The fact that for decade’s beermats have been made from pulp-wood for very good reason, there has recently been a plethora of companies offering ‘fake’ beermats, in other words, beermats that are not made from pulp. Why does it really matter? Well these beermats are quaintly described as ‘constructed beermats’ that is to say they are typically made by gluing printed paper onto the top and bottom of board to create the “beermat”. Whilst this may look pretty and may even justify the description of a beermat, there the similarities remain.

Constructed beermats, or as the experts might argue, fake beermats, may act as an advertising medium, but because the print is onto paper, thee beermats are simply unable to absorb liquid without coming apart. Typically as the constructed beermats come into touch with water, the paper simply comes away or curls from the board, leaving an unsightly mess. In addition, when water liquid comes into touch with printed paper, most people already know the outcome, streaks of wet print!

So why do people offer fake, constructed beermats? For the most part, it is based on price, in the past it has been easier and cheaper to print short runs on coasted paper and then construct the beermat. This is because beermat board has to be printed on specialized print presses which can deal with the thickness of the board, whilst constructed beermats can be printed on virtually any press. However, some of the beermat companies have introduced printing practices that allow short runs of pulp-wood beermats, yes litho printed, full colour runs on pulp-wood board….in fact one UK company offers runs starting at just 25 beermats!

Why are fake beermats still offered? Well given they are considerable less useful that a genuine beermats and that there is a real and practicable alternative, perhaps it is profit, the only way to be certain is to ask the people that continue to push these constructed beermats.

Whilst in the past there may have been some justification in offering constructed beermats, in spite of the fact they had few, if any of the properties of a genuine pulp-wood beermats, it is difficult to justify now

Mainly I'm not keen because of the Broads.  I know they're an area of outstanding natural beauty and an amazing and unique natural habitat not found anywhere else in the globe.  That's great.  But, I'm not interested in boating.  Nor am I interested in the habitat of the Great Crested Grebe.  I think Bill Oddie has gone downhill since he gave up riding a trandem and being chased by giant kittens and took up twitching.  If we went to watch birds the only thing I would be doing would be watching Oscar's rotund little bottom as he whizzed off in hot pursuit of the Great Crested Grebe so that he could cuddle it until its neck broke.  We would undoubtedly have to end up paying a humongous fine, which would be rubbish.

Boats make me sick mostly. I spent much of my small life visiting my gran who lived near a river and falling in, off and under boats, boats which were crap and invariably broke down only once you were in the middle of the water way with a leisure cruiser up your arse and with no way of getting back to dry land except building a human bridge.  Boats are shit, and I do not like bobbing in any form.

I have to admit that when a person is very small and owns a fabulous pair of neon orange wellertons in which magical things may be achieved, splooshing up and down the river bank all day is a good thing.  You get to become hideously filthy.  You get to fill jam jars with assorted gloop, glop and other things beginning with 'g' any of which will probably give you a nasty infection if you sloosh them too near your mouth, eyes and nose.  You get to grub about with sticks and prod dead sheep carcasses.  You get to pretend to fish while your grandad goes hairless because you're scaring away all the actual fish.  You get to try and persuade your granny that really it would be excellent if she would just unleash you long enough to try and swim across to the other side, and it wouldn't take long, and you'd be back before you know it.  All jolly brilliant, when you're eight.

The river no longer holds the same appeal to me now that I am thirty six.  I'm sorry.  I know the magic has gone, and I am a jaded, cynical individual, but these days I do not yearn for things that look like Helicobacter Pylori in jam jars dying on my bedside table.  These days I yearn for Diptych candles and Paul Smith vanity cases.

The other thing about the broads is that it is full of pensioners wearing corduroy yachting caps who drive at three miles per hour over mini roundabouts whilst trying to fill their pacamacs with potted meat sandwiches and shouting at foreigners out of the window.  This is my main problem with the broads.  You can't tell that they're an area of outstanding natural beauty, because your view is constantly blocked by four trillion metric tons of jumbo cord and bri nylon that should have safety warnings all over it in case it all rubs together and causes a mass explosion of pensioners.  I don't know why terrorists are spending their time pretending to be elderflower cordial makers and creeping to the chemists for citric acid.  Rub two pensioners briskly together in Wroxham on a Sunday lunchtime and the place would be a fiery inferno in under twenty minutes.  Carnage. 

