Sunday, December 30, 2007

Safety First

I know. It's been a few days since I've posted. I've been doing a lot of prayer and contemplation these days about where I'm at and what's going on. This isn't too uncommon, especially around this time of year. Retreat, rethinking, re-evaluating, whatever you want to call it, it's going to take me a little more time.

In the meantime, those who know me best know that I've got a thing for railroads. I happened across this Santa Fe "Safety First" poster recently and saw that it crosses over to what I usually post here.


It's not commonly known that railroads were among the first companies to put in a systematic approach to worker safety. Safety First was started in 1912 in response to state liability laws beginning to hold them accountable for employee deaths and injuries while on the job. Before that, it wasn't uncommon for a larger railroad to kill 100 men in a single year in accidents. One of the first reasons employers found to encourage a safety mindset in their working men was there at home every night. "Remember the little ones" was all the reason men needed to take the extra precautions to save their lives and limbs. This campaign, along with the implementation of the automatic coupler, drastically reduced casualties and Safety First can still be seen in maintenance buildings and workrooms of today's railroads.

Remember the little ones... works for me.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Introspectacle

Introspection is a good thing. I have intentionally avoided writing personal stuff lately because stress from the holidays always distorts things and Christmas is usually a time for me to remember the past and enjoy the present. Particularly, Christmas night after the family has left and our kids are in bed is a time where I just take a deep breath and exhale. It’s a soft landing after the flight through the days leading up to Christmas.

I also have been struggling to get our family’s Christmas letter together. Yes, this year it is truly late. It’s been difficult to write this year and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m hoping that a few things we’re waiting on will come through in time for me to put it in the letter. Maybe it’s because I still struggle with the path God has chosen for me. I didn’t choose to be disabled, yet God has seen fit to put me here. I’m learning, slowly, how God can use me in a very intimate way with my family. They need me more than a career ever could. I’m learning that many of the good “dad-ly” things that I want to emulate do not truly pivot on providing for my family. Earning an income does not help me know my son’s heart, nor does it offer me greater insight on my daughters’ thoughts. Nor has my disability affected my heart and who I am to my children. I am still the same father inside that I was before I became unable to work full time. I still love them just as deeply, if not more. I am who I am in Christ, not who the government or society or church says I am.

My name is Steve Walden and I have a unique and wonderful family that loves me for who I am. Therefore, I am the richest man in the world.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

God Presents His Omnipresence With His Presents

We've been going through some stressful times with regard to our income and what God has planned. In particular, our daughter has been very anxious and pensive over the coming weeks. We've been working with her, but I think God is getting through to her.

This evening, she remarked at dinner about how she would soon be using her Tinkerbell calendar. My son, the football fanatic, said, "Oh man! Now I know what I want: a Broncos calendar!" When I heard that, God directed me to an opportunity that made my heart jump. I went to my hiding place, got something and then returned.

"Remember how we told you how God knows our wants and needs and provides for us? Son, look," and I held up the Broncos calendar. "God was in the future when he saw your request, and He directed me to this calendar last week. Don't you think that if God can do this for a calendar, that he can do it for a mortgage or anything else we need?"

I think that was worth giving a gift a few days early.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

No Blank Slate For Babies?

Early education fascinates me. I'm not sure why it does, but I often wonder at the how's and why's of development. The Cate's of Why Homeschool posted about a study from Yale that showed that 100% of six month-olds and 87.5% of 10 month-olds picked a toy recently associated with a "Good Samaritan" role in a video. The controls and results all seem valid to me, and it has significant implications regarding the "on-board" morality of pre-verbal children. They actually appear to have a preference toward objects that are cooperative and selfless.

These findings seem to erode the tabula rosa theory that insists children are born with a blank slate and learn everything from environmental factors. Could we be born with a pre-disposition toward valuing cooperation and selflessness? Do we have a moral center at birth or even before? This study seems to indicate so.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Logan, The SkyAngel Cowboy

A friend of mine sent me this video. What else can you say? If I were his parent, I would be so proud of this boy.

