The latest issue of the only magazine I subscribe to arrived yesterday evening. I’m trembling with excitement….

Take a good look now, folks, ’cause when this little beauty gets a bit older, her dad won’t allow me to post her pics online anymore. <turns around and tries desperately to flatten Berek’s spikes>

… I found an old e-mail from a former student who is a professional cartoonist. This is her rendition of me.

When I was really little, I liked winter. When I got a bit older, I liked summer. Now my favourite season is spring. Every time I step out of the house, I can’t take my eyes off the beauty all around me. Trees with budding leaves of bright green, little flowers springing up from cracks in the cement, seeing everything through a grey haze of car exhaust. I am surrounded by beauty. I love the spring!

These are pictures I took today in my neighborhood. Liking spring … that makes me feel old, somehow.

I’m in a meeting right now. I’ve been sitting here for over two hours and will most likely be here for two hours more. We’re planning our annual church camp, our church’s version of the festivals of the Old Testament. We have a high-tech team. Of the eleven staff members, seven have laptops and one has a palmtop. Oh, the joy of being in a meeting with a high speed connection! 100Mbit optical cable! <big grin>

Cynicism is defeatism.

As I talked with another teacher from work today, it struck me how idealistic and principled she is despite having no faith in anything. She is one of the better non-Christian Westerners with a strong Christian cultural hangover. After saying our goodbyes, I wondered how I could have become so cynical and hopeless in my outlook on things over the past few years, although I believe in God and even in the eventual victory of the Gospel over all the nations. I realized that if I believe in the kingdom of God, then I am bound to work towards it, and that being cynical about things just means I’m sitting back and not doing what I’m supposed to do. Cynicism is an excuse for not working as hard as I ought to.

As a Christian, as a postmillennial Christian, there is no time for me to be cynical. Instead of complaining, being doubtful, getting depressed, and giving up on everyday things and people around me, I have to get to work and do the best I can in the area given to me.

Is there anything more insanely optimistic and idealistic than believing that one day every person on this planet will bow before God and worship Him … and then working towards that?

Granted, I’m slow on the uptake. It’s not as if this is something I didn’t know. But it’s something that hit me hard today.

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Isaiah 45:18, 23

Cynicism is laziness.

Jason says, “You can’t rate the sincerity of friendship by judging how often a particular group hugs or doesn’t hug.”

Exactly.

One thing enthusiastic pro-huggers seem to be forgetting is that some people, even Christians, can’t help thinking that hugging is sexual. Of course, they shouldn’t think that way, but there are weaker brethren aplenty…. Each Christian has weaknesses. For some, hugging is a stumbling stone.

There have been a few times in my life when I don’t know what I would have done without a good hug. Growing up in Tokyo, I’m not used to hugging people outside my own family, but I think that it is a proper Biblical thing to do.

However, it is wrong to force the issue on people who are not ready for it. It’s not a big enough issue to debate. I know the poll was made in fun, but that is a totally false dichotomy. I’m sure some hugging amils are far better Christians than some legalistic postmils. But, regardless of theology, just because a person never hugs friends does not make that person necessarily less emotional or less loving. I know this, because most of my closest friends are not huggers. The way people feel about hugging has a lot to do with their cultural and/or familial background. Even if a person knows intellectually that it’s a “good” thing to do, that person can feel it’s “bad” anyway (e.g. former alcoholics and wine, former Baptists and lipstick <grin>, and so on).

A person’s attitude towards hugging is not something that stands alone. It’s a manifestation or reflection of other attitudes and beliefs. Some cultural baggage cannot be rid of in this lifetime, but as Christian culture matures, attitudes towards hugging will change.

For some people, attitudes can change in a matter of weeks. For others, perhaps they won’t understand till after they’re dead and resurrected. Either way, I don’t see it as an issue big enough to be debated about. If someone is objecting to hugging per se, then they have other more important issues that need to be solved … issues that may or may not be solved during this life.

I say this as one who knows a lot of people will probably go to their graves without ever breaking into “spontaneous hugging” but they are wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ for whom I am deeply thankful.

And while we’re on the topic, when you have the time, just try doing a search for “kiss*” in the Bible.

This morning….

- “How many toes do you have?”
- [Looks at foot and counts.] Five!
- Nooo. I don’t think so. Count again.
- [Looks confused. Thinks. Looks at hands and feet, and then beams.] I have twenty!
- <sigh>

In the afternoon, two boys trying to understand present perfect vs. present perfect continuous….

- [Suddenly, in a creepy quavery voice] “Beware the ides of April.”
- Why? What are you going to do?
- I’m going to hit you.

Too much Shakespeare, eh?