Random thoughts

1. Good thing I took like 3 years of French in high school. Very useful. Good thing I didn't take something like Spanish and then move to a city where 90% of the city speaks Spanish about 95% of the time.

2. Actually maybe not speaking Spanish is kind of a good thing. On one hand, the entire universe for me now is completely foreign. Everywhere I go, there is usually only one person, if that, speaking English. At work it's a little more, but still most people at work speak Spanish to each other. So for me, the universe is just non-stop, high speed gibberish. On the other hand I don't hear bad language anymore. Well, I could be hearing it, but if I am, I don't recognize it.

3. I feel extremely peaceful most days. I assume that comes from church activity and a lot of prayer, but it's not anything I really noticed at all until today. Today a co-worker blew up on an email about a small issue that she turned out to be wrong about. I read it, basically yawned, sent it to my vendor and said 'hey there, can you look into this?' The vendor researched it and found out it was all OK, but asked me why I hadn't freaked out about it. She said my predecessor would have. All I could say was 'life's too short to be constantly freaking out about everything.' But in reality, I didn't freak out because it didn't produce that kind of response in me. Is this what maturity feels like? Or a coma?

4. I never really wanted to be a laid back, nothing really gets to you kind of guy, because it never quite seemed like those people could take life seriously or relate to anyone in a realistic manner. The hymn is correct that says "So wake up and do something more than dream of your mansion above." I don't know what that hymn is called, just that I change the lyrics at the end to "Doing good is a pleasure, a nice bit of leisure" and I pronounce 'leisure' the British way, like 'leasure.' What was I talking about again?

5. When does the idea of meeting Jesus stop being terrifying? I'm fairly sure I've repented of most anything I can think of throughout my life that I did wrong, but what if I forgot something? I'm sure I probably have. How do you repent of things you can't remember? I suppose at some point mercy makes up a bit of it, but I definitely take the 'cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance' stuff to heart. Hm. Maybe the McMurdies (my near-perfect in-laws) can put in a good word for me if they arrive first.

6. I'm currently reading a book by Douglas Adams, the guy who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. It's a compilation of interviews and small bits of writing that he did that were published here and there, and in it he talks about reading a book on evolution that convinced him there was definitely no god and that anyone who thought so was foolish or mistaken. It's rather incredible that this actually works on anyone. It's the equivalent of convincing someone that there is no sun and all that bright stuff floating around every day is just your neighbor's tanning bed.

7. I really don't see how people that have babies can believe there's no god. Babies leap into existence with a completely distinct personality. Emme is only 4 months old but she absolutely has a very well developed array of preferences and mannerisms that she didn't get from any of us. She's sweet but not at all snuggly. She is extremely alert and frequently cranes her head around in uncomfortable positions so she can follow where the action is. She prefers Jan to me, and Maddie to both of us. Clearly someone created her. Do people really think that our planet just spun into existence at the perfect distance from the sun to be hospitable and spins at the perfect speed to keep the oxygen from floating away and even has oxygen rather than nitrogen, and has drinking water, and has this complex ecosystem of plants, humans, and animals, that all live in balance and all have distinct roles, and things like palm trees and corn and watermelon and grass and elephants and all the moon...and it was all just a giant coincidence?

8. The popularity and belief in ghosts and other supernatural things must by definition prove that there's a god. If we're nothing more than the bodies we inhabit, then dying would shut everything down, making every single solitary ghost story, sound of footprints, doors being shut, EVPs, sightings, moving objects, every last shred of evidence a complete and utter fabrication or lie.

9. I don't know why some ghosts are allowed to come back to earth and do weird or scary or even benevolent or neutral things. I guess it allows for some level of proof in the afterlife, and thus is a part of the Plan, but it's something I'd like to understand better. Unfortunately, I don't think a single general authority in all of 200 years has probably ever addressed it.

To be continued!