2013 Which Bible Book Is the Most Popular?

As many of my readers know, on my other blog I have written and posted chapter-by-chapter summaries of the books of the Bible, up to the Gospel of John so far (plus Romans).  The geeky-cool thing about this is that I get page view stats (hits) for each of these posts, allowing me to get a feel for just how popular certain Bible books are.  I posted a previous article in February 2012 with the stats collected at that point along with possible conclusions from that data, and it was pretty interesting!  But a year and a half has passed, so it's time to take another look at the data as of now:

So, the 2013 winner of "Most Popular Old Testament Book" is Genesis!  No surprise there, right?  If you are going to start reading the Bible, you start with the first book.

What else can we gleam from the data?

Well, the huge drop of page views after Genesis possibly suggests:

•  People loose resolve and interest in reading the Bible pretty quickly
• Or people get demotivated from reading the Bible based on the content
• Or people determine that summaries probably aren't the way to go, and so they go to reading the actual Bible
• Or my summaries are poor quality, and people quickly seek out more reputable sources!  :-)

There appears to be a small, but significant uptick in views of the later minor prophets, like Micah and Zachariah.  However, that uptick is probably an illusion.  At the last data capture in 2012, I had relatively recently added those minor prophet summaries.  In fact, all of the books were added sequentially, with some lags greater than others between publishing. So from 2012 to now in 2013 is the first time block when all of the Old Testament summaries have been equally available.

It's interesting to see Exodus on basically equal footing with Leviticus, whereas before Leviticus had twice the popularity.  Exodus has the miracle-saturated redemption of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, while Leviticus is primarily just laws and commands.  I suspect Leviticus hits are driven by skeptics seeking ridiculousness and conservatives Christians trying to reign in liberal Christians, while the hits in Exodus represent more of enchantment with the myth.

I also find it interesting that the "wisdom" books of Job and Ecclesiastes both experienced a significant drop in hits.  Depending on how you look at these books, they present God, and life in general, in quite a different perspective than what most Christian pastors would have you believe.

However, the most important and revealing trend in the data is the upticks we see in the major prophets of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.  Even some minor prophets like Hosea, Amos, and Micah in particular, show an increase in interest.  While I would like to suppose that this means more people are seeking out the truth and context of these prophesies for themselves, my gut tells me something different...

Each of those books has a common theme; they're often cited for reference when discussing God's final Judgement Day and subsequent restoration.  In fact, the little book of Micah, with its disproportionate number of hits, actually contains the phrase "last days" suggesting the end of an era.  So I suspect that this uptick in prophetic interest just indicates an increasing intensity in "the End is nigh" paranoia.

It should be interesting to see if this trend continues in another year and a half.

I will leave you with the hit could for the four Gospels.  Note that Matthew has been posted the longest, and John only recently got published, so the skew in the data is at least somewhat, if not mostly, due to its length of availability.  Cheers!

Back from Zion

Hello whirled!  Part of the reason for my absence from this blog, besides wrapping up my other one, was vacation.  My wife and I celebrated our anniversary in Zion National Park, and had an excellent time doing so.  :-)

Zion is filled with awe-inspiring geological formations, and these landmarks are usually blessed with some kind of theologically inspired name.  Go figure, right?  "Zion"... the name of the prophesied restored Jerusalem/Israel, has other Biblical names?  How shocking!  ;-p

There is the Great White Throne, the Altar of Sacrifice, and Angel's Landing, to name a few.  The photo you see here is of the Court of the Patriarchs, where, from left to right, the whitish peaks are named after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

On the right, the reddish, orangish mount in front of the white peak is named Mount Moroni; Moroni being a Nephite prophet who was the one that allegedly gave the Golden Plates to Joseph Smith.  What do you expect?  That is Mormon country out there in southern Utah!

Anyway, here's a heads-up for various series I'll be posting on going forward:

• Debate tips and strategies
• More Holy Mackerel! comics
• Buddhism, from the perspective of my Thai friend's favorite teacher
• Continuation of the History of the Devil series.

