It's been a long time...

I wanted to post this in the present venue because it is really a musing, though it has spiritual elements that could classify it as a Bible study. Here's the background:
I was at a meeting last night of the Truth Project, a series by Focus on the Family that tries to help people refine their world view to make it more Biblical and less influenced by the world. I made a statement that, given the current state of our physical and mental abilities (i.e. according to some reports most people use about three percent of what their brain is actually capable of, people like Einstein used about ten percent, but Adam in his pre-Fall state used 100%), we do not understand everything in the Bible all at once. In fact, I find that as I continue to read the same passages repeatedly, I find new meaning in them for my current circumstances.
Another gentleman in the group, whom I will characterize as a literalist, took exception to my statement, thinking I was saying that the Truth in the Bible changed from time to time, from circumstance to circumstance. My Pastor rose to my defense saying that, knowing me, he knew that was not what I was saying. I agreed, reaffirming that it was just my comprehension of the Word that changed.
I mentioned to my wife a few nights ago that I am amazed that at 65 years old I am just now understanding certain facets of life and God's Word. It gave me new insight on why many of the antediluvian (pre-Noah) figures did not even start having children until they were 65 or so.
So, this morning as I was musing last night's discussion, I saw a metaphor for what I was saying. As we look into God's Word, it's like we are digging for raw treasure. Sometimes we find nuggets of gold or silver; sometimes whole veins of the raw gold or silver ore. And occasionally, we find raw gems. They are raw and impure because the Holy Spirit has not taught us how to apply them in our lives. The gold and silver ore need to be heated up until they melt and the impurities that we have attached to them in our initial readings (dross) rise to the surface to be extracted leaving the pure metal of the Spirit's perfect interpretation (1 Peter 1:7). After all, He's the one who wrote it in the first place (2 Peter 1:21). And the gems need to be processed by the Spirit as well, chipping off pieces here and there, revealing new facets, geometrically placing them in just the right places in our lives so that the finished jewel, the Spirit's application in our lives, magnificently reflects God's glory.

Next time....

Well, I found out what my problem was with the blogger app for my phone: it wasn't the one from Google! It was a 3rd party app and obviously it didn't work. I was able to see everything on the real one today. Anyway, just thought I'd share that. Oh, hey, if you have a minute, go check out my blog for my Ph.D. (Milton's IDOL Dissertation). I'm posting my latest ideas for my new topic and I sure could use some feedback. It's listed under my profile. Thanks.

Patience

Ah, technology. I downloaded an app to my Droid 3 phone that was supposed to allow me to post to this blog. However, I can't figure how to make it work, so I will just do it from my laptop.

This is just a short thought that I will develop later, but I was doing some thinking in the shower this morning (my most prolific thought-provoking environment) about my capacity for patience. I can be very patient with tasks, spending inordinate amounts of time getting a thing just right, but I am relatively impatient with people, especially when driving. If I come up behind a person going slower than I am, I want them to get out of my way NOW! By the same token, if I am poking along, enjoying my drive and someone comes up behind me, riding on my bumper, I want them to back off immediately. And woe to the person who cuts in front of me so they can slow down and make a turn! But in general, I just don't have much patience with people. It's something I need to work on. Things that have a heartbeat, I'm told, are more important than things that don't.

Ode to Whiskers

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop shaving...again. To celebrate my return to hirsuteness, I composed this poem:

Fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear,
Fuzzy-wuzzy grew some hair,
Fuzzy wasn't fuzzy--
Was he scuzzy?

Can it get any worse?

A whimsical muse

I was thinking as I worked on my latest post for my IDOL dissertation blog (and thus for my IDOL dissertation). I had occasion to use the word "focus," but I wanted to use the plural. I thought "If the plural of 'locus' (a point, as on a line graph) is 'loci' (pronounced lo-kee), then the plural of 'focus' must be 'foci' (fo-kee), right?" Well, I put it in the text in Word and didn't get a squiggly red line! I was certainly encouraged. (I verified this with dictionary.com and it is listed as one possible plural)

So, I got to thinking further (you know, that usually means trouble): so if the plural of "locus" is "loci" and the plural of "focus" is "foci," then the plural of (wait for it....) the plural of "hocus pocus" has got to be "hoci poci" (ho-kee po-kee), right? And that's what it's all about!

Happy Valentines Day - Monday!

Well, I haven't been exercising much, but I've been losing weight anyway. Terri (my wife) started us on a new diet and I've dropped almost 20 pounds. But I've got at least 50 more to go. And I keep cheating. Anyway, the venerable day of love is Monday. I'd better get out today and get a card and some flowers. Maybe I'll wait until Monday for the flowers.

I have been getting some work done on my dissertation. I've been working on the literature review. So far I've reviewed six sources; the results are posted in my dissertation blog (go to my profile to find a link).

One thing I have missed is the opportunity to build models. I have a model of the Wright Brothers Flyer (still shrink-wrapped) that I've had for a year. Then there's the four other models out in the garage in various phases of incompletion. Add to that my desire to get a balsa-wood model of a Sopwith Camel (Snoopy's plane). But there's always other priorities. Ah, to enjoy the freedom and pleasures of childhood again.

Aha! I see!

So, two-and-a-half months have gone by since my last post, and what's new? Well, I've put on more weight, my feet are getting weird (peripheral neuropathy, a complication of type 2 diabetes), and my wife sold my Star Trek: The Next Generation VHS collection on e-Bay before I was able to capture them and transfer them to DVD. I got the first season done before I had to ship them off, but now I have to find the other six seasons somehow. And I really don't have the time. I have got to finish this dissertation for my Ph.D. It is taking way too long and the school loans are really piling up. So two things are imperatives for this new year: exercise and writing! Too bad I don't have an exercise machine I can put my laptop or wireless keyboard on. That way I could combine the two, which are usually mutually exclusive. But then I don't have an exercise machine anyway. Too bad.

Well, time to get at it and make the most of this federal holiday.