TED: God and the Tsunami

This weeks TED talk is another viewpoint to last week’s video of Murry Gell-Man.  In last weeks video Gell-Man states that we don’t need “something more to explain something more.”  This week I want to post this video of vicer Tom Honey (Church of England) as he deals with a classic problem in theology: How can the existence of evil be reconciled with a God who is supposed to be all-loving and all-powerful?

Audio to desktop (MP3)

Audio to iTunes (MP3)

Video to desktop (Zipped MP4)

Video to iTunes (MP4)

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: God, TED No Comments » December 2007

TED

Thanks to my friend Bill I just discovered TED.  Here’s the scoop on what TED is and why it’s so cool.  This text is lifted directly from their website:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. Almost 150 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.

Our mission: Spreading ideas.

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. Over time, you’ll see us add talks and performances from other events, and solicit submissions from you, as well. This site, launched April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, and you’re an important part of it. Have an idea? We want to hear from you.

The TED Conference, held annually in Monterey, is still the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend — indeed, the event sells out a year in advance — and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

In recent years, TED has spawned some important extensions.

TEDGlobal is a sister conference held every other year, and in a different country on each occasion. The first conference was held in Oxford, England, in 2005; the second, in June 2007, was held in Arusha, Tanzania. The themes of the global conference are slightly more focused on development issues, but the basic TED format is maintained.

The TED Prize is designed to leverage the TED Community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. It is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” After several months of preparation, they unveil their wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. These wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

Today, TED is therefore best thought of as a global community. It’s a community welcoming people from every discipline and culture who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Charity, Education, God, History, Humor, News, Photography, Politics, Science, TED, Useful Info No Comments » December 2007

Living by THE BOOK: Author follows the Bible, literally and hilariously, for a year

Living by THEBOOK: Author follows the Bible, literally and hilariously, for a year

Livingby THE BOOK: Author follows the Bible, literally and hilariously, for a year.This is a very interesting article about an agnostic who decided to try to live byevery biblical command – for a year.  That’s an impossible task andit’s interesting to see how he did.

Posted by admin Posted in: Books, God No Comments » November 2007

True Hero

When I was a boy growing up in Montana my dad had a good friend who we knew as Mr.Haws.  I was always impressed by the things he would do; cut wood with an axe, drive his manual transmission truck, kill chickens that would later be used for food. Mr. Haws was amazing to me because he only had one arm.

I remember lots of things about Mr. Haws. He drove all of us kids to camp every summer. He showed me how to pick rhubarb and eat it with sugar (yummy).  I remember trying to get a stain off a wall and not having much luck.  Mr. Haws grabbed the rag and told me I needed to use some “elbow grease”. He put some effort into the scrubbing and the stain came right off.  “Now you try it,” he said.  I did, and it worked.

As kids we were expressly forbidden to ask Mr. Haws about his arm.  I once thought of asking him what happened to his arm but my mother gave me a cold stare and I changed my mind quickly.

When I was older I learned that Mr. Haws survived the Baatan Death March.  He’d lost his arm while he was a POW in Japan.  I also learned that Mr. Haws brother was on that march, and died.

A photo of Alfred Haws taken by the Japanese sometime during his 3 years as a Prisonerof War.

A photo of Alfred Haws taken in 2007.  Alfred shows some of his WWII memorabilia, he is now 89 years old. I recently discovered that Alfred Haws is still alive.  He now lives in Amarillo,TX.  There was an article about him just recently. Here’s the article written by Jon Mark Beilue.  It was originally posted on Amarillo.com.

Sixty-five years ago. Alfred Haws shakes his head. April 9, 1942, doesn’t seem like that long ago to him, not that long at all. “Time flies,’ he said. “I try not to think about it too much, but it’s always there.

‘Odd, isn’t it, how fresh memories are of an older brother, Claude, dying in his arms just before they got onto a Filipino boxcar? Or what death must feel like when a Japanese soldier pulls him out of line, shoves a pistol in his stomach and repeatedly cocks and uncocks the hammer as he plays with his life?

