Is a real Christian always a conservative?

Decades ago I quit listening to Christian radio because of the right-wing political stance adopted by seemingly all stations. By accident I found a station that breaks out of the ranks of conservative craziness. My wife Lois has KLOVE preset and always on in the car. She usually drives the car and I take the truck.

I usually change the station right away when I drive the Taurus. I surf for a station that is playing classic rock. I know that rock is anathema to most Christians but I like what I like, be it the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, etc. I do not apologize for my tastes in music, which is eclectic, and personal. Anyway I was about to change the station when I heard the voice of a young woman who had called in, her voice quavering. She shared about abuses suffered at the hands of her mother. Mom had destroyed her self-confidence and self-worth, while unfavorably comparing her to her peers.

This struck a chord with me. I felt the young woman's pain, because I have been there. I suffered put-downs, mocking, unfavorable comparisons with my peers, all from my mother. I was transported to those humiliating times and tears welled in my eyes. I had to pull over in a parking lot off the highway to listen to the rest of the call.

The moderator responded in a soft, loving voice and told her that Jesus loved her and she was indeed not worthless. There was no sermonizing, no Scripture references, no condemnation, just compassion-genuine compassion.

Oh, to see that compassion in the rest of the (Christian) world, rather than the right-wing politics, the hatred of those "who are not like us," the smack-down preaching, the intolerance.

Love That Endures

From my office I view the world through a window above the porch. The sunshine is golden now and the shadows are long. It is not really cold but the savage westerly wind makes it so. The snowbanks are brown from the melting and record-setting warmth of the last few days. The predominant color is a dirty brown instead of the brilliant whiteness that accompanied the below-zero brutality before the thaw.

The same black Buick pulls up to the cafe and the elderly couple emerges in arthritic fashion as they have for years. They eat at the cafe at four o'clock each day. The man wears a black hat with a brim. It is made of some kind of fur. He reaches into the back seat and pulls out his cane, achingly slow. The collar of his black quilted coat is up and as he shuts the rear door his wife emerges from around the back of the car, shuffling in tiny steps. She joins her man and takes hold of his arm and they shuffle, leaning against the wind, to the cafe door.

Singularity

I'm talking about a technological singularity not the black-hole singularity of astronomy. The technological singularity is defined as the moment when technological change becomes so rapid and profound, it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. Is Raymond Kurzweil (Time,, Feb., 2011) correct in predicting that computer intelligence will surpass that of humans, thus ending the age of human dominion as we know it!

The curve of computer power vs.time has gone from a linear to an exponential acceleration. Kursweil predicts that by 2045 the exponential increase in computer power along with reduction in costs to produce that power will create an intelligence approximately a billion times that of the sum of all human intelligence. In just 35 years!

I still have trouble wrapping my brain around this. Computers will dominate the human race. Would that mean the end of war and greed, lust and violence? Would humans be completely subservient to a superior intelligence?

And yet, the artificial intelligence doesn't have a soul, the seat of passion and love and evil unless these factors are scanned into an artificial consciousness by an altruistic or evil human. Without passions, selfishness or other evils, without altruism, would artificial intelligence  remain a benign entity with the potential to be used for good or evil?

There is science predicting the extension of human life for indefinite periods. In these instances, those who have the means to take advantage of such a technology will exercise control over the world. Longevity will only be a means to an end, world domination through the use of artificial intelligence.

The human race watches TV, shops at the supermarket, drives cars, eats, drinks and engages in all sorts of mundane affairs completely unawares that the burgeoning technology will affect them in an unheard of and profound way. After writing this I will become enmeshed with the cares and chores of the day and forget about this, at least temporarily. The pace of life is so frenetic and intense that I cannot help but to do so.

What Really Matters?

I love to ponder the mysteries of the universe and how the earth began. I love to digest principles in calculus that I have forgotten. The writings of Steinbeck are currently captivating to me. These things I pursue to keep my aging brain from turning to mush.

Now a friend who has a blog asked how I would like to be remembered- for what I've done and mastered or as Fanny Crosby, writer of many hymns. Her grave marker said, "I have done what I could," or words to that affect. What humility!

I also read that people won't remember others for their expertise in sports or what kind of car they drove or the house they lived in. People remember a smile, an encouraging word; they remember a forgiving attitude and a giving attitude, or the opposite of the aforementioned.