So I've got some big ambitions, but, honestly I'll probably be lucky to get up to posting once a week.  I've got a lot of other projects in the works right now, which have nothing to do with religion.  :-)

Cheers!

I'm Still Here

If you are almighty God, and/or His mighty Son, and the best way you have of communicating to people is by getting believers who have never seen you before to put up plastic signs reminding people that you are still here, you probably don't exist.

These signs have popped up all over my small town, presumably because Christian persecution is so rampant that people no longer feel safe speaking about Jesus face-to-face, so they let these signs outside their homes do the talking for them... signs which conspicuously mark their location and identity.  :-p  (When will the persecution myth die?)

It makes me wonder:  Will the plastic on which this declaration of faith is printed outlast the religion on which this faith is based?  Based on current trends and the longevity of plastic, the odds indicate yes.

Anyway, I will be on hiatus from this blog for a month or so as I reach the conclusion of the Gospels on the other blog.  See you back here in August!  Oh, and, uh, do let me know if I need to put out a plastic sign to remind you when I get back...  ;-)

Oops, I Did It Again

Well, I did it again. I've managed to sully yet another blog with an interview.

Debra, at You, Me, & Religion, has a wonderful blog where she has corralled Agnostics, Animists, Buddhists, Christians, Druids, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Polytheists, and a sprinkling of many other faiths into answering a set of fairly standardized questions regarding their faith, or lack thereof.  I suspect that the present audience is larger than the original target of her questions, but, regardless, the answers across the different faiths are often interesting and insightful.

If you are interested in seeing how different people of different faiths see their own worldview in their replies, check it out!

If you'd like to see my interview, check out this post.

The Anti-Pope and the End

Hey, did you hear that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to resign?...

OK, so that's old news.  I'm sorry!  Have I mentioned that I've been busy?  ;-)  Enough of that broken record though, and on to the end.

While I know you've heard that Benedict XVI resigned and Francis took his place, did you know that Benedict XVI was the Antichrist?  Oh yes!  Shortly after Benedict XVI became Pope on 19 April 2005, claims sprung up about him being the Antichrist, such as here and here.  I heard about this, and I have been waiting for that old codger to kick the bucket ever since!

Don't get me wrong; I didn't wish any harm on him.  I just wanted yet another foolish "prophesy" to be fully rendered into the gibberish that all such prophesies have been since the dawn of time.  His resignation was good enough, as it will be difficult for him to do what the Antichrist is supposed to do without the Papal seat.  :-)

If you look at those linked sites above, they hedge the claims about Benedict XVI being the Antichrist so as to look less foolish if they are wrong, but years ago that was not the case.

It seems that lots of people have a fetish for the end of the world at this particular moment of history.  Between globalization of business and the exponential boom of technology, the world is changing faster than I change my underwear; and I'm a single-side, single-use, single-day kind of a guy when it comes to that.  ;-)  Not finding any truly rigid point to affix their hopes to, the faithful seem ever-more-anxious to push the reset button and recreate the world into some form of perpetual paradise at the hand of a benevolent God.

For example, way back in 2010, I found this little gem:

"If additional time is granted the world for repentance and the acceptance of Yahuwah’s invitation to accept the sacrifice of His Son, Yahushua’s gift of eternal life, it would be short at best. Any additional time of grace is far from assured. After the fall of 2013, every additional day granted by Yahuwah should be regarded as living on borrowed time."

That's this year!  But don't get too excited.  Now that the end is near, according to that prophesy, they have reworded the page to be much more vague about the dated of the end.  You will not find that quote here anymore.  In fact, I just checked and found the page completely removed, and you can't find any word about Fall 2013.  I guess God must have changed the dates on them, or maybe they didn't want to appear too much like Harold Camping.

There are two important things to remember here.  One point is that predictions of the end, in one form or another, have been made almost since religions got their start.  The second point is that they have all been 100% wrong.  There are no signs of that changing any time soon...

The folks at OnlinePsychologyDegree.net created this fine info-graphic with a sampling of interesting and funny predictions of the end throughout the centuries.  Enjoy!

