CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

I am going to post something everyday that I am grateful for. Will you join me?

Who want to see the ISS (International Space Station), it is going to be particularly visible tonight -- for 4 minutes, from 6:13 EST to 6:17 EST, traveling across the sky to an elevation of 85 degrees from 34 degress above SW to 12 degrees above NE.

Monty Python Channel on YouTube!!

Basics of Playing the Theremin -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

I give thanks to God for my weaknesses because they turn me to God and make me trust in God, and in God only.

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after Thanksgiving in North America and the next day internationally, in 2008 the dates will be November 28 and 29 respectively. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine.

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September of 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption." In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the top 10 busiest shopping days in the United States. Outside of North America, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated on the following Saturday. Despite controversies, Adbusters managed to advertise Buy Nothing Day on CNN, but many other major television networks declined to air their ads. Soon, campaigns started appearing in United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.

While critics of the day charge that Buy Nothing Day simply causes participants to buy the next day,[4] Adbusters states that it "isn't just about changing your habits for one day" but "about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste."

Source: Wikipedia


Suddenly, we ran out of money and, to avoid collapse, we quickly pumped liquidity back into the system. But behind our financial crisis a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low?

Theres only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

It will take a massive mindshift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th. Then celebrate Christmas differently this year, and make a New Years resolution to change your lifestyle in 2009.

Its now or never!

Source: http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

I am grateful for my dentist. No, I am not kidding! I may not have perfect teeth (far from it!) but I am grateful that I have had good dental care for the majority of my life.

• I saw the ISS tonight before my Bible Study.
• I didn't hit a deer, but I saw two by the side of the road.
• It was COLD tonight -- 26 degrees F.
• I saw gas for $1.76 a gallon. That would be $1.66 with my Kroger card. Wow!
• But gas is the only thing this week that I have noticed that the price has gone down.
• On the way home, I saw a bunch of meteors. The Leonids were on the 17th, so what's up with that?

Friends.

Galveston is having a hard time. We heard a lot about Katrina and New Orleans -- not so much about Ike and Galveston. We have family in that area; between the hurricane and the economic tsunami, Galveston is being hit hard.

The latest news confirms that between 2800 and 3800 people are going to be laid off from the University of Texas Medical Branch. That is going to be 3800 families who will not have a good Christmas this year -- 3800 people going onto unemployment, perhaps forcing them to move, as Galveston is not rebuilding very rapidly (if at all).

But additionally, this is bad news for the thousands and thousands of indigent people who depend on UTMB for medical care. UTMB lost $710 million from treating people after Ike and additionaly did not have sufficient flood insurance to cover the damage from the hurricane. UTMB is the largest employer on the island. This will mean tremendous loss of revenue for Galveston with the result that they may never recover fully from Ike.

There is a part of me that feels that this is a message to us to not build so close to the coast. What hubris that is! There is a part of me that believes that yes, they need to cut their losses and move inland.

But I get lost into the individual stories -- the indigent person who will not have care; the family of that nurse that will be laid off. How do we balance what we know is making the "best" of a bad situation and these individual stories?

I wonder if part of separating the sheep from the goats happens within our own selves as we try to discern the best thing to do.

I can hear it now -- "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you took away the employment to one of the least of these, just as you denied decent healthcare to one of the least of these, just as you shutdown 350 hospital beds to one of the least of these, you did do it to me."

I am going to go look for the ISS around 6:52 -- it will appear in the sky in the southwest and move across the sky. It will be very bright -- about a magnitude -2.5. I have gone and watched for it before; it is indeed quite visible to the naked eye but tonight will be different. Tonight it contains a person who I have known for 25 years. He and I did not attend the same school, but we had the same peer group at the Science Center and he was an Independent Study Student my first year teaching. I met him at a cookout we had that Fall. He went to HS with my boyfriend at the time.

So I will watch tonight and think of those days, of that time. How amazing life is and how varied. I will send up a prayer for traveling mercies, as well, maybe even singing a verse or two of "Eternal Father Strong to Save."