Many of them have facial hair, particularly the ladies in the group.  I have never understood why old ladies with facial hair don't trim it.  They always seem to let it go, and end up looking like angler fish with bits of oxtail soup stuck to their whiskers. Eurgh!  They wear rain hoods over their corduroy yachting caps.  They smell of lavender talc and cat wee.  I know that one day I too will be cramming a potted meat sandwich into my handbag and making an undignified tit of myself when my zimmer frame gets rammed in the aisle at Iceland while I pee my britches, but I don't want to be reminded of it yet.

So, this is why I don't like Norfolk.  That and the creeping and all pervasive influence of the evil Roy, who not only owns the entire of Wroxham and its environs but is now making headway in Norwich as well.  Soon it will be renamed Royfolk and the Royfolk Broads and his work will be done.  He will have a small power nap and then head off to destroy Suffolk in much the same way. It sends shivers down the spine.

Jason hates going to Norfolk because of the roads and the traffic.  We make great headway until we hit Norwich and then everything goes to hell in a bucket and we end up sat behind a mangel wurzel compactor for three hours until he throws caution to the winds and overtakes it on a blind bend, thinking 'even death would be preferable to this'.  We survive the experience only to find ourselves stuck behind the potted meat mobile.  We travel thirty miles in four hours and the children are disembowelling each other on the back seat while we have taken to playing the Ministry of Sound Summer '03 collection just to drown out the screams with a pumping bassline.

It always takes us over four hours to get to visit her.  We then have to spend several hours rebuilding the children and then turn around to repeat the process to come home.  Usually we stay in a hotel in Norwich, but since they didn't apologize last time when they glued a full length mirror to the wall and it came off in the night, shattering all over the stone floor and nearly slicing us all to ribbons, I've gone off it a bit.  Not sure why.

I used to go to Sheringham with my parents every year for about six years when I was little.  It was not popular then.  East Anglia was somewhere you went for punishment.  These days it is chi chi and shabby chic and people are queueing up to buy Cromer Crab and frolic in the icy wind whipping off the sand dunes.  When you get away from the broads to the coast it is wall to wall Cath Kidston and retro wellingtons with Afghan Hounds called Melissa pulling sleds full of children to the local deli for brunch.  It is chic.

My dad has professed an interest in going back to Norfolk for a holiday this year, to relive his days of yore.  He will be horrified.  Everything will be vastly overpriced and delicious and all the Wimpy bars will have shut.  I tried to tell him.  He wouldn't listen.  I had my eureka moment.  I thought: 'What if we have a lovely holiday cottage with mum and dad?'  This way the kids would get a summer holiday despite having spent our money going to Canada at easter.  This way we can drop in on Jason's mum throughout the week and not have to cram it all into a fraught weekend of death.  This way we may be able to avoid the Broads altogether.  This way I might be able to reawaken my delight in Norfolk and possibly get a Paul Smith vanity case as well.  Cunning eh?

Naturally it is proving impossible.  Most things in August are booked solid.   There are two categories for those that aren't, stately homes and council houses.  My taste runs to the stately home.  My budget runs to the council house.  Never the twain shall meet.  I have spent all morning on the phone to posh people, none of whom have their lovely houses to let any more.  I have also spoken to people who would sell their granny for a fiver and who are trying to convince me that flammable sofas from the tip and sleeping crouched in a coal bunker are 'retro' and therefore fabulous.  I hate them all.

I shall climb back into the bath for another think.

“Just trying to open up a wormhole for you ..... top secret.”

“It’s a top secret, don’t tell anyone”

“It’s a dangerous work but I’ll do it especially for you”

“Having trouble with my wormhole - the worm keeps moving ....... tsk”

“You can gain limited access through my wormhole tomorrow - breathe in!”

