"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell

So if you know me, then you know that hiking and being outdoors is one of my passions in life. Hanging out with friends is also darn cool. So this weekend 3 friends of mine and I went to Lost Maples State Park to go camping. It was a ton of fun, even though we took a two mile detour (got lost) at 12:30 am, ran out of water on our long hike, and almost got heatstroke. Just hanging out and being in nature is worth all of that. Yesterday morning I woke up in time to watch the sun come up. It was incredible. You know, when the sun is close to the horizon you can actually see it moving.
Richard Foster, talking about the discipline of Celebration,  reminds his readers to think on everything that's beautiful and good and noble (Phil 4:7-8). Out in nature it's easy to do that. No, let me rephrase that. If you set your mind to it, it's easy to find things that are good and pure and noble. It's easier to think about other stuff if you don't stop and redirect. I come back from trips like these reminded of God's incredible goodness and love for his creation. Now I just have to remember to think on the good and noble things in everyday life in H-Town.
Happy Spring Break everyone!

PS if you want to see pics go to my facebook

"For every ten people who are clipping at the branches of evil, you're lucky to find one who's hacking at the roots." -Henry David Thoreau-

So we're about to find out whether anyone remembers that I still exist in Xangaland. I do, though only twice a year (apparently). So I just got back from homegroup, which was really fun. We had a discussion about multiculturalism, and how Jesus crossed ethnic and social barriers in order to reach people with his love. Paul in his writings is also extremely focused on Christianity bringing different groups together  under the headship of Christ (read all of Ephesians). Yet if you look at the Church today, it is one of the most segregated segments of our society. The church  and the homegroup I'm part of are included in this sad statement (not on purpose). We should be on the cutting edge, leading the society in bridging all kinds of barriers, and yet we lag far behind.
Would you look at this? I come back to Xanga and go strait into politics. You know, it's not politics though. It's the message of Christ - He came to save all people, to reach all people, and we as His Bride are to step hand in hand with where He leads.
Anyway, if you figure out that I'm still alive, drop a note and I'll drop you one back.

"The more intelligent and cultured a man is, the more subtly he can humbug himself." -Carl Jung

So if you've been reading my site at all these last couple of weeks you know that I went to Washington for a little vacation, and while I was there I spent a lot of time hiking and camping. The more time I spent around nature, the more something stood out to me. Nature is a powerful thing. I mean, nature is designed to work in a certain way and by certain laws. Tectonic forces move the plates around to create mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes; earthquakes cause tidal waves and mud slides; snow that accumulates during the winter melts to cause incredible flooding, washing away anything in its path; and often one thing leads to another in a huge chain reaction. This stuff happens, and its powerful and destructive. So at one point as I was standing on a ridge looking at Mt. St. Helens (and then later at some other places), it struck me very deeply: if humans get in the way of nature, nature almost always wins. I don't really know that I have a point to all this, and I'm still working on what it all means, but what's rolling around in my head has something to do with God's goodness on the one hand and massive tragedies on the other. I'll let you know if it all falls together into a coherent picture. Or I may just have to stay content with being in awe and fear of the God who created all of this.

P.S. My Calvin source disappeared! I'll have to find another before I can grace my pages with Bill Watterson's presence again.