The Word

In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God
He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through Him
and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being.

In Him was life
and the life was the Light of men.

The Light shines in the darkness
and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There came a man sent from God
whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify about the Light
so that all might believe through him.

He was not the Light
but came to testify
about the Light.

There was the true Light
which coming into the world
enlightens every man.

He was in the world
and the world was made through Him
and the world did not know Him.

He came to His own
and those who were His own
did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him
to them He gave the right
to become children of God
even those who believe in His name,

    who were born
    not of blood
    nor of the will of man
    but of God.

And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us

and we saw His glory
glory as of the only begotten from the Father
full of grace and truth.

John testified about Him and cried out, saying
This was He of whom I said
He who comes after me has a higher rank than I
for He existed before me.

For of His fulness
we have all received
and grace upon grace. 

(John 1: 1 - 16) 

O Me! O Life.

The new commercial for Apple's iPad Air features part of a Walt Whitman poem that Robin Williams quoted in the movie Dead Poets Society and ends with the refrain:  That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.  That the powerful play goes on and you will contribute a verse.  Apple and Williams then asks; And what will your verse be?

I think I found out today after Ben showed up for his driving test.  He was a huge 24 year old man sporting a full red beard, construction worker boots and large calloused hands.  After he squeezes himself into our rental car Ben looks me square in the eye and confides; "I suck at parallel parking".

"What a perfect title for when I compile my stories and publish a book about all of my road tests adventures" I think.  I SUCK AT PARALLEL PARKING could be my contribution to the recurring questions Whitman asks.

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,  Those are my average customers!

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)  I'll admit, even after doing this for 15 years I've still got a lot to work on.

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd,  If this isn't referring to parallel parking then nothing is.

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,  O Me!  O Life!  Day after day they roll through stop signs, the same stop signs, the same right turns at red lights, over and over.  Does not one mortal man understand that stop means stop!  Your car should not move, the seconds must tick like sonic booms warning of impending disaster. Be like the frozen waves off the shores of Lake Michigan in the winter of 0 14.  You stand above it all, watching, thinking, amazed that while you are suspended above the raging forces of man and nature, time has waited for you.  And you, you have contributed a verse!

Oh No! Not Global Cooling

Below is from an article by Noel Sheppard published on 7/12/12.

"A new study published in the journal Nature Sunday completely debunks all previous claims that temperatures in recent decades are in any way historic demonstrating instead that things were much hotter on this planet during Roman times:

Here, we present new evidence based on maximum latewood density data from northern Scandinavia, indicating that this cooling trend was stronger (−0.31 °C per 1,000 years, ±0.03 °C) than previously reported, and demonstrate that this signature is missing in published tree-ring proxy records. The long-term trend now revealed in maximum latewood density data is in line with coupled general circulation models indicating albedo-driven feedback mechanisms and substantial summer cooling over the past two millennia in northern boreal and Arctic latitudes. These findings, together with the missing orbital signature in published dendrochronological records, suggest that large-scale near-surface air-temperature reconstructions relying on tree-ring data may underestimate pre-instrumental temperatures including warmth during Medieval and Roman times.

Here's a nice little graph to demonstrate what's really happened in the past 2,000 years:

 

The new study indicates that . . . the current warming (is) less serious than the Romans and others since have seen - and the overall trend actually down by a noticeable 0.3°C per millennium, which the scientists believe is probably down to gradual long-term shifts in the position of the Sun and the Earth's path around it."

I remember talking in the 1970's with a good friend of mine about Lake Michigan water levels.  He lived most of his life along that lake and he explained the various cycles that affect water levels.  There are short term, intermediate term and long term cycles, each bringing with them their highs and lows.  Thinking about that is one reason I love the graph above.  It covers over 2100 years yet if you take any smaller segment of it and then try to extrapolate from that information a prediction about the future you may end up being very wrong.

'But surely climate scientist's have factored in these fluctuations into their computer models' you may say to me, and I would reply, "No, and don't call me Shirley."

