A Song

I was listen to a compilation of songs today and this is the first I heard.  It is called "A Prayer".  Words are by Euston Jones.  It was not what I expected listening to a song style connected with Lord of the Rings

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

I'll say a final prayer for
Those I care for
Who've kept my company

My destiny is clear
I'm dying to have you near
To me

Lord
I don't belong now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

I'm prepared to go
Divide my body and soul
Won't you

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

Have mercy, Lord
I'm told it's paradise
To have and to hold you

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

More Trends

Who would have thought that one of the top trends is a return to Calvinism.  But it's one of the things that TIME says is changing the world right now.  Here's a bit of the article

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."
The link to the rest

Trends

This week my blog will send you in other directions.  TIME Magazine latest issue had 10 ideas that are changing the world right now.  They are worth the time to read and reflect on.  So for the next few days links to TIME.  The first of the 10 ideas that are changing the world:  Jobs are the New Assets:  

Remember when jobs weren't worth your small talk? Think back a year or two. Picture yourself at a cocktail party or maybe picking up the kids from soccer. How did the conversation go? You talked about your house. A new deck! You talked about your portfolio. Gotta go small cap. Did you mention how much pleasure you derived from bringing home a steady paycheck? Probably not. "Land was valuable, and capital was valuable, and labor — who cared?" says David Ellison, a Boston-based money manager. "The attitude was, As long as I buy a few homes and invest in a hedge fund, I'm done. I can sit in my chair and watch football games."

Read the Rest

Waving Goodbye to organized Faith

Organized Religions Losing Believers In America
Reported by: Web Producer
Monday, Mar 9, 2009 @05:20am CST
Survey: Organized Religions Losing Believers In America
Americans are exploring a new spirituality according to a new survey.
The American Religious Identification poll is scheduled for release today.
It will say the percentage of Americans who label themselves as Christian has tumbled more than eleven-percent in a single generation.
The ARIS survey says almost all religious denominations have lost members since the poll was first taken in 1990.
"USA Today" quotes survey co-author Barry Kosmin as saying, "more than ever before, people are just making up their own stories of who they are.
They say, I'm everything, I'm nothing.  I believe in myself."
Among the survey findings: 15-percent of Americans claim they're affiliated with no organized religion.
While Baptists are represented by nearly 16-percent of the population the number is down from more than 19-percent in 1990.
The Catholic faith is claimed by more than 25-percent of survey respondents, down about one-percent from earlier polls.
Jewish numbers have dropped from one-point-eight-percent in 1990 to one-point-two-percent today.
Bucking the trend is the percentage of people saying they're Muslims.
That's doubled from three-tenths of a percent in 1990 to six-tenths of a percent today.
Some of the shift may be caused by an educational deficit.
Reverend Kendall Harmon, a theologian for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina says a couple once walked into his office carrying a yellow pad full of questions their teenage son had provided.
Among them: "what is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?"

Love those Rabbis

In the gospel of John, Jesus heals a blind man during the Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot].  He does it on the Sabbath by spitting in the dirt, making mud and sending the man to the pool of Siloam to wash his eyes.  (The pool of Siloam is where the water is taken for rituals pertaining to the Feast of Tabernacles --Jesus interestingly  uses this ritual water to heal.)  The fact he heals on the Sabbath causes the usual problems.  Is such a healing alright on the Sabbath, is it unnecessary work, etc.?  Part of the problem centers around whether it is permissible to anoint your eyes on the Sabbath.  Jewish belief relates contrary ideas about anointing an eye on the sabbath.  My favorite argument is between Rabbi Jehuda and Rabbi Samuel.  R. Jehuda said it was permitted to do so; R. Samuel declared it was not, but when his own eyes gave him trouble he asked the former if it was allowable, and Jehuda said it was so for others, but not for him!.  Love those rabbis.

Just wondering

In John 8 those in the crowd asks Jesus one of those questions that makes you stop and say, "Really, you asked that?"  And then you wonder what a really good answer might be.  Here's the question, John 8:48    “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

In the Midst of Economic crisis, global meltdowns--priorities

McMeltdown: Cops respond to emergency McNuggets call
From The Smoking Gun:

Angered that her local McDonald’s was out of Chicken McNuggets, a Florida woman called 911 three times to report the fast food “emergency.” Latreasa Goodman, 27, last Saturday called police to complain that a cashier–citing a McDonald’s all sales are final policy–would not give her a refund. When cops responded to the restaurant, Goodman told them, “This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one.”

Goodman noted, “I called 911 because I couldn’t get a refund, and I wanted my McNuggets,” according to the below Fort Pierce Police Department report. That logic, however, did not keep cops from citing Goodman for misusing the 911 system. Even after being issued a misdemeanor citation, Goodman contended, “this is an emergency, my McNuggets are an emergency.”