生伊利安夢

Supposedly this means the following:  life – noble, king – clever, advantageous – peaceful – dream.  I guess this means I spend my life peacefully dreaming that I am a clever king.

Another site said this:

The first kanji in your name means Be, the second means Will, the third means Reason and the fourth means Safe.  I take this to me the following:  “Will is reasonably safe.”  Or maybe: “Be safe and reasonable, Will.”

The funniest of all (I could not copy their image since they wanted $10 for it!) told me this:

The kanji used to write your name mean:
Having    Ideas    Reason    Asian    Warrior       
(You are a mighty Asian warrior who has many great ideas and understands the ways of reason.)

Perhaps it would better read:  “I have the idea that I am a mighty Asian warrior who understands the ways of reason.”

Anyway, it was a fun way to kill about 20 minutes.

In a way this has been nice, since the demands of writing something or finding something interesting to post have been non-existent.  I also had a couple of bad experiences with blogging earlier this year, which made me more reluctant than ever to put my thoughts out in cyberspace.  So, in truth, I have been thinking about giving up blogging entirely.  I still don’t know that that isn’t what I will do eventually, but for now, I am back.  My posting may not be as much as it was in the past, but I will continue with the blogs for now, posting whenever I feel the need or urge to do so.

Since the most boring blog posts are always those that talk about a lack of blogging on the blogger’s part, let me give you a little quote to end this post that will hopefully redeem it somewhat.  This is from Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, who wrote:

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.

via

Blogging – Dream vs Reality
Jonco
Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:17:50 GMT

1. Over the almost four years I have blogged, my blogs have been viewed over 300,000 times.  Blogging allows me to reach a wide range of people, many of whom never attend church.  Some may come to read a personal reflection, a funny post, a movie review, or to view a photograph, but more than a few of these visitors stick around and read some of my writings on faith as well.  Blogging allows me to share my faith.

2. Besides being a committed follower of Jesus, I am a person with a wide range of interests and hobbies.  I am an amatuer photographer and potter.  I am also a voracious reader, lover of all types of music, and an avid film buff.  Blogging allows me to share my interests with others.  And very often I am able to find connections between these more cultural interestd and my own faith.  I am reminded of a phrase John Wesley used:  ”plundering the Egyptians.” As Rich Tuttle writes on his blog (and I hope he doesn’t mind my pasting most of his post here:

One of the coolest concepts in Methodism is “plundering the Egyptians.”

The day Moses set the Israelites free, an ironic twist took place. The Israelites had the audacity to ask the Egyptians for jewelry and clothing…and the Egyptians obliged (Exodus 12:35-36). The last part of verse 36 is great: “so they (the Israelites) plundered the Egyptians.”

The father of Methodism, John Wesley, used this phrase as way to express the importance of using the best of what culture has to offer to grow in knowledge and faith. Wesley made himself aware of current events, recent scholarship, scientific discovery, medical breakthroughs, new technology and pop culture by reading, listening and being available. He thought it was essential to know what was going on around him so that he could grow in knowledge of God’s truth. Scripture was always primary and essential for Wesley and that’s why he was not afraid of “contamination” by the cultural “texts” in which he engagned. Wesley gleaned everything he could from the best of the culture around him because he believed God could speak in more than one way. Wesley “plundered the Egyptians” without fear, because he did not have to question the source of ultimate and timeless truth.

As a Methodist, I will proudly carry on Wesley’s practice of “plundering the Egyptians,” not just for the sake of relevance, but because I believe God can and does speak through the cultural “texts” of today.

3.  During my time blogging I have met many wonderful people and have developed more than a few friendships that would have never been possible without this particular form of communication.  While my friends and I may disagree on various issues and even faith (and who has friends that see eye to ey with them anyway),  my blog has allowed us to dialogue with one another and develop a sense of comaraderie that I value greatly.

Now I realize that not every visitor to my blogs will appreciate everything I write or post.  But as a Christian and a blogger, I have a few guidelines for myself.

• Never break confidentiality when writing a post.  Nothiing ever told to me in confidence will ever be shared on my blogs.
• I will try and expect any commenters on my blog to try to maintain a civil and courteous level of discourse.  This is especially true when dealing with more controversial issues.  While we may not agree on everything, we can certainly be civil in our disagreements.
• While my blog reflects who I am in a larger context (after all it is about faith, culture, technology, photography and life), I always hope that my own faith in Christ is ultimately is visible in what I write.  This is not to say that every post will be religious in nature, but that when taken as a whole, it will be apparant that my blogs are written by someone with a deep commitment to my faith in Jesus.

So there you have it.  A few reasons why I blog and some guidelines for my own blogging.

To everyone who visits this blog, or one of my other blogs, I say “Welcome, and I hope you will find something of value here . . . perhaps something to deepen your own faith, or something to make you ponder an issue or concern, or maybe a little something to make you smile. “

Will

Image via Wikipedia

From Lifehacker (see link below)

ISO Quality Planning, a company specializing in helping insurance companies identify risk, has compiled a list of the most heavily ticketed vehicles on the road, and lead feet everywhere can check it out.

The group analyzed traffic data on 1.7 million drivers and established the probability of a driver of a given line of vehicles being ticketed. The Hummer and Scion tC dominated the list, receiving 463% and 460% over the average, respectively. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Jaguar XJ sedan and the Chevrolet Suburban attracted a mere 11% and 16% of expected tickets. Given that both the Hummer and the Jaguar are high-cost vehicles, it flips the idea that a huge price tag automatically means more police attention.

Gee . . . 460%.  Behind only the Hummers.  Well, at least for me, I have not received a ticket in my Scion (knock on wood) during the one year I have owned it.

Links:

Which Cars Draw the Most Tickets? [MSN Money]

Most Ticketed Cars on the Road [Cars]
Jason Fitzpatrick
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

With a brutal economic slowdown, 2008 may feel as if it will never end. Now the world’s timekeepers are making it even longer by adding a leap second to the last day of the year.

Along with the economy, the Earth itself is slowing down, requiring timekeepers to add an extra second to their atomic clocks to keep in sync with Earth’s slightly slowing rotation. So an extra second will be tacked on to Dec. 31 after 6:59:59 p.m. and before 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

That extra second will make 2008—already long with an extra day on Feb. 29—the longest year since 1992.

The decision to add an extra second was made by an international consortium of timekeepers, whose American arm announced it Monday. World commerce and digital technology depend on accurate to-the-second timekeeping, said Geoff Chester, spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, responsible for one-third of the world’s atomic clocks.

The longest year since 1992.  I knew it!

Communications Evolution posted by John on Saturday, 12 July 2008