Godspeed, Eric.

Little Bit (or Critter) is the Purrfect Laptop.

• Little Bit is settling in quite nicely. The big kitties are getting used to the idea of the micro-cat. She loves to perch on my shoulder -- like a parrot. It's kind of sweet but it's also kind of annoying. She's still very little -- about a pound and a half, but she's growing. Her eyes have lost all signs of blue and I think she's going to have gold eyes. I am totally in love with her.
• And yes, she gets to go to West Virginia with us. The house-sitter doesn't want the responsibility of a kitten and the vet won't board one this young. She doesn't seem to mind the car so we will put a covered litter box in the back along with her food and water, put her bed in the back seat and carry her around in the cat-carrier. I suppose we will have free range cat while we are in motion on the freeway. Should be an adventure.
• We are getting ready for the marathon to Christmas. Advent is week after next -- I want all my ducks in a row before Thanksgiving so that I don't have to stop and deal with, well, stuff.
• I want to do some baking/cooking this Christmas and I would love to have an after Christmas party. Cleaning the house is the first step, so I'm cleaning house -- literally and figuratively.
  
• Odd thing yesterday -- I saw your typical Suburban Gansta' -- lowriding Honda with low profile tires, sagging pants with lots of chains, a "grill" and ballcap turned sideways, listening to booming music. EXCEPT the music was Nickel Creek Newgrass. My brain almost exploded.

Zyrtec. My allergies are clearing up. So much for just using the stuff occasionally. I've started taking it every day. I really don't want to be dependent on medications -- and I suppose if I were willing to have itchy eyes and sneeze all the time, I could do without. However I don't think I was on top of my game yesterday -- I took Theraflu and Theraflu + allergies + preaching = very interesting sermonizing.

I am grateful for my two beautiful churches and the wonderful and loving people they are filled with.

Burts UMC and Glade UMC

Just maybe.

Cat's brains give off mostly alpha waves -- and it is said that they are attracted to people who give off alpha waves. I suppose I give off more alpha waves than the rest of my family. I do love this little kitty.

My Education -- my BS in Mathematics and my MDiv.

I am grateful that I married MacGyver. Of course the Cat Whisperer's haircut is much better and in his day I think that he was much easier on the eyes than Richard Dean Anderson. But he is just as resourceful. This week he repaired his gear selector on his "new" Saturn (1995) with a couple of cable ties. He debated about using a shoestring, but didn't have one on hand. The thingy at the bottom of the gear selector broke and the cables attached to allow you to shift gears fell off.

The "permanent" solution required a couple of grommets from a Toyota windshield wiper, a couple of big washers and I guess more cable ties or bailing wire. Maybe he used duct tape and chewing gum, too.

But for his "handy-ness" I am grateful.

This Sunday the text is the parable of the talents. Where to go with this? Of course, there are layers of meaning. Most people skip over the fact that the talent is an actual measure of money -- not an ability. When I read this, I am reminded of my Grandfather D who found a jar of money dated from the early 1930's in his back yard in 1958 or 1959. This is a common thing in the depression -- there was zero trust in banks.

Well, we are almost at zero trust in the stock market and banking institutions again. I wonder how I can talk about this parable this year and at this time?

I am also reminded of Dante's level of hell where there were the wasters and the hoarders. I am reminded of John Wesley's theory of Money -- and how we talk about it now-a-days (Dave Ramsey, Scott Adams, Crown Financial).

Zero trust in banks -- who should we trust then? It makes me think also of contentment and how we try to fill the emptiness within us with stuff.

Hmmm ... Maybe I have already written this sermon.

As suggested by Gordon Charlton. This is a really talented player -- such control and dare I say intonation (I've had arguments with a friend if a theremin can have intonation...) The instruments blend together beautifully. Western ears are so used to hearing a well-tempered or just tempered instrument and our entire lexicon of western music depends on such. How delightful to hear the theremin in a lovely asian pentatonic composition. Absolutely beautiful.