God understands. He always will understand. This boy, probably not even 14, goes out and meets God in his pasture. He talks with Him and he hears Him.

As a dad, this is what I've been trying to cultivate in my own son. I want him to be hungry to hear God. I want him to seek God's company first before anything else. Whether it's letting the Bible speak to him or hearing that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, it is what I want him to seek and to crave. He already hears God's voice and listens to Him, and God shows him things. Seeing this happen makes me realize that this is what being a dad is all about.

Maybe this verse explains it best.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

LWW: Chapter II - What Lucy Found There

Tea and Fauns Who Drink It
I have C. S. Lewis to thank for my early introduction to the English ritual of tea. Proper tea is not just the actual tea. It is scones, small sandwiches, crackers and spread and smoked goodies and whatever else happens to be available. It is a fourth meal in a world that only has room for three. Coffee has been condensed into a drive-thru at Starbucks or an hour-old pot sitting on a counter, whereas tea makes you sit and wait while it steeps before you can enjoy it. High tea really is a fourth meal and if you leave feeling less than full, you've done it wrong.

Tea also has a certain mysticism about it. It was cultivated in the far east and brought back for consumption by those who could afford blends with exotic sounding names like Assam, Dimbuta, Nilgiri and Darjeeling. It also is the source for my favorite quote from Toy Story, by Buzz Lightyear (who just found out he was only a toy): "One minute you're defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with Marie Antoinette... and her little sister."

Today, I enjoy green tea as it helps alleviate my Fibromyalgia symptoms. While I drink it for the curative powers, humans and--as luck would have it--polite fauns drink it as a way to be social and hospitable.

Tumnus introduces himself to Lucy and he's unsure at first what to do when he learns that she's a human girl. We find out later that he has general instructions from the White Witch to kidnap any humans he finds and bring them to her. Tumnus slips into the role of "traitor" with only a moment's hesitation. He almost says, "That is to say, delighted ...if we weren't under the curse and control of the White Witch, who, by the way, wants to kill you." That's an awkward way to start off a conversation. He doesn't want Lucy's friendship at all at first. He immediately begins luring her back to his cave to feed her and put her to sleep to kidnap her. Because she's from an age where anyone with manners would be assumed to have wholesome intentions, Lucy believes the faun. She's innocent, trusting and more filled with wonder than fright in this new land.

Jack's description of the cave is the antithesis of what we would call a cave. Where all the caves I've been in are cold, dank and dark, this one is immediately cozy and warm with rugs, a fire, furniture and bookcases filled with strange titles like,"Is Man a Myth?" It gives explanation for the fright Tumnus has. He meets Lucy with the same composure as we would if we were to meet Sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster.

Tumnus tells her tales of Narnia that is really our only indication in this book of what Narnia once was before the spell of the White Witch. He is quite nostalgic over the memories he has. The author draws from Greco-Roman mythology as well as the mythology used by his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Tumnus then plays a flute for Lucy and uses an enchantment to put her to sleep. Lewis never lets us know how successful he is in doing so because he plays it from Lucy's point of view, and she is never aware that she is enchanted, merely that she was there for what must have been hours and then she shook herself. It could be that Tumnus allowed Lucy to awaken or it may have been Aslan's intervention, as the recent LWW movie implies. At any rate, Tumnus is overcome with regret and contrition as he comes to realize that humans are harmless and how his betrayal of such a harmless being is reprehensible and vile.

We see from Lucy's point of view when Tumnus reveals his treachery to her. She is horrified at the prospect of such a sinister action and Tumnus is redeemed by his risking his life to return Lucy to her world. Realizing that the White Witch's power extends throughout Narnia turns a bright and snowy land to a cruel, cold world. Lucy's escape is a breathless one.

Of Fauns And Men
Again, Lewis brings so much in such a short time. The world of Narnia is implied to have an economy (the parcels Tumnus carries), publishers and authors (because of the books in his cave), teachers and sciences (school and geography), family history and other structures similar to our world, and yet none of it is ever seen in LWW and very little elsewhere in the Chronicles of Narnia. It's not essential to the story, so I think Jack included it to make Tumnus much more "human" so we would later feel Lucy's urgency in trying to rescue Tumnus from the clutches of the witch.