Here is what I know.  Are things in general warming up around here in West Michigan from when I was a boy 60 years ago?  Maybe yes, Holland had to move her Tulip Time festival up a week to help alleviate  more "stem fests".  You can't reason with an elderly angry tourist (although most of their buses are now hitting the casino's instead).  Does that mean that the seasons are changing because of emissions of man made carbon dioxide?  Maybe no, there are a lot of other factors involved and name calling to stifle any serious debate has always been a major pet peeve of mine.

First you have to know something about scientist.  Group think is the norm not the exception.  The reason is, as I've opined before, that grant funding, the life blood of scientists, depends on agreeing with what in reality is an establishment.  They are known to eat their babies.  Gradually some group manages to upset the apple cart and new thought can arise but now our graph is firmly (though becoming transitional)  in the man made carbon dioxide is bad for us camp.

What are "other factors"?  Well, sun spot cycles for one.  There happens to be direct correlation, traceable for centuries, which show the impact of sun spot activity on the earth's temperature.  Another is volcanic activity.  An active volcano by itself can emit more CO2 than all the cars, trucks, factories and buildings in the world combined.  Man made production of carbon dioxide, depending on who you believe, is anywhere from 3 1/2 to 7% of the total.  All the emission regulations in the world will barely affect the per cent of CO2 in our climate.  It even seems that there are benefits to the presence of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.  It makes plants grow, it shields our planet from being toasted to a crisp by the sun and here increased levels may actually be a factor in the cooling, not heating of our planet.

Before I go any farther I must admit that there are obviously some bad side effects to man made emissions (my own included) and that sensible regulations are wise.  Smog in closed environments such as LA or Mexico City is a health hazard and must be addressed.  Yet the politics involved today promoting so called global warming, with solutions such as the Kyoto Treaty and regulations that will close all of our coal production is really crazy and the purpose behind it is not the health of mankind but rather social engineering.

Consider excerpts from a speech given today by our Secretary of State, John Kerry in Indonesia (perhaps the cause of this rant).  

"Climate change may be the most fearsome weapon of mass destruction."  (Well, that and a bad Hersey bar)  

"Urgent action is needed".  (before I leave office)  

"Those who deny it are flat earthers"  (with my head proudly in the sand)

"We should not allow a tiny minority of shaky scientists and sever and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts". (hey, I know some of those quacks)  

"Nor should we allow any room for those who think the costs associated with doing the right thing out weigh the benefits".  (don't you love this most open of administrations)

"The science is unequivocal".  (and I've got some investments with my buddy Al in green technology)

And my favorite; "The solution is a new global energy policy".  (carbon credits, the intention of which is income redistribution but the reality is that the rich will get richer as will the ruling elite and the poor will be even more dependent on government and the middle class will suffer the lion share of the burden, at least in our country)

Hello Kitty!

One of my tests today was ZiGi who is a Chinese woman attending one of our local colleges.  When she drives up it is 15 degrees with a nice stiff wind.  I ask to see her permit as well as the registration and proof of insurance for her vehicle and she says in a high, baby girl voice, "OK sir, thank you." 

She gets out of her car, pulls out her wallet which is pink with white hearts, and manages to extract from it after about two minutes the permit.  ZiGi, who is dressed in tights covered by a very tight skirt then proceeds to walk like a geisha and takes about 50 baby steps to get to the passenger side of her auto.  She opens the door, finds the documents in her glove box and makes the 50 step journey back to where I am standing (by the driver's door), almost but not quite closing her passenger side door as she leaves.

The vehicle inspection takes awhile because I need to repeat all my requests about three times before she responds by engaging the horn or turn signals or what ever. 

All that done I begin the parking lot portion of the test by giving ZiGi  the instructions to drive forward to the forward stop line.  A teenage boy make the journey from starting line to forward stop line in about 3 seconds.  ZiGi takes three minutes.  She ends about 5 feet from where she needs to begin the next exercise.

I do what I have done for the last 15 years by saying; "Please move forward" while holding my clipboard over the proper line, placing my other hand up while moving those fingers toward me to indicate the direction and distance needed to go forward.  ZiGi moves ahead 1 inch and stops.  I keep instructing her to move forward more, she keeps traveling 1 inch and stopping.  After awhile I notice that my arm is gesturing wildly, my fingers are wiggling three times faster and that my voice has risen a bit.  None of this seems to matter to ZiGi who only will advance 1 inch at a time.

