Not So Famous…

Ok, this one’s definitely not a rant, and it will definitely move to the Thought of the Millennium page as soon as I take the current TotM down. I’m putting it up here because it’s an important subject…one all Americans could really stand to think about.

So here’s what my week has been like. I work in MIS; that’s the computer department of Harris Moran Seed. Our job is to maintain people’s computers so they can get their job done and make the company money. This means desktop computers, servers, laptops, peripherals…everything associated with a computer. Normally, there are 3 of us to support 250 users spread all over the world, which isn’t enough, but we make do.

Well, the most recent developments are a couple of things that have made my days difficult. First, they are replacing the carpet in the south side of the building. This happened last weekend. This means that 13 people with computers need to be moved to temporary locations. Second, Harris Moran has something called the Annual Sales Meeting where a lot of the remote users meet and talk about…Sales stuff. 11 of the people that need to be moved are going to be attending the sales meeting, which is nice. However…

The sales meeting is a stressful time for MIS. Because these remote users are flocking to the sales meeting from all over the world, this may be the only time every year we get to see their computers. So a contingent of MIS people needs to be at that sales meeting. This also means 7am-11pm work days with few breaks, and lots of impatient people. The sales meeting is no picnic. This year, we are upgrading almost every piece of software on their computers to conform to the new specs we have created, so we needed to take 3 people to the sales meeting. Someone from Ops (3 people total) needs to stay here to support the remaining users, however, and that job fell to me this year due to my needing to be in town for school Monday night. So Monday through Thursday, I had to move 12 people to their newly carpeted cubicles, support the users by answering help desk calls, help walk-in users with unforeseen emergency problems, and be available as much as possible to help the Sales Meeting people to get computers upgraded and fixed. (Using takeover software.) This has made my week very stressful, but I had another MIS person (non-Network Operations, but helpful anyway! Ex-Ops, actually.)

This morning, I was planning on finishing the rest of the moves and then being able to answer help-desk calls the rest of the day until I could leave for Bakersfield. I was hoping to be able to leave early, leaving the last 2 hours of the day to my co-worker, since the last couple hours of a Friday are dead, usually. But this morning, she called letting me know she wouldn’t be coming in at all. Her kid was sick, and of course, she needs to stay home with him. I understand completely…family always comes first, as it should be! But suddenly, I am unable to leave early, AND I have no one to help support the users while I make the final moves. Stress level suddenly rises a couple inches.

So I call my wife and let her know the change of plans. I also started typing a message to my cousin, whom we are visiting in Bakersfield tonight, letting her know that we will not be able to make it as early as we thought we would. While I’m typing, I kind of jokingly say that “I guess God’s trying to help us avoid the wreck that’s gonna happen on the freeway. Just kidding, but you know, everything happens for a reason, and nothing happens that God doesn’t allow to happen.” All of a sudden, I am struck by a revelation. The Holy Spirit reminds me what the Bible says about God. And logic does the rest.

You see, God is all-powerful. We say omnipotent, but it means the same things. So first, God could do ANYTHING He wants, limited only by his attributes. (He can’t do evil things, because He’s perfectly good, etc.) Next, the Bible tells us God is all-knowing. (We say omniscient.) So He knows about everything. This brings us to the point I’m making here. If God knows something is happening, and is able to stop it but does not, then He is allowing it to happen. He didn’t necessarily cause it to happen, but he didn’t prevent it, and He could have. So what does that mean? Well, the Bible also tells us that God is sovereign. He has control of everything. If he wanted, my co-worker’s kid could be perfectly well. But He knows what is best for me (all-knowing), and he allows things to happen that we might not always see as good, even though He could stop it. (all-powerful)

So here I am, worrying about how late I’m going to get to Bakersfield, worrying about how busy I’m going to be now that I’m the only one here, and worrying about everything else, when God is trying to show me that He is in control. He knows how busy I am, and He knows how long it takes to get to Bakersfield from here. He KNOWS everything. He also knows just how much I can handle. And I know from the Jeremiah 29:11 that He wants to give me an “expected end.” He knows what His plans are concerning me! I want what He wants for me, and I need to just BACK OFF! Other verses that are good to remember when you’re trying to take control of your own life:

Proverbs 16:9 – “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

Proverbs 19:21 – “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” (Devices here means plans, or means.)

Let go…you can’t beat God, and He IS sovereign, whether you recognize that fact or not.

