Soul and Spirit | Ain't Complicated

Written in the Stars?

A Frame of Reference for the General Election — full of boring concepts to the uninterested and uninitiated. Whether I’m an un or an in I shall not reveal. And whether you’re one or the other, consider these two paragraphs:

What does this mean for November?

Ultimately, it comes down to whether human agency can affect processes that are largely governed by macro conditions. Presidential elections are one such process. We know they are governed in part by vague, impersonal forces. To what extent are they also governed by the actions of human beings? We have seen both parties try to influence this election. Both have positioned themselves in light of what they know. Will their positionings make a difference, or is the outcome already written in the stars?

The outcome is already written.

In the heart of God.

The identity of the next President of the United States has long been known to God.

As is what He will accomplish through him (or her).

I’m curious to see whom the Almighty will set up this time.

Defraud Not

“Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well” (Proverbs 5:15).

Guys, if the girl isn’t your wife, keep your hands off.

Gals, if the fellow isn’t your husband, keep your hands off. (And his as well!)

Kissing, holding, handling, hugging, fondling, cuddling — even that, if between non-spouses, violates the above verse. In my opinion.

Even if I indulge in it “only” in my mind, I have sinned. Jesus said so.

As the world’s standards of morality continue their downward trend, I purpose to be faithful to my God and to my wife.

As the church herself becomes increasingly lax in far too many instances, I purpose to keep up my guard.

It’s tough.

Learn About Life in the Shoe

Except here they’re out of their shoe and in someone else’s.

And it doesn’t seem to have panned out too well.

But it does make for a funny read.

Here you have the outer edges of the sandwich:

The Great Getaway

Paul and I like to take an overnight getaway in June before our marriage takes its annual battering during harvest in July and August. This time Paul went above-and-beyond and booked a lunch cruise tomorrow on a ship in Portland and a room at the Holiday Inn. Through Priceline of course.

So we checked in this afternoon. The room was on the fourth floor, and beautiful. And cold.

[…]

Just a few minutes ago he left again, saying something we couldn’t understand. I don’t know if the drain is fixed or not. He’ll probably be back soon with his toothbrush and pajamas and popcorn and a movie.

Go visit your Holiday Inn for your next romantic getaway, the one with three curved sides, on NE 2nd just across from the Rose Garden.

So there you are — a ringing undorsement of the kind I thought I had posted for the Super 8 in Tucson at West Starr Pass Blvd (but which I can’t find here now).

Paul and Dorcas, I hope today is better. And if that guy showed up again, I hope he brought his interpreter.

Death Wishes

I saw two headlines and thought of my post title.

Israel to attack Iran unless enrichment stops

“If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective,” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable,” said the former army chief who has also been defense minister.

It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of Olmert’s government, which, like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at force as a last resort should U.N. Security Council sanctions be deemed a dead end.

Iran has defied Western pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment projects, which it says are for peaceful electricity generation rather than bomb-building. The leadership in Tehran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel — believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal — and U.S. targets in the Gulf for any attack on Iran.

Mofaz also said in the interview that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, “would disappear before Israel does.”

Somebody needs to teach that Mofaz fellow to be direct and unvarnished in his approach. 😉

For instance, he could just up and say, “Ole Mahmoud’s got a death wish.”

Disclaimer: I’m not making light of a volatile situation.

Accused 9-11 mastermind welcomes death penalty

The accused al Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks stood in a U.S. military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would welcome the death penalty.

“This is what I wish, to be martyred,” Pakistani captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the highest-ranking al Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court.

He and four accused co-conspirators appeared in court at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba for the first time on charges that could result in their execution.

As the judge questioned him about whether he was satisfied with the U.S. military lawyer appointed to defend him, Mohammed stood and began to sing in Arabic, cheerfully pausing to translate his own words into English.

“My shield is Allah most high,” he said, adding that his religion forbade him from accepting a lawyer from the United States and that he wanted to act as his own attorney.

He criticized the United States for fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, waging what he called “a crusader war,” and enacting “evil laws” including those authorizing same-sex marriages.

Is that truly his wish?

(When I read comments like that in such a context, I wonder how the individual making them ended up being taken alive.)

Then I focused on a third headline…and wondered if it might fit here as well.

Obama meets Clinton in private

Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately with former rival Hillary Clinton on Thursday as the party sought to unite for the general election campaign after a long nomination battle.

Many folks seem to think putting Hillary on the ticket would constitute a death wish on Barack’s part. Some think so in a political sense; others, in a literal sense. 😯

But never mind Obama and Clinton. Guys, if you choose the wrong gal, you could be entertaining a death wish. I say that because I remember A Tragic Lament I read in Proverbs 5 this morning.

Updates on Previous Posts

Flushing the Mission

Toilet troubles on the International Space Station (ISS) could force Russian cosmonauts to return to Earth early, a Russian official told Interfax news agency Tuesday.

