Author: Vince

Life

Flashlights

VinceLeave a comment

Ran across this today (emphasis mine).

A teacher is someone who stands with you in the dark and holds their flashlight just long enough for you to find your own flashlight.

—Steve Jobs

The two big problems I’ve observed with teachers (and occasionally parents, but I repeat myself) over the years are:

  1. They think the goal is to commiserate and keep you company in the dark.
  2. They think the goal is to let you bask in the glory of their flashlight for as long as possible.

(I should state the obvious and say that I’ve been guilty of both.)

Be a flashlight.

Uncategorized

Folie à Deux

VinceLeave a comment

A few years ago there was a movie called Joker. It was controversial; critics tended to love it or hate it (“bold, devastating” vs “as social commentary, Joker is pernicious garbage”), and the people who watched it tended to be at either extreme as well.

Inevitably, this year there was a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. Just as inevitably, it bombed. Even the people that loved the first one hated this one, it tanked at the box office, and it scored three points lower on IMDB than the original. To top it all off, the ending showed that the main character wasn’t the Joker, just a joker, so they essentially lied the whole time about what the movies were about.

Bible Study

Names

VinceLeave a comment

Names are important; without them we’d all be yelling “Hey you, in the green!” when we wanted to talk to someone, and everyone in green would think we were talking to them. It would be very confusing, not to mention loud. Maybe wearing something chartreuse would mitigate things, but only if others knew the difference between green and chartreuse. (Which in any event comes back to names, in this case the names of colors rather than people.)

Names can also be controversial. When word got out that my name was going to be an abbreviated form of a saint’s name, my mother got a letter from a nun announcing that she (my mother) simply couldn’t do that.

Life / Spiritual Journey

My Story

Vince2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, our pastor challenged us to write our Jesus story and send it to someone. I’m a little late because reasons, but here we go.

To the best of my recollection, I started going to church when I was five. As I got older, attendance became more frequent; it was Sunday morning/Sunday night/Wednesday night through most of my growing up years.

Life / Spiritual Journey

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to …

VinceLeave a comment

We lead a small group (“Lifegroup” in our church body’s vernacular) that consists of young married couples, where by young I mean “kids,” as in late twenties to early thirties. They’re a lot of fun, and we have a lot of fun with them. As well as doing completely serious Bible study, of course…

One of the newest couples to the group has, in the last couple of weeks, been called away to a far-away mission field filled with people of dubious reputation and an environment of open hostility to human beings. This place is known in English as “Lubbock.”

This past Wednesday was the husband’s last day with the group (the wife is staying until the end of the month to wrap up things at their apartment).

Spiritual Journey

What is Money?

VinceLeave a comment

“Papa! what’s money?”

The abrupt question had such immediate reference to the subject of Mr. Dombey’s thoughts, that Mr. Dombey was quite disconcerted.

“What is money, Paul?” he answered. “Money?”

“Yes,” said the child, laying his hands upon the elbows of his little chair, and turning the old face up towards Mr. Dombey’s; “what is money?”

Mr. Dombey was in a difficulty. He would have liked to give him some explanation involving the terms circulating-medium, currency, depreciation of currency, paper, bullion, rates of exchange, value of precious metals in the market, and so forth; but looking down at the little chair, and seeing what a long way down it was, he answered: “Gold, and silver, and copper.