Gems

Last Tuesday, our family went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. There are many great things at that museum, but the highlight for me on this trip was the new gem exhibit. We saw all manner of exquisite necklaces, rings, earrings, and other jewelery, including the brooch above. Some stones were cut but not set, being too large (as in egg-sized) to ever be worn. Many of the pieces were brand new, while others were centuries old. There were a few that had been part of the Russian crown jewels. Next time you're at HMNS, be sure to visit the gems.

Jury Duty

Last week I went downtown for jury duty. It was my first time to go, but most of the experience was what I expected. There were long periods of doing nothing, I was told lots of things I already knew, I was herded from place to place with only a number for identification, and I was asked probing questions by an attorney. What I didn't expect was for my entire jury panel to be dismissed because there were not enough people willing to apply the law. Out of sixty perspective jurors, thirty-six said they were unwilling to give a guilty verdict, regardless of the evidence, knowing what the minimum sentence would be. Each side was to be allowed ten preemptory strikes, so twenty-four was not a large enough pool to choose a twelve-member jury.

It would have been hard to maintain a belief in the basic goodness of man after watching all those people say they couldn't follow the law, knowing from what I heard that most of them were just trying to get themselves sent home. The charge was evasion of arrest, so it's not like the law was controversial or immoral.

Double Curse

Here's a thought I heard today:

Men never have to bear Eve's curse, trouble in childbirth, but when women become breadwinners, they take on Adam's curse as well as their own.

I'm not sure I agree with all the potential implications of that statement, but it is an interesting way of looking at male abdication of responsibility.

Tamburitzans

Two nights ago I drove to Nederland, TX, between Beaumont and Port Arthur, to watch a folk dance group from Duquesne University. The Tamburitzans are one of the best folk dance groups in the country, and I have hoped that they would come to the area ever since I heard about them three years ago. I have seen a lot of folk dancing, but I was thrilled by their show. From the costumes, to the music, to the choreography, to the energy and charisma, everything was stellar. If I was four years younger, I would be seriously tempted to go to Duquesne just to dance.

At my current advanced age, I will have to be content with going to Texas Camp. Tomorrow Katie and I will be driving to Bruceville, TX for a four-day camp. We will spend our days learning Balkan and Vintage American dances, and our nights dancing to the wee hours of the morning.

Today, my grandparents and aunt are visiting, and we're having Thanksgiving dinner today because Katie and I are leaving tomorrow.

Passionate Love

I just read about a woman who later became the wife of a Muslim terrorist. As a young person, she was full of piety, often staying up all night reading her Quran. When her family found her in the mornings, she would be on her prayer mat with the book in her hands, having fallen asleep reading.

That woman was chasing a lie, but how fervent are we, who have the truth?

If we love God, we will love his Word. When a man and a woman are in the first excitement of love, anything that keeps them apart becomes merely an annoyance which must be tolerated. The necessities of life pull them apart at times, but their desire is always to be together, and one is never long out of the thoughts of the other. This is the kind of passionate love that Christ, our bridegroom, wants from us, his bride. Do we tell our lover that we're too busy, or too tired to stay up and chat? Do we go to a movie, or watch such-and-such show, and never think to invite him to sit with us and share our thoughts? Do we stubbornly try to solve all our problems ourselves, when nothing would please our provider and protector more than to bear our burdens on his own, strong shoulders? God forbid! Instead, we should hunger and thirst for fellowship with him. Embrace every opportunity to grow deeper in relationship with him. Passionately desire to know what he wants from us, and how we can please him more.

Remember your first love.

Failure of the UN

"Let's be honest. The UN system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless."

--Hugo Chavez

I couldn't agree more.

Gulp! Did I just say that?

Bathroom Pictures

Here are a few pictures of a project I just finished. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from before the work.

Searching for Quality

Finding craftsman who really care about their work is really difficult. The other day I had a conversation with a tile man I had hired in which he offered me a job managing a portion of his projects. His situation intrigued me. He grinds himself into the ground, working 12 to 14 hour days seven days a week, trying to do everything and be everything for his business. He wants to expand, but there is no way for him to do so while he spends all his time racing from job to job maintaining quality control. He is desperate for someone whom he can trust to require a high standard of work from his men when he's not around.

As a manager, I've become impressed by how true it is that if a person in any line of work will hold himself to a higher standard than that which is required by his boss or his customers, he will always be in high demand. I am always watching for a subcontractor who will correct his own mistakes, rather than cover them up and hope I don't notice.

Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.
Prov. 22:29

BTW, I didn't take the job.

