RANT

I took a walk in the 300-area wasteland around noon-ish today. The sky was grey, the air a bit nippy, and the ground brown. Of course.

I look out the window about 1.5 hours later, and the ground was completely white. Completely. There was a moment of sheer joy, followed by panic. I decided to leave work early not for fear of the snow, but because people in the Tri-Cities are absolute morons about driving in the snow.

You see, the road conditions weren't terribly bad -- in fact, because the snow was so fine and the temperature well below freezing, the snow practically blew off the road. Or it would have had not some thoughtful individuals already put sand down on top of it. Yeah.

It took me twice as long to get home because, first of all, slow people were clogging all the lanes, even the fast lane. Secondly, everyone was going about 20 m.p.h. below a reasonable speed, and thirdly, every major road and bridge was backed-up to a standstill. I decided early on that I needed to avoid the main highways, and took a cleverly devious route home. The difference between my usual drive and the one I took today is illustrated below:












Normal Drive




















Today's Drive

I learned one thing -- if the Tri-Cities didn't have its quota of rednecks, I'd still be out in it right now. Follow the hicks in trucks -- they think they're invincible. :)

That's all.

My sentiments exactly . . .















And on a similar note, this is hilarious.

I don't even need to rant about this one. It speaks for itself. Go to www.christkirk.com and click on "Looking to move to Moscow?" Priceless.

I love it when I get video game references.

The Katamari Damacy joke is a little late (I've had my standing order in for my school to be rolled up for over two years now) -- nevertheless, this is deliciously ironic.

Now this is my kind of art.

Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary tenderly watching over Wal*Mart consumers:

Eugenics, here we come. I can't even begin to comment.

In similar news, this is very interesting. And who's really playing God here?

For M

In our first conversations, we talked about how Christians should engage the world, the extent to which and how we should interact with secular culture. I wanted you to draw me lines. I wanted you to justify my indulgence in the things of the world. Certainly, it could be justified -- "know thine enemy" and all that.

I've been thinking a lot about this in the past year, and I've come to a kind of conclusion, though how it should work out in practice I'm still unsure. 1 John is quickly becoming one of my favorite books -- there is such a pastoral tenderness in John's tone. In chapter three, he writes, ". . . for we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." If I hope to see Him as He is, then I will purify myself. It seemed so very simple to me after reading that. And it's not a matter of making rules or even drawing lines, but a matter of focus. I have to remind myself of this continually, but I could spend my entire life worshiping, loving, serving, and learning about God, and if every spare moment is devoted to this, I can't see a better use for that time. This is what is commanded of us, and everything else is in God's hands. I used to wonder if such, um, "insularity" would be a detriment to my witness -- but, how could it be if I'm obeying God? Though it reduces to such a simple solution, it's really not any easier to follow, although the path is much clearer. It only makes it that much more obvious when one has transgressed.