Black Friday

Okay, so I admit to having participated in the tradition we have in America of going nuts with sales and shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, we have a name for it — Black Friday.

My husband and I first went to CompUSA at midnight on Thursday, yes Thanksgiving Thursday. The line went around the store and around the block. It was unbelievable. There were people everywhere. Pushing and shoving and grabbing and body odor — what a nightmare. I didn’t stand a chance. We gave up fairly quickly. Amidst all that humanity it was all just a bit too much for me. Some people really do need to learn to shower more often.

We went home that night determined not to participate in the madness the next day. Stores would open at 5:00 a.m. and we decided to sleep in. At least that was the plan. Then I saw two sales in the paper that would unhinge my plan for sleep. The first was a Toshiba notebook computer regularly selling for $900 on sale for $375. The second was a 160 GB external hard drive for $39.95. How could I possibly sleep through the possibility of deals like that?

After being beaten up at CompUSA and not arriving home to sleep until about 1:30 a.m., I simply couldn’t make it to the 5:00 a.m. opening. I woke up at 7:00 a.m., threw on some sweats, put the hair in a pony tail, and made sure not to look in the mirror and scare myself to death. I was too late for the laptop. I had missed my chance. Giving in to sleep had cost me a new computer at an unbelievable price.

(I did pick up a nifty little personal DVD player for my husband’s frequent plane trips for a mere $67, though I do admit I didn’t feel at that moment he deserved it since he was at home snoring away, refusing to participate in the insanity.)

I raced over to the next store, and was able to get there just in the nick of time to scoop up the last hard drive they had at $39.95. My elation quickly turned to despair, however, when I caught sight of the line. A line the likes of which I had never seen in my life. It would wind around the store several times, weaving in and out of the aisles. Was the hard drive worth a line of that magnitude? It was a sweet deal. Overall, the rational answer is “no”. But I had made the effort, it was the last one the store had, and it was Black Friday after all, so I made the irrational decision to go ahead and wait - wait on the mammoth line for one item. What else did I really have to do anyway?

Well, it took 2-1/2 hours of waiting in line, and it cost me a very sore back and aching feet — but I arrived home with my hard drive — my $39.95 hard drive. I’m still a little giddy over the deal. But still in awe that I waited in that line. When I arrived at the cashier he could hardly believe I had waited that long for only one item.

It’s interesting to note the thoughts that go through your head when deciding to wait in such a line.

You make the first commitment when you actually get in the line. As it moves, you feel you made a pretty good decision. You tell yourself it won’t take that long given that the line is at least moving. Then at some point the line slows down, you feel a bit of an ache in your arms and back and you start asking yourself whether it is really worth the wait. Should you just abandon your merchandise and give it up? You ponder for a little while, the line starts to move a little bit and then you reach that moment — the point of no return. The point where you tell yourself you have invested so much time at this point that there is no way you are going to give up now. You are committed to the purchase.

It didn’t matter that I hadn’t had any breakfast that day and had not eaten anything since late afternoon the previous day. It didn’t matter that I felt really tired from the day (and the night) before. It didn’t matter that it was a beautiful day outside, ideal for going to the park or the beach. It didn’t matter that I was really starting to feel uncomfortable. Something had clicked over in my head that told me I was going to make this purchase no matter how long it took. I think about it now as I stare at my new hard drive and still wonder if it was worth it.

Would I do it all again? Yes, I probably would. After all, it WAS Black Friday.

Reflections on church

There are many things in this life I have difficulty understanding, and many of my posts reflect this internal struggle. Here’s yet another one. I simply cannot understand why it is that church, the place where believers should be able to go to worship, to serve, to give and receive support, and to fellowship with other believers, so often seems to become a place of pain for so many individuals. In fact, some of the rudest people I have ever seen have been at church. I understand that churches are made up of people and because of this there will be flaws inherent to it that are unavoidable. But the pain inflicted on people seeking comfort, prayer and support breaks my heart.

(On a related note, it never ceases to amaze me the extent to which false prophets and others are able to capitalize on people’s suffering without so much as a twinge of guilt. That was the topic of a previous post.)

