2,571,0793,838 miles

I suppose I can say I am well traveled.  Today is my 44th birthday and I have rounded the sun forty-four times today.  That makes a journey of almost 2.6 billion miles (give or take).  It is also the start of a new year.  2016 was a year of change and tumult for our country and our lives.  But I don't think I am going to go political in this post, at least that is not the plan.

I have spent a quiet day so far at home not doing much of anything.  Tomorrow is back to work, and the day after that the kids head back to school.  The "Holiday" season is over and now the long winter days stretch toward spring.  Already the days are starting to get longer as our orbit brings our tilt back toward the sun, but the warmth will lag behind.   The coldest days lay ahead.  And yet Spring will come, summer will come. The days will lengthen and warmth will return.  

2016 saw the death of many in "My generation."  Not people born in our generation, but people we looked up to, Heroes, inspirations, and role models.  It is a reminder that we are not children and that time passes and things change.  Perhaps it hurts because we look back on our childhood and those people as a reminder of when things were easier or simpler.  In reality it wasn't, but for many of us time smooths away the pains and we often look to remember that which was pleasant or good more than the pain so that when a reminder of those good times passes it brings home the fact that such things are truly gone and beyond us.  Only our memories remain. It is a reminder also that we ourselves are mortal. 

2017 lies before us and while there will undoubtedly be more loss we should look to the new year with new eyes.  We should look to the new year as a way to grow closer to the Lord and grow more Christlike.   Perhaps the chaos and roller coaster that was this past year will inspire us to not simply ride along but instead step out on faith and look again to the Lord and remember that no matter what happens here on Earth that God is in control.  He knows the plans he has for you.  God loves us.  God knows us and wants us to know him. 

In this new year I want to be a man who lives to the potential God has.   I have not done so and I think that I need to re-affirm that.    I am not going to make a resolution for the year.  That would be foolish since I do not know what God has planned.  What I can do is take each day as the Lord gives and seek him on a daily basis.

2016 was a year of change and upheaval.   May 2017 also be a year of change, but let that change be growth.  Let the change be growth in our relationship to the Lord.  If we focus on that then we will have growth in our relationships to each other and healing of those relationships and healing in our country.  May we look again to the Lord and ask for his forgiveness and his blessings.  Not on our riches or our country but on our families and our closeness to him.   As that heals, everything else will begin to heal as well. 

A prayer for the new year:

       Lord father in heaven. Father we come to you tonight asking you to restore us to you.  Lord We pray that we could remember to look to you, that we would seek You and your will for our lives and that we would have the courage to follow your promptings.  Lord that we would have the will and desire to spend time with you in the Word and in Prayer so we can discern your will clearly.  Father we ask that as we grow to know you that you would pour out your blessings on our families, our church, our communities and our nation and the world.  Father Only in you can we find peace.   Not only peace as in no war, but peace of our own hearts.  A peace where we can close our eyes at night and sleep without regret.  Look at ourselves in the mirror and not see the pain we have caused ourselves and others.  Lord we pray that we would see others and ourselves as you see us.  With love and with compassion. We ask that you would grant wisdom to those we have elected in positions of responsibility and power.  That they would exercise that power with grace and wisdom even for those that do not acknowledge you as Lord.   Finally  Lord we lift up your name and thank you. We thank you for another year.   Lord for the chance to walk another 580 million miles with you.   Thank you for sharing the splendor of the universe and your creation with us.  Thank you for sending us your son and thank you for giving us the gift of redemption that we can be restored to you.

We come to you in the name of your son Jesus Christ

Amen.

 

Quiet evening out.

I am having a quiet evening out. Sort of. I took oldest daughter and friends to the pentatonix concert. Then went and browsed the book store for awhile before having a bite of supper in the food court and reading the kindle for awhile. Now I am waiting for the concert to end in the Kroger shopping center across from the concert venue. Forgive any typing weirdness. I am composing this on my phone.

I am sitting here listening to the radio and thinking. I have stopped listening to talk radio because it was making me too angry. I am trying to listen to uplifting music now. Usually the fish or K-love.
I did take a few pictures from the parking garage at the mall earlier. The upper level was clear and I thought it would make some interesting pictures.

I don't think they are my best and I didn't want to be the only person there for long but it was nice to try. 

Anyway, just a few evening thoughts. And it is a challenge to write a lot of on the phone. 

It is so clear that everything is hazy

There are numerous wildfires burning across the SouthEast.  The smoke is spreading down across Georgia as far south as Macon.  It is very irritating to the throat mostly and everyone is urged to stay indoors because the air is considered unhealthy.  There is another chance of rain this weekend, but it is fairly small, not more than 20% according to the latest forecast I saw today.  Saturday was a nice day, the wind was out of the west instead of coming down out of the north and East so the skies and air were clear.    From the last report  the fires are considerably more contained which is good, but firefighters  have not been able to put them out.  The drought in this area is fairly severe and we need the rain badly.