Sixty-five years doesn’t dim anything when part of one of the most horrific war crimes of World War II, when losing 90 pounds and a right arm, when losing everything, it would seem, except his faith and hope that he would survive.

“I was a Christian and that helped an awful lot,’ Haws said. “I promised God I would serve him to the best of my ability as long as I lived if he would bring me back …and I’ve done that.’

Haws is now 89. He and wife Mary, married 61 years, have lived in a comfortable apartment on the fourth floor at the Continental Retirement Center since 2001. They have three grown children, including a son who is an area missionary in Clarkston, Wash.

They faithfully attend chapel service at the Continental each Sunday, especially this Easter Sunday. Haws used to serve as host of the service until recently, when arthritis began getting the better of him.

He knows he could have been dead, maybe should have been dead, at age 24 as an Army private just a year out of Clovis, N.M. All he can figure is the Lord had other plans.

Haws was part of an overwhelmed and undermanned U.S. Army contingent that surrendered to the Japanese 65 years ago. The U.S. was backed to the edge of the Bataan Peninsulain the Philippines with the South China Sea behind them and the Japanese in front.

“We were out of food, out of ammo, out of everything,’ he said. “We were eating horses and mules. We had no choice. All we had to fight with were our bare hands and some 30-30 rifles.’

And the next day, April 10, 1942, began The Death March of Bataan. It has always deserved capital letters, one of the most infamous times in American war history.

There were a total of 75,000 prisoners of war, of which 12,000 were American soldiers. It was a much larger number than the Japanese expected.

They were to move 63 miles north to a prison camp at Camp O’Donnell. Only 54,000 made it during the five brutal days.

There were some who escaped, but more who died. They succumbed to malaria, dysentery, and dehydration as they marched in the 100-degree heat with little water and no food.

They died at the hands of the Japanese. Atrocities such as beheadings, shootings, and bayonettings were frequent. Those who staggered and became too weak to continue were often put out of their misery.

“They were the most cruelest nation in the world at that time,’ Haws said. “We knew there was a prison camp somewhere, but had no idea what would happen.’

Haws was a strapping 190 pounds when he began, one reason he made it. That, and he already had malaria.

He was given a piece of rice the size of a golf ball during the march and no water. He never saw any atrocities committed, but he saw some buddies who were called out of line, never to return.

Haws said the Japanese motioned some Americans to a hut and some welcome shade. More than a few went, and he never saw them again.

A Japanese soldier pulled Haws out of line to carry his pack. He searched him, and then took what he could from him.

“Then he shoved a revolver in my gut and kept cocking it and uncocking it,’ Haws said. “Then he yelled at me to get back in line. I didn’t save myself - God saved me. Nobody told that Jap not to shoot me.’

After several days, a portion of the trek was on rail cars. Many prisoners suffocated in the transfer. Haws would have liked for him and his brother Claude to have risked it.

“He made it all that way, and then he just gave up on the way to the train,’ Haws said. “No noise, not a sound. Just died in my arms.’

Haws said when soldiers surrendered, he expected it to be no more than six weeks before they were freed. Instead, for the next 40 months, Haws was a prisoner of war. Japanese looked at prisoners as cowards, and in their samurai culture, a waste of a human life. They were often treated as such.

“The Jap in charge of the camp got on a table and said that he’d kill us all if he had his way,’ Haws said. “And, listen, we thought any of them could kill us at anytime.’

He saw executions by firing squad. He saw a Filipino head perched on a pole. An American POW was tied to a guard post, and every guard change, the new guard beat him with a club. That continued until he died.

Haws was never beaten, but he contracted dry beriberi, a painful nervous system ailment.His weight dropped to almost 100 pounds, lowered by work and a diet of a bit of rice and something called whistle-weed soup.

He was at McDonnell, moved to Cabanatuan camp, and eventually volunteered to go to Japan to work there. His reasoning was it was better to volunteer then than later when U.S. ships would have a better chance to sink a Japanese vessel that Haws might be on.

