Thought for the day…
“Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenceless.”
Isaiah 1:17 (The Message)
I’m always amazed at the God of the Bible. He seems to really hate religious people who do things for show. He’s just not satisfied with the “do as I say, not as I do” philosophies. He says their charade is a front for evil. Instead God identifies the simple things that He’s looking for in humanity: Cut the crap and do the right thing.
I think there must be a lot of people that have given up on religion who, when it comes down to it, have a lot of the same values as God. People hungry for the genuine… for the good.. for the right. We fight with our weakness to produce these things – but we value them. So as we wander away from the church it seems that we’re either ticked off at people’s hypocrisy or tormented over our own.
It is to this part of us that God is calling. He knows that doing what is good is a learned thing, not a natural one, so He gives four simple examples that cut through semantics and mind games. Four things that will move us beyond mysticism and into the realm of doing God’s kind of work. Doing them won’t just happen. It takes a conscious choice to just “say no to wrong” and to do the right thing instead.
Perhaps with time this choice can become a new habit, a ritual, yes even a religion.
Check out the 30K Club for some ideas on how to help your community.
Famous Puppet Death Scenes…?
Last night I went out for a father/daughter date to see Famous Puppet Death Scenes. I had no idea that there were famous puppet scenes, let alone death scenes. My first thought when reading the title of the show was that they’d replay famous dramatic death scenes with puppets. Perhaps you know the scenes I mean -Romeo & Juliette, or Evil Alien Conquerors. So as I sat waiting for the puppet show reading the handouts I was surprised to find that I didn’t recognize a single scene listed in the program.
Scenes like The Feverish Heart or Funeral Ritual of the Sugawara Denju were listed among the twenty two creative yet obscure scenes exploring all the drama and comedy of puppet’s deaths. Many of the scenes were funny enough to make the audience laugh out loud. Some were strange and hard to understand leading to polite applause.
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and their puppeteers succeed in bringing the audience face to face with the puppet Death. In the process they bring the audience to the place of considering man’s mortality and the frailty of life - a cause so many puppets have died to provide.
I enjoyed the show. It had a distinctive mix of dark humours. My daughter thought it was like Terry Pratchett mixed with Monty Python. I agree, also noting the distinct Canadian flavour to the show.
A parental advisory for the squeamish: The show involves frequent puppet violence, suicide, dark humour, puppet nudity and silliness.
Jack’s Flax Muffins
In my house I’m the breakfast cook. It might sound strange but in my house it works. Its a routine that seems to start each day well. I’m not sure if its the rhythm of the expected or perhaps the stability of starting each crazy day with a few bites together. The idea for this goes way back…
When I was a teenager I knew an older married couple that always seemed happily in love with each other. I knew this was a rare thing - happy, in love, married - and all at the same time. This gentleman’s advice? He made breakfast for his wife every day, and made a point of treating her like a queen. This gentleman became my role model. After twenty six years of marriage I pass the idea on to you with the following recipe.
This recipe is a modification of my wife’s recipe Great Bran Muffins. The experimentation paid off! These muffins are now a staple in our house. One warning though - each muffin (this recipe makes 12) has two tablespoons of ground flax in it. This is enough to keep the average person’s rhythm regular. I wouldn’t recommend eating more than one a day.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups Ground Flax Seed (about a rounded 3/4 cup before grinding)
1 1/4 Cups 1% Milk
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup + 1 tablespoon Grape Seed Oil
1/4 Cup Egg White
1/4 Cup Molasses
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Berries/nuts (Optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix the milk, ground flax and lemon juice (You could substitute buttermilk for the milk & lemon juice). Set aside. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir egg, oil, vanilla and molasses into the flax & milk. Fold flax mixture into the dry mixture. Fold in fruit (if you must). Place twelve paper liners into a muffin pan. If you like you could spray these liners with a non-stick spray like Pam. Spoon the batter into the waiting liners and place the pan into your hot oven. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Jackask is a place to find great recipes, reviews of movies & restaurants, and other thoughts from the mind of Jack.
Are there any dumb questions? Following the logic of Syndrome’s observation that “if everyone is super [hero] then no one is” - Jackask figures if every question is dumb, then none of them are! He looks forward to your comments and questions!
