Today was a nutty day.
I woke up at 6:45 to go to the Uturn Flapjack Fundraiser. left at 10:30 ish. We made like $200 in the two hours people were there.
Then i went home.
Now the way i had planned my weekend was to do ALL of my homework during the following time period. However, as soon as i got home i promptly fell asleep. I woke up at 3:00 in the afternoon, only to fall asleep again. I eventually pulled myself out of bed at 5:00, which was when i had to put black clothes on to go to the second performance of my school's musical. At this point i hardly remembered anything about pancakes, because the nap i took essentially made two days out of one.
We teched the musical until 10:30. Because i'm a senior, and this is my last musical, i got a rose and a short speech from the director on stage.
Then as we were walking to my car, we saw a school minibus idling in the parking lot. Inside were my friend and the teacher who runs our school robotics team. There was a big robotics match in Massachusetts that i couldn't go to today for the above two reasons. We ended up in the final rounds, and got a trophy.
My friend had gotten 30 minutes of sleep last night because he spent the entire night fixing our robot, and they had to leave school at some ridiculous hour in order to get to mass by 10:00 in the morning. Everyone on the team got medals for making it to the finals.
So i walked off my school today with a rose, a medal, and quite a good feeling.
Tomorrow is more complicated.
I have church in the morning, followed by a 12:30 call time for the last performance of the musical, followed by youth group.
I'm going to be spending a lot of time driving through downtown dover without time to stop for food. So I don't know when i'm going to eat all day.
But here's the deal. Lately, i've found that I am incapable of remembering what i have to do every day. In the past i've made lists in my head of thing to accomplish in a week or day, but i can't do that any more. I've started writing things down. I have to write down my classes in order to figure out what i have to do for homework. I have to make lists of things to remember to bring with me when i go places. I think i'm going to use it as an excuse to get a G1.
But what i've realized recently is that i like having no free time. I sincerely enjoy knowing that i am actually accomplishing something with my time. And when you walk off of your school feeling like you made a difference, you're glad you don't get enough sleep.
But one of the reasons that i have so little free time is that i have to constantly balance doing things at my school and doing things at church. The personal feeling of accomplishment is the same whether you help organize an event for a church or organize an event for your school. But personal accomplishment isn't what matters in life. Or maybe it does, and maybe it shouldn't.
What ought to matter is accomplishing things for God, not setting lights for small children dressed as orphans. When i graduate highschool, i'll go to college.
Who knows how involved i'll be wherever i go. But one thing that i want to do is make sure i get more involved with church, or ministry of some sort.
In Matthew 9:37, Jesus says, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field"
To qute Gene Wilder, "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."
We have our work cut out for us.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
On God Not Disliking Science
There's an article in the most recent issue of Wired that is an interview with a scientist who recently published a book titled, How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't have to Be Forever. The idea is that modern-day chicken embryos contain all the ingredients that you need to make a dinosaur. All you have to do is mess with a few genes that regulate the development process, and you end up with a chicken that looks like a dinosaur.
Awesome.
But here's why i'm telling you about this.
One of the statements from the interviewer was this:
"It would certainly prove the creationists dead wrong."
Oh boy, i thought.
But here's where it gets good.
The scientist replied with this cutting remark.
"Religion is about faith, not evidence. Comparing science and religion isn't like comparing apples and oranges - it's more like apples and sewing machines."
ouch.
and excellent.
Here's the deal.
Science and Christianity, or any faith, for that matter, aren't mutually exclusive.
A lot of times, hard-core conservatives will go neck-and-neck with people who think in scientific terms. You end up with a whole group of people who believe that global warming is a government plot, who don't care about following any scientific process, and who won't listen to anyone with a master's degree, versus a whole group of 'intellectuals' who will immediately stop taking you seriously if you mention anything to do with God.
This shouldn't be the case.
There is nothing in Science that is mutually exclusive with God.
In fact, until the past 70 years or so, pretty much every scientist believed in God anyway. It's merely a coincidence that much of our modern scientific community is made up of atheists. People look at science and say that it's better than religion, that it's a more worthwhile endeavor than worshiping God.
Maybe those people are just looking for a way to add usefulness to their lives where they haven't discovered the purpose God has for them.
Evolution doesn't have anything to say about creation.
The theory of evolution is widely accepted by the scientific community, but i'd say that the Big Bang theory is on a much smaller pedestal. Darwin was a christian. He believed in creation. But he also believed that organisms change over time.
