About two weeks ago our then four year old asked me, "Daddy, what's 'old school' mean?" I happily explained it as best I could for being a little blind-sided at the time, but I am thinking a lot about that lately.
For now, I ran into this article in today's update of the big EAA airshow in Oshkosh about an extraordinary long-time hero of mine - definitiely "old school" by any measure...
http://airventure.org/news/2010/100728_olds.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Rambling....
I can't wait to get old.
One of my running lines for a looonnngg time has been, "I started senility when I turned 18". Ben Franklin said it even better, "I am in the prime of my senility."
Some people have Irish tempers. Others have, well, grumpy, grouchy, snippy, whiskery, thorny, and don't forget sneezy temperaments. So, not exactly the personality that I wish I had - especially not the personality that my wife wishes I had - but honesty, brutal honesty is hard to keep to oneself as one ages.
I don't wish to offer excuses either. Well, except for coffee - and sleep. Sleep is a tough one now and then. I could go on about the subject of sleep for a very long time, but it's a lot harder to ramble when you have to type out your thoughts. It's pretty hard just to finish the sentences...
...that reminds me of a conversation that I had recently. Four of us were discussing various things, some important, some personal, some frivolous and one of the others mentioned that his daughter's yet to arrive baby boy would be named "Calvin". One of the men laughs, "You don't mean the Calvin with the cat?!!"
"No, no" he said. "Calvin, you know, the Reformer."
We all settled for a moment and I piped up, "I like R.C."
Granddad turned and looked my way, "Huh?"
"Like RC Sproul..." What can I say. I do like that. Maybe someday, I'll get to name a boy RC. Ryan Charles though - Charles was one of my grandfathers' names. No, this is not a "reveal"... OK fingers are tired... back to Sproul.
I have been reading RC Sproul for a long time. I have come to greatly appreciate his views on the Gospel and what it means to us. If you ever get your hands on his writings, then relish them. You can tell people you are a slow reader - that's what I do, but then, that's entirely true of myself. I read about three words per minute faster than I can type, which adds up to almost 18.
I once read that JFK could read up to 12,000 words per minute!
Some people talk about him in reverence, saddened to recall the images of that awful day. Others point out that he wasn't exactly a saint. We have our ways of perceiving things - I think its referred to as "subjective." Seeing things from our own perspective.
We perceive everything through a filter of ourselves. Circumstances, surroundings, whatever are OK, or deprived, or happy, or sad, or hungry, or whatever. Long term, we hope that someone will be nice to our legacy when we leave. Personally, that is one of my goals too; and I hope that there is something besides this nasty, grumpy fellow that cannot be pleased with himself.
So, that's where Sproul comes in. (and now my fingers are tired... ...go figure.) In reading Sproul, who is something of a student of Calvin several hundred years removed, I understand better those Scriptures saying that there is none that does good - not even one. He points at Hitler, perhaps the greatest of villains in our culture, that even Hitler likely loved his own mother and did nice things for her. I recall reading that Al Capone, one of the most notorious mobsters in American history regarded himself "a public benefactor". But we miss the point to look to these evil doers and think ourselves far removed.
It's not that I think that we are a hair's breadth from the FBI's Most Wanted List. It is that we, and everything that we do or touch is tainted, ruined by sin. Like a chalk mural in the rain, the paintings of our lives are obliterated with this awful sin. It has fouled all of mankind, and all of Creation.
But just when you realize that the ruined life is hopeless, God in His most amazing, yet often repeated miracle, shows to you the work of Jesus. He offers grace, forgiveness, peace and hope in one fabulous motion.
I remember the moment of my conversion. No, I wasn't "in the gutter" - I was seven. Yes, I know it was then, and not later in any of my later learnings. That is a good way to think of it too. Sproul wrote, perhaps quoting another, that conversion is not the result of our finding God; instead, it is the beginning of our finding Him. I like that for a lot of reasons, but put these two things together and, well I have gone for days pondering how nifty it is.
I have no desire to seek God. I have no ability to offer Him a "good" thing. My best is like the filthy rags that the Apostle Paul talks about, stained with sin and scarred with hurts. But He saw fit to reveal Himself to me. Oh, there really are no words... ...without Him I am helpless, but with Him... ...with Him... ...there is peace, joy - hope.
Glad to be typing now... I couldn't possibly speak. But it is a little hard to see the keys...
One of my running lines for a looonnngg time has been, "I started senility when I turned 18". Ben Franklin said it even better, "I am in the prime of my senility."
Some people have Irish tempers. Others have, well, grumpy, grouchy, snippy, whiskery, thorny, and don't forget sneezy temperaments. So, not exactly the personality that I wish I had - especially not the personality that my wife wishes I had - but honesty, brutal honesty is hard to keep to oneself as one ages.