How is it that a cold, wet country can so capture my heart that when I read the description of a Scottish farmhouse, I get all misty-eyed? How is it possible that I can be so homesick for a land which I’ve never set foot in? In all my meager travels, I have never felt so homesick as I do when I read about, see, or think about Scotland. I miss my wife terribly when I am without her, but that is a longing to be with a person. Home is wherever she is. But something ties me to the land of my ancestors so strongly that years and generations of not being there have not dulled that ache. Not the mingling of my Scottish blood with the blood of other peoples, not the years of being in America…nothing has pulled me away from the land of misty moors and shadowy glens.

I envision a story of a young Scot forced to flee his homeland. You see, the hated English had been forcing the highlanders to stop wearing the tartan. The sound of pipes was outlawed. Being Scottish, it seemed, was no longer allowed, and many Scots fled the land of their birth that they may be Scottish in another land. Ah, but they missed their land. They knew not the blessing which they had been given while they yet held it in their grasp. They did not know how much they would miss their singularly beautiful land, and while they could now enjoy the skirl of the pipes, wear the tartan whenever and wherever they pleased, and be Scottish, all of that was less enjoyable than they thought it would be without smelling the smoke of peat fires and the heather moors, which added to their enjoyment. They fled to Canada, America, and Australia, bringing those nations the light that shone in their hearts, which was their love for their homeland. They continued to be Scottish, of course, but added a hyphenation to their nationality; my family became Scottish-American, and since they were in America, they would do as the Americans did. They joined in the melting pot. Soon, the Dows became Scotch-Welsh-German-Dutch-English. And yet…and yet…

I do not claim to be an expert on such things, but it seems to me that in a mixed family such as mine, some traits manifest themselves more strongly in some offspring more than others. I don’t know whether love for one’s homeland is a trait, but it has sprung up in me. Neither my father, mother, or sister care much about Scotland. My mother likes their music, sure, but none understand my homesickness for a land which I have never visited, let alone lived in. No matter how clouded with other nationalities a bloodline becomes, one will be born who will be a throwback to the earlier, more “pure blooded” nationalities. That one will be more one nationality than another. Though my ancestors left their homeland, their longing for their homeland lives on in me. My children may not inherit their father’s love for Scotland, but there will be another…My children’s children perhaps, I know not. But there will be one who will miss a land they have never visited. I hope that I am yet alive to get misty-eyed with them. Perhaps to share my experiences of being there once I am able to visit. But I most hope that I am able to share with them that there are other Scots abroad…and that though you may take a Scot out of Scotland, you can never take Scotland out of a Scot.

I don’t know that this is actually a rant. A rant usually denotes anger, and I’m not angry. A rant usually means that a person is complaining about something that has annoyed them, and while the topic of today has annoyed me, at this time, I’m just sad. I want to say something, and yet, this is the only real sounding board I have, so here it goes. It might find its way onto my main page when I feel the current Thought of the Millennium is old enough. Here it is: Who Cares? And I know that this was just a restatement of the title, but I get the feeling that there are a lot of people that say just that about a lot of things.

I’m not going to get specific on this “rant” because it is not my intention to piss anyone off. My intention is to explain something.

I have invited a lot of people to our Bible Study. Some have actually come and some have not. However, aside from one person who sort of migrated to our Bible Study through being friends with a couple of us, none have stayed at the Bible Study. Most people, it seems, just seem to want to say “Who Cares?” when told about a Bible Study that really gets deep into the Word. I say, “We study the Word in depth.” “Who cares?” “We stayed in Job for OVER A YEAR!” “Who cares?”

Well, I care, of course. And the rest of the regular and semi-regular attendees of the Bible Study care. And a lot of people have told me, “Well Chris, studying the Bible in-depth is not everyone’s thing.” You know what? IT DOESN’T MATTER! We are called to study the Word of God. We are called to learn about and know the God who called us. We are to have a desire to read the Word and know more about the God who made us. And if we do not have this desire, then are we Christians? What does being a Christian mean? Is someone a Christian if they go to church occasionally?…what about if they go to church every week? Does that make someone a Christian? No. I think what makes someone a Christian is whether or not they have the Holy Spirit living in them. Do they want to know more about Jesus Christ? Do they want to know more about God’s Revelation to man? Do they care? These things mark whether or not someone is a Christian. What pisses me off is that so many people don’t care. They want to say “We’re just this way”, or “I’m getting enough at church.”