Additionally, most folks, even children can relate to a trust betrayed or even a betrayal. It's the first of two betrayals, both in the favor of the White Witch. Jack wants us to revile her from the start. She is evil and rules by evil means. Jack would never do this to a human, so he makes her unhuman to compliment her inhumanity. But that's for later chapters.

Please comment with what you think.

What Kind Of God Does This?

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be your name
We sang this song at a memorial service for a 6 year-old girl two years ago. She was playing one day and in less than 24 hours, she was dead. She died of an invisible defect no one could have guessed with the symptoms she presented. There was no one at fault; she simply died.

We were angry, confused, and deeply grieved. Yet God was still God and the same One that loved us so desperately that he let His Son be tortured and then crucified also chose to allow our hearts to be wounded and He took that little girl away from two loving parents and a community of friends. We worshiped that God. We still do.

There are some situations in life where you are forced to believe that God has some greater purpose in mind, some greater good that He chooses when he allows His children to be killed. If this planet is all there is, then the death of good people and the death of innocents makes no sense whatsoever. On the other hand, if this planet is merely an opening movement to a larger piece of music, then the silencing of a note here and there has meaning.

As I think back on the shootings a week ago, I remember that this time last week, we still had four notes with us that are now gone from the page. The loss and the grieving of those around them are still fresh and extremely painful. Yet most of them have chosen to continue to praise the same God that allowed their loved ones to be taken from them. Not everyone can do this, but the strength and beauty of those who do is overwhelming.

God is there.

He's with the tears of the victims' families. He's with the grief-stricken sobs of the murderer's parents. He's there through all the heartache and brokenness. He cries with those who mourn. He sits in stony silence with those who can't cry another tear. He is there. He alone knows the depth of a person's loss. He alone feels the heartache with each parent, every sibling and every friend. He sits in the ashes with those who say, "You give and take away. Blessed be your name." We praise that God.

Letting God Work

Here's an encouraging follow-up to this week's shootings in Colorado. Click.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Caffiene-Crazed Clerk Clobbers Criminal

Dustin Hoffman* clocks criminal with coffee cup, causes contusion while criminal clears cash from collection. Click.

*not the actor, the Dunkin Donuts clerk. Please stop calling, Mr. Hoffman.

PS: It's Friday and it's been a long week. I had to have some fun. And no, I didn't use a thesaurus. By the way, here's some of the best warnings from 2007. Warning: Avoid Death sounds like a winner to me.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

LWW Chapter I - Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe

Wasting Little Time With Exposition
Jack has a great grasp of the children of his time. Lucy's scared of the odd-looking professor and Edmund wants to laugh at him. Peter and Susan know better and act it. Additionally, Jack wastes no time telling us what kind of children they are and uses their reactions to the story's set-up (the old house, the rain keeping them indoors, etc.) to tell us what kind of children they are. Jack also helps those outside of English culture by describing the house well enough that most people get the feel of the old English manors that were expanded room upon room without central hallways and without much of a overall plan, i.e., "...three steps down and five steps up."

How Lucy finds the wardrobe in the first place also tells her personality. Young children can be painfully curious and interest in fur coats is (or was) very natural for children. The progression is natural for the supernatural discovery of an entire world within a wardrobe and she controls her curiosity enough to remember to keep an eye on her way back out to the world she came from.

Jack's description of Tumnus is incredibly helpful for those who don't have much experience with mythology. Most children don't, anyway and it makes the rest of the story approachable, even when full descriptions aren't always given. The biggest obstacle in a series is usually the end of the first chapter of the first book. His closing of the first chapter offers such an interesting encounter that it soars easily over that obstacle and passes it like it's not even there.

