TU Cent Thoughts, 12-19-05

[greybeta]

Ferrett-sensei always told me that when you have something important to say on LiveJournal, always post it in the morning for maximum commentage. Monday morning is supposedly the best time.

Abraham was a lunatic. You know why? Think about it. Say I have a son. Fifteen years later, some “voice of God” tells me to sacrifice him. Uh, no? No I would not go and do what that voice told me. You know why? Cause I would be a lunatic. I would have to be batsh*t insane to go and sacrifice my son thanks to some “voice of God”. Even if I tried to do so, I would hope society would stop me. And lethally inject me (or, for my friends who oppose capital punishment, sentence me to prison for 666 years). And if you think I would be lunatic in today’s age, Abraham would have been considered the ultimate example of batsh*t insanity in his day and age. To sacrifice your only son would have been considered suicide (wait, didn’t Abraham have Ishmael…). God has that right to test us, but I am just saying that I would fail because I do not have Abraham’s blind faith.

I went to the Christmas Candlelighting Caroling at my church last night. It was pretty awesome. Everyone had one candle. At the end, Pastor Ford took one candle and lit his wife’s candle in the choir. Soon the choir’s candles were lit and the deacons were working on the pews. Soon all the pews were lit and everywhere you looked somebody was holding a candle. We all know that one candle can light many other candles, but it was mindblowingly awesome to see that principle demonstrated in person.

I am working on getting my one hundred icons up sometime this week, complete with an explanation of each one.

Purposely misquoting someone is lying. It’s a good thing that lying isn’t a sin in certain situations.

Convo of the Day

[D2 walks up to an apartment door and opens it without knocking. He looks around and sees a few people preparing to watch the Cowboy Bepop movie.]
D2: Yo.
Luke L: Hey, Daniel.
D2: Hey. Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve ever met the lady next to you on the couch before.
Elly: Hi, I’m Ellen. The knocked up one.
D2: …
Mike: Yes, Daniel, she’s four months pregnant.
D2: Oh. Nice job, Luke.
Luke L: Thanks…
D2: [turns to Ellen] Sorry, what was your name again?
Elly: Ellen.
D2: Ellen? Like Ellen Degeneres?
Elly: Sigh, yes. That’s why I insist most people call me Elly.
D2: Alrighty then. [Looks at Mike with knowing eyes, each understanding that they are both thinking of Elly from Xenogears]. So, you are without a job again Mike?
Mike: Yep, I signed the paper that said I didn’t want to work at Wal Mart anymore. I can reapply in 90 days if I really want to.
D2: So you’re under the “I don’t have money so I will do whatever you tell me to for free food” obligation again?
Mike: Yeah…
D2: Okay, come with me. Bring your laptop if you want the Romancing SaGa FAQ.
Mike: Okay.
Luke L: Wait, where are you guys going?
Mike: We don’t know, but if you give us money we’ll go to the place of your choice.
Luke L: [Hands D2 two fives] Get me two M&M McFlurries.
Mike: Two M&M McFlurries. Got it.
Elly: Wish I had pickles.
Luke L: Uh…
D2: It’s perfectly normal for a pregnant woman to desire pickles with their ice cream.
Mike: Yep.
D2: Okay, let’s get some food.
Mike: Let’s.
[D2 and Mike go to Mickey D’s. D2 forgets what Luke wanted. Mike remembers for him. They order the two McFlurries, plus their usual. D2 orders two cheeseburgers, while Mike orders two double hamburgers, mustard and ketchup only, no cheese and the rogue’s customary coke with no ice]
D2: [Looks at intricate scene sculpted into the brick on the side of a McDonald’s] Um, like, isn’t that a waste of time, money, and effort?
Mike: Dunno. Dun care.
D2: Dude, it’s McDonald’s!
Mike: (laughs)
D2: What’s so funny?
Mike: (quoting from the Romancing SaGa FAQ) If you liked OgreBattle, Final Fantasy Tactics, Growlancer, ChronoCross, Legend of Mana, Suikoden, Radiate Stories, Star Ocean, Seiken Densetsu 3, or Civilization, you’ll like Romancing SaGa.
D2: Cool.
Mike: Daniel, I’ve played through ALL of those and I liked them all.
[On the way back, D2 spots a grocery store. He parks in the lot and tells Mike to watch the car. Mike nods as he’s downloading the Chrono Trigger OST from Daniel’s flash drive and reading the FAQ for Romancing Saga. D2 runs in and comes back out in two minutes. D2 is unfamiliar with the north side of town and forgets where he should turn. Mike remembers for him. They soon arrive at Mike’s apartment.]
Mike: We’re back.
D2: Yep, and here’s your McFlurries.
Luke L: Thank you guys.
D2: Also, I have a Christmas present for you.
[D2 reaches into a bag and pulls out his present.]
Elly: SQUEEEEE! THANK YOU!
[Elly grabs the five dollar pickle jar quickly and hugs it like it’s her baby.]
Luke L: I didn’t know…
Elly: You are going to have to make a lot more of these midnight runs for me.
Aaron: You’re a good man, Daniel.
D2: I am a white mage, after all. A heretical white mage, but a white mage nonetheless.


Quote of the Day:
Overhead at law school…
2L: If I ever become a public defender, I think I would strangle three-fourths of my clients on account of their stupidity.
Prof: Actually, they would be the ones doing the strangling. They have more practice doing that sort of thing.

