Remakes

When I was in the 4th grade I wrote a small paragraph about how one day people would run out of songs to write, shows to create, and movies to make; that people would run out of ideas.  My teacher told me it was ridiculous, that the human creative spirit would never run dry.  Well here we are in 2010, a lot of songs are remakes of classics or rehashes of the same old riffs.  The top movies this summer are the A-team, the Karate Kid, and Toy Story 3.  Now I know there is still some creative juices out there, that all things are not remakes, but there certainly is alot.  As I see more and more re-makes of old songs and movies, it makes me think about something I learned in World Views Seminar at college; that inspiration comes from God.  Many philosophers said that when God created man and breathed life into him; that something that set man apart from the rest of creation was his creativity that stemmed from the breath of God.  Many reasoned that the time of the greatest inspiration was found in the renaissance, when many artists drew inspiration from God and the Bible.  As I see the lack of creativity in the media, it makes me connect the two: that a world that rejected God, finds itself less and less inspired.  A world that draws less from God and focuses solely on itself, can't find inspiration.  I believe as this world continues to fall into a more fallen state, we will see less inspiration and more mindless trash; another suffering in this fallen world.

Cool Parents

So the other day, I'm standing on a dock holding my dad's boat in place while he went to get the trailer and there's another boat docked on the other side.  In this boat were a bunch of teenagers, a mother, and a 8-10year old girl.  The boat was a wakeboarding boat, and initially they were talking about wakeboarding, but then they start talking about getting high.  Pretty soon the conversation started including the mother who was sitting there, all in the midst of this young girl.  I thought, "What a lame mother!"  What's with parents thinking its cool to let your kids be stoners, drunks, and sluts.  My wife overheard a mother at school brag to another mother about how they give their one son, who is about 14, beer and let him get drunk, while their daughter has a bar fridge in her room for beer.  Unfortunately it is also becoming quite common for some parents to let their teenagers have sleep-overs at their house, and its not the ones with ghost stories and smores.  Of course this is a greatly debated topic this time of the year, grad time, where grad classes are divided between those who's parents let them openly drink and want to party with them at grad, and those whose parents still think their children should wait till they are of age to decide to drink.  But why do parents think giving into a teens pressure will make them cool?  As someone who has worked with teens for 15 years, I understand how appealing teens are and how a person wants to "be cool" in their eyes.  But as an adult, who has a place in their life, my role is not to be cool, but to equip them for life.  If you look at it in a purely secular, scientific point of view: parents, elders etc. are to equip the younger of the species for survival and success; animals in the wild train their young to survive and thrive.  So why would we as adults, not only protect youth from things that hurt adults, but rather encourage and enable them to participate in them, and hinder their learning of the skills they need for life?  To me, it not only makes someone an "uncool" parent, but makes them a negligent parent, a harmful parent. I know I am not a parent, and you don't know what you'll do until you get there, and I might have felt different if I had different parents, but the truth is I have eyes and see the results of this cool parenting.  I see youth without essential skills, who need love and who are suffering in this fallen world.

Garbage, Garbage, Garbage

I love the movie Wall-E.  When watching that movie one wonders about garbage; I thought it was quite unbelievable that our world would become like the garbage infested world portrayed in the movie, but lately I have began to wonder.  The last few months I have been working casually as a garbageman; I thought the job would be a change and seemed to be a good workout once a week.  There are many things that have been impressed on me from the job such as how the municipality work, working with different machinery, but I have especially thought the most about garbage and the waste we produce as humans.  It has disgusted me how much we waste as humans.  As we speak, the town I work for is a few months away from filling our landfill to capacity; which is going to mean serious changes to how the town picks up and disposes of trash.  There is no need for our landfill to be almost full at this time, but it is do to wasteful living and laziness to sort and properly dispose of our trash.  Our province has had a recycling program for beverage containers for almost 20years; which consists of paying deposit on beverage containers at purchase and receiving that money back when the empty containers are returned to a recycle depot.  Despite this, there are numerous people who throw out numerous cans and bottles in their trash (we trash collectors usually fill a garbage can each week with the ones we are able to scrounge without really digging in the trash)  Think about this people are literally throwing their money away; even if they didn't want it for themselves there are many non-profit groups who will gladly pick it up for you. So, there are many of these containers needlessly filling space in the landfill.
Our town has had a cardboard recycle program for at least five years, but yet there are numerous people who throw out large amounts of cardboard; again take up space in the landfill that it doesn't need to.
Working at the dump you realize people are lazy and throw out stuff because it doesn't work, but only needs a minor repair.  Lawnmowers that need a $5 part or an oil change.  A guy I work with once took home a Serta Queen Mattress that was brand new and still in the plastic; I would have loved to know why someone threw it out.
It's also awesome to know when there are thrift stores and poor people all over the world wearing rags that people commonly throw out bags of clothes; big garbage bags of clothes.
The other thing that makes me take a step back is the amount of garbage bags some households chuck regularly.  In a small town, you know who lives where and I am taken back how it is becoming common for households to have more that 1 bag of garbage per occupants per week.
This last week it was wonderful to see homes that had unsuccessful garage sales throw out enough garbage to fill a car.  This next year will be an eye-opener for my little town; when sorting garbage will be strictly enforced, no one out of town will be permitted in our landfill, and getting rid of our waste will become expensive.  And despite having 20 years of environmental education we will continue to see the waste of our excessive living pile up in this fallen world.

