For a Dream

During the late 90's, my wife and I used to produce videos and other media for our church. This was back in the early days of PC-based video capture software, and frankly was quite a time-consuming challenge. We gave it up after a while; while we were technically competent and did the best we could with the technology we could afford, the artistic intuition required was not really our strong suit.

At any rate, one of the videos we produced is a perfect fit for a Memorial Day post. May God bless those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom: that of today and that of tomorrow.


Credits:
Music: "For a Dream" Phillips, Craig and Dean. Star Song Music. 1992.
WWII Images: National Archives
Other images from The Visual Bible: Matthew. GNN International Corp. and Visual Bible, LLC. 1993.

Update: Despite my attempts to properly credit all content, both in the text of the post and embedded in the original video, EMI has blocked access to the video. Sorry about that. It was a good video, though.

Turkey Lane

School's out. Skies of full of thunder and hail. Sounds like the perfect time to go ...

Bowling!

Guys only. And yes, I trounced my children. Two games, I pulled in a 205 and a 158. Fun was had by all.

During my preteen years, I bowled in a youth league. But my real bowling heyday was during my college years. I bowled fairly frequently back then, especially the last 4 quarters I was in school. I played on Auburn Wesley's intramural team the year we tied for the league championship. My running average that season was in the 170's. The all too rare outings since graduation have rarely given me games even close to that.

But today felt good. It was much better than sitting around playing Wii or watching TV. I even was able to start teaching my oldest how to employ more proper techniques to the game.

It's a good start to a 3.5 day weekend, and a chance to post something light for a change.

Appreciating Mystery

TV's Lost is coming to an end this Sunday. Until Lost came around, I had largely avoided much of what the big networks had to offer. Our TV watching prior to this show was largely limited to TVLand, Nick@Nite, and USA. But after getting badgered into watching the first two seasons of Lost on DVD, I acquiesced into making that show a part of my weekly schedule. I have been fascinated at the way this show weaves heady themes of dark and light, faith and science, destiny and coincidence - all very familiar, existential themes cloaked in a new version of old mythologies. While not overtly spiritual in any particular sense, there are spiritual themes throughout that give rise to the subtle undertones of truth, or at least, of the mystery that so often surrounds the truth of our being.

Mind you, I'm using truth here with a lowercase "t," because I am not suggesting that the storytellers of Lost are attempting to convey biblical truth as the foundational philosophy of the show. But neither do they overtly reject it. Remarkably though, they have captured the basic ethos of the spiritual struggles of our era in the context of an entertaining and suspenseful plot. But I'm not here today to pull back the curtain and examine how God might speak through the creative gifts of ordinary people. Nor am I going to theorize as to what it all means, or spend time exploring all the deliberate placements of literature, namesake characters, and mythologies the way the estimable Doc Jensen does on ew.com. Rather, I simply want to call attention to something I read while reading the various essay and blog posts of fans giving tribute to the conclusion of a wonderfully mysterious show.

In his post on the upcoming finale, "Frank" at popinitiative.com captured the following quote from J.J. Abrams (emphasis mine):

“Mystery, now more than ever, has special meaning. Because it’s the anomaly, the glaring affirmation that the Age of Immediacy has a meaningful downside. Mystery demands that you stop and consider — or, at the very least, slow down and discover. It’s a challenge to get there yourself, on its terms, not yours…The experience of the doing really is everything. The ending should be the end of that experience, not the experience itself.”
- J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams is big on the idea of maintaining and treasuring "the mystery." (For more on his thoughts about this, check out his presentation on TED.com) or on YouTube).

With regard to the show, I too originally wanted answers to the mystery. We're wired that way. We want answers to questions, be it our math homework or the meaning of life. Yet the best stories I have ever read always leave enough mystery to get me thinking, to keep me wondering, and to free me to imagine. This Age of Immediacy, if nothing else creates an inner tension that leads to a strange dichotomy: the faster I feel the need to go to get to my destination, the more I ache to slow down and simply be. That's why pictures like this take my breath away.