Swamp Stomp

The Swamp Stomp is an annual event here in Houston where contra dancers from all over the area gather for an afternoon and evening of food and dancing. Contra dancing is what you get when you cross English country dancing with square dancing and throw in some extra enthusiasm. It's a great kind of dancing, because anyone who can walk and who knows right and left can do it, but it's so fun that you almost never want it to stop. To the observer, contra just looks like lots of spinning and walking in circles, but when you get into it, it can feel like flying. Come join us, if you're in Houston on September 9. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousand pictures, so here's a youtube video of an average contra.

A Twice-Satisfied Customer

I just got my computer back from Dell. The speakers went out a few days after I got the computer, and I had to send it in to get them replaced. No, I did not blow them out with loud music. I'm a little worried about what else might happen if the speakers failed for no apparent reason so quickly. To their credit, though, Dell warranty service was very quick and responsive. I heard recently that the average satisfied customer tells five people about their buying experience, and that the average dissatisfied customer tells ten people. However, a customer who has a problem which is remedied satisfactorily is likely to tell fifteen people. So there you go--I'm a statistic.

Entrepreneurial Bootcamp

I spent the last weekend getting inspired at the Vision Forum Entrepreneurial Bootcamp. The speakers shared a vision for accomplishing great things for the glory of God in evangelization, business, politics, industry, and society in general. This happens through Christians who are willing to take work ethic, productivity, honesty, and diligence to the highest levels, and teach their children to do the same. One principle which I especially took to heart was to not let my desire for a worldly sense of financial security stifle God's leading when it comes to business moves. Let's not make a regular paycheck an idol.

After the conference, I went dancing in Austin, then had a good time visiting some friends in the hill country.

Whatever It Takes To Plays The Banjo

I smashed my left index finger yesterday, and was feeling sorry for myself because it was too swollen for me to play the banjo. I decided, however, that I had no cause for complaint after watching a video of Mountain Heart. The amazing Barry Abernathy plays banjo though missing all the fingers from his left hand. Incredible. I guess I'll just make do with three fingers for a while.

This link takes you to a CMT page. "I'm Just Here to Ride the Train" is a good one for watching the banjo player.

I showed the video to Katie, and she says, "Why would anyone want to play the banjo that much?" Banjo players are so misunderstood.

The Door Destroyer

Recently I had the unique experience of replacing a door which had been kicked in by my client. Said client is at least six feet tall and built like a bull. Upon finding himself locked out of the house one day, he lost his temper and destroyed the back door. When I got there, I found bent and twisted pieces of the deadbolt and doorknob scattered on the ground, and a mangled steel door. In the interest of self-preservation, I decided to do what I could to stay on this guy’s good side.

Culture Change

This may surprise some, but I've been finding it hard to get very worked up about legislation dealing with moral and social issues like marriage, abortion, and drugs. Every victory looks good on its own, but over past years, we have seen a steady disintegration in the values of the American population in general. We have gone from fighting no-fault divorce to fighting homosexual marriage. Instead of trying to stop first trimester abortion, we are trying to keep doctors from removing feeding tubes from living adults.

The next generation of judges, legislators, journalists, and voters is one which has been taught that there is no creator, that there is no natural law, and that they owe no more allegiance to America than they do to any other nation. They have been instructed that every religion is equally tolerable unless one takes said religion so seriously that he believes it is the only true religion.

As long as we fail to train children with uncompromising Christian values, we will be fighting a losing battle. We may see a federal marriage amendment ratified, but on our current path, it will be repealed twenty years from now. We may have a ban on partial birth abortion, but eventually we will be arguing about whether to kill human clones to harvest organs. Passing moral laws without producing moral people is like taking cough drops to treat pneumonia. If our culture turns around, it will not be through good laws, it will be through changed people.

The best way to produce people of this sort is to have children and to have a lot of them. Children are blank hard drives just waiting for data. There's no way to estimate the impact of a man with many well-raised children.

The only other way is to retrain existing people. The fields of unbelievers are ripe for harvest. Evangelize. However, evangelization is not enough to create people who will take our country in the right direction. We need to be prepared to train younger believers on how the Bible applies to current events and politics. We need to teach them the implications of God being the Creator, and of the intrinsic value of human life.

Having said all that, I must point out that in all our endeavors, whether as lobbyists, evangelists, or housewives, we should not depend on success for incentive to persevere at our task. God may save our nation, but He may also decide to bring persecution to the church and to allow America to become a Babylon of immorality. Our part is simply to do what we know we must do.

Spider

I am buying time with this picture of a recently spotted creature. A more thoughtful post will be coming soon.

