A Discussion Re-Articulated.

Okay, now we're all tired sick of the "Using your Talents" discussion. However, in a moment of clear-headedness this morning, I suddenly realized what I didn't like about the typical perspective I get in Reformed circles:

Typical Reformed assertion: God gave us talents and the mandate to use them.

That's correct, right?

Okay. Let's talk about the word USE. Does this mean
To Pursue, or does it mean To Implement?

Here I beg to make a distinction.

Pursuance and Implementation are two very different things. For instance:

~I implement my love and expertise of advanced algebra by teaching my 10-yr-old sister math tricks to help her through long division.

~I pursue my expertise in algebra by....(list the ways)

See the difference? Implementation involves using something I ALREADY have and spreading it around. Multiplying a gift. Pursuance has an END in mind: algebra is the END, or a very closely linked relative of an END.

Defining Multiply: NOT ADDITION. Not stuffing yourself to capacity with understanding, but rather, bringing about exponential growth: you enjoy something, so you pass it on to those around you (in one way or another), and everyone enjoys God more because of it.

Talents are given, not gotten. What one WILL get or WANTS to get is not talent. What one HAS at the moment is talent. Therefore, the obligation is not to get MORE talent, but to USE what we already HAVE.

So, I therefore have no obligation to pursue music, or science, or Latin, or whatever (fill in the blank) to a path of worldly excellence. I have an obligation to do what I can in a way that glorifies God (loves one another and worships the Creator). So, mediocrity isn't Un-Christian. Laziness is Un-Christian. A Christian is not given the mandate to be GREAT, but rather to be USEFUL, HELPFUL, and ENCOURAGING.

Does God want second-hand glory? If I get it first, is it really His?

That's a slanderous question because it's not worded right and I'm not sure of the answer.

However, it is now time for me to get off the computer. See ya later.

Group quiz time: which shipper couple are YOU?

First, all four of us quizzed ourselves for who we WERE. Then we quizzed for our opposites.
Quizzers: Marigold, Samwise, Pervinca, and Annie.

Here are the results, for your entertainment:

Annie's real results:



Annie's opposite results:

Which shipper couple are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Pervinca's real results:


Pervinca's opposite:


Which shipper couple are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Sam's real results:


Sam's opposite results:


Which shipper couple are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Marigold's real results:


Marigold's opposite results:


Which shipper couple are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Guilty as charged...

!I tampered with my template!

Everyone who uses Minima Black has a blog that looks identical to...everyone else who uses Minima Black...

So I just...brightened the colors?

In bad taste? Of course.

Different? Yes, that was the whole idea.

Okay, so the colors look nasty right now... I'll fix them up over time.

P.S: To make this post semi-worthwhile... let me include a link for an HTML color chart...

The worst kind of post...

is when you write something out of obligation to your blog, when you really have nothing to say.

Okay. I just thought of something to say. Mama and I discussed this on the way home from hair appointments and a violin lesson:

I thought for the longest time that I should go to nursing school. Why? Well, because though the thought of needles and body fluids and fevers absolutely sickens me, I thought, "Well, hey. I'll get used to it."

Mama disillusioned me on that one. She basically said:

Some things you never just "get used to." Some things remain just as gross after the billionth encounter, as they were when you had your first exposure.

And I began to see the wisdom of that. Especially after swimming last night.

It hit me. No matter how many times I go off the diving board, I hate it as much every single time. Every time, I stand on that shaky plank, wondering why on earth I walked out there, and how much effort it would take to just turn around and walk back... Then I take a very deep breath, shut my eyes, and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Yes, I've been jumping off the board for well over six years, and it still remains the terror that it was six years ago. Can that be explained? Not really.

Some things about a person never really change...

As I Walked Out...

one torrid day;

it being humid, to my dismay...

Sunday afternoon, Miss Mary and my siblings, Fric and Frac, came home from church. Miss Mary did not really warm up to being in our house. So I offered to take her for a ride in the red wagon with Fric and Frac. This offer produced its desired effect.

Though the walk itself was short, several things lengthened it considerably.

The dogs. We have too many dogs on our street.

There's this little black poodle named Biscuit.

And a Beagle named Oreo. (correct me on this one, Vinca... it doesn't seem right.)

and a HUGE fluff ball with patchy fur and a blue eye, named Prince.

We made it all the way down the hill and around the cul-de-sac, when I prepared the little ones for a surprise. See, our neighbors at the end of this road have an old "Hank" kind of dog, a black lab with hanging jowls, floppy ears and paws, and ridiculously long legs. He says "WOOF" when we walk by, but never ventures more than two feet from his house...

Unless his little friend, "RAT" (we'll call him, because that's his size) joins him. And then RAT comes out yipping and yapping and snarling and hopping all over the place, and HANK follows him... HANK is easily mollified when you hold out your hand. He sniffs it with a bored air, turns around and walks home again. RAT keeps yapping and snapping at your heels, and you'd best turn tail and run.

Well, anyway, I didn't want to subject three children under the age of six to the wiles of a vicious yappy dog, so I warned them. Thankfully RAT wasn't out that day, so HANK just sat up by the house, watching us. Not even a polite WOOF.

