Recently my parents mentioned that they had just taken my siblings to a Basic Seminar.
...Ugh, I thought we were done with Bill Gothard years ago. I thought that we left ATI et al gladly, recognizing them as a cult and a vanishing memory in life's rear view mirror. Bleh...
My little brother will be thirteen next week, roughly the same age I was when my family joined those loonies, almost twenty years ago. I'll never forget the guilt and confusion all those teachings caused. I'll never forget how shallow I was and all the false pompus legalism I showed to those around me. It really greives me that my parents did not learn from this and now my little brother might have to struggle through much of the same.
Not only did they take my little brother and sister along, but my newlywed sister and hubby attended also. I hope they don't drag another generation of the family through this nonsense.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bucket List
On my way flying home from Buenos Aires to Chicago I happened to watch part of the movie Bucket List. The movie itself wasn't outstanding, but having Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson as the two primary characters did add a lot. Actually some of the commentary between the two was quite interesting, but I'm afraid that I don't really have the time to go into that right now.
In any case I haven't been too successful at coming up with a five year plan, so I though perhaps I could put down some of the things I would like to do in my lifetime. I will type them as I think them and perhaps reorder later, so they are in no particular priority.
1. Visit all 7 continents. (Six down, one to go as of 6-21-08)
2. Visit all 50 US States (Forty-Nine down, Vermont to go)
3. Cause significant positive change in someone's life.
4. Sail around the world. (Started sailing lessons, but I still have a lot to go on this one.)
5. Earn my pilot's license and instrument rating. (You'd think with all the time I spend in planes, I might just learn this by osmosis.
6. Live for a year in another country.
7. Understand God's love for me.
8. Write an income earning book.
9. Learn to play gutar and sing with it. :-) Don't get out the earplugs yet!
There's more to go, but I'll have to write it later....
In any case I haven't been too successful at coming up with a five year plan, so I though perhaps I could put down some of the things I would like to do in my lifetime. I will type them as I think them and perhaps reorder later, so they are in no particular priority.
1. Visit all 7 continents. (Six down, one to go as of 6-21-08)
2. Visit all 50 US States (Forty-Nine down, Vermont to go)
3. Cause significant positive change in someone's life.
4. Sail around the world. (Started sailing lessons, but I still have a lot to go on this one.)
5. Earn my pilot's license and instrument rating. (You'd think with all the time I spend in planes, I might just learn this by osmosis.
6. Live for a year in another country.
7. Understand God's love for me.
8. Write an income earning book.
9. Learn to play gutar and sing with it. :-) Don't get out the earplugs yet!
There's more to go, but I'll have to write it later....
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Today's favorite quotes.
"It's like trying to sell purple to a rainbow."
"Don't you think that's a bit of an overstated under reality?"
"Don't you think that's a bit of an overstated under reality?"
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Movie & Quote
I've just watched Into the Wild. Very, very interesting. I might have more to write later, but let's say that it has inspired thought and that makes me happy.
Currently I'm reading James Joyce's Ulysses. It's quite an expedition. Still struggling to take it all in, but I've a quote from it that made me smile.
"We feel in England that we have treated you rather unfairly. It seems history is to blame." Does seem like something an Englishman would say, doesn't it?
I would write more, but honestly I've had a little too much New Zealand wine.
- The Reflected Man
Currently I'm reading James Joyce's Ulysses. It's quite an expedition. Still struggling to take it all in, but I've a quote from it that made me smile.
"We feel in England that we have treated you rather unfairly. It seems history is to blame." Does seem like something an Englishman would say, doesn't it?
I would write more, but honestly I've had a little too much New Zealand wine.
- The Reflected Man
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Background
I'm on the the early train today. It's kind of a nice treat those days when I can head back a little early, even though I'm still working most of the trip. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy commuting on the train until I started my daily pattern.
It's so fascinating watching people, it's almost like visiting the airport there are people of all types and walks of life crammed together in a small space. It's interesting to watch people adjust to each other...it's almost like people settle themselves and just fade, changing from a view when they first step on to part of the overall picture. At each stop there is confusion and change and then the picture settles down for a moment.