Dancing in Austin

Katie and I spent Saturday in Austin for an Israeli folk dance workshop. The teacher, Ya'akov Eden, was raised on a kibbutz in Israel, spent several years in a professional folk dance ensemble, and has spent the rest of his life studying Israeli dance. It's a really unique type of folk dance, because the Jews have only had their own country for sixty years. Most Israeli dances from before the 1940's feel very much like Balkan or gypsy dances. The dances we learned are from Israeli choreographers who wrote dances specifically for Israel during the early days of Israeli independence.

Katie and I decided we must be crazy about dancing. We went to our regular dancing in Houston Friday evening, had morning and afternoon workshop sessions in Austin, then went to Austin weekly dancing on Saturday evening, which goes from 7:30 to 11:00. Oh well, it was fun and worth it, and our feet and knees survived without injury.

Trip Pictures

We arrived home last night after sixteen days on the road. Here are a few pictures:

This is Delicate Arch in Utah. That's Seth in the white shirt and me in the red.

These arches were huge. The people in the background were still several hundred feet from the first arch when the picture was taken.

Instead of assigning the dishes to a few people, we all decided to pitch in. So we loaded up all our dishes, soap, towels, and even a drain rack, and marched off to the shower house. Doing the dishes has rarely been so fun.

We spent one day riding the train.

One windy morning it took all of us to get the tent rolled up.

We got to see our cousin Bree get married. Congratulations, Bree!!

Our grandmother gave us her piano, so we rented a U-haul and towed it back to Houston. Here it is coming through the front door.

Our Trip So Far

Right now we are in Grand Junction, Colorado, on the first leg of a swing through southern Utah and southwestern Colorado. Here are just a few glimpses of our past week:

We saw roadrunner eating a mouse.

We saw a truck on fire. We could see the smoke from a mile away.

We had a rear tire blowout at 72 mph. BANG, thump, thump, thump, thump, everybody screams, etc. Fortunately, the rain had stopped three minutes before it happpened.

We met some cousins we hadn't seen in eight years.

Three of us spent the night sleeping under the stars on our grandparents mountain property. Well, we didn't exactly see a lot of stars; it was cloudy all night, and at about 3:00 it started drizzling. We had been told that there was not a chance of our staying out all night, so we were of course obligated to stay out all night, waterlogged though we were. It at least made for lively breakfast conversation.

Taking Leave

This will probably be my last post for a while, but I'm only taking vacation, not retirement. Our family is going to Colorado and Utah for a couple of weeks. I may or may not have time to blog and access to the internet concurrently at any point while we're gone; if not, I will at least check back in by the end of the month.

Here is a link to a beautiful song, "Hold My Hand". It's written and sung by a girl we met several months ago. The song is the one at the top.

Heroism

I am currently reading a novel which is set in post-Dunkirk France. The hero is Mr. Howard, a 70-year-old Englishman who had been visiting in France when the Nazis invaded Holland, Belgium, and France. He has no extraordinary abilities, nor is he an important person who can demand attention or respect. In the course of the plot, Mr. Howard is made responsible for several children as he makes his way with them back to England though war-torn France. I feel like there is something compelling about the way a physically feeble man is obliged to rise up and protect the even more helpless children. This book has made me aware of how accustomed I am to heros being young, strong, or quite capable in some important way. I am reminded that heroism may or may not look impressive to other people. The essence of heroism is doing what you know you must do, and sacrificing what is yours for others.

Papa's Birthday

Yesterday evening we celebrated Papa's birthday. Papa and I actually share a birthday in August, but several years ago we started celebrating Papa's birthday in June. Yes, it's true, we have Papa's Birthday and Papa's Birthday, Observed. To observe this holiday, we ate cake and ice cream, decorated our good-natured father with a funny hat and balloon, and had a good time generally. In a few weeks, we will continue our observance by going to the circus together.




This is obviously a man secure in his manhood.

Papa has been the greatest father for me. He taught me good morals and careful reasoning. His sacrificial leadership and his willingness to swim against the cultural current are examples that will influence me for the rest of my life. On the occasion of his birthday, I am acutely aware of how blessed I am by him.

Singing

I just finished a singing class. If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever take a voice lesson, my answer would have been something like "I can already sing, can't I?" I have come to realize that being able to hit the desired note and making people want to listen to you are two entirely different matters. Now that I've received some great pointers on how to use my voice properly, I'm going to be motivated to practice singing just as I practice any instrument. I think I am also going to have a lot more enjoyment and confidence with my singing now. I feel like a flatpicker who has only been picking down when someone tells him to pick down and up.

