So, I had an interesting and amusing afternoon at work.
In case someone didn't know, I'm currently employed as a crossing guard by my county's Sheriff's Office. My job is to stand on a corner and make sure traffic stops for the elementary school kids to cross the busy highway.
Since I'm crossing elementary school kids, they get out relatively early, about the same time as the students from the high school that's like, right next to the elementary school. So while the little kids are walking/riding bikes home, the teenagers are driving past.
So today, I'm out in the blazing sun, waiting for another set of kids to come along. I hear a "hello!" coming from a car stopped at the stoplight; being that we have to be friendly to everyone, I look up to see a car full of teenage guys, one of whom has his head out the open window, looking at me. He waves, and since we're supposed to be friendly, I give him a little wave as well. Then he made the "call me" sign.
Umm... okay... did a teenage guy just try to pick me up? So I give him my signature half-amused, half-reprimanding oh-no-you-didn't look. All his buddies go "Oooooooooooo!" like he'd just been majorly dissed (which I suppose he had). As the light turned green I heard them talking. Call-me-guy was saying "Maybe next time," while the driver said, "She doesn't have your number, how could she call you?"
I don't think I've ever seen something so pathetic yet still amusing. I know it wasn't serious, but it didn't feel mean-spirited either. It seemed like a "dude, she's hot, ask her out" "no way, dude, she's a crossing guard" "so?" "okay..." kind of thing. Too bad I was only hot temperature-wise! Not to mention that I'd have been way too old for him...
Another incident happened as well. I didn't mean for it to happen, really I didn't. A gentleman in a suit asked me for directions to a certain location, which I gave him. It wasn't until he had already driven away that I realized he'd said Tyrone SQUARE Mall, not Tyrone Mall. Two totally different things. Oopsies.
So yeah, work can be a bit strange some days, even for a crossing guard.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Why I Won't Be Denying the Truth
Freedom of religion. A basic right in the United States, correct? We hear it all the time: Coke cans celebrating Ramadan, Jehovah's Witnesses exempt from military service, an Atheist tree at Christmas time.
But more and more, freedom of religion seems instead to be more like "freedom of every religion except Christianity". Recently, a Christian at a gay event was ordered by police to remove his Christian-message t-shirt to "prevent a negative atmosphere". At the same event, two other Christians were threatened with arrest for distributing a Christian newsletter and for holding a sign stating that "Thousands of ex-homosexuals have experienced the life-changing love of Jesus Christ." One of the gentlemen was also told that he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about the Bible (Cops, 2008).
Another high-profile debate in recent years has been the teaching of Creationism (politically corrected as "Intelligent Design") in public schools, as well as the issues of prayer in the classroom and religious symbols in public areas. Increasingly, the tide has been turning toward a secular world, a world in which Christianity and all that is to do with it are slowly crushed and vehemently opposed.
For those thinking that this is a new, unique development, however, it is not. If we study the history of philosophy, we can see that the course of popular thought has been in cyclical motion since the beginning of recorded time. The earliest peoples had gods and deep faith in them, but as civilization and technology grew more advanced, man's image of himself became dominant and mankind began to view itself as god. From Classical Humanism in the last centuries of Rome, to the Renaissance, to the Age of Enlightenment (also called the Age of Reason), mankind as a whole has turned its back on God, proclaiming to the world that "man is the measure of all" (Man, 2002; Matthews and Platt, 2008). It stands to reason that society is due for yet another round of popular atheism, wherein Christianity, God, and followers of Jesus Christ in America will be persecuted as we have never seen on American soil.
So what are we as Christians supposed to do during this approaching storm? Are we supposed to sit down and wait it out? No way. We are called to be lights in the darkness of this world, and we cannot shine if we are hidden in our closets or under our beds in fear. It is intensely difficult to make a stand when the winds of change are blowing the world around us into a hostile environment for Christians, but if we are to hold our heads high before God, we need to do our best to stand. Ephesians 6:13 tells us, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Basically: armor up, folks, it's time for a battle.
This is why I feel that bestselling Christian author Ted Dekker's new movement, Don't Deny the Truth, is such a wonderful thing. It's all about making a stand for freedom of religion (actually, for freedom of Christianity) and the freedom to express our Christianity in these troubled times. As America speeds farther and farther away from God and into the darkness ahead, it is crucial that we do not let our little flames get blown out. If we unite our little candles together, we can create a giant blaze to spread the light of Jesus Christ in our rapidly darkening world.
Sound good? You bet.
Check it out: http://www.dontdenythetruth.com/
I can't deny the truth. Can you?
Cops Kill Free Speech at "Gay" Event. WorldNetDaily 22 Aug. 2008. Accessed 23 Aug. 2008 < fa="PAGE.view&pageId=">
"Man is the measure of all things." The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Bartleby.com. 2008. <>
Matthews, Roy T. and F. Dewitt Platt. The Western Humanities: Volume I: Beginnings Through the Renaissance. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
---. The Western Humanities: Volume II: The Renaissance to The Present. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
But more and more, freedom of religion seems instead to be more like "freedom of every religion except Christianity". Recently, a Christian at a gay event was ordered by police to remove his Christian-message t-shirt to "prevent a negative atmosphere". At the same event, two other Christians were threatened with arrest for distributing a Christian newsletter and for holding a sign stating that "Thousands of ex-homosexuals have experienced the life-changing love of Jesus Christ." One of the gentlemen was also told that he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about the Bible (Cops, 2008).
