I'm a Pastafarian

The above picture is a parody on the Creation of Adam. It shows the Flying Spaghetti Monster 'creating life.'

an excerpt from wikipedia.org

Flying Spaghetti Monsterism (FSM) is a satirical parody religion created in 2005 to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. The FSM was first revealed to the world by Bobby Henderson, a graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in physics.

The parody religion has become an Internet phenomenon. Followers call themselves "Pastafarians" (a play on Rastafarians)

I think that its a good thing we currently live under grace and not the law.

Netflix

Ok.

I went to Netflix, because Blockbuster.com was sub par, then they raised the rates and matched Netflix. So I switched, and for the most part I have been happy in the 4 months with them. But, this week... with the mail all screwed up... I am cursing them.

I retured a movie last week. I sent it on the 22nd. They recieved it on the 23rd, and shipped a new movie same day. For those that don't know, they have a reputation for getting movies to customers next day. Usually this is true. But, because of stinkin Christmas, and Christmas (Observed), I figured, if it didn't come on the 24th, then I would get it today... Tuesday... but no. They estimate arrival tomorrow, the 28th. Ok, I understand. Holiday and all... but here is the kicker.

I dropped two more discs in the mail on the 23rd. They didn't recieve them until this morining. Tuesday, like I thought I would get mine in the same fashion. No big deal, they have already shipped the next movies. They estimate arrival... tomorrow, the 28th.

Seriously. Curse you and your one day mail.

I should have just kept my movies over the holiday. sheesh.

Austin Michael

Austin Michael
Originally uploaded by Chris Warren.

Christms has come and gone, I hope you had a good time, and got some nice stuff. I got a little digital camera. Nothing too fancy, 4 MP, 4x digital zoom, capacity for SD cards. A little DXG 409, you can read more about that here.

I think I am going to start a amazon wish list or something, because the more gadets I get, the more little things I want. :)

Have a happy Christmas (Observed), or... Boxing Day if you are Canadian.

XMAS

Hey,

Happy Christmas.

Peace.

This is who I am.

Ok, my unannounced sabbatical is over. I am back to bearing my soul on the internet.

I think that when life starts to become complicated for me, I act more like an ostrich then any other creature. C'mon, lions roar and meet life head on, and I want so badly to be a lion... But, sometimes, life gets the best of me, and that is when I find myself sticking my head in a hole and hiding there. Everyone knows what I am doing, after all... My attempts to hide myself only end up with me looking silly with my head in a hole. I find this happens when my walk with God is anything but active.

I love God. I have a sense of duty of my service to Him that is ingrained into my soul. The easiest mental metaphor to put to this is a King who has His kingdom, and along with this kingdom comes an army and knights to lead the army to protect the land and the people. The caste system in medieval times was something that you were born into. If your Father was a peasant, you are a peasant. If your Father was royalty, then you were royalty, and there was no disputing your station. However, Gods Kingdom defies this caste system. Everyone has slipped into it, and God stands up and sends the Prince to die, and before He dies, the Prince tells everyone that you need to be born again, to become a child of the King. This means that a simple peasant that would never have known a life of abundance can have everything and more in an instant.

I feel like my story in this goes something like this.

I was born a dirty peasant. Into a peasant family. When my family broke apart, my earthly father found the way to be reborn and become a servant of the King. Before too long, he showed me and my sister, and we followed. I was born into the Kings family November 9th, 1990. Since that day, over 15 years ago, I feel like I have been in training. God has wonderful plans for me, I have no clue what the King wants for me, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will serve. My life is His. This is comforting when I think about it, but, how often do I actually think about it? Not often enough, that is for damn sure.

Because I do not remain focused on the service, and on my King. Simply living becomes complicated for me. I don't know how anyone could live without the knowledge of the King. But I feel like I taste a bit of life without Him when I don't strive to focus on him. When I snap back to reality, He is there waiting for me. The look in His eyes... a mixture of sadness and relief. Without speaking, I am reminded to get back to my training.

I am a Warrior of Christ. I know this to my core.

This will be quick.

Hola.

Sorry I have been, out of the loop, for a while... Its just, well... I don't want to say 'writer's block' because I am certainly not a writer, a scribbler maybe, certainly not a writer. And, the word 'block' just sounds funny to me. What the heck does a block have to do with scribbling or typing? Oh, typist? No, too... Mavis-Beacon for me. What about... Writer's cramp? Scribbler's Cramp. That sounds like it fits. Scribbler's Cramp.

There you have it.

This last month has been full of self reflection, grace, lots of Halo time, and one really stupid mistake involving my mode of transportation (oh, its more then a mere speeding ticket.)

Cheers, and don't turn off the light, one may never know when they need to come home at 1 am. :)

-- ps (since when do I do ps's?) I had my Russian 201 oral final tonight, and I stomped it. Out of the five active (the class is inflated with Native Speakers, who never come to class, just show up for the written exams) students left, I was the best. :) Ok, enough self gloating. I know I won't score the highest on the written due to drop on Thursday.

peace