One of the downsides of maintaining a fish tank is that fishes tend to die easily...at least they do in my family. Having a cat around the house doesn't help. My daughter recently "won" two small goldfish from a local carnival, whom she affectionately named Fred and Felipe. Their initial home out of the plastic bags was a small clear acrylic container that held less than a quart of water, and they seemed quite vigorous during the initial moments under our care. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before our cat, Pepper, took notice of them, and on the following afternoon, Fred and Felipe had near-death experiences as the cat picked up the container by the handle with his teeth and spilled the fish onto the floor. Their lives were temporarily spared when my son happened to notice them flopping in the puddle and managed to scoop them back into the nearly dry container. The poor fish spent the remainder of their lives in our spare bathroom with the door closed to keep the cat out.
The feline incident was followed by a couple of relatively uneventful days, during which I was charged with feeding the fish, changing the water and keeping the cat out while my daughter was away for the weekend on a music retreat. Fred and Felipe didn't seem too happy, but I was glad that they survived my watch. Then things got interesting. A family friend had a bunch of guppies, and offered us several of them for our icthyologic collection. The bathroom now had a larger bowl, with Fred and Felipe sharing water with Guppy One, Guppy Two, Guppy Three, Guppy Four, Guppy Five and Guppy Six.
Fred and Felipe both died the next day, and it had nothing to do with the cat this time. A couple of the guppies joined the same fate within a day or so, and only two survived by the end of a week. At least we were getting pretty good at keeping the bathroom door closed.
It turns out that keeping fish alive is a lot more complicated than simply putting them in water, giving them food, and keeping them safe from four-pawed predators. Their livelihood can be severely compromised if the water is too warm or too cold, if there is too much or too little food, if they don't like each other, if some can be eaten by others, or if the water has too much chlorine, too little oxygen, toxins like ammonia and chloramine, or germs that cause fish diseases like ich. Fish wouldn't have a chance if their owners don't know what they are doing.
Thankfully, our "owner" is the God of all creation who spoke the the universe into existence, who knows our every need to not only survive, but thrive. Like goldfish and guppies, we are finicky creatures, and need clean air with just the right amount of oxygen, clean water, a narrow range of atmospheric pressure and temperature, food, shelter, sanitation, community, and protection. Unlike poor Fred, Felipe and the guppies, we don't have to worry that God will "forget" to take care of us or make mistakes.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:25-27)
"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:31-34)
May our hearts be overflowing with thanksgiving for God's attention to our needs, without which we will immediately cease to exist.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Knight Defends Tressel...Who's Defending God?
"Nobody, God himself, could not...."
Those words caught my attention as I scanned the radio channels early morning on 3/9/2011. What I heard wasn't from a religious or political station, but from an ESPN sports radio program. Bobby Knight, former college basketball coach at Indiana and Texas Tech, was defending Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel after Mr. Tressel was punished by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) for a certain rule violation. Specifically, some of the student athletes under his watch illegally (at least according to NCAA) sold for profit certain sports memorabilia that were given to them, and Mr. Tressel failed to notify NCAA officials of the offense in a timely manner.
So, what did God have to do with this? Mr. Knight suggested that the specific rule violation was relatively insignificant, and that the rules are cumbersome and confusing:
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I think if something like that comes up, it is not the most noticeable of rules. It's a rather obscure rule. And they'll say, 'well, he should know all of the rules.' Nobody, God himself, could not quote every rule in the NCAA law book. In fact, God would call on the disciples to decipher it for him." (from March 9, 2011 column by Erick Smith on usatoday.com)
I have never seen a copy of the NCAA rule book, and imagine that it must contain quite a monstrosity of regulations. However, to say that God cannot figure it out can be nothing less than blasphemy, as God is omniscient, and knows every word, thought, speech and dream that ever existed before it came to be. Although God made man in His image, Mr. Knight in turn made God in man's image instead, with limited knowledge and understanding, and needing help from his disciples. Sadly, while Mr. Knight's words drew many reactions and comments, exceedingly few expressed any indignation about his "God" reference.
It is of little wonder that when God issued the Ten Commandments, the first three were intended to protect His name:
"You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misues his name." (Exodus 20:7)
Mr. Knight will be responsible for these laws, and he will not be allowed to blame his disciples for not deciphering them properly.
