The Power of Garlic

My friend Rob is a preacher-man. He wrote a piece on his blog entitled "You've Got More Power Than You Realize". I recently pondered this title deeply as I choked and gagged the other afternoon. Perhaps I should attempt to explain myself here a bit lest you get the wrong impression.

I had an early afternoon meeting the other day, just past lunch time. The meeting took place in a fairly large conference room that measured about 50 ft across (that is 15800.26 meters for you foreigners). The meeting had just gotten underway when a straggler entered the room and made his way to an empty seat on the far side of the room from me. His foul, rancid lunch food breath filled up the room with an almost visible haze. I could not find clean air and my eyes started to water and burn. The meeting chairman decided to close the doors to the room so that we would not disturb those who had offices across the hall. This did not allow for any air circulation. Due to the number of folks in the room giving off their body heat, the temperature in the room began to escalate. This caused some sort of chemical reaction with the room funk that kicked the garlicky cloud into overdrive. It was like a punch in the gut. I doubled over wheezing and gagging. I thought to myself, "That dude has a lot more power than he realizes". I'm then smiled smugly to myself just before I passed out because I likely was the only one who fully grasped the true meaning of Rob's post.

Saint

The second book in the "Paradise" series by author Ted Dekker is entitled Saint, which follows 15 years after Showdown. The story begins following the bizarre training of a 25 year old man named Carl Strople. Carl has been completely brainwashed by scientists within an entity known as The X Group, who have been working to make him into the ultimate assassin. While their techniques are unconventional and inhumane, the skill of their elite squad is unmatched. However, Carl turns out to be more than just a good shot, he can direct the flight of a bullet over a distance of nearly 2 miles to knock a fly out of the air. Actually this is just the tip of his true powers.

Carl's first mission is to travel from Hungary to the U.S. to kill the Iranian defense minister. At the last minute his orders are changed and he is instead told to kill the president. The X Group is involved in an intricate plot to destroy Israel and re-map the Middle East. Although his mind has been reprogrammed, Carl senses that something is terribly wrong with this plan. However, to disobey will cause his handlers to terminate him with a small device implanted into his brain. So, Carl shoots the president through the chest, but ensures that he does not die. It is then that The X Group sends their top man, one Dale Crompton, to clean up the mess that has developed and complete the mission, leaving absolutely no loose ends.

At this point we start to find out who Carl and Dale really are, as well as their links to Project Showdown and the Books of History. The story is really all about the ongoing battle of good vs. evil. Of course, evil knows its nature through and through. However, the interesting twist in this story is that good was not self-aware and did not appreciate its role and its power until the last moment. An engaging story that was a fun and a light read (and only required me to suspend belief along a couple of Dekker's threads). Now, on to the last volume in the series, Sinner.

Taking Stock

As another year has just come to a close, it is fully appropriate to spend a few moments looking back to take stock of where you have been and what you have done. Was it a good year, one lived well and marked by hard work that made a difference or notably filled with joy and overall happiness? Perhaps it is appropriate to hand out a few grades that will show where you have done well and where you have fallen short, what you can count as victories and what you should count as defeats. I thought I would share what came to mind as I considered this for the past year.

Victories

• Health - My overall health this year has been great. This is listed as a victory because I have been committed to exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and a reasonable control of my diet.
  
• Raising my daughter - While there are always areas of my daughter's life where I wish I had more impact or influence, I know that I have given all of myself to her.
  
• Progress at work - I am satisfied with my performance at work. I approach it consistently with a good attitude and give of myself and my talents.
  
• House upkeep - Historically I have been quite lazy about home repairs and general upkeep. This past year I was purposeful about staying on top of things, whether it was working in the yard or home repairs.
  
• Hobbies - I was purposeful about my blogging this past year and am pleased with what I produced. I also really enjoyed my time with the books that I read. I ensured that my hobbies were enjoyable and did not become a chore.
  

Defeats

• Volunteering - For the past few years I volunteered at my church. This past year I did very little because it did not fit my schedule and my heart. As I result I have noticed that my church isn't as much my church any more.
  
• Making friends - I tried to make some friends during the year, but things did not go as I had hoped. I find that the further I drift from relationships, the less I am motivated to even try.
  
• Finding a special someone - I had done some serious "sun stand still" type praying that I would meet someone this past year to share my life with. I am still setting a table for one.
  
• Losing regrets - My life is often ruled by the winds of regret. I had hoped to gain some measure of control this past year. I had very little success.
  
• Church group - After struggling to fit into a church small group in 2010, I tried again to find a group in 2011. It started off pretty well I thought, but then I self destructed several months in and needed to step back.
  

