A. W. Tozer

Why do some persons `find' God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His Presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God but with us.

Pick at random a score of great saints whose lives and testimonies are widely known. Let them be Bible characters or well known Christians of post-Biblical times. You will be struck instantly with the fact that the saints were not alike. Sometimes the unlikenesses were so great as to be positively glaring. How different for example was Moses from Isaiah; how different was Elijah from David; how unlike each other were John and Paul, St. Francis and Luther, Finney and Thomas à Kempis. The differences are as wide as human life itself: differences of race, nationality, education, temperament, habit and personal qualities. Yet they all walked, each in his day, upon a high road of spiritual living far above the common way. Their differences must have been incidental and in the eyes of God of no significance. In some vital quality they must have been alike. What was it?

I venture to suggest that the one vital quality which they had in common was spirital receptivity. Something in them was open to heaven, something which urged them Godward. Without attempting anything like a profound analysis I shall say simply that they had spiritual awareness and that they went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in their lives. They differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it. They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response. They were not disobedient to the heavenly vision. As David put it neatly, `When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' (Ps 27:8)

(Pursuit of God, p. 66-67)

Assuming we can still trust government documents

So I read this and it pretty much defined my stance on the presidential race I've been so unsure of... its been a confusing and propaganda filled campaign trail as usual.

I think that its funny that people complain about single issue voters, like if they feel most strongly about one point they should dilute it with a host of other issues before their opinion becomes valid. So I can't be silent about my other opinions, I have to be equally vocal about the economy to have my views on the war validated? 

But oh well...

So I beg you to just follow this link and check out the craziness...
(be sure to check out the actual documents too!)

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2630

So how could I justify voting this man into office if he is willing to kill babies after they are accidently born in abortion slip-ups? How could I vote for a man who would have voted against my getting to live?

Its pretty crazy to think that I myself, a bastard son of the mid-80's, probably had a better chance of being cut short of the air-breathing stage of life than of making it to a strapping 22 years old.

I guess I'm just more in favor of babies than I am of privacy.

Technology is no enemy. Let me get that straight first.

I myself am currently typing this using relatively advanced technology. I don't want to speak too soon, obsolesce is a constant factor scaring even the most intrepid technologists, those fearfully waiting just one more month before buying the latest hardware in terror over the fact that by the time they reach the exit of the Best Buy with their purchase there are going to be two newer versions on the shelves they just scoured.

So I'm actually a huge fan of technology and its communicative enhancement gifts upon the world. I know little about it myself honestly, compared to those ardent enthusiasts I know, such as "Updates in the Life Of..."

But I have this complaint. Not toward anyone, but about modernity in general.

Communication is good. The greater it becomes, the better off are all parties. One can communicate great truth or great poison, but communication itself remains always unbiased. With nearly unprecedented mass communication, the Nazi party converted a nation to aggressive world consuming atrocity and chaotic destruction of its own humanity. Contrastingly, impressive relentless verbal and public communication by early Christians spread a message from a few thousand people to be widely accepted at every corner of the known world.

But there are great flaws in technology. More so in the speed of things I suppose.

I love nature. This love is one I share with many more people than technology appreciation, for sheer sake of a few thousand years head start. But nature is beautiful and simply amazing, an inspiration to all human artistic endeavor in some way. And exploring nature is a chance to reflect, an adventure that entails grand reflection almost intrinsically. Every excursion provides the ability to be quiet and listen to some murmuring tranquility which almost demands for itself silent attention. I constantly think forward with happy anticipation of the next opportunity for such blessings.

But I see a great discord struck between the areas of technology and nature. This is not necessarily an interpersonal dispute, but one that is made clear in personal contrast for myself. I do see characteristics which create this tension however. The truth is that as cultures have advanced in the sciences, communication, and travel throughout history, life has become faster and faster paced. While this has always been true, the truth of this has been exponentially displayed in the 20th and 21st centuries.

J.R.R. Tolkien was one man who saw globalization approaching long before the advent of the internet, and stood in strong opposition to it. He saw an imminent destruction of cultures in blending them too closely. While he had personal affinities toward his rural English shire, he also had a great respect for all local cultures and wanted to see these cultures remain intact. It is truly easy to see that his sentiments were sadly confirmed in a world where no culture is left to its local customs anymore. The truth is that globalization is really only good for big businesses and to make life generally easier.

Now easier sounds better to everyone. Its strange that in a day when life is by far easier than it ever has been before, people continue to value greater ease more and more, like some kind of drug. But the truth is that easier doesn't mean simpler. And the wise have always valued getting away from the aptly named "rat race" for awhile. Many people realize that its far more rewarding to do even the simplest chore in a way that is rewarding versus checking off a to-do list. I think having an easy mentality is actually really damaging and a great way to let life get away from us. If your hoping to look back and try to figure out how all those hours, days, months, and years flew by, this is your mentality of choice.

So I notice that people are distracted from having higher purpose in their lives when they are focused on this globalized, technological, easy world. I also see that nature and living simply bring a greater ability to reflect on true life goals and overarching ideals. This all works out extremely practically in my own life.

All of this is more apparent to me in my own personality. I find myself distracted from living the way I want to through technologies. And I find that taking time out is most eye-opening and rewarding when incorporating a nature get-away. I see an inverse relationship here in my desires too. While I want to live fully and with the purpose I desire, I often fall short of this in technological wallowing. Technological distraction is constantly rearing its ugly head and keeping me from committing to my planned times away from it. I truly feel more and more that I need to keep my technology usage reigned in to specific controlled design, and that this will give me the ability to focus my life all the more greatly. Nature just comes into the picture as something I would be more than happy to replace it with, something which would never have such negative effects.

But of course, technology itself is not to blame. The bigger picture reveals my own lack of self control the culprit. This both lets technology off the hook as to say it is not the true source but also replaces it there as the most formidable of temptations. I have an "Into the Wild" mentality these days, but for completely opposite reasons from those of Alex Supertramp.

Ohio finally killed a murderous maniac who has been on death row since before I was born!

I cannot believe that all of this is actually taken seriously by our judicial system!

How can someone not be healthy enough for execution?

Today, I was at a starbuck's having a weekly meeting discussing the music ministry of the youth group I'm working with here in Austin.
As I was listening and contemplating the discussion, I looked out the window at a bird under a table, and noticed something really strange. I don't know how I noticed it so quickly, but for a split second I saw very clearly that this crow-like bird was missing a foot.
Now a birds leg is already just like a stick with two sticks pointing off of the front and one stick pointing off of the back.

See Example.






Who knows how this happened, but I enjoyed it. The bird seemed to function fine this way, and it rocks to see a peg-leg bird. Hoping to see a squirrel with a hook or eye-patch soon.