Tuesday 7 August 2012

A useless invention.

It would be hard to imagine many things as useless as this.This is the new style picnic table located at Princes Island Park in Calgary.As you can see,it's made from a bunch of metal strips welded together.I guess someone found the need to re invent the wheel.They should go back to the drawing board.For as long as I can remember,picnic tables were made out of wood.A few boards nailed or bolted together.Not exactly rocket science.You could make one with minimal skills and a few tools in an afternoon,and it would last for a few decades at least.Oh sure,the ants would gnaw away at it on their way to your bucket of fried chicken,but generally it would last a long time.I guess the main advantage to this thing is that ants don't eat it at all.But who knows,metal devouring insects might not be far off if we keep pouring crap into the environment,so I guess the guy who invented this thing was thinking ahead.As you will note,this is really only half a picnic table,so it fits right in with the Alberta core value of austerity,even when that value isn't especially called for.Indeed,if we are going to have half the need schools and half the needed hospitals,we should be cutting down on park facilities as well.Looking ahead again-you just never know when the price of oil might drop to,oh say four dollars a barrel and Alberta will have already instituted the needed restraint.Good idea...wish I'd thought of it.

Princes Island Park is one of the places in Calgary that I actually find inspiring.And truth be told,there aren't that many other places in this city.I sometimes like to sit down at a picnic table and write out some of the preparations for this blog,as well as some other things.That used to work out fine on the old style tables,but this thing is useless.It doesn't form a hard surface across it's entire surface area.I came across the an artist trying to draw a tree who noticed pretty much the same thing.And while I didn't see anyone complaining about it's usefulness as a place to picnic,right away I can see certain disadvantages.Those spaces between the actual pieces of the table are just the right to allow hot dogs to roll onto the ground.But hey,maybe that will keep the ants off of the table.Not as much surface to catch bird droppings either,so I guess you only need to clean it half as often.But the grapes I brought for my snack just keep rolling to the ground.On the other hand,it is kind of hard to steal.The old ones could be carried away in the middle of the night by,say two dozen grunting,sweating thieves,to their waiting getaway two ton truck parked a mile or two away-it is an island after all.

I say bring back the old style tables and let the guy who invented this thing get along with the business of inventing.How much longer are we going to have to get along without the important things he might invent.Like mesh condoms or barnacle covered toilet paper or some other such thing.

photo essay/places-part3/south

School,Riverside Albert.



Old Barn,Albert County.


Green Hills,Albert County
Flower Pots.
Covered Bridge,Albert County.
Albert County,New Brunswick

Sunday 5 August 2012

photo essay/places part 2/north

Harcourt
Pointe Sapin.                                             
Bridge at Miramachi
Covered Bridge,New Brunswick Route 115
CFB Chatham
Rogersville,New Brunswick
Magnetic Hill



photo essay/places part 1/east

Five Islands Nova Scotia
Five Islands,Nova Scotia
Drysdale Falls,Nova Scotia
River Phillip,Nova Scotia
Mill at Balmoral,Nova Scotia
Calligwood,Nova Scotia
Sugar camp,Fenwick,Nova Scotia.
Tantramar Marsh,New Brunswick
bass river,nova scotia




Calgary Skylines






























Friday 3 August 2012

The Old Testament.

Why is it that we misunderstand the Old Testament?Why is this a problem?This is one of the questions raised by Paul Copan in his book"Is God A Moral Monster-Making sense Of The Old Testament God."

As a way of answering this question,let me just point to my own Christian experience.Nearly every time I go to church,or bible study,the message,or study topic seems to be from the New Testament.Now I'm not saying that this is bad.After all we do live in an age of New Testament grace.The central truth of the Bible is contained in New Testament Gospel.Much of Paul's teachings to first century Christians were directed at pointing out how we are to live out the ideals of the Christian religion.And so,it seems natural,perhaps that most teaching and preaching in our day would be from the New Testament.

But I really wonder if we haven't developed a bias against teaching from the Old Testament.And this would be a problem,as the Old Testament and the New Testament really must be understood in the light of each other.For instance,without a firm understanding of Old Testament prophesy,we have no basis to identify the Jesus of the New Testament as our Messiah.That is to say,the Old Testament points the way,while the New Testament fulfills the prophesy.

Many people,in fact I would venture many Christians, are challenged by Old Testament narratives,such as the story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son Isaac.The ancient world was a far different one than the one we find ourselves in,or,in fact,the one that first century Christians find themselves in.Yet,it's only by examining Old Testament stories with a close and critical eye that we can discover that the bibles truths are eternal-as relevant today as they ever were.Through Abraham we discover the power of faith,while looking ahead in history to the time of Christ and ultimately to his second coming.We see enough of God's plan to trust in it's ultimate fulfillment and to be thankful that He walks with us through the whole of history.

There is a wonderful story in the Book Of Joel,for instance that tells of a war,in which nearly all is destroyed,using the symbolism of locusts.Modern Christians can look to this story and see,in their everyday lives the truth of a Savior who "restores what the locusts have taken"Yet most often,you will not hear this story in church.you will need to find it by yourself through reading scripture.That is all fine and good for those who read faithfully,but how many do not?

Again,it is hard to over stress that both parts of the Bible belong together.One explains the other more fully.So,what we really need is more Old Testament teaching,if my experience applies to most Christian congregations

Book Review-"Is God a Moral Monster?-Making Sense Of The Old Testament God"

Paul Copan would have to be described as a Christian apologist,and in fact,as a full reading of his book"Is God A Moral Monster?"reveals,he is quite accomplished at his work.In this book,Copan takes on the issues raised by what he calls the "New Atheists"when they present their objections to belief in God,especially the God revealed in the Old Testament.If we are to believe people like Christopher Hitchens,Daniel Dennett or Richard Dawkins,the Old Testament God is a brutal,misogynistic,racist war monger.In short,He is not a God worthy of worship,but instead a monster who delights in human suffering.

As Copan makes clear,the observations of the New Atheists are really based on misunderstandings of the Old Testament and the culture of the ancient Middle East and our insistence in judging God by our contemporary western moral standards.One by one,Copan takes on objections to issues like slavery,as portrayed in Old Testament times,misogyny,as it is alleged to be supported under Mosaic Law,and God's insistence on ethnic cleansing of the Canaanites.As is made clear by the end of the book,the actual facts are a far cry from those suppositions put forward by the new Atheists.Copan notes that Mosaic Law was not perfect,but instead was intended to take people from the cultural conditions of their time and allow for the continued development of a moral society.In so doing,despite the outward appearance of inflexible brutality,God's law was a vast improvement over legal traditions elsewhere in the ancient world.

Copan's book is eye opening and drives home the point that the problem with religious fundamentalism of all kinds is that it most often resists fundamental interpretations-hence the need for authors adept at the art of apologetics.And Copan certainly is that.His assertions,while they may seem novel to some are supported by scriptural reference at every turn.Thus he makes a very strong case against some of the assertions put forth by the likes of Dawkins and Hitchens,when they attempt to hold God to account for alleged crimes against humanity.Likewise,Copan clearly demonstrates the need to read and understand scripture at a deep level,which is,after all,the whole point of Apologetics.The book concludes with a chapter entitled "Discussion/Study questions,that serves as a great stimulus for further discussion,and perhaps even the basis for a self contained Bible study.

Highly recommended.