Stuff

The prospect of going from a poor college student living on next to nothing to a decently paid engineer in the airplane industry is one that can lead to thoughts of becoming what I've always wanted to be (and what limited assets have kept me from being): an uber-tech-geek.

From cell-phones that do everything except the actual talking to taking all the systems of my car and interfacing it to a custom control algorithm (yeah, that's what BMW has probably spent millions of dollars of research on), I want it all. I want things that make my life easier. But then there's a question that surfaces: Do things really make life easier?

"Things" are relatively easy to obtain and retain with minimal commitment to substantial investment. I use "relatively" because although they may cost a bundle in terms of dollar amount, there really is no eternal expense in acquiring the latest and greatest. Things might bring happiness, but they do not bring joy. They may bring satisfaction, but they do not bring contentment. The Bible does a really good job of putting "things" into perspective:

Proverbs 30:7-9
7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
~NIV

The writer of this proverb recognizes how easy it is to focus on "things." Either we're so focused on the "things" that we have that we forget about God. Or we focus on what we don't have...and start coming up with ways to get "things." There are going to be some "things" that I will have: I will have a cell phone and I'm sure that I will have a computer. I pray that I will only have the "things" that help me to better serve God...then they become tools.

The Puzzle

This is an entry from my real journal: the one that I keep to remind myself what God's teaching me. God gave me the coolest picture the other day and I told it to so many people that I just had to write it in my journal and I thought I'd share it here.

One's life is kind of like a puzzle. God can see the whole picture on the box--all I can see is the little pieces that are handed to us one at a time. Each piece that I get is part of my "picture" - the completed me. Sometimes, it's obvious where the piece goes because God's been working a lot in that specific area of my life so that part of the puzzle has a lot of pieces in it. Sometimes though, I get a piece that doesn't seem to make sense: it's nothing like the part I'm working on....it's doesn't really look like some of the other parts of the puzzle that are filled in...I would look at the box except I can't. But I know someone who can. It's not that He's trying to trick me and throw me for a loop--more that He's letting me see where He's going: letting me catch a glimpse of the big picture.

But what's a puzzle piece made out of? Is it a happy thing where everything is going great for me and I'm walking close to my Lord? Maybe it's a hard time where I feel like I'm lost and don't know what to do. Or...maybe it's life. I think it's anything. To assume that anything that happens to me is not a learning experience or a part of my puzzle is a very limited view of my God. As I take each piece that comes my way, I must make sure that I place it. I can't hold it in my hand and wait for the next piece...it just doesn't work that way. It really is a simple thing to just put the piece down where I'm supposed to...nothing to it, right? Heh...maybe. Sometimes I might not really like what the picture's looking like...maybe I just don't want to put something down...it's MINE. That's when the picture kind of gets held up. God wants to hand me the next piece but I'm too selfish to put the one I have in the right spot. Two things happen at this point: God can't keep working on the puzzle and my picture isn't going to look right. There will remain a hole in God's picture for my life until I'm willing to put the piece down.

As the picture grows, people around me will start to see the beauty and wonder of the colors and designs. "Nice Picture!" they say. "You're such a good person." "You're so kind!" "How come you're always smiling?" But it's not my picture. It's God's picture. I can't take the credit for it. I might be able to remember the history of each piece that's placed in the puzzle: each sorrow and each joy, that's what makes the picture special to me. But it's not my picture--my picture would be ugly.

FYI: The next post was started on the post date and posted on the same date that this is.

Inherently Relativistic

I've been working on these thoughts for more than a month....so I'll have them out. They are not as refined as I'd like...but if I don't post them, I reckon they will "simmer" for a long time and I'll never post them:

Humans are relativistic creatures.

