30. November 2007 by James.

Elbow-room is even more important if you’re in the middle seat. (Continued from Charming Carlita’s Elbow) I picked a window seat when I booked the flights.  I was assigned 17F – a window seat near the back; almost back where they stuff poor people – the “steerage” of today.  People like me who were too stupid to book their flight 6 months in advance, or have less than 250,000 frequent flyer miles.  Now I’ve been re-assigned to 19B – a dreaded middle seat – in “steerage”.  They dropped Neil Armstrong in a specific crater on the moon in 1969, but they can’t figure out to keep me in the seat I was assigned two weeks ago. 

They should stagger people by body size when they seat us.  Fat/Skinny/Fat, or Skinny/Fat/Skinny.  I’ve been in the middle when it’s Fat/Fat/Fat and don’t want to do that again.  All you have to do is add the letter “r” and there you have it. 

This situation is where elbow-real-estate cunning and savvy makes the difference between being the meat in a Fat sandwich or being on the top layer of three-cupcake pyramid.  I prefer the latter, but the prospect of the former makes me head to the counter with my ticket and beg for an aisle or a window seat. 

The stern-faced lady at the checkout counter with the graying hair pulled back in such a tight ponytail I can’t figure out how she can even open her eyes has already told me “every seat is taken, unless you want to pay the $29.95 upgrade, it’s impossible”.   But this person at the departure gate smiles and says “Sure Mr. Blowers, would you like a window on the left or right side?”  They can build a space station and toss in a bunch of Ruskies and Yanks together, but they can’t coordinate between the check-in counter and the gate counter.  Either someone is lying, or the computer system at United Airlines is still using punch cards.
 

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30. November 2007 by James.

The “sign-of-despair” says “DELAYED - UNITED 309 - DENVER - 1:51PM - NOW 3:10″. 

The sign is not the red scrolling lights like in Denver terminal, but a LCD flat panel.  It’s very attractive, with a picture of a clean, half-empty jet flying through the friendly skies. Like most everything related to airline travel today, the marketing does not come close to reality.

Mr. Confused Frown on His Face is not here, so I’m saved from whistled Beethoven in my left ear.  However I’m challenged to explain why the most advanced technology in the world, run by the most advanced air traffic control systems, still can’t get an airplane from point A to point B without frustrating the entire load of people, and still claim that its a rare occurrence, even though it happens to me at least 35% of the time.  Contrary to the marketing campaigns; this is NOT the friendly skies.

I’m in the boarding area of gate B4 in Des Moines, but it could be any airport, even the newest, cleanest, most advanced ones.  Could they make the waiting area seats any more uncomfortable?  Not only to sit in but the military barracks way they are arranged?  Playing footsie with a flustered floosie from Florida who insists on leaving her bags in the 12-inch aisle so you have to step on her painted toes, foretells a wonderful journey today. 

I’m convinced that the cold steel armrests of the always-blue prison-style seating – with an inch-and-a-half strip of fake leather – are specifically designed to create pain and discomfort for the traveling public.  An inch-and-a-half! And there are two of us contending for elbow-real-estate.  My elbow needs more than an inch-and-a-half of real-estate, but now I’m unwillingly snuggling up with Charming Charlita’s elbow while she chows down on a chorizo and chips from the fast food Mexican booth manned by Abdul Mohamed Fitzpatrick and his cousin Fazil Ahmed Jihad. 

The contention for elbow room in the waiting room is good practice for the coming turf war on the airplane where the consequences of losing my spot on the bigger two-inch elbow landing spot on the seat divider is far more severe. You can’t just get up and walk around, and if you lose the elbow-war on the aircraft, Charming Charlita will most likely stake her claim on your lap with her hairy, sweaty elbow, where she’ll share her chorizo crumbs with you whether you want them or not. 

I have a strategy to win the elbow-estate turf war; I learned it from Jon.  First, I stake my claim by getting to my seat first and planting my elbow firmly where it’s most comfortable and doesn’t intrude obtrusively into the rib-space of my soon-to-be sitting neighbor, and then close my eyes.   If on the other hand I get beat in the race to stake my claim, I have this plan . . .