So is our Bible Study too intellectual for people? Can they not handle the meat of the Bible? Do they have to have a certain IQ? I don’t think so. I think that the Bible is perspicuous. Meaning that the key doctrines of the Bible can be clearly understood by anyone that is a Christian. Anyone can come to our Bible Study and learn.

So when people choose not to continue coming, or they choose not to come at all, it saddens me. Not because we’re not getting their bodies in our study to inflate our numbers but rather because I invited them because I thought they might enjoy the Bible Study. I thought they might enjoy really studying the Bible and learning about God. And they said, in effect, “Who Cares?” Obviously they don’t. I do. But who cares?

Ok, this is just sad. I have been thinking a lot about the decay of modern society…it’s all around me, how can I not think about it? I see all kinds of idiocy and corruption. It’s starting to really get me down.

Today, I went and updated my Yahoo Messenger profile, which was about 2 years old. I just hadn’t been keeping it up. One of the things that I had done recently was gotten married, and I wanted to be sure I got that on there, because I am proud of my wife, and I am happily married.

So I go to the page, and I drop down the menu which gave me several options to choose from. Back in the day, it was: Single, Married, Do Not Wish to Disclose. Eventually, options like Widowed, or Divorced were added. This reflects a subtle change in how we view society. Originally, you were either married, or you were not. (Or you didn’t wish to let anyone know.) Eventually, with women gaining a more prominent place in society, the word “Widow” made it onto the list. I don’t really have a problem with that. My beef is further. After awhile, it became clear that these divorces all over society were not a fad…they were a trend. This I do have a problem with, but I’m not going to discuss it here. So Divorced popped up to allow these people to be categorized.

Eventually, some really specific choices were added. Single was broken up into little categories: Single, but Looking and Single, Not Looking. This reflected that some people choose to remain single, while others are actively looking…for something. Sex, a mate, a fling, a relationship; all of these things are what that first category is looking for. Then, to appease those in another category who were with someone but chose not to get married, they added, “In a Long-Term Relationship”. Now it seemed everyone was getting counted…or are they?

Today, I saw something that disturbed me. A new entry was added to the familiar list, and this entry was yet another category that I knew existed, but didn’t know that they had become so widespread that they required their own entry, and moreover, by adding this entry, we are normalizing such behavior, and what gets rewarded, gets repeated.

Married, but Looking…

WHAT? Now we are condoning this behavior societally??? Such immorality now has a socially acceptable category? What is this for? To categorize an immoral, ridiculously WRONG behavior, is completely unconscionable! Does this offend anyone out there? I don’t care. I am stating the truth, and to say this any other way would be to obfuscate the clear truth that adultery is wrong! I am sorry that you are offended about something so clearly obvious, if in fact there is anyone out there that feels that way. Such behavior and such a mindset is not tolerated by God, Who makes it clear in his Word that the institute of marriage is sacred.

So those of you who would put themselves in such a category should be ashamed at your weakness. Be ashamed that you are not willing to put in any work to make a commitment stick in your life. Does keeping your word mean nothing to you? When you were married, did you not vow to remain with your spouse through good times and the bad, etc? “’Till death do us part.” Does that mean anything to you? Or do you wish to cheat, while keeping your spouse? You sicken me. You sicken God. He knows of your infidelity, and while you may prosper for a season, that will be nothing compared to the eternity you will spend in hell.

Oh, do you consider yourself a Christian? You show me a faith without works and I will show you a faith BY my works. If I am to know you are a Christian, I will not know this by your words saying one thing while your deeds speak of other allegiances. By aligning yourself with this category, you show yourself a liar, and a child of the father of lies. Yet, though my words are harsh, I will not have you leave this page without knowing how you may turn from your sin and seek the face of the Lord God. He can put your sin as far as the east is from the west. Go and sin no more. Align yourself no longer with that category, and seek the Truth.

For those of you who are also sickened by this turn of events, please pray. Pray for those who would think about doing such things. Pray that people who are trying to cheat on or are actually cheating on their spouses. Pray not that they would stop such behavior, but rather pray that they would seek the Lord and by His changing their hearts, such behavior would cease. For of what value is their stopping this behavior without accepting Jesus as well? If they stop this behavior, their souls are still in danger of the fires of hell. Pray hard, Christian.