“It’s true, we have a problem with the flushing system. This is a serious matter,” warned Vladimir Solovyov, chief ground control official for the Russian section of the ISS. “In such circumstances there’s even the possibility of an emergency departure from the station.”

The main ISS toilet broke down last week, forcing the crew, two Russians and one American, to use back-up facilities.

The US shuttle Discovery delivered spare parts Monday, as well as an extra seven astronauts. Repairs are scheduled on Thursday and Friday, Solovyov said, Interfax reported.

Just so the facilities don’t back up. 🙄

And I would expect faster service from the plumbers if the parts arrived on Monday! 😯

Especially if the number of tenants went from three to ten.

But maybe the plumbers are out and about on other service calls.

I suppose, though, that the same folks who delivered the parts also brought along ~~a PortaPotty~~ their own facilities to share with the ISS crew.

Polygamist sect clarifies marriage policy

“The church is clarifying its policy on marriage,” said Willie Jessop, a spokesman for the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He told reporters the church would advise FLDS families “neither request nor consent” to the marriage of underage girls, though he stopped short of saying the church ever violated the law.

“In the FLDS church, all marriages are consensual. The church insists on appropriate consent,” he said.

The change in policy comes after a Texas judge issued an order Monday allowing parents of hundreds of children seized from the sect to begin picking up their kids.

[…]

The logistics of retrieving the remaining children may not be so simple, though, since some parents have children at different facilities across the state.

Under the judge’s order, the Department of Family and Protective Services will still have the right to visit and interview the children.

These unannounced visits could entail medical, psychological and psychiatric examinations, and the parents must not intervene.

Also under the order, the parents must attend and complete parenting classes. The families must remain in the state of Texas and notify the department within 48 hours of any trips more than 100 miles from their homes.

Credits for the Emperor

Pull up a chair. Get comfortable. Listen carefully. Think thoughtfully.

I have a little story to tell you, a little tale to spin, a little lesson to convey.

Once upon a time there was an emperor who loved being emperor. And who loved having The Latest Thing. But he also struggled with guilt over being the emperor and over having the latest thing.

But he certainly didn’t feel so guilty as to give up his emperorship and all his stuff.

No, not that guilty.

Then along came two people with a grand solution to his dilema, at least as it concerned his clothing.

“Sir, in a kingdom not your own, many people have no clothes and little wealth. They would like to sell you some of the points they have earned for not having clothes. When you buy some of their points, you are putting on clothes (very important clothes, at that, and the latest trendy styles, too).

“When people ask why you are running around without any clothes on, just tell them you most certainly are not. Tell them you have purchased Clothing Credits. Tell them you have become Clothing Neutral. You can even tell them you have purchased Conscience Credits.

“(Tell them whatever you want. Just give us the money.)”

So that’s what he did.

And he ran around stark naked, pretending he was fully clothed.

He felt good.

And the people in his kingdom, wanting to keep their heads though he had lost his, admired his sensitivity. And his conscientiousness. And his Cutting Edge-iness. And his social consciousness. And his leadership. And his Never Mind Old-Time Common Sense.

Until a child innocently ruined it all: “Daddy, why does the emperor not have any clothes on? And why is he so proud of it? And why doesn’t anybody tell him?”

Disclaimer: I didn’t spend much time with the story concept nor with the writing thereof. Furthermore, if you think I was writing about carbon credits and being carbon neutral, I decline responsibility for the events in your head.

LifeLock Finally Loses One

For several weeks now, I’ve been meaning to sign up with LifeLock. (After all, Rush and Sean and Mike have. 🙄 )

Security Boss Tempts Fate, Pays Price

A criminal has successfully answered a security firm chief’s challenge to steal his identity — and it could be a particularly costly defeat. Todd Davis of Californian company LifeLock was so confident of his fraud prevention service that he published billboards and filmed TV adverts displaying his own social security number. (It’s 457-55-5462 in case you were wondering.)

[…]

However, Davis recently admitted that one criminal succeeded. Davis doesn’t appear to have lost out financially, but beyond the obvious corporate embarrassment, he could now pay a hefty price in civil court. Customers in at least three states are suing the company, saying that Davis should not have continued guaranteeing they’d be safe from identity theft after he knew — from personal experience, no less — that the system was fallible.

It’s not known for certain how the Texas-based hacker stole Davis’ identity, but he used his social security number to borrow $500 from an online payday loan site. Davis didn’t get the alert that LifeLock is supposed to produce because the lenders didn’t run the application through one of the three leading credit bureaus. The first he knew of it was when the firm approached him to demand repayment.

The case backs up criticism that the protection offered by firms such as LifeLock is limited. It doesn’t cover incidents such as a job applicant using a stolen social security number, or an arrested criminal using someone else’s details to keep their own identity secret.

That problem is at the heart of a separate lawsuit against LifeLock which argues the firm’s much-publicized $1 million guarantee against losses is misleading. The guarantee only covers failures in LifeLock’s service and doesn’t cover all types of identity theft, even though customers may have signed up under the impression they do.

I still plan to get LifeLock, even so.