I was pretty excited and had decided to present him with special gifts apart from lots of scratch from my bags. Thoughtful me!!

Today finally revealed the top secret to the world. The top secret from where all these evil excellent ideas were coming from. I am so speechless; you have to check it yourself.

The cat… the darkness… the eyes.. evil evil.. I am scared.

Coming to the special gifts that I had ordered. I ordered a brand new dentures along with the Listerine bottle. When they came the dentures dazzling and sparkling. Their ebullience was just poring forth. They even made friends with the Listerine bottle, and Listerine bottle promised to keep them dazzling and sparkling always.

Both of them (the bottle and the dentures) wanted to know about their new owner; I swear I tried to avoid the topic many times but I couldn’t do it for long.  Finally I had to tell them….I also showed them the control room and ‘the eyes’ Uma’s eyes…

As soon as dentures got to know, they started chattering when they got to know whose evil mouth they would be serving for the months/years to come. And the Listerine bottle…oh dear.. don’t ask me, the bottle left!!

Nevertheless, I had to keep my promise as Daddy P did. With all my love and sympathy for these dentures, I present the to Dark Daddy Papersurfer. Oh! I don’t want know what he will do with them. *Tsk*

There is a new coffee machine in the office and it looks like a space age gadget.  With the new coffee machine in place the trusted old coffee machine was abondend/retired for a short duration. The old coffee machine made a great come back by engineers popular demand. ( Is there a managements truth here? )

There is a reson why the old coffee machine was so popular among the engineers. It had pretty simple interface and most of all the error messages were clear. So everybody knew what to do when things go bad. For example when the container gets filled with the grounded beans, the old machine says

Empty the drawer

For the same condition the new coffee machine says

Ground beans full

The message "Empty the drawer" is simple and to the point. You have to empty the drawer to get the fresh cup of coffee again but the message "Ground beans full" is not direct and message is not clear and ambiguous. It is not asking the user to empty the drawer. I first thought that the grounded beans are full and I am going to get fresh cup of coffee now, only to wait for eternity.

We humans are designed to understand simple and directed message, I hope programmers/designers understand this and write/design more simple and direct error messages in future.

A raíz de un comentario cariñoso de Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí en el post Para la Memoria, contra la Nostalgia de Antonio Gómez, quisiera hacer unas matizaciones que considero oportunas:

Cuando hago referencia a la cobertura de El Mundano sobre Obama, no me refiero sólo a la vida de este blog –que inició su andadura el 29 de octubre de 2007- sino al periodo que afecta a las primarias y caucus USA. Y es de justicia alabar la visión del Sr. Gutiérrez Rubí que ya en febrero del año pasado escribía Obama no es Osama en su blog. Y continuaba ese mismo mes con otra entrada, La música de Obama, donde daba cumplida cuenta de la presentación de su candidatura a la carrera por la nominación del Partido Demócrata (usando una canción de U2).

Hecha esta aclaración solamente me queda por comentar que me halaga que Antoni se haya pasado por El Mundano. ¿Cómo nos ha descubierto? Imagino que por la reseña del post de Antonio Gómez en Libro de Notas. Y porque le gustará la música y Pi de la Serra es un excelente guitarrista y su versión de “La Internacional” es sorprendente (el youtube estaba incluido en el artículo).

Ya decía en Sorpresas Mundanas que la blogocosa tienes estas cosas…

A nivel nacional, el renovado impulso al proyecto de cambio y transformación social que desarrolla Gobierno central, sustanciado en el exitoso 37º Congreso Federal del PSOE, que ha demostrado que nuestro proyecto tiene un largo recorrido, está firmemente anclado en la realidad social de nuestro país y tiene su principal referente en las demandas e inquietudes de los ciudadanos/as.

