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Saturday, October 23, 2004

Until the bitter end

Quite some time ago, my husband and I decided that we should sit through all the credits at the end of a movie. In the words of the Muppets: Hey, they're all related to somebody! So at the end of the movie we saw today, we dutifully sat through the ending credits, while other less-enlightened theater-goers got up and left. Obviously, those who were still sitting around us already knew what was coming. The movie we saw was Napoleon Dynamite. No comment. But there was an entire scene at the end of the movie that no one would have known was there, unless you'd been subjected to ... I mean, had seen the movie before.

Number one: someone please clue me in to any possible meaning for this movie! Other than extremely exaggerated loser characters.

Number two: my take-away value from this is that sometimes you get a surprise just by being patient. By sticking it out until the bitter end. I imagine in days to come I'll repeat some line from this movie and think it humorous, but right now? Not. Hmmm.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

It's a Disease!

No wait, it's another personality quiz! Just when you were getting comfortable with yourself, another IQ test, personality quiz, enneagram, or HR tool comes out. Some of them are pretty accurate, and some are just downright crazy. Now, you have to be a certain personality type to even take these tests, so the results are skewed right there. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people. To get a true representative sample of the population, you'd have to FORCE some accountant types to take these quizzes, because they will most likely feel it is a waste of their bean-counting time. But do people who are drawn to online (and paper) tests get along with each other? Hmmm, I have a theory. Mostly, yes. Because they have a fundamental desire to understand the human psyche in common with one another. BUT, on the other hand (besides wearing a glove) they are also potentially stuck on self -- always digging and never quite coming up with the final answer -- who am I, really? So, please let me know... did you click on the link? And if you did, what type are you???

Monday, October 04, 2004

Thou Shalt ... Covet

To be guilty or not to be guilty, that is not a question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to have coveted and lost, or to have caused covetousness ... is also not a question. Both apply.

Christians routinely use the jargon of "I covet your prayers." Admittedly, I loathe that phrase. And it doesn't even stand to reason, since we are called in the Ten Commandments not to "covet." So, please, friends, choose another phrase.

On the other hand, I am horribly guilty of coveting. I see a BMW convertible sportster race down the road and think -- wow, I wish I ...

Or someone tells me of an inheritance, or a new and bigger home, or even how well they slept last night! And pow! I'm hit again with how covetous I can be.

On the third hand, I (and I presume several others out there) am also guilty of causing others to covet. When one (meaning me) shares a good fortune, aren't we potentially causing others to wish they had that same good fortune?

Somebody help me out here. We share our pain and ask for prayer. We share our joys and ask for corporate praise. But we have to search our hearts for the wisdom to know whether our motives are pure or not. In the meantime, I think it is best to just keep my mouth shut.