Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ? Student : Yes, sir. Professor: So, you believe in GOD ? Student : Absolutely, sir. Professor : Is GOD good ? Student : Sure. Professor: Is GOD all powerful ? Student : Yes. Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm? (Student was silent.) Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good? Student : Yes. Professor: Is satan good ? Student : No. Professor: Where does satan come from ? Student : From … GOD … Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world? Student : Yes. Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct? Student : Yes. Professor: So who created evil ? (Student did not answer.) Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they? Student : Yes, sir. Professor: So, who created them ? (Student had no answer.) Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD? Student : No, sir. Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD? Student : No , sir. Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter? Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t. Professor: Yet you still believe in Him? Student : Yes. Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son? Student : Nothing. I only have my faith. Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has. Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat? Professor: Yes. Student : And is there such a thing as cold? Professor: Yes. Student : No, sir. There isn’t. (The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.) Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.) Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness? Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you? Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ? Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed. Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how? Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey? Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do. Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir? (The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.) Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class was in uproar.) Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain? (The class broke out into laughter. ) Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.) Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son. Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving. P.S. That student was EINSTEIN.

Heartache.

I haven't posted in awhile. I've been so happy and so wrapped up in my relationship and its progress. It didn't feel right to share its private moments in such a public manner on the blog, and I didn't have anything else on my mind really. I broke up with him this morning. My heart hurts so so much. And I know that I hurt him so much too. I feel like a royal mess, a complete disaster. I was so sure this was the right thing to do, so sure that I needed to save us both from much bigger hurt in the future. But after talking to him I feel so broken and a bit panicky and wondering what the hell have I done. My intellect still tells me I made the right choice but my heart is screaming at me and saying why why why. I am going to miss him so much. I don't mean to be depressing. I just needed to share with two of the people I love the most in the world. 

This was part of an email exchange between me and Tessie this morning. It just all came out and it encapsulates the way I feel pretty well. 

Love you both! 

Tessie, 

We talked about it a bit last night. I told him I have decided to move to Austin. He sees that as synonymous with breaking up (which I knew), so his gut-reaction was not unexpected to me. We've talked about it before and I have always held that if a relationship is the right one, it will weather the distance or figure out a way to be together. He doesn't agree and I knew that he felt I was choosing 'career' over him. I suppose in a way I am, though I have never seen the opportunity as this stark choice between love and work. But I guess that is where the problem is: if I loved him like you love Dan, I wouldn't be able to fathom leaving and we would be getting married. But I don't. And we're not. 

I just know so much that Austin is where I am supposed to be right now; that it is going to be such a good experience for me and  that I am excited for all the right reasons. I don't know what will happen. It isn't because of my job. My job is just the perfect setup for me to go. And I am supposed to go. 

This past week was one reminder after the other of what my dreams have alwaysbeen made of...the kind of relationship I want, the family I can't wait to raise, the love and faith that I want to fully share with someone. I thought for a moment that there might be another way to have a good relationship. That maybe I am too quick to dismiss people, that everyone is on a journey and can change. That my initial critical impression of people (men particularly) is harsh and unrealistic. Dustin has a good, sweet heart. But we see all of the important things differently...no, on entirely different planes!! It is not healthy for either of us. He is resentful because he thinks I won't adjust/compromise things; I am because he has no understanding of the core of who I am and why 'compromise' isn't even possible.

I wish so much that I could take his part of the hurt. It about broke my heart talking to him last night. He has had such horrid examples of family relationships and love in his life. He kept asking me why I made him fall in love with me. I feel so awful. We do have a great time together.  I am attracted to him and we laugh, laugh, laugh together. But it isn't enough. I am sad, it hurts and I will miss him. But I at least have the surety that what I am doing is the right thing to do. He doesn't have that. Just the hurt. And another person who failed him. I feel like a murderess. I am slowing murdering his small, newborn hope in love. But I can't reassure him and I can't take it back. It is best for both of us. 

This relationship has really solidified that my faith is the core of who I am and I can't ignore it. It has been kind of rumbling around under the surface for the past few years.  I thought maybe I could live it on my own, not necessarily have to share it with my spouse. Nooot true. Everything stems from it. I cannot be happy without it there and I can't lie to myself. I have felt him pulling me away from it more than anything else. It has been forever since I have gone to communion. I don't want to live this way. 

