Seven Days Later

Here it is seven days later and the headache is almost gone.
I bought a Netti Pot today, and to my surprise, it helped. Surprise is the word because Doctor Oz had these on his show, and says they are great.

You see, as a rule I try to avoid anything endorsed by Oprah, and that would include things her doctor friend recommends. But the sinus trouble has been intense and I blame it on the pain.

So picture me standing in front of the bathroom mirror, head tipped slightly forward and to the left, while I pour a small pot of warm saline into my right nostril. These are things you shouldn't see, much less do. It felt strange as my sinus cavity began to fill with liquid; almost like drowning except I could breathe through my mouth. And then came the pouring... the pouring from the other nostril - into the sink.

I'll spare any further details and simply say it helped. Other than needing to blow water out of my nose for the next hour I felt much better. The pain didn't go away completely, but for the first time in a while I could tell it was better, on the mend even.

So chalk one up for Dr. Oz. I guess a renowned heart surgeon can't be a coplete moron, even if he is a friend of "O."

And now, once more before bed-time, I think I'll whip up a batch of saline...

Sufficiency at 2:30 AM

As the title suggests, I am up at a wee hour of the morning, so don't expect wisdom and humor to match my earliest posts.

Honestly, this morning I just wanted to put down my thoughts on God's sufficient Grace in my life.

I've been nursing a headache for the past three days. Sometimes it screams through my temple and my right eye like lightning. Sometimes even the softest noise or the slightest touch causes pain. Maybe it's a migraine; maybe it's an ear and sinus infection. All I can say for sure is that it hurts and I'm tired of it.

Naturally I've asked God for releif. I want Him to take it away. I want to wake up in the moring without pain. I want to be better.

The Apostle Paul tells of his "thorn in the flesh" in II Corinthians, chapter 12. He says that so he would "not become arrogant" he was sent a "messenger from Satan" to trouble him. While not wishing to compare my headache to Paul's trouble, I find comfort in God's response when Paul asked -three times- to be free from it. God said "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And Paul's response: "So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me."

Imagine that... Through our weaknesses the Power of Christ resides in us.

God may take this pain away and He may leave it with me. Truth is, I am surrounded by friends and loved ones with whom God has shown His strength through their pain and weakness. And I can only hope to wear it as well as they do, glorifying God and rejoicing in His Sufficiency.

And now it is closing in on 3:00. I must surrender to the pillow so that I may try again tomorrow. Good night all (that's currently two of you, Nicole and Danielle.)
Don't click off just yet though. Watch this space for further instructions: <<____________>>

Is there any more perfect food than the Macdonalds French Fry?
Well maybe the Sonic Tater Tot.
...It's a close call.

This is just like Tweeting but without all those annoying followers.. (apologies to my TWO followers.)

Hello blog.
I must say I'm fascinated with our ability to glom onto every next-new-concept. I mean seriously, here I sit, tiny phone in hand, texting out this latest event on a full QWERTY keyboard that's smaller than my palm.

Why, you ask?

Because I can. -That's it... Really...

I have 2 PC's, 2 laptops, all with normal sized keys. But here I sit, meticulously poking letters the size of ants just because Google made it available. Never mind that this is taking far too long. So what if my hands ache from the tiny typing. Who even cares that I lose my train of thought while I hunt for the letters? The important thing is: I'm current! I'm not too old to get it! I'm cool! (or is it "hip" I'm not sure.)

Yet another midlife crisis averted.

Phew.

And here I am at the laptop now. My thumb keeps hitting the mouse pad, making all kinds of weirdness happen. (crisi back on...)

I've added texting to my blog.
Now I can opine on the go!
.... I feel so special.

I am somewhat brain-dead tonight. This is the perfect time to start a new entry. I am compelled to feed my loyal followers with wit, wisdom and sincerity. Unfortunately, I'm a bit witless, and if you read my last post you know I'm short on wisdom too. But I'm chock full of sincerity. So read on loyal fans, read on.

Four score and seven years ago...
Well actually four score and seven years ago, on October 30, 1922, the Fascists Party marched on Rome and Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy. To top off the wonder of "four score and seven years ago," on December 29, 1922, the "Treaty on the Creation of the USSR" was approved and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a reality.