Getting Started

Happy New Year!  Each new year brings with it its share of beginnings and endings as the natural courses of progress and life continue on.  May your beginnings be enriching, and your endings be bitter-sweet at worst this year!

While I was meditating about beginnings, my mind wandered to wondering about the early beginnings of Christianity.  What was the character of the earliest evangelists?  How did it get to the point of snowballing into a major world religion?

It's often hard to partition cynicism from skepticism, so at least some of the Christians I've openly chatted with likely have the impression that I think there was some grand conspiracy behind all of this; that the "Apostles" all knew that it this was a false religion from the start, and that they kicked off the new faith for selfish reasons.  (That's a bit of a straw-man argument, but just for illustration.)  The truth is that I do not have a strong sense of what happened exactly, but I am less inclined to favor a purely cynical theory.

I suspect that there was a real person named Jesus who attracted a subgroup of truly loyal followers who followed him around.  Were there actually twelve of these loyalists?  Were there less?  Were there more?  Who knows?  But there is some certainty that there were loyal followers, because they had to be the ones to spread the word after their teacher was gone.

What exactly Jesus said and did is highly debatable, and worthy of a separate post itself, but he was at least impressive enough to captivate these followers.  Yet the fact that there were not more loyalists suggests that Jesus' alleged miracles are unlikely to be entirely true, because I suspect that the embodiment of that kind of power combined with alleged divine authority and wisdom, combined with a message that the world would soon end, would have been difficult to resist, as John 6:68 phrases that sentiment so well:

Simon Peter answered [Jesus], "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." NIV

There were believers.  What exactly they believed is also debatable, but we should not deny that these loyal followers, in part or in whole, believed some message that Jesus was preaching.  If not, if it was just for the angle of selfish gain of power, respect, and/or wealth, these non-devoted followers could have easily plagiarized the story and wisdom once they learned it, and broken off on their own long before Jesus died.

So, to me, it is quite likely that the early evangelism was done by sincere believers.  But the problem with many movements, especially those spread orally, is that they can morph and change easily over time.  And as belief spread, new regional faith leaders would have to emerge.  These leaders, being a factor removed from the original eyewitnesses, would naturally have less loyalty to the original message.  They could add on interpretations or hearsay into the story.  Some of them, with their faith weakened by time, could become corrupted by the respect and wealth which was so willingly offered by new believers, just as we see preachers today ensnared in the same situation.

I suspect that by the time the Gospel stories became fully similar to what we know them today, they had been shaped and altered by those who had never had direct access to Jesus.  The original intents and messages had been tweaked or, in some cases, overwritten.  The neat thing is that you can study some of this evolution within the Synoptic Gospels when you compare them side-by-side.

So my guess is that within a decade or so after the evangelism-sans-Jesus began, you had a rather diverse Christian faith.  Some regional leaders were genuinely pious, trying to get the word out, while others had begun to drift due to the trappings of their appointed positions.  Still other leaders who had more worldly knowledge of religions, or astrology, or numerology, or Gnosticism, would put their own spin on the meaning of the "messiah."

But whether or not the leaders had pure piety, they had motivation to be persuasive.  The pious were dealing with an impending, imminent return of their Savior.  The corrupt were figuring out how to better fill their pockets.  And the mystics with their own take on the message were working to bring people into enlightenment of this new revelation.

Those are my thoughts.  That and $5 may get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  :-)  What do you think happened?

A New Heart - Holy Mackerel!

