This blog is sparked in part by [url=http://www.pseudobook.com/mik...]Mike's blog[/url] . Here's what I think about the whole "thou shall not judge, lest ye shall be judged" thing.

First one needs to define what he means by the word "judge." I think in this instance it is especially important to consider intent. Mike and Joel's intent was certainly not to be mean, condemn, or negatively judge, any person or group of people. I can vouch for their integrity and compassion towards others. Judgment and compassion may sometimes be elicited in the same ways; however, to distinguish between the two, one needs to look at intent. What would Mike and Joel gain by judging anyone? Nothing. What would Mike and Joel gain by wishing that others would experience the gift they have experienced?

1. A compassionate heart
2. Treasures in heaven
3. Misunderstanding from the world- the world is, overall, a discompassionate place

The catalyist for their comments seems to be a deep compassion for humanity. I read their posts as laments for people they know and care about. They (as do I) feel as though they have experienced something much greater than this world has to offer. As Mike said, these gifts/pleasures/satisfact ions are hard to explain to the non-Christian. The non-Christian does not have anything by which to compare.

J. Derrida explains this phenomina (in a secular sense) as a binary opposition. Until one knows the "other," one cannot know what s/he is experiencing. Full knowledge is not attained until one experiences both sides of a binary. In this case, worldly pleasures are opposed to heavenly pleasures. This is why Christians claim to have a truth, but it is so hard for a non-Christian to understand. Before becoming a Christian, all one knows is this world. Her knowledge is incomplete, as it has nothing to compare or contrast with. When one becomes a Christian, he has a new and very different knowledge. This knowledge is opposite of worldly knowledge-- both knowledges define each other, thus truth is attained. Make sense?

C.S. Lewis made a similar point, "God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. [As a Christian,] you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all... anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened."

-boo

Wow... I just realized that it has been a long while since I posted on this thing. It's not that life has been uninteresting... it's been too interesting for words.

So most recently in my life:

My sister came to visit with me for 4 days. Praise God for the sibling bond! We get along so perfectly well, I just really wish that she could live here all the time. Tara was a bit of an experiment for me this weekend. I took her to everything with me (except for maybe the bathroom). Tara is the only person ever who has experienced "a day in the life of boo."

I learned so much this weekend from her reflections on my life (me me me... i know... i will get on to other things later in the post)...

1. She noticed that I was too busy for my own good- that I couldn't devote myself to certain pursuits like I would like to, and that I do much out of duty.

-I am thinking about streamlining my life next school year... I don't know what to cut out, but something has to go... details to come (after God lets me know)

2. She noticed that college is a cool time to learn many different things.

-Got me thinking about how reflective and open one should try to be in college, while still refining already arrived at truths.

3. She noticed how many people waste their education.

-I knew this before, but it was interesting to see the lament on her face when she knew more about a story in my lit class than some of the people in the class (and she hadn't even read it-- she is just so brilliant that she can interact with ideas without knowing their full context--go tara!)

4. She noticed how good people can sometimes be mean.

-A couple of circumstances appalled my sister this weekend. She is innocent in her perceptions of people and is all too trusting, like I often am. It all comes down to the fact that humans are imperfect and in constant need of grace. Unfortunately some recieve the blunt of others' sin... that's where the grace comes in.

5. She noticed how non-Christians can be as nice, if not nicer than Christians.

-It is funny--growing up in a small town full of nice Christian people, one tends to learn that agnostics/athesists are the "bad people." However, we never learn "bad in this sense_______" Graciousness oozes from a couple ppl I know that are not Christians, and it is just humbling to think that they do that without Christ-- shouldn't we be able to do it so much better with the love of Christ pooring out of our hearts? Ouch-- my compassion doesn't even amount to these non-Christians... should I be shamed... yeah I think so.
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Anyway--- so that was what my sister taught me this weekend.

