PeaceMakers

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Not blessed are the peace keepers...

Making peace has always been harder than keeping the peace.

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If heaven were to do again,
And on the pasture bars,
I leaned to line the figures in
Between the dotted starts,

I should be tempted to forget,
I fear, the Crown of Rule,
The Scales of Trade, the Cross of Faith,
As hardly worth renewal.

For these have governed in our lives,
And see how men have warred.
The Cross, the Crown, the Scales may all
As well have been the Sword.
Robert Frost

Happy

This is a "loaded" post from Seth Godin regarding happiness. Lots of issues. I agree that marketers job is to make us unhappy. And they do a good job of that!

But I, of course, would disagree with what makes people happy. The only thing that can fill the void is the one who put it there in the first place.

Seattle

The Original Starbucks


Spent some time in Seattle with my wife over the weekend (bottom left hand of lower picture). We had a great time at Jim Manker's church but more importantly we visited Market Street, saw lots of flowers, some some fish being thrown around, and visited the original Starbucks.

Forgiving the Jerk, Being the Jerk

The Angry Swede is a classic example of our response when we've been wronged. The Jerk (not the author but the title of the post) advocates lowering our standards, assumptions and self-absorbed thinking.

There's some truth there but I think we're in trouble if the only way to deal with being wronged is to lower our standards... everyone would keep lowering them until there weren't any real expectations left!

Somehow God forgives me without lowering His standards. I'm not always sure how He does that... that's why He's God and I'm not... but He does. He doesn't blindly overlook my indescretions. He absorbs them, pays for them, forgets them and then challenges me to do better.

More Playstation War

Haven't blogged in a few days... the 'playstation war' (see previous post) has been on my mind... I've read up on it a bit. It's estimated that over 5 million people have died in recent years over mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African nations.

5 million people!?

Also, the issue isn't just video games but laptops and cell phones as well.

I need a new phone. The obvious question is, does the cell phone I'm interested in use tantulum, the refined metal mined in Africa? I'll do some checking... I doubt anyone is telling.

Meanwhile here's a link to Robin Brown's article in rabble news which includes these practical (although admittedly limited) ideas on how not to be involved in fueling a war while still using technology.

1) Call their cell phone manufacturer and ask if their phones contain Congolese coltan.

2) Do what they can to make sure their personal savings or pension money is not invested in companies doing business in the Congo.

3) Support the Congolese people by raising awareness of the war.

God help us.