The Cloud

The cloud

To the scientist, something to be calculated
To the farmer, a premonition of life
To the artist, the canvas for the sun to paint on
To the child, the artist painting
To the shivering, a curse
To the perspiring, a blessing
To those under a clear sky, non-existent
To the defiant, something to jump through
To the meteorologist, a money-maker
To the blood-thirsty, a veil to drop bombs through
To the pre-occupied, irrelevant
To the worn, a reminder

In the end, it is the cloud.

Forget me, please.

Traveling to the place of your rearing is always an interesting endeavor. It stirs up all sorts of feelings, some good, some bad, and some indeterminable.

I was in Amarillo and Portales (Grandma's) over the Thanksgiving Break and it was an interesting, unrestful experience. This visit back stuck out to me in particular for some reason, perhaps due to my expectations. Less speculation, more narration-after all you have no idea what I'm saying.

On Thursday morning, We (my family and I) took the two hour trek over to the barren and forgotten land of East New Mexico. Arriving there around noon, the normal cycle began: carry the bags in, hug Mimi, eat chips with dip, and catch up on the news of the family-Cousin's surprise pregnancy, Aunt's argument with Mimi, and tears of frustration on the soft cheeks of my grandmother. Slowly more and more family start to trickle in, now finished working cattle at "the place."

Dinner begins and I, of course, take my seat at the "kids table." The kid's table is where I belong when I am in Portales. I am stuck in a time decelerrator in the minds of those sitting around "The Adult Table" as they poke fun at my facial hair as if I am a sixteen year old trying to grow out his first beard. I sit there, taking it, feeling as though I am a sixteen year old. The funniest experience, sitting at the kid's table, is getting talked to about your recent engagement and upcoming marriage. I suppose you don't graduate up to the Adult Table until you are old enough in the eyes of your relatives to be getting married.

That night, politics make their way into the discussion. I've never seen so many people avert their eyes to their cell-phones to avoid attempting to take my opinion seriously.


Portales:
Congratulations on the engagement: 1
"You don't need to get married this young" talks: 1
Beard jokes: Plenty


We traveled back to Amarillo on Friday, back to the town that is enigmatically unexplainable. This town you can taste and feel in a way I haven't experienced in many places. When I look around Amarillo, at the streets, the cars and the people, it's as if looking through a gray filter that slows time and progress. As if the spirits of the Native Americans that used to inhabit the land are hunting for those pursuing ingenuity and change and firing a tranquilizing arrow into their necks. A punishment for robbing them of their land. In Amarillo you have two choices: It's either impregnating and drugs or ministries and John Mayer.
It's interesting how seductive those two options seem to be to so many people. I suppose both provide orgasms and money.

I've noticed that the gray filter that slows time and progress disables those under its spell from investigating my personal growth and change, much like what I experienced in Portales. In their filmed eyes I am still the high-school Michael. The "emo" Michael. The "funny" Michael. The Michael that doesn't want to talk, but instead would rather busy himself with old practices.

I wish the tranquilizer could be sucked from the veins of that city, the grayness be erased, and a flower pop up in a sidewalk crack for someone to discover for the first time.

I want, rather than to be remembered, to be forgotten and reintroduced.

hiss

The dead leaves hiss across the pavement, scraping, their voices amplified by the wind. Death is audible in this place and it clings to my clothing like the shed shell of the locust stuck to a branch. Death clings to life even after it is dead.

Systematic Theology Lecture Notes

September 17, 2009

Colossians 1:15-20
1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 8:6
John 1:1-9
What do these verses tell us about creation?

Genesis 1-Let Us make- us is the divine council-the writer of Genesis doesn’t know about the Trinity, but back then they were aware of a “divine council”

We are not just in God’s image-we are in the image of all the creatures created before us.

Creation story is not to tell us how sin came to be, sin is already there or else there wouldn’t be a tempting serpent, but what this story tells us is the creation of the human and how sin enters the human experience.

What does it mean to be human- gen 1,2,3.

