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02/24/2007: "Saturday Linkapalooza"
Although I do not have a lot to say about the individual links below, I still felt compelled to share them with you. They are good enough to mention, just not quite good enough to get their own separate entries.
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'Civilization' and Its Contents
This link is more for my own personal amusement than for sharing. I own the Civilization II game referenced in the article about the author, and play it about once per year. For me, a game can take many weeks, and it is a welcome escape every so often.
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Where Families lived in the US in 1920
I’m a minor genealogy buff, and I may be able to use this 1920 census information someday once I am able to get back into the hobby actively. It’s fun to see the march of my ancestors from the East Coast across the decades.
Just enter your last name – or any surname for that matter – and see for yourself!
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Discovery Channel :: News - Archaeology :: World's Smallest Bible Found in a Boot
I found this article interesting for two reasons.
First off, even under the best of conditions today, it would be hard to duplicate creating such a tiny Bible. I cannot imagine one that small! I could sit here at the PC all day and print out scripture in three or four-point fonts, but our paper is too thick!
Secondly, it’s a lesson that we should not mix Christianity with superstition. According to the article, the Bible-in-a-boot was meant for warding off evil. The Bible is our guide for every day life, but not a good-luck charm. Superstition only has power if you give it power.
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Christian Bible Studies: Bible Study, Bible Courses, Curriculum, Small Groups, Church Leaders, Sunday School Classes
To understand scriptural truth, Augustine says, you must have faith. "You are not required to understand in order to believe, but to believe in order to understand."
Had I understood this concept, I might not have run from the Holy Spirit for twenty-four years. Part of me rejected the Bible because I did not understand it . . . not that I was reading it anyway. What I have come to realize in recent years is that we cannot possibly understand the entire Bible anyway. So it logically follows that we have to give up at some point using our heads, and instead start using our hearts and spirits.
The article linked above is a thick itself to read, so you might not enjoy it unless you are ready for some concentration. However, I was simply struck by the Augustine quote.
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Quindlen: Write for Your Life - Newsweek Anna Quindlen - MSNBC.com
I may have mentioned before that I used to be an extremely prolific journal writer. From my Purdue years until early 2003, I wrote well over one million words in my private journal, not counting what I had posted on the personal web site I had from 1997 through 2000. Journaling was a multi-faceted blessing to me.
I could get my feelings out into the open. I was a man without God trying to find something that would act as God, just without strings attached.
I also wanted to record the activities of my life. I was fortunate to be able to travel around a bit once I moved to South Carolina, and the journal was a way to record the wonders of the new world around me.
Plus, I just enjoyed the creative aspects of filling up a blank page of paper. It was not just a matter of writing, it was a matter of telling stories using different voices, different fonts and font sizes, and even using different sides of my personality to argue with one another.
If I wanted to, I could pick up right where I left off somewhere in 2003, and start my prolific personal writing again . . . that is, if I wanted to. There is something holding me back from clacking away at a keyboard simply for my own use and amusement. Heather theorizes that at some point that year my subconscious needs had been satisfied, and there was no longer that burning need anymore. I’ve never been able to put my finger on exactly why. I do know that I did not enjoy my job in Lawrenceville, and I struggled greatly to the point where I was not dreaming anymore.
However, within two months of moving to Michigan, I was happy and dreaming again. So, why did the writing not come back? Again, only the inaccessible parts of my subconscious know for sure.
I still have this drive for creativity. That’s why Heather and I formed the family web site soon after we moved to Georgia, and that’s why I started up this personal blog just over one year ago. My writing in this blog is very different from my private journaling heyday: I write much less, I do not allow myself to ramble, and because I am a new man in Christ, I write about different topics.
I still need this outlet, and I thank you for being a part of it.