This is probably going to end up being tedious, but I had a thought and I’ve decided to try and get it on ‘paper’. We’ll see if it works. So, in math, I’ve studied the concept of infinity. Apparently, infinity isn’t describable by finite means. Essentially, that means that we can’t truly describe infinity because all humans have is finite means to describe things. In general, we describe things relative to things we already have a grasp on.

Aside: For instance, if I were to see a man standing next to my car and that man’s head barely snuck above the side-view mirror, then I’d describe that man as being short’probably about 3 feet tall. I could make that judgment based on the fact that I know my car is a little over 5 feet off the ground and the side-view mirrors are about 2 feet below the top of the car. However, if I saw a man standing next to a monster-truck and his head barely snuck above the side-view mirror (assuming monster-trucks have side-view mirrors), I really couldn’t estimate how tall he would be. Why? Because I’ve never seen a monster-truck up close, nor have I ever seen specs for a monster truck that would give me an idea how high the side-view mirrors might be off the ground. In short, I would need for the man to stand next to something I’m familiar with, so that I could estimate his height relative to that familiar object. In fact, the previous example illustrates my point exactly: I estimated the man’s height in feet. The only concept of a ‘foot’ that I have is based on a one-foot-long ruler that I used at some point in my life. That ruler is described as being a foot long because it was made to imitate the length of a ruler somewhere else in the world that is said to be exactly one foot long. End Aside

So what does this have to do with infinity? Well, we describe God as being infinite. Or at least that’s how we rationalize our inability to describe Him. It’s often bothered me that I can’t grasp the concept of a being that existed before time began and that will continue to exist after time ceases. I’ve even lost sleep over it. ‘It just doesn’t make sense, ‘ I’d say. How can a being not operate relative to time? Well, I’ve come to realize that I, as a finite, time-dependant being, am not capable of comprehending anything that is not relative to time (or, more generally, finite things). Why? Because, as far as matters of existence go, my only frame of reference is time”finity’. That fact drags me to the conclusion that I am not capable of understanding how God existed before time’forever before time’and will exist when time expires’forever after time expires. God created time and is neither subject to it, nor can He described relative to it, but has dominion over it.

Question: What sort of impact does the belief that God is infinite, omniscient and omnipresent have on a polytheistic world-view? Hopefully, I’ll get to that one later.

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Dental floss is a necessary nuisance.

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*swoosshh* The sound of another bad shot. Somehow, we’re down by 10 and it’s only 2 minutes into the game. Something’s gotta’ give. We pull three of our starters and put in some fresh guys. Now we’re rollin’ with twelve unanswered points. We’ll make it to half-time down by six’not bad. We come outta’ half-time gunnin’ for ‘em. A few jumpers and some fast-break points and we’re right back in it; even up by a few sometimes. We’re up with about a minute left to play, but a few mistakes cost us the lead and almost cost us the game. We’re fortunate to be in over-time. Alright, 2 minutes and we’re done. We play pretty poorly for the first minute or so, but we manage to step it up on D and keep ‘em to a 2 point lead. Our ball; 15 seconds left and I’m spotting up in the corner’base-line to my left”cause that’s my money spot. Even if I’m 0-for-6 today from beyond the arc, I’m on the floor and that means I might be takin’ ‘the shot’. 15′our forward inbounds the ball to our point-guard’14′the point starts bringing the ball through the back-court’13′he’s almost to mid-court’fighting a bit of a press, but the press is conservative, so we don’t get an easy shot inside’12′the point is at mid-court and slowing it down’we want the last shot’11′he’s hanging near mid-court still, protecting the ball, but not moving much’10′now’s the time to make a move’he starts heading for the top of the key’9′our guys are screening, but their guys are following and switching too well for anything to be easy’8′looks like he’s going right’that means it’s up to the strong side of our offense to score and the pressure’s off me’7′never mind, he’s coming left, but it looks like he’s gonna’ cut inside for the runner’6′wait a sec.; their zone’s collapsing in on him to prevent the easy bucket’that means the arc is opening up’5′he sees it; here comes the dish’4′pressure’s on, but the defense isn’t'it’s just me and the ball trying to put our differences behind us for just a second while I take this jumper’3′*snap* that one’s good’1-for-7′3 points means we’ve got ‘em by one; their ball; 3.7 seconds on the ticker. We manage to stuff ‘em on the inbound, but we tip it out on the lob, so it’s their ball on their base-line; 3.5 seconds left. Inbound, tough shot, our rebound, time-out; 1 second left on the ticker. All we have to do is inbound the ball and keep it on the floor. Forward in to point’tick’game over. I can’t believe ours is the bigger score, but I do believe we earned it.

There were two things that made today’s game really tough for me: First, being down by 17 at one point’that really hurts the ego; Second, hitting the game-winner, but knowing I played like garbage for most of the game. I think I ended up with 11 points or so, but 6 of those were easy lay-ups on fast-breaks. I guess I enjoy knowing that I came through ‘in the clutch’, but I would rather have been there for my team throughout the game. I’d rather have my team knowing they can consistently depend on me than have my team be excited because I uncharacteristically made a tough shot. All-in-all, I have to say I was really proud of the guys I ran with today. They showed a lot of character in not giving up when we had an early deficit. It was really encouraging to see everyone come together without complaining or finger-pointing and, as a team, pull through to the win.

