tried to humor him, he sensed our disinterest and I think he got downright depressed. The depression turned to anger as we talked about baseball and started to separate into teams. Paul stormed into the house and slammed the door.

If we weren't going to see the world the way Paul saw it, we were lost, and so was our friendship. We were now enemies of his worldview and we must be shut out. Even talk of things other than comics was considered persecution.

I think that was the last time I ever saw Paul.

I remember back to those days of Comic Book Extreme Living, and honestly, I am thankful for them. At the time, it was healthy. It was infusing my imagination with a bright and burning light. It gave me inspiration and helped me get my mind off of the big bullies picking on me at school. I started to draw because of comics. I became a pretty good artist. I won an award later in High school and had my art posted on the wall of the State Capital. The experience helped me to grow.

For Paul, the experience had enslaved him and he liked the comfort of the cold and lonely extreme.

It is easy for me to look back on Paul and yuck it up at how silly he was to be quoting X-men at 16 and getting mad at us for not reciprocating. But I still love a good extreme as much at thirty somethin’ as much as I did at 12 and I can get mad and feel dumb when someone doesn’t see it my way as well. If I’m not careful, those feelings quickly turn into resentment and finally hatred.

We search like wild men for those new extremes. As Christians, that extreme usually comes in the form of our religion.

A journey to the extreme may help you grow, just as a hard rain does for a thirsty lawn, but if it rains for days, it will flood everything and drown the neighbors.

For Paul, it made him run and hide in his house from growing up.

There are several times where we go through things and revelations that burn hot. We feel as though everyone else should burn hot and we are tempted to believe that everyone that doesn't believe the way you believe is an enemy and your persecutor or they just “don’t get it.”

Just ask the guys who slammed the Airline Jets into the Twin Towers. They had nothing but pure conviction. They saw the world through that lens and could see no other.

Christians think they are soooo much better than these fellows but we can be just as bad. So can an atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Universalist… whomever. We are human. Humans like extremes. It gives us a high. It makes us feel safe. And we will guard that safety with ferocity. Even if that means hating everyone around us. Even if it means killing those who threaten it.

Shoot, didn’t Jesus say that loving him meant hating your mom and dad?

Jesus never meant for us to actually “Hate” in the sense of “despise” our mother and father if they disagree with us. He would be contradicting himself when he said to “Love on another.” Or contradicting the character of God when he says that he “so loved the world.” That love may cause division but only because hatred cannot abide where there is Love.

The unique thing about Christianity, is that that if we are living in the extremities, our extreme is suppose to materialize into supernatural love. It loves past our differences and our different world and eschatology views. It loves past 7 days or 4 billion years. It loves past a tub of water or a sprinkle. It loves through a Priest's Cassock or a flashy suit. It should bring a peace that passes understanding and if you feel anything but love for the people around you, then something else has a hold of you. Some extremity that makes you “feel” safe because you are afraid so you mask your doubt with a fanatical intolerance for others.

God calls us to talk and act in and out of the extreme power of Love. Not necessarily from the extreme revelations of our Religious fire. It took me a while to realize that there is a difference between Religious fire and Love. But luckily, there are plenty of people around to Love me off my throne just like they Loved me out of my Light Saber at 8, my fake Wolverine claws at 12, and my Bible club in my early twenties.

Extremes Pt 1: Paul and His Comic Conundrum

When I was 12 and scrawny, ball cards and comic books where my life. I knew every stat of every great player. As far as comic books went, I knew everything about every Marvel Comic character. (DC comics were still suffering in sales as is it was right before the Dark Batman comics where issued and revived them.)

I lived in those Marvel worlds. Dreamed in those worlds and thought everyone else should dream in those worlds as well. I tried to get my sisters and parents interested, and though they liked the characters and enjoyed a good Superman movie, they just didn't "get it" as I "got it." I saw the world through my comic book lens. My friends and myself would talk about new issues and reenact fight scenes in the nearby woods.

It was bliss.

