Since it's Easter season, and the newborn animals abound. From here
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Excerpt from Counterfeit Gods (Tim Keller)
Archbishop William Temple once said, "Your religion is what you do with your solitude." In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you do enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are not an indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?
Another way to discern your heart's true love is to look at how you spend your money. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21)...Most of us, however, tend to overspend on clothing, or on our children, or on status symbols such as homes and cars. Our patterns of spending reveal our idols.
A third way to discern idols works best for those who have professed a faith in god. You may regularly to to a place of worship. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. You may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real, daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real - not your professed - god? A good way to discern this how you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes. If you ask for something that you don't get, you may become sad and disappointed. Then you go on. Hey, life's not over. Those are not your functional masters. But when you pray and work for something and you don't get it and you respond with explosive anger or deep despair, then you may have found your real god.
A final test works for everyone. Look at your most uncontrollable emotions. Just as a fisherman looking for fish knows to go where the water is roiling, look for your idols at the bottom of your most painful emotions, especially those that never seem to lift and that drive you to do things you know are wrong. If you are angry, ask, "Is there something here too important to me, something I must have at all costs?" Do the same thing with strong fear or despair and guilt. Ask yourself, "Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think it is a necessity when it is not? Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not? If you are overworking, driving yourself into the ground with frantic activity, ask yourself, "Do I feel that I *must* have this thing to be fulfilled and significant? When you ask questions like that, when you " pull your emotions up by the roots," as it were, you will often find your idols clinging to them.
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From pp 168-169 of Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. There is only one who can wholly hold the weight of our human needs and desires.
Another way to discern your heart's true love is to look at how you spend your money. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21)...Most of us, however, tend to overspend on clothing, or on our children, or on status symbols such as homes and cars. Our patterns of spending reveal our idols.
A third way to discern idols works best for those who have professed a faith in god. You may regularly to to a place of worship. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. You may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real, daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real - not your professed - god? A good way to discern this how you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes. If you ask for something that you don't get, you may become sad and disappointed. Then you go on. Hey, life's not over. Those are not your functional masters. But when you pray and work for something and you don't get it and you respond with explosive anger or deep despair, then you may have found your real god.
A final test works for everyone. Look at your most uncontrollable emotions. Just as a fisherman looking for fish knows to go where the water is roiling, look for your idols at the bottom of your most painful emotions, especially those that never seem to lift and that drive you to do things you know are wrong. If you are angry, ask, "Is there something here too important to me, something I must have at all costs?" Do the same thing with strong fear or despair and guilt. Ask yourself, "Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think it is a necessity when it is not? Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not? If you are overworking, driving yourself into the ground with frantic activity, ask yourself, "Do I feel that I *must* have this thing to be fulfilled and significant? When you ask questions like that, when you " pull your emotions up by the roots," as it were, you will often find your idols clinging to them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From pp 168-169 of Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. There is only one who can wholly hold the weight of our human needs and desires.
Monday, April 05, 2010
School Lunch Nostalgia
Ann Cooper's Dream School Lunch: Grilled beef salad with tatsoi, brown rice and tofu salad, bok choy stir-fry, pear and 1 percent milk via TED blog.
Mmm, I miss those subsidized government lunches we ate in public school for $1. Things that I remember the most: cheeseburgers in those microwaveable foil pouches, beefaroni, overcooked green beans, French Bread pizza, chicken nuggets, tater tots, and the best part: chocolate milk!
School lunch in Korea:
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