I should count the blessings that all we have to deal with here is smoke and irritation.  The fires themselves are not a danger to us here.   But I need to remember those who are in the path in my prayers.
The view from the office today.

The smoke hangs in the air and I noticed this afternoon at work the sun was visibly dimmer. It was some better in Oakwood than in Gainesville when I left.

 I don't have much clever or insightful to share tonight.

Thank you for reading, and may the Lord bless and watch over you.

And.... we have a winner...

In what was a surprise to almost EveryOne, Donald Trump is President-Elect and will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.  He was not my first, or second or even third choice as president, but he is who was elected.  I am trying not to worry.  Instead I should remember that God is in control.  It is his will for this country.   But he has brought to the front, the very worst elements of the Republican Fringe.  The idealogical left takes this as the final proof that the right is in fact the very worst of racist, misogynist, homophobic, islamophobic and simply the worst of humanity.  Christians and conservatives need to step up, and repudiate these views vocally and with conviction and strength.   We also must reach out in love to these groups that feel their very lives are now in danger.  The Church must in fact take the lead in standing strong morally but never forget that We must do all things in Love.  Paul warned about this.  Speaking with the authority of the Lord is useless unless we do so in Love.  

I implore the readers to lift up Trump, Pence and all our leaders in prayer.  Pray that they will receive wisdom from the Lord and they will be humble with the responsibility we the people have vested in them. The election this year was so very divisive and we need to remember that the people who are on the other side of the aisle are NOT are moral and mortal enemies.  They may be wrong morally and misguided, but for the most part they believe they are fighting for what they believe is right as well.  They are fellow humans, loved by the Lord, and are no better or worse than us.  We are all sinners all in need of grace.  It is incumbent upon us to show them the grace that the Lord Jesus has shown us and to remember that we too are human and fallible.  We are not perfect and can be wrong.  We need to be willing to accept rebuke when we are wrong and seek to make it right when we have wronged another.

Remember that no matter if you approve of who is the president or not, God is in control and his Perfect will shall be completed.  Lift up our nation and its leaders in prayer.   Keep the faith,  look toward the hope, and act in Love.

Examples, Leadership and true to Who?

I posted my previous entry to a couple of different places and received the following comment in response to this line: "I pray I would have the courage to stand and that they would be proud I made that choice."
"Excellent line right there. Actions, not words, train children. Or really anyone, or so my years in leadership roles have taught me. We can only hope the eyes watching our example are seeing the best of us, and building that into themselves, not just the times we fall."


It is by Living the example that I can best teach my children. I know that I fall far short of the ideal that I should be. That I am not the man that The Lord has called me to be, The husband my wife desires me to be, or the father my children need me to be. I think it ultimately comes down to 2 things, and possibly even a single thing. Selfishness. The desire to put myself and my wants first. To live out the concept of "Above all else, to thine own self be true."

I have written on this before, and perhaps I say it again because it is a lesson I still need to learn. That there is a higher calling than being true to yourself. That is to be true to Jesus Christ.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " and   23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
What this means is that we, in our natural selves are selfish, and desire to put ourselves first. We want to be God, and in control, if not just ourselves, everything around us as well. We have to learn to put Him first in our lives and put him in control. That is not an easy thing. We all have our own thing, that which is precious to us. Our own private, or not so private, part of us which separates us from God and yet has to be put to death to free us to move toward a more Christ-like life. This is why we can not Judge others, because we ourselves are no different. The specific sins may differ, but we all have them, and it is a daily, even hourly struggle to put them to death and turn to God.


To be true to "thine ownself" is to elevate that very thing that separates us to a place that should be occupied by God.






This then is the example I should be giving my Children, the example of putting my own precious things aside and seeking The Lord.

Will we stand?

On January 7th, Three gunmen burst into the offices of a Satirical French newspaper and opened fire killing 12 in apparent retaliation for comics and scenes that ridiculed Muhammad. Reportedly the editor, who was among those killed said "I'd rather die standing than live on my knees."  He strongly believed in the freedom of speech, and was willing to die for it.  His blood, and the others, were part of the patriots who water the tree of liberty.