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." NIV One of the biggest problems with Salvation is the potential for sin associated with the persistence of the self into the afterlife.  As many, if not most Christians will fess up to, they still make mistakes and they still sin from time to time in one way or another.  But in the afterlife, supposedly no one will sin in the Kingdom of God. Clearly, something has to change. God will give the Saved a new heart, and a new spirit, such that they will never stray again.  But at that point, will they really be themselves anymore?  Or will they simply be puppets resembling their former selves?  And why not just start out that way, instead of condemning billions to the eternal junk pile as ultimate failures? While our mistakes, errors, and failings do not, or at least should not, define us, the potential for imperfection is what helps us identify and value the best qualities and achievements within ourselves and others, what drives us toward continual improvement and mastery, and what reveals to us the true nature and need of grace and love. As much as I hate to be wrong, I know it makes me a better person.  It would be a shame to lose that facet of existence for all eternity.  To err is human.  :-)

Spam Makes Me Smile

There's been an uptick in the comment spam lately, but I don't mind.  Some of it's pretty funny.  Not intentionally, but that's what happens when they use some literal translation from their native language into English.  I bet a master linguist could figure out exactly what language they originate from.  Anyway, I hope you get a giggle from this gibberish:

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Like an Ape Out of Water

Thinking back to the 2012 Summer Olympics, two things stand out in my mind:  One, it was amazing to me to see just how specialized the body forms were in order to excel at certain sports.  I've seen that in other Olympic games, but for some reason in this year's competition it seemed even more prevalent.  Two, in the majority of the swimming competitions, the participants have mastered what I would call a "dolphin body kick" where, from the mid-to-lower back and on out to the toes, the athletes would propel themselves with a rhythmic waving motion in their latter half.

On a seemingly unrelated note, I have always been curious about why we look so different from our evolutionary close relatives.  Why are we bipedal when they are not?  Why are we naked when they have fur?

Back when evolution's implications were being explored, scientists of the time came up with an answer to those questions:  We moved from the jungles to the savannah.  We needed to stand to see prey and watch for predators in the tall grasses.  The heat of the savannah and other factors helped to make our fur coats unnecessary, so they were shed in an evolutionary process.  Etc.

As archeologist dug into our past, they discovered a big problem with that theory:  The fossilized plants found with the ancient hominid skeletons were not from the savannah!  However, academia has become a little too attached to the previous theory. It has become a faith.  Even though there is this glaring problem with the theory, they still cling to it.   They use it as a foundation for teaching and as a springboard for their questions in interpreting archeological findings rather than embracing the void of no theory, or exploring other possible options...

NetFlix has recently incorporated "TED Talks" into their library, and one particular series of talks called "Ancient Clues" discussed this little big issue.  A delightful elderly lady scientist, named Elaine Morgan, discussed a theory which offered to fill in the gaps and step past the savannah issue.  It's a theory from back in the early 1960's which never got any traction, nor apparently was it ever properly refuted.  It goes like this:

What if we had aquatic ancestors in our evolutionary family tree?  Aquatic chimps?  Strange, yes, but there are several factors which we seem to share with other mammals of aquatic ancestry.  I'll list a few to entice you to check out the talk for yourself:

1. Except for one subterranean mole in South America, all "naked" mammals have an evolutionary aquatic ancestor.
2. Only mammals with aquatic ancestors can consciously control their breathing.  (This is critical for our ability to speak.)
3. Only mammals with aquatic ancestors have a layer of fat under the skin, like we have but chimps do not.

If you have an interest in evolution science, you should definitely watch this.  Also, if you can appreciate how the beliefs of even scientists can morph into a system resembling religion, you should definitely watch this.

This may not be the correct answer to the question of why we are so different than other primates, but we owe it to ourselves to honestly explore this theory as a possibility.

Enjoy!

Seeing the Light on Vacation

My best friend Wasam (a Thai name) and I just got back from an epic road trip: two weeks, six states, two countries, six national parks.  It was a truly excellent experience, and something we'll both be cherishing in our memories for years to come.

At one point, Wasam said:

"Dude, everything we need is in this car right now."

He was referring to more than just what we needed for the trip.  He meant that we had the necessities for life, and a good one at that...  No fancy house.  No widescreen TV.  No junk.  Just a little clothing, some shelter (tent), some food, and a way to see the world.

The simple life really is a good life, but I don't want to bore you with a trite platitude.  Like many things in life, it is the process, the journey, the story which makes matters more interesting and enriching.  This story starts about fifteen years ago, with roots centuries deep.

One stereotype of mainstream Asian culture is an interest in displaying social status.  That's far from being unique to Asia, I know, but it has taken a special prevalence there, and has been made manifest through an infatuation with product brands in our modern era...