Compassion, kindness and humility are the things that matter.

Mechanics of the Metaphysical

Mysteries take a lot of my processor time, that is the processor inside my skull. What was the molecular or electrochemical process that began life? I believe the Creator actuated the process but I am curious about the mechanics, the dynamics. What is the nature of the soul? Does it exist in the brain?I imagine an ethereal, ghostly entity that lives after we shed our earthly mantle; it is the essence of our being, evil and good. (We all are a mixture of evil and good.)

What changes occur in the brain to forge our personalities? Why am I a phlegmatic/melancholy mixture with a penchant for depression and night terrors while my wife is of a sanguine nature. Another mystery: how does she put up with me? 

I was mildly shocked to hear a friend say that he did not care for music. I thought that everyone loved some kind of music. Grieg's Piano Concerto #1   and symphonies by Sibelius and Bach and Mozart  play in my head as well as jazz by Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Beattles, Fleetwood Mac and many other songs spontaneously (but not simultaneously) play. At this moment the music is from my satellite radio subscription playing through my computer's sound system. (Sullivan's overture ot the Mikado). Why is music an integral part of my life? (While talking to someone Mozart may be playing in my head.)

While my brain swirls with metaphysical and physical phenomenon and music I forget where I laid my truck keys or I panic because my wallet is not to be found. I forget medical appointments unless reminded by the office of the doctor or dentist. Did I take my pill or did I not? Where is that damned W-2? I can't remember receiving it this year.

It's almost 11 a.m. and I'll be late for my meeting! 

See ya!

   

We do what we've got to do

I perched atop the front porch roof on Sunday afternoon to remove tons of dense, wind-packed snow. I worked rapidly to keep warm in the chilling north wind that was bringing more snow. The porch is thirty feet long and the depth of the snow was, give or take, three feet.  I am reluctant to start the task but the bedroom windows were becoming obscured by the snow, telling me the porch carried a dangerous weight.


Structures have collapsed in Ironwood over the years, including a portion of the silk-screen business  next door, a beer warehouse, numerous residences, garages and other businesses including a partial collapse of my dentist's roof during business hours. My appointment was not for that day.


I have (proactively) replaced the underlying structure of the porch roof and floor and installed new roofing and decking. Even an insurance check would not atone for the back-breaking work that went into renovation and repairs. It would not restore the circa 1900 detail of carpentry.


As I pushed snow off the roof I was comforted in my wife's efforts below. She was shoveling the porch floor beneath the roof on which I stood. She impressed me as a Proverbs 31 woman and discouraged my taking of any long breaks inside the house.


The cafe across the street was open and people in this small town are quite used to people standing on their roofs and removing the snow. Most  diners were not clad heavily, wearing only a light jacket with the zipper halfway open but they only had to get into their cars which they remotely started during their dessert course. It didn't bother me that I wore a blizzard parka with a heavy hooded sweatshirt underneath. Elk skin choppers with woolen mittens inside held the shovel. My Sorel boots with wool felt liners were deep inside the snow and I felt chilled, as I often do, since qualifying as a senior citizen.


The job was completed before dusk and we retired to the comfort of our wood heat to watch a movie. We each slept through parts of it  Seems to me that the same job did not tire me to this extent 10 years ago. I recall doing the job in an hour after Super Bowl III. The N.Y. Jets beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. Broadway Joe over Johnny Unitas. 


With Super Bowl XLV rapidly approaching I take Alleve after cleaning off the roof instead of going out for a few beers with buddies. 


I still have the garage roof to do. I'm hoping for a melt-down to take care of it.

Things Happen - Google Docs

Things Happen - Google Docs

Happenstance

Sometimes I ride a bumpy road,

On which I pull a heavy load.

I take it not in graceful stride,

For me it is the road of strife.

Is this God’s wrath made known

In cogs and gears and gaskets blown,

Failures in the stuff I own?

God’s revenge for sins I’ve sown?

What of the laws of science and nature,

Which God hath put in place,

To rule machines and beings and beasts,

Regardless of His grace?

I think it’s natural to worry,

To sit and rant the day away.

The heart within my breast in fury,

As trouble seems to have its way

_________G. Robert Nordling