Kalendis Iuliis

Well, I thought about making this post early in the morning today, just so I could see that July 2005 in my archives, but I was too tired, so I went to bed.

In my Latin IB class, the first project I assign is to choose a month of the year, and make a small poster of a Latin calendar for that month and its festivals. Of course everyone chooses their birth month--what other month would have that kind of personal significance? Anyways, the word "Calendar" comes from the Latin word "Kalendae" which in turn comes from the archaic Latin word "calare" which means "to call." The Kalends (Kalendae) were the first day of the month on which the priests would call out all the festivals for the month. Well, for me, July will always be a month of birthdays--

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

July 4--my cousin Jon, my friend John from C-ville, the U.S. of A!
July 6--this person whose entertaining blog I found by pressing the infamous "Next Blog" button
July 8--my neighbor Judy and I
July 12 or 13?--Julius Caesar
July 15--my nephew Levi
July 28--my friend Nate from Wheaton
July 31--last, but not least, my pops, whose love and support has made me who I am today, although he may want to blame that on Star Trek.

Anyways, more about random blogs. MSN has a neat feature called, "What's Your Story," that will lead one to less-than-random interesting blogs on their own service. That's how I found this blog which looks like it may have been crushed under all the traffic directed towards it. I must say, that when I first heard of the concept of a "web log" or "blog" from NPR, I scoffed. I thought, "Self, isn't that the most narcissistic thing you've ever heard of." However, as we know, I am an eternal narcissist, so here we are today.

Now, Phil challenged us, on Meg's blog to further discuss the voice of God. My previous cheeky comment aside,...

Sometimes the voice of God tells me, "Go unto the King of Burgers and order thineself a whopper." Then, I hear the voice of my wife saying, "Thine arteries shall harden and thou shalt die an early death of hereditary heart disease." Then God says, "Flip a coin, you're going to die anyways."

...this is a somewhat serious topic to anyone who claims to have any variety of religious faith.
I guess, here is the best analogy that I could make. Janna told this to me at Sticks yesterday. She is taking yoga, and since she and another young gentlemen are the only ones that attend the class with any regularity, the teacher decided to go into greater detail with them. One of the things that Janna said was that someone who really practices yoga is constantly walking around with good posture and an air of peace. This is definitely true about Janna, I've never seen someone stand more beautifully in my life.
If someone really spends silent time listening to God (or silent time stretching to him (e.g. yoga), then one will be more likely to be walking around exemplifying the fruit of the spirit, loving their neighbor, etc... Listening to God's voice in this way, I believe, is the most important way in which this is meant. However, I think that in terms of making major policy/theological/life decisions, I believe this is more dangerous territory.
I actually have much respect for my sister, who narrowed down her grad school choices to about three, put them in a hat, prayed over them, and picked at random the school she then attended. In fact, I think this is the perfect example to illustrate what I mean. God created us in the garden of Eden with a choice. The sole reason the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was there was to make us elective creatures.
Therefore, I believe, as we constantly make choices throughout the day, we are not going to offend God, necessarily, by what toothpaste we buy, or what restaurant we eat at, or necessarily even what career we choose. (Jesus minisitered to prostitutes and colonial collaborators alike.) Therefore, I think it is far more important how we do what we choose (lovingly and excellently), than what we choose to do.
I believe, whether we choose Reaganomics or Socialism, Calvinism or Arminianism, Teaching or Fighting, God can be pleased with our lives. In this spirit, my sister made an active election, in choosing three or so schools based on criteria that were important to her, and then she offered it up to God, demonstrating God's ultimate control over our lives.
Within this perfect paradox lies the truth. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, yet she gives us the power to make choices. In my view, there is no greater freedom than to live a life defined by a paradox.