Encounter meditations
As a Christian of always been hesitant to meditate. Because I was taught and saw meditation being done by blue new age people and advocated to five some strange dudes I shied away from for a long time. The whole concept of emptying your mind was appealing to me that after reading up on new age things I was afraid of what would fill my mind once I got identity. Following their track anyways.
In the past few years I revisited the decision to not meditate formally. One of the podcast posts that I listen to for a while was the shilling for the calm. The column packages a lot of him him meditations of daily meditations that are different every day. They package in some music and some relaxing ambience stuff which time into. I have some bedtime stories and other things that I don't really use them but every once in the hall was no one just to relax not to go to sleep.
But the call map is very much a self oriented thing. They talk about the person being the way to change. And as a Christian life use the call map I feel somewhat guilty at times because I feel like I might be doing the wrong thing. But then I am careful and don't fall into thinking that I shouldn't fall into. Hopefully.
A while back I found the encounter podcast. When I founded it was called encountering peace. But they have since shortened it. It's a Christian meditation podcast!
I was skeptical when I gave it a try. It's very relaxing and contemplative, which means it's too slow and sleepy for my wife. But I enjoy it! The host focuses on Scripture and messages from the Bible and does a good job repeating it so that I get a verse or thought that I can remember throughout the day and that it helps me. They have an app also that I use, though it seems to drain my battery a little bit too much if I forget to exit it completely.
But I've enjoyed doing the Encounter meditations as a devotion thing in the mornings for a couple of months now. From what I've learned prayer is talking to God and meditation is us listening to God. I don't know if that's too "new age" are not, but it has helped me slow down and take 15 minutes to listen to God. And the messages in the Encounter meditations have many times been right on what I needed to hear for the day.
Like today's: talk about a runner that her dream was to compete and win this big big race, she won every other race leading up to it that year. She got to the big one that she really wanted to win and was in second with the person in front of her quite a bit in front of her but still within sight. The person running in front of her stumbled and from exhaustion fell to the ground. And instead of just running by her this young lady stopped, helped the other runner stand again, and then helped her cross the finish line. That's a message that I like because I've tried to put the "I am second message" from Jesus into action in my life. It helped me focus on that idea rather than be angry about something recently.
So I'm enjoying the Encounter meditations. If you want to check them out and follow the links below. Enjoy!
Monday, January 10, 2022
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Email addressing ~
One of the things that I've learned from watching marketing all of my life, taking a couple of classes on marketing in college, listening to gurus online and in podcasts, is that when you are sending something to a group of people address the individual and not the group.
If I were to send this to you and I was addressing this post to the world I have a choice: I can say hey all y'all out there! Or hello you chose to read my post, this is for you.
I see this in multiple emails very often. Hello group! Dear friends,. And that sort of thing.
I guess I appreciate the personable approach. I like it when somebody is talking to me and not the general group that I'm supposed to belong to but refused to accept being pigeonholed.
Maybe it's a symptom of the times where we are being divided into subgroups by entities looking to dominate all of us through rules and regulations. It's hard to dominate me one-on-one, and when you address me as a member of a group I automatically reject you and whatever your message is.
That's my rant for today. As a US citizen I like to think of myself as a rugged individualist, even though I don't roam the wilds of Montana or Alaska or brave the unexplored territory that remains in Idaho and Utah.
But if we divide things into groups, I really prefer being the member of the smallest minority. There is nobody else like me, and so address me as an individual and you've reached me in my box. If you address me as a member of a group you've usually missed.
If I were to send this to you and I was addressing this post to the world I have a choice: I can say hey all y'all out there! Or hello you chose to read my post, this is for you.
I see this in multiple emails very often. Hello group! Dear friends,. And that sort of thing.
I guess I appreciate the personable approach. I like it when somebody is talking to me and not the general group that I'm supposed to belong to but refused to accept being pigeonholed.