A nivel regional, y pese a disfrutar de un cómoda mayoría absoluta, el PP vive momentos difíciles. Por una parte, empiezan a aflorar las contradicciones de una política de liberalismo depredador en lo económico y un fuerte acento conservador en lo social que no se corresponden con la realidad sociológica de nuestra Comunidad. En los últimos meses hemos visto como empezaba a visualizarse un movimiento de resistencia ciudadana y oposición a las políticas privatizadoras y desmanteladoras de servicios públicos y a un modelo económico basado en la especulación, cuyas consecuencias empiezan a ser visibles tras años de gobierno de la derecha. Esta situación, difícilmente escondible pese a las toneladas de maquillaje aplicado por el gobierno regional, coincide con un profunda crisis interna del PP, en la que el PP madrileño, sus máximos responsables y las instituciones controladas por sus gobiernos han entrado en una deriva irresponsable, de forma que son utilizadas como artillería para guerras internas del Partido, olvidando sus obligaciones con los ciudadanos, en un evidente deriva de irresponsabilidad política.

EL PSM-PSOE se enfrenta pues a importantes retos y debe estar a la altura de los ciudadanos/as de la Comunidad, construyendo en los próximos años una alternativa de gobierno sólida que permita recuperar la región para las políticas de progreso, prosperidad y ampliación de derechos que encabezan los socialistas en el resto del Estado.

A mi juicio tres son las tareas que los delegados elegidos por las Agrupaciones deben realizar en el próximo Congreso:

1)     Aprobar el trabajo realizado en los últimos meses por la Comisión Ejecutiva Regional. El secretario general, Tomás Gómez, ha cumplido con acierto los grandes objetivos con los que se presentó al último Congreso Extraordinario y ha impulsado una nueva forma de hacer política sobre la que es necesario profundizar en el futuro. Hay una sintonía completa entre el proyecto político de Tomás Gómez y el espíritu del 37º Congreso Federal, tanto en las formas de hacer política como en el papel que el Partido debe jugar como herramienta de participación, debate y transformación social, desde la eficacia y el servicio a los ciudadanos/as.

2)      Elaborar, a partir de la ponencia marco, las bases de la propuesta política sobre la que los socialistas madrileños trabajaremos en los próximos años, con la vista puesta en la recuperación de los gobiernos regional y municipal en Madrid sobre programas de progreso abiertos a la participación de los ciudadanos/as.

3)     Reconstruir un Partido unido, cohesionado y eficaz para los ciudadanos/as. Las resoluciones del Congreso Federal ponen en nuestras manos poderosas herramientas para hacerlo a las que ahora hay que dotar de contenido y llenar de vida. La nueva Agrupación Municipal de Madrid, la figura de los responsables de sección electoral y los equipos de trabajo que pueden organizarse en torno a ellos (contando con militantes, simpatizantes y vecinos y vecinas progresistas de cada ámbito), el nuevo papel de las Agrupaciones de Distrito como la de Centro son una oportunidad de construir una estructura de Partido más eficaz, abierta y participativa. Agrupaciones como la de Centro han vivido un largo período de atonía de la que es posible salir. Se trata de analizar nuestros errores para plantear, de cara a la ponencia, soluciones a esta situación que nos permitan, enmarcadas en las nuevas estructuras de trabajo aprobadas en el Congreso Federal, dar un paso decisivo para convertir nuestras agrupaciones en los puntos de encuentro con los ciudadanos y el verdadero motor que alimente el cambio en la región y la ciudad de Madrid.

Todo este trabajo no es sencillo pero el PSM lleva varios meses trabajando en esa dirección.  Estoy seguro de que en los próximos días, con el debate sobre la ponencia marco, surgirán muchas ideas en nuestra Agrupación que nos permitirán culminar con éxito nuestro Congreso y poner rumbo a la victoria electoral de 2011.  

The Sergeant-at-Arms:
1. Ensures proper Venue Preparation. This includes ensuring availability of all the required gadgets and documents (Members Attendance Sheet, Guest Registration Sheets), and proper seating arrangement etc.
2. Distributes Agenda.
3. Opens the Meeting / Calls for Order, making use of the gavel.
4. Welcomes the audience.
5. Gives a brief introduction of the club.
6. Handovers the control of the lectern to the Presiding Officer (who may or may not be the President of the Club).

