BellSong

Speaking of Sidewalk Chalk Art...

2006-06-03T18:11:00.000-05:00

check out this artist's work:
http://www.rense.com/general67/street.htm

Methinks God has blessed him with a talent few can even comprehend. He draws his art in such a way that if it is viewed from the right angle, it appears 3-dimensional. Near the bottom of his web page there is an example of a piece viewed incorrectly and then correctly. It boggles the mind! Here's a taste of his God-given talent:

One Boy's Art...

2006-06-01T19:18:00.000-05:00

Andrew and I, in an attempt to thumb our noses at this very un-Minnesota heat wave (whatever happened to "Minnesotans, God’s Frozen People"?), have taken to spending early evening hours outside our apartment building. We have been creating multi-hued, many-legged mythical creatures on the walkways with sidewalk chalk. You know chalk - colored powder in a stick cringing in fear at the mere mention of the word raindrops.

Now granted our idea of art and other residents’ ideas of art may vary widely. But, come on, did we really deserve to be accused of "defacing our sidewalks"? And I didn’t have the heart to tell Andrew that our art critic called our work "an embarrassment" and a "mess". Here’s a photo of the note awaiting us by the elevator this evening. There was a duplicate in the main entrance foyer as well.

By the way, the note was TAPED to the wall by the elevator, as opposed to pinned to the cork message board 6 inches away. Now I’m no expert on vandalism, but it seems to me that Scotch tape on drywall would have a better chance of causing defacement than chalk on cement sidewalks.

Against the better judgement of my inner rebellious-teenager-filled-with-disdain-for-anyone-older-than-30-trying-to-keep-me-down, I turned the other cheek (for Andrew to see) and abstained from writing a vindictive, vituperative rebuttal note. That’s what Blogs are for!

We have agreed to their demand to "...STOP your child from defacing the property."

2006-05-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

"Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God."
~Elisabeth Elliot

A Song For Parents

2006-05-27T22:53:00.000-05:00

Mark Harris - "Find Your Wings" (From the album "The Line Between The Two")

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

Chorus:
I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

Chorus

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

Chorus

To Sin Or Not To Sin...

2006-05-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

35 Reasons Not to Sin
1 Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2 Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
3 Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4 Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5 Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6 Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
7 Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
8 Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9 Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10 Because my sin saddens the godly.
11 Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12 Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13 Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14 Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15 Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16 Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17 Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18 Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19 Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20 Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21 Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
22 Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23 Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
24 Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25 Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
26 Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
27 Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
28 Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29 Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30 Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31 Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32 Because to sin is not to love Christ.
33 Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34 Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it's own.
35 Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Relinquish Your Rights - Reject the Sin - Renew the Mind - Rely on God

The 6-year-old mind

2006-04-16T23:23:00.000-05:00

My Christian friends MIGHT, although probably not, be surprised to see my music collection. In amongst the Casting Crowns, Third Day and PFR, there's a few holdovers from my youth: Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, UFO, Frank Zappa. For those less 70-80's musically inclined, these would be bands categorized by some as secular for sure, sacreligious perhaps, some might even say evil (I would argue at that...it's only evil if you allow it to effect your heart. I just like the heavy music and when I'm in the mood, the dark lyrics, and then I move on). I've also been known to blissfully close my eyes for the entire 10 minutes of Samuel Barber's "Adagio For Strings" and to bop around the living room to Asleep At The Wheel's "Miles and Miles of Texas". So there.

Speaking of Frank Zappa...I recently introduced Andrew to Frank's unique genre of music. Yes, Frank gets his own genre. As far as descriptions go, I would agree to juvenile, strange, even stupid where lyrics are concerned. But I would also include genius, virtuoso, original, inventive, clever.

Sure his lyrics are often straight from the mind of a 6-year-old (ex: "Watch out where the huskies go/And don't you eat that yellow snow") which is how I knew Andrew would appreciate Frank. But his musicianship is so clever, his wit is razor-sharp, his sense of timing exquisite, and his guitar-playing virtuosic.