In both my spiritual walk and in my everyday life, the mystery of the moment is something to be discovered, pondered and treasured. The mystery of creation, with all we know and don't know, gives rise to even more of the same. Strange as it may seem, if we allow ourselves to appreciate it, there is energy, there is discovery, there is enlightenment, and yes - even contentment - in not knowing the answers to everything. I am not suggesting a path of willful ignorance - far from it. But I am suggesting that contentment, and even pleasure, can be found in the experience of the mystery. And in that mystery lays the opportunity for revelation - of Truth - that connects and engages more than just the mind, but the soul as well.

This Age of Immediacy definitely has a downside. Not every question can be answered with a search on Google. Figuratively, we need a taste of that island adventure, to sit outside the lighthouse and stare at the ocean for hours on end, if only to recover our perspective. Accepting that mystery is a vital part of this temporary existence frees us to embrace and appreciate it all the more.

How amazing would it be for our story to end with a new beginning, a new mystery completely free from the destructive and repetitive cycles of the past. At the risk of seriously cluttering up the conclusion of this concept, I'm reminded of the closing words in the series finale of Quantum Leap, in which it was said of the main character: "Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home." The continuation of purpose interwoven in the mystery and wonder of eternity ...

Now wouldn't that be something?

Update (8:30pm): Similar thoughts at the Wall Street Journal.

Potential vs. Calling

A few months ago, someone sent me a link to a video excerpt from a message given by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I have watched it numerous times since, not merely to absorb its meaning (it is fairly straightforward), but rather, trying to absorb its meaning for me. I can see applications in several areas: as mid-level manager in a small business, as a parent, and as someone who was once (and will be again) involved in ministry.

First, watch this video ( ~ 8 minutes):


This idea of pursuing your calling and not your potential rings true to me. Around 2:20, Driscoll talks about the mistakes businesses make, when they pursue their potential as opposed to their calling. I believe I've seen that happen with every employer I've had. Each seems to lack that sense of corporate identity that says "This is who we were are, this is our mission, this is our purpose, and what we produce reflects that set of core values and capabilities." Instead, too often, it's: "We got some smart people, and we can do anything we put our minds to."

The substitution of potential and calling occurs in our churches too. Churches often spread their resources into a wide variety of ministries, and each has potential to bear fruit, representing a wonderful reflection of the heart of God for His people. Yet too often some ministries exist for the sake of themselves, and become the end rather than the means to an end. Churches all have a common mission, but each has a unique calling to the community they serve, and their ministries should reflect that calling. We should not let a number of "good things" distract us from the "first things." When our ministries are aligned to our calling, to a vision we can see and articulate, we find that what we are about is "unto something." That sense of purpose, of being unto something, is essential to maintaining passion in our service and our discipleship.

For an institution or organization of any kind to find long-lasting success, it must have that vision, that burning sense of purpose that burns more brightly than anything else that might serve to distract from its fundamental calling. It is the assurance and embrace of that calling that allows the organization to focus its efforts and resources on those activities that "best" aligns with its vision, avoiding those initiatives which may be "good," but not as well aligned.

To go even deeper, I discovered long ago that my individual efforts flounder when not aligned to a greater purpose. I have to be "unto something." Not just "doing something," but being "unto something." I'll explore this in a later post, as I have another video which I'd like to leverage. But fundamentally, it comes down to this: I'm called to bear fruit (John 15:16). Not for my sake, but for the sake of that which is greater and unto something.

I once thought I had all of this figured out, but I'm finding that much of it I'm having to relearn. But living life without the focus of purpose, well, it makes me feel empty. I'd rather be full, and aligned to a greater vision. Hm.

Catching the Wave

Alas, it is not a precursor to a tachyon detection grid. But NASA and the European Space Agency have cooked up an idea that is reminiscent of such imagined technology. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is being developed in the hopes of detecting gravitational waves. Gravitational waves are a phenomena that was predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, but so far have never been directly detected. The LISA program aims to do just that, however:

LISA consists of three identical spacecraft flying in a triangular constellation, with equal arms of 5 million kilometers each. As gravitational waves from distant sources reach LISA, they warp space-time, stretching and compressing the triangle. Thus, by precisely monitoring the separation between the spacecraft, we can measure the waves; and by studying the shape and timing of the waves we can learn about the nature and evolution of the systems that emitted them.

