Random Thoughts Archives - Page 12 of 31

Junkyard Gift List

You ever look at the online gift guides for guys? Wow, what a waste of time. Whoever makes these lists aren’t the guys I know. Actually, I suspect they aren’t guys at all.

So I decided to make my own list. A junkyard gift list. Not the traditional nonsense like silk ties or metrosexual garbage like personal grooming tools. This is a list inspired by the guys I knew growing up in the wrecking yard (minus the obscene and illegal…well, mostly).

Twelve gifts, different price ranges, all equally cool:

Stocking stuffer (around $10): A basic Zippo Lighter. He …

Advent Reflection by Bonhoeffer

“Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent. One waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other – things that are really of no consequence – the door is shut and can only be opened from the outside.”
An Advent Reflection from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

With this insight from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written as he sat in a Nazi jail, we begin Advent.

Waiting. Hoping. Doing inconsequential things. All in anticipation of the door being opened.

What Bonhoeffer experienced as he waited in a prison cell can be compared to those who wait in poverty. They wait. Patiently. …

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Recently came across this Thanksgiving proclamation made by George Washington and thought I’d share it this week. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging …

Cruising the Danube

Ten things I learned while floating down the Danube River:

1. The best way to see Prague is by eBike. They are incredibly fun.

2. Central Europeans are getting better at winemaking. Still a long ways to go, but better.

3. Renee really, really hates it when people roll their eyes at her.

4. Hearing a Stradivarius violin in an ancient chapel will give you goosebumps.

5. Bill is a great dancer.

6. Robyn loves to take pictures of wine glasses.

7. Who knew that drinking Hungarian champagne in a cave would be a highlight?

8. Steve is addicted to …

Spirit of America

Every few years I visit Disneyland and find myself being talked into the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show. It’s not my favorite. It was cool 50-years ago, but today the technology just seems quaint. Still, I go if for no other reason than it’s a nice place to relax for a few minutes.

On my last visit we arrived early and I wandered around the waiting area. I noticed something I had never seen before: twelve statues indicating the Twelve Spirits of America. They are:

– Individualism
– Innovation
– Tomorrow
– Independence
– Compassion
– Discovery
– Freedom…

Blaise Pascal Quote

Came across this quote from Pensées by Blaise Pascal and it struck me how very true it is.

Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair.

Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness. Jesus is a God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.

We alternate back and forth between awareness of our own failings and pride, don’t we? I think about the PathLight students growing into maturity (and all youth …

Singapore, the Sequel

Just over a year ago I sat in the bar of Singapore’s Raffles Hotel and reflected on visits to some of the poorer areas of Burma and Bangkok. Here’s the post if you want to read it.

In a few days it’s back to Singapore for another visit, and I can’t help but think how the reflections from the first trip have shaped my upcoming book. It was while sitting in the Writers Bar, idly jotting notes, when I wrote this:

But when we separate ourselves from the poor and live in this kind of opulence, we create the illusion …

Middle East Christianity and RFRA

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has written a powerful call to action on the persecution of Middle East Christianity. Naturally CNN over dramatized it with the headline, “Will this be Christians’ last Easter in Iraq?” But the point of the article is powerful and troubling. Cardinal Dolan writes, “Rarely since the first century has the church in the East faced persecution on this scale.”

It struck me how much time we’ve recently spent debating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. People on both sides are up in arms because they feel threatened. These are important conversations we need have as a nation, but …