Salutations!

Dad's out of town again (I'm sure gonna be glad when this installation is done), Mama took Ethan and Joshua to piano, Caleb's doing his chores, Naomi's on the computer, and Isaac is hanging out. BJ and Uel are in Taiwan of course. Samuel called us on a borrowed cell phone in between Taipei and Nantou (camp site) yesterday (not sure what time over there) to let us know he had made it. BonnieJean really needs to update her blog.

Sometimes my laziness and procrastination just amaze me. I accomplished nothing yesterday except to hang my clothes, practice piano, do some calls for RCRY, clean my desk and backpack, and do four loads of laundry. Shameful!

As a family we've been reading Exodus. Last night we read about some of the plagues on Egypt. I wish I knew about when all that happened because it would be interesting to see how long it took Egypt to recover. Crops, livestock (including all the fish in the Nile), army, and firstborn son were lost. It's harder to tell how much damage the lice, frogs, and darkness did. And they lost their slaves. Betcha they were a non-entity on the global stage for a long time.

Here's a little brilliance from the brilliant James.

On the Surpassing Value of Being Saturday, January 22, 2005
I think sometimes about handicaps. I wonder what it would be like to be blind or deaf or missing a limb. I think of how different life would be, how many ways my life would change. I wonder now about paralysis and total unresponsiveness. You know, those people who some call "vegetables." Not the ones in comas, but those who are awake and still unable to respond, whose speech is gone, whose mobility is gone, whose eye contact is minimal, and who cannot do anything. Isn't being greater than doing? I've always liked to think that who I am is more important than what I do. What if who I am is all I have?

One aspect of friendship, and of social life in general, is doing things together. Whether that consists of attending an event, playing a game, or sitting around the dinner table and chatting, "doing" is vital to any relationship. Some young married couples wonder what will happen when they run out of things to do together. Will they get bored with each other? Will they drift apart because their common interests have been exhausted, played out to their full extent? Or they imagine each other's love is built on what they can do for each other. Will he still love me when I'm old and grey, she wonders. Will she stick around when I can't buy her all the nicest things, he worries.

Then I imagine a husband and wife in their late 80's, sitting on their front porch swing, enjoying the cool evening. They don't have to do anything. In fact, their age prevents them from doing many of the enjoyable activities they used to busy themselves with. But now their love goes beyond doing and touches into the depths of being. Being together is more important than doing anything together.

I believe the greatest act of worship is to be with God. Not to recite a prayer. Not to sing a hymn. Not to say a word at all. Not to perform good deeds. Not even to love your neighbor. To be with God is the greater choice because all other avenues leave open the option for hypocrisy; they can be performed without sincerity. But being before God leaves no room for false intentions. To be is greater than to do.

Th-th-th-th-that's all folks!