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What a tasty treat! I just got back from lunch with some of my best friends and I have to say it was probably the best-invested three hours I’ve had in a long time. It’s really crazy how certain commonalities simply don’t dissolve with time–perhaps, they even grow stronger. I have many friends with whom deep, meaningful conversation is possible at any moment; and I also have friends with whom deep, meaningful conversation is anticipated with every visit. The friends with whom I spent this afternoon reside in the latter category. To be honest, it never really mattered where the discussion was headed; what really mattered was that we were all equally eager to talk to one another. That’s the kind of conversation I really dig–the kind of conversation where virtually every word is dripping with significance and sincerity. It is in that kind of conversation with people such as those that I am able to lay my facade aside (whichever one I’ve chosen for the day) and relax a bit. There’s no need to have my guard up because I know it will never be necessary or useful. Rather, any guard would simply be a hindrance to the nearly surrealistic fellowship that can be achieved.

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I don’t know how accurate the time-stamp on these blogs is, but I’m afraid it may betray me this morning. That’s right, this morning! I couldn’t believe it myself (probably because I’m so disoriented when I first wake up, regardless of when), but I actually woke up at a decent hour today without an alarm clock. Next thing I know, Elvis is going to be doing free shows on the Union lawn. Unfortunately, my “early-rising” left me with a whole new dilemma: What do I do with this extra hour (assuming I don’t skip my first class–that would make it an extra two hours)? I settled on updating my blog. I keep telling myself this is productive and maybe I’m right; or maybe I’ll stop caring about blogging in a week and I’ll drop off the face of the electronic earth.

So, I realized that I never wrote anything about my feelings on The Mothman Prophecies. That’s probably because I really didn’t have any. It was a decent movie with some minor twists and a bit of suspense, but that’s about all I can say for it. For the most part, the movie’s suspense was derived from well-placed, aggravating sounds (ie a sudden hiss, or an unexpected screech or a demonic voice). Unfortunately, all those sounds did was aggravate me–they didn’t make the movie any better, in my opinion. I think, in all fairness, I can at least give Richard some props for playing a pretty good confused rich-guy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s certainly not Oscar-bound or anything, but he played the role well. (Aside: The Oscar is headed to Sean Penn, this time around, for his work in I Am Sam. That is, unless Russel Crowe manages to land a role in another great movie, where he can do some overacting and fool everyone into thinking he deserves the little metal man: Aside over)

Well, this weekend may yield some much sought after free time for a change. I lucked out: only two homework assignments due on Monday and nothing due on Tuesday. It’s nice to know that, this week, only two of my prof’s think I have nothing better to do than their stupid homework assignments. Actually, I take that back, probably only one of my prof’s thinks I dig doing homework on the weekends; the other one probably doesn’t even know he assigned anything. He’s one of the professors who thinks that Teaching Assistant means “One who does everything for the course except the lectures. The TA’s responsibilities include: assigning homework, grading homework, making up his own rules for grading homework, answering any questions the student might have, avoiding telling students their grades, etc.” That definition was taken right out of the Computer Science department’s Department Dictionary of Terms We Redefined to Meet Our Needs. I would kick myself for this dual-degree idea if I could kick myself anywhere other than the shin and calves–that just gets old after a while.

I’m ripping this next part of my entry directly from Jason Killingsworth’s blog (along with pretty much every other aspect of my blog):

Currently reading: Knowing God by J. I. Packer and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

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I guess I haven’t written much lately. Seems like I haven’t got too much to say. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary has happened in the past few days and I’m pretty much just stuck in the mire of the day-to-day school routine. I was thinking about it in my car tonight and I’m stinkin’ tired of engineering. Not college, but engineering. It’s just so drab to me. I guess my main problem is that I’m in too deep now. After this semester, I’ll be packing about 115 credits–about 30 shy from the big G–and I could never convince myself to change my major now. Besides, English prof’s are lucky to start out at 30 grand a year and the prospect of landing a great job behind a desk (a la Office Space) makin’ 70 grand a year is just too appealing.

See, I like to occasionally humor myself and imagine what it would be like if I were an English major. I guess the up-side would be that I could occasionally use my right brain and do a little thinking on my own. The down-side would be that I would occasionally be required to use my right brain and do a little thinking on my own. Truthfully, I really enjoy reading literature and mulling over its significance in my mind. It gives me a creative outlet. Right now, for instance, I’m reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. So far, it’s a quality book (I’m about 30 pages in; it’s 300 pages). There’s just something about being able to stare into a black and white sea of letters and loose myself in an imaginary world. I guess, “my world” simply doesn’t seem that interesting most of the time. I’m sure that says something about my personality, or my world-view, or my outlook on life, but I really don’t feel like bothering with all that right now.

