Obtineo

Several of us cleaned Beasley Coliseum after the Cougar basketball game on Saturday. It's the kind of thing that's fun to do once a year or so, but I wouldn't want to do it every day.

Look up. That's where we sit this year. Section 23. Upper deck.

As we read in Proverbs this week, this proverb stuck in my mind.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come back and tomorrow I will give it,' when you have it with you" 3:27-28

This can apply to many situations. That would include dealing with our children. How many times do I say, 'yes, we will do that later' or 'tomorrow'? While I wish I could say that I always follow up, I sometimes find that I let other things get in the way or that I forget. But the kids often remember, at least in the short-term.

So this is another note to self: Don't withhold good when....

The Cougar basketball team set a new Pac-10 record this weekend. They made all (yes 100%) of their 28 free throws in the game against Oregon. The previous record was 22. That is actually quite remarkable. Go Cougs!

My older girls reallly enjoy iTunes. They get iTunes gift cards now and then, so they purchase songs right from home. We all share one iPod, so we get to listen to each other's music. They are much more into popular music now than they were last year.

Since I think music is an important and wonderful part of life, I hope to help them think a little about the music they listen to. Lately I have been focusing on the lyrics. We listen together and talk about the songs before they buy them. Sometimes we both like the songs and we sing them together and have a little fun. Sometimes we notice lyrics that I think are a little too sensual for young kids or lyrics that are just plain stupid. I'm finding several ways to help the kids think about popular music. One way is to sing the lyrics to them in a way that more obviously reflects their meaning. Sometimes we aren't sure what the lyrics are, so we get on the Internet to search for the words to the song. Then one of us reads them out loud. This often leads to one of three things: we all say, "okay" (then we buy) or the girls look at me and say, "what?" (then we discuss), or they get that look on their face and say, "Ooh" (then we look for other songs).

This has led to a few good laughs and a little more thought about the music we listen to. It's not a perfect approach by any means, but so far I'm encouraged by their responses. And while we are at it, we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

We grilled burgers tonight. My five year old announced that the grill was smoking. I asked him how he knew it was smoking, since he was in the house with me. He just said, "I keep everything in my brain."

Today was a five-year-old's special day. He wanted to eat ice cream sandwiches and play Wii bowling and baseball with his dad. So that's what we did at lunchtime today. I was a better bowler, and he was a better batter. It was indeed a good day.

For years I have thought that individualism was bad. You know that focus on "self." But recently I have come to realize that I am far more individualistic than I thought.

A series on Mars Hill Audio Vol 91 which talked about Tocqueville's view in the 1800's made this clearer to me. Individualism is "a peaceful and reflective sentiment that disposes you to retreat into your circle of family and friends." This is not exactly the same as selfishness, which is "a passionate self love in which we prefer ourselves to others."

The distinction is profound. Selfishness has been around forever. Individualism has grown out of democracy and equality. Individualism can dry up the public virtues - a situation where we really don't care what happens in the public sphere.

The solution to individualism is the "right use of liberty." What does that look like? Try the creation of religious structures, involvement in political affairs, and the formation of associations.

Hmm.

Sometimes love can be rough on us. Just look at this dog.



It belongs to my three-year-old. She sleeps with it almost every night. She has loved it so much that the fur on its head is almost gone. Left ear? I have no idea where that went.

It would be in a lot better shape on the surface if it had been displayed on the shelf in the corner of the room. But that is not the kind of love this puppy gets.

This morning my three year old ran through the hall singing, "I just can't wait to be king!" Guess what she has been watching.

My wife and I started facebook accounts this week. It's been an interesting experience. It seems to be a great way to find some people that we knew in high school and college; people that we haven't seen in many years. It has also been a good way to keep up with the friends I seen now and then but haven't spent much time with. I haven't spent enough time learning to us it, but eventually I may.

The other day I had a discussion about introverts and extroverts. I think I'm an introvert. Perhaps that is one reason the jury is still out on my social networking experiment.

When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted and had fasted for forty days and nights, the tempter tempted him to turn stones into bread. The answer Jesus gave was that 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' It may not be immediately obvious what this reply reveals. But according to the passage being quoted from the Old Testament, it revealed what was in his heart. This is what the Israelites were told way back then:

"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD."- Deut 8:2-3

Clearly God uses times of hardship to reveal where we put our trust.

I think my five year old already has a well developed sociopolitical philosophy figured out. Earlier today he said something like, "Can you make him give some to me, he [brother] already has millions." As any parent can attest, a philosophy of stuff comes early in life.

Kids are not afraid to expose their views about how the world should work. And my little ones are not shy about appealing to the universal rule of sharing. Everyone knows that you're supposed to share. That's why I too often hear them reminding their brother or sister that they are supposed to give them what they want. "We have to share," they say to the person holding the toy. As human nature would have it, they usually say this when they want something. They are much less likely to invoke this rule when someone else wants what they have.

So when I hear this, I try to remind them that sharing is only sharing when it applies to their ability to give. If they are demanding something for themselves in the name of sharing, that's actually called coveting.

I just spent the last several hours working on a project for work that needs to be ready on Monday morning. I'm taking a short break. My oldest daughter's class fundraiser was to clean up the coliseum today after the Cougar basketball game. My wife was not planning to spend the evening cleaning after the game. But there she is, even as I type. Even worse, the she had to watch the Huskies beat the Cougs for the first time in eight games between these intra-state rivals. It should have been me with a tear in my Coke and a broom in my hand. She is such a Saint! And I am so glad I've been able to work today. Every hour I get a little closer to being done. I hope that fans threw away their own popcorn tonight. After last time I cleaned, I swore that I would never leave my popcorn on the floor again!

"It is often true that we are quite ignorant of the things with which we are quite familiar." - Otis Sellers