Assortedness...

That's the problem with posting once a week... each time, I end up with five completely different things to share, and have to stick them all in one post.

This last week:
I've discovered that "Quantum Leap" was another good thing that came out of the '80s... somehow I missed it the first time around.

We made some more good progress on my project at work! Always a good feeling.

I played with Lego again! This time, with Ben S., Bart, Josiah, Tessa, Matthew J., and even Colleen and Kristin. Check out our table o'creations:


Josiah apparently grew up with a careful and well-thought-out approach to Legos... he showed me the brilliant idea of dumping the Legos on a towel on the floor, making cleanup much easier, and allowing for more piece-finding surface area. Yay Josiah!


And, Ben C's birthday was Saturday - it was a grand gathering of graceful glad girls and boisterous boys. Lots of fun was had by all, and at least 3 people were showered. Including Mina, for the first time. He had it coming. :-) I was excited to be around for the party. Yay Claremont!

Lastly, this is a well-written article on the "New Atheism." http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,71985-0.html?tw=rss.index
I have a lot I could say about this. First, read it, it's good stuff, I promise.

I like what he has to say about "certainty." The fundamentalist christians have it... and yet their faith seems shallow, Pharisaical, and sensationalist. The "New Atheists" have it... and they come off as lovers of themselves: arrogant, boring, and falsely intellectual. Both rub the author the wrong way... and rightly so! Insincere faith and sincere error are both somehow nauseating to anyone who has given their spirituality a second glance. To both we must say, "look harder! If you believe, why? If not, why? Can you honestly be a whole person, and wholly satisfied, where you are?"
Faith is weak in those who need certainties. The Christians who read this may say, "what?" at this point. But God is not insecure. He's not in the business of giving out proof any more than he already has. And the whole idea of a Christian's walk with God is the process of becoming more confident that God IS, as we lean upon his love and the things he says, and as we get to know him and love him better... but I don't think God ever lets us be certain. He is always faithful; he'll never forsake us, and this cosmic war has a definite way it will end, but he wants people who will love him and trust him even when things look darkest.
So you will go through dark times - if you are blessed.

And if you have never questioned your faith, if you have never once thought, "do I know that?", and if you have never realized that every single day you must make the choice, saying, "there is no way I can know for sure I am right, or that things will turn out peachy, but I will lean on what I think is true of You" - then you are missing out.
The true Christian has tasted and seen that when you lean on God and Jesus, things do happen, and there is a peace there that is beyond any understanding. The Atheist makes the choice that what is true is that there is no God... and I imagine he is rarely surprised to find God absent from his life. The agnostic, though, never knows the fullness or emptiness of either. Similarly, some modern christians never really go out on a limb to take God at his word, and they wonder why their persecution takes the form of ridicule, and why Christianity has such a bad name despite figures like MLK Jr., Ma Teresa, and Bono being so widely respected.

Whew.

I've had plenty of other thoughts fluttering through my head lately - about blessings and cursings, about social justice at IV: Claremont, and about whether or not my cell phone is broken. (call, people!) :-)

Much love to you all! Love above all - it's what atheists forget about, it's what agnostics have trouble accepting, and it's what every person has been given freely by God.