Bigger On the Inside
One of the recurring elements in the Chronicles is with us from the first chapter. The assumption of a physical impossibility, of something being larger on the inside than it is on the outside, is one of the mysteries that leads to the first conflict (Lucy vs. the other children). No rational person would believe such an impossibility, yet it is the primary way Lewis establishes Narnia. The later difference in the passage of time contributes to the impossibility and yet it helps establish Lucy's credibility in Chapter V. Taking some things in life by faith, no matter how impossible they may be, is something Lewis isn't shy about introducing, even this early on in the book.

Reflections on Chapter I
I get a sort of giddy anticipation with this first chapter that I don't often see with other books. You want to finish the scene with Lucy and Tumnus and then you realize you've only read eight pages! Why not go a few more--please! It's also easy to find myself almost wishing that new worlds were just around the corner or in the closet behind the stairs. And I already feel like smacking Edmund across the face.

Feel free to chime in or at least read along with me.

Introducing... Into Narnia

It's been on my mind a long time now to do a series of posts based on The Chronicles of Narnia. C. S. Lewis has always been my favorite writer, ever since my father began reading the Chronicles to my sisters and I after dinner. Jack--as his friends called him--had a superb grasp of the ways God has revealed Himself to us. With my learning disability, his was one of the few books I could read without losing heart. I think that's because Jack and I both hated the schools we were subjected to and I found the characters so relatable. While The Chronicles of Narnia were his most well-known works, I have also read some of his other non-fiction works. Mere Christianity seems to be my favorite; it's one of the few theological books that really set the record straight on man's relationship with God.

Anyway, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (LWW) is my first and favorite of the Chronicles and its there that I will begin in a few hours.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Children's Eyes

I need to look at life through my daughter more. We were looking out the window at the snow falling last night and she said, "It looks like the snow is pouring out of the streetlight!" Sure enough, it did.

The other day, we had fog when we were leaving the house and she said, "Oh! It's blurry out!" Back when her older sister was the same age, she noted, "It's froggy out there." I'm not sure which I like more.

God gives us the gift of children to remind us of the holy wonder of creation. May we never take them for granted.

It All Comes Down To The Relationship

Since yesterday morning, we've learned that the shooter was Matthew Murray, and the heroic guard who brought him down was Jeanne Assam, a former police officer. Murry and the two slain by him in Colorado Springs were all homeschooled and lived in Denver. That's where the similarities end.

Murray was spiraling toward death in a most radical manner. As WorldNetDaily reports, Murray shook up a YWAM Christmas program with songs Marilyn Manson and Linkin Park. His parents and YWAM leaders agreed to remove him from the trip. Murray began to descend into a mental and spiritual state that most Christians would associate with demonic possession. He would "roll around in bed and make noises. He would say, 'Don't worry, I'm just talking to the voices'." His fits of rage and flaming vitriol mirror Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the killers in the Columbine shooting only miles from Murray's home.

Conversely, it seems that Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachael Works, 16, the sisters he killed in Colorado Springs were living a godly, Christian life of ministry and love. They are mourned by family and friends who had so much to say about the victims' lives and are thoroughly convinced that it was because of their relationships with Jesus Christ. I expect that the same can be said of most of Murray's other victims, both living and dead. Murray had nothing but rage and contempt for those who embraced their faith. Murray rejected the God his victims embraced. That's the fundamental difference. The rest of it: YWAM, the rage, the parenting, the music and the outcome all pivot on Murray's relationship with God, or the lack of it.

Since I'm a homeschooling father, I need to weigh in on the homeschool aspect of this tragedy. Homeschooling is not a cure-all for behavioral problems, nor is it solely responsible for Murray's descent. It is a tool that parents use to help their children and it can be used well or used poorly. The cases I've seen where a homeschooler has gone nuts are far fewer than those educated in classes. Yet even in those rare cases where it's a homeschooler perpetrating the crime, it seems that the parents took an imbalanced approach to homeschooling. The children are made to study in isolation with the emphasis resting on one or two texts exclusively, such as the Bible and/or an encyclopedia. I'm not sure if this is the case with Murray, but it wouldn't surprise me if it is. Additionally, the Works sisters seemed to be in a balanced homeschool environment, with several friends each who they involved in their lives and a broader experience than what most class schooled children and youth experience. Healthy homeschooling is not focused on keeping children isolated from everything that could possibly harm them. It is aimed at allowing the parent to guide and monitor the influences their children experience to prepare them for life, not insulate them from it. It helps children understand not only what is good in life, but what is bad and how it's a waste of time and energy to pursue the wrong things. This is the right use of the homeschooling tool. It won't solve all the problems a child suffers, but it will help undo the damage.

