Have you ever worked out, given it your all, felt the burn? Pushed through it? Paid for it for days afterwards?
Dedicated athletes and devotees of physical culture all know that real gains do have some associated pain, or at least discomfort. And here is a good point for physical training being of some value for Christians. Learning to master the body, master the part of us that wants the easy way, the part that doesn't want to be uncomfortable. This is a valuable lesson.
2009-09-24
A method of study
Wow, now here is a marvelous post about using your morning time to get some real brain work done.
http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2009/09/my-method-of-study.html
http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2009/09/my-method-of-study.html
2009-08-27
Physical Training II
Another reason that I think physical training is good, is that it forces one to take stock of oneself. If you're going to do it right, you need to cast a critical eye at your own capabilities, your own performance, and make a realistic assessment. Then set about improving the areas that are lacking, aiming at the goal.
The same process is applicable to all areas of life. A realistic assessment of the situation as it currently is. A goal to be reached. A plan to get there. A whole lot of energy, determination, and grit.
I think that perhaps in our instant world, the last part is what is missing.
The same process is applicable to all areas of life. A realistic assessment of the situation as it currently is. A goal to be reached. A plan to get there. A whole lot of energy, determination, and grit.
I think that perhaps in our instant world, the last part is what is missing.
Canadian Style Health Care
Couldn't have said it better myself....
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/letter+American+cousins/1917335/story.html
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
2009-08-19
Physical Training
In 1 Timothy, Paul makes this interesting statement:
Why is that? What use is physical training to Christians? I think that this might be worth exploring.
Perhaps instilling some discipline in our lives is helpful in being disciples. Learning to persist in an activity. Learning to make mistakes, recover, and progress.
I think there may be a good many reasons why Paul thinks that physical training is of some value.
1 Timothy 4:8 (New International Version)
8For physical training is of some value...
Why is that? What use is physical training to Christians? I think that this might be worth exploring.
Perhaps instilling some discipline in our lives is helpful in being disciples. Learning to persist in an activity. Learning to make mistakes, recover, and progress.
I think there may be a good many reasons why Paul thinks that physical training is of some value.
2008-09-05
Vishay
OK, so really we just call him Fishy, but I like my spelling better. Our kiddos have their first pet, a blue veil tail betta from the local fish store. Learning about our aquatic friend has been quite the eye opener as I didn't have fish when I was young.
Apparently there are clubs, and associations, and a world congress for siamese fighting fish. I nevery knew there was so much attention payed to these little $7 fish. Well, the ones that the clubs oo and ah about are quite a bit more pricey. You can pay $20-60 for a spectacular fish from a breeder. Ususally the LFS has the cast offs from the breeding programs.
As you can imagine, the start up cost for a new aquarist is about 90% stuff, and 10% fish.
I'll say this for our little refugee from the LFS, he has quite a personality! He thinks he is king of the world. He flares up at food, fingers, and his own reflection.
I'll have to figure out how to take some good pictures to post.
Anyways, you can feed Virtual Vishay over on the right. Drop some food by clicking in his bowl.
Apparently there are clubs, and associations, and a world congress for siamese fighting fish. I nevery knew there was so much attention payed to these little $7 fish. Well, the ones that the clubs oo and ah about are quite a bit more pricey. You can pay $20-60 for a spectacular fish from a breeder. Ususally the LFS has the cast offs from the breeding programs.
As you can imagine, the start up cost for a new aquarist is about 90% stuff, and 10% fish.
I'll say this for our little refugee from the LFS, he has quite a personality! He thinks he is king of the world. He flares up at food, fingers, and his own reflection.
I'll have to figure out how to take some good pictures to post.
Anyways, you can feed Virtual Vishay over on the right. Drop some food by clicking in his bowl.
2007-08-01
life without a blog
aye... refreshing no? yes we're alive. life is just too interesting to sit and type. maybe i'll be back in a couple weeks.
oh, i am reading Anselm of Canterbury. if anybody wants to stretch their mind with some medieval devotionals, i highly recommend.
oh, i am reading Anselm of Canterbury. if anybody wants to stretch their mind with some medieval devotionals, i highly recommend.
