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Jumat, 30 April 2010

Sabtu, 24 April 2010

A hedge-y endeavor




Ecclesiastes 10:10:


"If the iron is blunt, and one does not whet the edge, then more strength must be exerted; but wisdom helps one to succeed."

Well, that is pretty much the sum total of what the Bible has to say about splitting logs.

In the last couple of weeks, I've had the fence builders out here, totally rebuilding my pasture fences. My long-eared equines (mostly my mule) have taken a toll on my woven wire fence. I opted for a taller fence, and seven strands of barbed wire. The other flaw in the previous fence was that the previous builder put the staples and clips on the OUTSIDE. Equines simply lean against the fence and pop the staples and the clips bend open. It doesn't take much for determined long-eared equines and their belief that the grass really IS greener on the other side of the fence, to wreck one.

One of the decisions I made was to put hedge posts in for my corner posts. Hedge is one of the densest, sturdiest, most resistant to rot and decay woods available in this part of the world. It's even better than many of the treated posts available. The sidelight has been there are little "leftovers" of the posts given to me so I can burn them in my chiminea later on. Seeing as how hedge is also one of the highest BTU delivering woods out there, this is a bonus.

There's only one problem--some of them are too big for my chiminea. I had to break out my axe, my splitting maul, and my wedge, and revisit something that used to be a real pain in my life--but this time, as a tourist, as a pastime.

Let me share a little history. I grew up with a wood stove being the major source of heat in the house where I lived the bulk of my junior high/high school years. I grew to hate the wood stove and everything associated with it. I hated being dragged along to cut and split wood. I hated stacking wood, hauling wood in the house, and lugging out the ashes. I hated how the house was cold in the early mornings, I hated how I often had to get dressed in front of the wood stove in order not to freeze, and I hated how it seemed the entire set of activities of daily living revolved around feeding and maintaining that wood stove every winter. I hated how wood heat dried my nose out, I hated how all my clothes seemed to have a smoky smell to them, and I hated how we had a propane furnace and never used it, being told we couldn't afford it.

I vowed never to have wood heat in the house, and I have kept that promise.

Yet I love sitting outside by my chiminea fire. Go figure.

Most of the wood I use in my chiminea has been cut by someone else. But I kept all my woodcutting tools because once in a while I still have to deal with an oversized log.

As I looked at the little pile of hedge logs that was growing by my driveway, I made a radical decision--I would use splitting them as a form of meditation. I would simply split them and see what popped in my head as a result.

I pondered the first log. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was 30+ years older than when I used to do this all the time. I used to have well-tuned muscles for this task. I was younger, slenderer, better muscled, and more flexible. What am I doing? I could throw out my back or miss and cut the end of my foot off. Out of all the types of wood I could have taken on, I took on the densest, hardest wood in NE Missouri. Am I NUTS?

Just the same, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, opened my eyes, reared back and let fly with the axe. It landed pretty much where I intended it to go, scoring the log. I took a few more whacks with the axe, then grabbed the splitting maul and started in with it. Pretty soon, after a few swings, a big chunk of that log came flying off with a pop, and I felt the rush of feeling the maul peel right through 18 inches of solid wood.

I wish I could have seen my own grin.

Over the next half hour, things came back to me I did not even realize were buried in my memory banks. Layers of clothing started to peel off as I felt myself sweat. My hands found the right spots on the handle. I automatically used already split pieces to prop up the piece I was working on. Before you know it, I had a little pile of split logs, just the right size. Realizing one little pile was enough, I quit, and got a soda and sat down to think about what had just happened. I was tired, but not sore. I wasn't sore the next morning, either--I'd done it about right.

But as I sat and drank my soda outside in my "post-splitting" phase of the exercise, I realized just how GOOD it all felt. Something I used to hate to do became pleasurable. I felt very physically and spiritually "connected". I felt empowered. I found myself saying, "God, I can't believe I'm telling you this, but I'm glad I had learned how to do that, all those many years ago."

I'm sure God laughed.

