Trusting God and Laughing About It.

Why is my friend in agonizing pain, and not me? Paul tells us in Romans that God's ways are unsearchable. I have to be OK with not knowing. God knows a lot of things that we don't, and we need to trust His everlasting love and wisdom.
I was reading a blog written by nuns, and the writer talked about the Examen, the last prayer of the day, when you reflect on all the day's circumstances and how you've responded to them. One component of the Examen is giving God thanks for the opportunities He gives you to do good. Maybe you are good at handling a crisis. Maybe you are patient with children. Maybe your sense of humor can help people laugh in the midst of their problems. This was a good thing to think about, how it is that God uses you. For me, I think I have the sense of humor.
Talking about her struggle with cancer, my friend once wrote to me that she felt heavy-hearted all the time, too serious and contemplative for general society. She said she liked to laugh, and she enjoyed people who laughed at, and despite, their problems, but she just didn't feel like she could ever be carefree. She said she enjoyed my sense of humor and my laughter, and that made me feel good.

Things as They Stand on Wednesdsay

Well, I went to the hospital earlier in the week to help a friend who's recently had surgery. I felt like a bull in a china shop. I can wash a car, no problem, but when it comes to doing anything that requires any amount of delicacy, I fall short. This is in a large part due to the ataxia. I think I am a better help to her when I stay home. She has kids at home, and I don't feel very competent to watch them, either, but I will do my best. I am going to try and contribute to her blog, one thing I do feel competent to do for her. I hope I have the technological smarts to be able to contribute to her blog. I am once again a contributing writer: www.nicholegreene.blogspot.com

As I do once in a while, I watched a movie last night and had some thoughts. I saw "The Game", a weird and horrible but somewhat interesting movie. The idea is that some company takes over your life, and shows itself to have coordinated several events to lead you to learn something about yourself you needed to learn. I really don't like to spiritualize secular movies, but this one was so weird and boring that I had to let my mind wander just to keep myself in the seat. So, my thought was that that company is like the sovereignty of God, orchestrating all the mundane and not-so-mundane details of our lives. We would all do well to examine ourselves and all that happens to us throughout the course of our day to see if God has spoken to us that day, and what He said. Job tells us that God speaks to us in many ways, sometimes through blessings, sometimes through pain, sometimes through a big earthquake or flood, and sometimes in a gentle whisper. How good it would be for us to learn to be sensitive to all He may be saying to us!

Back to School

So, I am now officially part of a cultural immersion program. Am I going abroad? Well, only if you consider UCLA in Westwood abroad. The culture I will studying is Asian. Mr. M and I will be on staff at the UCLA Bible Study, Grace On Campus. We are currently taking lessons in Asian culture . . . well, we are making an effort to get to know the students, and they tell us about their culture. (99% of the Bible Study is Asian.) This prompts us to look into our own culture, and ask ourselves why we do what we do, where and when we do it, and why we think the way we do. We came to the unanimous agreement that American culture is very independant. From the pilgrims to the pioneers, Americans have always done what they wanted, trying not to depend on anyone. That's what we came up with. I'd love to know what you think, either about American culture or Asian culture, especially if you are a Korean man living in the OC, going by the name of one Mr. Cho.

Osmosis

I always suspected, but now I have proof. My reading and studying and practicing and singing in Spanish has paid off in unexpected ways. Today, at the end of a walk, I said to Rufus, "¡Siéntate!", and he sat down. "Sure," some of you cynical skeptics may say, "it was after a long walk in this hot weather and he was tired." O ye of little faith. You know you're just jealous-jealous of my dog's bilingualness.

__________ In.

A fellow blogger is attempting to add a new word to the Urban Dictionary. Fine. But what I need is a word that means "snowed in", but not by snow, by HEAT. Sunned in?? I find myself without a car-which is good, because my car is being put to a much more noble use than just sitting in my driveway in case I should get the sudden urge to head to greener pastures. I thought this would be easy, since I often go many days at a time without using my car. However, just knowing that I have no choice but to stay home makes me feel so . . . so . . . ugh . . .TRAPPED. Of course, there is always walking. However, as the temperatures have been mostly in the lower billions, that hardly seems a viable choice. So I am _______ in. What's a good descriptive word for that, fellow geeks, brains, bibliophiles, bibliomaniacs, and sesquipedalians?

Scary Voice

Once upon a time not too long ago, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number on the caller ID, so I answered using my scary voice. I scared my friend. I didn't mean to, but it did end up being rather amusing, and she confirmed that my scary voice really does sound scary. So if you call, and my caller ID doesn't recognize you or your number, be prepared for the scary voice.