I’ve been thinking of this place all year. One this last day of 2008 my heart is to spend some quantity time in Alaska at our cabin near Wasilla during 2009.

I do not have an atomic clock, partly because they are not really atomic, partly because I’m married.

That said, those with an atomic clock, a clock which synchronizes with one of the worlds atomic clocks will see a novelty this New Years Eve at 11:59:59 pm. The clock will display 11:59:59 then proceed to the next second which will also be 11:59:59, after which it will move to herald in the new year with 12:00:00 am.

It seems the world’s atomic clocks are far too accurate for this old Earth. The length of the day slows down at an irregular rate thus causing the Earth’s chronologists to insert an extra second every now and again. Since so many of our modern precision instruments (such as GPSr’s) rely on a constant and accurate time this cannot wait and happens every few years.

When is the extra second inserted? Between 11:59:59 pm and 12:00:00 am Greenwich Mean Time. Therefore most of the world will see their so called atomic clocks insert the extra second at a time other than midnight.

Just in case you are wondering, I ran across the definition of a second.

The duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation which corresponds to the transition between two energy levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology

And I thought it was one sixtieth of a second!

What’s the difference between running and choosing to do something different?

What’s the difference between deciding to put a grievance aside and stuffing it?

What’s the difference between extending a hand and insisting someone step up to the plate?

Aren’t there times when all these are virtuous and times when they are not? So, how does one know when something is a better option or not?

For example, if in an occupation that I’d rather not be in should I look for something else? All things considered I have no complaints, but my heart is not there. I have responsibilities greater than myself so I need to use wisdom in the decision process. It may sound easy, but to begin the process can have an intended consequence in that greater discontentment could result. Or worse yet, the green grass may be found, the farm bought and getting up close it may be more “Green Acresque.”

Another example, someone’s life is pretty rocky. Should I step in and smooth out the bumps or step back and watch those hard knocks? At what point would be be unkind and at what point would I be enabling continued behavior? To do nothing may severely impact many other people, but to do something may only delay the inevitable.

Yet another, I am wronged verbally, financially, emotionally, or physically. Should I overlook? Should I address it? Should I keep quiet and pretend it never happened? There is a place and time for all we do. How do I know if this is then?

The answers to important things seem to always be gut-wrenching. Why can’t they be black and white?

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.
Proverbs 12:15 – New International Version (NIV)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12 – New International Version (NIV)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 16:25 – New International Version (NIV)

It seems there is a lot said about doing what seems right.

What are we to make of dreams?

Some psychologists say that all dreams have meaning. That somehow in the often bizarre imagery lies the symbolism to our inner struggles, much of it occurring beneath the level waking consciousness. These hidden struggles which influence our waking decisions may only be revealed through the analysis of our dreams.

Yet other psychologists would say dreams are merely the physiological process of our complex brains filing, cross referencing and creating and index system of recent events for later recall.

We are told we all dream every night, typically coinciding with the 90 minute sleep cycle as we progress through various levels of sleep to the REM state and back.

So what’s the difference with the person who rarely remembers even dreaming to the person that vividly remembers dreaming multiple times every night?

My thoughts … I think both groups of psychologists are correct. Neither is completely correct, neither is completely incorrect. There are times when it’s clear that a dream has symbology and it should be examined as such and other times when we are simply re-hashing the events of the day, possibly filing them for future use. Maybe the later is all our brain is designed to do but through the wonders of creation we begin to ponder the meaning of these events and create a fanciful story. Maybe the fanciful story IS our retrieval system. Maybe the interconnectedness of thought and ideas is actually uses the story as the process by which the brain cross references events and makes sense of emotions connected with those events.

My questions. Who has the better memory? Who is more adjusted to everyday life? Has there been any study pondering not the WHY of dreams but instead the RESULT of dreaming?

The results of a recent survey regarding getting to heaven were released and the results were surprising, yet somehow confirming to what I see going on in our society.

