My Web Pictures

This Father's Day, I would like to remember my Dad who died in mid March of this year. He inspired many people and will be missed. TerminalMan's Web Pictures and especially My Dad

Flying Spaghetti Monsterism

Touched by His Noodly Appendage
I love this picture and the inverse crazyness of this attack on 'Intellegent Design'

Highest Law

Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is Jesus's restatement of the most important commandment.

The PBGs have been going on about this too. I have been taking a course recently that has been helping me improve my life. Early on, I felt a nudge of encouragement from the PBGs to follow this path. There is no doubt in my mind that the value I gain from taking these courses will increase my abilities to play my part in the PBGs plans.

On the other hand, it may just tempt me to try to take control of the plan or take credit for the wonderful accomplishments I have attracted into my life. Pride goes before the fall, don't you know.

My fantasy visions of my future include loads of friends, lots of money, a fleet of yachts, a studio with loads of beautiful artworks made by my hands.

Hmmm, not a lot of OOPBGB going on in all that. And where in all of that is the True Connection? Sounds a bit greedy now that I think about it.

Those PBGs brought this clever advertisment about a marathoner to me. How could I resist taking a look. Not only a marathoner who is clever, with business savy, but a ladies man and a smooth talker. "Is this how you picture your future?" they asked me.

Next on the hit list, they suggest I do the next church Rotation -- the temptation of Christ. This lesson is about Jesus staying in the desert for 40 days and nights with no food and only a little water. He is tempted by the serpent. So is that it Guys? Am I being tempted by the serpent here? Are you telling me that my pride will get me into trouble?

And what is with the picture of a boat covered with sexually appealing girls and me in the center? Do you mock my dream or dare me to accomplish it?

It seems likely that you are saying to me that there is Only one Lord. That the pursuit of money/power is evil and that I should put it behind me.

If I am looking for true connection, it should not be with these things it should be with God.

Recently I was using Google's new RSS feed viewer in my gmail account. It brought me to a link on how to create and remember your strong passwords for online banking and such. Very good advice now that so much of our personal information is online. Sometimes we need a little help remembering things that are very important.

Over the years, the PBGs have helped to make God and Jesus palatable for me. If that sounds strange to you, you don't know me very well. Or perhaps you have just come to know me recently.

I was visited by the PBGs on my run this morning. They spoke to me about belief.

I said:"Go ahead and believe whatever damn fool thing you want. The Facts will always beg to differ."

The PBGs whispered: The 'facts' shouted from the roof-tops may bear little resemblance to the Truth.

I am reminded of a scene in the book, "The Silver Chair" by C.S. Lewis. This is one of the Narnia books, though it isn't nearly as well known as "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". In this scene, the Green Witch, who is really a poisonous snake in disguise tries to convince the protagonists that there is no sun, no overworld and no Aslan. She calls these ideas fantasies and children stories. She uses her magic smoke, harp music and lilting voice to dull their senses, addle their brains and put them to sleep.

Puddleglum, a marsh wiggle, breaks out of her powerful spell and says

Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up... trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself... all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones... We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it.I'm going to live like a Narnian as I can [sic] even if there isn't a Narnia.

It is a powerful message placed in a powerful and memorable scene in a wonderful story. Encoded in these wonderful books are concepts to save a world by. A story like this helps us remember what is truely important. It encourages us to stand up for what is right regardless of what the 'facts' are telling us is prudent or acceptable

And a child's story (the Narnia books, in this case) help us to remember what is important. "Remember what silly old Puddleglum said..." For a wiggle, he sure had his head on straight.

What Was Your 23rd Post?

Rules:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here's mine:

Also swam with the family today.

This was an uninspired post from a blogging dry-spell. This was in a period where my blog was still mostly a running log; prior to my involvement at church. I suppose the most interesting part of this post is the fact that it celebrates the first day of training for my first marathon.

I've come a long way from there. I'll go a long way further.

Taken from Sisters' Weblog, and all the others who participated along the way.

Two or More Are Gathered

Convergence and other coincidences have, in the past, been what made the PBGs tick. Well, that is how they ticked for me.

But now I am beginning to wonder. Like Larry I wonder if there is more going on than meets they eye (or ear relevent ear, in his case :)

Larry wonders why, on a lonely road, cars travelling in opposite directions seem to pass each other right where he happens to be. Sounds to me like a mini church get-together. Much too short for much worship to be accomplished, however.