One of Frank's wittier (and near and dear to my heart) songs is called "I'm The Slime". As relevant today as it was in the 70's, it basically speaks to the evils of television. Andrew quizzed me a bit on the lyrics and I explained that the "slime" was a metaphor for the vacuous nature of television. Of course I had to explain metaphor, which he seemed to grasp quite well. As the next Frank track came on, "Stink Foot", Andrew asked, "Papa, what is this a metaphor for?" To which I had to reveal the truth: some of Frank's songs are as vacuous as televison sitcoms.

For those really interested, here are the lyrics for Slime:

I am gross and perverted/I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years/But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government/And industry too
For I am destined to rule/And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious/But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious/With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get/Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you/And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you/
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled/It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told/Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks . . .Don't touch that dial (background announcer)
Chorus
Well, I am the slime from your video/Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video/Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
I am the slime from your video/Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video/Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go

MOA Observations

2006-04-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Mall Of America is a near-perfect metaphor for the flesh world. Temptations abound. Materialism at its finest. Amusement to be had in many forms: marine life, movies, roller coasters, and Hooters waitresses. There is food and "sweeties" of every taste, nutritional value and national origin. I have no doubt that, with the right connections, you can even buy various illicit products. It would surprise me if you can’t arrange a meeting with a lady of the evening. If not, Victoria’s Secret will allow a young woman to dress as one. And there are many who take them up on their offer.

The range of mall visitors is a great cross-section of the world’s population. The many ethnic groups that visit suggests a change in name to the Mall Of The World. The economic strata represented include Old Money, New Money, the Average Joe and the Less than Comfortable. And the Teens.

The Teens cut across all ethnic categories, but generally speak in a homogenized language that anyone over 40 probably can’t decipher (I know, Mom, history repeats itself). The Teens, based on their clothes, also cut across the economic levels. But I doubt it’s their money they are spending (which brings up the unsavory question of why so many 14-year-old girls dress like the mannequins at Victoria’s Secrets and parade around MOA, sometimes with parents in tow).

One group of mall visitors we can’t forget is the "Thugs". You know them by their "armor": the crotch to the knee droopy pants bunched up at the top of the technologically-advanced basketball shoes with fractal-based engineered lacing pattern, the T-shirt that hangs to just above the knee, disguising the fact that the upper 2/3rds of their boxers are showing above their beltline, and of course the Aunt Jemima bandana worn beneath the creatively cock-eyed baseball cap.
The interesting aspect of this group of mall denizens is that they tend to travel in groups of 3-5, with all members of the pack loudly and often profanely conversing on their individual cell phones to persons unknown. That’s what I call gang camaraderie.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. The worst part of these opinions and observations by me is, quite frankly these opinions and observations by me. I like to say a prayer in the truck before I head into the mall for my shift at the Wild Bird Store. Forgiven, loved and wrapped in God’s warm embrace, I march stoically through the parking ramp, ready to face whatever comes. And what comes are these hateful, condemning judgements of God’s children as I pass them.

This is my confession: I find it terribly difficult to say anything nice about the people I see at the MOA. They are all quickly and carelessly categorized in my mind. I’m sad to confess I don’t know if there is a reserved category for "happy, loving, appealing person".

Father God, I ask again for your forgiveness. I repent from judging your children and ask for your strength to start seeing them as whom they are: beloved children of God.

So This Is How It Works

2006-04-04T11:33:00.000-05:00

"So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

"God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God."
—G.D.Watson (1845-1924)

I'm all yours, Father God!! I "stumbled" across this moments after a whispered prayer out of the side of my mouth when I asked God to stop me from the sin I was about to commit. I don't even remember the sin I was so intent on now. "It's so hard to be loved by God", Scott whined.

March 29 is coming

2006-03-07T10:17:00.000-06:00

As many of you may know, Minda and I will observe our 10th anniversary on March 29. I say observe because there always seems to be something concurrent that time of the year that supersedes a real celebration. So we make it up a week or two later.

But this year, to really stir things up, we will be renewing our commitment to each other in a "ceremony" the following Sunday at our 25-member homechurch . Ceremony probably isn't the right word; ritual sounds scary but that may be more accurate. It won't be a traditional sort of thing, though. No flowers, ushers, tuxes or organs. Music will be provided by our usual "choir" of capable churchmembers. Our good friend Vic has agreed to pray for us in his inimitable Indian accent (poetry in sound and substance!). We'll be having a celebratory meal afterwards at the home where this "ceremony" will occur.

