Fireworks

Once again, to everyone that came to Java last night, thanks for your discussion and for being willing to be vulnerable in sharing yourself with others. That is never easy but others are richer for it. So thanks to all.

If you live in the city your whole life, you never really get to see stars. The visual noise of the city lights drowns out anything natural in the heavens. If you want to impress a city person, name a constellation in the sky - nothing fancy - just any one and they're likely to label you their "astronomer" friend.

This weekend, the annual Perseid meteor shower will be hitting in our evening skies and supposedly it's a good year to see it. God's natural symphony of fire (or Symphony Splash if you are from around here). Go outside and get spoiled by what God has made for us to enjoy and share. See what we can learn about God through His handiwork. There's something intrinsically worshipful about being in God's Creation and witnessing what He has made.

"The heavens declare the glory of the Lord."

Integrity?

If you've ever known anyone trying to get into the RCMP, you'll know how rigorous their screening is. Lie detectors and interview upon interview. Some people I know that would make great cops don't get in simply because they either gave information they probably should've left out or they didn't give information that the lie detector picked up.

It's absolutely appauling that this mountie in Vancouver keeps his job with 12 days less pay for being so unruly. In case you've missed the story, he drove with 2x the legal limit, threw a rock at a bus and verbally attacked the driver, and had a known criminal as a friend (that had picked up a undercover police officer posing as a prostitute and brought her back to his house).
The argument goes that he can still do his job and his personal life off the clock is something different. If that's the case, then why the rigorous screening?

Bill Clinton probably opened the door to this in the most public way back in the Monica Lewinsky days. Gordon Campbell pleaded the same case in the drinking driving scandal. And people in public and private life do it all the time.

When does a person's personal integrity start to mean something? We cannot be people that say one thing and do another. Add to that, people in authority. Teachers, doctors, pastors, RCMP officers, parents, grandparents, elders - basically anyone with authority - should gain and lose respect not just by how they teach but also how they LIVE. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus talk to pastors about this but it's everyone! "Do as I say but not as I do" shouldn't cut it.

well before their time

Dying is a part of living. It happens to everyone and there really isn't anything wrong with it. Our lives here on Earth are finite and we've been given a relatively short time to leave the world a better place than we found it. Society doesn't like to talk about death - and some cultures have taken it out of their vocabulary entirely for fear that it will bring it on sooner - but truthfully, we would probably be better off if we did. It would take some of the fear away and very likely would help us all to LIVE better - since our death bed is probably the clearest vantage point of our lives lived thus far. We could all learn from that.

However, there is something insiduous and wrong when someone dies before they really even get started living. Our grandparents are supposed to die before us. And so are our parents. As difficult as those things are, it is the natural order of things. But when our children die before we do, there is something very un-right about that. It is hard to feel anything but part of our lives, part of our world has been robbed from us. 'The thief has come to steal and kill and destroy...." and it seems that he has.

These two young UVIC students that died in the house fire early yesterday morning were taken long before their time. Just entering the prime of their lives shouldn't be the time that they die in something as unnoble as a house fire in the middle of the night while they are sleeping. Everyone that knew them commented on how great their potential was and it is not a stretch to say that the world would be a much better place with them in it. That isn't to mention the personal impact - two dads will never walk the aisle to give their daughters away, two boyfriends will never get to see if this relationship will turn into marriage, two communities and families are ripped apart.

There are no answers to this kind of situation. Nothing that we can say to the families and friends that will even begin to answer the deepest questions they have. Only God through His Holy Spirit can do that. It is something unbloggable.

The only thing that I offer here is for us the living that stand arms length to this story but whose hearts are gripped because each time this happens, we relive those past tragedies in our own lives. There is a second part to the 'thief' passage I wrote above. The WHOLE verse reads 'the thief has come to steal and kill and destroy. BUT I HAVE COME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY."

Does sex sell food?

We've all been to those restaurants or pubs where the waitresses are wearing short skirts, low cut tops and flirt their way into the wallets of their customers. In the past, it was generally assumed that it was up to the individual waiters/waitresses how they dressed as long as it complied with their color policies. Today, in some places, those policies include a minimum height at which the skirt needs to be above the knees and how high your heels need to be on your shoes. These restaurants also happen to be among the favorites of the teens and young adults today.

Sex has sold everything for some time now. You can't watch a TV show or even go to a grocery store without it being right there in your face. Modelling has never been as prevalent as it is today and being able to show sensuality is key to being successful.

The argument goes that those that have it, should flaunt it. If someone was really friendly, shouldn't they use that to chat people up to get a better job or bigger tips? Then why shouldn't someone (guy or girl) that is attractive and has an attractive figure use that as well? They are catering to their strengths. Who doesn't like to be waited on by an attractive man or woman?

The TC article has a strong bias to its reporting. As does all of us that are reading this blog too I'm sure. So I'm going to leave it at this. What's wrong with it? Does the onus lie with us not to look lustfully at a man/woman? Or do we need to do more as a society/culture?