Growing Hearts

Each year the place where I work hosts a group of underprivileged children from the local area during the holidays to give them a grand Christmas party. A chance for them to feel like the center of attention, to have a fuss made over them through an afternoon of laughter and fun activities and tasty snacks. During the first few weeks of December, distribution boxes for Toys for Tots are set out around site and folks are called upon to donate. For a while now I have made it part of my ritual to buy two nice toys, one for a little boy and one for a little girl, to add to the pile. It is actually kind of heartwarming to walk past the drop-off points and see them brimming with neat stuff for the kids.

The organizers of the event also have a tradition to supply some number of bicycles for the kids. This year was no different. For most youngsters, getting a new bike is one of the greatest things ever. It is all the more of a rush when they get something like this out of the blue. Something that not only will let their imaginations soar to new heights, but also will grow their hearts. You know what an unbelievable blessing it is by the squeals of the children and the happy tears streaming down the parent's faces.

Showdown

For most of last year, I was fully immersed in the fantasy worlds created by Ted Dekker. This includes his wonderful Circle series books, Black, Red, White, and Green, his Lost series books, Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, and Elyon, and his book Skin. These 11 books are all part and parcel of the same family, with different books tackling different story arcs and segments and tangents. Now I am continuing my reading in this series with the final phase of books called the Paradise trilogy. The first Paradise series book is entitled Showdown. Oh boy did Dekker keep me on edge the whole time. This was just good old fashioned story telling. Of course, it was all the more enjoyable for me because I already knew quite a bit about the antagonist in this story and some of the plot elements from some of the other books above.

This book tells the story of Project Showdown, a massive venture funded by an ex-Harvard professor to study good vs. evil and how it develops in children fully sheltered from the influences of the outside world. Three dozen children, consisting of orphaned and unwanted babies, are brought to a special monastery outside the small mountain town of Paradise, Colorado. Here they are raised by monks in a manner to foster love. However, there is more to the existence of this monastery than initially meets the eye. It is actually a library for the lost books of history that hold untold power for both good and evil.

Meanwhile, in the town of Paradise, some powerful force has taken over the minds of the residents. The once peaceful town of working-class folks become mindless puppets in the hands of a strange and powerful monk named Marsuvees Black. Yet while Black is ultimately seen to be the figurehead of evil, he is actually controlled by another. Just when evil seems ready to triumph, two young boys risk all they have and lean on grace and hope to restore light to the world. Now, onward to the next book in the series, Saint.

Black Box Lesson

If you have ever watched the cartoon South Park, it is fairly common after all of the hijinks have ensued and the carnage has been wrought, for Stan Marsh to stand up and begin a soliloquy with the words, "You know what, I learned something today ...". So I decided to channel Stan today to tell you about a lesson that I learned that was kind of amusing but also taught an important life lesson.

I work at a facility that carefully checks all people driving on and off the site. In order for me to enter, I must scan my personnel badge in front of a black box on a guard house. When I do this, my photograph and job clearance authorizations show up on a computer screen. A guard then verifies that everything is in order and then pushes a button to activate the swing arm that allows me access to drive through.

The black box is about a foot square, with a light in the upper corner that turns from red to green when my badge is scanned. For some reason, I thought that this light was actually the optical scanner. For several years I had trouble getting the scanner to register my badge as I flopped it around in front of the light. This always caused me to grumble and complain and carry on. However, I finally came to understand that the light in the corner of the black box is just an LED. The sensitive scanner is actually in the middle of the black box. So, it turned out that I was having troubles because I was scanning my badge incorrectly.

So, what's the lesson? Well, when things don't go our way and it affects us negatively, it could be because it's our own fault! Huh, imagine that.

Happy New Year 2012

Yesterday marked the start of a new year as everyone is, no doubt, aware. Some did not give this day a second thought, just another in life's string. The only difference was that it required a calendar page be turned, but otherwise, all went on as any other Sunday. But as for me, I took a few moments to celebrate the biggest blessing my life has known, the birthday of my wonderful daughter.

As I wrote last year at this time, my daughter was embarking on her first year as a teenager. Through prayer and luck and forces beyond my vision, we both survived this year reasonably well. My daughter plowed ahead growing up too fast for me to keep up with, and I followed behind pointlessly muttering, "Wait", to no avail. But yesterday I celebrated with joy my daughter and our relationship for all that it has been thus far. I stand ready with her to face and embrace the new year ahead. Happy, happy birthday.

Oh, and happy new year to my online friends. See you in the blogosphere in the days and weeks and months ahead. Blessings to you all and glad tidings.