How terribly ironic. It was in the last days of the war in August 1945 that Haws lost an arm from an American bomb. He was working as a prisoner in a Japanese steel mill, unaware how near the end of the war was.

He could see the glow of the atomic bomb on the seaport city of Nagasaki, about 100 miles away on that Aug. 9, 1945. Something was happening.

The next day, U.S. planes dropped conventional and incendiary bombs on key industrialsites. Including the steel mill where Haws was.

It was the darndest thing. Haws had survived for three years as a POW, and then an American bomb exploded one week before the war’s official end. Haws didn’t feel a thing, but his right arm was blown off.

He took his belt and used it as a tourniquet. Sulfa powder was put on his burns, and he was told to lay on a bunk for three days, in Haws words, “to see if I’d live.’

He did, and he has.

Haws came home, married Mary Moss from Clovis, who lost two brothers in the Philippines. His final surgery on his arm was March 1946.

He took home with him a Japanese samurai sword, but thinks a grandson may have it now. There are framed reminders of that time that began in earnest 65 years ago, some small newspaper clippings, the belt that later saved his life, a POW declaration.

To look at Haws now at his kitchen table is to see a man’s man, generous, yet firm, sometimes funny, but often stern. It’s easy to imagine 65 years ago what a tough son of a gun he must have been.

He’s still strong at nearly 90, one of just a few living survivors of The Death March of Bataan. But life has taken its toll, too, and a proud man can’t do what he once could.

But it’s Easter, and Albert Haws has celebrated maybe 65 of them that odds say he probably shouldn’t have. But he knows why he has.

“God brought me back,’ he said. “It was all up to him.’

Posted by admin Posted in: Family Stuff, God, History No Comments » May 2007

What’s your “big distraction”?

I’m still inspired by Zach Braff’s movie GardenState.  I was recently reading his blog. It’s funny, you should check it out.  He made an off handed comment, “Why do you always have to do things with other people; being alone is refreshing.” 

It reminded me of something I wrote in a journal about 12 years ago.  Yes - I think everyone should keep a journal of some sort.  Write in it everyday if you can.  Journaling helps you work through things, it also keeps you objective.  You can read it later and see how crazy you were when you wrote it. It also helps chart your growth.  You can see how your opinions change and grow. It’s very cool.  If you have to you can call it a diary.

Back to the topic at hand, the journal entry.  I’ll just copy it for your consumption:

A man who has not visited and analyzed himself has nothing to offer.  H.D.Thoreau makes this point saying, “When our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip.  We rarely meet a man who can tell us any news which he has not read in a newspaper, or been told by his neighbor; and for the most part, the only difference between us and our fellow is that he has seen the newspaper, or been out to tea, and we have not.  In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office.  You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters proud of his extensive correspondence has not heard from himself this long while.”

Ask yourself a question, how often do you check e-mail, look for another IM, pickup another magazine, do some task just to fill time?  I’m not saying these things are necessarily bad, but if you constantly neglect looking inward you will wake up one day and wonder who you are.

Another great author, Henri Nouwen, puts it like this, “When I have to write an article and face a white empty sheet of paper I nearly have to tie myself to the chair to keep from consulting one more book before putting my own words on paper.  When, after a busy day, I am alone and free I have to fight the urge to make one more phone call, one more trip to the mailbox or one more visit to friends who will entertain me for the last few hours of the day.  And when I think about the busy day I sometimes wonder if the educational enterprise so filled with lectures, seminars, conferences, requirements to make up and to fulfill, papers to write and read, examinations to undergo and to go to, has, in fact, not become one big distraction - once in a while entertaining- but mostly preventing me from facing my lonely self which should be my first source of search and research.” - from the book Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life, P.18

So what is your “big distraction”?  Is it your job, your hobbies, your relationships? Take some time, take a look inside, journal a bit.  Let me know what you discover.

Now playing: FrouFrou - OnlyGot One

Posted by admin Posted in: God, Hobbies, Random Stuff No Comments » September 2004

Happy Easter!