Basically we will be asking our spiritual family (and our precious and sometimes "jealous-of-our-affection-for-each-other" son) to witness us inviting God into our marriage. Of course He's been there all along. But he wasn't specifically invited to our very sterile, civil ceremony in the judge's chamber 10 years ago. We felt that royal snub needed to be remedied.

We are replacing our wedding rings, but not in the ceremony...in fact, I am already in possession of mine (see below) and Minda's is on order. Mine is a fine example of the ancient metalsmithing art of Damascus Steel. 'Tis very beautiful! Thank you, Minda!

Believe it or not...

2006-03-06T21:44:00.000-06:00

...it's just me! Been pretty busy lately, so blogging has fallen to the bottom of my TO-Do list. I have to say, unequivocally, that working outside the home is very, very disruptive to normal life! Of course producing 400 hand-assembled Squngees (with the bell) in about a week-and-a-half is fairly disruptive to normal circadian rhythm as well!

But, we are caught up, we have a realistic production schedule set up, and we are back to sleeping somewhat normal hours. Today as we ate breakfast, we had surprise visitors to our feeders. A mixed flock of Robins and Cedar Waxwings blew into our woodlot and spent a few moments devouring berries from the hawthorn (?) saplings outside our windows. Waxwings are one of my favorite birds and one species I've only seen 4 or 5 times in my years of paying attention to birds. Here's a borrowed photo to display all their splendor (I especially like the subtle yellow on the tail and red on the wingtips). I would love to have posted a photo by Minda, but of course as soon as she turned on the camera and maneuvered for a photo, the birds blasted away again, even the not so shy Robins. We also saw our albino squirrel (or his replacement) yesterday. He hasn't visited since late last fall. He also was camera-shy, so this is borrowed from the internet as well (looks just like him, though!):

We possibly received an answer to prayer today! I say possibly because it's not a done deal yet, but...we toured an "extended assisted living" home for my Mom that proved to be awesome. This place meets her needs, is covered by a medical assistance plan so she won't have to move when she runs out of money, and the best part is, they have an opening, they are holding it for Mom, and it is substantially less expensive than the last 2 places she's been. This could get her out of the hell she's living in now (where the medical treatment is substandard, there is no chapel services, she's afraid to leave her room because of a violent co-resident, etc. etc. etc. etc.). Thank you, Father God!

Mushy Molecules

2006-02-05T23:58:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, that marshmallow monstrosity is all a part of Andrew’s homeschool Pre-Chem lesson. He’s learning about atoms and molecules in the photos. We are following a book that teaches junior high chemistry concepts at a kindergarten-3rd grade level. Here’s a shot of him sampling an atom!

Later in the week we delved into the mysteries and tastes of acids and bases. We had quarter-cup samples of vinegar, lemon juice, alka-seltzer water and mineral water. Got to boil a whole head of red cabbage in distilled water, too!

Next week's lesson: Mixtures and solutions.

Update on Camp Snoopy

2006-01-26T19:31:00.000-06:00

Rumor (and the Star Tribune) has it that the MOA Phase II may include a 300,000 square foot Bass Pro Shop as the anchor for the expansion. Phase II is expected to include a 6,000-seat performing arts center, three hotels, as many as 300 condominiums, an ice rink and a museum.

Bass Pro Shops has humble beginnings: Back in the '70s, Johnny Morris of Springfield, MO started selling fishing lures at his father's liquor store. Thirty-four years later, revenue at the privately held company topped $1.6 billion (in 2004).

I am saddened to report that my earlier optimism for a new water fountain to replace the highly unimaginative "Snoopy's Water Bowl" was premature: they simply covered the "trademarked title" on the side of the bowl with a new sign declaring the highly imaginative new name for the little amusement park: "The Park at MOA".

