i just thought this was cool.

intelligent questions

on Wednesday i went to the movie theater to see "Expelled: no intelligence allowed" the new documentary starring Ben Stein. the film is about the conflict between stern Darwinist scientists and scientists who support the idea of intelligent design. what i found refreshing that the film wasn't really about who was wrong or right, there was a little of that, but not much. the meat of the film had to do with the idea that Darwinist science was not allowing for ID to be considered in the academic field. It had to do with the freedom, in science, to question theories and grow in knowledge from those questions.

i think it was a good film, sure it kind of focused a little too much on Ben Stein (i think he was trying to make his "inconvenient truth") but there were still good points made. mostly that scientific authority needs to be tested and questioned, that is how we arrive at scientific fact. Darwinism is not being questioned so much, and is well entrenched in the academic realm as the way we came to be. But it does not account for everything. in the theory, human beings developed from simple single cell organisms, which is all well and good, but it cannot account for how the first single cell organism came to exist. there are weak spots in ID as well. since it is a theory that places an unknown source of intelligence at its begining it cannot really be scientifically tested. so if there are weak spots, there needs to be more study. but i am not sure any amount of studying is going to bring about a definite answer. this is where faith comes in.

some have faith in science, others faith in God, and so on. i choose to have faith in God, but that does not mean i cannot be interested in science or consider the facts of science in the creation of the world. in "the Language of God", which is a book i have been reading, the author discusses evolution and what it could mean to believers. it does not have to be exclusive from our creation. it is not so far fetched to believe that God was the major instrument in evolution, that He ingrained natural selection into the natural law that we may become what we are today. to really think about God being ultimate creator means that he created all of the natural laws, and if natural selection and evolution are natural laws then they were created by and are controlled by God. in this way science can be seen as a way to come closer to God's majesty, not a way to distance ourselves from Him.

i would have to say that i am not a Young Earth Creationist. i do not believe that Genisis is a literal telling of the creation of the planet, and i do not believe that the world is only 10,000 years old. i am a creationist in that i believe God created this amazing planet with all of its spectacular species and natural laws. but i think the question of how he did it is always going to be an unknown, until we die. and i will look forward to finding that out.

but until then science has a place in discovery and should continue to question. especially within itself.

heroes

it is interesting to think about who you would consider to be your heroes. i feel it would be people who have influenced your life in both direct and indirect ways but have somehow shaped who you have become. of course, they also tend to be people that you look up to. so here are a few, in no particular order, of my personal heroes.

monty python: in my opinion the most influential and intelligent comedy team ever. even if you don't particularly like them, a certain amount of respect is due.

andrei tarkovsky: the russian director of "Solaris", "Andrei Rublev", "Ivan's Childhood", and "Stalker" among others. incredible images, incredible artist.

david attenborough: nature filmmaker who continually inspires me to love and be in awe of God's creation.

c.s. lewis: someone who has written many books that have helped me grow in my faith. the most influential is "the Great Divorce." it is a book with such emotional intensity that it cannot be ignored.

stanley kubrick: has created some of the most beautiful images ever put on film. every time i watch one of his films i am blown away by its visual beauty and innovation.

r.l. stine: wrote the Goosebumps series. nuff said.

a few not pictured:

mineral: a band that will always remind me that music can touch your soul.

God/Jesus: as much as this is a cliche it is true, how can i deny my savior and creator of this glorious universe.

my friends and family: rick, darcy, dylan, roseabelle, clair, mary, andrew, lana, allan, cindy, matt b, matt w, gerrit, steve, ric, john, dan (lloyd), brian, jason, lisa, ashlyn, and all of my extended family on both sides, those on the pine ridge reservation, and anyone i may have forgotten, you have and will always bless my life with guidance and support. i love you all.

maria, my wife: i love you so intensely i cannot begin to describe it.