Anywho. 

Thanks much for the prayers. And for the example. I'm thinking that D.P. put us together in this hell-hole of an office to smack my stubborn head against the windowpane of your relationship and say 'see! quit pretending you don't want this or that this doesn't exist! Find that Chesterton-loving hopeful idealism that is all wrapped up in your being and quit being a coward!' 

I love you for it! And many other reasons :)

Megs

Seriously. Seriously. Cannot stand flaky people. I think it's just rude. Flat out rude. When somebody calls you or e-mails you then it's polite to respond. I don't give s flippin-A if the response isn't in my favor. What I care about is if you take the time to respond. I'm not saying you should respond to every single thing, but when you've made commitments you should follow through on them. AHHHHHHHHHH! It's so frustrating to me. Who does that? That's my rant while I sit on a conference call that I have no involvement in. It's hard to find the desire to fight for things when you don't really give a damn. C'est la vie!

Random thoughts, inquiries and observations

1) It's only 100 days til the Olympics! Why am I not more excited?
2) Remember those Olympic coins they used to have in cereal boxes?
3) I think Gymnastics is my favorite Olympic sport to watch.
4) I wonder if I could ever "STICK" a landing after flipping off a vault.
5) Mexico has a volcano - news to me!
6) I thought Mexico was a land of beaches, taco trucks, and dive bars.
7) Volcanoes in Mexico totally ruined my exotic fantasy land that I've always imagined.
8) How would you feel to be part of Bin Laden's family - I thought my family had issues.
9) I like presenting powerpoint presentations
10) I, however, take it as a personal insult to my intelligence to present somebody else's powerpoint, as if I'm not smart enough to create my own.
11) Flaky people drive me insane.
12) I hope people don't think I'm flaky.
13) Fiduciary is a funny word.
14) I always thought a good line would be "Yeah, that guy puts the douche in fiduciary."
15) I really want to get a bike.
16) I think people with bike racks always look so in shape and put together.
17) Secrets can be hard to keep.
18) I get more excited for other people than I do for myself.
19) I ate way tOO much at lunch.
20) Crying is so unbelievably therapeutic.

What was supposed to be a comment...

On Mare's post below..:

AHHHH! I love this more and more! I read it the other day rather hurriedly. But today I've been so incredibly bored and revisited it without any distractions and it just blows my mind.

God is good to us regardless. By him giving us somebody it is such an incredible blessing to show us how much he loves us.

I have a hard time with this sometimes because I feel like my view of love is sometimes selfish - well it's almost always ultimately selfish with a facade and an intellectual understanding that I'm supposed to be selfless. I'm only recently learning how to truly love completely selflessly.

My counselor told me that it's a psychological theory/belief (not sure what you would call it) that our perception of God is a mirror of our perception of our parents. To me my parents have always loved me - I would never doubt that. But their love seems ultimately self-directed. I feel if they truly loved me they would say, "We love you, now do what you want to do. We had our time with you. We've watched you grow and helped you along the way. Now it's your turn to take the reins."

I feel like that's what God is telling us. And not only is telling us but wants us to do. And He gives us awesome consolation prizes along the way. What would the world be like if God kept all of us to Himself?

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.” - Robert Fritz

from the mouth of Cistercian abbot, St. Aelred of Rievaulx

It is no small consolation in this life to have someone to whom you can be united in the intimate embrace of the most sacred love; in whom your spirit can rest; to whom you can pour out your soul; in whose delightful company, as in a sweet consoling song, you can take comfort in the midst of sadness; in whose most welcome, friendly bosom you can find peace in so many worldly setbacks; to whose loving heart you can open, as freely as you would to yourself, your innermost thoughts; through whose spiritual kisses – as by some medicine – you are cured of the sickness of care and worry; who weeps with you in sorrow, rejoices with you in joy, and wonders with you in doubt; whom you draw by the fetters of love into that inner room of your soul, so that though the body is absent, the spirit is there, and you can confer all alone, the two of you, in the sleep of peace away from the noise of the world, in the embrace of love, in the kiss of unity, with the Holy Spirit flowing over you; to whom you so join and unite yourself that you mix soul with soul, and two become one.