Disqus - Latest Comments for RickD335

Re: Pain: The Secret to Creativity?

RickD335 — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 12:49:47 -0000

Hi Micah,

Good stuff here. My thoughts, based on my life's experience? I learn precious little from pleasure; as an addict in recovery, I can find new pleasures easily enough. The trick is to not let them become new slave masters. Painful experiences, on the other hand, always carry good lessons for me. The question is, will I perceive the right lesson and the right answer - the ones that will spur new growth - or will I use the experience to shut down and retreat a tad more from the world? A mixed track record so far, I'd have to say if I'm honest with myself.

Thanks for finding your way to my place and pointing me to yours! I'll be back!

Re: Giving Thanks

RickD335 — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:40:05 -0000

I love what Dan E. said - if I called myself a hopeful pessimist that would be oxymoronic, but I am nevertheless grateful for the fact that I've experienced everything I have to this point in life. It means I have a pretty good well of experience to draw from when someone else needs the help.

Good stuff, as always :)

Re: 4 Ways To Unlearn What You’ve Learned

RickD335 — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:31:01 -0000

Excellent post. The phrase you want is "Semper Gumby" - Always flexible. :)

Re: Internet Monkness

RickD335 — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:27:02 -0000

I'll get around to the picture later; you *do* know there is a blog called "The Internet Monk", right?

Re: Wisdom of a Fool: Hard Lessons About Grace

RickD335 — Thu, 30 May 2013 17:30:19 -0000

Hi TC,

Found my way over from Floyd's blog... Interesting stuff. I have family members who are not believers, and who refuse to believe in the face of evidence (my life, for a start, but they have had other pointed examples). They do not help me grow in my faith, but neither do they test it - I cannot force someone to accept what I know to be compelling evidence (and I do not try).

For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, none is possible. I had to accept that as a truism when I entered into recovery and from there into relationship. He still loves me, despite my past *and my present* (He who thinks he does not sin, recall).

One thing I've learned - where I can be of service, I go there, and I leave the debating society to their ways. Some things I can unpack for people, while others - especially folks who get hung up on the OT - can come up with near endless arguments against how God can be either good or just. Those that I run into that I hold out hope for, I steer to C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" and let God work on them as He will.

Re: What now for Occupy Wall Street? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

RickD335 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:52:50 -0000

To be a true conservative, one must prune, graft, and adjust in order to save something of value. Let's review, shall we? Those with the wealth who could create jobs in this country in fact send those jobs overseas where there are no pesky child labor laws, far fewer environmental regulations, no unions to ask for better and safer working conditions for the workers creating the goods that we Americans are now merely consumers of. That it is done indirectly in many cases changes nothing about the end result. That helps throw a great number of us under the economic bus, David - how is that saving us? The bailout of Wall Street - tell me, how is that helping us? Oh, and before you blame that one on Obama, the problems began a long time back - say, Ronald Reagan's deregulation frenzy. People matter more than money, but since Wall Street decrees otherwise (and the shareholders approve), it is going to get a lot uglier.

Re: Should Your To Do List Wear a Halo?

RickD335 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:10:22 -0000

Ah, the old challenge of human "being" versus human "doing"...since both are required courses, it is easy to get confused over which is the more important (the true answer is both/and, not either/or). What we do for a living and who we are as God's children are interrelated - all the ground on which we walk is holy ground, every life we touch, even in cyberspace, is of value - and teasing out which is most important is less important than what we do with the lives we touch. My checkbook won't follow me to heaven - as Don Henley said, we don't see hearses with luggage racks - only what I've done for God's kingdom will count, and that will precede my arrival. I'm right there with Tanya - I need to pay bills and eat, but so long as it is not a dishonorable/illegal/immoral thing I do for a living, it is less important. Were I a politician... nope, won't go there beyond the chuckle factor :)

Re: Failed compromise no surprise

RickD335 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:03:25 -0000

Jim Morrison once said "People are strange" and as a nation we are very strange indeed. As individuals, our task is to be imitators of Christ - not impostors of, but rather like children copying what their Father is doing. The surrounding world always offer temptation - even if you are isolated, you have memories that can be seductive.

Re: Back Again…

RickD335 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:57:50 -0000

Thanks Dave!

Re: Slippery Slopes

RickD335 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:13:55 -0000

Hi David,

How well I know this is a difficult one. In the case of Hitler, most would agree that the world would have been better off had the private who'd had then Corporal Hitler in his sights at the end of WWI simply pulled the trigger - but he didn't because he felt moved to mercy because of the man's obvious wounded status. Had he had been given a vision of what was to come, would that have influenced his decision?

In the case of Tiller - the man was not your stereotypical abortion provider, based on all I've read. He performed abortions as a last resort option for women who had wanted pregnancies but, for multiple reasons, either the mother or the child would have died as a result of trying to carry to term. Does what he did for a living make him a murderer on the scale of Hitler? I think not - but I'm not God, and will not judge in favor or opposed to the man.

Trying to appeal to the world as if the world shared Christian beliefs and values - when we believers are divided on so many issues - is bound to be met with charges of intolerance, as the murder of Dr. Tiller points up. Can his murderer truly claim divine sanction?

Re: mock trial: carrie prejean v. the world

RickD335 — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:11:32 -0000

Hi Dan!

I don't know how many of us could enter the debate without setting ourselves up for criticism on how well we spoke, but that is beside the point. Carrie is only one in a long list of people (self included) who have misused the language.

On the change in the meaning of words - specifically the word "gay" - I think it far less important to lay blame than to recognize the fact that the word can hardly be used in its traditional sense of being lighthearted and happy due to the cultural hijacking that happened. The "new" connotation of the word is meant to imply the original definitions apply to the homosexual lifestyle - I don't buy that for one nanosecond.