Sunday I did a quick drive-by of the airport's cargo road hoping to spot the snowy owl that's been hanging out there for a couple months. Saw neither talon nor feather of the owl but I did spot a somewhat unusual raptor: a female Kestrel. My own observations over the years have been that the females migrate to more temperate climes during winter and the mighty males stick it out. Here's a male:

Update on my vision

2006-01-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago I posted about a vision I had during a prayer at our homechurch. I don't want to embellish or modify anything, so I cut and pasted my description below:
"...during prayer time, I saw a tall, rough-hewn rock-wall-enclosed channel or canyon with a shorter smooth wall cutting down the middle, dividing the chamber but not closing off the end. I saw a stream of water that ran perpendicular to the short wall; in fact it ran through and under all the walls it intersected. There was a figure kneeling beside the stream with his back to me.
Usually I ask one or more of my Christian brothers to help me to understand these visions. But I believe God provided me with an immediate interpretation: The stream represents God’s grace and love; the walls represent the prison of the flesh world. (Hopefully) the figure represented me partaking in the refreshing promise of God’s love and grace. The fact that the stream flows through and in fact transcends the prison walls shows me that with Jesus, I can escape the prison of the flesh."

The one part of the vision I didn't have an interpretation for was the smooth, short bisecting wall. Today one of our other members offered up his interpretation: Mr. S believes the rough-hewn walls are the prison of sin (and by extension the world, our flesh, anything apart from God), the stream is the refreshing waters of God's love, and the short, smooth wall represents false religion (or perhaps a cursory, flippant, "I go to church every Sunday before the football game starts" attention to God, or "I read the bible at least once a month" spoken with righteous indignity). The smooth wall is painless, comfortable to climb, and appealing in its smoothness, but guess what? It doesn't work! It's not tall enough to climb out of the prison! It doesn't even reach the perpendicular rough wall to give you a lift up or head start.

My own smooth wall leads me to remember Matthew 6:33—"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you".

Whew! I'm glad it's that easy!

Sadder-Day

2006-01-21T14:45:00.000-06:00

Today is a sadder-day for the Shultz family, and a good day for the orphans of Uganda. A Saturday afternoon departure from the Minneapolis airport begins the first leg of the Pierce family's journey to Jinja, Uganda. Don and Danielle will be joining the Aids Orphans Education Trust organization, helping to build a school, housing and a love of Jesus Christ for a handful of the millions of orphaned children there.

The sad part for us is that this is a family we shared many things with, not least of which was family values, and we will miss them terribly! Besides the numerous dinners, kid get-togethers, and incredible God-talk we shared, D & D shared our views on homeschooling, discipline, and loving our children. That is not something you find everyday.

Andrew and I spent most of the morning helping them finish clearing out their rental home. Hard work and a lot of detritus hauling has left them with a near empty house. When we left, there was at least 4 families from their church helping out. Hopefully they will be free and clear of all worries for their 3:00 ride to the airport and out of our lives.

Goodbye Don, Danielle, Gabrielle, Victoria and Little Sprite (Kaitlin)! We will miss you more than you will know! God bless you.

On the way home, as we munched our highly nutritious Burger King meal, Andrew and I spotted: 5 sitting and 2 flying Redtails and one soaring Bald Eagle.

Here I am

2006-01-19T12:42:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, all my adoring fans have missed me, but I'm back. I've been working at the All Seasons store at the Mall Of America for several evenings and coming home too mentally drained to be witty in the blogosphere. I've even failed in my quest to spot a raptor a day on most of the last few days.

Today I had a very nice sighting: As I drove east on 98th Avenue from our apartment, a very fine looking adult bald eagle came flying out over the road, escorted by three crows. The eagle was cooly cruising but did have his feet dangling ready to punch an overly aggressive crow.

Yesterday (Thursday) I spotted a lone Redtail sitting in a tree near my mother's nursing home in St. Louis Park.

Speaking of the Bloomington Church of Commerce (Mall Of America), the latest news (now that I'm in the In-Crowd) is that Camp Snoopy will now be called "The Park" and will no longer feature Snoopy characters. That means the big Snoopy's Water Dish fountain will be removed and hopefully something more interesting, imaginative, entertaining and perhaps even well-thought-out will be put in its place! Yay!