The quote, from Thomas Jefferson, is as follows:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants



All too often we focus on the necessity of making sure it is the blood of tyrants that water the tree of liberty. The question becomes, especially in these times, Are we willing to be the patriot, are we willing to stand in defiance of those who would destroy liberty even if it costs our own life? I want to say, yes, I believe in the ideals of liberty, of freedom and even more importantly in Christ himself who provides TRUE freedom that I would lay down my life. And in some ways it is easy to say that, and I think I could. But then comes the next question. Am I willing to risk the lives of my family for those same ideals? I am not a lone man, not an island. I have a wife and children who mean the world to me. Do I have the right to make that stand, if the time comes, that puts them at risk. Or do I keep my head down, do the best I can, and try to ensure their safety. I can hope that I instill in them the same belief so they are understanding of the risks of liberty and willing to stand with me. Yet, I know I don't live up to that. How often do I stay outside to keep an eye on them when they are playing outside, or tell them to not wander around, or act overprotective about things I myself did as a kid? Does that really teach freedom? How do I ensure that they grow to learn that there are things much greater than themselves that are worth dying for. That first and Foremost is living for the glory of God. That is the highest good and should be the goal of all people. They need to know that Every person needs to be free to pursue (or not pursue) God's will for their life and that Liberty is the best way to allow that. I want them to know that the time will come when they must make the decision to either stand for God, or they will have to go along. It will Cost to take a stand for Right. The cost may be as simple as disapproval of their peers, but may one day may cost them dearly. I pray my children have a life that is filled with peace, with all their needs met and blessed by The Lord. But I also pray that if the day comes they have the courage to stand. I pray I would have the courage to stand and that they would be proud I made that choice.




Are you willing to water the tree of Liberty?

Happy Anniversary

This post is dedicated to Yvette Louise (Comeau) Patten,  My wife, My Lover, My Friend and the Mother of our Children.

Yvette, 16 years ago, at the time I am writing this it was the night before our wedding.  I had a bachelor party of sorts, (we played a James Bond game on the Super nintendo).  Then we hit the bed fairly early so I would be rested up before the wedding the next day.  I lay there in the bed at your brother's house trying to get to sleep and failing miserably.  I don't know how long I lay there unable to sleep.  I was nervous, scared, excited and ready to get through the day.  I must have finally fallen asleep because next thing I know it was time to get up, have some breakfast, a shower and start getting dressed and made presentable.

You are my beautiful bride and I admit a part of me was so relived when I saw you coming down the aisle.  A part of me kept thinking (what if she changes her mind).  I was so happy and you were (and still are) beautiful. I really didn't pay that much attention to the service I don't think.  I was concentrating on how scared I was at the new life I was starting and how often I looked over at you.  I remember saying our vows, and hoping I was heard,  the seemingly forever wait to sign the marriage certificate as it seemed like everyone else had to sign ahead of us.  Then we went over an pinned on the board on the wall of the church.

We had the dinner, the toast, our "first dance", which I think may have been one of our first dances :).  I haven't ever been much of a dancer.  I lack the coordination.  Finally getting to our room and spending the night, and morning as husband and wife before going back to your parents house where we had more partying.

That was sixteen years ago now.  Over 1/3 of our lifetime has been together.  We have been through the joys of bringing 4 lives into the world.  We have had our share of pain and heartache, blessings and trials, sickness and health, and even richer and poorer.  We are still together, still blessed and still in love.  I promised this day 16 years ago to be with you for all my life and I continue that promise to this day and all the days that follow.  I cannot and do not want to imagine or know what my life would be like without you by my side.

With you by my side, and with and by, the grace of Jesus, I have become a better man, a loving father, and grown beyond what I was then.  Some of it is just growing older, and more experienced.  But the love and partnership and sharing a life with you has helped me grow.

I love you.  I love the way you are always there for me.  I love the compassion and caring you have not just for us, but for the church family we have.  You are quick with the encouraging words, the ears ready to listen and the shoulder to cry on.  I love that you are a mother for our children.  I love to know you are by my side at night.  I love the kiss we share during greeting time at church.  It is a small thing perhaps, but it is special to me.   I love to see when you paint and the enjoyment you get from the creative expression.  I love that you chose to join your life to mine (and continue to do so) so that together we are building a family and our lives.

I love that you are willing to forgive my faults, my failings, and my absent mindedness.  I know I can be exasperating to you at times and I hate when I fail and disappoint you.   Yet you have been so loving and forgiving.  You have shown me grace, forgiveness and love at times when I have been everything from simply forgetful to cruelly selfish.  In short, you love me even through the flawed person that I am.  I thank the Lord for you and for your love.

I am not the man I should be, and I know that I have to continue to grow.  I pray that I can be the man you need and be the compliment to you, that together we will continue to grow to be the "one flesh"  that is greater than the two of us individually.