These "arms" referred to in the preceding paragraph are actually lasers:

LISA's implementation of interferometric measurements resembles the technique known as spacecraft Doppler tracking, but it is realized with infrared laser light instead of radio waves. The laser light going out from one spacecraft to the other corners is not reflected back directly, because diffraction losses over such long distances would be too great. Instead, the phase of the incoming laser is measured, and used to set the phase of the outgoing laser, which is transmitted back at full intensity: this process is known as transponding. When the transponded laser light arrives back at the original spacecraft, it is superposed with a portion of the original laser beam, and their phases compared.

The physics behind this is quite beyond me, not to mention the challenge of aiming two separate lasers per craft at targets 5 million kilometers away. According to the NASA site, a technology demonstration is scheduled for 2012, so there is still a long way to go before we'll see the fruit of this effort. Nevertheless, if nearly 100 years after Einstein postulated his theory, evidence of gravitation wave energy can be measured, it will say something astounding about the brilliance of a man who did more to shape our modern understanding of physics than anyone else. Dude!

(h/t: Gizmodo)

The Bailout Bane

Generally speaking, I try to avoid news stories and headlines about the economy. This reticence dates back to the days when the newspaper came to my door, when I usually discarded the business section. To me, forcing my brain to wrap itself around business and economic topics is an effort I find as appealing as a bowl of cottage cheese. To put it more succinctly in the slang: blech.

Reading about the economy makes my head hurt. Reading about the politics of the economy, however, makes it hurt worse. Taxpayers have bailed out banks, auto companies, insurance companies and the mortgage industry, and will receive nothing in return from those recipients of government underwriting. Now, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, those government-owned mortgage "companies," are looking for additional billions in bailouts. The European Union, with some encouragement from Washington, has just agreed to pony up another trillion dollars to stabilize their economy after the bailout of Greece. Mind you, all of this money - all of this revenue - does not exist. It represents revenue that has yet to be produced or collected. It is akin to that money you put on your credit card, in the hope that over time, you'll make the money you need to pay off the debt in the future. But if you rely too heavily on the model of deficit spending (spending future money, beyond current revenues), you quickly fall behind, and your debt liability increases dramatically.

The graphic found on the blog at Heritage.org is telling. (Note: While the graphic is informative, I do take some issue with the tone of the post. Deficit spending by our government is not a new phenomenon, and the blame should be shared by decades of Congressional and Presidential budget busters from both parties. I will allow, however, that there may be times when deficit spending is appropriate, but ideally this should be the exception rather than the norm). That said, the finger-pointing about the origins of the recent economic turmoil have no logical bearing on the continued decisions to accelerate deficit spending. The numbers show that the current projected annual deficit reflected in the budget proposals of the current administration far outpace that executed by the previous administration. To blame yesterday's administration for the spending of today's administration is simply tu quoque. It diverts from the real issue of defending your choices by accusing someone else of making similar choices, thereby allowing you to avoid having to defend your choices. Not exactly an honorable or intellectually honest approach.

Moving on. Economically speaking, we live in the Age of Debt and Deficit, (alternatively, the Age of Entitlement). Some argue that this is the natural consequence of materialistic and capitalistic social structures, feeding the compulsion for instant gratification. And to be sure, it is hard to deny the causality. But other sociopolitical models such as communism and socialism have their own problems. For no matter the structure, you have producers and consumers. Ideally, I am both a producer and a consumer, and not one or the other. Certain types of regulation, however, interfere with that balance. Placing artificial controls over what producers produce, and what consumers consume, inhibits both and is thus detrimental to the overall economy. It places control and power in the hands of the decision makers, and often results in the classification of people into labor groups. For example, much is made out of the "middle" class, that arbitrary space between those in poverty and those considered wealthy. The gap between the rich and the poor, and all that. This is an artificial construct, and arguably unnecessary for a healthy society. Yet even the socialist ideals of equality and entitlement by design create arbitrary classes: the political elite that make the decisions, various protected classes based on preferential selection, and the laborers. Furthermore, the drive for equality and entitlement necessarily lowers both the median and the mean in terms of prosperity.

I'm a simple transaction kind of guy. I consider it wise and prudent to make more than I spend. When my net income is reduced, I spend less. I strive to reduce my debt liability at every opportunity, but am willing to spend when I believe the investment is advantageous or the expenditure is affordable (fun is an important part of life, evidenced by several trips to Disney - but it is always paid for, taking advantage of good deals wherever they may be found).