Lack of respect for property

I don't want to sound like a crusty old man who screams at every passer-by who breathes on his property, "Stay off my land!!"; but I guess I am.  My neighbors have decided a small piece of land closest to their property should be their new drive-way.  It's not a huge deal; I don't really use it, there's nothing growing on it.  However, it's the principle.  (There, I am that cranky old man)  They have completely chewed up the grass on the boulevard, the grass I'm responsible for cutting; not to mention NO ONE ASKED!  So, now I have to be the bad guy and say, " Could you not park on my yard and wreck my lawn?"  I hate being a lame-o.  If people used their brain and common decency many problems wouldn't exist.  I think back in the day when people had to work so hard for their land, their possessions, and their general living there was a mutual respect for not only your property, but others.  I see it not only in my place, but all over town.  We are a self-indulgent society and will use any means for self-glorification or pleasure, even if it's at the expense of someone else, and especially if we think we can get away with it.  The fear I have in a society like that is when less and less is done to control and protect people's property, people take action into their own hands.  Don't worry I'm not about to go vigilante on my neighbors; but I fear in this town where the law is not really visible, that someone will flip their lids and someone will get hurt.  The general lack of respect is another one of those things that leaves a bad taste in my mouth for this world and makes me long for the perfect world in control of the almighty, but until then I will survive in this fallen world.

Dog Years

How many days in a year?  365, right?  How many seasons in a year? 4 usually. (Sometimes we get a few extra winter and springs in Sask) How many times does the earth travel around the sun in a year? once.  Why is this so hard for some people to understand? Why can't dog owners grasp this?  I know dogs age at a rate of 7times faster than humans and that this is what is meant by dog years.  This does not mean if your dog was born in May 2009, he is now 7 years old.  Your dog's rate of aging is not due to the fact that one magical night he circles around the sun an additional 6 times to the one time you went around. Dog doesn't go to bed thinking, "Wow, it's been a week since the sun went down." The ironic thing of this is dog owners regard their pet as a beloved member of the family; but what family member would let you call their age times 7 of what it is?  "Happy Birthday Dad!  You look great for 392 years!"  A little kid would even be upset at being called 21 when they could barely walk and talk.  People should just accept that dogs see seasons, years, and days the same as people; but unfortunately they die quicker.  Perhaps in a perfect world dogs lived longer, but in a fallen world life is short. I like dogs, but I wish people would quit aging them older than they are.

Obama is a modern Savior

Remember the day?  You probably stood by a tv, watching CNN.  You knew it was a historical event, and when you saw it on TV you were sure it was.  Thousands of people gathered in Washington to see Barrack Obama sworn in as president; not to mention thousands around the world who weren't even American.  Since then cool t-shirts have been printed.  He won a Nobel Peace Prize; and no one is really sure what for.  Isn't Obama great?
Obama is another sign of this crappy world we live in.  How can a man that people know so little about be glorified and held on a mantle of praise?   Now maybe Americans are wiser, but there are so many Canadians that think this man is a savior to America and in turn us, but really don't have a clue about him or his policies.  Does anyone know his stance on different issues or policies?  Does anyone know what promises he made and kept and which he has broken?
I could babble about different facts line after line, but it's best if you find it out for yourselves.
If you have time watch this movie:Obama Deception
It's 2 hours, but worth the time.  Another thing to check out it this article: Obama's birth certificate
I am not stating these things as cold, hard facts, but they do make compelling arguments.  Ultimately, it shows that no one man can be a savior, there is already one man who came to do that in our bleak world, and that's Jesus Christ.  The others that pose to do so are products like us of a fallen world.