Update 12/12: More details about Murray's curriculum are emerging. Kevin Swanson of the Christian Home Educators of Colorado gives a few good responses.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Church Shootings Update

Still no word on whether the first shooting is related to the second shooting, but the fact that the police haven't said they are ruling that out, combined with a search warrant being executed in Arapahoe (SE Denver area) County, leads me to believe they are working on establishing such a link.

One of the families involved at New Life lost both teenage daughters and the father is still in the hospital. What do you say to a man who saw his two "young flowers" cut down in a hail of bullets? If I were in his shoes, I would be wondering if I did all I could to protect them. I'd be asking God "Why was it my two girls?" I'd mostly be a basketcase, inconsolable and overwhelmed with grief. It's one thing to read a news article, quite another to live through one. My prayers as a dad and husband are for David Works and his family. There is no good answer for why he and his family were struck this way. May God comfort and protect him during this traumatic time.

One positive note is that an armed security volunteer saved lives yesterday. A person who trained and practiced ended up saving lives today and possibly sparing my state a continued killing spree. God bless her for her quick action and bravery.

Church Shootings In Arvada and Colorado Springs

Let's see what we know right now.

At 12:30 AM this morning, a person asked for lodging at the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Arvada. This is the same base that my friends went to when I was in high school. This person opened fire on four YWAMers and killed two. One of these two had helped George Morrison of Faith Bible Chapel hang Christmas lights last week. He was obviously up all night with police.

Now, someone has opened fire on people at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, just 60 miles south of Arvada only 12 hours later. Between 3 to 5 people were taken to hospitals there, although they are not sure how many victims were injured.

Are these two shootings related? Exactly 12 hours later, a gunman attacks another Christian group. I don't know, but until they're sure they have all the suspects in custody, I don't feel all that safe right now. I feel like I did on 9-11 and on 4-20-99 (Columbine). I am alert and concerned. Terrorism is aimed at destroying people's sense of security. It works.

I'm going to church next weekend, if only to show these jokers that Christians aren't driven by intimidation or fear.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Serendipity And Happiness

The forecast is in and it's snow, snow--oh, and look more snow. I guess the weather is truly frightful. I can actually say the fire is delightful too. We have a roaring one right now, right over my shoulder behind me. Christmas music via satellite warmly rolling out of the stereo. This audiophile loves Christmas music, by the way.

And it all happened by accident.

See, I've found that intentionally seeking the perfect thing--anything, like Christmas, a vacation, a job--is the perfect way to ruin it. The best moments are the "Wow, look at us!" moments, the ones we never set out to create. They just happen. I love them, but it's not something I crave. Any time we're craving the perfect...we will be disappointed. We don't have perfection here in this life. My son has a cough, which he gave to his little sister, who is now dealing with a sore throat, cough and fever. My Fibromyalgia is making my nerves tremble so that typing is a challenge and mousing around it hit-or-miss. The kids, even the "sick" ones--they're running now--aren't behaving. It's not perfect, but I can be perfectly happy.

I don't intend to have a perfect Christmas this year, but the best ones are never perfect anyway. May all of us be blessed with an imperfect Christmas full of love, joy and happiness.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Surely? Surely?

This is a great little video of a little girl reciting Psalm 23...



I don't know if she actually is homeschooled, but her mom and dad are definitely keeping the spirit of homeschooling. She's so cheerful even though she's got a cold. "Surely?...oh,..." "Surely?..."