Random Variables :: random thoughts deep and wide

It's Bush

randal — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 16:17:00 GMT

Kerry has admitted defeat.

The most decent thing he's done in 30 years.

Now we can sleep easy in our beds.

Poverty level?

randal — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 08:54:00 GMT

From a story on taxes:

"In 2004, HHS estimated the poverty level for a single person to be $9,310. For a family of four it was $18,850."

Do the math: that's $1545.83/m.

In Brazil multiply it by three to get reais: R$4712,50.

I know maybe one person here who makes that.

Nuf said!

randal — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:40:00 GMT

"We know who John Kerry is not."--Gary Aldrich

Lax

randal — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:41:00 GMT

I've been lax lately about posting, even when I'm sending items to UPLift or really have some to ponder. All these wonderful thoughts, events, and facts getting lost in the dust of the past. What a pity!

At least you can get UPLift. Click here and make it happen.

Emotion first!

randal — Tue, 16 Mar 2004 11:24:00 GMT

Seems churches, and even some New Testament congregations, have taken up the cry of French post-impressionist painter, Paul Gauguin, "Before anything else, emotion! Comprehension only comes afterwards!" I have not discovered the context of the painter's statement. Perhaps he wrote it thinking of painting, which would explain some things. Visual arts -- and especially cinema -- appeal strongly to the emotions. But the gospel is not visual but auditory, based not on seeing, but on hearing. And hearing is, above all, a comprehension activity. God wants us, before anything else, to understand. From that understanding will rise the emotions of sadness at our sins, joy at our salvation, happiness in our blessedness, peace in our security, excitement in our hope. If we look to churn the emotions before comprehension, inevitably the emotions will be the wrong ones, wrongly based, wrongly directed. As such, they will not last, and even if they last, they will crumble in eternity when the wrong comprehension is finally corrected -- but too late!