What I need to do is to learn to be Love as shown by  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Happy Anniversary Hun
Love
Jason

saturday Night thoughts

Just a few random thoughts for tonight

I have thought a lot about What to write for my post.  Everytime I think of writing I don't have time, and when I do have time, I don't think about writing.   Then I try to make sure that I am not simply re-hashing everything I have written already.
New content and new ideas are a good thing.  So here I am trying to figure out what to write for a blog entry.  It is currently summer vacation, which means the kids are home during the day.  I, of course, am still getting up for work each day.  It doesn't seem like it has been almost 16 years that I have been working at M3 and that Stephanie will be 15 in September.   She is starting High School this year.   She is growing into a young woman and is no longer my 'Munchkin'.   I don't think she will ever let me live down having let that slip out at Youth.   This weekend the Youth Group is heading to Panama City Beach for camp.  Yvette is going as a chaperone, and Steph and Joe are both going.  So it will be just the little ones and I for the weekend.  I suppose I need to stop calling them that since they will be 8 in August and heading to 3rd grade.

I guess the thing to keep in mind is that time doesn't stop, the days do not stand still.
It is that that leads to the next idea i have been thinking about.  That a new idea of how Quantum Entaglement allows for, or gives our perception of the passage of time.  See article Time illusion.
If I read it correctly, the idea is that quantum entanglement allows for the perception of the passage of time within the universe, but if you were to look from Outside the universe there would be no passage of time.
In ways, this makes sense.  God exists outside of the universe, and sees all of time at once.  I think C.S. Lewis called it the infinite Now I believe.  Not a perfect illustration I am sure, but an attempt to explain how we could both have free will, AND have a God who knows all things at all times.   Another explanation is that if God is Omnipresent in Space, then he will be omnipresent in Time since Time and space are different aspects to the universe.  I have to admit I had not thought of it from that point of view.  The more I learn about the Universe, the more I feel it points toward and not away from God.  And in fact underscores how he can be an infinite God.

Friday Night

It's another Friday night.  After I got home from work Yvette and the kids, minus Stephanie who was at an FCA thing at school, went out and had supper at Firehouse subs.  Then we went and played Ingress for a bit in the area.  I do enjoy the game.  I have been thinking more about what to write here and it keeps coming back to the same things over and over.  This has been a long hard week with work and right now I am just feeling mentally exhausted.  Then at dinner Sam pointed out, oh so helpfully, that I am growing "Old hair."  Yes, I am starting to find some gray hairs in this head of mine.  Aren't those supposed to be "Wisdom highlights" or something like that?
I don't feel any wiser as yet. Tomorrow will be the first saturday in quite some time that we do not have to be up bright and early and off to do something first thing in the morning.  That will be nice for a change.

Earlier, and almost every night this week, I have had thoughts about what I should write, and how I could post more, but now it all leaves my mind.   I just feel tired so I think I will sign off for the evening.  Thank you for reading, and as always, i welcome feedback and ideas for more writing.

Sunday night

This makes night two in a row of posting here.
I think tonight will likely be a short post.

Tomorrow is the start of a new week.
I think for tonight I will simply post a prayer for the coming week.

Lord, our Father in heaven.
Lord Tonight I pray first to simply thank you for the blessings seen and unseen you have poured out on our family and myself.  Lord I thank you for the gift of your son Jesus, and Lord I want to just give you Glory.
Lord I ask for the forgiveness of the sins of the day and the past week, and I thank you for that forgiveness.  Father I ask that you give me the wisdom and the desire to seek your will and your direction.  I ask Lord that you help me to be the best Husband, Father, Employee and man that I can be.
Lord I pray for your blessings and protection for Yvette, Stephanie, Joseph, Samuel, and Jenna.  I ray Lord that you will guide their hearts, minds and actions to glorify you. I pray Lord for their safety as they go to school and that their minds will be open to learning.  I pray for Yvette and I that you will bless us and our marriage.  And Lord Finally I ask that you would give wisdom to our leaders, National and local, that they will seek your will and that by doing so will bring your blessing to our country.

Father I pray that my heart would be open to you and Lord that I would learn to listen first to you, and then to those around me.  that Lord I would, as your Word says, be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Lord I come to you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen

Writing

Welcome back anyone who may read this.
I have been trying to get myself into the mood to write for sometime and try to come up with something to write about.
So far, I don't seem to come up with much, or everything I try to sit down and think about writing about just fizzles when it comes down to actually putting the thoughts to paper so to speak.  

So I may just ramble a bit in stream-of-consciousness mode for a bit and see what falls out.
It's 2014, and the year is flying by already.   This year will be my 16th Anniversary, my oldest's 15th birthday, and 16 years on the job at M3 Accounting + Analytics.  We ahve started a new Men's bible study at church on Sunday evenings, "Dare to be Uncommon" by Tony Dungy.  I am looking forward to it and to the growth and the time spent with the men of the church.

There are so many things I could try to right about,  Freedom, the state of our country and world, my family, my faith and beliefs.  Maybe I should post the "nuggets" of fan-fic I have written set in Star trek.

I just don't know at the moment.

What do you, my faithful and not so faithful readers want to see and read?
Let me know in the comments or email.