The Presiding Officer:

1. May add to the club introduction.
2. Requests the Word Master to announce the Word of the Day.
3. Requests the members to introduce their guests (if any).
4. Requests other guests to introduce themselves.
5. Announces Last-week Winners.
6. Assigns Roles for the Next Meeting.
7. Handovers the control of the lectern to the Toastmaster of the Evening.

The Toastmaster of the Evening:

1. Introduces the meeting structure and segments.
2. Introduces the Role Players / Helpers (Grammarian, Time Keeper, Ah Counter, Vote Counter). Each of the role player gives a brief introduction of his/her role; the Time Keeper explaining time limits and use of signaling lights; the Ah Counter explaining what an “Ah” is and why it is counted, etc.
3. Introduces the General Evaluator.
4. Introduces the Table Topics Master.
5. Handovers the control of the lectern to the Table Topics Master.

The Table Topics Master:

1. Gives a brief introduction of the segment, telling the time limits.
2. Announces 1st Table Topic and invites anyone from the members to the stage/lectern to speak on it. While the member is coming to the stage, the TTM repeats the topic.
3. Repeats the same with other Table Topics.
4. May invite guests to speak, asking them if they would like to speak.
5. Once the Table Topics are over, asks for the Time Keeper for qualifications.
6. Asks the audience to vote for the Best Table Topic Speaker.
7. Asks the Vote Counter to collect and count the votes, and announce the winner.
8. Congratulates the winner and thanks the audience.
9. Handovers the control of the lectern back to the Toastmaster of the Evening.

The Toastmaster of the Evening:

1. Gives a brief introduction of the Prepared Speeches segment, telling the time limits.
2. Introduces 1st Prepared Speaker and announces his/her Project No. and Targets.
3. Asks the Speaker to identify his/her Evaluator.
4. Leaves the lectern and lets the Speaker speak.
5. Repeats this process for other prepared speakers.
6. Asks the Time Keeper to report disqualifications.
7. Invites the Evaluators one by one to present their evaluations about respective speakers.
8. Asks the audience to vote for the Best Prepared Speaker.
9. Asks the Vote Counter to collect and count the votes, and announce the winner.
10. Asks the audience to vote for the Best Evaluator.
11. Asks the Vote Counter to collect and count the votes, and announce the winner.
12. Asks the General Evaluator to present his/her detailed report. (Not sure about it whether the TME invites the GE or the Presiding Officer does it)
13. Handovers the control of the lectern back to the Presiding Officer.

The Presiding Officer:

1. Asks the audience to vote for the Big 3 (Toastmaster of the Evening, Table Topics Master and the General Evaluator).
2. Asks the Vote Counter to collect and count the votes, and announce the winner.
3. Gives Certificates to the Winners.
4. May award the Guests with Guest Ribbons.
5. Adjourns the Meeting, making use of the gavel.

New Members:

1. Membership Assessment:

Each of the new members may not be at a different level of understanding and pickup. Some are very fast learners, some are slow. So the VP Education may assess them for their Confidence and other Strengths and Weaknesses, so as to identify their Areas of Improvement to focus upon.

1. Role Assignment Sequence to New Members:

• Vote Counter
• AH Counter
• Word Master
• Grammarian
• Time Keeper

Miscellaneous:

1. Place Order for Membership Pin. The Price is 3.25$ per pin. (If purchased in a quantity >12, then the price would be 3$ per pin)
2. CC Badges may also be ordered in advance.
3. Backside of the Membership Form may be revised to show TI Fee + Club Fee.
4. Give Awards to Shadow Officers also.
5. 4 Runner-up Trophies may be given to the 4 winners every time (that may be kept by them until next meeting).
6. Don’t say sorry; never regret on things that are beyond your control.
7. Don’t use the word “Problem”; use “Challenge” alternatively.
8. Don’t lean on the lectern, or rest your hands on it.
9. Introduce Toastmasters to others by telling that it makes people Confident and Effective Professionals, by practicing learning by doing. Public Speaking is only 10% of it.

