Scraps - A Few Random Thoughts
Prophecy ~ There's a prophesy in 2 Sam. 7:12-16 that David's son would build a temple for God. In a sense it sounds as if it is describing Solomon and in a sense it sounds as if it is describing Jesus, and sometimes it sounds as if it is talking about both. Did Solomon build a temple for God? Yup. But then it promises the throne of his kingdom will be forever. Last time I checked there is no earthly king descended from Solomon on the throne of Israel, but Christ is king and he is of the line of Solomon, and his rule is eternal. Then it says , "When he does wrong." Did Christ do wrong? Nope. Did Solomon? Yup. And the punishment is "floggings inflicted by men." Did Solomon endure floggings? Not to my knowledge. Did Christ? Yup. Like so many prophesies, the immediate and the distant mingle. In the midst of the here-and-now is a glimpse of eternity.
Litigious ~ If you've ever doubted that the United States is overly litigious, try buying a mountain bike. I bought a nice Cannondale a week ago and found 68 warning messages in a 116-page manual, and virtually every one of them threatens death. The author started off warning of "serious injury or death" and then apparently got into the spirit of the thing, changing the phrase to "serious injury, paralysis, or death." Many of the warnings were blazingly obvious (For instance I was told that I'm not surrounded by a metal shell, as in a car. Duh.) It went from that through dozens of others to a warning against painting your bike, with the standard threat of injury and death. I don't blame Cannondale for this. I'm sure it's just covering its butt from people who want transfer the monetary conequences of random events or their own stupidity onto someone else. Do accidents always have to be somebody's fault? Also, it seems that by having so many warnings you devalue the warnings about things that are really likely to happen.
Ressurection ~ Amazon.com apparently believes in the resurrection. I recently ordered copies of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and Cervantes' Don Quixote from Amazon. I had to laugh when I came to the check-out page. Amazon was pushing it's Amazon Alerts. It said...
"Sign up to be e-mailed when new products from your favorite artists are released.
"Books by Mark Twain
"Books by MIGUEL DE CERVANTES "
Yes indeed. I'm looking forward to Mark Twain's next novel.
Non Words ~ For some reason it occurred to me that a lot of "speech" is wordless and occurs through the nose. Examples:
Yes: Um-hm
No: Uh-uh
I don't know: Mmm-mmm. (High on the first mmm, low on the second mmm)
What? - Hmm?
I'm thinking about it. - Hmmm...
Oh. Uh.
Tasty, sexy: MMMM-mm!
Well, how about that! Hmm!
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