Silver Taps (A Journal Entry)

Journal Entry from 9/4/12

Silver Taps took place tonight at 2230 hours (10:30 pm).  After Breakaway I walked to the plaza with Callie, Mandy, and Hannah.  Once we passed the MSC we fell silent.  All lights were off save a few to see by.  We were near Hart Hall.  Everyone was silent as the students assembled around the plaza.  The Ross Volunteers marched in, fired a 21 gun salute, and stood still.  The bugler(s) played Silver Taps.  Once to the North, once to the West, and once to the South.  A cadet in front of me help salute the whole time.  When it ended, everyone silently left.  Mandy and I gave Callie and and Hannah hugs and walked back to our dorms.  I walked Mandy to the front of Underwood (saw Michael Waggoner on the way) and gave her a hug and walked back to my dorm.  I still haven't spoken.  It was so solemn, yet in a good way.  It gives me a lot of comfort to know I'm part of this Aggie family that is so full of respect.  I don't know if I will call Mom and Dad tonight.  I will write them though.  I pray for the families of the lost Aggies and hope God works goodness through this tragedy.

-End of Entry

Recently, with my father undergoing triple bypass surgery, I was genuinely worried for him.  Not that I haven't experienced death in my family before, even of very close family.  It just didn't seem like it could be his time yet.  I sometimes forget that God's divine plan doesn't line up with our futile perception.  I knew I wasn't ready to lose my father, that my family wasn't.  I know the day will come when I will softly call "here"for him at Muster, but I thank God that it was not this time. 

When I prayed that he be kept safe I prayed that God would not let his work be finished.  And it didn't feel like it was finished.  God was able to give me hope because part of me knew that my father was meant to stay with us for a while longer.

Lord, thank you for preserving him.  Please watch over him as he recovers and help him to sing your praises until you call him home.  Please don't call him home soon, though.


 

Times Are Changing

This Monday, I had my Eagle scoutmaster conference in which my scoutmaster and I discussed things I learned in scouts, my experience in working towards Eagle Scouts, and living up to the Scout Law, Oath, Motto, and Slogan (printed below).  The scoutmaster conference represented the ending of a chapter in my life.  What I mean is, all requirements for Eagle Scout, except the Board of Review, must be completed before the applicant's 18th birthday.  After turning 18, one can no longer be a "Boy Scout" but can still be involved in activities by being in adult leadership.  By finishing the scoutmaster conference, I finished the last remaining requirement I needed to complete while in Boy Scouts.

I have experienced a lot of these "endings" lately.  However, it does not make me sad, but rather makes me look forward to the new tasks ahead I must complete and allows me to see how much I have learned so far.

The Scout Oath

On my honor, 

I will do my best, 

To do my duty, 

To God and my Country,

To help other people at all times,

To keep myself physically strong,

Mentally Awake,

And morally straight.

The Scout Law

A scout it:

Trustworthy,

Loyal,

Helpful,

Friendly,

Courteous,

Kind,

Obedient,

Cheerful,

Thrifty,

Brave,

Clean,

and Reverent.

The Scout Motto

Be prepared.

The Scout Slogan

Do a good turn daily.

Meaning 2-Fear

Fear is defined as: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined;


In my opinion, fear is brought on by one key factor: uncertainty.


People are afraid of the dark because they do not know what is in it.  People are afraid of death because they do not know when they will die.  People are afraid of doing badly on tests because their preparation can only do so much good. 


People fear God for a different reason though.  In part, we can never fully fathom God, so this fear could be connected to uncertainty.  I believe the Fear of the Lord comes from our understanding of Him through faith.  We fear God, firstly because He commands it. "Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.'" 1 Ch 19:7


The Fear of the Lord is not normal human fear though, it is a reverent awe.  The fear we experience when in a thunderstorm, that mix of fear and amazement at the power of the lightening and how it does not strike us, is a small picture of the Fear of the Lord. 


The Fear of the Lord also binds His people to Him.  It is a kind of respect of a child to their father or mother. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!" Psalm 111:10


The Fear of the Lord is caused by the fact that we understand how far we are from God, how much sin separates us, but we also understand how much He has given to save us, His chosen people, from the Hell that we so fully deserve.  The fact that he would sacrifice Himself to save murderous rebels like us should inspire reverent awe.  This is the Fear of the Lord.

Work

So this week I have been running around like a crazy person.  Between school, Eagle Scout Project, and getting ready for New Student Conference at A&M, I have felt like some kind of task-accomplishing superhero.  But then I realized...I'm just not being lazy. 