I’m still in the Des Moines boarding area, the late flight is landing and people are beginning to mill about staring intently at the sign-of-despair, challenging it to announce another delay. The rising tension of a hundred people unsure of their evening’s fate with connecting flights and parties and dinners they might miss is strong enough to smell.  I can’t describe it, but I can smell it.

I’m writing this blog, and multi-task-mapping my strategy to win the elbow-turf-war knowing I’ve been re-assigned to a middle seat, when the smell of tension goes away in a snap.  I can’t sense the tension any more.  I look up from by beat-up Gateway laptop and see people milling around in front of the window facing the now-landed aircraft.  Nobody is deplaning, nobody is crowding the counter or forming a line, nobody is furtively glancing at the sign-of-despair, a couple of people even politely smile at each other as they share the same window view. 

Jon, who’s supposed to be in the bathroom as I watch his bags, sends me a text message.  “No wonder the delay”.  I stand up and leave our bags unattended - for some reason I know they will be OK. 

Six men in military dress uniforms create a hedge for a red carpet that unrolls from the open cargo door to a golden vehicle.  At first I think it must be some politician come to sucker the Iowans with vacant promises of “more of this and less of that” before super-Tuesday, but then a better view reveals a golden hearse. 

I’m griping about a delayed flight and insufficient elbowroom, and here are the remains of one of our military.  Passengers reverently and respectfully watch the whole sequence of unloading the casket.  Amazing. The military precision.  The dignity.  The finality.

We may have the crappiest air transportation system in the world, but here’s a hundred people standing tall for just one of our fine soldiers killed in some brainless, messed-up, waste-of-life, hole-in-the-earth country.  I wonder how this soldier lost his or her life.  I hope it wasn’t wasted tracking down some unshaven loser who delights in blowing up innocent things and people just to make a point.

The smell of tension is gone.  A few people make eye contact, even smile at each other.  A couple is crying by the water fountain. 

The flight will begin boarding in 15 minutes.

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29. November 2007 by James.

Further review of the 3:16 endzone ad post is required based on my wife’s expressed disbelief that I would “even post such stuff….!”

Today’s Evangelicals and Fundamentalists must be honest about this one.  In spite of the danger of being labeled a “heretic”, Christians must be strong enough to ask who God is.  The danger of crossing the line of Trinitarian doctrine and belief has prohibited many from asking questions about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  We must be strong enough to ask, but we must also be strong enough to answer the question.  Reasonable thinking people need to have some sense of foundational belief that surpasses “because I told you so”.

For God so loved……  (See the verse again at biblegateway.com)

The question I posed in the previous post was:

God - who does this mean? God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit?  Did Jesus the Son so love the world that he gave himself?  Or did God the Father so love the world that he gave himself?  Does the Holy Spirit give the Son or God or himself?

OK.  Asking this question might prompt some to label the post as heretical and dismiss the question as sophomoric or “pithy”.  However, many young believers that I have had the pleasure of discussing “God” things with has stumbled over the doctrine of the Trinity.  

NEW BELIEVER:

So…. God is not Jesus?

OLD BELIEVER:

No, God is Jesus and Jesus is God.

NEW BELIEVER:

How could God have a son, a “begotten” son, which implies that he was created, and if God is eternal, how could someone that is created be God, and really… how could God create himself?  …he wouldn’t be eternal then would he?

OLD BELIEVER:

Where’s your faith?  Maybe you’re not really a believer after all.  You can’t start off by questioning everything.  Faith is faith.  That means you gotta believe stuff that doesn’t make sense.  Our ways are not God’s ways.  You gotta have more faith.  Just wait until we talk about the Holy Spirit, who was introduced by Jesus at Pentecost.  When you believe that you’ll REALLY have faith.

NEW BELIEVER:

Oh, then how come the Christmas story says that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit?  That was before Pentecost wasn’t it?