2007-05-04
life without a fridge
i know that we had a tough time getting used to the small refrigerators here in the uk. how on earth did people survive before the power grid and vapor compression heat exchangers? here's a clue...
fridge-less living
fridge-less living
the really simple life
now here is an inspiring example of simple living... looks more like camping year round! don't think it would work too well with kids though. also a little too cold in canada; but well worth the read.
Living Outside the Box
"We must achieve the character and acquire the skills to live much poorer than we do. We must waste less. We must do more for ourselves and each other. It is either that or continue merely to think and talk about changes that we are inviting catastrophe to make."
Wendell Berry, from the essay "Word and Flesh," What Are People For? North Point Press, 1990
Living Outside the Box
2007-05-01
engineers without borders
hey, now here we go - 'geers getting in there and helping people! too bad they didn't have this when i was in school....
EWB Canada
EWB Canada
technology challenging poverty
here is a great bunch. sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty and it's effects (food and clean water are two big ones) throughout the developing world
Practical Action
it's hard to find ways to use engineering to benefit those who could really use it. maybe there are some organizations like this in canada!?
Practical Action
it's hard to find ways to use engineering to benefit those who could really use it. maybe there are some organizations like this in canada!?
speechless
3 men were made martyrs in turkey
what is most amazing is the widow is asking people to forgive the perps
...
what is most amazing is the widow is asking people to forgive the perps
...
2007-04-18
simple living
reading this post about facebook vs. myspace over at tim's blog got me to thinking. all these people living so much of their lives online. if they don't yet have a second life, they still invest a lot of time publishing their thoughts & stuff. why don't i? sure i blog, but it's fairly sparse and short. mostly we blog to post pix of the kids (but that's pretty sparse too).
it's kind of strange, being an electronics engineer at a semiconductor company - ooooo the technomages themselves - and yet take me away from professional life and something strange happens. i like to go outside. i like to walk. i like to read books - the paper kind - philosophy, theology, technology, astronomy, engineering, woodwork, fiction, whatever. sure the internet is great for research, but if i'm really interested i'll buy the book (or at least print the article off).
i'm very interested in unplugged life. unplugged from utility companies, media conglomerates, advertising, retail thieves, most of modern life. i tried to find a term that would apply to my attitudes: luddism, anarcho-primitivism, anti-modernism. none of them fit. but simple living seems to work.
technology is useful, a means to an end. but not an end in itself. maybe i'm an old-worlder, but i'm still firmly in meat-space.... until i start my real second life!
it's kind of strange, being an electronics engineer at a semiconductor company - ooooo the technomages themselves - and yet take me away from professional life and something strange happens. i like to go outside. i like to walk. i like to read books - the paper kind - philosophy, theology, technology, astronomy, engineering, woodwork, fiction, whatever. sure the internet is great for research, but if i'm really interested i'll buy the book (or at least print the article off).
i'm very interested in unplugged life. unplugged from utility companies, media conglomerates, advertising, retail thieves, most of modern life. i tried to find a term that would apply to my attitudes: luddism, anarcho-primitivism, anti-modernism. none of them fit. but simple living seems to work.
technology is useful, a means to an end. but not an end in itself. maybe i'm an old-worlder, but i'm still firmly in meat-space.... until i start my real second life!
gridblog: earthday
well, john's request for an earthday post fest ties in with my thoughts as of late. unfortunately, i'm too lazy to read up on the earthday site other than the front page. so, it looks like it's about climate change. ok. on that topic i would point everyone to the half plan at builditsolar. This family cut their energy usage by 1/2 in one year. sure it cost some money, but the return on saved energy bills was 45% the first year! oh, yah and they saved loads of CO2 emmisions.
now, i'm thinking that living off-grid would save even more (money & green-house-gas). not using nasty utility energy or burning fossil fuel. all we need are good electric cars and it's perfect ;-).
back to the half plan. they have stuff to help you make your own half plan. hey what have we got to lose? save money, and our kids' future while your at it!
now, i'm thinking that living off-grid would save even more (money & green-house-gas). not using nasty utility energy or burning fossil fuel. all we need are good electric cars and it's perfect ;-).
back to the half plan. they have stuff to help you make your own half plan. hey what have we got to lose? save money, and our kids' future while your at it!
