Making Beautiful Music

Credit where it’s due.  Blair first showed me this.

For some reason it came storming back into my mind over supper tonight.  A quick re-viewing confirmed its blog-worthiness, though after you watch it, you may be questioning the worthiness of such blogs.  I leave you to your own questions.  For now, I give you a real piece of work and this small piece of advice: Watch his eyebrows.

Song of Songs

A segment of Sunday’s lesson will refer to Song of Songs.  Along that line, my time online led me to this…

Sandwich Secret

I was making my lunch for work, and it turned out looking beautiful.  Good enough to eat, for sure.  Then it dawned on me… the secret to a great sandwich.  After years of faulty technique, I’ve corrected the error.

I used to put the mayo on the bottom piece of bread, then cover it with the veggies, meat, cheese, and mustard, in that order.  But in a moment of enlightenment (or laziness), I just slapped both mayo and mustard together on top of the pile.

That, my friends, is the secret.

Mark this down: Mustard and mayo must mingle.

(Note: If you don’t like mustard and/or mayo on your sandwich, then I can’t guarantee you’ll ever have a good one.)

As I pointed out my brilliant observation to my lovely wife, she turned to me and said, “You should blog about that.”

That was apparently her way of saying, “That’s a great idea, Honey.  Go tell the world.”  It also could have been her way of saying, “Thanks for nothing, Dumbo.  Go tell someone who cares.”  But I’m going to go with the first theory.

Now you know.  You are most welcome.

You Want Loud?

A funny bit from Rod Pedersen’s blog this morning…

Immediately after returning from Vancouver on Saturday, I found myself pinballing between school gyms at Ruth M. Buck and Winston Knoll Collegiate watching junior girls volleyball.

I’ll tell you something….

Last weekend I was in Commonwealth Stadium with over 60,000 fans and this Friday I was in B.C. Place with over 31,000.

But NOTHING is as flipping loud as a gym full of teenaged girls cheering their teams on in a volleyball game.

JEEPERS! I almost ran out to get ear plugs. These kids made the ACDC concert sound like a librarians convention.

Only funny because it’s true!

A Conscious Commitment to the Important

Steve posted this Covey quote today.  Chew on it all day, and it won’t be nearly long enough.

“Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.”

Slap Chop: Mercer Style

A friend sent me this beauty.

Valuing Scripture

Gandhi has always inspired me.  Often the inspiration comes in the form of a knock right between the eyes.

Like this one…

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside-down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet.  But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature.”

I don’t know what to say after that, so I’ll just leave it hanging there for you.

Brennan Manning

In 1990, a book called “The Ragamuffin Gospel” was published.

In 1995, I was given a copy of this book and introduced to its author, Brennan Manning.

And something was never the same again.

Recently, I downloaded a free lecture that Manning gave in 1992-93 at an American college.  I listened to it as I mowed my lawn last week.

And that same “something” was re-touched, perhaps never to be the same again… again.

If you’re going to be at a computer or near an MP3 player for 20 minutes in the next couple days, take THIS TRACK with you.  The grace of God will touch your life anew as you listen, I have no doubt.

Emmanuelle: Year 1

Our little girl is one!

A year’s worth of photos have claimed their lot of space on our computer.  A quick scan through brought more than a few favourites.  Can a Dad who’s taken with his daughter post a dozen or so on his blog?

I suspect so.

Happy birthday, my little girl!

We’ll never forget the first time we met you.

You’re the sweetest little thing…

Most of the time.

I love the way you look at me…

And at yourself.

I love the way you look in Photo Booth too.

You strike your Mom and me as the sweetest thing we’ve ever known.

Your first trip to China was a smashing success!

And you nearly flipped over our favourite Chinese drinks!

Before you sent your Dad off for a month, you helped him pack his bags…

We tried some crazy stunts…

And played in the bath…

In fact, we did so much together that you started to look like your Dad!

We were so excited to see summer come!

And you quickly came to love being outside.

You’ve been helping Dad weed… or just sitting there looking cute.

But for all your cuteness, I have no idea where you get all your goofy faces!

In the past few days, you’ve learned to eat birthday cake…

And brush your 6 little teeth.

I know you’ll keep learning everyday as the world slowly opens up before you…

Just make sure you always remember how loved you are, our girl!

Getting an Education

I just started a book.

The author unapologetically warned me in the preface that this is no devotional piece and will require “considerable mental effort to understand”.  The subject matter is the relationship between faith and knowledge.  Many say there is hardly any relationship at all, that the two are actually in opposition to each other.

But I don’t buy that.

The author then wrapped up his opening section with a C.S. Lewis quote that made me smile…

“God has room for people with very little sense, but He wants everyone to use what sense they have.  The proper motto is not, ‘Be good, sweet maid, and let who can be clever,’ but ‘Be good, sweet maid, and don’t forget that this involves being as clever as you can.’  God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.  If you are thinking of becoming a  Christian, I warn you you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all….  One reason why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself.”

I’ll amen that last line, that’s for sure–I hope you’re in the midst of a fascinating education these days.