A year or two later, I moved on from the comic book scene and so did all of my friends accept for Paul. Paul was a little older than all of us and wasn't liked much at his school. But back in the day, he had the coolest and oldest comics on the block. He knew things that no one else knew about Comic Book characters, so all us younger kids gave him a warm welcome into the fantasy wars.

I remember one time when we were all hiding in separate trees in Paul's big back yard, waiting for the Green Goblin (my best buddy Brad) to find and fire on us with his little gun that shot those little plastic discs (now outlawed for safety reasons.)

All of the sudden, as we were still perched in our tree domains waiting to strike, Paul blew our cover and started to whelp. The sound of him whelping and thundering down the tree was astounding. He wasn't climbing down the branches; he was desperately and intentionally falling and flailing through them. He hit the ground with a thud and started hauling butt home howling and swatting at what seemed to be a bunch of bees in angry pursuit.

I laughed 3 days straight over that instance.

School started and another year or two passed and I didn't see much of Paul and I became more interested in drawing characters myself and creating new worlds and realities rather than just reading them. Reading comic books where replaced by reading novels and listening to Hendrix, but where still cherished as a part of my happy past. Girls and Church fun became a great source of interest as well. My imagination had matured and my social skills, though still naturally awkward, were growing as well.

One day a few summers later, for some reason, we all turned up back in Paul’s front yard...

Any Suggestions?

I woke up this morning feeling dizzy. All day long at different times I have felt dizzy. I haven't been banged in the head with anything, that I know of... and I don't feel nauseated or have a headache. The dizziness has no other related symptoms. It comes mostly when I turn my head to check something or if I am leaning to the side a bit.

Oh, and no, I haven't been smoking pot.

Anyone experienced this???

Thoughts After a Sunday Nap

When I turned sixteen I inherited my sister's Mustang. In less than 8 months I totaled it. I can still hear the sound of screeching tires, breaking glass and crunching metal. I also remember my seatbelt catching me. Funny the things you remember about those situations.

I often wonder how people know if your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. I mean, how do they know? Yeah, they can say "well I almost died" but that still doesn't count because you didn't. A minor quibble but still, maybe dying isn't like that part on the movie Armageddon when Bruce Willis says "we win Gracie...” and then blows the asteroid into two perfect parts which happens to be the biggest pile of unrealistic barbecued horse-patookey since that episode of Buck Rogers where there was a snow storm in space.

I think that may be the only film ever made where an Oil driller saved Earth… But hey, its Bruce Willis.

And I've always wondered what audiences would have done if instead of the bomb going off when Willis punches the button and says "we win Gracie" he frantically punches the button and nothing happens. And then the asteroid hits Earth and the credits roll up the screen to the backdrop of a burning red glowing Earth. Yeah, that would have been funny. Kubrick would have done it that way. (See Dr. Strangelove.)

Okay, I’m thirsty. Time to make some sweet tea and get to work. Until next time…

Keep your eyes out for Asteroids and pray that government will find the best oil diggers that Amarrca has to save Earth. (I'm sure they'll throw in a cookey Russian to the team so they won't feel left out) And when they do save the Earth, because they always do (if they've got a good nuke,) make sure to do your part and have some kickin’ Aerosmith ready on your radio to show your love for our Oil-drillin’ stud-bucket nuke-packing super heroes.

Yippie Ki-yay.

Tea time.

What the heck. For your film enrichment... The final scene from Dr. Strangelove. Both President and Dr. Srangelove are the Late Great Incomparable Peter Sellers. (One of my favorite Movies)

Man Do I Like this Guy, this Song, and this Video.

A bunch. I loved Burlap and I love his solo stuff.

We're Off to see the Wizard (Ben Folds)

We are hitting the trail tonight to see one of my favorite songwriters at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion... thing. Some other dude named “John Mayer” will accompany Ben. Don't know who the heck that is but I hear there will be a bunch of girls peeing themselves over some song about "wonderland."

Who cares.

It’s all about Ben baby.