I have seen individuals cast out from churches during their most painful moments in life. I have seen individuals in churches make racist comments, sexist comments, judgmental comments, and insensitive remarks. I have heard malicious gossip, chattering about someone’s outfit or appearance, outright rudeness, and just plain unfriendliness, all at church — the house of God.

How has it happened that the very heart of worship is being forgotten at church? Why does it seem to be so easy for Christians to forget or just plain ignore everything they hear in a sermon when the back doors open? Why are some pastors permitting, even participating in, and becoming part of these very problems?

I know there are good hearts in churches. I have seen the donations to the tsunami relief funds, to the Katrina relief funds, to charities that help the hurting and the lost. I have seen people volunteer to go on missions to foreign lands where the suffering is greater than anything we can possibly imagine. I have seen pastors with hearts for Jesus that inspire me to the ends of the earth.

But why is it that when it comes to the person sitting in the next seat in Sunday service, so often there is no room for compassion, acceptance, love, tolerance and support? While it is always miraculous to me that there are individiuals willing to answer God’s call on their lives to go to places on our planet that I would find frightening, I also believe that missions need to begin at home, and we, as members of the church body, need to step up and live out the principles we hold so close to our hearts. It begins with a smile, a handshake, and a hug. It begins with love, acceptance, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, being nonjudgmental, and opening our minds and our hearts to one another.

It all begins and ends with Jesus, on Sunday at church — and every other day — whether it is with fellow church members, family members, friends, or the stranger we meet on the street. Treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated . . . not really rocket science, but so easily forgotten it seems.

Happy 175th Birthday Harriet

Harriet is a giant Galapagos Land tortoise . Today is Harriet’s birthday. Harriet is 175 years old, the oldest living creature on the earth. She is thought to be one of the original tortoises studied by Charles Darwin, and taken aboard the HMS Beagle and brought to England for scientific study. If the story is true, imagine the history Harriet has lived through.

Poor Harriet was thought to be a Harry for 100 years. Due to her size, scientists were never able to flip her over to determine her gender. So attempts had been made for all that time to mate poor Harriet with female tortoises. It was not discovered that Harry was actually a Harriet until 1960. She therefore has never had any children of her own.

Harriet is currently enjoying her retirement years at the Australia Zoo, Brisbane, Queensland, and experts believe Harriet may live another 20 or so years. She spends her days munching on flowers, taking naps, and getting a daily bath to wash off the bird and lizard droppings left on her shell by visiting critters.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Tui Malila as the oldest known tortoise with an age between 188 and 192 years old. It is believed that Harriet will outlive this record. Let’s certainly hope so. Happy Birthday Harriet!

What happened to good manners?

Is it just me or do people seem to have no sense of personal responsibility any more? It seems like everywhere you go, people have an attitude that the world revolves around them, nothing is ever their fault, and they have no responsibility to think about anyone else besides themselves. There is rarely a sense of kindness or thoughtfulness, and thinking of others seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

On a similar note, there isn’t any such thing as an accident any more, which is why everyone sues everyone else for everything. Perhaps the most telling example of abrogating personal responsibility is to sue a fast-food restaurant for making an individual fat. There is no sense of responsibility on the part of the person who has eaten all that junk food. It is Ronald McDonald’s fault. Or maybe the Hamburglar.

One pet peeve of mine (pardon the pun) is that people are bringing their dogs everywhere now, into Home Depot, into the supermarket, into the shopping mall. This is yet another example of a lack of any sense of responsibility to the larger society. Why would anyone assume I want to see their dog in the supermarket sniffing at the cheddar cheese, or peeing in the cereal aisle? And why do store owners feel they need to accommodate such rude people, who are by the way violating the law by bringing their pet into the food establishment?

The rudeness and denial of personal responsibility is rubbing off on children too. I come into contact with more children during the day with nightmarish manners who have learned that they too are not required to have any sense of personal responsibility. What ever happened to “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me”? What ever happened to the child who says “I’m sorry”? I don’t see it, at least not where I live.