Random Thoughts

Here is another post. Wow two days in a row!
Today is my birthday, or was my birthday.  Its evening and I have had a good day.   Turning 40 isn't terrible after all.  I had a nice quiet day.  I was up early to get the kids off to school, then got back home and crawled back into bed for a little more sleep and some serious cuddle time with Yvette.  I love you hun! Then around noon we finally got ourselves into gear and went and had lunch at Chik-fil-a where we ran into my sister and one of her friends.   From there it was off to the pet store for dog food and then Home depot.  We pretty much finalized the floor, I just have to go back, pay for and pick the flooring and then let it acclimate in our house for 3 days or so.  Then they will come and install it.  We will have Laminate floors in the living room, Merry Christmas hun!

Tomorrow is the first Full day of work I since before Christmas, and it is going to be a bear getting back into the swing of things, though I think Yvette is ready to have the house to herself again for the day.  Then on Monday Classes start up.  The next 8 weeks are going to be hard.  I haven;t tried to take 3 classes at once before and it is the final three classes before I can graduate.  I will finally have a Degree.  Of course at that point I also have to start paying back the student loans.  I am a little worried about the work load this imposes, but I want to do well.  It is going to be a long 8 weeks I am sure.

Once school finishes I hope to have time to get back into some photography at a hobby level.  I haven't really had time to play with it for the past couple of years with school and I miss it.


I never thought I'd be trying to finish a degree when I turned 40.  I think now that I wish I had stayed with school and not gone off and quit like I did.  I don't recommend taking the 15 year break, or is 16 years?  Either way its better to stick with it.   That has been hard even this time around.  The temptation and desire to just slack off has been hard to fight sometimes.  I know its going to be especially bad this time around since there is so much to do.

I don't feel 40, if that makes sense.  In many ways I still see myself as my early 20s or so, though I guess I didn't feel like an adult till I got married.   Other times I am reminded I am not as young as I used to be.  I pop and snap in the joints a lot more, I can tell my skin isn't the same texture, and I have a teenage daughter. I look back at pictures and see how much my face has changed and aged.  Then add to that the cashiers at the grocery store keep looking younger and younger.

I guess I have probably bored you enough, that is if you read this entire rambling entry.  If I am inspired I will try to write again tomorrow.

Good night and God Bless.

40? and other stuff

Well, its the start of a new year.   Not only that but tomorrow is my 40th Birthday. The kids go back to school tomorrow, but I have one more day off of work.  No real plans aside from taking down the Christmas tree and other decorations and then Dinner with the family at Chedders *yum*.  I am not sure what all to write about this evening.   I don't want to write about the fiscal cliff or politics or I will just make myself angry.  I am not sure I want to do a retrospective about last year, or the last 39.  I think I just want to take it easy, and relax.  I am not sure I will stay up till midnight to ring in my birthday, though maybe I should since I don't have to be at work.  I will be up early though to get the kids off to school.  I may take a few moments to cycle through the Ingress portals on that side of town though.  I need to keep up with them better as I let my links and field decay.  I did manage to make it to level 4 today which is good.  Now I need to get some recruit codes so I can get some help and push the local portals higher.  Fortunately the Enlightened presence seems weak around here so far.

Freedom part 2

I have been thinking about this post for awhile, and I am sure have posted something similar before.   But it occurs to me that there is a misunderstanding about Freedom, liberty and The American Dream, or Ideals.

It is often said, that freedom isn't free.  Most often we use this  to talk of the sacrifice and service or the members of the Armed Forces.  And yes, that is part of the meaning, but it is not the whole meaning.  Liberty and freedom are dangerous.

To be free means that one is able to make choices, and some of those choices are poor choices.   It means the right to take a risk and the responsibility to accept failure and its consequences.   The political 'right' in this country refers often to this right and its attendant responsibility.  Freedom without responsibility is not Liberty, but is License, which boils down to the giving into one's animal instincts, to live according to the whims and desires of the body and its urges and have someone else clean up the mess. that is not freedom, it is slavery, slavery to the body of flesh. This is the freedom that the current 'Left' in this country espouses.  It is a very seductive call,  the desire to have a life of ease where every whim is indulged in, every carnal desire explored and every worry handled by someone else.   Who hasn't at some point wanted that?   The problem is that it soon enough a person finds they are trapped by those desires and controlled by those who take care of all the worries.

On the other hand True Freedom, True Liberty is founded not on the wallowing in all pleasures and desires, but the freedom to seek out the best way to better oneself or those around a person.  The greatest freedom is found in Christ, through the Relationship with Jesus. Apart from that there is no freedom.