Maybe it's a symptom of the times where we are being divided into subgroups by entities looking to dominate all of us through rules and regulations. It's hard to dominate me one-on-one, and when you address me as a member of a group I automatically reject you and whatever your message is.
That's my rant for today. As a US citizen I like to think of myself as a rugged individualist, even though I don't roam the wilds of Montana or Alaska or brave the unexplored territory that remains in Idaho and Utah.
But if we divide things into groups, I really prefer being the member of the smallest minority. There is nobody else like me, and so address me as an individual and you've reached me in my box. If you address me as a member of a group you've usually missed.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Weights in garage ~
I used to work out in the garage at our old house. The garage was a two car garage that I don't think we ever got two cars in. Front facing and a big double door - I don't know how to say that but had one door for the entire two car garage door opening.
I had my weight bench and my cement weights that I had grown up with out there. I had my Muscle and Fitness magazine subscription and I would go out there and I would study the exercises and read about the supplements that I couldn't afford to buy and when I would try the supplements they would upset my stomach or make my bowel movement smell so bad that I would stop using them. I had a radio out there. And I would go outside and work out.
That's the way I did it when I was growing up. As a teenager my parents got me a weight set. I set it up out the garage and worked out. We lived out in the woods so there wasn't anybody across the street to see me because there was no street. We lived a ways away from the road and so I could hear the traffic but I couldn't see it. And nobody was watching me.
That was not the case as an adult in our first house. Across the street in the little subdivision that we lived in Anthony and his wife lived. They were an older couple. And they liked to sit out on the front porch all day long. So anytime I would go out to work out Anthony would be watching. It drove me crazy!
I'd make a move and see him turn his head and watch. Change weights and he would watch me do that. Whether he was watching or not I don't know but because he was sitting facing my house and my garage directly across the street from me I felt like I was being watched all the time.
This was not fun for me, though I would do it anyways. I had a dartboard out there and I would throw darts at the dartboard between sets. But Anthony was always watching.
I remember one day I had to get up on the roof to paint the top part of the chimney or something. My ladder was tall enough to get me to where I could get up on the roof but I had to dangle my feet in order to find the ladder and get down. On that day I was not able to find the ladder. Then when I did find it I kicked the ladder and the ladder fell down and I was stuck on the roof. It was a one-story house and so it wasn't real high. And Anthony had been watching the entire time. And Anthony yelled as I kicked the ladder over accidentally that he could help.
Remember that I said Anthony and his wife were older? Anthony used a cane and was at least in his 70s. He did not move fast at all. It seemed like it pained him to walk. And so when he's yelling that he could come and help me all I could think was that I was stuck on the roof for another 30 minutes or so. And that he wasn't going to really be able to either get the latter into a position where I could get my feet on it or bring a different ladder anytime soon. So as he shuffled for his front door and turned around and looked back I jumped off of my roof and down into my front yard. I did a quick roll and tumble and landed safely. I checked that I hadn't broken anything, and then got up and waved and said thanks anyways, kicked my ladder where it laid, and put everything away.
In our current house my weights are in the basement. Nobody can see me down there. They're even around the corner to where if somebody comes down the stairs they can't see me until they come into the back area were my work desk and all of my messy tools and boxing bag and speed bag and weights and all that stuff are located. It's a nice area but it's dark and quiet. That was very important years ago when the house was full, but now with most of the house quiet that's not quite as alluring as it was before.
I share this because I'm enjoying watching our neighbors' kids work out in their garage. My front porch does not face their house. I cannot see them directly unless I go out in my front yard and turn and make a point to watch them. But I still see them when I pull into my driveway in the afternoon and evening and I hear them when I'm out in my garage and doing things in my yard. It's kind of fun to know that they're working out in the garage just like I did. And I hope that they develop a love for being muscular and staying as fit as long as they can. I still work out, though not the same way as I did. And not as often as I did. And I tend to do it with much lighter weights than I used to.
But it's fun to see those kids working out in their garage.