It feels really good to have goals, accomplish them, and then move on to new goals.  This whole Eagle Project process has shown me the benefits of getting things done (especially because I procrastinated up to this point.  I hope I can keep this momentum in college, I'll need it.

The task of doing good work is something man has always been given.  After the fall, the work became hard.  Work isn't evil, it's just hard.  But sometimes the hardest work is also the most fulfilling.  Every year, I go to Enchanted Rock State Park.  Enchanted Rock is not SUPER TALL, but it ain't the flats of South Texas, lemme just say.  Last time I hiked E-Rock, we took a steeper rout. 

My legs were on fire.  I hiked...and hiked......and hiked.........and...hiked...until............we finally got to the top.  The view on top is amazing.  Absolutely breathtaking.  And the breeze is a swift 20-40mph.  Once I got to the top, I looked down on the trail and thought, "Yeah, I just hiked that.  It was worth it."  That is the feeling of a job well done.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV

I Can't Feel My Finger...

So recently I got hooked on something that has numbed my fingers.  No, it isn't drugs (c'mon now, y'all know me better than that).  Recently I discovered that you can cut designs out of card stock, glue them on top of each other, and when they dry, use them as keychains or even necklace pendants.  Pretty cool, right? 

Well, in order to cut these small, intricate designs I employed the use of an X-ACTO knife.  I cut out 14 card stock shapes that night.  In order to cut them well I had to press down pretty hard.  This resulted in calloused, sore fingers the next day and numb, sensory deprived fingers the days after.

Here's the point:

Because I cannot really feel things with my right index finger at the moment, I have begone to discover all the things I actually do touch with it.  I find it ironic that until I couldn't feel what I was touching, I never noticed what I touched.  It shows that if we get used to something it is no longer obvious to us.  It no longer catches our attention.

Here's the application:

As believers we are constantly surprised by God both in every day life and in His Word.  Every time you dive into a passage, you will find something new.

Also, we cannot get used to the moral depravities of this world.  As Christians, we are called to be disgusted by sin and distance ourselves from it.  In order for this to happen, we cannot allow sin to become comfortably familiar with us.  If this happens, sin will seep into our lives unnoticed and we will allow our standards, and the standards of things (or people) around us to decrease dramatically.

We are called to be in the world, not of the world.  The evil should shock us and God's good should pleasantly surprise us and leave us searching after Him.  The more we focus on Him, the more obviously vile sin will be.

Meaning 1-Fighting

Fighting, a verb, means to engage in combat of some form.

I would say that fighting can be described as controlled power. 

In sword fighting, for instance, you have to strike with force in order to score a potent hit, but you must also strike with accuracy.  If you only use force you will miss your mark.  If you control the force you have a better chance of hitting the target.  The better you are at controlling yourself, the more accurate you are.

This is true of many things, not only combat.  You must control your mind in a debate while having the sharpness to outwit an opponent.  When writing, you must have the thoughts on which to build you writing but also the skill to write clearly.

New Series: Meanings

I'm not sure if anyone even reads this anymore but in case they do I will be starting a new series of posts. Every few days I will post a word and define it. Not the dictionary definition, but my personal idea of the essence of the word. Should be fun and I hope to hear from any readers as to what they think on what I say.

Here come the thought bombs!

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Descartes and Quandries

The Renaissance philosopher, Rene Descartes became famous for his quote, "Cogito ergo sum," translated as 'I think, therefore I am.' He stated that the simplest and surest way to prove existence is by the existence of thought. Is this true?

When you are talking/chatting/texting someone, occasionally one of you might ask, "what's on your mind?" Most of the time we respond "Nothing much, what about you?" Which can be loosely translated as "None of your stinking business nosey. Why don't you go take a long walk off a short peer?" Of course this is a false statement! Nothing is never on your mind, in other words, something is always on your mind. We are aware of this and therefore would tend to agree with Descartes somewhat. Yes, we think, yes we know we are real because we think. But is it the best way to prove we exist?

Blaise Pascal, a fellow Renaissance thinker, said plainly "It is odd that we cannot define these things without making them obscure; we talk about them all the time." The more we think about these things and probe them for solutions, the more difficult we are making them to understand. The answer is plain and simple, much more so than Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum."

This answer can be found in Genesis 1:28-31,
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God created us. We exist. How do I know? God said so, plain and simple. End of story.