Nike.  Gucci.  Even McDonalds.  Wasam has often remarked how expensive it was in Thailand to buy Baskin Robbins; even a single scoop of their ice cream in Thailand would cost the Thai equivalent of a full meal for up to two people from a street vendor.  (In fact, Wasam has said that it is so cheap and easy to get food from the various street vendors that often families to choose that option over making dinner themselves.  But the quality is relatively high.  Imagine flipping the perspective to where a standard restaurant meal is served at Western fast food speed and cost, while McDonalds is a meal that people might save for a special occasion, and you'll get the gist.)

So fifteen years ago, when Wasam and I first met, he was very brand focused, but there was a small, quiet part of him that didn't want to be.  Perhaps it was from the example set by his parents coming through poverty to a position of financial comfort while maintaining some humility.  Perhaps it was just a growing repugnance with superficial cultural contexts.  I can't help but wonder if that's part of what attracted him to me as a friend.

As I look back on my closest friendships, I realize that there is usually one or more strengths that they have in areas where I am weak.  It seems that I want friends who will challenge me to grow and think in different perspectives more than I want friends who are just fun to hang around with.  And it seems like there is reciprocation.  My strengths are often weaknesses in my friends, so through the years we have grown stronger together.

Fifteen years ago, almost to a fault, I had practically no brand affinity, especially when compared to Wasam.

In the time that has passed, I've gained an appreciation for design and craftsmanship which had been sorely lacking.  I am willing to pay more when it makes sense to pay more, up to a practical limit.  Meanwhile, Wasam has nearly conquered the materialist-elitism instilled in him by his cultural upbringing in Thailand; perhaps ironically doing so in a country which is widely considered the most materialistic on earth; the United States.

Watching your friends and loved ones grow through the years is truly one of life's great rewards.  Challenging yourself to grow is one of life's most worthwhile endeavors.  If you need to gain perspective on where things are, what is important, and what needs to change, may I suggest a long drive with a good friend?

The Belly of the Beast

Have you ever wondered what's inside the belly of the Beast?  Apparently, it's a mix of coffee, chocolate, and ice cream...  ;-)

Fan Mail - From a Lady Type

God works in mysterious ways, that's for sure.  ;-)

In the intro for my previous fan mail post, I mentioned SPAM from allegedly interested ladies.  Ask, and you will receive.  Here's on hot-off-the-presses that arrived in my SPAM box this morning.  Take a read for a little Monday Morning chuckle:

My name is Benedicta Kassala, Interested in you,
and wish to have you as my friend,
for friendship is all about Respect, Admiration and love. Also
Consist of friendship is sharing of ideas and planing together,
i intend to send you my pictures if you reply me.
please contact me through my private email address today so that
i will send you my pictures,waiting to hear from you.
Thanks
from Benedicta.

Fan Mail

Ahh, fan mail.  I get a lot of it.  And by a lot, I mean pretty much none.

Usually the fan mail I get is from strange-named "ladies" with a noticeably poor grasp of the English language who allegedly have seen my profile online, think I look cute, and would like to get to better know me.

Not that I am knocking people communicating in a language other than their own.  I mean, I wish my Spanish was half as good as some of the English in these emails.  It's just that it's a pretty telling indicator that such a random email with weird names, illicit interests, and poor grammar are kind of a give-away that it is a scam.  ;-)

Anyway, I recently received an email which was not exactly what you would call fan mail.  In fact, its intent was more reminiscent of what you see in the picture on this post.

Ordinarily (which is a stretch of that word because of how infrequently I receive emails like this) I would handle the matter privately in emails.  Plus, the content of his email is not really going to be news to anyone.  There is not going to be any shocking revelation in his words.

However, this particular individual is (at least according to the information he provided) a Reverend AND a rocket scientist!

Yeah, that's right.  A rocket scientist.

So for those of you who like to study human psychology, and are particularly interested in outliers, this may be of interest for you.  That is why I am going to go public with his email.  He asked a number of questions, which I intend to publicly answer as well.