I had my weight bench and my cement weights that I had grown up with out there. I had my Muscle and Fitness magazine subscription and I would go out there and I would study the exercises and read about the supplements that I couldn't afford to buy and when I would try the supplements they would upset my stomach or make my bowel movement smell so bad that I would stop using them. I had a radio out there. And I would go outside and work out.
That's the way I did it when I was growing up. As a teenager my parents got me a weight set. I set it up out the garage and worked out. We lived out in the woods so there wasn't anybody across the street to see me because there was no street. We lived a ways away from the road and so I could hear the traffic but I couldn't see it. And nobody was watching me.
That was not the case as an adult in our first house. Across the street in the little subdivision that we lived in Anthony and his wife lived. They were an older couple. And they liked to sit out on the front porch all day long. So anytime I would go out to work out Anthony would be watching. It drove me crazy!
I'd make a move and see him turn his head and watch. Change weights and he would watch me do that. Whether he was watching or not I don't know but because he was sitting facing my house and my garage directly across the street from me I felt like I was being watched all the time.
This was not fun for me, though I would do it anyways. I had a dartboard out there and I would throw darts at the dartboard between sets. But Anthony was always watching.
I remember one day I had to get up on the roof to paint the top part of the chimney or something. My ladder was tall enough to get me to where I could get up on the roof but I had to dangle my feet in order to find the ladder and get down. On that day I was not able to find the ladder. Then when I did find it I kicked the ladder and the ladder fell down and I was stuck on the roof. It was a one-story house and so it wasn't real high. And Anthony had been watching the entire time. And Anthony yelled as I kicked the ladder over accidentally that he could help.
Remember that I said Anthony and his wife were older? Anthony used a cane and was at least in his 70s. He did not move fast at all. It seemed like it pained him to walk. And so when he's yelling that he could come and help me all I could think was that I was stuck on the roof for another 30 minutes or so. And that he wasn't going to really be able to either get the latter into a position where I could get my feet on it or bring a different ladder anytime soon. So as he shuffled for his front door and turned around and looked back I jumped off of my roof and down into my front yard. I did a quick roll and tumble and landed safely. I checked that I hadn't broken anything, and then got up and waved and said thanks anyways, kicked my ladder where it laid, and put everything away.
In our current house my weights are in the basement. Nobody can see me down there. They're even around the corner to where if somebody comes down the stairs they can't see me until they come into the back area were my work desk and all of my messy tools and boxing bag and speed bag and weights and all that stuff are located. It's a nice area but it's dark and quiet. That was very important years ago when the house was full, but now with most of the house quiet that's not quite as alluring as it was before.
I share this because I'm enjoying watching our neighbors' kids work out in their garage. My front porch does not face their house. I cannot see them directly unless I go out in my front yard and turn and make a point to watch them. But I still see them when I pull into my driveway in the afternoon and evening and I hear them when I'm out in my garage and doing things in my yard. It's kind of fun to know that they're working out in the garage just like I did. And I hope that they develop a love for being muscular and staying as fit as long as they can. I still work out, though not the same way as I did. And not as often as I did. And I tend to do it with much lighter weights than I used to.
But it's fun to see those kids working out in their garage.
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Rocks on the path ~
I'm in a stage of life where I like a smooth path. I like to know what's coming, what I can expect around the curve, and that where I'm going is going to be prepared for me.
It doesn't always turn out that way. Sometimes I'm not sure where I'm going and so I have to just go on faith. Luckily our society is one that is prepared to provide almost anything. At a cost, of course, but if I need a place to stay in the middle of the night I can almost always find it.
With GPS and an Internet connection I can see the weather, know where it's raining and where it's not, know what to expect when I go somewhere, and go precisely to a place on the map without ever having to talk to anybody personally.
And then there's the past. We have a network of asphalt that runs coast to coast on our continent. Much of it is smooth and easily driven some of it is rough and still easily driven but bumpy. There are fewer and fewer dirt roads, but even those are pretty easily driven.