Did you know:

☺The Mall of America is big enough to hold 32 Boeing 747s

☺If a shopper spent 10 minutes browsing at every store, it would take them more than 86 hours to complete their visit to Mall of America

☺There are 12,550 parking spots on-site

☺There is 4.2 million square feet of gross building area

☺There are anywhere from 11,000 to 13,000 people employed at the stores of MOA

☺And the big news: They will be breaking ground this summer on Phase II which may contain an ice-skating rink, a water park and is zoned for up to 5.7 million square feet of new development!!

Redtail, Redtail Everywhere

2006-01-12T16:23:00.000-06:00

I was just remarking to my boss at the All Seasons Eagan store, about the lack of anything but Redtails to be listed. And so on my way home, as I came down the entrance ramp to Highway 77 from Cliff Road, guess what I saw? T'was a beautiful adult female Cooper's Hawk pumping hard into the wind to cross 494. Very cool! (This is not that bird! Just a photo borrowed from Google Images.)

I also spotted a big hawk perched in a tree on my way to work, at Old Shakopee Road at 77. One guess...

Wednesday's Hawk

2006-01-12T00:21:00.000-06:00

On our way home from the Children's Museum, Andrew and I spotted a buxom hen Redtail facing SW in a tree off Highway 5 near the 55 exit. Also a juvenile sitting low in a sapling off westbound 494 in front of the NWA hangars.

The Children's Museum, by the way, has a neat exhibit about Japanese culture and popular art. The highlight for us was the collection of icons from Hayao Miyazaki’s film, My Neighbor Totoro. This is one of Andrew's favorites. My favorite Miyazaki film is Spirited Away which contains this little gem: "Once you do something, you never forget. Even if you can't remember".

Speaking of hawks...

2006-01-10T21:01:00.000-06:00

I've decided to emulate one aspect of a blog that I visit daily, that of the famous Birdchick. She's a very hip birder, raptor-enthusiast and a personal friend of one of my favorite authors of unusual fiction, Neil Gaiman.

Birdchick has made it a 2006 goal to spot at least one wild raptor each day during her travels and report it on her blog. I like that idea...but I'm a little behind.

Monday, 1/09 - Andrew and I, on our way to the Science Museum, spotted two Redtails perched in a tree near the airport on Highway 5, both facing the morning sun.

Tuesday 1/10 - I spotted a very dark Redtail soaring over the NE corner of the intersection of Cliff Road and Highway 77.

Extreme Birdfeeding

2006-01-10T12:10:00.000-06:00

I started working part-time at the All Seasons Wild Bird Stores , the Eagan and the Sprawl of America locations a few months ago. One of the most frequent and long-running conversations I’ve had with my new birdfeeding co-workers has been about my falconry avocation. Many folks are under the impression that falconry is a hobby. Not a chance. In fact the reason I am in inactive mode right now is because the "falconry lifestyle" doesn’t mesh real well with the "youngster and home-based business lifestyle". My hope is that when Andrew is about 10, I’ll be able to re-integrate "extreme birdfeeding" into my life, with Andrew learning along the way.

My favorite bird, a breeder-produced Harris’ Hawk named "Nicole", earned early accolades from the St. Louis falconers during her inaugural year. Seeing her hard-hitting style (not typical of her species) and the result of that style on her captured game, she was re-monikered "The Hammer". Despite her gung-ho attitude toward game, she was a pleasant, albeit noisy bird to be around. Sweet natured comes to mind. This photo was taken after her first rabbit catch. (The longhaired and fairly skinny guy is none other than your blogmaster).

I had quite a few adventures with Hammer. She once captured a former fiancée’s dog—twice in less than 2 minutes. The dog was fine but the relationship suffered. She nailed a feral cat whose bite to Hammer’s wing put her out of commission for 2 months. She was a great squirrel hawk; she ended her first season with her first squirrel—a nearly 3 pound fox squirrel. The following year saw her put 3 squirrels in the bag in 45 minutes on several occasions.
Hammer seemed to believe anything was fair game. She chased deer, coyote, groundhogs, quail, and woodcock. In Minnesota she mastered the art of car-hawking crows and chased and rolled her first ever white-tailed jackrabbit. The jack left her standing in the field shaking her head! But the Minnesota cold was too much for her. She now resides in a breeding project in Valdosta Georgia. I miss her.

...whatever you do...