I don't live my life thinking that I am entitled to anything this world has to offer. I am blessed, to be sure, and I labor for my wages. Hard times may come, and if they do, I'll adjust and continue to labor to provide for my family.

I certainly don't know what the future holds for the economy. It seems reasonable to me, however, that the Age of Debt and Deficit is a house of cards waiting to fall. And the consequences of such an event will be … severe. It may also be transformative in way that is entirely unpredictable. What happens then is beyond me - and makes my head hurt.

For now, I will simply continue to live within my means, and focus on those things I can control instead of worrying about what I cannot. It sure would be nice, though, if our political class would slow the headlong rush toward insolvency.

An Unnecessary Warning Label

In the 90's, advocacy groups for concerned parents successfully pushed for warning labels to be placed on music albums with explicit lyrics. The effort made sense prior to the age of the internet, where now parents can do their own research on such things prior to purchase. Other types, such as warning labels on medicines required by the FDA are commonplace as well. Again, it makes sense. We live in the age of disclaimers and warning labels, primarily because we are such a litigious society. But this label, on a paperback copy of The Constitution of the United States of America, The Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, is in my view quite unnecessary:

© Wilder Publications 2008

This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.

According to Walter Olson of Cato, it appears that this disclaimer is boilerplate material used on several of their re-published works.

I take issue with the idea that our Founding documents are products "of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today." I take issue, but I fear that it might actually be true.

Far from needing a warning label, I think I'd prefer the material to be required reading. Or perhaps an alternative warning:

This book is a product of its time, but was written for present and future generations. It may not reflect the same values as is common today. Reading this book may be hazardous to such contemporary notions, as it has shown in certain cases to raise awareness of, and reawaken in others, the concepts of liberty, freedom, and the principle of "consent of the governed." Parents might wish to brush up on such topics, and be prepared to discuss these classic and relevant works with their children.

No Time to Discuss This in Committee

Yes, I suppose I am two days late in the proper recognition of that quintessential American holiday known as "Star Wars Day." According to WookieePedia, this is the day legions of fans come out to text their friends and family, "May the 4th be with you!"

So, in order to correct my (General) grievous oversight of this important and illustrious commemoration, I do hereby proudly present a link to "The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars Story Ever Told":


LEGO Star Wars rules! And I am NOT a committee!

Zettabytes?

This is almost mind-blowing. The powers that be in the world of digital technology have invented a new unit of measure: the zettabyte.

Humanity’s total digital output currently stands at 8,000,000 petabytes - which each represent a million gigabytes - but is expected to pass 1.2 zettabytes this year.

One zettabyte is equal to one million petabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual bytes.

The current size of the world’s digital content is equivalent to all the information that could be stored on 75bn Apple iPads, or the amount that would be generated by everyone in the world posting messages on the microblogging site Twitter constantly for a century.

The rapid growth of the “digital universe” has been caused by the explosion of social networking, online video, digital photography and mobile phones.

I find it shocking how fully immersed and dependent we have become on digital age technology - in just the last 15 to 20 years. I speak as one who likewise finds himself more immersed and dependent than is probably wise. A zettabyte, like the national debt, is a difficult number for me to comprehend. How many people out there would be utterly shocked to discover that there is a real world out there that does not involve broadband, Apple, and satellite television DVRs?

So while gidgets and gadgets have an undeniable "coolness" factor to them, we would do well to be aware of the great fragility of it all, and take care not to let our lives devolve completely into a series of 0's and 1's. The digital world and all its zettabytes can disappear in the blink of an eye. And if it did, would it be "the end," or would it be the beginning of a new age of rediscovery? I wonder.

Quoting Disraeli

Here is a quote that has occupied my thoughts of late:

"Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power." - Benjamin Disraeli

The principle is one I've heard taught and preached before, in the context of how we should respond to various trials and troubles. Scripture says that in the end, everyone will be held accountable. Over the course of our days, we will be accountable to our parents, our teachers, our supervisors, our pastors, and even our friends. But ultimately, we are accountable to God for what we do, and the heart motive with which we do it. We can resist, but to do so risks putting ourselves on the throne of our lives, rather than the Savior. This is not a safe place to be.

I frequently fall short, but aspire to improve my witness even in troubled times. I have some work to do.