Today's dilemma:
I am wondering about Facebook and MySpace. Are they safe? It sounds like fun, but a little scary. Supposedly, you can block people and select what friends can see your profile. But do teens have enough discernment to detect danger before it happens?
Digital relationships can seem safe, even innocent. But I've known adults who have fallen prey to "innocent" relationships that started online and then went somewhere they didn't expect.
And how is this blog any different? Maybe only in that Facebook gets read daily by thousands of students!
I like the idea overall. I guess it bothers me that I can't get into my child's profile without a password! So far, I dont' have a reason not to trust her, but can I trust the rest of the world!?!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Is there intelligent life on earth...
Is there intelligent life on earth? When life has you running like a gerbil on an exercise wheel, racing forward, but never getting anywhere. When part of the planet is fighting obesity and another starvation. Well, it can really make you wonder.
It's not to say people are unintelligent. We earthlings are very sophisticated, "worldly-wise" through our global internet access. Advances in medical technology are phenomenal. And our kids are learning stuff in middle school that we weren't taught in college just a few (?) years ago.
Certainly the quality of our lives is greatly improved over that of our parents or grandparents, isn't it? Or is it? As a forty-one year old (on the cusp between baby boomer and gen-xer, I have witnessed, as perhaps you have, many casualties lost along the way to achievement.
We are a workaholic generation, addicted to prosperity. But gorged as we are with material success, our relational lives are often a wreck.
And what about our spiritual lives? Have we gained the whole world, only to lose our soul?
So I ask you, is there intelligent life on earth? Perhaps. Maybe it is wisdom we are lacking: that divinely inspired gift of knowing how to apply our intelligence to our unique set of circumstances.
Today's drama: just how smart am I? How smart are we as a society?
Intelligence without wisdom...it just looks like foolishness to me.
It's not to say people are unintelligent. We earthlings are very sophisticated, "worldly-wise" through our global internet access. Advances in medical technology are phenomenal. And our kids are learning stuff in middle school that we weren't taught in college just a few (?) years ago.
Certainly the quality of our lives is greatly improved over that of our parents or grandparents, isn't it? Or is it? As a forty-one year old (on the cusp between baby boomer and gen-xer, I have witnessed, as perhaps you have, many casualties lost along the way to achievement.
We are a workaholic generation, addicted to prosperity. But gorged as we are with material success, our relational lives are often a wreck.
And what about our spiritual lives? Have we gained the whole world, only to lose our soul?
So I ask you, is there intelligent life on earth? Perhaps. Maybe it is wisdom we are lacking: that divinely inspired gift of knowing how to apply our intelligence to our unique set of circumstances.
Today's drama: just how smart am I? How smart are we as a society?
Intelligence without wisdom...it just looks like foolishness to me.
Monday, March 20, 2006
My hope is built...
What do you hope for? What gives you hope?
As the drama of my life unfolds each day, sometimes from quiet slumbers and sometimes from fitful dreams, I may have time to ponder what I hope the day will hold. But often, I just wake up, try to normalize my day through the comforting rituals of a hot shower, coffee, and muscle stretch before departing for carpool at two different schools.
Did you pack your lunch? Are you wearing a jacket, because it's cold outside today! Did all three of the dogs get outside this morning? Oh yeah--that's another part of the morning ritual that keeps me from getting any extra beauty sleep on the weekends. Why can't dogs come with snooze buttons!
After carpool, I stop by my house for one more cup of coffee and ten minutes on my stationary bicycle while I read my Bible and pray. Ten minutes is not alot. But it is better than nothing. And the dialogue I begin with God often continues in the car as I commute to the university I attend. At this pace, I am able to read the entire Bible in two years. I am on my second read.
My hope is in this. That each and every day, my wise and loving Heavenly Father has a divine plan for me. His Spirit is present to guide me. And no failure of mine is too great to exceed His grace and His ability to work out "all things" for my good and His glory.
As the drama of my life unfolds each day, sometimes from quiet slumbers and sometimes from fitful dreams, I may have time to ponder what I hope the day will hold. But often, I just wake up, try to normalize my day through the comforting rituals of a hot shower, coffee, and muscle stretch before departing for carpool at two different schools.
Did you pack your lunch? Are you wearing a jacket, because it's cold outside today! Did all three of the dogs get outside this morning? Oh yeah--that's another part of the morning ritual that keeps me from getting any extra beauty sleep on the weekends. Why can't dogs come with snooze buttons!
After carpool, I stop by my house for one more cup of coffee and ten minutes on my stationary bicycle while I read my Bible and pray. Ten minutes is not alot. But it is better than nothing. And the dialogue I begin with God often continues in the car as I commute to the university I attend. At this pace, I am able to read the entire Bible in two years. I am on my second read.
My hope is in this. That each and every day, my wise and loving Heavenly Father has a divine plan for me. His Spirit is present to guide me. And no failure of mine is too great to exceed His grace and His ability to work out "all things" for my good and His glory.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
What is the drama of your life?
What is the drama of your life? What drama (or dilemma) has everything digital created for you? That is our opening overture.
My daily drama can be anything from meeting a writing deadline for my graduate thesis to a friend learning she may have throat cancer to a last minute school project (I have three school age kids) involving food the very week I have jury duty!
Bottom line, I am a wife, mother, composition instructor, and a full-time graduate student. In addition to three children (two are teens), I have three dog children whom I adore: Baron, Brandy, and Jazzy (dachshunds).
The digital world is new to me, but I believe I am too young to become an old fuddy-duddy who is behind the times.
That is my journey and I invite you to join me.
By the way, I am also on a spiritual journey, so my blogs will be faith-based from time to time. I hope you will be blessed by my expressions of faith. I do not intend to preach. :)
beckdunk
My daily drama can be anything from meeting a writing deadline for my graduate thesis to a friend learning she may have throat cancer to a last minute school project (I have three school age kids) involving food the very week I have jury duty!
Bottom line, I am a wife, mother, composition instructor, and a full-time graduate student. In addition to three children (two are teens), I have three dog children whom I adore: Baron, Brandy, and Jazzy (dachshunds).
The digital world is new to me, but I believe I am too young to become an old fuddy-duddy who is behind the times.
That is my journey and I invite you to join me.
By the way, I am also on a spiritual journey, so my blogs will be faith-based from time to time. I hope you will be blessed by my expressions of faith. I do not intend to preach. :)
beckdunk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)