ani ruhama

And now, for your Monday viewing pleasure, I present the finest in entertainment, brought to you by some of your favorite Faculty and Staff.  Looks like this was filmed in 2002, but haven’t been able to get the back story on it.  Any oldtimers want to help shed light on how something this wonderful came into existence?

It’s been three years today since Richard and Charlene Hicks, better known to me simply as Uncle Rich and Aunt Char, went home.  Though not related to our family by blood, they were as dearly loved as any “real” relative could have been.

In 1994, Rich and Char moved to Guyana, where they served for 11 years translating the New Testament into the language of the Wapishana people (numbering over 10,000 today).  On March 30, 2005, they were found brutally murdered at their home in Lethem, Guyana, only a few years before they would have seen the completed New Testament in the hands of the Wapishana people.  Wycliffe Bible Translators continues work on this project today.

Excerpts from a newspaper in Guyana:

At the San Jose ranch, they searched and found the woman’s body in bushes in the kitchen garden. Sources said the key to the vehicle the couple owned was found not too far from her body and it appeared that she tried in vain to flee her attackers who caught and severely beat hear with a heavy piece of wood. Police searched around for her husband but did not find him. But as day broke, they found his charred remains in the rubble of the house, the sources said. Lethem residents, baffled at the motive for the killing, said they were not known to have anything of much value in the humble house they had on the ranch spread and paid for goods and supplies by cheque.  

Uncle Rich and Aunt Char, those who’ve come behind you find you faithful indeed. You are missed.

We could all learn a bit about love from this story from NPR this morning about Julio Diaz, robbed at knifepoint by a teen.  Excerpt:

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm….If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.” 

Reminds me of something else I read somewhere:

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31) 

Tonight is a full lunar eclipse. During such an event, the moon does not turn black, as one might think. To quote NASA, “the Moon’s disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.” The partial eclipse begins at 8:43 pm EST tonight, with the full eclipse taking place from 10:01 - 10:51 pm EST.

On a second topic: Tonight the United States hopes to shoot down a rogue satellite over the Pacific Ocean. If weather permits, the missile launch will take place somewhere around 10:30 pm EST. Once hit, the satellite will break up into many small pieces which will then burn up in the atmosphere.

On a third topic: One day, according to Revelation 6, the following events will take place. “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m not an End-Times junkie. I have no particular opinion and absolutely nothing to prove. I try to avoid the realm of speculation on matters bigger than I. However, on the off chance the weather is good, and on the off chance that a satellite breaking into chunks and burning up in the sky is a modern-day equivalent of the stars falling to earth, and on the off chance the launch actually takes place during the window of the total eclipse…

We may have a blood-red moon tonight as the stars fall to the earth. No theories on the earthquake. I’ll leave that to my loyal readers.

And regardless of what comes to pass today, tomorrow, or any time during our lifetime, I still don’t mind these little tangible reminders that make the final words of Revelation ring so true:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Props to the spectacularly wonderful Justin Ladd for his first Super Bowl commercial. As Peracchio reports:

Justin Ladd was in a Superbowl commercial. Well, his voice was. Apparently, Justin sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake and he just happened to be at work while JT was doing ADR for his big Pepsi commercial. The producers hated the way JT screamed, so they opted for Justin to do all voice work for the times when JT had to scream and react to hitting things.

If You Wanted Me - Todd Agnew

I’ll admit I’m glad we’re not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
‘Cause I’m afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night

If you wanted me to walk on water
Why’d You make the solid ground seem so right?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not King David
Ruling over everything I see
‘Cause I think I’ve fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation’s a temptation for me

If you wanted me to love you only
Why’d you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
‘Cause at least down here I know what we’re chasing
And it’s hard to trust Your dreams are so much better than mine

If you wanted me to die to myself
Why’d you make me fall so deeply in love with life?

If You wanted me to surrender
Why’d You make these hands able to hold on so tight?

And if You wanted me to be like You
Why’d You make me like me?

Complaints have been lodged against the author of this blog, commonly known as Yours Truly, Laura, and Hey You Weirdo, for not posting in a really really unbelievably long time. I accept full responsibility for this failure and offer my sincerest apologies.

In an attempt to right my wrong, I’ll try for a post. It might be lousy. Or it might be lousy and the only one for the next 6 months. But at least you won’t be able to say I didn’t make an effort.

Life is good, in a crazy sort of way. Work is busy, I come home exhausted more often than I’d like. Post-college life isn’t the most exciting thing ever, though, so I can crash right after work without worries about homework, more homework, or that thing I almost used to have (I think I called it a social life). My marvelous roommate and I are silly like old ladies and go to bed at unreasonably early hours of the night.

Don’t know why words and posts and ramblings aren’t forthcoming recently. I have a decent number of thoughts running round in my head at any given moment in time, I’m sure I could muster five or six long posts upon demand. Ask my poor friends that get stuck with my rambles, they’ll vouch for that. But the poor Blog is mostly dead.

But be of good cheer. The thoughts chasing each other in circles have threatened mutiny against my silent reign, and might force a post on any of a myriad of topics. Soon. Or never. Who knows…

In the meantime, I’m at Common Grounds drinking too much coffee, reading the Brothers Karamazov, waiting for tonight’s music to start, and wondering why there’s so many (noisy) students here right now when they’re all supposed to be off-campus for our Fall Break…silly people.

I hope this has been a halfway decent excuse for a post. Even if there’s absolutely no deepness in it whatsoever. When I’m not high on caffeine I might come up with something better. In the meantime, I leave you with this entirely irrelevant and useless thought:

I want to see a waterfall. Anyone up for Niagara Falls?