I wonder, like Larry, if there is more to these kinds of coincidences. In the past I have had deep thoughts on my runs with the PBGs. Where did these thought come from. It always seemed to me that they originated from within me, but that is was unlikely I came up with them all on my own. Perhaps I am not giving my subconscience enough credit. Perhaps the aspect of God I am channeling is tayloring his message (ok Mo, HER message) in a way that my simplistic faith can handle. Like a elementary primer for a grade-school faith.

I do know for certain that I am in a different place today than I would have been without the experiences I have had. Every day I feel more confident and become more involved with the world around me. I don't feel a need to take credit for these changes. I just enjoy my new-found skills. I don't know if I should give credit (and thanks) to God or congratulate myself for climbing out of my funk myself.

My faith gives me God. My God gives me courage. My courage gives me strength. My strength leads me to action. I am a hand of God! OOPBGB

Mechanical Pencil

This cartoon came to me when I was considering investing in the stock market. I was going to use my new-found "Financial Intelligence" to ramp up my Assets column.

This strip says to me that regardless of how expensive the tools you have at hand are, it is ultimately your mind and your determination (and perhaps a large dollop of luck) that determine your results. It suggests that it isn't the pencil or the flashy car that get us where we want to go, it's our choices and the way we conduct our lives.

Decide

Decide

I found this picture on the APOD site. It kinda spooked me. I visit the APOD site almost every day because I find lots of nifty pictures of galaxies and nebulas for my desktop. It usually has great commentaries about the pictures as well. But I digress.

It spooked me because it is almost exactly like a picture I was trying to create with the POVRay raytracer. I was smitten by raytracing when my kids were younger. I would walk around examining objects as potential candidates for my next project. I made a train and a Ferris wheel... Oops, digressing again.

I got frustrated with how hard it was to get something looking beautiful and polished. I often got bogged down in math problems like, how do you make a rope hang between two points without it looking like it is frozen stiff. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to pick a project and create an entire picture from start to finish

I picked an observatory. I made good start on it and came up with a pretty decent structure. Then I wanted a night sky. I played around with various lighting techniques, textures, etc. But I was never satisfied with the sky. I just couldn't get it to look right. Well, the PBGs work in mysterious ways. They seem to take their time about it, but...

The above picture is exactly the sky I wanted. The observatories (only one in my imagined picture) are even on a hill.

<Shiver>

And, I just recently got back into doing 3D graphics using the Unreal Tournament engine. I have decided (again) that I want to accomplish something and am currently bogged down on how the textures work, lighting and, you guessed it, math. There is SO much to learn and no more time now than I had before. If anything, my life is MORE full now. I really have to decide what is important.

I love doing the graphics, but is soaks up SO MUCH time.

Now UCCan

Did you know that the United Church of Canada is celebrating it's 80th year? 'S'truth. Check it out here: United Church of Canada Anniversary

And to celebrate, I have decided to join Richard Bott's UCCan Blogroll.

Well, actually, he discovered The PBGs Path and invited me to join him. I was touched and pleased to be asked, and, having now checked out the other links in the UCCan, I CCan say that we all seem to be like-minded individuals.

If you don't believe me, check out Richard Bott's statement of faith.

There is one thing that concerns me however...

All the others are either ministers or in theology school. Do you think somebody out there is hinting? Could it be the trickster PBG?

If you are involved in some way with the United Church of Canada and have a web log, please add yourself to our ranks.

(I'm all ready sounding possessive, aren't I Richard?)

The Grass is greener.

They say that the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. I believe that.

In my blog-reading travels (I must admit I haven't been spending much time looking others up recently) I have discovered the joy of reading the first post. I love the first post of a new blog.

When I discover a new blog-link, I usually try to get a feel of how the blog has been going by checking the frequency of posting and how long it's been since the last post. Then I skip straight to the first post. It is always so revealing.

People put all their good intentions in their first posts. They might not know what a blog is about, they may have not found their style or muse, but their determination to stick with their new blog is usually dripping from their keystrokes.

They also usually spend 5 times the effort on the first post as they do on, say, the fourth. You know that if the first post sucks, you can bet that their writing probably won't improve much with age.