It brought me to some other interesting spiritual awakenings. Nothing that happens in our lives is for naught. It made me realize that things we hated, things that hurt us, things we discarded as "no use to us," can eventually come to good. Mistakes aren't mistakes, and things we came to regret only remain regrets if we choose to leave them there. Left the size they are, they are useless--but if we dare to take them apart, no matter how hard they are, they can come apart through the power of things we forgot we have or never knew we possessed--in other words, with God's help. Most importantly, we can turn loathing into gratitude. We can take what seemed inert, dead, and useless, and turn it into heat, light, and warmth.

That in itself, is a form of resurrection, isn't it?

The Stations of the Resurrection--Sixth Station--Jesus Appears to the Disciples in Jerusalem



("Jesus Appears to the Disciples After Resurrection," by Imre Morocz)

The Sixth Station--Jesus Appears to the Disciples in Jerusalem

Leader: O Risen Christ, Light of the world, we adore you;
People: You appeared and ate fish with your disciples.

A lively discussion ensued between the eleven and the disciples who had seen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. All of them had been afraid to tell what had happened to them, until each had admitted their story to the other. What could this mean? It was still hard for them to keep it all straight in their heads. The images of the crucified Jesus, the memories of wrapping him in his burial cloth, were still incredibly fresh, and confusing.

Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the midst of them. All of the conversation suddenly stopped, and all eyes turned towards him. The speechlessness of the disciples threw a heavy silence into the air.

Jesus broke the silence with a loving voice. "Peace be with you," he smiled, as he held out his hands and showed his feet to them, drawing them near with his hands, encouraging them to touch his wounds. "Don't be afraid." One can only imagine their joy as they reached out to him, held his hands, and hugged him. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked. Someone gave him a piece of broiled fish. Again, all eyes were upon him as he ate it. He was really swallowing it and eating it--he MUST be real! This can't be a dream, a figment of the imagination, they thought. After enjoying the fish, Jesus began teaching them again. It felt like the good days before the crucifixion. The disciples smiled at each other as they listened. It felt too good to be true.

Leader: As Jesus stood before the disciples to teach,
People: They could scarcely believe the moment was real.

Leader: Let us pray.
(a brief period of silence is observed.)

Almighty God,
we read your words, we attend worship, we speak your name,
but what we really crave is your true Presence
and the true Presence of your Son.
Enable us to see Christ's true face,
his wounded hands and feet,
and his resurrected body.
Help us to feel his true presence in us
during those times we partake of his body and blood.
Create in us his real Presence--
as real as the fish he ate in front of the disciples,
and renew us in our own resurrections.

People: Amen.

Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Kamis, 22 April 2010

Trend Tattoo 2010



This trend tattoos 2010 for you all...........

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One of the many well-known designs of tattoos which most people are obtaining is a special tattoo executed in Ancient English lettering. A group of people use their last or surnames, some expression or perhaps a Bible verse which signifies something memorable or extraordinary to them executed in Ancient English in the process. A person can improve his or her own personal tattoo by simply carrying

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For a significant portion of the world's population, Jesus Chris of Nazareth is the end-all, be-all when it comes to devoted religious worship. Put succinctly, for these folks, there's no one more important than Jesus. When they want to show their devotion, therefore, one of the most creative and powerful ways they go about it is with a tattoo of the Son of God up on his cross. There are

Miley Cyrus Has First Tattoo All Planned Out

The Disney star can't seem to keep herself out of scandals and she is only 16 years old. First it was the topless photo shoot that caused some much drama, even though she had a bed sheet covering herself and all you could see what her back. She is also involved in a law suit regrading all the Asians in CA , due to a photo of her pretending she was Asians. She is also ridiculed for her close

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Many people now are very much engaged in having tattoos on their body. One of the major factors for this is the freedom to express personality and individuality through the choice of tattoo designs. Another reason is the wide acceptance of the world's culture regarding having tattoos on the skin. Because of all these, there are many designs available for tattoos, and the variety of designs will