NovaLab Project x MigL of JiveTurkeys present...One Man Army
Dj Love x Dj Mutemor

Harry Stone Rec Center
2403 Millmar Dr.
Dallas, TX. 75228

Saturday - July 12th
3pm to 9pm

$10 cover charge
$5 cover charge for kids under 10 or w/a valid City of Dallas recreational card

Well, Centre realized that they were past their one year mark, time flies. Everyone at the shop wants to thank all of you out there who have taken us this far. It’s been a wild ride and they have some great things in the cards - expect some big changes! Don’t be scared though, because it will only mean a better experience fill with more product (think more shoes, more sunglasses, more tees, more watches, more jewelry, more dresses, more shirts…) a better website and increased customer service. How are we going to do this?

Just wait…

In the mean time, Centre has teamed up with Red Stripe, The Party, and Kiddrae254 to put on an appreciation event. Check out the flier, but on Saturday the 12th of July Centre will be bringing you a mix of music, beer and sale prices. Stay for a minute, stay for the day, they don’t care; Centre will be hanging out at the shop relaxing and handing out great deals on all type of merchandise.

Make sure you go Saturday - July 12th and check out their website @ www.gotocentre.com

Semantic Noise is at Fallout Lounge tonight & every Wednesday night spinning good music. On top of that, cheap drinks!!! Come on, you can’t get any better than that, if you don’t have anything to do tonight and feel like going out, then come out to Fallout Lounge & kick back. Good music, good-cheap drinks, & with a laid back vibe, doesn't get better than that!!!

What's worse is there doesn't seem to be a solution to all of these horrible news stories. People will keep getting worse, society will push others to do things that would be unheard of thirty years ago but are now considered only borderline reckless. You can't change the will of dozens of adults, even if you tried. The best way to cope is simple. Pick out the news that is actually enlightening and shows the decency in people. Also, keep on smiling!

A new site just for Texas Hip Hop has been made. Go there, register, share your events/music, and more. Make sure you stay up to date with Lonestar Hip Hop. Grafwurks will stand behind Lonestar Hip Hop 119%. So make sure you stop by daily to check any events going on within the state of Texas and has anything to do with hip hop. Thanks!

Lonestar Hip Hop Forum

Make sure you hit up OB-one and the rest of the fam. at Resource 1214. Check them out and stay up to date with what they have going on…tell ‘em Grafwurks sent ya!  

www.resource1214.com

Our boy, Fishr Pryce of Los Hip Hop Guys has his own blog @ Dj Fishr Pyrce's Blog and make sure you check it out.

Dj Fishr Pyrce's Blog
Dj Fishr Pyrce's Blog
Dj Fishr Pyrce's Blog

The sit-ups, well, that was a little harder to squeeze in, but I did it. I only did 10- because that was all I had time for. I was on my way to the vet- had let Harley out so she wouldn't "go" at the vets and got in 10 good sit-ups before she scratched to come back in. My lesson here is that by not putting the pressure on myself to do a certain amount, I can do just as many as I have time for- and 10 is better than none.

And the weird thing- I am already thinking about adding in one more habit next week- but we'll have to see how it goes....

Stussy and Daze have teamed up to create the Stussy Daze Crown tee. Make sure you pick up the Stussy x Daze collab t-shirt. T-shirt comes in black, white, and in gray! Go find yours now!!!

The Key to Freedom
by Garold Andersen 

"If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my
disciples: then you will know the truth and
the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

“Arbeit macht frei” (work will make you free) was the phrase written over Nazi work camps during the Second World War. It’s a great slogan for anyone wanting to enslave a nation. Today we don’t buy it. In our enlightened world we know that truth, not work, is the key to freedom. We scour books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet, searching for those nuggets of truth that will continue our great liberation. 