And then there are the hazards. The accidents were other people run into each other or have vehicle issues. The construction and the rocks.
Rocks are the unexpected bumps the either are pleased on the path or to the path or sometimes crawl onto the path. Sometimes they fall from above, like the son of an Indian chief that I tell a story about. Sometimes there placed by an enemy or by someone that is not as structured as I might be and they put it there so that they can remember and pick it up later but forget and it becomes an obstacle for me.
Sometimes the rock is big and unavoidable. Sometimes the rock is small and easily avoidable or even easily run over.
Sometimes the rock is alive. Turtle, possum, and armadillo, or a human being with things and doing things and tripping on things as they walk on the path that I'm trying to navigate.
I used to get mad at the rock. Irritated that it was in my way. I expected something laying there to know what I was trying to do and work with me in trying to accomplish it. Foolish, I know, but that was how I felt and still do often.
I had a rock drop into my path this past week. Someone trying to clean up their own mess ended up creating a mess for me when they were supposedly trying to help. Trying to give me a break. But giving in to that would've meant giving up something that I've done for six or seven years and really don't want to give it up to somebody.
Life is so interesting, especially as I get older. The way that I deal with things. Remembering how I dealt with them in the past and feeling shame and embarrassment and sometimes glorying in how easily I rolled through things before.
Now that I'm older I slow down a little more and enjoy the scenery a lot more and look around a lot more. Not necessarily at the scenery but at the people on the path with me and the people creating their own path and all the other things happening along the way.
Life is good, even with rocks on the path.
It doesn't always turn out that way. Sometimes I'm not sure where I'm going and so I have to just go on faith. Luckily our society is one that is prepared to provide almost anything. At a cost, of course, but if I need a place to stay in the middle of the night I can almost always find it.
With GPS and an Internet connection I can see the weather, know where it's raining and where it's not, know what to expect when I go somewhere, and go precisely to a place on the map without ever having to talk to anybody personally.
And then there's the past. We have a network of asphalt that runs coast to coast on our continent. Much of it is smooth and easily driven some of it is rough and still easily driven but bumpy. There are fewer and fewer dirt roads, but even those are pretty easily driven.
And then there are the hazards. The accidents were other people run into each other or have vehicle issues. The construction and the rocks.
Rocks are the unexpected bumps the either are pleased on the path or to the path or sometimes crawl onto the path. Sometimes they fall from above, like the son of an Indian chief that I tell a story about. Sometimes there placed by an enemy or by someone that is not as structured as I might be and they put it there so that they can remember and pick it up later but forget and it becomes an obstacle for me.
Sometimes the rock is big and unavoidable. Sometimes the rock is small and easily avoidable or even easily run over.
Sometimes the rock is alive. Turtle, possum, and armadillo, or a human being with things and doing things and tripping on things as they walk on the path that I'm trying to navigate.
I used to get mad at the rock. Irritated that it was in my way. I expected something laying there to know what I was trying to do and work with me in trying to accomplish it. Foolish, I know, but that was how I felt and still do often.
I had a rock drop into my path this past week. Someone trying to clean up their own mess ended up creating a mess for me when they were supposedly trying to help. Trying to give me a break. But giving in to that would've meant giving up something that I've done for six or seven years and really don't want to give it up to somebody.
Life is so interesting, especially as I get older. The way that I deal with things. Remembering how I dealt with them in the past and feeling shame and embarrassment and sometimes glorying in how easily I rolled through things before.
Now that I'm older I slow down a little more and enjoy the scenery a lot more and look around a lot more. Not necessarily at the scenery but at the people on the path with me and the people creating their own path and all the other things happening along the way.
Life is good, even with rocks on the path.