Right now I am figuring out a way to post the rather loquacious email in a fashion which will not bore your socks off, or turn you off from the negativity in the email.  Give me a few days.

Then my intent is to get back to the History of the Devil stuff, as well as a bunch of other topics.  Who knows what order they will actually be posted in...

I Failed

A couple posts ago, I invited readers to grade me on how I conducted a debate.  I thought I would have kept everything civil, thus the invite to grade me.  ;-)  As it turned out, that debate went very poorly, in fact it was probably the worst debate I've had in many years.  The strength of my argument was still good, but the strength of my tone was just too much.  I was enjoying belittling my opponent's mistakes a little too much.

And the worst part for me was that my opponent just didn't get how badly he was being beaten!  :-p  It was like having a battle of wits with an unarmed person.  ;-)

Seriously though, I've reflected on what happened... how and why did it go the horrible way it went.

Ad hominem attacks.  My opponent started with one, and then it was downhill from there.  But that's not the whole story...

I strive to enlighten people, but you can only enlighten people when they are ready for it.

I had dealt with this opponent before, and he had not exactly been a pleasure to deal with.  It is hard to interpret just from text, but he seemed to be one of those types of people who do not fully consider what you say.  Instead, they just instantly bounce back with why their opinion is right.  That's difficult to discern, because if you have a strong knowledge of the topic, it can seem as though you are not giving the other side its proper consideration.

With this being the second time I had dealt with this opponent, and based on how he started the debate without having done proper research of my position which he was attacking, I had gotten the sense that he was just out to try to make me look foolish.

I really don't need his help.  I can look foolish all by myself, thank you very much.  :-)

So, I think the little switch flipped in my brain which said "this guy is not into a meaningful discussion," and so I treated it that way.  I defended my points, but I insulted him too often along the way, as it was convenient.  In that process, if he really had been there for a meaningful discussion, well, he surely would have changed his mind to align with my prejudiced perception of him. ;-)

Therein lies the fault. You can't convince people in a debate when you are insulting them.  In what I am trying to do, I should be acting more like an ambassador, and keep my arguments concise to the topics at hand, not the character of my opponents.

So I am going to promise to myself to keep debates as topic-focused as possible going forward.  But you know what?  It is really fun to be snarky at times.  I'm going to miss that.

Obama's Paycheck

Yogurt.  Banana.  Maybe toast.  And a quick chance to catch up on the news.  It was your typical free hotel "continental" breakfast.

Some places I go, FOX news is guaranteed to be on the TV.  Others, it's one of the seemingly fifty different-but-the-same ESPN channels.  Maybe the balance 25-35% have a hodgepodge of other network news and local news.

Anyway, yesterday, it was FOX.  As I peeled back the foil on one of my single-serving yogurts, the story breaks...

"This year, all of our proud, American Olympic athletes will be wearing uniforms which were made completely in China!"

The only other person sharing the breakfast nook with me, a lady, turned back to me with indignation.

"That's horrible!" she gasps.
"It is kind of a shame, isn't it." I say.
"That should cost Obama his paycheck!" she snaps.

Scccrrrreeeeeech!  That's the sound my brain's train of thought made as it came to a halt ASAP with full reverse engine.  This conversation was over for me.

Right there, right in front of me, was what comes to my mind as the stereotypical FOX news consumer.  And I know stereotypes are not fully accurate.  And I know several people with better capacity for thought than this woman who also watch FOX.  But there she was... a living, breathing representation of my greatest fear for the political future of our country.

The news report segment was not even done, but FOX had gotten through.  The details were not yet fully revealed, but this woman assigned the blame on Obama, as if Obama had anything to do with the Olympic uniforms.  To her, this was a political abomination orchestrated by the White House.

FOX would go on to report that Ralph Lauren, the American apparel designer, had donated the uniforms.  That sets the true argument, the same old argument, at American companies for sending their manufacturing overseas in the name of profit.  Because, trust me, at the ~$1000 dollar retail price of the uniforms, companies like Ralph Lauren are making a killing.  These techniques have grown our companies into massive entities which, arguably, they could never have become with the more-restricted profits derived from U.S.A. based manufacturing.  But these profits have come at a cost.

