A (Bad) Sonnet to 30

Oh, 30. How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways. 
I loathe thee to the dark and deep and dank 
Place in my life: the utter reaches of life's other bank 
That marks the end of Youth and Innocence. 
I loathe thee without recompense. 
Yet on thou cometh, and hope rising, sank. 
I loathe thee with resignation, as I walk the Aged Plank. 
I loathe thee with regret, as men wish for more time. 
I loathe thee with the impulsiveness untamed In my youth, and with a laundry list of things To Do Before 30. 
I loathe thee with a fear so common, yet unnamed 
That I'll be this forever - I loathe thee for catching me unready 
To pass this watermark! - and if God be blamed For time? 
I shall try to not fear thee so.

based on EBB's Sonnet from the Portuguese #XLII

http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilovetheeletmecounttheways.html
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Free Scoreboard Software

Ran across this thread in my search for scoreboard software last weekend. I do the web page for my church, and recently, began announcing the basketball games. Our scoreboard died, so I decided to project a scoreboard from my laptop onto a larger monitor. I could find nothing free last weekend, so I paid for the Golasso Basetball Scoreboard 2009. (about $50)

Then, I continued searching, because I wanted to modify the program, and ran across these 2 free Scoreboard programs that made me wish I had waited before spending my money! Hope someone is able to benefit from them.

1. http://www.acahoops.com/ (They have a program called Laptop Scoreboard v. 1.4)

2. BaileyVision Scoreboard for Windows -(http://download.cnet.com/BaileyVision-Scoreboard-For-Windows/3000-7427_4-10738114.html) this program is AWESOME! and free. I just found it today and will be using it next weekend. The nice thing I like about it as opposed to Golasso and the Laptop Scoreboard is that it has the Shot Clock and Time Out buzzers and game ending horn integrated into the program so i dont have to press a separate button. This one is just the most versatile of the free programs. Thank the Lord!!

There's also a free JAVA one I found, but I didnt have time to fully familiarize myself with it. I may later. Its here:

3. JAVA Scoreboard: (http://java-scoreboard.sourceforge.net/)

And finally, there's a several others that are not really up to par or for basketball per se, but an experienced programmer may be able to modify them.

4. Yahoo Scoreboard Widget: (http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/scoreboard)

5. ScoreMaster 2: (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mkellytecy/488186)

I hope this helps shorten someone else's search. I looked for days.

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Congressman John Lewis & Elwin Wilson: Real Salvation Should Remove Every Vestige of Racism

Just saw the story of Congressman John Lewis and Elwin Wilson on Yahoo. Amazing! Apparently, Wilson got saved.




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Fellowship is a Signal Fire: Light the Darkness!

Thanksgiving was outstanding! I totally do not jest. I have to say of all of the Thanksgivings I've had over the last few years (and they have all been great), this Thanksgiving has literally taken the cake. My family is always with me, so I always "feel" that safety, comfort and the love of home. However, this Thanksgiving, the feeling was almost tangible. I lay awake one night trying to conceive of a way to explain it, and it came to me: I felt a level of safety, security and restfulness that I had when I was a child.

You know those days when all is right in the world? Like that. In addtion to that we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the saints in both a Singspiration and Dedication of our new Church Building. The houses were packed to the brim (and it was probably a fire hazard!), but it felt like it did when I was young. It felt right. It felt right that people - souls - should pack into the House of God. This. This is how God's House should be.

It really touched me, as a person who has watched people who are close to me backslide from (and some return to) Christ. It is very true that salvation is a personal walk with Christ, and each one of us has to be very convinced that the going back of others does not cause us to lose our stedfastness. However, it is also true that there is a communal knowledge through the Holy Spirit - a fellowship that is beyond words. It is an unspoken brother/sisterhood, a silent and shared understanding and bond that exists between saved people. And when someone leaves God, they break that bond. The closer the person is to you, the greater the loss.

We mourn the loss of each one, and though we continue, there is a sadness there - a desire that that person who left God will return to share with you again the joy of living saved and worshipping God. It is not a sadness of being shaken yourself, but more the sadness that comes with saying goodbye.

When people leave God, they are by association leaving you, because God lives in you. And though from an outward perspective things may seem to remain the same, the truth is, inwardly they have chosen a path that you will not take: and so your pathways diverge. You travel on without them. They travel on without you. You may even meet at later destinations and find that you hardly know or recognize them anymore.

The heart mourns for that realization long before it actually happens, because you know deep down inside that the island you're drifting on, and the island they're drifting on will in years to come take you worlds apart.

And so, in birth from these necessary melancholy thoughts, is the joy of coming together again with those you love in God's House. The joy of fellowship is a satisfaction in a way that I cannot explain.

To me, a paramount joy in my life has been to worship God with my mostly saved family - to know that someone, somewhere is saved, and understands me. Each of us has to endure that hardship of being alone in the world, and facing the great darkness of a sin-sick world with just ourselves and God. We all have to go through that. We all have to experience being a lone candle, flickering against the enveloping darkness.

And we stand. And we stand. And we stand. But you know what is awe-inspiring? When you're standing there, all alone out on that limb, bravely flickering against the Darkness with Jesus, and suddenly you begin to see respondent pinpricks of light flashing out into the night. And suddenly you see that the night is bright with fires, and the soft glow of candlesticks are stretching out into Darkness. THAT is a wonderful feeling.

And so, I meant to say many things in this post but what I want to say now to any saint who needs it is that whereever you are, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

And what was so awesome about this Thanksgiving is that it reminded me of this scripture:

Psalm 133:1 :
[[A Song of degrees of David.]] Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It's good to fight the battles and stand alone with Jesus in your dark day (see 1 Corinthians 3:13), but its also good to worship God together in unity of the Spirit - and its good to know that you are not alone.

I've always been a fan of John McCrae's poem In Flanders Field, but I've been wanting to revise it to fit my thinking for some time. This time, I've made an attempt:


in gods house the holy few
fill the building pew on pew
to mark their passage; and outside
the solemn battle rages wide
scarce heard, scarce seen to naked eyes.

we are the saved. short days ago
we were lost and did not know
that we were loved and now we stand
in gods house.

take up our quarrel with the Foe:
to you from pilgrim hands we throw
the torch: be it yours to hold on high.
if ye break faith with Him who died
we shall go on, though you go
from god's house.

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U.S. Space Program Defunct?

A pal mentioned to me that the Space Program was defunct - and as usual, I hadn't been paying attention. Recently however, I saw an article regarding the Endeavor, and looked it up - sure enough, all the scary details are there. This episode touches on the subject.



Addition: Obama was first elected Senator in 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/science/space/06gap.html?_r=1&fta=y

CRS Report for Congress: Overview of Bush's 2004 "Vision For Space Exploration"

CRS Report for Congress: The ISS and the Iran Non-Proliferation Act
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Hobby vs. Area of Expertise

Ok - here is the second episode of the AudioJournal or ALog! Its only 5:28 minutes this time, and the discussion is about the difference between a Hobby and an Area of Expertise. Thoughts?


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What About Eternity?

Ok, so this morning I had the idea of doing an AudioJournal - kind of podcasty sort of a thing. So here it is. Its somewhat long, but its the first attempt since the old days, so bear with me while I edit myself!! :D


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