Sunday Photos 4/24/11

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

 “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 

He is not here; he has risen!"

He is risen indeed.

Intermission, plus Sunday Photos 4/3/11

Man, life in the real world really had me by the throat this week.  Or at least I let myself feel that way.  Stuff to do, NOW. Frustrations. Schedules. Expectations. Did I mention Frustrations?  I couldn't even let myself really enjoy the time I had scheduled for fun.  Bleh.  But today was different.  I didn't just sit on the couch.  My daughter and I got some painting done in her room, and I've accomplished a few minor tasks here and there.  But the day has had an entirely different feel from the rest of the week because I decided going in that today would be devoted to unwinding the tension that I had let myself get wrapped up in. A day of pausing to reflect upon how truly I am blessed, and to give thanks.  Which brings me to my point today.  Even if your beliefs don't place you in the Judeo-Christian fold, I think there is truth, and something to be gained by everyone, in the idea of Sabbath.  Call it Intermission or The Pause That Refreshes™if you prefer.  But no matter what you call it, or whether or not you include God in it, taking time to truly pause in your life to reflect, meditate, pray, or just be quiet is of tremendous value.  And if this was a great idea a couple thousand years ago, back before the technology of today that sometimes has such a tight grip on us, just think how much more important our Intermissions are today.  (Yeah, I wrote this blog entry today, but it was part of my Sabbath reflection. So there.)

On to the photos.
Some aviation related shots in honor of those of you still on the front lines "pushing tin".

Tango Golf.

The Big Question

  Is there a God? (Yeah it's only my second post, but why not jump in with both feet?)
 A couple gazillion words have already been published on the topic, and many of you have already decided your answer.  But since the subject has come up at our house recently I wanted to share some of my thoughts on matter.

  The arguments against the existence of a higher power presented to me recently are based on a strictly scientific view of the universe.  We obviously have yet to come up with a truly scientific way to answer The Big Question one way or the other (nor do I think we ever will), but I would ask you to consider the following: Almost every record of human societies we have indicates a belief in some type of deity or power outside our normal understanding.  The universality of this experience would seem to indicate that it is intrinsically human to behave in this fashion.  It is in our nature.  From a scientific point of view this belief behavior is irrational, and as such I think it could be considered counterproductive to our survival.  It would then be logical to conclude that the process of natural selection would have eventually acted to eliminate those with a tendency toward this irrationality.  But nothing of the kind has occurred.

  What all this leads me to believe is that humans, all of us since time began, have a God-shaped void inside that we feel a need to fill.   I think this void was left there by our creator, so that we might seek him (or her). We humans have tried to do this in countless ways, many times not even recognizing what we are doing.  But try we have.

  So, is this The Big Answer?  No. I would never presume to know that.  I see this simply as circumstantial evidence.
  (I don't know if my thinking here is original or not, but I don't recall ever hearing things expressed in quite this way.)