RECYCLED THOUGHTS: 22JAN06 (or, "context")

i'm a pretty good problem-solver. i'm also proficient, if slightly less prolific, @ creating problems. is there a career that i might base on one or both of these talents?

singer-songwriter; essayist, columnist & novelist; orator & statesman; honorary PhD, lecturer & professor; missionary, apologist & preacher; talk-show host; president; actor & philanthropist...

think anyone has an opening for one of these? perhaps @ the intern level?...

have i no practical skills? have i, with my (i think) considerable knack for picking up new things, never bothered to try my hand @ anything useful? not one thing? have i been allowed to live this long in vain? what has my life meant, up to now?

all this, from a simple passage which served as my 2-minute Bible study. work in all things as unto the LORD. it began to sink in, as i (finally) cleaned the slush machine: i can labor as unto the LORD, but how can i serve Him, in a middle-management capacity?

no man can serve two masters. how to reconcile this point of faith w/the previous? i must either serve Him @ my employer's expense, or vice-versa.

this is what blogs are for. i need outside input.

RECYCLED THOUGHTS: 21JAN06 (or "confessions of a hypothetical man")

... i want to find a new job. not b/c i hate mine (i do), & not b/c i don't make enough $ (i don't), & not b/c i work too much (i do). this job wears on my conscience.

it seems every decision i make is a compromise, either between my work ethic & my Love for my Family, or between what i ought to do as a Christian & what i am paid to do. my conscience won't let me slide w/ "i'm just doing my job."

if my job forces me to betray my conscience, then isn't my duty to find one that won't? ... i can't stand managing people. it's manipulative by nature, 1st of all. it also pits my people's interest against my employers, & therefore against my own.

... i'd rather not do it @ all. but then i come to The Great Obstacle: what else can i do, & make good enough $?

so i come to yet another conflict, in addition to:
1] work vs. family;
2] conscience vs. job description;
3] enjoyment of career vs. advancement in career.

4] is this:
how can i not keep the job i shouldn't have, when it is in my Family's best (fiscal) interest to do so?

to strike off on a new career @ 28 is to jeapoardize my children's educational opportunities, my Wife's old age, & our immediate standard of "living."
to think that i could be a better husband, father, Christian -- a better man -- if only i had a more suitable career, is folly. i am the man i've chosen to be, through my actions, & through my inaction. to assume that any job can reverse my drift seems ridiculous. and yet...
if only i had more time. more hrs. in the day, to eat well, sleep well, to spend w/my Wife & kids, to study the Bible, to establish a routine, to exercise, to invest in hobbies, to get @ to it, to devote to ministry, to read, write, sing, pray, think, dream...
time is the key. ... what career am i qualified for, that can earn me $40k+/yr., while not taking more than 50hrs of my week?
a better starting point might be: what career am i qualified for?

future me hates now me hates past me

speaking of how well you know me, i have an idea for a fun little game. (i promise i'll do better than w/the last one.)
anyone who attempts to answer these 10 questions qualifies as a friend. those who get @ least 5 right may consider themselves close. also, for anyone who tries, i'll try to answer the same questions for you.
1] what's my favourite sports team?
2] what season do i prefer?
3] what's my favourite food category? (i.e. chinese, jamaican, cajun...)
4] is my cup 1/2 full, or 1/2 empty?
5] are my political views more republican, or democrat?
6] what would be my perfect job?
7] where would i most like to live?
8] what's your earliest memory of me? (note: non-flattering memories will be counted
wrong)
9] where would i like to be in 10 yrs.?
10] where was i 10 yrs. ago?

how well do you know me?

so i've wanted to get a tattoo for -- oh, i don't know, ever. i've always thought they were cool. (it's art, man! & it's on your body! it turns you in to art, man!) anyway, i've never gotten one, 'cause i didn't want to be stuck w/ something idiotic when i'm 55, which is pessimistic, realistic & optimistic @ the same time, isn't it?
pessimistic because i expect everything that i think is cool, or witty, or meaningful right this second to seem stupid to future me. (future me is such a jerk!)
realistic, because everything i thought was cool, or witty, or meaningful in the past now seems stupid to me. (past me is such an idiot!)
optimistic, because i'm planning to still be alive by then.
anyway, what should i get? i want something cool, witty & meaningful. something i'll be happy with until the day i die. any suggestions? (warning: your answers will show how well you actually know me.)