We are going to Wal Mart to buy a couple of those W.T. fold-out chairs with the cup holder because we bought the cheap tickets and have to sit on the grass with the other people who will be smoking it.

Last time I was at the Pavilion I saw a concert with a slew of CCM artists, all of whom took the stage and prayed for 5 minutes before singing. By the time we hit the last singer, the audience was pretty much fake-praying. I guess they hadn't realized that the 5 singers before had opened with a big ole prayer.

A little public prayer goes a long way in my opinion.

Just for that comment, I’ll probably get in a fistfight tonight or something and wish that Ben had opened with prayer. However, I could use a good brawl, being summertime and all.

Me Now

A few folks have recently commented that the picture of me eating the burger looks nothing like me now.

There you happy???

The title of this photo is:

"Tell me more about this thing called a... 'razor'..."

Sorry it's the best I could do.

You are welcome to give a go at naming it, but no sense in swamping Blogger with the words "Devilishly Handsome." So we'll just accept that as a given... Anything without those words will do.

Plastic Saints Don't Feel a Thing

I have decided that being fake pretty much sucks. I am what I am and that’s all there is to it. (Cue Popeye laugh) But you see I have this reputation to uphold. I have to 'appear' to be this pristine perfect 'thing' that never gets into trouble, never sins, never doubts, never utters a 'cuss' word, never 'drinks' and never gets jealous or depressed.

So this is me, and if sanctification (more Love) is going to have a chance, if the Holy Spirit is going get to work in my spirit then I need to get real.

Here's the thing. I don't boast about my faults or what some would consider to be faults. I don’t judge others if they disagree about some of these gray areas and don’t do them, I am just not going to pretend that I am a Spirit guru when I am not. I strive for Holiness, but Holiness isn't wielding a pocket/palm bible verse…thingy, clocking in a zillion hours of prayer, listening to ONLY Christian music, or never cussing or drinking a beverage with .6 % alcohol. Holiness comes when the Love of God flows so freely though you that the person receiving it IS seeing and hearing God. And it is only when you are honest with yourself and others about yourself that God can really work. How is anyone supposed to know how thankful you are for what the Lord has done when you don’t really have anything to be thankful for because you are sooooo perfect?

God will not shine through a veil of lies, no matter how many scriptures you can recite, how many Smitty songs you know, or how starched your suit is. He knew you in the womb and saw you when you came out- naked, bloody and slimy. No sense in pulling fast ones on the Big Man. There is no garden big enough for you to hide. And if He decides to shine through them you might find his light illuminating something you wanted to keep hidden.

Guess the Painter

I'll give some hints cause its tricky.

1. He is not well known for his paintings.

2. He lived in the 20th Century

3. He never married (correction by Cach, married for 1 day.)

4. He was a great orator. Maybe one of the greatest.

Aerodynamics For Redneck Drivers

I think there needs to be a special section of Drivers Ed for rednecks. This section of drivers Ed should be about physics.

You might ask: "Seth, when did you have this apostrophe?" Well, let me tell you from whence my concerns came.

For instance, lets say I am driving on any given bright sunny day in Houston during 5 o'clock-traffic on the busy interstate and I notice a truck. A truck that looks like the Beverly hillbilly-mobile on steroids. Crammed into the back of a clunking truck, (a truck that should be resting in peace in the nearest junkyard itself) there are at least 2000 large and small inanimate objects that could at any second, turn into lethal weapons projecting violently through my windshield.

Granted, this could mean a rare and strange occurrence in nature as it is probably the only time I could ever be killed by a recliner, but some things... are better left to the ole imagination.

A bonus to this Section of Aerodynamics for Redneck Drivers could also be beneficial to our shrinking Ozone. All that extra weight in the back causes the engine to burn mucho oil thus the billowing smoke coming out of the tailpipe climbing so high a Comanche could see it 100 miles off, if it is not streaming directly into my intake and gagging me.