Couple other reflections-- Have you ever had the feeling of joy in your heart, but are so afraid to share it because everyone around you is sooo stressed and soooo down? This is probably wrong, but sometimes I feel guilty for being happy when so many around me are sad. What is it about sadness that is appealing? What is it about being snobby to people that is attractive? Snobbiness is another annoyence I am learning to deal with that I haven't really dealt with since H.S.--- geez-- I thought I wouldn't have to deal with snobbiness anymore.

I am soo disheartened by ppl who sit around and feel sorry for themselves, and then get all bitter when something good happens to their friends. Sometimes God just hurls it all at us to see if we can deal... Sometimes we don't get what we want... a signal should go off in our heads that is like: CRAP, I DIDN'T GET WHAT I WANTED---WELL APPARENTLY GOD HAS SOMETHING BETTER FOR ME, I WILL WAIT FOR HIS TIMING... can I just say DUH! Duh we're dumb and do not know what we need. Let's just sit around and wait- be open vessels, ready for our filling... vessels can't do anything for themselves... they cannot worry, they cannot stress, they cannot get bitter because they are not full, they cannot MOVE! Now if God decides to fill up our vessels so fast that our vessel overflows and tips over like a Jenga tower-- WELL THAT MEANS GOD IS READY!!!

Don't worry, he will fill us in His own time... why even worry about time... down with watches.... God's time is perfect... ours is as flawed as a funky chicken.

Wow... that was a rant and a half... I'm sorry but I'm sick of the tiredness, sadness, and stressed-outness, seaping from my friends' bodies--- Get Rid of Your Stench--- you shouldn't stink with God's D.O. for your B.O.

There may be a time and a place for everything, but when sadness is all we feel, we aren't leaving much time for anything else.
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Okay on a lighter note:

I dropped my iPod already. I don't like the metal casing because it dents and scratches... So there is a dent in my new iPod... almost un-noticable... but I feel as though I hurt it and it is mad at me or something... I've only had her for a week or so... poor iPod:(

Tess and I watched a really cool and twisted movie tonight called "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." The lead actress is the girl that played Ameille. I won't say much more because the movie is all about the suspense.

The lock-in was awesome... I kicked some Zombie butt (but it was pretty easy in the Church-- I probably wouldn't do so well outside). Dodgeball was probably my favorite game though. We started out with the strobe light, but that just left us scrambling for the balls that were there a milisecond ago, and then were 5 feet away a milisecond later... and yeah... it was hard and gave us headaches. I got pelted a few times with a ball that I could not dodge. Being overprotective of parts of me, I used my arms as a shield... wasn't the smartest thing cuz now I have a couple good bruises on my arms... I just need to learn to dodge better:)

Antigone was superb.

And I think that's all for now (cuz I have to get up early and sing tomorrow for church-- woo hoo)

-boo

hmm... all the more reason we should stay away from sin. msn news will catch us, and then ppl will say- "look at those Christians! fighting over "The Passion""

one just has to shake her head and wonder:

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=152918" title="http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=152918" target="_blank"http://entertainment.msn.com/...

Life is sooo good right now!

-I just got my iPod
-I have a cool friend that let me download the software on her computer cuz iPods cannot work with Windows Me even though the box says it can
-It's sooo pretty
-I am reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, and it's really impacting me spiritually, which is refreshing from an in class reading!
-I got a scholarship!
-I had a good dinner
-class is good
-IMPACT ended early!
-I have no hmk tonight except for finishing UTC
-Dr. B asked me to do a cool art project
-today was officially "wear my favorite color day"
(BTW- my iPod luvs holidays. It was concieved on Valentine's Day, and birthed on St. Patty's Day. Very suitable for a green iPod!)
-God is way good!!!!

Later peeps!!!

woo hoo!! I just got the confirmation email... I am sooo excited :D

Work work work... that's all I've done. Well, not entirely, but it sure does seem like it. I have been writing my NCUR paper almost all break. I researched it Mon. and Tues. and have been writing it since. It's at 11 pages right now and I haven't even wrote the last section yet. Uh oh... I think it's supposed to be around 8 pages, at the most...

