Retraining an old habit

On Sunday, our good friend Stephen Thrasher (comet smasher) was in town from Boston and came by for a visit. In the course of our very interesting conversation he mentioned that he had once memorized a few chapters of the Bible. To help him do it he wrote a program that would check what he typed from memory against the biblical text at Biblegateway.com. In this way he managed not only to memorize the words but even the correct punctuation as well.

Long ago I set out to memorize the book of James, but lost the habit along the way and never got past the first chapter. Well, Stephen sat down to the computer to see how much he could remember of his old memorization, and then challenged me to try and remember James. I didn't do all that well, but it sparked a little something in me, and I decided to go at it again. So, over the last couple of days I have rememorized James 1:1-12 (now in the NASB instead of the NIV as before), and I am finding it pretty easy and exciting too.

One of the great things about memorizing scripture is that you have to read and think about *every* word. A lot of times I'll read a passage and assume I know what it means, then never give it a deeper examination. But as I read more carefully, I see how much interpretation/meaning I have assumed and how much I really don't know or understand. Very exciting! Sometimes its like reading it all for the first time.

Of course, one of the tough things about this goal is that there seems to be so very many things all of a sudden that claim my time and thoughts. You might even call it opposition to my goal (I tend to think there is some after the nearly monumental effort it took to "find" the time and will to work on it today). But once the decision is made and the effort begun, it is so very rewarding.

Wanna try it? Stephen has so graciously permitted me to link to his program. Dive in here. Just select the book, chapter & verses, and version from the pull down menus then type away. When you click "check" it will display the correct text on top, with what you missed typed correctly in blue, then below it will display the text you typed with the errors & omissions in red. If you got it all correct, you will simply see the text with "Good Job" at the top of the page.
Happy memorizing!

Flippin' best scene on DVD right now...

It's awesome It's...incredible

For those of you who haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, I highly recommend it (but be sure you're in the mood for something offbeat). Kurt and I have several times laughed to tears quoting it to each other. The above still is from my favorite scene, the biggest surprise in the movie. Maybe I need a second hand dance tape--this guy's got the moves!

If you want the skills too, try clicking here.

Busyness and Joy

You would think that not having a job would lend me oodles of time to blog, but I think there is something in me that drives me to stay busy. And so, alas, I cannot claim any excuse that I do not blog except my own weakness. Busyness is not next to godliness, but I think I've picked up something of my American culture that goads me to behave as if it were.

But the other reason I haven't felt like blogging so much is that it feels like a very narcissitic endeavor. I don't like talking about myself so much. But if you all enjoy reading blogs, then maybe it isn't so bad as it feels.

I just spent way to much time looking at the Chronicles of Narnia teaser and behind the scenes stuff at http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html
This looks like it is going to be a really good film! And its not coming a moment too soon, either, cause I don't think I could've taken another December without a LOTR film to look forward to. Now Decembers are looking good again. I think this one is Arclight-Theaters-worthy; maybe they'll even play it in the Dome. Yea! I can't wait.

This morning I was reading Lewis' The Horse and His Boy. Its been awhile since I read through the Narnia books, and its fun to get into them again. There is something about this world he created that has a powerful draw on me, and I think I have finally determined what it is--Narnia is full of joy, a theme that was very powerful in Lewis' life. Reading about the adventures in Narnia makes me long for another, better place, a place that Lewis and all other believers are looking forward to. A place where we can walk with God, where everything is trully alive. There is a pervasive feeling of mystery in his books as well, as though you with the characters are longing for something wonderful that seems just beyond the horizon and somehow promised to you in the future. And I think that is how Lewis experienced joy, as a powerful urge for something more, that was there to be had one day in God's presence. Not the kind of urge that is strangling or oppressive, but a kind that is delightfully and powerfully compelling, one that gives strength even as it drives you on. It is perhaps most evident in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though this tingling of joy I think is in every book of the series.

But now back to that busyness business...I have a George Foreman grill, greasy cookie sheet, two frying pans and a heap of plates, bowls, and forks to clean and thereby reclaim my kitchen as a workspace and not a dump. And I should vacuum and make the bed and I'm sure there are a ton of others things I could obsess over....but then, I hear a book calling my name as well...