As I left the breakfast area, it seemed to me that the woman was still indignant about the President's responsibility in this situation.  Heaven help us all.

Powerless

I've been promising for about a month or two that things were going to return to "normal" in my blogging world, but that has been difficult.  I thought this past week would be that chance, but my nephew's visit had several unexpected twists.

It may be odd, but I am a Godfather of one of my nephews, the one who visited last week.  Let's call him Animal, a reference to Animal in the Muppets and apropos to his nature.

About seven years ago, when my younger sister asked me if I would be Animal's Godfather, I said "you do realize that I do not believe in God, right?"  Ultimately, through a little more dialog, she answered something to the effect of "you are the most moral and right-minded person I know."  I thought, hmm, she doesn't know me very well!  ;-)  No, actually I was flattered.  I knew that I had faults she was not aware of, but I took the mantle of responsibility with the mind to do what I could.

But how do you be a Godfather without believing in God?  For me, the focus was clear; not necessarily to help Animal become a worshiper of God, but rather to foster a spirit of morality from within.

So the focus is clear, but the execution... not so much.  Animal lived about an hour away at the time of his baptism, and now is several states away.  My job schedule is often crazy and unpredictable, such that I missed his baptism, and typically only saw him on random, one-day visits.  I had trusted that his parents would provide the basic structure of ethics and morality, up to a certain age, and my role would gradually become larger as his maturity waxed.  Now, I'm not so sure.

The problem is that Animal has always been, well, an animal.  Not that he is vicious or mean, but certainly a bit on the wild side, stubborn, and careless in physical play.  Don't get me wrong here.  Animal is a seven-year-old boy.  I expect a healthy amount of rambunctiousness and immaturity.  So it's been tough for me to judge where he is at in development with my historically brief and random visits, but having him stay for a week at my house was revealing.

Animal's parents came with him, but my sister had to leave early due to a previous commitment.

Naturally, I am an expert parent, because I have no children.  ;-)  So it became clear that Animal had some real problems, and those problems centered around a lack of effective discipline.  Animal's problems were symptoms of his parents problems in how they were handling him.

To overly simplify it:

My sister, who is close to being a stay-at-home mom and thus provides most of the discipline, almost exclusively goes the route of redirection, meaning that if Animal is doing something she doesn't want him to do, she'll offer something else for him to choose to do.  So usually he still ends up getting his way, even if it is a different way than he was going originally.

My brother-in-law, let's call him Bill, does not seem to play the redirection game with him.  Instead, he expects Animal to respect his requests to stop doing this or to go do that.  Animal does not seem to yield that respect, at least in most significant cases.  Instead, he often throws a tantrum.

When Animal throws a tantrum, almost without fail, one of the two parents will give in to his demands or offer some kind of compensation to calm him down or cheer him up.  I am not sure which parent is most likely to do this, because I didn't see my sister actually do much of this, but Bill tells me that she does.

Also, my sister will argue with Bill in front of Animal about how to handle him, which I had always thought was taboo in parenting.

Just to complicate matters, my sister tends to be volatile at times. While she has managed to express her anger more wisely as she's matured, her passionate feelings and their instantaneous outbreaks have not diminished in the least.

Oh, and she does not think she wants to stay married to Bill.  Bill does have a lot of problems himself, but is in no way looking to divorce.  While I can definitely see that living with Bill would be difficult, I haven't seen him exhibit any behavior which would unquestionably justify a divorce.

There are a lot of other dynamics at play here too; far too numerous, and some far too personal to even blog anonymously about.

All of that just to say I am feeling a little powerless.  By the second day, while my sister was still there, I did gently express my concerns regarding their discipline of Animal.  My sister reacted unpleasantly, and said some really hurtful things about Bill and his family.

Drawing from my vast repertoire of parental experience, and taking advantage of cooler tempers the following day, I made some recommendations about increasing discipline, and they were actually received better than I had expected.  Some ideas were even implemented later that day.