OLD BELIEVER:

Oh ye of little faith.  You must really have a spiritual problem to be questioning things so much.  You need to repent of your unbelief!  You’re not really a believer man.  You are drinking milk when you should be on solids.   You need to grow up.

NEW BELIEVER:

Oh, I understand now.  Forgive me.  I won’t ask any more questions.

OLD BELIEVER:

Good for you, you’re now a believer.

If Christians are honest, they must acknowledge that the doctrine of the Trinity is difficult.  (Note that I didn’t say it wasn’t true before you send me to heretic hell.)  In this verse, Jesus speaks of God as a father and Jesus as a begotten son.  You can’t get around that…. unless you dig deeper into scripture and find places that say things like “I and the Father are one”, and that’s were we lose many new believers.   Or should I say, “That’s what people don’t believe”.  Does the scripture really propose that a person must believe in the Trinity?

Let me ask you this.  Is belief in the Trinity a requirement for entering God’s presence?  However belief that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, is a “gospel belief”.  Is the Trinity a difficult thing to understand? Yes.  Does this verse indicate that belief in the Trinity is a requirement?  You tell me in a comment below.

With this in mind, let’s read again that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…..”

If we try to put this into Trinitarian doctrine, we lose the new thinking believer.  So let’s leave it for future “maturity of the believer” and go on.

God.  The Father.  The father of Jesus His “born”, loved son.  Either the scripture says it or it doesn’t.  God the Father. Jesus -without an earthly father, born of God.  And - think about this - Adam - the only other human without an earthly father, born of God.  Hmmmmmmmmmmm…………………….  Something to think about.

So… the next word in the verse ……. reserved for the next post.

And why not register so you can get an e-mail when I update my post?

God so loved…..

Here’s the previous post:

“So - Does this adverb measure his love, “it’s soooooooooo big”, or is it a statement of “so…..” therefore, given that, because of….?”

In the next post we’ll dig into the word “So”.  Just to wet your appetite….. “So” doesn’t mean “soooo big”  it means - “here’s how”, or the “manner in which”.  Here’s the meaning - “God loves the world - here’s how.  He gave his son.”

Come back to see the reason that this is true.

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27. November 2007 by James.

“All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those toward whom it is directed will understand it … Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.” - Adolf Hitler

Hitler knew something about human nature that most people, especially Christians can’t seem to grasp. Hence the “bondage” of religious christendom. The religion has substituted paradise with hell by perpetuating legalism.

Don’t get me wrong…. there IS freedom in Christ … but not much of it in christianity.

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26. November 2007 by James.

Of all of the in-your-face biblical “told-you-so’s” - John 3:16 takes the cake as the most “duh” verses that Christians quote to convert people to their view of God.

What more could be said about the verse that is the pillar of Fundamentalist, Evangelical, Mainstream Christian, Catholic, Mormon, Jehova’s Witness and David Koresh ”proof”?    Here’s the verse in the “Authorized” (King James) version thanks to biblegateway.com.

Some questions should be asked - so I did.

“God so loved the world”.

God - who does this mean? God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit?  Did Jesus the Son so love the world that he gave himself?  Or did God the Father so love the world that he gave himself?  Does the Holy Spirit give the Son or God or himself?

So - Does this adverb measure his love, “it’s soooooooooo big”, or is it a statement of “so…..” therefore, given that, because of….?

Loved - Is this past tense ?  Does he still love?…to the same degree?  Was it the condition of the world at the time that he loved, or does he continue to love the condition of the world today?  If so, why not say Loves instead of Loved?

World - Is this geographic and geologic, nature? Or to people?  Perhaps the universe?

… that He gave His only begotten son…

Gave - What does this mean?  Gave only to those with open hands - ready to receive, or did he give to everyone? 

Only begotten son - Ummm.. refer to the question about God.  Does this mean Mary’s only son? If he’s “begotten” how is he eternal?

…that whosoever believeth in him…

Whosoever - Again is this limited only to a few?  Can people choose to be a whosoever?

Believeth - Even the devil believes - surely there is some qualification of belief?

