God at 17,000 feet

A friend of mine recently watched a You Tube video about the Argus surveillance system that can be attached to a "drone" and can capture high resolution images from 17,000 feet.  Not only can it capture these images, it can zoom in on a specific area and show you what is happening on the ground in real time.  Once captured, the images can be stored and be available for recall in the future.

My friend was outraged.  The idea that some "eye in the sky" could record him walking to work from the subway seemed to threaten his sense of security.  The idea, however, that Argus could possibly have recorded the movements of the two brothers who placed the bombs in Boston and helped identify them, apparently did not occur to him.Since this friend was born and raised and educated in the Catholic church, I asked him how the Argus differed from the understanding most Christians have of God.  Doesn't God watch everything that happens on Earth?  Doesn't God see what each and every one of us does 24/7?  And doesn't He remember for eternity whether we have been good Christians or evil sinners?

 Why does one Almighty Eye cause outrage and the other (who supposedly has the power to strike you dead on the spot without a trial) deserve your worship?

Good Advice from Anna

There comes that moment when we give our children custody of their own selves or blight their lives forever, when we understand that being a parent is not transactional, that we do not get what we give.  It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: we are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.  

Anna Quindlen in Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.

We Are Killing Our Kids!

The children were pressed up against the glass in the Gorilla house, amazed at the size of the great silver-back inches away.  This particular primate was in excellent health, with a glistening coat and sparkling eyes that occasionally looked right back at the children.

I could not help but compare one primate to another.  The gorilla was happily munching on a head of lettuce, but there was no lettuce in any form (except maybe a leaf on a cheeseburger) available for the homo sapiens there to eat.  The homo sapiens specimens were almost all overweight, whether they were young or old.  

The gorillas were fed the diet that they were designed to eat; fruits and vegetables.  None of the animals on one side of the glass were obese.  Many of the ones on the other side of the glass were.  Which ones will live longer?

Who, Me?

Everything you do is based on the choices you make. It's not your parents, your past relationships, your job, the economy, the weather, an argument or your age that is to blame.  You and only you are responsible for every decision and choice you make.

                                            

                                                                        Period.