Children seem to be more selfish, have an attitude of entitlement, and treat their parents with disrespect — all of which is tolerated by everyone. Parents seem to want to be friends with their children rather than parents and are terrified to set down boundaries and rules and teach manners and respect. Parents are more concerned than ever with the happiness of their children, putting this above all else, often times sacrificing discipline out of a sense of guilt.

I may gain some angry responses to this and it certainly is fair to point out that I don’t have children and have no idea what I’m talking about, but these are just observations from what I see every day, and I did work my way through college in day care and took care of literally dozens of children. Without fail, when approaching a parent about some problem behavior on the part of his/her child, the parent immediately denied it was possible the child acted in such a way and blamed everyone else (including the teachers) because little Johnny would never do anything so out of character. Things were sure different when I was a kid. I was expected to respect my teachers, my parents, and anyone else older and wiser, and if I didn’t there would be consequences.

How did people become so selfish and so uncaring about their neighbors, their society and the world they live in? Why does it take some sort of horrific tragedy such as Hurricane Katrina to bring about a helpful spirit? Why can’t we all be a bit more concerned for others and the world we live in on a DAILY basis, be more considerate of one another, have better manners, have respect for one another, and just generally be good neighbors?

Exorcism

One of the scariest movies I have ever seen is The Exorcist. I’m not sure exactly what it is about that movie, but from the very beginning it has a spooky feel to it. To this day I cannot watch this movie when at home alone, particularly at night.

According to Wikipedia, “The Catholic Church revised and renewed the Rite of Exorcism very recently in January 2000 under Pope John Paul II, who reinforced its necessity.” Pope John Paul II reinforced the necessity of exorcism.

In fact, the national exorcist convention was recently held at an undisclosed location somewhere in Italy. It kind of makes me wonder about what kinds of presentations and booths are available at an exorcist’s convention. Do vendors rent space? The event is kept pretty quiet and not widely publicized. The convention was addressed by the current pope, Pope Benedict, who encouraged them [exorcists] to ?carry on their important work in the service of the Church.?

According to Wikipedia, “An exorcism is considered only after a careful mental and physical examination and investigation of relevant evidence that determines that the affected person is actually suffering from possession and not from some form of mental illness.” “Signs of demonic possession may include: the ability to speak foreign languages of which the possessed has no prior knowledge (such as ancient languages); supernatural abilities and strength; secret knowledge of a person’s life, especially regarding the exorcist, which the possessed has no way of knowing; blasphemous remarks; and great aversion to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, and sacred objects.”

According to Reuters, a course in exorcism and satanism for Catholic priests will be offered at a Vatican university starting in October, and that it was well attended last year with 130 enrollees.

There are quite a number of passages in the New Testament referring to demon possession and exorcism, and Jesus performed many exorcisms as recorded in the Gospels.

For those so interested, see the following passages in the New Testament:
Matthew 8:16; Matthew 8:30-32; Matthew 9:32-33; Matthew 10:1; Matthew 12:22; Matthew 12:43-45; Matthew 17:15-18; Mark 1:23-26; Mark 3:22-26; Mark 5:6-20; Mark 6:7; Mark 7:25-30; Mark 9:18-29; Mark 16:9; Mark 16:17; Luke 4:33-35; Luke 4:41; Luke 8:2-3;
Luke 8:28-36; Luke 11:14; Luke 11:15-20; Acts 16:16-18; Acts 19:13-16

Many modern Christians no longer believe in possession and now ascribe the symptoms of possession to mental or physical illness. We know of course that many times throughout history individuals were assumed to be possessed when they really suffered from epilepsy, brain disorders, or mental illness, and were tragically subjected not only to exorcism but often times to “treatments” or even put to death as a result of their possession.

Perhaps what makes the movie The Exorcist scarier than most horror movies is the part of our soul it touches that believes in the possibility of the truth of what is portrayed on the screen. The possibility, the fact that Jesus was a fairly busy exorcist — that has to make one pause. Hollywood made a lot of money with The Exorcist. Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was full of supernatural themes and scenes. Perhaps the supernatural, even in the form of possession, interests us so much because we see it as a means to prove God’s existence. After all, if Satan is possessing people or sending demons to do it, there surely must also be a God…..