In Him- Some versions say “On Him“.  In what he says, what he did, that he existed? Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, or just Jesus? On the foundation of Him?

…should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Perish - Die? Go to hell? Die for a while?  Experience the wrath of God? Whosover shall not perish, or everybody?

Everlasting Life - Live forever? Go to heaven? Live again? Be resurrected? Live until the second coming? Some versions say “age-enduring” or “of the ages” does that mean until the end of time? Then what?

Ok.  Surely there are answers to these questions.  But they are not easily uncovered.  Which version should we use to answer these questions?  Obviously the inspired words were written in Greek.  But who can interpret ancient Greek?  We’re now left with a challenge to our faith.  This challenge reduces us to “version wars” which detracts from our ability to dig deeper. 

Technology today has opened a plethora of study tools that open the Greek to the common student of scripture.  A Greek text with sublinear renderings of this verse is helpful and available from scripture4all.org and other sources. 

The answers are in the Greek text, not in man-made translations. 

My next post will open up the Greek text for word-by-word rendering and deeper revelation of this most promise-filled truth from the scripture.

Stay tuned.

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26. November 2007 by James.

Denver airport during a flight cancellation is mind-numbing. What makes it even better is the people who are convinced that the whole terminal - even the air traffic control system - exists for their own satisfaction and approval. “This is not Starbucks folks!” These airport employee types are NOT programmed to say YES to your every need.

The guy with the confused frown cemented on his face seems to think he’s at Starbucks and the people in the red vests are obliged serve him a triple shot Americano with a squirt of English Toffee for his troubles.  His girlfriend – sporting a blank stare – is playing “sucky-face” with him in a failed attempt to suck his frown off his face.  It won’t help much; he’d still be confused about his inconvenience.  “My flight?” he seems to be asking, “Cancelled?  How dare they?!”  He seems unaware that there are a hundred people sharing his traveling bliss.

He sits behind me.  I’m facing the counter with the red digital sign that scrolls, “FLIGHT 320 – DES MOINES – CANCELLED – MECHANICAL PROBLEMS”.  His back is toward me, and the counter, but he untangles himself from his girlfriend’s arms and looks over his shoulder at the red sign-of-despair as if it will instantly bring good news.  His face is in my space, next to my left ear.  He doesn’t seem to notice, so I adjust my position to clear his line of sight with the sign.  He doesn’t move, just stares at the sign.  After a while I’m uncomfortable in my “adjusted” position, so move back.  He doesn’t budge.  He’s now staring at my left ear.  I’m thinking he’ll soon give up, so hold my position.  He seems to be studying my ear-hair.  I’m not budging.

I figure if I talk to my fellow traveler Jon, Mr. Confused-Frown will get the hint that he’s invading, and get out of my space.  He puts his legs up on the chair next to him, leans back against the arm of his chair and settles in – studying my left ear that’s blocking his telepathic control over the sign-of-dispair.  I have a huge mole behind my left ear.  I hope he enjoys it.  I’m distracted, so my conversation with Jon is pointless.  I duck down again to clear his view.  He stares at the sign, controlling it with his super-powers to change – “YOU’RE NOW IN DES MOINES – THANK-YOU FOR FLYING THE FRIENDLY SKIES”.

I’m uncomfortable in my twisted crouch, so I move back into my seat.  He stares into my left ear – then starts whistling Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in D – my left ear is his only audience.  The air from his puckered lips puffs my hair.  I give up.

I shift to the front of my seat so he’ll blow his foul-smelling music into the back of my head – and maybe he’ll take a hint at my sudden movement.  Beethoven’s refrain was never so annoying.  He whistles beautifully – on key – good tone – vibrant rhythm.  My back is sore from leaning forward.  I lean back in my seat and move even closer to him.  Self-defense experts teach that leaning into your foe reduce his leverage and power – this should push him back.  The galloping part of Beethoven’s Fifth is puffed into my ear from an even closer distance.  Somebody else can have my seat – I’m going to the bathroom defeated.

I hope his girlfriend sucks Beethoven out of his musical mouth.

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