Having a purpose

I recently had a discussion with a friend on the things we do as a group or community. Particularly in church. It seems to me that much of what we do or don't do goes in examined and without purpose. Traditions then only become hollow and meaningless. The philosophies that they are founded upon get lost over generations, and the new generations struggle to understand them. What do we matters. We need to consider the why, if none other than to strengthen and affirm our faith and worship. God does and has done everything with perfect purpose. We should do well to follow that example. 

I love it when...

...I get to witness a sunset after a thunderstorm. 

Happy Easter!

One More Day

This past Lent season has been an interesting and yet, confusing one. I have chosen to loosely give up several preoccupying activities that have dominated my free time. In their place, I have taken up commitments to reading a couple of books that I have been desiring to read for probably more than two years now. We are now approaching the end of the Lent season, and here I stand at a crossroads: what happens after today? The books are now read. I feel that I have gained greatly in the strengthening of my faith than ever before. In fact, I am so thankful for what God has shown me through these readings, that I would have not otherwise taken the time to do without dedicating it. 

It is interesting in how by choosing to "lose" something, I have actually grown. One would think that "adding more" is the only way to actually "grow bigger". In this Lenten season, it is clear that God has shown me that giving up things can actually help you to gain bigger and better things. Additionally, there is no value on earth that can be compared to an increase in faith. Adding to faith is priceless. In reflection, God has shown me blessings in my desire to dedicate time to Him over my diversions.

Here is where the hard part comes in: There is one more day of Lent, as I write this. Tomorrow, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, we have the traditional "freedom" to let ourselves out of our lenten commitments. I don't know how to think on this. I have seen the real benefit of casting off these diversions, yet at the same time, I have also learned that there is a small benefit to occasionally participating in such things. More for mental/emotional escape. (Btw, these diversions are the participation in social media and video games and regular television watching).

Part of me longs for both escape and the desire to continue to grow in faith. I don't want to give up either. I long to continue my readings and focus, but at the same time, I also long to be able to allow the occasional drift into imagination and escape the everyday stresses. I have not been at all legalistic in my fasting, but I do know that the flesh is weak. Perhaps this is where the growth in faith that God has shown me over this season fits in?  We shall see. To God be the glory either way! 

Sometimes you have to look a little harder than the last time.

Taken during a frigid April morning during our landscape photography class. 8 years of teaching here has taught me that there's always a new/better image to take if you look hard enough.

Opening day

Harrisburg Senators -opening day: April 10, 2014

The path of least agression

I have found that as I become older, that dealing with conflicts is easiest done from the perspective of passive honesty and humbleness. I don't remember any arguments in my life that have ever been won by yelling, disputes that have been settled with aggressive spite, or that repaying hurt with more hurt has ever left a situation better than before. 

Being real, responsive, open-minded and caring in the midst of conflict is an ability not easily done. Our hearts want the opposite. We want vengeance and personal justice. Only Jesus can help us be different in these situations. Just one more reason why we should continually ask for his help when faced with conflicts. 

Nintendo-Linux-What?

Not too long ago, I decided to do some research to find a way to backup our Nintendo wii games on an external drive. The process of researching and ultimately succeeding with this project seemed to unlock some type of buried curiosity to tinker with computers more. 

The next thing I know, I find myself finally resting from a 3-week endeavor of learning to run much needed windows software on my Mac at school, downloading and burning at least 13 different linux distributions to try on old school computers, with final success at revitalizing these machines to function way more usefully for our teachers and students. 

The process has been very fun with a productive outcome for everyone. It's funny how a random desire to preserve an aging video game collection turns into a full-scale revitalization project. 

Beginning again

It's been over a year since I've posted on this blog. Each time I re-discover it, I realize how much I've enjoyed blogging over posting things on social media. I get to write more of my thoughts and discoveries, and I feel like my photos show better here. Therefore, I'm going to make more attempts to get information on this site. The content might be random, useful to some, but not to others, but at least it's here. I will have had this blog for ten years in October. It's had long breaks, posts on a wide range of subjects from sports, to technology, to photography, to personal life events. Either way, the time seems right to begin again. And begin we shall...