Soul and Spirit | Ain't Complicated

Karen in Burma

OK, the Karen — not my sister. As far as I know, she’s in Woodburn, not Rangoon.

“It seems like the Burmese government is getting ready for a huge offensive action against a lot of people,” he says.

Klein believes he knows the target. “From what my contacts are saying from inside, they’re now trying to get rid of anybody who is opposed to the government. Everybody wants freedom. They want it to open up. They do not like this government, but they feel hopeless.

“Yesterday, we told you about the thousands of tribal people who have been forced out of Burma or killed. Klein says it’s nothing short of genocide. The question is: Why won’t the United Nations do something about it? Klein says, “The reason the UN Security Council won’t do anything is because China and Russia are backing the military government.”

Klein says there could be a “huge genocide before the election in October. They’re going to slaughter a whole bunch more people. They’ve been killing the Karen, and more and more of the tribals are being killed now. I’m just concerned that there are going to be millions of people slaughtered — is the world going to ignore and act like it’s not our problem?”

While the world ignores what’s going on, Vision Beyond Borders isn’t. Klein says, “People have lost all confidence in their government. Even people are turning away from Buddhism. They’re looking for hope. They’re turning to Jesus Christ. There are some Bibles getting into the country, and there is a tremendous need for more Scriptures because people are open to the Gospel now.”

Source: Burma seeking nuclear weapons and more

Rwanda, Congo, Orissa, Burma — with a shrug, the world sweeps them under the rug.

A Christmas 1943 Gift

You may know we have to move.

Thus you may know there’s packing to do.

This evening Ruby came across this treasure from 1943, so I took a photo of me holding it:

a gift my Roth grandparents gave to friends for Christmas 1943

How it came into our possession, I no longer recall. I wonder if one of the recipients’ kin gave it to us.

Well, I also scanned it front and back, and thereon lies the rest of the story. Read it all

They Were Taught That?!

Check out these two excerpts from the 1691 New England Primer:

In Adam’s Fall
We Sinned all.

Thy Life to Mend
This Book Attend.

Where were the protesters and objectors and suers?

And the parents — didn’t they care?!

Where were the legislatures and the courts and the governors and the city counselors and the district attorneys and the meter maids?

What about equality and equal time and fairness doctrines for other religions and non-religions?

Didn’t they care separation of church and state?

And the poor children with such dreadful thoughts poked in their heads!

🙄

Ah, those were the days. No wonder the country then was in such poor shape. 😯

(And I suppose next we’ll hear parents spanked their children and made them be quiet at the table and didn’t let them play all rowdy-like on Sundays.)

Winning People

Alternate title: How to Avoid Being Avoidable

I’ve been thinking for a while about how some people have a “knack” for alienating others. Or if not alienating them, at least building walls or burning bridges between them.

So if you’re one of those, here are some things you — yes, you — should avoid in order to not flunk the “Winning People” part of real living:

Be critical of them or how they do (or don’t do) stuff.
Have a scornful or demeaning attitude toward them, even for “justifiable” reasons. 😯
Downplay their accomplishments or sufferings by raising up your “superior” ones. 🙄
Call attention to your accomplishments or your insights.
Make the conversation (if not the prospective relationship) primarily about you.
Hold them to your personal standards of whatever…and make sure they know it.
Pooh-pooh their personal standards and likes and preferences if you fail to meet them.
Be controlling of (and unjust with) those clearly under your authority.
Be demanding. (Hint: This is made worse when you have no “right” to be demanding.)
Be an ingrate.
Be impatient.
Be thin-skinned about criticism or less-than-complimentary input.
Be rhino-hided about criticism or less-than-complimentary input.
Be hyper-sensitive and imaginative (and then unduly inquisitive) about what other people say, do, think, imagine, and mean.
Have a Bah Humbug attitude toward this subject and this list. (No, really!)
Be disrespectful.
Fuss at and criticize and argue with your spouse in public…or in front of them.
Don’t apologize when you’re wrong or when you’ve wronged others. Instead make excuses. Or blame others.
Take a list like this…and put people on the spot with it (or with this subject as a whole).
Imagine I’m targeting this at you specifically. (Do you really think I’d be so careless or class-less? Especially in a wide-open public forum like this? Give me a break!) 😀 Also see #5. 😆

Is there more that should be said on so needful a subject?

Yup, I’m afraid so.

That’s what the Comments section below is about! 🙂

So if you want people to be around you or if you want people to look forward to being around you….listen up!

For all that I know (and for all that you know), some people treat being around you as something that must be done in order to “get it over with.”

Do you like being that kind of person?

Just askin’.

😉

PS: If you’re a Christian, this subject becomes even more important.

An Ominous Use of Facebook

I use Facebook, albeit with great caution and reserve.

But even that caution and reserve would not have protected me from a Gardes Maroc Maroc:

Muslim uses Facebook profiles to find and target Christians

But what if your Facebook profile were used as a weapon against you by Muslim extremists opposed to your Christian faith?

According to Compass Direct News, this is exactly what is happening in Morocco, where over 100 foreign Christians have been deported since the beginning of the year for allegedly “proselytizing.”

Facebook user Gardes Maroc Maroc collected pictures and information from Christian converts’ Facebook profiles, then posted 32 collages of the Christians, referring to them as “hyena evangelists,” “wolves in lamb’s skins” and accusing them of trying to “shake the faith of Muslims.” If the latter statement were true, the Christians would be guilty of breaking Morocco’s anti-proselytizing law and would face deportation or prison.

[…]

In addition to Maroc singling out several Christians, he also called for authorities to investigate the Village of Hope in Ain Leuh, where he claimed “foreign missionaries” were indoctrinating the children. This may be part of the reason the orphanage was raided on March 8 and 26 foreign Christians expelled.

Does this mean I will hide my faith online?

No.

At least not at this point.

Which naturally begs this follow-up question: At what point would I consider hiding my Christian identity online?

Surrounded

You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
—Psalm 32:7 (NKJV)

I read Psalm 32 this morning before reading this (which is why I chose to read Psalm 32):

Flying into a storm is a dangerous experience. The temptation is to fly by your instincts, or, as aviators say, “by the seat of your pants.” But as any pilot will tell you, that’s a prescription for disaster. If you rely on your feelings and instincts, you become disoriented….

We all face storms that threaten to confuse and disorient us. […] When you are blinded by life’s disappointments, don’t trust your instincts. Flying by the seat of your pants in the storms of life can lead to despair, confusion, and vengeful responses that make matters worse.

Read the rest: Instincts

I need that. Do you?

Socks. Blessed Right Off?

Yesterday morning the folks at Master Books Homeschool posted this question:

How is God blessing your socks off today?

So I took a photo of me:

Blessed?

I actually have a caption superior to that one, but maybe you’ll come up with it on your own.

Yeah, that’s right — if you have a good caption, please post it as a comment below. Especially if it answers the question.

Or if you would rather just answer the question, that would be great as well.