Another high-profile debate in recent years has been the teaching of Creationism (politically corrected as "Intelligent Design") in public schools, as well as the issues of prayer in the classroom and religious symbols in public areas. Increasingly, the tide has been turning toward a secular world, a world in which Christianity and all that is to do with it are slowly crushed and vehemently opposed.
For those thinking that this is a new, unique development, however, it is not. If we study the history of philosophy, we can see that the course of popular thought has been in cyclical motion since the beginning of recorded time. The earliest peoples had gods and deep faith in them, but as civilization and technology grew more advanced, man's image of himself became dominant and mankind began to view itself as god. From Classical Humanism in the last centuries of Rome, to the Renaissance, to the Age of Enlightenment (also called the Age of Reason), mankind as a whole has turned its back on God, proclaiming to the world that "man is the measure of all" (Man, 2002; Matthews and Platt, 2008). It stands to reason that society is due for yet another round of popular atheism, wherein Christianity, God, and followers of Jesus Christ in America will be persecuted as we have never seen on American soil.
So what are we as Christians supposed to do during this approaching storm? Are we supposed to sit down and wait it out? No way. We are called to be lights in the darkness of this world, and we cannot shine if we are hidden in our closets or under our beds in fear. It is intensely difficult to make a stand when the winds of change are blowing the world around us into a hostile environment for Christians, but if we are to hold our heads high before God, we need to do our best to stand. Ephesians 6:13 tells us, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Basically: armor up, folks, it's time for a battle.
This is why I feel that bestselling Christian author Ted Dekker's new movement, Don't Deny the Truth, is such a wonderful thing. It's all about making a stand for freedom of religion (actually, for freedom of Christianity) and the freedom to express our Christianity in these troubled times. As America speeds farther and farther away from God and into the darkness ahead, it is crucial that we do not let our little flames get blown out. If we unite our little candles together, we can create a giant blaze to spread the light of Jesus Christ in our rapidly darkening world.
Sound good? You bet.
Check it out: http://www.dontdenythetruth.com/
I can't deny the truth. Can you?
References:
Cops Kill Free Speech at "Gay" Event. WorldNetDaily 22 Aug. 2008. Accessed 23 Aug. 2008 < fa="PAGE.view&pageId=">
"Man is the measure of all things." The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Bartleby.com. 2008. <>
Matthews, Roy T. and F. Dewitt Platt. The Western Humanities: Volume I: Beginnings Through the Renaissance. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
---. The Western Humanities: Volume II: The Renaissance to The Present. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Welcome and Introduction
Hi, my name is Rachel. I'm a college student, an avid reader of Ted Dekker, and a Doctor Who fanatic. And I really, really, didn't want a blog.
I've blogged before, enough to know that blogs are so high-maintenance. You feel obligated to blog at least once a week (like everyone else does), and you also feel like nobody cares about what you're writing, 'cause there's all those other blogs out there written by all those other people who have lives and thoughts far more interesting than yours. "Why bother?" you begin to ask yourself. "Nobody's going to read it anyway."
Wrong.
Why do we blog? Or, more importantly, why do I blog? (Well, if you want to get technical, I should probably ask, "Why did I blog before?" or "Why am I blogging now?") The answer is, not for that random person in China, or your friend across the street, or that creepy guy in New Jersey who may happen to stumble on your page.
I'm blogging for me. Kinda like a high-tech (much more public) version of a journal. Innermost feelings may not go here, but the little things, the look-what-I-did-todays and here-are-my-thoughts that would get lost in this crazy old brain of mine by tomorrow morning now get preserved, like an organ pickling in a jar in a mad scientist's lab. It may smell funny later, but it'll still be there.
So that's why I'm blogging. Not for sharing (though I may do that), not for philosophizing (though I may do that), and most definitely not for the whole wide world to read and think "Oh, she's good," or "What a lunatic." It's for me, plain and simple. I'll just... let you in.
--Rachel
The Doctor: You two, we're at the end of the universe. Okay?! Right at the edge of knowledge itself! And you're busy . . . blogging!!
I've blogged before, enough to know that blogs are so high-maintenance. You feel obligated to blog at least once a week (like everyone else does), and you also feel like nobody cares about what you're writing, 'cause there's all those other blogs out there written by all those other people who have lives and thoughts far more interesting than yours. "Why bother?" you begin to ask yourself. "Nobody's going to read it anyway."
Wrong.
Why do we blog? Or, more importantly, why do I blog? (Well, if you want to get technical, I should probably ask, "Why did I blog before?" or "Why am I blogging now?") The answer is, not for that random person in China, or your friend across the street, or that creepy guy in New Jersey who may happen to stumble on your page.
I'm blogging for me. Kinda like a high-tech (much more public) version of a journal. Innermost feelings may not go here, but the little things, the look-what-I-did-todays and here-are-my-thoughts that would get lost in this crazy old brain of mine by tomorrow morning now get preserved, like an organ pickling in a jar in a mad scientist's lab. It may smell funny later, but it'll still be there.
So that's why I'm blogging. Not for sharing (though I may do that), not for philosophizing (though I may do that), and most definitely not for the whole wide world to read and think "Oh, she's good," or "What a lunatic." It's for me, plain and simple. I'll just... let you in.
--Rachel
The Doctor: You two, we're at the end of the universe. Okay?! Right at the edge of knowledge itself! And you're busy . . . blogging!!
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