Plan "B"

Here are some visitors I saw on my way to work this morning. There's a pretty short list of things not to do when you encounter about 1/2 a dozen pigs\boars this size. One of them is run up to them with a camera.

This is going to be one of those not so funny entries. Two stories unrelated to each other except they occurred in the same country. First, my feet. When my manager told me I was going to Zürich, I thought it would be a neat idea to get a picture of my feet in front of the Matterhorn - THE Matterhorn. The original if you will. I landed in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon and tried to get as much sleep as I could. I awoke early the next morning, which put my body into shock since 7am there was like waking up at 5pm here. 4 hours and 3 trains later, I had arrived to an overcast Zermatt. When I finally got into position, all my efforts were thwarted by clouds.



Essentially, the Matterhorn wasn't there. I wandered around are a while, but the weather just started getting worse. Finally, it started snowing. Then, it started snowing horizontal! The whole trip seemed - well, the whole trip was - well, metaphorical.

I've been to the Matterhorn, but I've never seen the Matterhorn. I've looked directly at the Matterhorn, but I can't tell you what it looks like from personal experience.

Second story of Switzerland (bad witness) will have to come later. It's not bad or anything. It's just that I had an opportunity to keep my mouth shut, and I didn't. Perhaps it was o.k.. Perhaps I was just being transparent and didn't want to paint Christianity in an unreal light. Perhaps something greater, more troubling. I pray not.

Mostly, what I did other than go to meetings was wait for trains. I got to see a lot just by standing still and watching people. The Swiss are very nice people. Everyone spoke at least enough English to help me, and I tried to be gracious enough to learn some basics. I think it's important to at least learn some of the basics. "Please", "thank you", "excuse me", "yes", "no", etc.

Unlike Americans, many other cultures seem flattered when you make attempts at their language. I'm sure I've butchered my fair share though. I'd like to start working on reducing my accent and even picking up a local one. That would be fun for me, and helpful to others.

What's funny is that with everything going on, I can still find 5 minutes to blog. :-) I haven't had 5 minutes to do anything with my new house. That will come later I guess. Now, it's off to invent what the world will look like tomorrow.

Labels: travel zurich

# posted by Johnny @ 4/21/2008 02:23:00 PM 0 comments links to this post

O.K. It's about 7am my time, 10pm local time. I'm a bit fuzzy on what day it actually is. Basically, I spent the night in Munich, last week in Zurich, a day in Zermatt to see the Matterhorn (which wasn't there). I'm finally a homeowner - again, and got bumped for 600 Euro cash. In a nutshell, I'm exhausted.

According to the details last week, I now have an entirely new job. At least for the next few months. O.K. back to bed. P.S. First class is wayyyyyy better than coach - blech.

So usually on Fridays, we try to spend at least some time "thinking". We call it "Think Fridays". Most have gotten busy with meetings and deadlines - of which I have plenty, but I usually try to find time to find something that will make me think; on YouTube. O.K. That's an oxymoron, but here's my thought du jour. While some kids I see on the street make me nervous about who's going to be taking care of me when I'm old, I'm somewhat comforted by this fellow. (but mostly I'm still nervous)

This story popped into my head on my way to work this morning. I hope it's not copyrighted, but I know at least something about copyright law (must change at least 200 characters), so I'm good.

Oh, so that's a good plug to have you go read the first few pages of your Bible. Does it say (C)? If so, at least 200 words have been changed. I don't know about you, but I don't want my Bible changed.

O.K. The Foolish King

The jester danced for his king in the courtyard, and the king was amused by the jester's antics. The jester told stories and jokes and made the king laugh. The king was so impressed by the jester this morning, that he wanted to give him a payment. As the king thought about what to give, the jester asked if he might make a suggestion. The king agreed, and the jester pulled two coins from his pocket. The jester held the coins up to the king and said, "Your highness, I am pleased that I have been able to make you laugh and add merriment to your day. I wonder if I might have everything that I can completely hide from you with these two coins?" The jester flipped one of the coins up into the air and caught it as the king thought. "The coins are the largest used in the realm", he said, "but even if he hid an entire piece of gold completely, he has earned it!"

The king agreed and the jester began circling the court as he started his hunt of what his coins might cover. As he held them out in front of him, he passed in front of the members of the court. Their interest was captured as he paraded dramatically around the room. He would hover over the ring of one noble or the necklace of another and would occasionally hold the coins together - sometimes apart. Who would loose a ring? Who would loose a necklace? The king leaned forward and was growing curious about what he would settle on. Finally, as if suddenly remembering the word "everything", the jester placed the coins over the kings eyes and hid the entire kingdom from his sight!

Now, every good fable needs a morale.



The king had been tricked because he did not pay attention to the language of what was being said. That's pretty easy to do if you're not paying attention. The word "everything" means everything! "Nothing" means nothing. "All" means 100%. "No one" means no one. "No" means no. Now, consider the following:

Thou shalt have NO other gods before me. - Ex 20:3 (emph. added)

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with ALL thine heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy might. Deut 6:5 (emph. added)

I am the way, the truth, and the life: NO man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 (emph. added)

Giving 100% to God means necessarily that we give 0% to anything else. While that's difficult to do (and dare I say - impossible according to my Bible), it's always the goal. To willfully give >0% to prayer to any other entity other than God is to give <100% to God. God wants 100% of our prayers, so according to my Bible, I can't waste prayer on dead ears. If, however, someone can find in the Bible a prayer to Moses or Abraham or anyone other than the Trinity, I'd be interested in seeing that.

# posted by Johnny @ 4/10/2008 08:42:00 AM 1 comments links to this post

I'm writing a letter to Pastor right now. I'm discussing God's plan for my life, and I refer to God and me as "We" - capital "W". I figure that infinity plus zero equals infinity. Hence, We - with a capital "W".