2007-04-17
self-sufficient.... no.... God sufficient living
after reading john's consumerism post it got me to thinking... no, not about joining a commune... but about unplugging from the world, or at least the materialist-consumerist-lemmingish aspects. i mean unplug; both metaphorically and physically. let's go off-grid. live on what God gives us (gives everyone). ok, so let's take our inventory:
wow, looks like He has given us everything doesn't it? maybe crofters have it right? i wonder if it might be possible to 'live off the land', right in the middle of a developed, first-world country. hmmm i like a challenge. it seems that The Lord Almighty gives everything needed to all, regardless of your opinion of him. might just need a little ingenuity to "...subdue it". how cool would that be?
wow, looks like He has given us everything doesn't it? maybe crofters have it right? i wonder if it might be possible to 'live off the land', right in the middle of a developed, first-world country. hmmm i like a challenge. it seems that The Lord Almighty gives everything needed to all, regardless of your opinion of him. might just need a little ingenuity to "...subdue it". how cool would that be?
2007-04-13
are the odds in favour of Christianity?
well, who would have thought it? statistical methods actually support the historicity of Jesus' resurrection. and the math really isn't that scary.
A Bayesian Analysis
A Bayesian Analysis
2007-04-08
reclaim easter from the bunny!!
i've seen posters around town for the past month, on walls and on the buses. yesterday there were even people handing out little bunny shaped fliers for it.
wish we could have gone, but it's my son's birthday, and both the kids will be in bed...
rock on scotland!
wish we could have gone, but it's my son's birthday, and both the kids will be in bed...
rock on scotland!
2007-03-28
stubble jumping
wow. it's feels like such a relief having made the decision now. we're going home. now that i'm thinking about it there are some interesting insights into life that i have gained...
i have a new appreciation for canada. not because i've been to some developing country or seen people living in poverty. it's because i live somewhere ridiculously affluent, but even more absurdly expensive! i can't think of how to save any costs off our budget without moving into a 1 bed flat!!
family is the greatest support system (both bio and christo fams). this is especially evident with a growing family. it's fun to explore the world, but eventually ya want to settle down "where everybody knows your name".
people are mostly the same the world over. at the basic level we all want pretty much the same things.
it's just really trippy thinking about being back to stay. so many times we've been booking a return flight.
not this time.
i have a new appreciation for canada. not because i've been to some developing country or seen people living in poverty. it's because i live somewhere ridiculously affluent, but even more absurdly expensive! i can't think of how to save any costs off our budget without moving into a 1 bed flat!!
family is the greatest support system (both bio and christo fams). this is especially evident with a growing family. it's fun to explore the world, but eventually ya want to settle down "where everybody knows your name".
people are mostly the same the world over. at the basic level we all want pretty much the same things.
it's just really trippy thinking about being back to stay. so many times we've been booking a return flight.
not this time.
2007-03-27
attitude check!
i'm not ashamed to own my Lord
nor to defend his cause
maintain the honour of His word
the glory of His cross
amen.
nor to defend his cause
maintain the honour of His word
the glory of His cross
amen.
2007-02-11
Gridblog: Generosity
due to receiving another of God's great gifts into our lives, i haven't been spending much time on the computer at all. other than uploading pix of our new family member from the camera, i really haven't had a desire to get an lcd-tan.
being that i'm getting pale, and friends are slagging me for my lack of picture posting on the family site, i'm online. and hey - a gridblog topic has been announced! and so i will add a short rambling to the group.
generosity should be encouraged - at a personal level. none of this left wing "have the government take care of them, isn't that what our taxes are for". that's all well and good, and the government should help those who have no where to turn. but let's not get lazy in our giving. find a cause that touches you; give to it generously.
give from what you have. if you are blessed with money, give it. if you are blessed with time, spend it. if you have skills and abilities that can be of use, put them to it. most of all, give with a joyful heart.
pax
being that i'm getting pale, and friends are slagging me for my lack of picture posting on the family site, i'm online. and hey - a gridblog topic has been announced! and so i will add a short rambling to the group.
generosity should be encouraged - at a personal level. none of this left wing "have the government take care of them, isn't that what our taxes are for". that's all well and good, and the government should help those who have no where to turn. but let's not get lazy in our giving. find a cause that touches you; give to it generously.
give from what you have. if you are blessed with money, give it. if you are blessed with time, spend it. if you have skills and abilities that can be of use, put them to it. most of all, give with a joyful heart.
pax
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