The Da Vinci Code

I went to see The Da Vinci Code this weekend. I know that some who read this may shocked, disturbed, or disappointed by my going. If you are, please comment; I'd like to hear your thoughts. I never read the book, so all my following comments are based solely on the movie.

Of all the stories I have read, listened to, or seen on screen, the one most similar to The Da Vinci Code is a movie that was released last year, National Treasure. Allow me to summarize the two movies.

National Treasure supposes an enormous treasure which was accumulated over centuries during ancient times. This treasure was passed from hand to hand and conqueror to conqueror until it disappeared from history. Rediscovered by knights of the Crusades, it was smuggled to various hiding places and eventually to the North American continent by the Knights Templar and their heirs, the Freemasons. The Freemasons of colonial America set up an elaborate trail of clues leading to the hiding place. Interpretation of the clues required a thorough knowledge of Masonic symbolism and American history.

The Da Vinci Code supposes a Christ who was married and left a child. His bloodline continued to the modern day, protected through the centuries by a secret league of devotees. This group included Leonardo da Vinci, who left clues to the "truth" in his artwork. The hero of the story follows a series of clues to find the location/identity of the biological heir.

Both movies have gun fights, car chases, and spooky underground passageways. Both protagonists are intelligent, middle-aged men who accurately interpret the puzzles with which they are faced. Both heros must struggle not only with a group of villains who want to reach the same goal they do but also with misunderstanding authorities and police.

Here's the similarity I want to especially notice: Both movies create or twist historical facts to fit their thesis. People who lack knowledge of history or are suspicious of historical records might actually believe that there might be an invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence, or a magnificent treasure buried below New York City. In the same way, people who have no knowledge of church history and no knowledge or belief in the Bible might be persuaded that Jesus was married or that the Council of Nicea invented the doctrine of Christ's deity. It is for this reason I think The Da Vinci Code is dangerous. Too many people do not have the ability to refute the falsehoods, so they pause and wonder if what is portrayed may be true. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also vulnerability.

I believe that National Treasure is fairly harmless, at least in terms of its historical manipulation. The worst thing that will happen to you is you will be more ignorant and more confused than you were before. Promoting knowledge of history is a good idea, but it isn't the Christian's mission. Our mission is to spread the gospel, and The Da Vinci Code is not helping. The false gospel it promotes is completely anti-Christian.

In conclusion, no person whom God wishes to save will be persuaded in the end by any false gospel. False teachers have appeared since the time of Christ and will continue to appear in the future. Our job is not to keep false teaching from appearing in the first place, but to confront in a way that brings glory to God and to use it to strengthen our families and Christian brethren.

Fire on the Strings in Hindsight

I had a great time at the festival on Saturday. In the morning I watched the Texas state banjo and flatpicking guitar championships. Amazingly, a kid about fifteen years old beat Chris Hirsch for first place in the banjo contest. Mr. Hirsch, for those who don't know, is the local can-play-anything-on-the-banjo man. In the afternoon and evening we had performances by four local bands: The LoneStar Band, The Bluegrass Solution, Hickory Hill, and Classical Grass, and two national bands: Cadillac Sky and Blue Highway. Those two especially were impressive not only for their ability as musicians, but also for their coordination. Each band played like a single instrument. Wow.

I had a baby girl after me all evening. Her parents were sitting several rows behind me, and they let her wander pretty liberally. She inevitably came to me, hugging me, asking to be held, smiling, laughing, etc. This caused no end of amusement to the people surrounding me. I think their interest was generated largely by the fact that as an unaccompanied male in his early twenties, I could be expected to have less interest in babies than almost anyone else in the room. I actually did hold her, which was fun because I haven't held a baby in a long time.

I didn't get home until 1:00 Sunday morning. Someone at church commented that I looked a little tired. Imagine that.

A One Man Strike

Yesterday, I was working for someone who is replacing his roof. Since the the demolition requires only one skill, that of not damaging yourself, the homeowner decided to hire someone off the street. Now, for the uninitiated, Houston has several areas where unemployed Latinos, mostly illegal, gather every morning in the hope that someone will give them work for the day. It's kind of an informal rent-an-immigrant program. Anyway, the homeowner hired a man around 11:30, having agreed to pay him eight dollars an hour, which is about as good a wage as any of those guys can get. Work progressed smoothly until 2:30, at which time our friend stood up, put down his tool, folded his arms, and announced that he was finished and wanted to go home. It was hot, he said. It was dangerous on the roof, he said. It was dirty, he said. Of course, he might be persuaded to stay if he was making ten dollars an hour, he suggested. I watched bemusedly as the homeowner begged and pleaded and eventually gave in. The poor man wasn't prepared for the ploys of an unscrupulous day laborer.