I saw one guy, on the busiest free way in Houston just 2 days ago, hauling a huge-arse couch across the freeway like he was Hercules or something. There was at least 400 tons of steel and rubber coming his way at 70 miles per hour and you would have thought it was some sort of Redneck relay race on 3 for 1 beer and taquito day. I guess the darn thing just flew right out the back of his truck. Imagine that. See, Aerodynamics for Rednecks would teach that if you combine the right airspeed with just the right angle of any object, guess what happens? Airborne baby.

One can only ponder what were they thinking whilst they loaded the couch into the truck without a rope in sight or mind to tie it down? Maybe the rationale went something like this:

"Shoot Juanita, that thing is heavy, no joke. That ain't going anywhere. I mean, I bout threw my back out hauling it up there. I need a beer."

See the rationale there is: "Its heavy, I had to strain when I lifted it, therefore, there is no way that it will go anywhere standing on its end in the back of my love-shack-on-wheels, while I drive 75 miles per hour. It was so heavy that an instant injection of Beer was imperative after lifting. Object: Immovable." Genius Juanita. Pure Genius.

This is why I think there should be a special seminar for Redneck Drivers, which would be the teaching of "The 5 Redneck Commandments for Aerodynamics While Driving."

1. Thou shalt not load thine rickety truck with your ENTIRE accumulated life's possessions. Make 4 trips and save a life.

2. If you decide to break the first commandment, then thou shalt do thy best to tie, tape, glue or strap any and everything down so that it does not fly out and kill or maim your fellow American.

3. Thou shalt not try to risky thine life and retrieve any lost small or enormous items, on your shoulders, across any and every highway.

4. All of the above rules apply if you decide to fill the back of thy truck up with human beings as well.

5. When you drive fast, the air... hmmm well, lets just say it "blows really hard." It will pick up your furniture and possessions like the tooth fairy from the back of your trusty truck, and you will loose that possession that will have been transformed like Dr. Jeckle to Mr. Hyde, into a lethal weapon. That’s right, that Holy Velvet painting of Santa Maria could become a razor sharp decapitating machine.

Class Dismissed.

Southern Baptists Avoid the Devil' Potion.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Bars along San Antonio's Riverwalk do brisk trade when a convention is in town -- unless that convention has drawn over 10,000 Southern Baptists.

"Nothing," is how Shana Larson, manager of the Coyote Ugly Saloon on the Riverwalk, summed up business this week as the city known for its carefree exuberance hosts the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Everybody gives us no business at all. None of them is going to come to a bar to drink any kind of alcohol," she said.

Southern Baptists follow a conservative brand of Christianity that discourages alcohol consumption.

The Riverwalk is a popular tourist attraction that follows the San Antonio River through the downtown area and is lined with restaurants, shops, hotels and bars.

On Tuesday night restaurants along the Riverwalk were packed with long lines of people waiting for tables, but bars were conspicuously quiet.

"Obviously, most of our sales come from sales of our spirits, liquor, beer, and wine, and we're not seeing any action there this week," said Cory Neal, manager of Pat O'Brien's on the River.

One Baptist convention delegate said he could tell that waiters and waitresses were less than thrilled, not least because a big bar tab often translates into a hefty tip.

"You're in a Mexican restaurant and they say you must try the margaritas. When you order a raspberry tea you can see the look of disappointment in their faces. But I try to be a generous tipper," the delegate said.

This News just in from Seth: For some reason, this here news is cracking me up something fierce. The poor Khaki Pants and Perfect Hair-Part Club just cant get a break these days.

In other news: 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus was spotted in a bar with a bunch of sinners. This of course was after he went to a wedding and turned a bunch of water into wine and made the Bride and Groom really happy. Not to mention the rest of the Party. So if you had the choice, do you think a sinner would ask a Southern Baptist to their wedding or Jesus? And no, Jesus wasn't a Southern Baptist.

Btw, I was at the SBC convention and apparently, moderates have retaken the convention and a Moderate President sits on the throne instead of “the chosen one” that the high Fundie council had anointed. Hallelujah. There were 3 things the NEW President said that stuck out to me. (From memory so a bit paraphrased.)