I'm not supporting evolution here, i'm just trying to flesh out my point.
Science can only prove theories wrong.
It can't just come out and say something.
And since science can't prove God, creation, or anything in the Bible wrong, it's perfectly legitimate to be in the scientific community and not be an atheist.
Isaiah 29:14
"Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
science is good, but God is better.
Awesome.
But here's why i'm telling you about this.
One of the statements from the interviewer was this:
"It would certainly prove the creationists dead wrong."
Oh boy, i thought.
But here's where it gets good.
The scientist replied with this cutting remark.
"Religion is about faith, not evidence. Comparing science and religion isn't like comparing apples and oranges - it's more like apples and sewing machines."
ouch.
and excellent.
Here's the deal.
Science and Christianity, or any faith, for that matter, aren't mutually exclusive.
A lot of times, hard-core conservatives will go neck-and-neck with people who think in scientific terms. You end up with a whole group of people who believe that global warming is a government plot, who don't care about following any scientific process, and who won't listen to anyone with a master's degree, versus a whole group of 'intellectuals' who will immediately stop taking you seriously if you mention anything to do with God.
This shouldn't be the case.
There is nothing in Science that is mutually exclusive with God.
In fact, until the past 70 years or so, pretty much every scientist believed in God anyway. It's merely a coincidence that much of our modern scientific community is made up of atheists. People look at science and say that it's better than religion, that it's a more worthwhile endeavor than worshiping God.
Maybe those people are just looking for a way to add usefulness to their lives where they haven't discovered the purpose God has for them.
Evolution doesn't have anything to say about creation.
The theory of evolution is widely accepted by the scientific community, but i'd say that the Big Bang theory is on a much smaller pedestal. Darwin was a christian. He believed in creation. But he also believed that organisms change over time.
I'm not supporting evolution here, i'm just trying to flesh out my point.
Science can only prove theories wrong.
It can't just come out and say something.
And since science can't prove God, creation, or anything in the Bible wrong, it's perfectly legitimate to be in the scientific community and not be an atheist.
Isaiah 29:14
"Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
science is good, but God is better.
Monday, February 16, 2009
On The Piano
For the past week or so, we watched a movie in my english class: The Piano.
We have sort of been looking at different women roles in modern drama, and The Piano is an admittedly stark contrast to the role women play in many "modern dramas", whatever that means.
Basically, the movie is about a mute woman in the 1850s who is married off to a missionary in the New Zealand rain forest.
If you want the entire plot, read the wikipedia article, it sums the entire thing up.
Here's what i have to say for it:
It is the most traumatizing, emotionally tearing, nasty, and uncomfortable movie i have ever seen.
Before showing the film, my teacher told us, "there are scenes in this movie that I can't watch. and i cry every time i see it."
my teacher is a man, by the way.
And here is what i told people when they asked me what i thought of it:
"I think i would have been better off not ever seeing The Piano."
Think about it.
What did i gain from that movie?
A perspective on femininity that i could have had by someone telling me about it.
What did i lose from that movie?
It ruined every day that i had english class. It seriously disgruntled me.
And so much more.
By simple logic, i would have been better off not seeing the movie.
Modern society tells us that there is a world out there to experience.
There are places to see, people to meet, things to try, and every new experience we have is a gain.
That's almost entirely untrue.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians, "'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial."
I feel like if i could go back in time and un-watch The Piano, i would.
And i would have gained back some valuable time.
Here's my point.
Some things in life are simply not worth spending time on.
There is no way to learn everything, experience all there is, or have 2,000 different jobs. So you might as well pick and choose what will benefit you the most.
We have sort of been looking at different women roles in modern drama, and The Piano is an admittedly stark contrast to the role women play in many "modern dramas", whatever that means.
Basically, the movie is about a mute woman in the 1850s who is married off to a missionary in the New Zealand rain forest.
If you want the entire plot, read the wikipedia article, it sums the entire thing up.
Here's what i have to say for it:
It is the most traumatizing, emotionally tearing, nasty, and uncomfortable movie i have ever seen.
Before showing the film, my teacher told us, "there are scenes in this movie that I can't watch. and i cry every time i see it."
my teacher is a man, by the way.
And here is what i told people when they asked me what i thought of it:
"I think i would have been better off not ever seeing The Piano."
Think about it.
What did i gain from that movie?
A perspective on femininity that i could have had by someone telling me about it.
