It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming
I'm arriving toward the end of Searching For God Knows What. This week Donald Miller told me in his book there is a reason Job was one of the earlier books of the Old Testament. God wanted to communicate to the world that life is hard, and life brings pain. However, the cure for the pain of life is not found in an explanation. Instead, God's solution to pain is Himself.
I like that interpretation. God's priority is not to offer us a formula for pain, an understanding of pain, nor a philosophy of pain. What greater gift can he offer other than Himself? As Miller writes, "God presents life, as it is, without escape, with only Himself to cling to."
I have found this to be true for myself and for many people. My temptation as a preacher is to explain the reason for painful experience.
Just last Wednesday night, at our church fellowship meal, I had a man stop me and reference something I had preached on Sunday morning. It concerned the fact that in Philippians one, the apostle Paul felt pleased God could use his pain for the kingdom. This man in our church, a beloved individual, was asking in effect -- are you telling me that we should look at our pain as something positive?
I answered his question the best I could, but this reminded me, yet again, of my temptation to feel responsible for explaining God's actions so that someone will not be mad at Him. God could very well be content with an individual's anger, because in his wisdom, he understands that anger will lead to a close relationship with God. On the other hand, my answers may not lead an individual to a close relationship with God. It is hard to develop a close, personal relationship with information.
While I certainly want to convey information, my prayer is that I can help facilitate a close relationship between God and those of us in the Shiloh family.
How would you like to be married to this guy?!
I'm starting to wonder if I suffer from OCD.
My poor wife. Talking about the patience of Job.
Last August, my brother-in-law, David Denman, graciously loaned me his combination DVD/VCR. It's the kind you can transfer your videotapes to DVDs. Well, I have an immense videotape collection. My dad bought our first video player and camera back in 1980. He taped quite a few ballgames and TV shows and movies. He also filmed a number of videos of our family.
I took over these tasks after he died in 1983. I took 30 years of my dad's 16mm home movies and transferred them to videotapes. Through the years, I'm sure I've recorded plenty of things that would be of no interest to anyone else. But, I've also recorded some historical things as well. Moreover, I have had the good fortune to record some of the most famous sports events in the ESPN age. So, after almost 30 years of this, I have a collection of videotapes that number in the hundreds.
Each videotape is numbered. All of these are cataloged on my computer.
Now, as you might know, all companies have ceased manufacturing VCRs. Thanks to David, I have a chance to salvage all the years of memories and history.
Since August, I have taken advantage of every spare moment to transfer the material on these videotapes to DVDs. When all is well, I can get about four hours of videotape material to a DVD. Recording occurs in real time. That means that, unlike downloading a song from iTunes, every second on a VCR tape takes one second to transfer to a DVD. This project has been time-consuming. Did I mention that I have hundreds of videotapes?
Enter my brilliant solution. What do you do when you have thousands of hours of video to transfer to DVD? Make time your friend. That leads me to night time, more specifically, the hours when Mark and Judy Edge are asleep.
Somewhere along the way I had a brainstorm. Why not begin transferring the material from a videotape to a DVD the moment before I go to bed? While I lie in restful slumber, the DVD and VCR can be doing the work for me. And when I awake, I've got a DVD, are you ready, with fresh material on it. It would be as if I downloaded a song from iTunes in just a few seconds.
Putting my plan into practice proved more daunting than I had originally conceived. When the videotape would reach the end, you would hear a loud click. Normally, this would not prove distracting. However, at three or four in the morning, the sound can prove disconcerting. If that sound would not wake you up, the next one would. The tape would rewind, and very loudly. Have you ever stood near railroad tracks when a train begins rolling and picks up speed? You know how that clickety-clack gets faster and faster? At four in the morning, a video tape rewinding sounds like the clickety-clack of a train--on steroids. Finally, when the tape has completely rewound, there is another loud click. It is probably not unlike the clicking sound of a criminal entering our bedroom and firing a gun that does not have a bullet in his chamber.
Believe it or not, my lovely wife would wake up to these sounds. And since she is an early riser, she would sometimes have trouble going back to sleep.
Upon further review, I solved this problem. At least I thought I did. Here was my solution. Sometimes, I awake during the night and have to use the, how do I say this? Sometimes I awake during the night needing to use "the facilities." What I could do, would be this. I would start the recording process and then hop into bed. During the night, when I would have to get up and, "use the facilities," I would go to the VCR and press stop. This would cause all recording activity to cease. And, while I would not be able to record the entire four hours available, I would still be able to get something onto the DVD and thus redeem my sleep time.
