Atlas of the Real World

In my quick afternoon peak at the headlines on my yahoo page, I came across a new book called The Atlas of the Real World. It isn't your normal atlas. Rather than normal geographical maps, this atlas re-sizes each country in regards to different demographics like the amount of nuclear warheads or how many of its people were on the internet in 1990. The most intriguing to me were these two maps:

People who live on $2 or less per day.














People who live on $200 or more per day.













This should make us hurt. Does it?

Go here for more on the atlas.

Unsettled

I guess that one could say our nation at the moment is unsettled. We haven't been for some time. We're really in a downward spiral grappling for just about anything to slow us and stop the plummet. It's a scary time, espcially with an election in less than 1 month where, in my opinion, we're voting for the lesser of two evils.

But politics is not the point of this blog.

Within the church I serve, there are normally some ups and downs. That happens when you work with people. There seems to be a bit more wavering with people shifting from here to there, called by other jobs, better opportunities, struggling with life, and so on around here though. And so, we sit here scratching our heads, wondering if and when it will turn around.

I think the better mindset we can grasp comes from knowing that our God is still in control. That's a scary thing to lean on sometimes, but it is something to lean on. Probably, we should do more than just lean, though. We should be grasping and grabbing with everything we can, holding on for dear life. Granted, this should be a daily thing, not only when things are unsettled.

Psalm 33:16-22

No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all it's great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

We Wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Camping Out

Tonight is a special night. It's the night that I go to Great Lakes and camp out for Madrigal tickets. I'm actually here right now in the student mall. What memories it brings back.

Madrigals is a dinner drama that Great Lakes puts on every year at a church downtown here in Lansing. There's a full 4 course meal, a Shakespearean drama written by the English prof, and an a capella conert by a 12 voice choral group. It is a great evening.

Camping out has been a tradition for some time now. I used to camp out every year. It was a tradition that my roommate from GLCC, Matt Fallott, and I began in 1993. Sure, there were others that camped out before us like the old guy in his lawnchair, but it was our tradition. We camped out our entire time at GLCC. When I moved back to Lansing after seminary, it was a given that on the first Sunday in October, I was camping out, no matter what.

The last two years I cheated, though. I didn't feel like camping out. So, I would pay a student to do my dirty work and get my tickets. It just wasn't the same, but it worked. Unfortunately, she graduated last year. So here I am, out in my own lawn chair at the front door of the college, typing a post.

Sitting here makes me nastalgic. I can't keep my mind from running back over all the different camp out times. I can't keep my mind from thinking about my time in Madrigals while at GLCC--about how it would really set my mind on the Christmas season. I can't help think about the friendships that I built during those times in rehearsals.

Unfortunately, I'm the old creepy guy in the chair now. Great.

Mobius

In my lifetime I've owned a few vehicles. My first car was a 1986 powder blue Ford Escort. It was as cool as it could have been being powder blue. The sunroof helped it have some cool points. The 4 speed on the floor was good too, though it caused the tires to wear out too often because I was always being cool, popping the clutch and squealing the tires. Man was I cool back then. I bought the Escort when I graduated high school with the help of my grandmother and father. It lasted all the way to 2000, when I drove it to the junkyard and got $25 cash.

Even though I owned that car for 10 years, I never really became emotionally attached. Some people do that. They become attached enough to give their vehicle a name. For example, one of the students in the college age group I worked with in Tennessee named his truck "The Shagnasty". It was his pride and joy. It was the quintessential redneck truck, complete with a confederate flag. That's not me.

About 5 years ago, I purchased a 1991 Ford F150 Supercab truck from some guys who went to my church. They had been given the truck as a band vehicle. They were looking for some cash to pay for some recording studio time, I was looking for a good second vehicle. It was a win, win situation.

What I did not know was that the truck came with a name. As I continued to spend time with the guys from the band, I learned that one of them, Tim, grew up with the truck and had named it Mobius. He would refer to it as Mobius periodically, but I never did. However, as I spent time with the truck, putting in a new stereo, working on it periodically, and so on, I began to understand why she was named. She is a great truck. She has been a reliable truck--150,000 miles reliable. She has some quirks, like pushing the clutch through the floor to get her started, which makes her even more special. She's not pretty. She's scarred by rust, scrapes, a little battle wound here or there. But, that gives her character. I know, I'm a mess.

So, when the time came for license plates this past month, I splurged on her and got a personalized plate. It looks great on the truck, and gives her more personality, don't you think?

Interestingly, Mobius has been sick for awhile. The shifter on the transmission has been acting up. You have to go to fifth, then first when starting out the first time or two so you can get from second to third. Its slightly annoying, but it works. Also, the window in the driver's side doesn't go up. You have to be careful not to put it down all the way so you can grab a hold of it and help it back up. The latest happened yesterday. When I pulled into the church parking lot at 6:00am and parked, Mobius would not shut off. The key switch would turn, but wouldn't dis-engage the ingnition switch. Either the actuator or the switch itself is finally worn out. Not a good thing, in my opinion, not being able to shut off or start your truck. I ended up stalling it out and unhooked the battery cable to make sure it didn't kill my battery.

Needless to say, Mobius got an unwanted tow to the local repair shop this morning. Hopefully they will give her a little love and she'll live for a another day. Pray that she comes home better than before!

On a side note: To anyone who has borrowed Mobius over the last 5 years, I'll be taking donations for her repairs so she can continue to be a good Mobius for friends and family.