Let me define the terms (All definitions from The Merriam-Webster dictionary):
Humans: a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens)
Are: to have a specified qualification or characterization
Relativistic: of, relating to, or characterized by relativity, wherein relativity is defined as the state of being dependent for existence on or determined in nature, value, or quality by relation to something else
Creatures: something created either animate or inanimate

This is the conclusion that I arrive at when I observe those around me. Having stated my method as such, I reckon that the conclusion can be thrown out due to its circular dependence on the thesis being true for the method to be valid. However, I’ve found myself thinking about this topic lately and so I have decided to write about it for I feel that the implications are far reaching in a Christian’s life—most likely more than I even realize.

"WOW! You must be going FAST!!" My little sister comments as I take off from a stoplight.
Was I going fast? No. But she could feel the acceleration and the acceleration was fast. She was basing her observation on what she could see and feel--not on what was absolute. Driving 70mph down the highway can seem very fast, but I know for a fact that it's quite boring to go merely 70mph after doing 130 (which I would not suggest). Was I going two different speeds the two different times I was going 70mph? No. i just changed what I referenced that 70mph to. If I had no speedometer, I wouldn't be able to tell how fast I was going unless I compared myself to my surrouundings, either the world or other vehicles.

Everything done by humans has to be compared to something else. Interestingly enough, this creates the need for highly visible, absolute standards. If we did not have to compare eveything, there would be no need for standards. In fact, how does one try to describe an absolute creature to our minds? Can we say that they have all the standards set inside them and they just follow that? Sorta....they would still make the decisions based on set standards: they're still comparing. Do absolute creatures compare?

God. He is absolute. As such, He is the standard and he needs no laws to be set for Him. His decisions are final. Does He really make comparisons when He judges? In that light, it makes sense that there would be only one type of sinner....a sinner. "No matter how bad you think you are, you're no worse than the next one" really is true. This doesn't mean that God doesn't love them.....God Forbid! In fact, He cannot not love them. Although His standards dictate that they be punished in their sinful state, He has, in His eyes, satisfactorily made the absolute perfect way for humans to be saved from this punishment: The Absolutely Perfect Man, Jesus Christ. His life and death characterized someone that truly saw people for who they were in perfect love. He was not afraid to say what was on His mind and take action when action was needed.

All I can ask myself is how then should I look at those around me?

I feel this is really truncated.....but please comment and ask questions...it's what I want.

Time

I feel compelled to explain the source of "The next paradigm shift" title for this site. Sir Michael Atiyah gave the inaugural Einstein Lecture to the American Math Society here on the UNL campus. During this public lecture, he discussed the intermeshing of math and physics and whether or not the math influenced the discoveries in physics or if the physics discoveries motivated the progression of mathematical theory. As he was concluding his thoughts of the current state of mathematics and physics, he tied back into what made the beginning of this century so exciting: Einstein’s publication of his Theory of Special Relativity and the quantum mechanics that came from his publications on the Photoelectric effect. In a time when physicists were thinking that they had all of the laws of science figured out--all that was left to do is calculate the constants to a few more decimal places--they needed a drastic change in their outlook: A Paradigm Shift. He then explained the concept of parallel time and how the current state of physics uses math to predict events in the future, that is, after time progresses. However, due to probabilistic qualities of certain elements of physics, we do not always have this luxury. So how then do we explain this phenomenon?

*Cue Mathematicians.....or maybe...Theologians?*

Why does everything have to be based on time? Of what REAL importance is time in our lives? True, we cannot avoid it and its incessant driving of us towards eternity when it will no longer be of value but do we need to place such a high priority on it. What priority does God place on time?

I'm not about to abolish my scheduler...but I think that some serious evaluation of time needs to be done. And it shall be.....

Quote of the Weekend

"God doesn't put things up for a vote."
-Jack Fish

Greetings

My goal:
A place to write on my theories of the universe into which I have been put. Writing gets me talking and talking helps me solve all the world's problems. I also welcome questions against which I may temper or smash my theories.

My disclaimer:
Theories may be posted in part as they may not be completely formulated...or they may be posted in part to protect that which I deem to be my intelectual property.

With all that said, I don't really know how often I will post here. I have two other blogs that I tried to keep up to date, but I post on an average of once a month.