Friday, December 17, 2021
Raspberry Pi computers ~
I remember thinking when the raspberry pie computers came out and people were so excited that this small credit card sized computer had been developed so that Third World countries would be able to have computers inexpensive computers to teach their children and young adults how to use a computer and how to program that having people like that thrown into the Internet and the World Wide Web of both information and opportunity was exciting and scary all at the same time. I remember journaling that I was concerned because those people don't have the same morals as others and that they might take advantage of the easy and cheap access to computing power to steal and commit fraud.
I think the same thing about all the US government freebies that are being given at future taxpayer expense. The people that want an equitable outcome don't explain that equitable to them means everyone ends up with the same capabilities in the same resources in the same living experience has other people even though they come from very different beginnings. The Marxism that is infecting so many now will eventually infect the Internet to the point that we may not be allowed to have more information than anybody else and so your searches will be limited while theirs will be allowed. The average of the people around you didn't post very much and so you're not going to be allowed to post very much today either so that we all end up with the same outcome.
God, I hope I'm wrong!
I think the same thing about all the US government freebies that are being given at future taxpayer expense. The people that want an equitable outcome don't explain that equitable to them means everyone ends up with the same capabilities in the same resources in the same living experience has other people even though they come from very different beginnings. The Marxism that is infecting so many now will eventually infect the Internet to the point that we may not be allowed to have more information than anybody else and so your searches will be limited while theirs will be allowed. The average of the people around you didn't post very much and so you're not going to be allowed to post very much today either so that we all end up with the same outcome.
God, I hope I'm wrong!
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Some revolution ~
I thought this was a revolution!
In 2020 they made such a big deal about haircuts being dangerous because of the fear that you would contract COVID-19 coronavirus by interacting with hairstylists I stopped getting haircuts. I have not had a haircut for more than 18 months. I've gotten to where I like to pull it back into a short ponytail and I've gotten used to the derisive comments from coworkers and others.
During the 1960s longer hair on a guy was a sign of rebellion against the system of presenting yourself. The Beatles brought it in when they came over with the British revolution in music. Hippies and others grew their hair out long and shaggy and different styles came into being. It was a sign of being "with it" and agreeing with or at least supporting the people pushing change. Change from the oppressive clothing and hairstyles and ways of speaking so that you could be understood.
But now all that has changed. The people that were so rebellious in the 1960s are leading our current "revolution" from positions of power. Instead of fighting against the man they are the man. Or the person in charge if you want to be more politically correct. At least they think they are.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote an editorial on the subject recently that resonated with me. You should check it out at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/victor-davis-hanson/victor-davis-hanson-this-isnt-your-fathers-left-wing-revolution-2377129/amp/
I'm not sure when I'm going to get a haircut, but I'm ready. I've told people that it's COVID hair. I've told people that I won't get it cut until the COVID-19 coronavirus national emergency is over. I've told people that I'm like Samson and the longer my hair is the more I can stay strong against the virus. I've told people that I identify as a rock star :-) I've also told people that I wear my hair long because it's a free country and I can do that.
Viva la revolution!
In 2020 they made such a big deal about haircuts being dangerous because of the fear that you would contract COVID-19 coronavirus by interacting with hairstylists I stopped getting haircuts. I have not had a haircut for more than 18 months. I've gotten to where I like to pull it back into a short ponytail and I've gotten used to the derisive comments from coworkers and others.
During the 1960s longer hair on a guy was a sign of rebellion against the system of presenting yourself. The Beatles brought it in when they came over with the British revolution in music. Hippies and others grew their hair out long and shaggy and different styles came into being. It was a sign of being "with it" and agreeing with or at least supporting the people pushing change. Change from the oppressive clothing and hairstyles and ways of speaking so that you could be understood.