Well, I wandered over to the Sisters' site (the only blog I seem to visit on a regular basis, read a wonderfully inspirational post by Katie, spotted a de-cluttering idea from, well Katie, I guess and read the first comment.

Blog comments are another place I like to spend my reading time. You find more quality blog-links in comment reading than in a hundred Google searches.

Which leads me to Simon.

Simon lives in California. Grass Valley California. And he works for Grass Roots Software. In his first post, he speaks eloquently of his life, faith family, and future plans.

To tell the truth, it doesn't sound like the grass is any greener there than it is right here. I already like Simon and I don't really know him.

Well, not much more that what I read in his first post anyway

Keep up the good work Simon. I promise I will read more. Oh and link you to the PBGs.

Like a Fern or Bamboo?

Ric shared with me an inspirational link that I wanted to share with you. If you are thinking of quitting work, sprituality, perhaps life itself, this may help you. It is a very gentle message about the grace of God done in such a way as to be accessable to even the most cynical viewer.

I include it on the PBGs Path because its core message speaks to the PBGs big Plan. We may not know the part we play on God's stage, but there are no unimportant parts. In the big scheme of things, everything matters.

 

EDIT: I have never been close to suicide, so I don't really know if this message is helpful for that. If a google search brought you here, take a look. Perhaps it will give you the strength to carry on.

Google Maps

Here is a nifty link for a new tool provided by the folks at Google.

Hey ma', I can (nearly) see my house!

Make sure you try both the map and satellite versions and play around with the navigation controls. Some other neat places in the world are:

• Cairo -- spot the pyramids?
• Paris -- how about the famous steel structure?
• Hong Kong -- look at all the 'tiny' container ships freighting trinkets to the rest of the world!
• Hoover Dam -- It may look tiny, but you can see it from space!

Wandering Soul

Well, I was on Official PBG Business tonight. Mo and I were returning home in the car when a little boy by a bus stop caught my eye. He was only about three years old and was wandering around with only a diaper, a T-shirt and sandals on. It wasn't his appearance that really caught my eye; it was how he looked right at me and gave me a tiny wave.

In that split second, I knew there was something wrong.

I turned the car around and went back and, sure enough, he was blocks away from home and was searching for his mother.

He was old enough to talk but I had difficulty getting any solid answers from him. As luck would have it, Mo was able to flag down a passing police car to assist us. As if one lost boy wasn't enough, there were two, unrelated and younger boys, at the same time and location, also looking for their mother. Three lost boys.

We managed to find both mothers, and the police officers gave them (we hope) a stern talking to. I can't imagine letting my kids wander away like that.

Seems like another example of how we can listen with our hearts to Gods small voice and be ready for action. Susan over at Sisters puts it well. Love is about action as much as it is about "I love you"

I am the hands of the PBGs and OOPBGB!

Top Flight Life?

So, the new me decided to try golf as a replacement for running. It's a fine way to spend a sunny evening. A bit of exercise, some nice scenery, pleasant conversation. Except for being hard on my feet, what's not to like?

I discovered that I am not the greatest golfer in the world. But hey, I just started. I only have up as an option. My golf partners were very understanding and supportive. What a great group.

All well and good, you might be thinking, but what is PBGish about golfing? Well, I got to thinking about the number of golf balls that wind up in the North Saskatchewan River. The must be hundreds of balls per day. The river must go through lots of golf courses on its travels to the sea. Probably millions of golfballs a year wind up in the oceans from this river alone!

that's a lot of balls

There must be whole shoals of balls out there. What life forms do you think are living on these balls? Perhaps as we speak, there is some new life-form evolving on the dimples of the golfballs collecting in the ocean depths.

And if these new creatures become dependent on their golfball oasis', what will happen if there is a recession and the number of golfers plummets?

Just think about that for a second. Kinda makes you want to take up golfing. But perhaps not get too good at it, or you won't hit any "top flight" balls into the river.

 

EDIT: I was listening to CBC radio's Quirks and Quarks. This article, although it doesn't mention golfers and ocean golf ball shoals, is exactly what I was talking about!

The Short and the Long

Well, it is official now. I am an Ex-runner. I have been having foot pain in both my feet for the last 2 months. I tried to ignore it and even pressed my luck by running a half ultra marathon (50 km).

Now my feet hurt from standing too long.