I don't wish to offer excuses either. Well, except for coffee - and sleep. Sleep is a tough one now and then. I could go on about the subject of sleep for a very long time, but it's a lot harder to ramble when you have to type out your thoughts. It's pretty hard just to finish the sentences...
...that reminds me of a conversation that I had recently. Four of us were discussing various things, some important, some personal, some frivolous and one of the others mentioned that his daughter's yet to arrive baby boy would be named "Calvin". One of the men laughs, "You don't mean the Calvin with the cat?!!"
"No, no" he said. "Calvin, you know, the Reformer."
We all settled for a moment and I piped up, "I like R.C."
Granddad turned and looked my way, "Huh?"
"Like RC Sproul..." What can I say. I do like that. Maybe someday, I'll get to name a boy RC. Ryan Charles though - Charles was one of my grandfathers' names. No, this is not a "reveal"... OK fingers are tired... back to Sproul.
I have been reading RC Sproul for a long time. I have come to greatly appreciate his views on the Gospel and what it means to us. If you ever get your hands on his writings, then relish them. You can tell people you are a slow reader - that's what I do, but then, that's entirely true of myself. I read about three words per minute faster than I can type, which adds up to almost 18.
I once read that JFK could read up to 12,000 words per minute!
Some people talk about him in reverence, saddened to recall the images of that awful day. Others point out that he wasn't exactly a saint. We have our ways of perceiving things - I think its referred to as "subjective." Seeing things from our own perspective.
We perceive everything through a filter of ourselves. Circumstances, surroundings, whatever are OK, or deprived, or happy, or sad, or hungry, or whatever. Long term, we hope that someone will be nice to our legacy when we leave. Personally, that is one of my goals too; and I hope that there is something besides this nasty, grumpy fellow that cannot be pleased with himself.
So, that's where Sproul comes in. (and now my fingers are tired... ...go figure.) In reading Sproul, who is something of a student of Calvin several hundred years removed, I understand better those Scriptures saying that there is none that does good - not even one. He points at Hitler, perhaps the greatest of villains in our culture, that even Hitler likely loved his own mother and did nice things for her. I recall reading that Al Capone, one of the most notorious mobsters in American history regarded himself "a public benefactor". But we miss the point to look to these evil doers and think ourselves far removed.
It's not that I think that we are a hair's breadth from the FBI's Most Wanted List. It is that we, and everything that we do or touch is tainted, ruined by sin. Like a chalk mural in the rain, the paintings of our lives are obliterated with this awful sin. It has fouled all of mankind, and all of Creation.
But just when you realize that the ruined life is hopeless, God in His most amazing, yet often repeated miracle, shows to you the work of Jesus. He offers grace, forgiveness, peace and hope in one fabulous motion.
I remember the moment of my conversion. No, I wasn't "in the gutter" - I was seven. Yes, I know it was then, and not later in any of my later learnings. That is a good way to think of it too. Sproul wrote, perhaps quoting another, that conversion is not the result of our finding God; instead, it is the beginning of our finding Him. I like that for a lot of reasons, but put these two things together and, well I have gone for days pondering how nifty it is.
I have no desire to seek God. I have no ability to offer Him a "good" thing. My best is like the filthy rags that the Apostle Paul talks about, stained with sin and scarred with hurts. But He saw fit to reveal Himself to me. Oh, there really are no words... ...without Him I am helpless, but with Him... ...with Him... ...there is peace, joy - hope.
Glad to be typing now... I couldn't possibly speak. But it is a little hard to see the keys...
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Any ideas what this thing is?
On a short family hike - a walk by many standards - we saw this crazy looking flower. Well, I guess it is a flower. It looks a bit extraterrestrial... ...The Internet has been no help for me so far...
Edit: After originally posting this, I wrote to Mr. Smartyplants at The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center and got this response:
"Dear Ryan,
This appears to be a Clematis species and is, perhaps, Clematis columbiana, rock clematis, but other species are possible.
Here are links to more information and photos:
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLCO2
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Clematis+columbiana&title_tag=Clematis+columbiana
Thank you for your question.
Best wishes,
Nan"
Thanks to Nan - I am relieved of this nagging question in my brain...
Edit: After originally posting this, I wrote to Mr. Smartyplants at The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center and got this response:
"Dear Ryan,
This appears to be a Clematis species and is, perhaps, Clematis columbiana, rock clematis, but other species are possible.
Here are links to more information and photos:
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLCO2
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Clematis+columbiana&title_tag=Clematis+columbiana
Thank you for your question.
Best wishes,
Nan"
Thanks to Nan - I am relieved of this nagging question in my brain...
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Economics 101, Reagan's Address to Joint Session of Congress, 4/28/1981
I miss the humor, the clarity and the truth...
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