The question I think comes down to this, what is the greatest good, Safety or Liberty?
I say Liberty is the greatest good.
We can find true liberty and freedom in Christ and not only that but A properly restrained government can be a minimal impediment on liberty.  On the other hand we can never be guaranteed safety.  A lesson that was brought to our attention forcefully in Newtown CT this past month.  A civil society must balance the Liberty of the individual against the Liberty of other individuals and the smooth functioning of society.  The more people there are the more delicate that balance becomes as conflict naturally arises between even the best intentioned of people.
I think that the rules that are necessary can be argued endlessly and the line necessary between Liberty and the State will move some back and forth as times, people, and circumstances change.  But in all things we should seek to maximize Liberty as much as possible.

What are the most basic principles of Liberty? I believe the core principles are as follows.

1) The Freedom of religion.  The right to believe, or not believe and follow the tenets of that belief in ALL aspects of life.

2) The Freedom of Speech, or perhaps more accurately the freedom to communicate.

3) The Freedom to enjoy the fruits of one's own labor.

4) The Freedom to defend one's self and ones family and property against illegal and immoral taking.  This ties into the the right to the fruits of one's own labor.

5) The Freedom to Live.   This perhaps is the most fundamental.  We are unique creations of The Lord. There is no right to destroy that which The Lord has given life.

Of course, these freedoms, These rights also come with a responsibility. When used wrongly and abused these freedoms cause harm to those around us.   The freedoms are not a license to do anything that comes to mind.

Thank you for bearing with me.  I know I can ramble at times in my writing.

The day the world changed

Today, around the world, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is the day that truly changed the world like no other day in history.  No other day will change the world in a similar way until the day He returns.  The magnitude of what Christ has done is lost on us.  I don't think that we can truly comprehend it. 

Recovery

It has been a lot longer than I had planned on writing here again.   I hardly have to time do keep up with what I have to do, much less things I'd like to do.   though for the past week and a half I have had a lot more time on my hands than I planned.   A week ago Saturday we took the kids up to the church to ride the bicycles we got them for Christmas.   We had just been able to get helmets and they were excited to go riding.   Well After riding for a bit I decided to take a turn on Stephanie's bike.   I went back and forth a few times picking up a decent amount of speed and decided to do a "Slide-out" where I lock down the back wheel and slide sideways to a stop.  Well  It started fine, then the bike just Stopped and I went up and over and landed hard.  I rolled absorbing the fall and felt like I had twisted my ankle.   Then I stood up.  put my foot down slowly and put some weight on it and watched the ankle just fold over sideways at which point I fell again and realized I really really hurt.  After laying there for awhile while Yvette tried to call someone to take me to the hospital she got a hold of Brandi and she drove us to the hospital.  Turns out I have a closed bimalleolar (potts) fracture of the ankle.  On Monday I had an appointment with Dr. Ferran who is an excellent orthopedic surgeon and he confirmed that I needed Surgery to fix the ankle.  It was originally scheduled for Today, but there were able to fit me in Yesterday and I went in at noon for surgery at 1:30.  Most of yesterday and today has been spent recovering and getting my pain medication adjusted so that i can handle the extra pain from the surgery.  I have a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks to asses my healing and in the mean time I am doing my best with the pain and working from home.   The image shows the X-ray image from the ER visit.  
I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support and most especially thank my wife Yvette for taking care of me and being a wonderful strong woman who has shouldered having to deal with not only an immobile husband, but the entire care of kids and home all at once.  You are a strong woman Yvette and I love you and appreciate everything you do and have done for our family and for me.  

It isn't easy for me to be cooped up in bed like this.  I independent by nature and having to get help for almost everything isn't easy.  I know we will all be glad when I am mobile again and can take up my normal routine.  The hardest part in some ways is that it is my right ankle so I can't drive anywhere till it heals up.
It isn't easy, but we will get through this and we will be stronger afterward.  The Lord never gives us more than we can handle.  And when we do reach our limit, he is there to pick us up and carry us.

Freedom

I have had this bouncing around in my head now for a couple of days, but haven't had the time to put it down.
i posted the thought to Twitter(@jraypatten) and Facebook today.
"Freedom isn't free, or cheap or safe, but it is worth the price."

There has been a lot in the news lately about freedom. Part of it is inevitable, the country is in an election cycle.  A lot has revolved around the controversy over the mandate on contraceptive coverage.   The right is claiming a freedom of religion issue, and the left a women's health and "Freedom of choice" issue.  But I am not really ready to address that particular aspect.   Instead I want to take on a more basic look.

The issue I have been thinking of is this.   One multiple occasions I have listened on his show as he debates with someone who says that our treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo does not rise to the level of torture and even if it did it is justified given the stakes involved.

Here is the problem with that argument.  We can have a truly spirited and merited debate about whether or not the interrogation methods used are torture or not.  I do not know.
If they are, then they should NOT be used.
Sean's argument back is that If he were holding YOUR family captive or you KNEW your family would die if the information were not wrangled from him wouldn't you support doing anything, no matter what, to get that information out?