1. "We (Southern Baptists) have been obsessed with our own personal agendas instead of winning souls and we should repent."
2. We need to stop worrying if a Missionary believes in speaking in tongues or if they drink in moderation and worry about Lost souls. We’ve been to busy trying to align Jesus with the SBC and not aligning ourselves with Him and his Great commission.
3. We have lost sight of the Gospel and have been preoccupied with fighting each other, thus setting a poor example of the body of Christ. (I thought I was going to have to restrain my dad from the rejoicing.)

So I hear his wonderful statements, (and I really do think that they are wonderful and its ABOUT FRIGGIN TIME) and then I read about the complaining bartenders and I think the Southern Baptists could have killed 3 birds with one stone!

I say, the Southern Baptists should have all got together at the local bars, had a beer with a couple of sinners (or maybe bought them a beer), talked with them about Jesus and the Gospel, gave them a big tip, and voila! Mission accomplished.

All in all, I was just amazed that there weren’t any resolution this year banning Women from something, or something bashing Gays. I was sure we would get some kind of Gay Bashing resolution or “Women-shut-the-hell-up -the-fat-mouthed-husband-is-the-boss” commandment from the grand Baptist Kingpin Kahuna. But alas, there sits a president who believes “the truth is important, but so is the truth spoken in love.”

Those dang moderates. They just spoil all the fun and make us look like we love people. I don’t think I can take another year of the moderates. Time to bus all the kids up and fake them as delegates again. Maybe they can get the current President fired and escorted out by armed guards like they did the moderate peace-loving hippie sombitch President of Southwest Seminary a few years back. I WAN’T SOME FUNDIE ACTION AND I WANT IT NOW.

Friendship and Encouragement (Don't fear the Atheist)

That's a cheezy title for a blog but we are talking about Tolkien and Lewis so they have enough weight in the genius of their legacy to make up for my lack of creativity.

I was reading Reading Fancy's blog, and I was taken back to the first time I read that Tolkien and Lewis were friends. It is now pretty common knowledge but maybe some of you didn't know that. I am a big Tolkien and Lewis nut so I never get tired of hearing about it.

The neatest thing about their friendship lies in two things for me. First, In the beginning Tolkien befriended an Atheist (Lewis) and was most instrumental in his conversion.

Second, that Lewis, with the gift of encouragement, spurred Tolkien on to complete his Lord of the Rings books and convinced him that other people would like it.

So there you have it. A man that 30 years ago, no one would have ever known was a Christian, Tolkien, influencing an Atheist colleague to Christ, a man everyone now and everywhere identifies with Christianity. Then Lewis goes on to influence an old Devout Catholic that his Mythical world needed to be developed, completed, and shared with the world.

It is no wonder that Lewis described friendship as one of God most precious gifts. I think Americans, specifically males, in some ways have lost touch with true friendships. A great friendship can inspire you to be more than you ever thought or dreamed you could be. At the core of it is the same kind of Love that Christ had for his disciples.

Tolkien wrote this about Lewis: "The unpayable debt I owe to him was not "influence" as it is ordinarily understood, but sheer encouragement. He was for long my only audience. Only from him did I ever get the idea that my "stuff" could be more than a private hobby. But for the encouragement of C.S. Lewis, I don't think I should ever have completed, or offered for publication The Lord of the Rings."

Later, Lewis owed his turning point towards Christianity to this conversation that he had one night with Lewis waking casually by the river after dinner. This came from a letter from Dyson, later confirmed by Tolkien and Lewis.

"After dinner Lewis and Tolkien began discussing the nature of myth. Lewis explained that he felt the power of myths, but that they were ultimately untrue. As he expressed it to Tolkien, myths were 'lies, even though lies breathed through silver.'

"No," Tolkien replied emphatically. "They are not."