But my warnings were not in vain. Prince and Oreo, the beagle and the beautiful "fleabag" mutt (no he doesn't have fleas), came bounding up from the house adjacent. Oreo kept whining and yipping excitedly, just SO HAPPY to see us, jumping everywhere and absorbing all the love she could. Prince LOVED Miss Mary, and thankfully Miss Mary loved him, too. He licked her face and nuzzled her chin, and she just grinned and scratched his ears.

My sister, FRIC, was not so thrilled. She stares dogs in the eyes (ALWAYS a bad idea), so that even the best natured dogs have to come up and sniff her to make sure she's okay. Unfortunately, Prince was right on her eye level. As he tried to approach her I could see her eyes fix his, her whole body tense and then turn around and RUN.

Well, Prince walked us home, and then Mr. H (kind neighbor) walked HIM home again! On the way back we met Biscuit the Poodle, attired in a snug, cut-off soccer t-shirt. Now whose idea was THAT?

a wee quiz, and a purchase from amazon.com

A quiz linked from Elaienar's blog:


You are the Chickadee bird. A chickadee bird is a
part of the perching bird family. You are a
lively person and you love to sing. Everybody
loves your singing as it is calming and peaceful
^_^


What Type Of Bird Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**recalls this morning's crabby behavior**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight Mama got on Amazon and ordered me a copy of the Latin Vulgate. I am SO EXCITED!

It cost me a pretty penny. >:-/

But it's olive green leather bound with gold lettering, it looks just like a regular Bible, and it's the actual thing as translated by St. Jerome. The topic of Biblical language and translation holds great fascination for me... I'm really excited to read and understand a great historic text of the Bible (something I read every day), even if it ISN'T the Torah or the Koine Greek. :)

music listening standards

I lay before you two fallacious but commonly articulated standards that conservative Christians throw up in my face every now and again:

1. Orderliness=godliness. This music doesn't sound orderly to me, ergo it's ungodly.

Please wait for me to explain myself before you pass judgement. Please.
And I continue.

2. Godly music is a pleasing aesthetic experience. Music must be beautiful, and this music isn't, ergo this music is not Christian.

Now, let me explain.

1. Orderliness. The neatest row of dots on a sheet of manuscript can sound awful when articulated. Is it orderly? Of course. Can you tell? No.

For sure, all classical composers lay out their notes very carefully, with chord progressions, instrumentation, dynamics, etc. Just because it sounds random or discordant to your ear does not necessarily imply a lack of thought on the part of the composer. It just means that YOU DON'T GET IT.

Of course, if no one "gets it," then the composer has failed his job, and therefore it behooves him to put more into his music than mere order.

A better replacement for the "This piece was disorderly" would be "That composer just doesn't communicate anything to his audience." The best composers are those who can be mathematically and scientifically profound in their music, while simultaneously communicating something meaningful to the audience. An emotional melodrama without any mathematical depth lacks musical quality just as a mathematically correct piece of music with no emotion and beauty. The knife cuts both ways....

2. Which brings me to my second point. What is pleasing to one ear, is not naturally pleasing to another. The truth is, if anyone listens to rock music long enough, he will grow to like it. That's just the way our mind works. Repeated exposures lead to acceptance and NEED of a repeated experience.

Therefore, one can't just rely on what pleases the ear. Some of the most filthy things in the world are brought into the mind's "back door" through aesthetically pleasing music. Also, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's good. Cheesy music has appeal in all genres.

Beyond that, aesthetics are based on a fixed inner standard in the mind: one particular sound that all sounds in the world must match. One box into which all music must fit. That attitude does not reflect the image of God!

The more one studies God's creation, the more wierd, disgusting, interesting, and unusual organisms he will discover. God did not create everything to be grand and mature and important, but EVERYTHING He made was GOOD!! Everything showed unmistakeable workmanship. God went to the limit when He made the world, with endless combinations of chemicals and proteins and cells, and so forth.

Everything is now tainted with sin.
But music reflects the God-image in man. It is a creation, of sorts. Not everything in it has to be equally large and significant and profound, but it all should show signs of workmanship. Not everything has to fit in our "box," or look like we want it to look. Every musician has a different and valuable perspective, and variety lends the science of music its depth of perception.

So. Don't call something sinful or unrighteous just because it's not within your scope of imagination. Look for craftsmanship, don't look for pleasure or understanding in the initial experience.

Another aside: God has given us no absolute standard for music, except that we are to think of things that are "lovely, good, praiseworthy..." When we judge what pleases God, and what He wants, we must ONLY use His standards. But if we equate our own "law unto ourselves" with the revealed will of God, we commit sin. Our own aesthetic preferences are the "law unto ourselves." But the thoughts contained within music should always line up with His will for our minds, as clearly laid out for us in Scripture.

on being an Extrovert.

Your Extroversion Profile:

Activity Level: Very High

Assertiveness: Very High

Cheerfulness: High

Excitement Seeking: High

Friendliness: High

Sociability: Medium

How Extroverted Are You?

Speaking as an extrovert who is actually an introvert...

Sometimes, it's just great to be by yourself in your room with schoolwork.

<_<>_>

Seriously. Today school ended. I'm going through withdrawal. ARGH!!! I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING I HAVE TO DO!!! ARGH!!!

Oh well. At least there's summer school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~