Then we had a massive storm role through on Friday, which knocked out power for the remainder of the time while Bill and Animal were in town.  Animal has become addicted to digital entertainment, but he was able to handle the power outage just fine; partly due to other activities, partly due to the new discipline plan, and partly due to the storm and the power outage making him a little scared.  Yet by the end of the week, despite the positive changes already seen in Animal, I could see Bill slipping back into his old discipline habits a bit, and see Animal slip into his regular tantrums.

I think I can help with Animal, but I think that there is much in his parent's relationship which needs to be healed before most of the constructive changes for Animal can be made manifest.  So I am attempting to help on multiple fronts.  Yet ultimately it is my sister and Bill who need to lead the charge and the change.  I certainly can't do it alone, or by ordering them around.

It's times like these when I wish that there was some benevolent puppet master in the sky, one you could get to change the dangle of the strings by a mere friendly request.  Because, right now, I have to tread firmly on eggshells.  That is so much more difficult to do than to talk to an imaginary friend.

By the way, if you have any advice, I'm all ears.  :-)

Coming Back Around

I've got a backlog of eight technical reports and some expenses to process, but I am approaching the end of the tunnel.  The light's getting brighter.  The future's so bright, I've gotta wear shades.

There is another chaotic job to cover next week, but I expect a return to normalcy shortly thereafter.  Well, at least as "normal" as I get.

The irregularly scheduled posts will soon continue in regular fashion, and I'll soon get the chance to visit all of your blogs again..  Thanks for bearing with me.

By the way, here's an insider's tip regarding my other blog.  I schedule the posts, but I do so with a "hidden" code.  They go up after 7 AM Eastern time, but exactly when is the code.  Posts at 7:01 are ones with content I think is so meaningful that I wish all Christians would read.  As the posts get later, they are generally less potent arguments, ranging up to 7:07.  So if you are pressed for time, or are just interested in the big issues, you may want to skip the later posts and instead focus on what's coming out at 7:01-7:03 AM.

Cheers!

No Rest for the Wicked

13-14 hour days, seven days a week, doesn't really seem to be conducive to making blog posts...  I wonder why that is?  :-)

Bible Bloopers!

Anyone who writes regularly knows how frustrating typos can be, but imagine screwing up the most important book in your life, the very word of God!  So, fellow bloggers, take a look at some of my favorite bloopers from actual printed Bibles, and feel a little better about that last "form" which was supposed to be "from."

• Psalms 91:5 - “Thou shall not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night” - Myles Coverdale's Bible 1535  That's Middle English, where "bugges" meant "haunting ghosts" as opposed to mosquitoes, but either is pretty funny today.
• Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" - Geneva Bible, Second Edition  Placemakers, peacemakers, close enough, right?
• Chapter heading for Luke 21 - "Christ condemneth the poor widow" - Geneva Bible, Second Edition  Oh, you meant commend, not condemn.  My bad.
• Psalm 119:161 - "Printers have persecuted me without a cause" - King James 1612  Pesky printers, always persecuting you, and running out of toner too.
• Exodus 20:14 - "Thou shalt commit adultery." - King James 1631  Now that is really a liberal interpretation!
• I Corinthians 6:9 - "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God?..." - King James 1653  That's right.  The righteous get it first, then the unrightous inherit it form them.
• John 8:11 - "Go and sin on more" - King James 1716  Keep up the good work!  Just try not to get caught in the middle of the act of adultery next time.
• Psalm 14:1 - "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God" - King James 1763  That's what I've been trying to tell you!
• Matthew 13:43 - "...Who has ears to ear, let him hear." - King James 1810  I'm all ears!

He Is Risen!

He is risen!  And after about 20 minutes at 425 degrees F, He'll be perfected!  Crunchy, chewy, golden brown crust with a soft, deliciousness concealed inside!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I celebrated with the appropriate rite of spring.  ;-)

FYI, towards the latter half of the month, I will start posting a series spawned from reading "The History of the Devil."