Those words caught my attention as I scanned the radio channels early morning on 3/9/2011. What I heard wasn't from a religious or political station, but from an ESPN sports radio program. Bobby Knight, former college basketball coach at Indiana and Texas Tech, was defending Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel after Mr. Tressel was punished by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) for a certain rule violation. Specifically, some of the student athletes under his watch illegally (at least according to NCAA) sold for profit certain sports memorabilia that were given to them, and Mr. Tressel failed to notify NCAA officials of the offense in a timely manner.
So, what did God have to do with this? Mr. Knight suggested that the specific rule violation was relatively insignificant, and that the rules are cumbersome and confusing:
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I think if something like that comes up, it is not the most noticeable of rules. It's a rather obscure rule. And they'll say, 'well, he should know all of the rules.' Nobody, God himself, could not quote every rule in the NCAA law book. In fact, God would call on the disciples to decipher it for him." (from March 9, 2011 column by Erick Smith on usatoday.com)
I have never seen a copy of the NCAA rule book, and imagine that it must contain quite a monstrosity of regulations. However, to say that God cannot figure it out can be nothing less than blasphemy, as God is omniscient, and knows every word, thought, speech and dream that ever existed before it came to be. Although God made man in His image, Mr. Knight in turn made God in man's image instead, with limited knowledge and understanding, and needing help from his disciples. Sadly, while Mr. Knight's words drew many reactions and comments, exceedingly few expressed any indignation about his "God" reference.
It is of little wonder that when God issued the Ten Commandments, the first three were intended to protect His name:
"You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misues his name." (Exodus 20:7)
Mr. Knight will be responsible for these laws, and he will not be allowed to blame his disciples for not deciphering them properly.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Can't Smell This
"Good afternoon! Is this Jimmy? Hi, I'm Dr. Duh. Let me wash my hands first and then we'll talk, OK?"
As I greeted the shy pre-teen boy and his mother, I took a whiff and knew exactly why Jimmy was referred to see me for the pediatric gastroenterology appointment. The closed examination room was filled with an instantly recognizable stench of flatulence and soft feces mixed with sweat in the child's underwear. It was an odor that I unfortunately had smelled thousands of times before at work. After I washed my hands and resigned myself to being stuck in the room for the next half hour, I opened the patient's medical records in the computer, and the referral information confirmed my suspicions:
"Child with encopresis for 2 years, not responding to treatment. Parents very frustrated. Please evaluate and treat."
Encopresis is a fancy medical word that describes the condition of being unable to control one's bowels, and this usually leads to a smelly mess in the underwear. Kids with this problem usually start out with a history of constipation and not wanting to use the toilet when nature calls (particularly during school hours), and as the large intestine fills up with feces, the child eventually gets to the point of losing control and not knowing when small amounts of stool leaks into the underwear. Jimmy's mother was understandably frustrated as she described how the child would spend hours with the feculent smell on himself and not even be bothered by it. Jimmy would ignore his family's advice to change his underwear, use the toilet, or take a shower after having accidents, and his friends have started to nickname him "Stinky". Jimmy somehow had lost the ability to know when he dirtied his underwear, and also seemingly could not even smell himself.
After hearing the mother's account, and after briefly examining the child, I explained to the mother that Jimmy's apparent inability to detect his own soiling via smell and sensation is a very common phenomenon, as our nerves have a way of becoming "habituated" over time to a constant level of stimulation. In other words, if you smell yourself all the time, you will eventually not smell yourself anymore. It's the same reason why some people wear thick layers of perfume and not realize how overpowering their scents are, and why other people are better than us at detecting our own bad breath or offensive body odor.
In the same way, we are often better at recognizing others' shortcomings and offenses than we are of our own. We tend to judge and point fingers at another person without realizing that we are similarly guilty. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount includes the following exhortation:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
It is always good to give ourselves an honest "whiff" when we feel the urge to pass judgment on others, lest we are the ones with the stink.