Posted by admin Posted in: God No Comments » April 2004

Southern Baptists are officially fat!

Ok, well now it’s official, something I’ve known for quite some time, Southern Baptistsare fat.  That’s right, it’s right there on CNN. A nice little story about gluttony, the forgotten sin.  And the worst sinnersappear to be Southern Baptists.  I suspect it’s due to the lack of exercise causedby the lack of dancing.A doctrine I’ve never understood, implied rather than stated; it’s ok to be fat. Just don’t drink, cuss, dance, watch R rated movies, or stay up past ten o-clock. Maybe this little report will change things.Clickhere to read the CNN article.

Posted by admin Posted in: God, Humor, News No Comments » March 2004

Baptism

 

On Sunday my friend Cecil was baptized.  It was awesome.  Diane and I wentto a house in Ocotillo, AZ (close to Diane’s house) and watched as the pastor of Crossroadsbaptized 9 people.  Cecil’s son was also baptized.  One of the women whowas baptized, Shannon, had an amazing testimony. 

I happened to be filming the event and I thought I’d share Cecil and Shannon’s baptismwith you.  Just right click one of the files below and save the file to yourhard drive for later viewing.

• Shannon Baptism(4.5 meg)
• Shannon and CecilBaptism, low quality (2.8 meg)

Posted by admin Posted in: God No Comments » February 2004

The Canyon Awaits

Tomorrow I’ll be heading up to the Grand Canyon.  I’m going with Diane, Gregand Melissa, Brandon and Denise, John and Holly, and Nicole.  Tomorrow Dianeand I will take our time, enjoy the ride, and arrive at the South Rim of the Canyonin plenty of time to get in a small warm-up hike and see the sunset.  And thenwe’ll get some rest for the big day.Saturday morning I’ll be meeting up with the rest of the crew and we’ll begin ourhike into the canyon.  15 miles!  I have to admit that after readingthis disclaimer I was more than a little nervous.  The ascent is 4420 verticalfeet, that’s over four trips up the empire state building to the observation deck. This is not going to be a stroll in the park.  It’s going to be difficult, it’sgoing to be wonderful.I plan on taking my camera as a luxury item.  I’ll also be packing about 4.5liters of water, first aid kit, a radio, rain gear, crampons, cold weather layers(jacket, and shell), trekking poles, energy bars, and fruit.  That’s about 20+pounds of equipment. 14 pounds of water!  I’ll use every bit.I guess the question on your mind is “why would you do that?”.  In 1922  SirHillary failed his summit attempt on everest. After returning he traveledmany parts of Britain to advertise and campaign for his 1924 attempt. Many peopleasked him about the use of climbing Mount Everest? His answer was: “The first questionwhich you will ask and which I must try to answer is this, ‘What is the use of climbingMount Everest ?’ and my answer must at once be, ‘It is no use’. There is not the slightestprospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior of thehuman body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation tosome account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it.We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal oriron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raisefood. It’s no use. So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man whichresponds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggleis the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why wego. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, theend of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be ableto enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.”I think Hillary was onto something when he said that “joy is, after all, the end oflife.”  He was close, but he missed it by a bit.  I like what JohnPiper wrote, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” I’d rather set my affections toward the Creator who is eternal than toward an emotionthat is fleeting.  Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote, “May the God of hopefill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow withhope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”Joy, peace, hope, power.  I’ll take that.So what does all this have to do with hiking down the Grand Canyon?  I can’tspeak for the others in the group, but for me the hike is a metaphor for life itself. It’s a journey with friends, it’s difficult, it’s beautiful, it’s something that youcan’t do alone, and so much more.  I look forward to the exhaustion at the endof the day, when I’ll be able to sit down at the edge of the canyon and watch thesun go down and rejoice with all creation.When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mountof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesfor all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”"I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”I’d rather Him hear it from me.

Posted by admin Posted in: God, Hiking No Comments » November 2003