Links of the Day:
wicked_wish's realization that she was a liberal helped me understand why I am a heretic.
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Colts perfect run inevitably ended. Dungy to use backups to avoid injury. Steelers shut down the Vikings. Bengals rolling along. Cowboys lost an ugly game. Jags might make playoffs thanks to lax schedule.

Can the Clippers really keep this up?
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Ogrebattle was one of the hardest SNES games ever. I never beat it. I believe anime Mike said it took him a month to beat it (he beats games within one week on average).
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You say that Abraham was a lunatic for listening to God, for being willing to sacrifice Isaac for God. I would beg to differ. Instead, I would say that Abraham was listening to the Lord God Almighty, acting on faith, and living in obedience to Him. In short, this story sets a great example for us in many areas – faith, obedience, love.
I don’t think anyone actually questions whether Abraham had faith. Abraham is widely recognized throughout the Bible as a man of great faith. Even Paul uses Abraham as his example of a person living by faith, and being declared righteous by it (Rom 4:3). We see in Gen 22:2 that God tells Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and sacrifice him to God. The thing to remember here is that God also told Abraham back in Gen 15:5, we see that God told Abraham that his descendents would number as the stars. Now Abraham had to be wondering on the three day journey to Moriah how God was going to provide Abraham with more descendents, but he had faith that God would provide.
I also see Abraham praying all the way up the mountain, “Please, God, don’t take my son away from me.” However, Abraham never stopped moving. He continued up the mountain, saying as Christ did, “However, not my will be done, but yours.” Abraham relied on God through his faith, and obeyed God.
But what was Abraham really doing when he was willing to sacrifice Isaac? What was he really saying about his relationship to God? Abraham was saying that he loved God more than any other. He was saying that God was the priority in his life, and that everything else on earth was a gift from God. This was God’s test, and this was Abraham’s heart. Abraham knew that no matter his doubts, his misgivings, his fears, God would provide for him and love him, and it was for that reason that Abraham could give up his most beloved son.
You wonder why God couldn’t simply kill Isaac, but had to sacrifice him. To understand that, you have to understand the nature of Old Testament sacrifices. In the Old Testament, God expected sacrifices of the first-fruits at the beginning of the harvest. This was a sign to God that you had faith God’s ability and willingness to provide. Even though at the beginning of the harvest you had no idea how much food you would receive to sustain you and your family through the next year, you gave up the first harvest to God. In the same way, a sacrifice tests Abraham’s faith and obedience. Abraham was willing to give up the beloved of his loins, and God would provide and care for Abraham in the future.

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Cooking question: How do you prepare lasagna? What brand do you buy? What kind of rolls should I get with lasagna? What should I serve with lasagna?

Note that this will be my first lasagna, so I will not be going for the whole made from scratch thing. I’m just going to the local grocery store and buy something from the frozen section to put into the oven. I'm lazy like that. Oh, and I might need to feed eight or so people.

Comments

[tu-oboe-girl.livejournal.com]

Get Stouffers. It's really good, and you can get a huge pan in the frozen section for maybe $12-15. (Beware of cheap brand lasagna - it tends to be dry and otherwise just gross).

Serve a veggie and breadsticks with it. You can buy frozen breadsticks already buttered and seasoned, if you want to. You just heat them in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes. If you want an easy veggie, get canned corn and heat it in a pan on the stove. Add a 1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter per can and salt and pepper to taste. (You'll probably want to do 2 or 3 cans for ~8 people.)

[tu-oboe-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, salad would go great with it, too. My personal preference is Caesar, for which you should get a salad mix, shredded cheese, croutons, and salad dressing.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

K, thanks, Marie. :)

[wldntulk2knwwho.livejournal.com]

(referring to convo of the day)

You are a very good man D2. ^_^

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Which is to say I am not a good man at all.

[renough.livejournal.com]

You also have to realize the time Abraham lived in. He talked to God, for crying out loud. Remember in Genesis 18 when he whittles the number of righteous required to save Sodom down to 10?

What if you knew that God had just recently utterly destroyed an entire city!? Now, God asks you to do something incredibly difficult. Would you say no?

Times are by far different today. We don't get such overt circumstances. We don't get angels telling us to do things. In fact, the Bible warns against that *cough*Joseph Smith*cough*. I don't have time to type too much more, but with today's expectations, it would be crazy to get a direct command to kill your son.

Abraham knew and talked with the All Powerful Yahweh. He knew God had something better for him, and he held fast to the covenant that the two shared.

Also, pertaining to the last post. Saying you hate the Bible is a bit strong, in my opinion. I don't know your interpretation, but I think that it is exactly what God wanted to have said, and that He wouldn't allow His salvation message to get destroyed through history. Also, just because it doesn't give details such as Joseph wetting himself, doesn't mean that it did or didn't happen. And what is to gain of the little things like that? These were eyewitness or first hand stories told. When communicating the greatest story ever told, I think all the right details are in place. So, my advice is to be careful when saying you hate what God has to say.

[renough.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'm confused... I just read the last third of your post. Did you write that or was that a response from earlier from someone else?

[renough.livejournal.com]

Ah, and now I see that that is what Stu said... I didn't see the cut since I went directly to look at comments and read the post there...

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Okay, saying I hate the Bible is a bit strong. I suppose I have to continue my heresies tomorrow...

[thucyditron.livejournal.com]

I always thought that Abraham was a story to tell us something like, "Okay, we're not going to do child sacrifices any more. Humanity is past that now. You don't have to do it. Really, you can stop. Its not helping." That sort of thing.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, that's a good way of looking at it. Never thought of that before...