Paying Dues

As the son of a full-blooded Dutchmen I find that I hate paying for things. I am very willing to jump through hoops for free stuff. But alas, my favorite media resource, the ChurchMedia.Net, has become a subscription service. You can still read the forums which I think are great and I know the subscription is well worth the price. But it is just kind of sad to lose another free resource.

I'm actually amazed that it remained free for so long. I have to tip my hat to guys like Tim Eason who run sites like this. They do all they can to keep these sites running with their own resources. Everyone should realize that it is not sustainable without some form of revenue. I suppose I'll break down and buy a subscription someitme next week.

On a related note, I also use GIMP simply because it is free and I don't want to pay for photshop. But for the life of me I keep forgetting how to find my way around this quirky program. It seems like within a week after figuring something out I forget and have to start all over again. I guess that has to do with it not being as intuitive as it should be. That's the price I pay for free software. (huh?)

Disconnected From Reality

Jeffery Nielsen’s “lightly adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon of a progressive disconnection of decision makers from reality.”

The Plan

In the beginning was the Plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
And the Assumptions were without form.
And the Plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.
And they spoke among themselves, saying,
“It is a crock of crap, and it stinks.”
And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said,
“It is a pail of dung, and we can’t live with the smell.”
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying,
“It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide it.”
And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying,
“It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength.”
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another,
“It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong.”
And the Directors went to the Vice Presidents, saying unto them,
“It promotes growth, and it is very powerful.”
And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him,
“This new plan will actively promote growth and vigor of the company with very powerful effects.”
And the President looked upon the Plan and saw that it was good.
And the Plan became Policy.
And that is how shit happens.

*

This appears to be true on so many levels.

Telling Tales About Church

In his book, "The Present Future", Reggie McNeal quotes the usual stat that 40-43 percent of Americans attend church. But then he points to another study, that read diaries instead of asking questions, that suggested that only 26 percent of Americans attend church. That happens to be a more believable number in my opinion.

One thing that I find interesting here is the apparent desire of people to lie to pollsters about their church going habits. Why is that? Apparently we have no qualms telling the truth about so many other sordid details of our lives. For some reason it appears that there are a lot of people who want to appear more spiritual than they actually are.

The next thought is who are they lying to. Since the polls are annonymous do people think that God reads the results? And if they do think He reads the results don't they realize that he would know that they are lying anyway?

It's enough to make your headspin. My guess is there is a feeling of guilt that strikes people when they are answering that question and even though it is illogical they get a small dose of relief from lying about attending church.

Phase-Locked Communities

I am currently rereading a book called "Playing the Future" in which the author uses our kids to inform us of what the future will be like. I'm at the beginning of the book right now but I know what is coming. He talks about the surfing community, the skateboarding community, the snowboarding community and the rave community.

One of the interesting things he points out is that some of these communities, especially the rave community, will become phase-locked. Phase-locking is a phenomena that occurs when people are in a close community. They begin to syncronize with each other mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. For example, women who live together have a tendency to develop syncronized menstrual cycles. It is an interesting concept and it is especially interesting to think about in terms of Christian community and how phase-locking effects the spiritual health of the community as a whole.

My One and Only Post About The Election

I am still trying to catch up with the sleep I lost Tuesday night. I think the main reason I watch is because the commentators really struggle to stay on top of things over such a long period of time without a script. I remember late at night in 1996 when Clinton won that an old commentator at ABC(I can't remember who it was exactly.) just ripped into a short rant on how awful it was going to be to have him as president for another four years. Jennings was stunned and they quickly went to a break.

This year wasn't quite as dramatic but I was surprised at how cautious most of the networks were when it was clear that W was going to win Ohio. The facts were there but they still were hesitant. CBS was especially amusing after the W records gaffe.

The biggest goof I caught that night was when Larry King made a comment about how surprised he was that Kerry won Penn. by such a wide margin. The first reports from PA did show Kerry with a huge lead and he was projected as the winner very early. However, W steadily caught up throughout the night and apparently King wasn't paying attention. When he made his comment the PA race was actually closer than the Ohio race. It still is by the way.