LET US MAKE-God is going to mediate his creation through these higher beings (angels-in their image as well).

What is the significance of a mediated creation- It keeps a distinction between the creator and the creation.

Proverbs 3:19-20 God creates with wisdom. Sends wisdom out to the mediators who create using his wisdom.

Psalm 8:3-5 - a hierarchy. We have been made a little bit lower than the gods. Word is elohim which means lord.

Creator human distinction that cannot be overcome

Wisdom literature (Wisdom of Solomon, Proverbs etc..)-the point is to gain wisdom, creation is the outcome of wisdom mediating God’s will. When we get wisdom, we can know God and know what he wants us to do with his creation.

the Torah become the way in which God is mediating
Shekinah-where God is, it is but it is not God
Tabernacle/Temple-Psalmists want to be in the Temple, because that’s where God’s presence is
Angel of the Lord-not God, but when the angel of the Lord speaks, God speaks.
Gen 18-God appears to him in the mediation of three men, don’t think the trinity, they didn’t have that.-The text is intentionally being coy. You don’t know what Abraham knows or how he knows it. Even though this is three men, it is still God speaking. How can no one see God, yet see God? Because God’s presence is accessible mediatorally.

Ezek 1.4-
Above, middle, middle, over- theologically- you can’t quite get to GOD. But this God wants to make himself known to us, so these mediated beings are the way he can relate to us. God is inaccessible to us but is imminent through mediated beings.

All of this sets us up with the picture of Christ. It doesn’t let you fall into the thought that God is only inaccessible and it doesn’t allow you to know him wholly accessible.

Scripture is set up for us to have mediators, but the scandal of Christianity is that God mediates as God. Jesus is shekinah, temple, etc…but he is also GOD. Because he is God and not some creature, what does this mean? The Mediation is complete. Never before has the mediation been complete because some is lost in the translation. Now that it is God doing the mediation, then nothing is lost.

Dehumanization Leads to Violence and Violence Leads to Dehumanization

Recently I viewed the documentary: "The Blood of My Brother" by Andrew Berends. The basic premise of the film is the story of a Shi'ite family living in Iraq during "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The family suffers a terrible loss when the eldest son, caretaker, and father figure of the family, is shot by an American soldier while guarding (unarmed) the local mosque. Although he is heralded as a hero and a martyr, the family he left behind is left in shambles. Ibrahim, Ra'ad's (the deceased) younger brother, is left in charge of providing monetarily for the family and running the family "shop". It is quite apparent, however, that he is still too immature to take on such responsibility and the family's emotional and financial stability disintegrates. Many times throughout the film Ibrahim states that he would much rather be avenging the death of his brother and even die a martyr, than tending the family shop. Repeatedly, he states that anytime he sees an American or Jew, he wants to take their life for what they did to his brother and his family.

This depiction of the Iraq War opened my eyes even further to the grotesque nature of the violent and irrevocably destructive nature of this conflict our nation is engaged in. Scenes within the documentary allow you to: eat with this Shi'ite family, laugh with them, cry with them, ride with their neighbors wielding Kalashnikovs, shoot down an American Apache helicopter, hide in houses peeking out at the monstrous American tank scouring through the neighborhood, attend a mosque, protest the Americans presence and watch as a friend screams after receiving fatal gunshot wounds for his participation in the peaceful protest. This journey, allows you to relate to the people on the other side of the American M16. You understand who they are, their emotions, and ultimately and most importantly their humanity.