Fascism, according to the American Heritage dictionary, is defined as "A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism."
Socialism, according to the book "Marx for Beginners" is defined as an "economic, social and political doctrine which expresses the struggle for the equal distribution of wealth by eliminating private property and the exploitative ruling class. In practice, such a distribution of wealth is achieved by social ownership of the means of production, exchange and diffusion."

Do either of these sound suspiciously like a new direction of hope and change...?

I think it fitting to borrow from our 16th president who mourned the loss of Americans at a great battlefield. After all, we now find ourselves again mourning the loss of Americans, and our own country is again becoming the battlefield. Only now it is the president himself working to bring about the destruction of this "Shining City on a Hill" as he seems to ally himself far more closely with those rulers of 1922 than he does the great and honorable Mr. Lincoln.

I've browsed a few blogs and I just can't seem to wrap my head around why people do this. Does anyone actually believe their opinions matter to the world at large? Granted, here I sit at the keys putting my own thoughts down. But for me this is a journal entry. And my earlier entries have just been for fun and the entertainment of my limited friends and family.

Today I searched for a particular insurance company, looking for corporate info to get an idea of who they are. Near the top of the first results page is a connection to a blog, much like mine, but filled with insurance agent's licensing test questions. The owner of the blog had his journal entries set in the right hand margin as he advertised his connection with this company. I assume he is an agent and uses his account to help others prepare for their tests. But his short article, with his thoughts on life, politics, home, etc. was so poorly written that I find it hard to believe he could even pass a test, much less persuade anyone to buy life insurance. But his blog looked professional with a nice layout and obviously good advertising by Google.

Not wishing to pick on an individual, let me just say that this is all too common in cyberspace. Companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others provide this wonderful online facility where everyone has a chance to "pen" their deepest thoughts for posterity. We can rant, giggle, joke, philosophize, and generally just think out loud (sort-of) and have it saved for all time, bouncing through servers and mirror sites around the globe. I myself have made folks from as far away as England and Australia laugh at my jokes and funny pictures. But for me the question becomes: Should we expect our words to receive credibility, simply because we have "published" them?

Consider the entertainment industry, filled with actors and musicians. They inspire us with their portrayals and their voices. They tickle us with fantasy. They make us envious of their lifestyles. Then they presume to tell us how to think, both politically and religiously. And we grant them full authority as experts, seemingly just because they are famous. I know none of them personally, so I cannot say for sure that they are all mindless and stupid. But since I know none of them personally, I also cannot say they are geniuses, experts in fields like environmental science, religion, world politics, world hunger, medical science, and the list goes on. And yet, merely because they can sing or act, we swoon as they testify before congress, pretending to speak for us.

My son, at six years old, discovered a website called addictinggames.com. It has fun games like Kitty-Cannon and various race-car games. But then he found this really incredible game that taught him, with animated graphic reality, knee replacement surgery. In this game you start with a normal looking leg. You then select instruments from an array and proceed to open the skin and perform surgery. All the steps are spelled out (I only assume accurately) with parts labeled and surgical instruments available, and everything explained and ready. I was amazed to watch my six-year-old open a knee, cut and remove bad cartilage, clean and prep the area, then assemble the replacement parts in the right order before closing the wound and sewing the stitches. I was amazed....

Would you allow my son to perform this surgery on your knee? Or would you prefer someone who actually studied and practiced in the real world, perhaps under the supervision of an experienced and credentialed senior doctor?

Would you fawn over the opinions of an entertainer simply because he or she is "somebody" or would you rather consider life and all its delicacies by pursuing truth? And if you cannot find the truth by yourself, who is better qualified to direct you? Do you really want to put your faith (literally) in the hands of someone who chose a career pursuing the artificial?

And so let me come back around to my first question. Why do people blog? And further, should their opinions matter merely because they have found a venue to distribute them?

Let me presume to answer:
1. People blog because it makes them feel important. Their opinions are out there for the world to see and now they have contributed to the common good. Perhaps they can even make a difference.
2. No opinion should be elevated above another based merely upon it's level of saturation. This is how the U.S. political parties found their candidates in the last presidential election (talk about your no-win scenario).
3. And now to answer the question smarter readers have already asked: No, my opinions should receive neither more nor less weight than any other blogger's in this post-industrial community of thinkers.

Then again, as I mentioned above, this is just a journal entry. If you like my opinions, thank you. If you disapprove heartily, so what? My voice is one of millions and should be treated as such - no more, no less....