As I greeted the shy pre-teen boy and his mother, I took a whiff and knew exactly why Jimmy was referred to see me for the pediatric gastroenterology appointment. The closed examination room was filled with an instantly recognizable stench of flatulence and soft feces mixed with sweat in the child's underwear. It was an odor that I unfortunately had smelled thousands of times before at work. After I washed my hands and resigned myself to being stuck in the room for the next half hour, I opened the patient's medical records in the computer, and the referral information confirmed my suspicions:
"Child with encopresis for 2 years, not responding to treatment. Parents very frustrated. Please evaluate and treat."
Encopresis is a fancy medical word that describes the condition of being unable to control one's bowels, and this usually leads to a smelly mess in the underwear. Kids with this problem usually start out with a history of constipation and not wanting to use the toilet when nature calls (particularly during school hours), and as the large intestine fills up with feces, the child eventually gets to the point of losing control and not knowing when small amounts of stool leaks into the underwear. Jimmy's mother was understandably frustrated as she described how the child would spend hours with the feculent smell on himself and not even be bothered by it. Jimmy would ignore his family's advice to change his underwear, use the toilet, or take a shower after having accidents, and his friends have started to nickname him "Stinky". Jimmy somehow had lost the ability to know when he dirtied his underwear, and also seemingly could not even smell himself.
After hearing the mother's account, and after briefly examining the child, I explained to the mother that Jimmy's apparent inability to detect his own soiling via smell and sensation is a very common phenomenon, as our nerves have a way of becoming "habituated" over time to a constant level of stimulation. In other words, if you smell yourself all the time, you will eventually not smell yourself anymore. It's the same reason why some people wear thick layers of perfume and not realize how overpowering their scents are, and why other people are better than us at detecting our own bad breath or offensive body odor.
In the same way, we are often better at recognizing others' shortcomings and offenses than we are of our own. We tend to judge and point fingers at another person without realizing that we are similarly guilty. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount includes the following exhortation:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
It is always good to give ourselves an honest "whiff" when we feel the urge to pass judgment on others, lest we are the ones with the stink.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Awesome
Humans seem to have an insatiable appetite for the spectacular and the truly awesome. During the NBA's 2011 All Star weekend, I recall staring at the TV monitor in front of the treadmill watching Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers leaping over a car and ramming a basketball into the net during the slam dunk contest. I'm pretty sure that he only did it once in front of the cameras, but I must had seen that footage over 20 times that day. Funny thing is, I will still watch it if the same video clip is shown today. We are similarly dazzled by the likes of Usain Bolt setting multiple world records during the 2008 Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps winning multiple gold medals in the pool, basketball stars executing perfect no-look, behind the back passes to trailing teammates for easy baskets, or a figure skater performing a perfect routine and receiving a perfect score. We admire them, we want to get their autographs, we want to touch them and shake their hands. We sort of...worship them.
Similarly, we are also easily awed by the wonders of nature when we stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, feel the cold sprays near a mighty waterfall or inspect intricate and grotesque rock formations formed by thousands of years of erosion. We stand in wonder looking up at tall skyscrapers and admire the exquisite beauty and agility of a damselfly by the pond. We delight in beholding something wonderful.
The tendency to be in awe appears to be an uniquely human trait among earthly creatures. Case in point, you will never see cheetahs lounging under a tree in the African savannah saying to each other:
"Hey, Chad! Check out that youngster there. That dude can RUN, man. Beautiful long legs, powerful stride, aerodynamic form, perfect position...PURRRRFECT! Yeah, I'd like to get my kids to meet him some day...."
God designed humans to worship Him, so when we stand in awe of something magnificent and bigger than ourselves, we are simply expressing our God-given worshipping nature, though often in a misdirected fashion. When we witness acts of incredible human skill, we ought to praise God that our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. When we gaze into the majesty of the heavenly host, we should remember that the heavens declare the glory of God. It is good for Christians to cultivate a God-worshipping heart, for when we leave this earth, we will be praising God for eternity. John recorded in the book of Revelation:
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
John also wrote:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!" (Revelation 19:6-7)
You think watching someone jumping over a car for a slam dunk is exciting? You ain't seen nothing yet.
Q: What is the chief aim of man?