We finally get there and begin the second exercise which is akin to backing up into a driveway.  ZiGi is very deliberate, stopping, thinking, inching but manages to finally make it fine into the space.  All the time watching I am bounding up and down, trying to keep my feet warm and keeping my back to the wind. 

After instructing ZiGi on the parallel park maneuver I decide, forget this, and actually get into my car, turn the heat to high, and think that if she is anywhere close she is going to pass this part because it is still early February with no warm up in sight.  10 minutes later she has finally finished and my feet are toasty warm so I leave my car, get into hers and even though we are running way behind on my schedule we go on our driving trip.

I tell ZiGi to turn right at the next light.  "OK sir, thank you."  I ask ZiGi to turn left at the second street.  "OK sir, thank you."  As this goes on and on I notice how interesting the interior of the car is decorated.  The steering wheel cover is pink with white hearts with a pink and white bunny head sewn on.  The rear view mirror has the same covering with a bigger bunny head hanging off to the side.  My seat belt adjustment is a pink and white bunny.  There are pink and white bunnies sitting on both sides of the dash, the shifter between the seats and the emergency brake lever both are covered with pink cloth with white hearts and little bunny  heads.  Oh, and ZiGi's cell phone cover was pink with white hearts.

You have probably guessed that ZiGi passed her test.  When I tell her she replies, "OK, thank you sir" about 5 times.  I leave her car, greet my next client who is a Hispanic 18 year old male who completes all three parking exercises in a total of about 2 minutes.  It's not getting any warmer but it's getting better.

 

When Lot's Wife

Lot loved the pace, the buzz, the lights,

the place in the shade by the ancient gate.

A valley lovely, chosen, given,

an easy walk to the corner bar.

They were heathen, boisterous, many,

not so comfortably unfamiliar.

He was grayer, with daughters betrothed,

dreaming of grandchildren on his knee.

One day like others, pleasant, hopeful,

there in the shade by the ancient gate,

came two strangers, striding, handsome,

who seemed to know him, very strange.

They gave a warning, urgent, frightening,

gather your family and leave right now.

But laughing, teasing, disrespectful,

his daughter's betrothed would not go.

Evening came quickly, deep darkness, worries,

which frightened Lot by the ancient gate.

Convinced the strangers, inside, right now,

We'll leave tomorrow after packing our things.

Then gathered a large mob, young men, old men,

The entire town seemed crazed with lust.

Send out the strangers! Do it! Quickly!

Prove old man that you're one of us.

Driven by tradition, to welcome, to protect,

Lot went outside by the ancient gate.

Please take my daughters, lovely, virgins,

his desperate bargain fell on deaf ears.

Out of the way! Unlock it! We'll smash it!

The strangers grabbed Lot and pulled him inside.

Zap! came a bright light, blindness, confusion,

Several more hours until morning would arrive.

At dawn they were leaving, the couple, the daughters,

fast to the mountains past the ancient gate.

But Lot pleaded old bones, a village, much shorter,

the strangers said hurry, don't even look back.

The sky became darkness, with fire, and brimstone,

earth was like Hell in the once verdant plain.

And a strong wind was chasing, boiling, salty,

encrusted the woman who stopped in her tracks.

Approaching the village, the father, the daughters,

standing outside by it's ancient gate.

Would this place be next?, Lot wondered, he worried,

must leave for the mountains before it's too late.

So onward they traveled, arrived there, exhausted,

and set up a tent in a place by itself.

Alarmed by the prospect, without men, no families,

the daughters conspired and got father drunk.

At this point dear children, please listen, remember,

you each have a place by an ancient gate.

Your cities are lovely, thriving, sweet customs,

But judgment is coming more sooner than late.

Will dawn find you anxious, praying, or running,

are things all that different from Sodom and Gomore?

Is your life in Jesus, reborn, different,

or are you like the woman who stopped to look back?