The answer for many of us is "Yes, of course."  But, that does not make it right.   Two wrongs do not equal a right.
Sean makes a good point about the constitution being for a limited government.
Why? Why does the constitution limit government?  Not because  the constitution grants us rights, but because those rights are ours as a condition of being Human.  We are endowed by our Creator, the Lord most High, with those rights and no Government, no person, and no entity outside of God himself has the right to forcefully infringe on those rights.
What this means is that we do not have the justification to use torture, or to indefinitely hold people or take other steps that go around the constitution and the rights that are spelled out within it.

This goes Doubly true for American citizens and the Patriot Act, the NDAA and other related laws unconstitutionally infringe on these rights.

the truth of the matter is that we can either have a Free society, or a apparently safe society.  But there is no true safety.  Reducing the danger from foreign terrorists, or even domestic ones, comes at a price. that price is making EVERYONE a suspect.   We must decide if we want a free society or a society where our own government has decided that its own population is the enemy.

Our freedom has a price, and that price is the fact that we may be hurt or killed for our freedom and in the exercise of it.  That is why the tree of liberty is watered by patriots.  It does not necessarily mean that we are  dying in a war to protect ourselves or defend ourselves, but that freedom carries a risk simply by exercising it.  I hope that my children learn this lesson.   I want to protect them, I want them to live long and full lives, but their lives cannot be full if they are wrapped up in plastic bubble-wrap. and locked away for their 'protection.'

Freedom is precious, and as with all precious things it is expensive.  We must be willing to pay the price.

Mid-week thoughts

This may be another rambling post, so bear with me.
Yesterday was, of course, Super Tuesday.  Gingrich won Georgia, and Romney took 6 out of the ten states, but barely pulled the win in Ohio.  I iwll admit that Romney is not my favored candidate.  I just don't get a good vibe from him and I feel like he is too much of a technocrat. He believes that if he just assembles the correct experts in Washington than they can come up with a plan to fix things.  Santorum suffers from this as well I think, though he is a big government compassionate conservative.  He really has the right ideas on many social issues, but I don't think he is as committed to the reduction of the size and scope of government in our lives.  From that stand point, I think It is Probably Ron Paul who has the best position, but for one, as I ahve mentioned, his foreign policy is dangerously isolationist.  Additionally he is so far over on the libertarian side he will alienate members of both parties and not be able to achieve much.  Neither party will co-operate with him.

The biggest issue with Gingrich is that he carries a lot of personal history and bad feelings inside the beltway.   I am beginning to think it is Going to be Romney as the Republican Nominee and hopefully President if he gets the Nomination.

Of course the signature issue, for the republicans, is to get the Current Health care law overturned.  There is some question as to whether Romney would really be committed to it or not because of his implementation of a similar program in Massachusetts.  That I cannot speak to for certainty, but he has on many occasions laid out the reasoning why it is acceptable at a state level and not the Federal level.

A friend has stated to me that the energy in politics is better spent making a difference at a personal level then investing all of one's energy into politics and pinning hopes on the ability of one man to change the course of the nation.  it is a good point, and the most important thing we can do is to model Christ to those around us and bring others to a knowledge of him and his love and incredible gift.  We should also strive to minister to the needs of those around us.  As an institution the church has abdicated its role as the caregiver for the poor, the downtrodden and those in need.  When the church moved away from that role the government moved in and as a result the country is on a path to bankruptcy and collapse that it may already be too late to reverse.  the problem is that to fix the problem requires the government to step back and cut the benefits and payouts it makes.   Millions will suffer when this happens and the Church is NOT prepared to step in and take over the role.  Onerous regulations only exacerbate the problem by making it almost impossible for a private organization to step in.    In the political silly season, do not forget to reach out to those in need around you.  Follow Christ's example and serve.

Super Tuesday

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday.  Obviously the entire focus is on the republican primary this cycle.  The Democratic party Nomination is not even up for grabs so there is no news on that side.  Here in Georgia, Newt Gingrich is slated to win Georgia unless something changes drastically.  Here in the peach state, Romney and Santorum are vying for second place and hoping to push the other to a distant 3rd place and deny the loser any Georgia delegates.  A similar situation exists in Tennessee and Oklahoma.   The big  battle appears to be in Ohio where Romney and Santorum are neck in neck.  I admit, that not long ago I would have never considered  Santorum a viable candidate.  I will vote tomorrow in the primary election.   It is the primary and if you can't find a candidate to support at this time then sit back and enjoy the horse race.   But it is important to be involved in politics.    When the time comes at the general election in November, go vote.  I won't and can't dictate to you who to vote for, but it is important to Vote.   Find the candidate that you support, or is closest to the views you hold and believe can represent those views and Vote.   You should know who is running for your  congressional and state seats.  There is more going on than JUST the presidential race.