In any case, to understand where I'm coming from and what I think, it's probably important to have a little background. I'm male, late 20s, single, once engaged but never married. I grew up in a very conservative wonderful family, in a very conservative narrow minded town. I was homeschooled and after high school, like every good homeschool boy should do, I started my own business. It was a technology business and its performance was exciting to me, but to be perfectly honesty, nothing that one could raise a family on. After several years I got tired of working hard for little money, no life and limited fulfillment, I joined the company where I now make a comfortable income in technology.
After some painful life changes in my early 20s, I started traveling extensively and really questioning the belief system in which I was raised. My this questioning was not out of rebellion per se, but rather that I had started to think. It's quite challenging to travel and keep a narrow mind. Culture seems an irresistible force to me, drawing my mind with the yearning to understand. It's like people who go to Africa thinking they can change it, when they are the ones who are changed.
This is such a bird's eye view, so many details skimmed over which I may revisit sometime. However I would like to concentrate for a while on the significant thought excursions which caused my change. I call them "thought excursions" because at the time, they were just a brief journey off my already straight an narrow path; my path did not really change until I had processed enough of them to made a conscious deviation from my life's course.
The train is approaching it's destination. I'll have to pickup later.
- The Reflected Man
It's so fascinating watching people, it's almost like visiting the airport there are people of all types and walks of life crammed together in a small space. It's interesting to watch people adjust to each other...it's almost like people settle themselves and just fade, changing from a view when they first step on to part of the overall picture. At each stop there is confusion and change and then the picture settles down for a moment.
In any case, to understand where I'm coming from and what I think, it's probably important to have a little background. I'm male, late 20s, single, once engaged but never married. I grew up in a very conservative wonderful family, in a very conservative narrow minded town. I was homeschooled and after high school, like every good homeschool boy should do, I started my own business. It was a technology business and its performance was exciting to me, but to be perfectly honesty, nothing that one could raise a family on. After several years I got tired of working hard for little money, no life and limited fulfillment, I joined the company where I now make a comfortable income in technology.
After some painful life changes in my early 20s, I started traveling extensively and really questioning the belief system in which I was raised. My this questioning was not out of rebellion per se, but rather that I had started to think. It's quite challenging to travel and keep a narrow mind. Culture seems an irresistible force to me, drawing my mind with the yearning to understand. It's like people who go to Africa thinking they can change it, when they are the ones who are changed.
This is such a bird's eye view, so many details skimmed over which I may revisit sometime. However I would like to concentrate for a while on the significant thought excursions which caused my change. I call them "thought excursions" because at the time, they were just a brief journey off my already straight an narrow path; my path did not really change until I had processed enough of them to made a conscious deviation from my life's course.
The train is approaching it's destination. I'll have to pickup later.
- The Reflected Man
Sunday, March 2, 2008
About Me
So I've Joined the world of bloggers. Why you say? I'm not entirely sure.
What I've come to realize is that books are like mirrors. We hold them up to our face to look deeply, to try and see who we are. Like mirrors, they rarely display us as we really are, rather our reflection is reversed, distorted and changed.
For most of my life, I've looked at my self through the pages of a book that has the same effect as a convex mirror, my self image compressed and restricted. I see this blog as my mirror, to reflect myself through my own words. As dirty as this mirror may at times seem, hopefully some clarity can come from from it, even if it is only to see my own tarnish as it really is.
I don't claim to be a writer. I'm a generalist and never had great attention to details. Through this I hope to improve, but one really does have to start somewhere, so why not here?
- The Reflected Man
What I've come to realize is that books are like mirrors. We hold them up to our face to look deeply, to try and see who we are. Like mirrors, they rarely display us as we really are, rather our reflection is reversed, distorted and changed.
For most of my life, I've looked at my self through the pages of a book that has the same effect as a convex mirror, my self image compressed and restricted. I see this blog as my mirror, to reflect myself through my own words. As dirty as this mirror may at times seem, hopefully some clarity can come from from it, even if it is only to see my own tarnish as it really is.
I don't claim to be a writer. I'm a generalist and never had great attention to details. Through this I hope to improve, but one really does have to start somewhere, so why not here?
- The Reflected Man
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