I am sitting here listening to the Smooth Jazz station on Launchcast (part of my Yahoo! Music). The window unit AC running in my office, in addition to our central air unit, and I am anxiously anticipating this time tomorrow night. If the weather forecasters are correct, it should be 20 degrees cooler this time tomorrow night! We've been back up to 100 this past week, so the cool air will definitely be welcomed!
TRIP TO THE DENTIST
A number of things have happened since I last blogged it seems. One of the biggest events was Amanda's trip to the dentist...trip one of two to finish up this round of work. She went in to have a crown put on. Although she got two fillings with no problem last year (FYI...she brushes, with help, twice a day), this year's trip for a cleaning was different. After the cleaning, the dentist suggested some sort of medical concoction to help Amanda "relax" before her next procedure. The price for this concoction and my memories of going to the dentist at her age with no problems let me to say "that will not be necessary". No sooner had Amanda gone back to see the dentist this time(the office does not let parents back with their children as a matter of policy), and an assistant said the dentist needed to speak to me. The dentist told me Amanda would not even get in the chair. He again recommended the medication and said if this did not work we would have to knock her out to do the procedure. I politely explained that although their policy does not permit it, if they would let me back there with her, there would not be a problem getting the procedure done. The dentist's polite reply was, "If it makes YOU feel better, we can try that, but our experience shows that bringing parents back does not help the situation." Again, he was polite, but it was clear he did not think this was going to work. Short version...Amanda now has a "gold tooth" (actually a silver cap) that she is very proud of and the dentist told me afterwards, "Dad, you surprised us." We go back in for the last filling on Monday.
VOLLEYBALL OR RACQUETBALL
The next big event has been my foray into sand volleyball. The past few weeks I have gotten together with some friends for a little sand volleyball. The first week I tried it, I pulled something or used some otherwise-never-used muscles and found it difficult to get out of bed and walk the next morning. This was odd since I had no pain that night when I went to bed, nonetheless, it was painful. There was no racquetball for me that week. The next week, I thought, "Eh, it's just a matter of not using those muscles...I'll use them again this week and "get them into shape." That night, my back hurt a bit, but I slept on the heat pad and could get around ok the next day. Brooke was out of town, so there was no racquetball for me that week, either. The third week there was no need to go to sleep on the heat pad and although there was some tenderness, I felt good enough for a racquetball game the next day. Oopps...that was NOT such a good idea. It became hard to get around at the office that day. I am recovering but still have certain movements that suddenly feel like not such a good idea. So I am swearing off sand volleyball. I don't know what it was, but if it's messin' with my racquetball game it ain't for me.
STILL TALKING TO THE HUMANISTS
And lastly, I am still visiting the Humanist News blog and commenting here and there. I have met with one antagonist and one serious, yet polite, debater (for lack of a better term). I offered one opinion and backed it with research from a book I had read. I found a web site that talked about the book and quoted some statistics from it and referred to this site when I commented. My comment was met with "just because it's on the Internet does not mean it's true" and then a web site that supposedly refuted the web site I used as a reference. I thought it odd that I was being refuted with a web page to tell me "just because it's on the web doesn't make it true." The statistics I quoted from were from government studies (well documented in the book) and not merely from a web site. Oh well. The serious yet polite debater had some good comments to make and some which were hard to refute because he used statistics pointing out the moral decay within the Christian church. Although I could take him to task over the interpretation of these statistics, it was shameful to have to admit that the things he mentioned are rampant in the church and very few within the church seem to be think there is a problem. Anyway, I was told earlier "We hope to use this blog for discussion of current issues from a Humanist perspective, not as a forum in which to argue for or against a particular faith" so I don't know how many more discussions I will be able to have with the folks there before they tire of me, but it has been an interesting and learning experience. I was going to say I am praying for those I have talked with there, but unfortunately that would not be true. I will have to change that tonight. Man, I almost got caught in the same trap they are in...being so "logical" and polished that there is no room for God. I did try to point out that the Humanist mind will never "find" God because "finding" God has to begin with a step of faith "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). This is when I was told they were not a forum in which to argue for or against a particular faith. I don't believe anyone can be "debated" into faith with Christ, but I have learned a few things from visiting the blog and hope I have given them something to consider. For now, I will continue to pray for those who enter into conversation with me, try to ask questions and comment without being a pest and try to better understand how these people see the world.
- Rob
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