Fire on the Strings

Saturday is going to find me at the Fire on the Strings festival. Going was a given as soon as I heard that Blue Highway was playing. So, if you want to hear some excellent picking, sweat all over your instrument in the Texas heat, and learn dobro from Rob Ickes, come on out.

For those of you who believe a blog should have pictures, I must admit that I have no camera. All my life I have been surrounded by family members with cameras, and I have never had to actually use one to get the pictures I want. Occasionally, I will post photos, but they will be either pirated or taken on a borrowed camera.

United 93

I saw United 93 this afternoon. For those who may not know, it details the story of the hijacked plane that went down in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. I appreciated the way in which the story was told, in that the focus was on the human tragedy and the acts of personal heroism that were displayed that day. It is the story of everyday people going about their everyday lives but being thrust into extraordinary circumstances. The portrayal is of real confusion, real fear, and real courage. This, to me, was very inspiring, even with the tragic ending.

I'm glad the movie is being shown, because it is a great reminder to Americans to not take their next hour for granted.

Warning: For those who are especially sensitive, the movie does contain some violence and language.

Dancing

Check out Katie's blog for a picture of the two of us dancing. The photo was taken at a Mediterranean festival at which we performed last Saturday.

Peer Pressure vs. Isolationism

I have noticed that people who spend most of their time in isolation tend to come up with more eccentric ideas than those who are constantly in the company of their peers. Contrary to what one may expect, being with other people tends to make us want to be like them, rather than develop our own individuality. Too often, children and adults alike are pressured into doing things they know are not best or are even wrong. These people place too much importance on the opinions of others.

On the other hand, people who live in an ideological bubble, who keep themselves removed from the world, will sometimes become imbalanced in their thinking. They may take unsupportable positions on issues, or they may focus on one area of their life or ministry at the expense of others. These people place too much importance on their own opinions.

How do we find a proper balance? We have to constantly be analyzing the ideas, opinions, theories, and behaviors to which we are exposed; we need to limit the amount of floor time we allow falsehood. Just as a plant can't grow in a dark room, a truth-starved soul will wither. It is also important to share our own ideas with other people so that when we are wrong they can tell us. Ultimately, all our thoughts must be tried against the Bible. Let us approach it with a mind free of worldly presuppositions, the fear of man, and the pride of the flesh.

Grape Leaves and Eggplant

Katie and I danced with our folk dance group at a local Mediterranean Festival yesterday. In return, we were given a free dinner. Now historically, I have had a reasonably adventurous palate, but this plate pushed the limits of my experience. We had ground lamb mixed with rice, dipped in vinegar and lemon juice, and wrapped with grape leaves into an egg-roll-sized bundle. Next to this was a salad composed entirely of chopped herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, celery leaves, and onions. Such things have their place as accents or seasonings, but they are strong when eaten by the mouthful. On the side was a bowl of something which looked like hummus, but rather than being made from chickpeas, it was made from eggplant, and spiced in such a way so as to insure than no one but a Turk or a Tunisian could eat it with enjoyment.

All these and other similarly exotic dishes were consumed in the midst of a scholarly discourse from one of our fellow folk dancers. As he described the foods we were eating, he rattled off names which I cannot pronounce, much less hope to spell.

After it all, our family motto (one of them) still stands:

Never turn down free food.

"What do they teach them in these schools?"

I was listening to a local talk radio show this morning, and I heard about a study that CNN did recently in which they found a remarkable lack of geographical knowledge among college students. Of a study group of 500 Americans between the ages of 18 and 24, sixty-six percent could not point to Iraq when shown a world map. Having been homeschooled all my life, I realize I am not well acquainted with what goes on in a typical high school classroom, but I fail to comprehend how one could take even a general overview of recent U.S. and world history and not know where Iraq is. As if this failure of our schools was not disconcerting enough, here's the more important issue: These people are members of the voting public, yet they do not care enough about their country to locate the nation where thousands of our troops are fighting and dying.

For those of you who do care about where our country has been, where it is, and where it is going, remember this: A light shines brightest when it is surrounded by darkness.

A Day Without an Immigrant

The day has come and gone, and I am hoping that no one's opinions were influenced by the ploy. The message sent was purely emotional, not logical or economic. No reasonable person could say that there would be no effect on the economy and our lives in general if five percent of the workforce got up and moved to Mexico one day, so we haven't learned anything new about the importance of the migrant. Further, a thinking person will see that those who are taking low-wage jobs are also putting less back into the economy, even while they receive benefits such as welfare and health care. Even if we had to pay more to get our fruit picked and our houses built, our society would be paying less in the long run. Am I wrong?