antidisestablishmentarianism

so, i was right again. i know, it's not news, or anything; i usually am. but since nobody else seems to like to point it out...
the conversation went @ like this:
"antidisestablishmentarianism."
"so that means you're for the man."
"no, not necessarily."
"yeah, man. look: i'm the man. if you're not against me, you're for me, dude."

antidisestablishmentarianism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: originally, opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England, now opposition to the belief that there should no longer be an official church in a country

clouded epiphanies

My morning Bilbe study yesterday included 1Peter, 2:18-23. You know, on submission to authority: "Servants, be submissive to your masters..." I thought @ it all day, & something kept bugging me. I finally realized that it's Matthew, 6:24: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one & Love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one & despise the other..."

Assuming one works for other than a Godly "master", how shall these passages be reconciled? If, to act in good faith as a functionary of an employer, one must act willfully against his conscience, is he not caught between The Rock & a hard place? To be faithful to the teachings of Christ, he must follow his conscience. But what's that twinge of guilt he feels for not having acted in his employer's best interest? This same employer we are taught by Peter to serve "with goodwill doing service, as unto the Lord..." (Ephesians, 6:7).

I know it seems a pedantic objection; it is easily reconciled, in theory. But in practice, it is something altogether different. Well, okay. Not altogether, but different, nonetheless. The simplest &, I would think, the 1st answer would be that the man should not be working for said employer, if he can not in good conscience carry out his duties in that capacity. But what about 1Timothy, 5:8? "But if anyone does not provide for his own, & especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith & is worse than an unbeliever." But to that, one might say, "...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew, 6:25&26).

Anyone got any input?

resolution/revolution

when i think @ new year's resolutions, i think @ failure. not even my own, necessarily. it seems everyone fails to realize their new year's resolution. (everyone except you, reader. you'll stick to yours, i know it!) i don't think anyone can realistically expect to successfully change their lives as if they were flipping a switch. "lights are on; lights are off. i'm a lazy, selfish glutton; i'm a model citizen." not that it never happens, but i expect i'll just win the lottery before that works for me. (i don't play the lottery.)

of course, my own failures do color my impression, i'm sure. i'm batting 1000, as far as breaking resolutions. wanna know why? me, too.

the problem with resolutions is in the definition of the word. a typical resolution begins, "i will..." no, i won't. i ought to have figured that out by now. i can't do it. i'm not strong enough. we all of us fall short. we all miss the mark.

unless we cheat. i never have to fall short, if i set the bar low enough; i need never miss the mark, if i aim at something already within reach. oh, but wait. that's no way to affect a change, now is it? well, what if i just hire a ringer? someone to give be a boost, so i can set the bar as high as i please? someone to guide my arm, & keep me on target. hang on, i think i might be onto something.

i resolve to cheat @ every turn. i'm not going to do any of the work myself. i'm going to lean on my Helper, & let Him carry me. but then, that's not really a resolution, is it? i haven't actually resolved to do anything. yet, by revolting against the idea that i'm good enough to do it myself, i've now resolved every possible conflict in my life. revolt=resolve.

then, here is my new year's revolution: i surrender my imperfect will. i haven't the will-power to accomplish anything, so i lend Him my will, & He lends me His power. it's like reverse independence day.

a new top 5

okay, everybody. maybe this isn't the best option for a 1st post after a 3-month hiatus, but when have i ever conformed to convention?
TOP 5 QUOTES OF ALL TIME
---------------------------------
1] What we have here, is failure to communicate. Some men, you just can't reach. So, you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
-from "Cool Hand Luke"


I'll post more of mine after i sea some from you guys.