twenty-four is the new eighty

i think it is kind of sad that in the past years things have changed so dramatically that when 10 o'clock comes around i am ready for bed. i used to be able to stay up until 2 in the morning, even during the week, and be able to function reasonably well the next day regardless of what i was doing. now, and maybe this comes with working full time, i am lucky if i make it to 11:30 without my eye lids getting heavy.

so tonight, i have decided to fight it. either i can give in and go to bed (which honestly sounds really nice right now) or i can stay up and watch some monty python sketches and try to rekindle some of the youth i had just a couple of years ago. to be honest, i probably won't make it to 1:00 but we'll try.

p.s. i am not trying to say that i feel old at 24, i know i am still very young and hopefully have alot of life to live yet. but because i know i am still young it bothers me that i can't seem to stay up late if i want to. well, off to bed . . .

one of those days

today i was so tired that i acutually put my underwear on backwards . . .

the sad part is i didn't notice until lunchtime.

i was trying to pee and couldn't get my penis through the urination gap. i then came to the realization that i had my boxers on backwards . . . i felt like an idiot.

i'm just very glad that the reason i couldn't pee wasn't that i had somehow misplaced my penis.

my professional status has been solidified

today i was officially declared "effective" by the manager and assistant manager at US Bank. i was told this when i went in to receive my 90 day review. it is quite an honor to be "effective" and is much better than being declared "in-effective" which was the only other option. i am now proud to say that i have realized all of my professional potential and will probably will retire within a month or two. i have always wanted to own a restaurant, maybe i will open a Denny's.

it is so rare to be able to live your dream . . . and to do it when you're only 24!

Lord, I've never lived where churches grow

I loved creation better as it stood

That day you finished it so long ago

And looked upon your work and called it good

I know that others find you in the light

That sifted down through tinted window panes

And yet I seem to feel you near tonight

In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains

I thank you, Lord, that I'm placed so well

That you've made my freedom so complete

That I'm no slave to whistle, clock or bell

Nor weak eyed prisoner of wall or street

Just let me live my life as I've begun

And give me work that's open to the sky

Make me a partner of the wind and sun

And I won't ask a life that's soft or high

Let me be easy on the man that's down

Let me be square and generous with all

I'm careless sometimes, Lord, when I'm in town

But never let them say I'm mean or small

Make me as big and open as the plains

And honest as the horse between my knees

Clean as a wind that blows behind the rains

Free as the hawk that circles down the breeze

Forgive me, Lord, if sometimes I forget

You know about the reasons that are hid

You understand the things that gall or fret

Well, you knew me better than my mother did

Just keep an eye on all that's done or said

And right me sometimes when I turn aside

And guide me on that long, dim trail ahead

That stretches upward toward the great divide

"Oh, Bury Me Not" - Johnny Cash

i listened to this song the other day and it really struck me. i have been having a lot of conversations lately on the nature of Christianity . . . on whether or not the bible should be followed literally and how many times a day one should pray. It is hard to sift through what should be argued and what isn't. Should we be worried about how much, or how many times we pray a day? in my opinion, no. it doesn't take an hour of prayer a day to be saved, it isn't a prescription. it has to do with our spirits, how we feel, and how much we want to be saved. our desire to be part of the Love that should be spilling out of our Christian hearts. but that is not what is happening, i am just as much to blame for this than anybody. we quibble about doctrinal issues that aren't even biblical, so how do we take the bible literally in a situation where the bible doesn't make a statement. then what? in modern Christianity, we judge. we have crazed pastors leading parishioners down a path to extreme hatred against pretty much every group, even other Christians. how is that Christ like in the least bit? LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE everybody without hesitation.

i am sinful . . . i am judgemental . . . i am unworthy of God's grace and love . . . but i receive it. how can i, in good conscience, deny anybody else even the slightest bit of that love?

which brings me to the lyrics to the johnny cash song above. this, apart from the horse, is the type of Christianity i aspire to. simple, beautiful, reverent, necessary, personal, and loving. will i ever achieve it? all i can do is try.