smiles

remembered

“Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

 

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the LORD;

let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt his name together!...”

 

Psalm 34:1-3

Music!

My brother, Hunter, recently acquired a sweet guzheng from China. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to post a video of him playing his own compositions. Until then, here’s a nice gig.

Prophet of Peace?

I saw this article while at work and finally get to post regarding it.

 

This is disgusting!  We go from honoring a man who sees poverty (lack of shalom) and takes steps to change it to honoring a man for his work in raising awareness of a highly contested crisis?  The first man has changed the lives of thousands of people in his country and others.  The second has changed what?  I am honored to have set in a lecture with the first man, to have learned from him despite my frustration with some of the long run effects of his “love.”  Thankfully I haven’t had to sit under the second man.  A prophet is without honor in his own town, but many such prophets are justly without honor.

 

Why did the Nobel Peace prize go to someone completely unlike 2006’s  Muhammad Yunus?  How could the standards have changed, lowered so drastically in one year?  Who decided to award the 2007 Nobel Peace prize to Al Gore?!?  I don’t know how to understand this.

 

The Rain is Enough

The rain is enough, I tell myself as I’m tempted to open iTunes.  I’m studying on the front porch while rain dances and crickles all around me.  All of it is delightful…the smell, feel, dark mist, etc.  But the sound, the sound is great!  In fact, the rain is enough.  I don’t not need iTunes to keep me company when I’ve got God’s rain.

 

“Candy is dandy, but liqur is quicker,” says Ogden Nash.  So iTunes is quicker, accessible on demand unlike the rain which only comes at God’s command and whim.  Yet, I much prefer the “candy!”  After all, the rain is enough.

More glorious!

The 4th of July fireworks were spectacular downtowne this evening.
Wonderful. Splendid! The finale battery was deafening, blazing, wow.

Until driving home, down the seemingly forsaken highway at
midnight...God shows up with His moon...starkly imposing His
extravagance and creative power in the sky. No competition comes
close. The fireworks seem small. Beautiful. Wow!

Praise God!

Thankfully not brutal

After reading this article of the current conflict in the Middle East,
I'm glad that I don't live in the brutal and barbaric Middle Ages. They
were dark and violent.

Aid convoy under fire in Lebanon
*A UN aid convoy which entered the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern
Lebanon has been forced to leave after shells exploded near its vehicles. *

Fighting has resumed between Islamist militants besieged by the Lebanese
army in the Palestinian refugee camp despite a ceasefire declared by the
militants.

Six lorries went into the camp during a lull, carrying food, water,
medical supplies and an electricity generator.

There are reports of injuries and it is not clear if the aid was delivered.

About 31,000 civilians are trapped in the camp in deteriorating
conditions. Dozens have been killed since the violence erupted on Sunday.

An eyewitness told the BBC he had seen the dead and wounded lying in the
streets...

Full article here
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6678941.stm>.