I'm afraid we have lost sight of the effects on humanity that our decisions create; the decisions we allow our nation to be engaged in have an eternal consequence. I know that some Americans are apathetically uninformed of the disgusting occurrences that happen in a nation on the other side of the world, but why? Why do those who are uninformed of the reality of the situation choose to not seek the truth? My hypothesis is that we have allowed ourselves to dehumanize those who do not bring us any personal satisfaction. We have become so busy thinking about our own personal benefit that we have lost site of the beauty of the ordinance Christ gave us to: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Let us ask ourselves, like Jesus ordered us to, whether we would want a tank in our neighborhood, our brother to be killed for standing outside of our church, or whether we would be upset with a foreign soldier busting down our home's door in the middle of the night and arresting us for owning a weapon. It is not right. Try to imagine containing the fury inside yourself after your wife was killed by a stray bullet. Ask yourself whether you would go into your house, pull out your shotgun, and have your revenge. This sort of action isn't justified, but imagining the situation helps one to have compassion on those who feel violated and respond out of deep emotional stress. Instead of facing the humanity involved in this issue, some Americans throw Iraqi's into a category that says: "All of those damned Iraqi rebels are Bin Laden supporters, they just love killing people, and they are evil to the core." This mentality, is what is evil to the core.

What brought me to this film and ideas was a recently acquired friend. My friend is originally from Libya, but now lives in the states. He served a four year term in the U.S. Marine Corps with whom he played an active role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Needless to say, we have discussed on many occasions his thoughts on the controversial military engagement. For the sake of confidentiality, I will refer to him as "the translator."

The fact that the translator is an Arab and fluent in Arabic landed him in a infantry unit working as a translator. Mostly, the translator would move with his unit as a kind of reconnaissance team. On these recon patrols, situations would sometimes arise that were an opportunity to gain valuable military intelligence by extracting it from the local people.On a number of these patrols the translator was ordered by his commanding officer to tell those being interviewed or interrogated that they would be killed if they didn't provide valuable information. The translator reassured me that he wouldn't, couldn't, follow such orders. His struggle with carrying out such orders surfaced because when he looked at those being questioned, all he could see in their faces were the faces of his own: aunt, grandparents, brothers, or father. He saw the humanity of the situation. He saw the humanity of the humans. He could relate to them culturally, physically, lingually, and spiritually. For his compassion and care for the Iraqi people he was ostracized and socially secluded from his American comrades and labeled as a "softie". His comrades still saw the Iraqi rebels on the other side of the conflict as a bulls-eye in target practice, but the translator saw the enemy soldiers' lives, families, emotions, and turmoils bleeding to death in the dirt.

Seeing the inside of others is what is necessary to end this twisted and feuding world's violence. So often, we only see our own situations and how we will be affected on a personal level. We must transcend our own situation and place ourselves in our opponents shoes. I understand that most of those that are reading this are not in live combat situations, but I assure you that this lifestyle of transcending oneself for the sake of love will prove insightful and beneficial in all types of situations.

For instance:

Work at Burger King for a year with no other form of income and then you will be justified in saying that the government "gives too much financial aid to poor people."

Volunteer at a Homeless shelter everyday for a month and then you can be justified in saying that all homeless people are "just lazy."

Live in a foreign country, meet locals and become their friends then you can be justified in saying that our government has the right to occupy their streets and land and kill or arrest whomever they want.


The point is that until someone knows the other's situation, he cannot love or change them. For the sake of Christianity and Humanity let us risk our own well-being for the sake of other's.


P.S. Take a look at this: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/middleeast/18zubaydah.html?_r=2&hp

For the sake of your sorrowful passion have mercy on us sinners.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen.

The Idol of Tangibility: The Root of Idol-Worship?

Pondering deep thoughts this evening. Upon finishing this, I have decided I need to practice conveying written thoughts in a more understandable way. I apologize if this comes across as babble.

Earlier today I was reading in a book by Daniel Harrington entitled: "Interpreting the New Testament." Essentially it defines different forms of literary criticism that help one attain meaning or authenticity in regards to Scripture, or any literary piece for that matter.

I came to the chapter dealing with "Historical Criticism," which describes how this form of criticism is used to help prove or disprove claims made in Scripture. Harrington makes the statement that, historically, all that can be said of the person Jesus is that: he was a real person, he was born in Nazareth, he preached and healed, and he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. This, as it should, made me stop and question the validity of this worldview that I ascribe to, this way of life that is an acceptance of a life of suffering and self-denial, and, ultimately, this denial of worldly logic. A thought flew through my head: "I wish there was multiple and accurate historical accounts of Jesus and his deeds to make all of this easier to believe." Then, I realized that I had fallen on my face in front of the golden calf of tangibility.