The search, however, reveals a complex snag. What truth? Which newspaper articles should we believe? Which sources are reliable? The more we dig for the truth, the more this new slogan seems no better than "Arbeit macht frei." If anything, we sense a heavier burden rather than a deeper freedom. "You will know the truth..." That's the maddening part. How can we know it? Some would say you can't: truth is just a fable. Others would say it's relative. Jesus said it's relational.

Of course, when Jesus spoke of truth he wasn't referring to the superficial information one gleans from a trip into cyberspace. He also wasn't speaking of math, science, or religious knowledge, which comes in varying colors and shades. The One who created life was instead speaking of the absolute, unchangeable core of life: the foundational truth that gives meaning to our existence. Is there really such a deep understanding that could give all humans freedom regardless of their external condition? Jesus said, "Yes, I am that Truth."

When we choose to believe His radical claim, our initial reaction is joy and relief. We sing, “Jesus is the answer…”, take off our shoes, and set up camp. We have a sense of having arrived. The search is over; the answer has been found. But in reality we haven’t really heard all of His words. So Jesus walks into the midst of our retirement camp and repeats His challenge, “IF you hold to my teachings and become my life-long disciple, THEN you will know (experience) the depths of reality...you will know Me and I will destroy your misconceptions of life, shake your faulty foundations, and set you free." This proposal is altogether different. The light begins to dawn. Jesus didn’t post a campground sign for the kingdom of Truth; rather He has extended an invitation to a relational journey. In the depths of our hearts, if we’re honest, we’re a bit disappointed. We wanted there to be an answer - simple, black and white, and a one-size-fits-all remedy. As the party music fades, the tents come down, and the traveling shoes are laced back onto our feet, we mourn the death of our easy solution. In the midst of this disappointment, we can almost forget that we have been invited to the greatest adventure on the earth: a journey with the Creator of life.

In this superficial, fast-paced world we love sound-bytes and quick fixes, but “Jesus is the answer” isn’t a real solution; it’s merely another slogan. And the version of Christianity that has been built on that thin slogan has left many disappointed and disillusioned.

The inner freedom and ultimate meaning we all desire is not found in the simple recognition of Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus isn't the answer; He is the truth. There is a profound difference between the two. It’s easy to get excited upon discovering a treasure in a field. It’s quite another thing to sell everything you own in order to purchase that field. Yet that’s the image of discipleship. The continual dismantling of our broken concepts of life and building on His view is the only way to gain the treasure of truth and freedom.

Real freedom, according to Jesus, is the outcome of a relational journey with the truth. It is an ongoing process of replacing the untruths of this world with the empowering ways of God. Romans 12:2 says, “Don't be conformed to the ideas of this age, but be transformed by renewing your mind.” Remember, you have not arrived at the truth; you are on a life-long journey with Him.

Life is filled with issues that are real. They require wisdom, mercy, and inner strength, not one-size-fits-all solutions. The Son of God doesn’t offer us easy answers; He invites us to a journey of transformation and freedom. Anything that is real takes time, and this journey with Jesus is as real as it gets.

Anyhoo...

Mrs. PavCo made the mistake of handing me the camera at one point, which meant that for the rest of the afternoon, everyone was waiting on me, as I stood motionless, the Kodak to my eye, waiting for the perfect shot of a chimpanzee indulging in an afternoon banana, or a peacock preening, or a group of prairie dogs...prairie dogging.  And I got some pretty good shots.  I impressed myself which, admittedly, isn't hard to do.

And then I saw Jerry Mercier's photo blog.  It was recommended to me by a mutual friend (actually, my friend, his relation), and I took a look, and was blown away.  For anyone whose idea of America is mini malls and soccer fields, you've got to take a look at Jerry's work, which highlights amazing sights in America's Badlands.  Please take a look, and let all your friends know about it.  Heck, let your enemies know.  Maybe they'll change their opinion of you.

Jerry Mercier's blog is available at http://jerrymercier.blogspot.com/.

 
 
 

The 300 Project: 2/119