Musings

A new class is starting, well started last night but I didn't get to the discussions last night.  I am still waiting on the grade on my final for this last one.  It is beginning to get more difficult in these classes and I know I need to devote serious time to them.  The past few weeks have been very draining, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.   There has been and continues to be a lot on my heart and mind and I am glad I had time off from work through some of the most spiritually tumultuous points.  Its not over yet though I think I am beginning to have a handle on it.  It was great to see Jessica, and meet Larry and Yvette loved having the chance to spend time with family. To top it off we went to see the mouse in Orlando.  the days were long, the drive even longer, but when I wasn't talking politics and constitutional intent and inherent rights with Larry on the drive there was a lot of time to think.

I have never before encountered a point where a situation and my reaction to it has driven me to have physical illness before.  I think though that instead of focusing on the past and people and situations that I cannot change,  it is time to look forward.  There is a great need in our society and especially within our churches for the support of the institution of marriage.  And not as in fighting 'gay marriage' or railing against the decay of our culture.  Instead the church should celebrate marriage, work to make sure that married couples thrive in their relationship and make it plainly visible that marriage is the desirable option.  Instead of boldly condemning those who fall into relationships outside of the holy union, we should lift up marriage to be seen as the blessing it is.

After all, isn't marriage supposed to be a reflection of the most glorious relationship possible?  the relationship between ourselves and Jesus Christ?  If we do not hold marriage in the high esteem that we are supposed to hold that sacred relationship then how high are we holding our commitment to Christ? This extends to all facets of the marriage.   From the forsaking of all others, to the Headship of the husband (boy I bet that will get some one's dander up) to the bed as well.  For perhaps in all of marriage this is the place we as Christians have dropped the ball the most.  Sex is meant to be the glue that binds the marriage together.  It is far more than a physical act.  There is, or is supposed to be a spiritual and emotional joining as well.  That the opening of ourselves at our most vulnerable to each other.  This is the human, physical model for what our intimacy with Christ is to be like.  We are to be totally open to him, hiding nothing of ourselves from God.  Just as a husband and wife are to be totally open to each other, joining to become one flesh.   This is of course not an instantaneous event, but a process, a journey of growth that increases through the years.  It takes work, and commitment.  Love will not simply bloom and be there.  It is a choice.  It is doing the things that are hard.  it is giving of yourself to the other totally.  We as a church have spent so much time condemning the ways in which the gift of sex has been perverted and preaching the evils of those perversions that we do not celebrate the joy and glorious gift it is within marriage, or if we do it is overshadowed by all that has been done previously.  Of course it is easy to go from that to sinful exposure of what belongs between a man and his wife.

I sit here and write these things and realize that my own life, my own marriage have not yet reached this point, this picture of what marriage ought to be.  My own past mocks me and tells me that I have done enough damage and how can I say these things with a straight face.
There is a simple answer.  First, I am human. I will fail,  we all will fail at some point.  None are perfect save he who sits on the throne and the perfect sacrifice at his right hand.  Second, I am forgiven, my sins have been cleansed.   They are no more.  I may not be able to forget them, and I will carry some scars and those around me will carry scars from what has been done, but those sins have no power.

I know I have kind of bounced around so if you are still reading, congratulations!  My mind tends to go everywhere and when I write I do as well. Especially in a format like this.   But back to topic.
Marriage as I said is a sacred thing.  The more I have seen marriages around me collapse, some after many years the more I realize that more must be done to support married couples, more must be done to help those who are hurting, more must be done to make the younger generations realize what marriage SHOULD be, not what we have let it become.  So many Christians live no differently than those outside it. marriage is not a permanent institution to them.   Just as our relationship to Christ cannot ever be severed, so a marriage is not severed.   Abuse and adultery are the acceptable reasons for a divorce.  Otherwise It is wrong.   And even in the previous cases Christ can bring a change of heart and a transformation of one or both involved.   If this does not happen, then the marriage will die, and a divorce occurs.  This does not make the divorce right.   It is still a terrible thing.   Perhaps if we understood this within the church then the rate of divorce would be far lower.  

These are thoughts I have had for a long time, but not really known how to express them.  For several years I have tried to put to words the ideas behind it and I still feel its not quite adequate.   In the past two years I have seen marriages of friends and those around me break up and dissolve and it has begun to tear at my heart.  I am angry that we do not see what it is that has been destroyed.  

I say that this cannot be laid at the feet of Hollywood, or the secular media as so many do.  If the church and as a whole had not abandoned marriage and the celebration of what marriage is and uplifted it then there would have not been a vacuum for the secular left to fill.

I think, that at this time I will go ahead and wrap this up.  If you are still reading, thank you.  If you agree, disagree, love, hate, think I am full of it, let me know.   If you agree, or like, share this blog.

thank you for reading and I hope that if nothing else, you now have something to think about.
--Jason