2006-01-08T19:02:00.000-06:00

...do all to the glory of God."—1 Cor. 10:31

How will I blog to God’s glory?

Often times during prayer time at church or Wednesday night men’s group, God sends me visions. Some of them are cRyptiC: white-hatted cowboy on a white horse moving away from me, the horse straddling—sliding down—the barbed wire fence!

Some are very cryptic: a stained glass picture in a frame, the image that of a silver and red sentient and benevolent dragon with brown mammalian eyes that pulls its two-dimensional head away from the background, becoming 3-d and slowly shaking its head.

And some are fairly self-explanatory: a white, sawn-off tree stump with a new branch growing from the side of the stump and the still, quiet words spoken "You think you have reached a dead end, but there is another direction for your journey".

Today during prayer time, I saw a tall, rough-hewn rock-wall-enclosed channel or canyon with a shorter smooth wall cutting down the middle, dividing the chamber but not closing off the end. I saw a stream of water that ran perpendicular to the short wall; in fact it ran through and under all the walls it intersected. There was a figure kneeling beside the stream with his back to me.

Usually I ask one or more of my Christian brothers to help me to understand these visions. But I believe God provided me with an immediate interpretation: The stream represents God’s grace and love; the walls represent the prison of the flesh world. (Hopefully) the figure represented me partaking in the refreshing promise of God’s love and grace. The fact that the stream flows through and in fact transcends the prison walls shows me that with Jesus, I can escape the prison of the flesh. (I could be totally off here, so feel free to submit your thoughts and interpretations).

Now the question is: Is this post glorifying to God? That God felt me—fat and flawed, formerly steeped in sinful living, nearly devoid of redeeming qualities (you know, flesh and blood human)—a worthy receptacle of these visions, reveals His incredible, utterly ungraspable capacity to love, forgive, and encourage. Sharing His awesome, loving nature to any who will read this seems the least I can do. I hope that glorifies Him.

Cephalagiatorium

2006-01-06T10:40:00.000-06:00

So I was accused of making up words recently when I called the local Chuck E. Cheese "restaurant" a cephalagiatorium (a place that causes headaches, and yes I made that up). Never one to shy away from honorary titles like neologist (one who coins new phrases) or vocabularian (same definition), I decided to pad my credentials by performing a little lexpionage (the sleuthing of new words and phrases) via the internet.
And so as I gaze out the window at all the mid-winter snirt (snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed) and dread the onset of afternoon cognitive displaysia (the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway), I chuckle to myself at the hell I’m about to put my spellchecker through with this report. No doubt it will become confuzzled (confused and puzzled at the same time). But I, and it will plow through.
Okay, that was awkward writing, not to mention the optotoxical (of or pertaining to poisonous looks that could kill, esp. from a spouse) glares from Minda as I typed while pretending to listen to her talk. (Not really, I would never do that!)
So here’s a few more of my finds from this dictionary:
precuperate (v): prepare for the possibility of being ill
detroitus (n): car parts found alongside the highway
quackmire (n): muddy edges of a duck pond
whinese (n) a language spoken by children or spouses on long road trips
flusterpated (adj.) a state of being flustered that's so intense, one's actions and words become bound up

And here's a gratuitous photo of a very cool vizsla, just for fun!

Former BlogScoffer...

2006-01-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

that's what my wife called me when she saw that I had created my own blog. I prefer the archaic "scoffblog". Sounds much more literary.

For anyone interested, the "BellSong" title does not pertain to the opera by the same name. Actually, the bellsong to which I refer is the sound of falconry bells as they approach and then fly past on the ankles of a trained hunting hawk. The Doppler effect of ringing hawk bells, so to speak. It's one of my favorite sounds in all the world and I miss it greatly during this hiatus from falconry!

In The Beginning...

2006-01-05T13:34:00.000-06:00

I scoffed at blogs. Then my better half started one. Hmmm. Then I found a few in my vein of interest. Then it hit me: I can do this! So here it is, my blog.
I always was a trendsetter! If you don't have a blog yet, you better get cracking. I'm quite certain once news hits the wire of what I have done, there will be hundreds of blogs cropping up faster than you can say "squirrel feeders will never sell well".