I then had the revelation that us, as humanity, worship tangibility because it feels as though it is real and understandable. We worship tangibility despite the fact that the root of all things tangible is an idea or benefit that is intangible. Therefore, the truth is that we deny the fact that our desire is that which is physically impossible to grasp (God), and instead replace His void with other intangible ideas symbolically presented in a tangible and understandable form.

For instance:

Paper currency brings: respect, power, ability to act in certain manners, and attention.
All of these 'benefits' are intangible.

College diplomas bring: respect, power, money (which is purely an idea), knowledge, and opportunity.
All of these 'benefits' are intangible.

Food and Shelter brings: life, safety, and health.
All of these 'benefits' are intangible.



We are made to worship God, something that doesn't seem to our earthly and physical minds to be tangible, and this makes us very upset. God, knowing our nature, graciously sent a physical and tangible form of Himself to the Earth, Jesus Christ. Even after this amazing and loving act by our Creator, we still question His existence. Perhaps this is why there is such a massive shift towards humanism in the world today. Humanism is the worship of the only thing that seems truly tangible to humanity, ourselves. But even at the root of finding truth through humanity, one cannot even define what a human is to the point of tangibility.

Let us admit our spirituality. Let us admit our void designed to be filled by the seemingly intangible deity that John the Elder referred to as "Love." Jesus Christ was the tangible revelation of Love. It takes us admitting our desire and void for that which is physically intangible to our simple minds, and inviting the Creator of all things fill that void.



For the sake of Your sorrowful passion have mercy on us sinners.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen.

ruh-roh

Net firms start storing user data


Details of your e-mails will be recorded
Details of user e-mails and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive.
The plans were drawn up in the wake of the London bombings in 2005.
ISPs and telecoms firms have resisted the proposals while some countries in the EU are contesting the directive.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said it was a "crazy directive" with potentially dangerous repercussions for citizens.
All ISPs in the European Union will have to store the records for a year. An EU directive which requires telecoms firms to hold on to telephone records for 12 months is already in force.
The data stored does not include the content of e-mails or a recording of a net phone call, but is used to determine connections between individuals.
Authorities can get access to the stored records with a warrant.
Governments across the EU have now started to implement the directive into their own national legislation.
The UK Home Office, responsible for matters of policing and national security, said the measure had "effective safeguards" in place.

There is concern that access to our data is widening to include many public bodies
ISPs across Europe have complained about the extra costs involved in maintaining the records. The UK government has agreed to reimburse ISPs for the cost of retaining the data.
Mr Killock said the directive was passed only by "stretching the law".
The EU passed it by "saying it was a commercial matter and not a police matter", he explained.
"Because of that they got it through on a simple vote, rather than needing unanimity, which is required for policing matters," he said.
Sense of shock
He added: "It was introduced in the wake of the London bombings when there was a sense of shock in Europe. It was used to push people in a particular direction."
Sweden has decided to ignore the directive completely while there is a challenge going through the German courts at present.
"Hopefully, we can see some sort of challenge to this directive," said Mr Killock.
Isabella Sankey, Policy Director at Liberty, said the directive formalised what had already been taking place under voluntary arrangement for years.
"The problem is that this regime allows not just police to access this information but hundreds of other public bodies."
In a statement, the Home Office said it was implementing the directive because it was the government's priority to "protect public safety and national security".
It added: "Communications data is the where and when of the communication and plays a vital part in a wide range of criminal investigations and prevention of terrorist attacks, as well as contributing to public safety more generally.
"Without communications data resolving crimes such as the Rhys Jones murder would be very difficult if not impossible.
"Access to communications data is governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) which ensures that effective safeguards are in place and that the data can only be accessed when it is necessary and proportionate to do so."
Please note, in an earlier version of this story we incorrectly stated that ISPs would be storing details of website visits. This is not the case.




taken from bbc.co.uk