Tolkien resumed, arguing that myths, far from being lies, were the best way of conveying truths which would otherwise be inexpressible. He said, "We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Since we are made in the image of God, and since God is the Creator, part of the imageness of God in us is the gift of creativity. The creation- or more correctly, the sub-creation- of stories or myths is merely a reflection of the image of the Creator in us. The story of Christ was the True Myth, a myth that works in the same way as the others, but a myth that really happened- a myth that existed in the realm of fact as well as in the realm of truth. In the same way that men unraveled the truth through the weaving of story, God revealed the Truth through the weaving of history."

Can you imagine Tolkien would have shunned a true friendship because of a religious disagreement? And furthermore, aside from the conversion, can you imagine if both of the talented and gifted men would have kept their mutual admiration to themselves, seeing a rival instead of a friend?

Summer Films: 0 for 2

I haven't been too impressed with the summer blockbusters this year. I wonder if I am getting spoiled. Then I wonder if the filmmakers are getting spoiled. With the help of special effects and unlimited cash they can make a squid faced guy and Johnny Depp dance around on top of a huge sail in the middle of a hurricane-storm-swirly-water-thing with swords, all from a swinging 360 degree camera shot, and make it look real. Amazing reallly. Its not that I am not pleased with their efforts to make the action sequence look real, and it was pretty cool, its just that it looks so real now… that I don't really believe it.

It is almost like a perfect action universe or something. It just doesn't seem real. No camera crew in their right minds would venture into such a situation to capture that shot. But then again I guess you could say the same thing about Lord of the Rings. What camera man in his right mind would venture on to Mount Doom and capture all that evil action. (Maybe Dwight Schrute from the office but he doesn't count.)

The element that still makes the movie tick is its characters. Good characters and a good script make a good movie almost every time. It would take a truly horrendous director to screw that up. Shoot, good characters, a good story and a mediocre script can even make a great film. You can’t have all of one and none of the others though. Look at Star Wars "A New Hope." (Episode 4) Great characters in that flick and made with not a lot of cash. Han Solo, Obi wan, Leia, Chewie, Darth Vader and worst of all Luke. It is hard to loose with characters like that. Now look at episode 1. Lucas had all the cash in the world, still a pretty good story, but bad, very bad, throw-your-drink-at-the-screen-bad characters. Two words: Jar Jar.

Maybe overall it wasn't any of that. I think Pirates was just too darn confusing. Plus I couldn't understand half of what that Black Goddess Calypso was saying. "Him tear out him heart... thanz yuzz gerannz joozes wheech onza Jack Sparrow." I spent half the movie leaning over to Amber and saying "Huh?" like an old man or an annoying kid.

It did have some really fun scenes and a load of interesting characters which would still prompt me to reccomment blowing 20 bucks for a date, but I am still waiting for "the one" this summer.

I am hoping that Harry Potter, and a few others bring it home as far as summer movie fun goes. I need a good one. I might find my only entertainment/escape solace in the final Harry Potter book coming out in 41 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds.

“Awah” cried the spoiled American.

Blogsitive.

Its a wierd thing this blogging world. It is a good thing to step back and recognize that truth sometimes. People who blog are inately artistic. Which means that they are also sensitive and a bit competitive. Thus the technorati craze. I mean, its okay to wonder how many people love and adore your writing and are waiting in the wings just to hear the wise words that proceedeth from your fingertips, but don't let it go to your head or rule and reign over you.

No matter how great you think you are, there is always someone that will outdo you. Period. To me, that is a big relief. Once I figured that out I could finally feel free to be me. It is a sad thing to see someone at the top of their game sink into the darkest of depressions. Pride is a funny thing. It is the worst of sins because it is nothing. What really sucks about when you come off the mountain is that you find out that the mountain wasn't real and you are left with nothing. That is why men who unexpectedly get fired from big-time corporate jobs stick a cold pistol to their heads and blow their brains out.

It wasn't the loss of the job. It was the total void that they had accumulated in their souls, the whole time thinking what they held, what made them feel important, was a real thing. Your soul runs on God. Period. Anything else will destroy the engine. It will eventually burn up and crack. Sometimes it takes loosing everything to realize that but for the lucky ones who recognize it now, you can enjoy whatever gifts you have been given, great or small, to their fullest.