What did i lose from that movie?
It ruined every day that i had english class. It seriously disgruntled me.
And so much more.
By simple logic, i would have been better off not seeing the movie.
Modern society tells us that there is a world out there to experience.
There are places to see, people to meet, things to try, and every new experience we have is a gain.
That's almost entirely untrue.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians, "'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial."
I feel like if i could go back in time and un-watch The Piano, i would.
And i would have gained back some valuable time.
Here's my point.
Some things in life are simply not worth spending time on.
There is no way to learn everything, experience all there is, or have 2,000 different jobs. So you might as well pick and choose what will benefit you the most.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
On making a day
Yesterday I was incredibly tired.
It seems like every time i get 7 hours of sleep, my body freaks out.
As if it's so accustomed to getting only 5 or 6 that it doesn't know what to do with the extra hour.
So in order to actually have a good night's sleep i need to bargain for more than 8 hours so my brain has time to figure out how to continue sleeping.
The biggest problem is that it makes it virtually impossible for me to have a restful sleep on a school night, as when i actually try to go to bed early, i just end up screwing up my day even more.
Anyway, you get the idea.
I was really tired and not feeling tip-top yesterday.
So after school i found myself at the local neighborhood South Berwick Cumberland Farms, which is actually only about an 8th of a mile away from the next local neighborhood Cumberland Farms, across the boarder in Rollinsford.
I had $10.
I bought a small bag of beef jerky, a quart of chocolate milk, and some candy.
As the guy rang it up it turned out to be $9.76.
I was relieved, because with Maine taxes, you never know when you're going to go over your $10 bill, they're always taking your money for their good education system and low property taxes.
As i handed the guy my money, he said, "i'll throw in a penny so i can give you back a quarter."
At first i was confused, but when he handed me a quarter in change, my mood changed entirely.
I thanked him, and went back to my car happier than i had been since i woke up that morning.
You could say that the cashier made my day by giving me a quarter.
Now, we could get into the details on why quarters are so good; every quarter i get in change goes into the cupholder in my car so that i can pay for tolls when people randomly tell me that they want to hang out in newington.
I'd go as far as to say that quarters are the only useful coin in our currency system.
Thinking back on it later, I realized that the cashier probably had no idea how much he impacted me. He just tossed a penny into the cash register to make my life a little easier.
Maybe that's what was so good- he made an effort, small as it may have been, to make someone else- me- have a better day.
I'm a firm believer that if we all were just a tad bit nicer to each other, just a smidgin more thoughtful, we'd be much further than we are now.
It seems like every time i get 7 hours of sleep, my body freaks out.
As if it's so accustomed to getting only 5 or 6 that it doesn't know what to do with the extra hour.
So in order to actually have a good night's sleep i need to bargain for more than 8 hours so my brain has time to figure out how to continue sleeping.
The biggest problem is that it makes it virtually impossible for me to have a restful sleep on a school night, as when i actually try to go to bed early, i just end up screwing up my day even more.
Anyway, you get the idea.
I was really tired and not feeling tip-top yesterday.
So after school i found myself at the local neighborhood South Berwick Cumberland Farms, which is actually only about an 8th of a mile away from the next local neighborhood Cumberland Farms, across the boarder in Rollinsford.
I had $10.
I bought a small bag of beef jerky, a quart of chocolate milk, and some candy.
As the guy rang it up it turned out to be $9.76.
I was relieved, because with Maine taxes, you never know when you're going to go over your $10 bill, they're always taking your money for their good education system and low property taxes.
As i handed the guy my money, he said, "i'll throw in a penny so i can give you back a quarter."
At first i was confused, but when he handed me a quarter in change, my mood changed entirely.
I thanked him, and went back to my car happier than i had been since i woke up that morning.
You could say that the cashier made my day by giving me a quarter.
Now, we could get into the details on why quarters are so good; every quarter i get in change goes into the cupholder in my car so that i can pay for tolls when people randomly tell me that they want to hang out in newington.
I'd go as far as to say that quarters are the only useful coin in our currency system.
Thinking back on it later, I realized that the cashier probably had no idea how much he impacted me. He just tossed a penny into the cash register to make my life a little easier.
Maybe that's what was so good- he made an effort, small as it may have been, to make someone else- me- have a better day.
I'm a firm believer that if we all were just a tad bit nicer to each other, just a smidgin more thoughtful, we'd be much further than we are now.
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