But now all that has changed. The people that were so rebellious in the 1960s are leading our current "revolution" from positions of power. Instead of fighting against the man they are the man. Or the person in charge if you want to be more politically correct. At least they think they are.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote an editorial on the subject recently that resonated with me. You should check it out at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/victor-davis-hanson/victor-davis-hanson-this-isnt-your-fathers-left-wing-revolution-2377129/amp/
I'm not sure when I'm going to get a haircut, but I'm ready. I've told people that it's COVID hair. I've told people that I won't get it cut until the COVID-19 coronavirus national emergency is over. I've told people that I'm like Samson and the longer my hair is the more I can stay strong against the virus. I've told people that I identify as a rock star :-) I've also told people that I wear my hair long because it's a free country and I can do that.
Viva la revolution!
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Anything to separate us ~
One of the phrases that I keep hearing lately is "trust the science". And I'll comment to my wife and others that while I trust the science on many things science is always changing.
For example, the "save the planet" people weep over species that become extinct. And then act surprised when one of them walks out of the forest 20 or 30 years later. Trust the science; it said that they were extinct. But if there's another one and there's a whole group of them and there's a whole bunch of them that nobody had seen. "Extinct" means gone forever. It doesn't mean we just can't find them, it means gone forever never to come back. Words mean things. And so this sort of event undermines my trust in science.
I read an article recently that talked about at the quantum level atoms repel each other. And based on that scientists have concluded that we as humans can never really touch each other or objects because our atoms are repelling the other atoms. The article intrigued me because in quantum physics and that whole realm of science new things are being discovered all the time and nobody really understands it and there's all sorts of theories about. This makes it exciting to read about. And so this was cool and interesting at an intellectual level.
But then it struck me that if nothing can ever really touch then I can never really connect with another person. I stand alone and am separate from everything. I repel everything around me. And the whole undertone of the article shifted for me from a quantum physics intrigue feeling to I'm being separated from the herd and being singled out so that I no longer believe in God or in connection with others or any of that sort of stuff that makes our belief system stand tall.
It's scary! Because the devil will use anything to separate us from God. Even science! You're just a ball of energy. Science says that. Science also says that you're really only about 10% human and the rest of you is made up of bacteria and viruses and you're just a nasty vile thing. But God teaches that he loves us and desires us and created us in his image. We're wanted by him!
I guess that's why in the New Testament Paul talked about testing things that you ingest. We have to be careful what we let in our heads and then once they're in we have to be careful what we let them do and how they percolate, ferment, orhowever you ruminate on things.
The devil will do anything to separate us from God and from each other. Because divided we fall. Be careful!
For example, the "save the planet" people weep over species that become extinct. And then act surprised when one of them walks out of the forest 20 or 30 years later. Trust the science; it said that they were extinct. But if there's another one and there's a whole group of them and there's a whole bunch of them that nobody had seen. "Extinct" means gone forever. It doesn't mean we just can't find them, it means gone forever never to come back. Words mean things. And so this sort of event undermines my trust in science.
I read an article recently that talked about at the quantum level atoms repel each other. And based on that scientists have concluded that we as humans can never really touch each other or objects because our atoms are repelling the other atoms. The article intrigued me because in quantum physics and that whole realm of science new things are being discovered all the time and nobody really understands it and there's all sorts of theories about. This makes it exciting to read about. And so this was cool and interesting at an intellectual level.
But then it struck me that if nothing can ever really touch then I can never really connect with another person. I stand alone and am separate from everything. I repel everything around me. And the whole undertone of the article shifted for me from a quantum physics intrigue feeling to I'm being separated from the herd and being singled out so that I no longer believe in God or in connection with others or any of that sort of stuff that makes our belief system stand tall.
It's scary! Because the devil will use anything to separate us from God. Even science! You're just a ball of energy. Science says that. Science also says that you're really only about 10% human and the rest of you is made up of bacteria and viruses and you're just a nasty vile thing. But God teaches that he loves us and desires us and created us in his image. We're wanted by him!
I guess that's why in the New Testament Paul talked about testing things that you ingest. We have to be careful what we let in our heads and then once they're in we have to be careful what we let them do and how they percolate, ferment, orhowever you ruminate on things.
The devil will do anything to separate us from God and from each other. Because divided we fall. Be careful!
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