It looks like I might be playing a show with my good buddy Chris Case sometime at the end of March. Tentatively, it’s gonna’ be March 30 at the Oxford Coffee House, but I really have no idea if that’s an official date, or a ballpark figure. Basically, Chris’ll be the musician performing and I’ll be fumbling with my guitar, trying not to make so much noise as to drown out the music. I might even occasionally venture an attempt at a cover, but only if I’m feeling lucky.

Man, I’m thirsty…

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Well, I’ve basically just had the worst 48 hours of the semester so far. Basically, since I returned from the overnight, I’ve been doing homework with very little exception. I guess that is my way of saying I don’t have much to report. And, instead of trying to make something up, I’ll just leave it at that…

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Campus Crusade for Christ had a men’s overnight function this weekend. I had the opportunity to speak to the guys about Pride and how it can destroy and prevent a healthy relationship with God. It was very encouraging to see how engaging the men were after the first talk on Friday. We had a question and answer session that lasted 45 minutes immediately after the first talk. That was encouraging because the talk itself only last about 45 minutes. It seemed like the guys were very interested and desired to learn more.

It is getting to that time of the year when we are able to see who the future leaders of the movement will be. In fact, every year around Spring Break, it seems like the first-year students finally become assimilated to the college life. That’s when their true colors begin to show. Some of them simply lose interest in Campus Crusade (and perhaps, unfortunately, developing their relationship with God), but some begin to yearn for something deeper and more fulfilling. Some begin to want to demonstrate to others what they believe. Spring Break is just around the corner and I think it’s going to be more encouraging this year than ever before.

I restrung my acoustic guitar today with D’addario Custom Lights. I’ve used Elixir Custom Lights for almost two years now, but I felt it was time to try something different. I really like Elixirs (I generally recommend them every chance I get), but I’ve found that, recently, they’ve begun to hinder me from achieving some goals I’ve set with respect to mechanics. I’ve noticed that when I try to make tough stretches, my fingers will sometimes slide toward a relaxed position and I think this is catalyzed by the lack of friction that the gortex coated Elixirs can pride.

I’m going to see The Mothman Prophecies tonight (starring Richard Gere and Laura Lenney), but I doubt if I’ll enjoy it much. It simply doesn’t look like my kind of movie. Of course, it’s always nice to be surprised at the movies and maybe tonight will be a surprising night.

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I had the privilege of hearing Clayton King speak at the University of Florida FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) meeting tonight. It was a talk that took a fresh look at a story I’d heard many, many times. He spoke on the parable of the Seed and the Sewer found in Luke chapter 8. He talked about Jesus� story describing a farmer sewing seed on four different surfaces–a well-traveled path, a rock, thorns and fertile soil. Clayton then described what each of these surfaces represents in terms of the human condition: The well-traveled path is analogous to a hardened heart–a heart that is unreceptive and unresponsive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The rock represents a shallow person–the seed, or the Gospel, is able to sprout, but not take root on the rock; essentially, the seed is not able to fully grow and reach its potential because of the poor surface the rock provides. This person is characterized by little commitment or devotion to pursuing God. The thorns represent a crowded heart–a person who has substituted a busy schedule (often times doing things intended to bring honor to God) for a personal, growing relationship with God. And, finally, the fertile soil represents an open heart–a heart that is receptive and responsive to God’s Word.

After hearing Clayton speak and meditating on what he said for a while, I’ve decided that mine is a shallow heart. This is discouraging and somewhat relieving at the same time. It is discouraging to think that I could’ve become complacent enough to be described as having “little commitment or devotion to pursuing God”, but it’s relieving in that I now know exactly where I am and that where I am is not where I want to be. It seems I need to do something about my shallow heart and, with God’s help, I intend to.

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Unbelievable. I spent 5 hours today, waiting in line to see the Kentucky vs. UF game. That is really out of character for me–I usually wouldn’t be able to justify spending 5 hours sitting around waiting to watch a basketball game–but, I thought, “What the heck. I’ll give it a shot. We have to win anyway, because we’ve lost the last two and we’re one of the best teams in the country.” Turns out we lost by 2 lousy points. So, I spent about 8 hours today, waiting to see our guys lose by 2. Ouch.

Anyway, I just finished watching Pretty Woman for the first time. It’ll probably be the last. Honestly, I don’t get it; everyone always says, “You haven’t seen Pretty Woman?! Man, you gotta’ see that movie.” I just don’t see what all the hype is about. Julia is a good actress and Richard did a good job in the movie, but I never really caught what was so special about this particular prostitute that she changed his life. She seemed like a nice enough girl, but when it comes down to it, I just don’t see what set her apart from the rest. Yeah, she knew a little about cars and she was kind of feisty, but there are lots of feisty, car-knowledgeable women that aren’t prostitutes. Why didn’t he just go find one of those?

I better get some sleep. I have a dilemma tomorrow in that I have 4 consecutive classes, but the third one is cancelled. So, I’m wondering if I should go to the first 2, then leave and skip the last one, or if I should stick around and kill an hour before attending my last one. Why does life have to be full of so many tough decisions? Ah, the life of a college student…

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