Anyway... besides that, I have been visiting grandmas and doing my other family duties. Last night my sister was inducted into the National Honors Society... woo hoo Tara!!! and so I went to the ceremony.

Today is going to be a somewhat sad day in our house. We are putting my dog, Brandon, to sleep. I got him on my last day of kindergarden, so he's pretty old. He's a poodle... yeah I know... they are silly looking dogs. But we don't get him cut all wierd like some ppl do and poodles are about the most intelligent dogs one can get. We have to put him to sleep because he is blind, deaf, and has a skin and eye infection. He is constantly running into things, and my parents don't think it's very kind to him to keep him alive.

It's soooo sad, but it's soo much sadder to see him sick, so I guess it's okay. I am going today with my Dad to the vet. He is going to go in with him... My sister is trying to talk my parents into a new puppy.... I dunno

why not...
take a crazy chance,
why not do a crazy dance,
if you lose a moment,
you may lose a lot,
so why not?...

you'll never get to heaven...
if you don't believe in the way


Man... that Hilary Duff knows what she's talking about:) Bobbie Jo persuaded me to like this song that I normally would have changed the channel after the first 2 measures. It's too catchy for words;)

Sooo spring break is going well and I am ready to get cracking on some work tomorrow. I've had the weekend off to go shopping (ahhh... I am sorry if that is stereotypical annoying girlness, but it is refreshing to see spring catalogs come to life at the mall:)), read, chill out with my fam, etc.

I will spend the week between grandparents, parents, and the library. The library will get most of my time.

Tomorrow I plan on having a silly string war with my best 3 yr old friend, Alex. After that, I am going to play some play-doh and paint, then off to the library when he takes his nap.

So yeah... boring for you to read about... fun for me;)

Later, boo

Wow... is my life going well right now. I just had a superb weekend in Cincy. In case you don't know, IMPACT went to an Ethics Conference. We were able to rub shoulders with really famous ppl that we didn't know were famous. We did know this one dude that wrote an article about liscensing parents. I very wierd idea, eh?

Besides the conference, we hung out in the hotel. It's the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in. It has a mall connected to it!!! I won't tell you what Tess, Bobbie Jo, and I did at a certain "unmentionables" retalier, but it was a whole lota fun: ) Tess and I know now what to get BJ for her wedding;)

We also saw some great theatre. Read Tess' blog for the details about the plays. I will tell you some other details, like during 'Mass Appeal' we had to listen to some old dude's hearing aid squealing throughout the first act. It was a bit annoying but one got used to it after awhile. The play was held in the community "Jazzersize" room, so the quality of the venue wasn't so good. However, the play was preformed pretty well considering it was community theatre.

I really liked 'Of Mice and Men.' The dude that played Lenny was really good and despite a delayed gunfire, the play was preformed perfectly in my eyes.

We also saw the movie, 'The Fog of War.' It was a terrific movie and had some amazing artistic stuff going on... I will have to ask my movie amigos what the correct lingo would be to describe the pleasure my eyes gained from some specific shots.

Sunday, after eating out of the food court in the mall all weekend, we splurged on some Indian cuisine. Ahh, it was sooo good. I got Lamb Biriyani-- with a spice level of 1. Our table was competing for hotness. BJ and Christy were the bold ones and ordered a 4. I tried it and I would have passed out if I tried to eat a whole meal like that. The highest one could get was a 6. Geez... I also endulged on some Starbucks cappucinos;) Oh and BJ and I excersized our right to a Strawberry Daquiri on Saturday night:)

Anyway, so the weekend was superb and God answered a cool prayer for me. So we'll see how that goes.

Now it's off to my busy week. Pray that Tess and I don't fail our Journalism exam on Thursday. Oh and pray that Dr. Browne gets better as he has a near pneuminoa. Yieks!

Later,

Boo