Thanks for posting, BD! :)

Re: Trust God - Part II

RickD335 — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:46:58 -0000

Thanks, Monica - all my freedom today stems from the crack in the prison that God effected through the stucco covering of all my other sins that substance abuse was.

Re: Church or Club?

RickD335 — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:32:30 -0000

Hi Robin - welcome!

I agree that worshiping God and serving God are part of our call - my frustration with the church (not simply confined to the one I attend, but I don't want to apply this to the universal church) is that far too often, it comes off more as a social club or a franchise on one hand and less about what we are called to do, which is to make disciples.

Shoot me a link to your blog, and we'll get linked!

Re: mock trial: carrie prejean v. the world

RickD335 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:39:05 -0000

Yep - we're the intolerant ones because we don't condone, support, or promote homosexuality. Also, just a quick observation - we've let a minority subculture hijack a word that once meant happy and lighthearted and now substitute the word "gay" for the more properly descriptive of homosexual. Can't sing "don we now our gay apparel" without wincing

Carrie may not have been the most articulate spokesperson, but she was honest, and respectful, and spoke about her beliefs - not what she thinks others should believe. Hilton and Rancic add nothing to the discussion save their opinions - we can't ignore their statements in hopes they'll go away (tempting though it is). We can, however, borrow Carrie's approach in response - low-key, truthful, and respectful.

Re: In Loco Parentis?

RickD335 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:36:08 -0000

Mama,

I agree that it is impossible to unring a bell - but by the same token, perhaps this kind of case should be ringing a bell for all to hear. Not just parents like yourself (and Christians do not have a monopoly on best practices in this arena, so don't let yourself feel alone - indeed, be welcome here!) who do not give in to the demands made by the culture, but all of us should be listening and thinking about how to deal with these issues. When law enforcement gets involved, such laws as we currently have would treat these kids as sex offenders when they are guilty of having high levels of hormones and exceptionally poor judgment.

We lack the ability to legislate common sense and enforce wisdom, but we can - assuming we have our own supply - teach both and do our best to live it in front of others. Sounds like Larry's doing alright without the technotoys.

Re: Trust God

RickD335 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:04:12 -0000

That is a gifted understatement, Dan :)

Re: Trust God - Part III

RickD335 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:23:10 -0000

Thanks, Angel - but if you liked these, wait for the follow-ups. I agree with you on other family members - then I remember we put the fun in dysfunctional :)

Re: Three Tenets

RickD335 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:20:43 -0000

Hehehe... I know the feeling, but I try to remind myself that they are tattooed into my mind so I can save the skin for other things :D

Re: In Loco Parentis?

RickD335 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:57:18 -0000

I can hear the howling even now :)

Re: Trust God

RickD335 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:41:50 -0000

I have been blessed, Jennifer (and thanks!); now I'm just trying to do what I believe I'm supposed to be doing. Part II will be online tomorrow - I don't know if it will be a three parter or not yet...

Re: Pimp This Bum

RickD335 — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:25:29 -0000

Tweety -

As much as I'd like to be there - and that is greatly - my day job has me out of bed by 3 AM most mornings, so 11:30 would be a little too late for me to stay up. I like the way that folks are following not the story, but the people affected. I would love to see this effort spread big-time at a grassroots level.

Re: Pimp This Bum

RickD335 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:59:32 -0000

Hi Dave!

I give them an "A" for putting a face at a time in front of people instead of the blanket approach of other, nationally-known names. "The homeless" is an amorphous cloud with no story - Tim and John and the other who follow through with the gift this ministry is offering are known to people and become the best spokesmen. It is kind of like the "Save the Children" outfits that put a specific child's face and story onscreen in their pitch for funds, except the funds in those cases go to the organization to better serve large groups. The funds in these cases go to the individuals directly - along with the rest of the ministry package.

In my own homeless days, shelters were where you went when it was impossible to stay warm outside or find an alternative place to stay (modern day couch surfing hadn't picked up that name), and in the early 70's there were not anywhere near the number of resources available for food or other needs because the problem hadn't truly been recognized as such then.

Re: Church or Club?

RickD335 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:21:15 -0000

Given our human nature, Jennifer, I'm not sure it is going to be an easy thing to do but it is incumbent on us to make the effort - if we only love those who love us, we've received our reward, right? If we do not make the effort to encourage others by our own example to jump off the nice safe platform that the church is depicted as and into the sea to help save others - no matter how scary or messy it can be - then we've broken faith with what we're called to be. All any one of us can do is all we can do - and if we do not live it out in front of others, we're not following simple instructions.

Re: Two Models

RickD335 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:44:28 -0000

I know what you mean, Dave - I can only speak from my own experiences, and that for me included far too many of the "If you want to believe in Jesus, fine - but get a haircut and some good clothes before you sit in our church" attitudes. I do believe in come as you are - but I also believe that as you are now must change into who God has called you to be, and that means change of an organic, or natural, order - one that comes from within, rather than change imposed from without.

Some folks who darken the door of the local congregation may only be there as canaries in the coal mine, but unlike the birds brought below in cages, these folks can (and sometimes do) leave when the warnings they give of rising toxicity are ignored.

Re: Two Models

RickD335 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:35:46 -0000

It is our responsibility to live our lives in such a way that what others see in us attracts them to Christ; after that, if we continue to listen to the Spirit and continue to change those areas that God reveals to us - and are seen doing so by those we've brought into the family - it makes it easy for the other fish to be dressed (or re-dressed) :)