So blog cause you love it. Sing cause you love it. Write songs cause you love it. Write books cause you love it. Do it all cause you're happy and you are free.

Sometimes I have to preach this sermon to myself to remember these things. Why do I blog? Well I could tell you some good reasons like: "I Blog cause you like to write and make people laugh, think, or even like to get them all riled up."

I really blog because it is fun and it makes me feel good when other people like it and think it is fun too.

For all that read and comment here. I am truly honored that you read these scratchings on my cyber-cave wall and hope to read as much of your writing as you can manage to scratch yourself.

New Frog

Scientists have just discovered a new nifty lookin' frog in the Amazon. I thought it looked pretty cool so I thought I'd post it. Kinda like blog show and tell. Except you can't lick this show and tell and play like you are on the Simpsons or imagine you are really rich like that one frog I brought home one time after licking it on a dare and mom made me let it go after I told her that she looked like a big purple candy apple with wings.

Anyways, I think we should name this here frog. The scientists will probably come up with some creative name like: "lapristociacipratipusviat amphibias." But I think we can do better. Even without licking it and seeing apparitions.

So give it a go. What should we name him?

Integrity

When I was 17 years old Dr. T.T. Crabtree, the retired 73 year-old pastor of First Baptist Springfield MO, bought me a little thin black book simply titled: "Integrity."

Now, I'd heard that word my whole life and sort of knew what it meant but had never really given it much thought. I just thought it meant "be honest" or something.

It wasn't a book that I was too happy to receive as I was mostly hoping for cash for graduation so I stashed it away in some box with all my other forgetables.

I spent the next 5 years of college barely making it for classes, missing engagements, telling people that I would do something and then back out. The worst part of it all was that I usually took advantage of the people that I cared about the most.

Subconsciously I guess I knew that they would still love me at the end of the day if I called my dad a few hours before I was supposed to help him with the wood pile and tell him I couldn't make it.

So the next 5 years were spent, building a name for myself that was synonymous with being late, and being a no-show. Undependable but talented. Likeable but frustrating. Intelligent but unfocused. Immature.

By the time I reached my last year of undergrad. I had a whopping 2.7 GPA and a bunch of bounced checks and over-charged credit cards.

Honestly, it was the hunt for cash that led me back to this little black book and then spurred me to open it at all.

"Hmmm" I thought. "You know? I never checked this book for cash. Maybe there is a check in there or something." (Not giving the first thought to how crappy it would be to cash a 5-year-old check, even if the bank would do it.)

The first sentence I read changed my life forever. It was this author's simple definition of Integrity.

"Integrity is simply doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it. It is essential to becoming the man that God wants you to be. You will never be that man until you grasp this concept."

Wham! A light flicked on in my mind. I realized that my reputation, my bad credit, my negative bank account, was due mostly in part to my lack of this Integrity. And Integrity comes by choice alone. The roots of being undependable had grown deep but it wasn't too late... hopefully.

I graduated that year, (After begging my geology teacher to give me a C--- for all my no-shows. Honestly I think he gave it to me becasue he couldn't take another year of me!) and slowly but surely I began to build trust. Honestly, some of those relationships will be forever tarnished. Some are still just moderately repaired to this day. But when I started my grad degrees, I decied to change. I decided to change the way I think and change the way people think about me. It is the definition of repentance. "To change the way you think."

I was amazed at the way it made me feel to be thought of as a man people could depend on. It was humbling and empowering.

Do what you say you will do. If you know you can't do it, then don't say you will. If you can't do it after you have committed, then you better have a good reason or your relationships might be damaged and will take mending. Even if it is for free.

Especially if it is for free.

Experiment

Which of these mythological worlds is your favorite or least favorite and why? OR If given the choice, which story would you chose to be a part of and why?

Harry Potter

Star Wars

Lord of the Rings