At any rate, I still would love to be a fly on the wall to see what kinds of exhibits and programs the national exorcist convention puts on.

Love your enemies

A particularly difficult passage of scripture to live out in faith is found at Matthew 5:44-45 where Jesus says, “But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.”

I think this passage is particularly difficult because as human beings we tend to hold onto bitterness and resentments when someone has wronged us. It does not feel natural to love an enemy. It feels very natural to hold a grudge. What we really want to see is the person who wronged us to be stricken by a bolt of lightning. Surely if there is justice and fairness in the universe, God will punish, and punish severely.

But God demands more than that from us. God loves us all equally no matter what we do, and forgives us for our sins no matter how far we stray from him, and the sun rises on those we consider enemies just as it does for us, but it is very hard for us to have compassion for those who have done something hurtful. God is God after all. We are merely human. I am thankful He loves me unconditionally.

Individuals generally have difficulty with this scripture because they don’t feel in their heart that the person who has done something so hurtful deserves prayers, love or forgiveness. Let’s face it, it isn’t easy to love someone who has hurt you.

We are commanded to be compassionate and forgiving toward others, no matter how they hurt us. We are to turn the other cheek. Jesus asked for his Father’s forgiveness for his enemies while hanging on the cross. Could I really do that? If I’m honest the answer is “no”.

Harboring resentment and bitterness for wrongs done by others is harmful to us. Eventually, that bitterness will eat us up inside and will cause sickness — emotional sickness, spiritual sickness, even physical sickness. Forgiving past wrongs and praying for our enemies is a protection of self.

Allowing someone’s wrong to continue to harm us over time by allowing the seeds of bitterness to take hold in our hearts only harms us further. We cannot control the actions of others, but we do have control over how we choose to react to that wrong and how we allow it to affect our hearts over time.

Allowing resentment and bitterness to affect the individuals we become, the way we relate to others, and the way we see the world gives our enemies power over our future.

Loving our enemies and praying for them allows us to take that power back and become all that God wants us to be.

Frozen in Time

Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of tiny cells of slime mold fused in sexual union for 65 million years. Talk about a long-term relationship!

Apparently the slime mold reproduces when cells fuse and flagellae are shed. Since these cells lacked flagellae, the scientists knew they were in the act of sexual union.

Romeo and Juliet, step aside. Even those most cynical can’t miss the romance in the story. Just imagine, dying in the act of procreation and then being fossilized for eternity in that state.

Let’s just hope the slime mold cells weren’t merely expecting a one-night stand.

Decapitated Cockroaches

For years I have seen a television commercial for a pest control company that claims a cockroach can live for days without its head if it is unfortunate enough to find itself decapitated. How exactly a cockroach becomes decapitated in its daily life is another question for another day. I’ve never really doubted that a cockroach could survive without its head for an extended period given the survival capacity of the small creature, but I have often wondered about the explanation behind this amazing capability.

After some research, I found the biology site at the University of Massachusetts and discovered that the cockroach can actually survive up to a month without a head. Here is the explanation:

“(1) Cockroaches breathe through spiracles which are in each body segment and the blood does not carry oxygen to the tissues. The spiracles deliver air to each cell of the body through a set of tubes called tracheae. The brain does not control the breathing through the spiracles.

(2) The cockroach does not have blood pressure the way a mammal does and so cutting off the head does not lead to uncontrolled bleeding.

(3) The cockroach is a poikilotherm or cold blooded animal. They need much less food and a one day meal would be enough to last them a whole month as long as they were not extremely active. Without a head the cockroach would just sit around without doing anything much.

All this along with a cool temperature could allow the cockroach to last about a month without need for a head, as long as it does not get infected with a mold, bacterium or virus, which could kill them prematurely.”

No matter what else you might think of the cockroach, you’ve got to have a healthy respect for a creature that can actually walk around without its head for a whole month.

For more interesting FAQs about cockroaches, see the following: Univ. of Mass.