So I went to a podiatrist on the recomendation of a good friend of mine and had my feet checked out. His assessment: Plantar Fasciitis. He wants me to try orthotics for my shoes. Yuck.

I've heard a lot about running with orthotics and most if it isn't encouraging.

So I am going to stop running for a short while. I may start again but for now, I am an ex-runner.

---

Why do I run anyway?.

When I was younger, it was to escape screaming babies and give me freedom in a restrictive environment. I planned my runs so they would not interfere with Mo's schedule. She could sleep while ran.

It also got me out in the fresh air and allowed me to think.

It was a time of meditation. Eventually I discovered God in the pages of my journal and the miles of my journey.

The longer my runs became, the more able I was to listen to that vast, small voice.

Recently I ran an excersize that was just over one km. Although the distance was short, I still heard that small voice. Yup, still with me. So a short run can be meditative too!

I guess in the Long Run, a Short Run may be just as therapeutic.

Go with the Flow

I am flowing water.

I fall from the sky in a fine mist, noticed on the face and hands. I collect into puddles and nurture seedlings. In time I collect into streams that meander through thick brush.

Unknown to me, ancient trees drink of me and say a silent thanks.

More flow and I develop into a river. Confined by the banks of propriety, I am none the less a strong force; to be reckoned with.

Small children play at my banks and are delighted and cherished.

I cross the plains in no particular hurry, knowing that my steady progress is assured.

I reach the precipice. Fear grips me. I draw together and try to shrink from the edge! Then I become the waterfall for a brief moment. Dizzy, spinning, released, joyous. Free, in my glory, fully alive.

Crash, into the pond I go in a blaze of foamy excitement. Collecting myself into pools I rest, then press on with relentless (breathless) unhurried placidness. Perhaps rapids next?

Composed as an exercise at The Wall by Tim Rosborough

What’s in a name

I miss-typed my own blog’s URL and got this one. Interesting pictures, but no recent posts. This little number gave me a giggle. I thought, hey, those could be state lotto numbers!

Now I just need to be in a State...

And beleive in lottos...

And buy a ticket...

And get lucky!

Nah too much work.

You Are HERE

I haven't fully looked at this site yet, but I thought it was an interesting collection of information. I like to know where I am at. This site litererally tells me my place in the universe.

Stay Tuned Bloggers

The PBGs haven't been as active in my life until recently but, as you can imagine, they don't always operate near the surface. I had a strong experience this past weekend that I am preparing to post for your reading pleasure.

Time is short right now but I have some notes in my draft pages and I will post as soon as I can.

Stay tuned!

Prelude to Grace

I had had a very stress filled weekend. I probably got about 20 hrs of sleep over the previous four days.

Now it was Monday morning and I was on my way to work. My mind was fuzzy on the outside and fizzy on the inside. I had a lot to mull over. It is not surprising then, that I had already missed one turn-off and needed to do a quick double lane change, nearly missing a second one.

And my thoughts turned to the PBGs. They haven't been in the foreground of my mind lately, but in times of emotional stress they like to visit. I rarely pick up a pop can while running anymore. Many of the symbols the PBGs and I used a year ago have now been forgotten.

But I guess they have been busy replacing my pseudo-mumbo-jumbo with more conventional lingo. While driving, I spotted the symbol of the fish. My wife told me all about this ancient symbol of the Christian faith. And just in case I didn't get it, the owner of this particular Honda Prelude included the letters J E S U S in the middle of the fish to make it clear.

Here, I thought, is a clear sign. Of what, I am not sure, but a clear sign. I almost put it out of my head right away. "Nah, God never communicates that clearly to me." I remember thinking of the scene in Jim Carrie's movie "Bruce Almighty" when he says to God, "Give me a sign". God sends him a whole truck load of street signs. Bruce ignores this and several other obvious signs and winds up crashing into a tree.

So I payed a little more attention do my driving. Good thing too because as I was nearing work the car directly in front of me slammed into a van in the turning lane ahead of him.

Big bang, broken windshield, airbags deployed, car totaled. I pulled over and, like in a dream, got out of my car to help. A second witness was already on the scene. He knew first aid and immediately took charge. He showed me how to immobilize the car driver's head while he checked him over.

So I guess the PBGs have given me a new symbol. I think this symbol means, "Wake up! Life is too short to walk (or drive) around in a fog!" In other words, the fish symbol is very much a Prelude to Grace.