Brilliant!
Unfortunately, a new obstacle arose. Actually, I am quite proud of this. Although I am a man who has clearly entered middle age, I can now document it a fact that I do not have to get up out of bed every night and "use the facilities." The bad news concerning my discovery was there were some nights when Judy would have her dreams interrupted by the harsh sounds of fast-moving trains and criminals firing their guns without bullets.
This is going to take some negotiation. The good news is this is not as bad as what I did during our second year of marriage. To get more things done, I decided to imitate Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was a genius who slept 15 minutes every four hours -- and that was it. Judy did not mind it so much during the day. However, it did bother her at night when she would hear my alarm go off every four hours.
That experiment lasted two weeks before I finally stopped. To be honest, Judy did not nag me, so it wasn't her fault. Instead, I found myself exhausted and falling asleep at all the wrong times. Have you ever studied the Bible with someone and fell asleep in the middle of the sentence--your own sentence?
(Years later, someone told me that there is a very famous episode of Seinfeld where Kramer does exactly the same thing. I am not a Seinfeld fan, but I have been looking for this episode. I truly understand what Kramer was going through.)
What's next for my nocturnal hours? I must confess, I have not found a better solution. Unless! Unless, I pick those nights when I know that Judy and I will only sleep for six hours, and the video tape would begin to rewind precisely the second that our alarm clocks are set to go off...
Is This the Future?
Before you judge me a reprobate for reading Rolling Stone, let me tell you about an article I read in it a couple weeks ago. The title was "When Man and Machine Merge." It concerns an interview with a man named Ray Kurzweil. According to Rolling Stone, Kurzweil "has established himself as one of the world's most prolific and influential inventors." Some of his inventions include creating the first program that enabled computers to read text -- which led to the scanning technology has blesses our world today. Because of his work in the field of artificial intelligence, Kurzweil is a member of the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received honors from three presidents of the United States, including the National Metal of Technology.
What makes good 'ol Ray interesting to me is this. According to this article, Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, computers will surpass human beings in intelligence. Can you say 2001: a Space Odyssey? But that's not all. He also says that the universe itself will become conscious. The corker though is this. Kurzweil believes we're making such progress with medical technology that, in his lifetime, we will be able to bring the dead back to life. This will not be done through traditional resurrection. Rather, it will be done through the work of nanobots who will extract DNA from the gravesite of the dead one. The nanobot will then take this DNA and match it with memories from a loved one's brain and--voila! You will have the dead brought back to life.
Keep in mind, this is not a chapter out of Tom Swift. This is someone that some people take very seriously. (I need to be fair here. Rolling Stone is merely reporting this information. Rolling Stone is not necessarily endorsing these ideas.)
Behind all of these schemes lies the desire for eternal life. Kurzweil takes 150 pills a day, hoping to someday achieve immortality. He is also transferring his entire videotape collection to DVDs.
Nah. I made that last one up, but he really does take 150 pills a day and he does so to help him achieve immortality.
Rather than condemning Ray Kurzweil, perhaps we should thank him. What he has done is position into the public marketplace of ideas the concept that many people yearn for--eternal life. He may not have a biblical answer, but he expresses a desire that scripture readily concedes is instilled within the heart of Man.
I cannot help but be impressed by the fact Kurzweil is willing to risk ridicule in order to pursue his faith. May I do the same.
Interesting Websites
A few weeks ago, our youth minister, Tim Henderson, showed me a blog, of which I have not heard. It is called "Indexed" and it is found at http://thisisindexed.com/.
The blogster is Jessica Hagy. My understanding is she arises in the morning, brews a cup of coffee, grabs an index card, and draws whatever inspires her. Typically she communicates her ideas with a diagram and a few words of orientation.
Evidently, her unique style has captured an audience. Amazon, among others, is selling a book of her creations called, appropriately enough, Indexed.
Hmm. Maybe I can start putting diagrams on napkins . . .
August Rush
My wife, two oldest daughters, and I saw the movie "August Rush" Saturday night. If you are looking for a movie to see this weekend, go to your local Redbox or Blockbuster and rent it. While it didn't change our lives, it was an engrossing story about music, children, parents, love, and reconciliation. Several well-known actors and actresses (such as Robin Williams) form an ensemble cast, who clearly emphasize the story rather than themselves. Start watching and you won't want to stop.
Have a great weekend!
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