A: Man's chief aim is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
(from the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
Similarly, we are also easily awed by the wonders of nature when we stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, feel the cold sprays near a mighty waterfall or inspect intricate and grotesque rock formations formed by thousands of years of erosion. We stand in wonder looking up at tall skyscrapers and admire the exquisite beauty and agility of a damselfly by the pond. We delight in beholding something wonderful.
The tendency to be in awe appears to be an uniquely human trait among earthly creatures. Case in point, you will never see cheetahs lounging under a tree in the African savannah saying to each other:
"Hey, Chad! Check out that youngster there. That dude can RUN, man. Beautiful long legs, powerful stride, aerodynamic form, perfect position...PURRRRFECT! Yeah, I'd like to get my kids to meet him some day...."
God designed humans to worship Him, so when we stand in awe of something magnificent and bigger than ourselves, we are simply expressing our God-given worshipping nature, though often in a misdirected fashion. When we witness acts of incredible human skill, we ought to praise God that our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. When we gaze into the majesty of the heavenly host, we should remember that the heavens declare the glory of God. It is good for Christians to cultivate a God-worshipping heart, for when we leave this earth, we will be praising God for eternity. John recorded in the book of Revelation:
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb." (Revelation 7:9-10)
John also wrote:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!" (Revelation 19:6-7)
You think watching someone jumping over a car for a slam dunk is exciting? You ain't seen nothing yet.
Q: What is the chief aim of man?
A: Man's chief aim is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
(from the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Hooded Falcon
My wife, son and I recently had the opportunity to tour the U.S. Air Force Academy campus in Colorado Springs during Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra's concert tour there (my wife and I were chaperones, while my son played in the orchestra). As the tour concluded, one of the cadet guides directed us to walk up the trail toward the visitor center and gift shop:
"...and as you enter the building, you'll get to see Destiny, one of the Academy's falcon mascots...and yes, you'll be able to pet her...."
Pet a falcon? Now that sounded kind of exotic. I've held snakes, touched tarantulas, and even allowed giant African millipedes to crawl on my arms, but I had never gotten within an arm's length of a falcon. I recalled seeing glimpses of a peregrine falcon in action during a bird show at Sea World in San Diego. After being entertained by owls, eagles and fowls of many kinds, the audience was directed to strain our eyes toward a pole over a hundred yards away where the falcon stood. I could barely make out the silhouette of a bird, and at the appropriate signal, it suddenly disappeared from view, and the air was filled with two high-pitched shrieks as the raptor buzzed over our heads, gracefully landed on the trainer's gloved hand, and the audience released a collective gasp of awe at the bird's speed and agility. Would a falcon actually allow a stranger like me to touch her?
Sure enough, Destiny, a gyr falcon, was standing on his handler's glove inside the visitor center, and as I approached, the handler moved the bird toward me so that I could touch her. As I stroked the soft, feathery belly, I noticed that her head was covered in a bright leather hood. I was informed that falcons have eyesight that is so acute that they can literally read print from a newspaper a hundred yards away, and because they rely so much on eyesight for orientation, covering the head with a hood would prevent the bird from being able to interact with the environment around her, and would calm her down.
Sort of like blindfolding and handcuffing a prisoner to subdue her. I felt kind of sorry for the "disabled" bird, but was also grateful that her beak and claws did not know where my face was.
We often act like hooded falcons when we are called to acts of Christian service and sacrifice. When asked to give, we worry that we don't have enough money, and fail to see that God is the ultimate provider of our needs. When asked to serve, we offer excuses that we're too busy, we're not good enough, we're not spiritual enough, or that God hasn't actually spoken to us about serving. We just stand there, paralyzed by fear, anxiety or ignorance.
Thankfully, God does not leave us "hooded" when He calls and sends his people to new ventures. While Moses led the Israelites in the desert, God's presence was visibly demonstrated as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As the Israelites were about to enter the promised land under Joshua's leadership, Moses told the people:
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)
Moses also spoke to Joshua:
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
Similarly, after Jesus gave the "Great Commission" to "make disciples of all nations", he offered the assurance of his everlasting presence:
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)
May our daily lives and service not be blinded by fear and anxiety, and may God be our vision and light. May our prayer include the words of the popular hymn:
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
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