52% of people that attend church weekly and consider themselves Christians believe that other religions also lead to heaven. This survey was conducted on the heals of another survey in which it was claimed the questions were too broad and misleading. The complaint with the original survey was that the questions could have been construed to ask whether the pollee believed Baptists, Presbyterians and Catholics could all go to heaven. Different in this case not having to do with core doctrine but denominational differences.

The newer survey was constructed to determine if 2,905 polled Christians as broadly as considering non-Christian faiths as possibly leading to heaven.

Interesting is the fact that the Bible, which is foundational to Christian belief, stresses the idea that there is only one way to heaven. Jesus himself said,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 – New International Version (NIV)

If someone holds that the scriptures are inspired and true and that Christ is not a liar, I’m not sure where the wiggle room comes from in American Christian thinking.

What is it about talking through an issue that gives it clarity? It can seem that I have wrangled with an issue in my head over and over, explored every possibility, and yet oft times when I say it out loud I see something I did not see.

Sure, discussing the said issue with another person can lead to different viewpoints but I am talking about something even more basic than that. There is no other person involved, just me and my thoughts. I can be in the car alone or walking down the street with the same result. Speaking it out loud often causes me to see differently.

The “issues” can be life goals, career, relationships or personal character issues. It doesn’t seem to matter, the phenomenon is the same.

I have seen others who struggle with issues such as forgiveness be advised to write a letter then throw it away. Many times these same people have struggled for years trying to forgive and not getting there but somehow writing a letter they know will never be read brings person the healing they are seeking. Muttering about a perceived injustice to myself has often brought me the realization that maybe I had a lot to do with the situation or at least helped me to clarify what the real issue is so I can address it vs. the red herring I thought was the issue.

So why does “getting it out” cause this? Thoughts?

I thought I posted something on ‘the economy’ a few months back but I cannot locate the original post. As I recall my assumed post asked the general question “What’s the problem with the economy?”

Sure gas prices have been rising steadily for the last 5+ years and other related costs as well, such as food and anything that needs transported between two locations. The new unemployment filings has cycled up and down, but always within a range, for decades, so I don’t put a lot of stock into that until it hits abnormal highs. The housing market has tanked and worse. Major lenders are failing. The bursting dot com bubble preceded these events and ended an era of unreasonable speculation and major corporate corruption. It’s not surprising that the economy, which was on sluggish footing, is grinding down even more as unreasonable speculation permeated the financial lending markets. It all seems like a natural progression to me.

But now it’s official, we’ve been in a recession for a year.

True, the looming financial crisis could sent huge ripples throughout the world if it’s not closely managed. But BEFORE all this came to light a few months back we were told time and again that the “economy is in the toilet.”

In the midst of the current economy we were warned by the media that Black Friday (the busiest shopping day of the year) would be the doomsayer of our poor economic times. Black Friday came and went. It saw a boost in sales of 3%-7% year over year. Those figures don’t bode well as a doomsayer of our times, so let’s say how these confusing numbers are no longer the indicator we thought they were.

Come on, either they are valid or not. I have no problem with the validity of any given statistic changing over time. But get real. If the statistic was valid one week ago it’s valid today. It’s convenient how something that is espoused as a fact can be overlooked or minimized when it doesn’t match the point trying to be proved. Of course the point I am referring to is proving how bad our economy really is. It’ll make the “recovery” even more dramatic!

Keep it up media, maybe you can actually start the panic you’re trying to incite and we can see “a downturn to rival the great depression.”

The Associated Press reports “Venice faces worst flooding in 20 years” with this photo on USA Today.

Venice flooded? This seems a lot like a tautology to me. It just seems a little odd to hear a report on a flooded city experiencing flooding.

How does one know exactly where to walk?

By the way, a tautology is: a needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clarity. A few examples would be “tiny little” or “widow woman.”

And what is the antonym for tautology? Oxymoron of course.