Tattoo Care for a Foot Tattoo

Regardless of whether your new body art is an arm, back, or foot tattoo, you want to follow the same tattoo care guidelines as outlined below.After receiving a new tattoo, your artist will apply an ointment, usually A&D, and wrap your tattoo in saran wrap or a medical bandage. This is to keep any foreign materials out of the tattoo. A new tattoo is a wound, an abrasion on the skin, and can be

Tribal Feather Tattoo - Tips on Getting Your New Tattoo

Once you've finally come to the decision to get a new tribal feather tattoo, you need to do adequate research to find the right design you want and tattoo parlor that you would like to visit.Remember, tattoos are permanent; therefore, you need to be 100% sure that you are going to be happy with the design that you choose to ink on your skin. Where do you find tattoo designs? A Google image search

TCA Tattoo Removal - Can You Use it While Pregnant Or Breast Feeding

When using any new product or simply using a product for the first time, one should always know the ends and outs and risks associated with that particular product before use. This goes for everyone, especially women that are pregnant, nursing or may become pregnant. For obvious reason you never want to ingest anything that pose a potential threat to an unborn child. You never want to be involved



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The art to decorate yourself with tattoos is one of the most ancient and it exists for more than 6000 years. Tattoos appeared by accident: having noticed that after burns or cuts, in which soot or paint gets accidentally, fanciful and indelible pictures are left on the skin, people started to hurt themselves deliberately. In such a way tattoos have appeared.Tattoo art started in Egypt and owing

Oh, Yada, Yada....




Yada.

Who would have thought three little Hebrew letters, Yod, Daleth, and Ain would have caused so much trouble? Put 'em all together and they spell Yada--not the "Yada, yada," of Seinfeld fame, but the Hebrew word, "to know."

In those three letters, we sure place a lot of assumption.

The online Hebrew Lexicon I often use has about 20+ meanings for the word yada. ONE of them is "to know carnally." The word is used 983 times in the Hebrew Bible. In 973 times, it means "know" in the ordinary ways you and I understand the word "know" in English. Only in ten of those times do text scholars believe yada means "to have sexual relations," and even in some of those times it probably doesn't mean "consensual, loving sex." For instance, in the Genesis 19 story--the famous "Sodom" story, the implication is "forcible sex"--gang rape in particular.

So, it turns out, that our little aside, "He knew her...you know...in the Biblical sense," is pretty much urban legend. Ninety-nine percent of the time, when the Old Testament says "know," well...the "Biblical sense" is "know means know"--just like you and I mean "know" when we say, "Oh, I know so-and-so." Whaddya know.

Yet on this little Hebrew word, some folks hang the moon and stars on so called "Biblical" notions of homosexuality. Go figure.

Genesis 19 is a lousy story to hang that on anyway. Lot doesn't exactly handle the situation in a manner we would now want to champion for modern family values, anyway. When the angry mob shows up, demanding they want to "know" the two strangers (angels) at Lot's house, what does Lot do? He basically tells them, "Oh, no, you can't have these two guys, they're my guests. But ya know what? I got a couple pre-teen daughters out back that y'all can have your way with--how's that instead?" Oy gevalt.

Couple that with the fact ancient Hebrew is, as is modern English, rife with colloquialisms. We find them in the Hebrew scriptures all the time. A Hebrew word for foot (regel) is translated as "genitals," in some passages. Some Hebrew words are used in their exact opposite context. There's a lot of room for getting things lost in translation.

Yet the moment we find a hidden or sexual meaning in some of the words, we totally go "Beavis and Butthead" over it. "Heh heh. He said "foot." he said "know." Heh heh."

So much of this, I think, is what Louie Crew describes as "the ick factor." He often points out that if we personally think something is icky, it's our tendency to have our feelings of ickiness validated. I would take it one step further and add, "If we think it's icky, we'd prefer our projection of God to think it's icky too." But I kind of find it all a little bewildering. There are plenty of sexual practices that are legal in this country, that I personally find icky, yet I don't feel a huge need to have God pass judgment over the ickiness.

All I'm saying, is, "There sure is a lot of yada, yada about yada."

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Rabu, 21 April 2010

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