Why Me?

Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them.

—Deuteronomy 4:37

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

 —1 Corinthians 1:27

It is easy to fall into the error of trying to find selfish reasons for why God choose you. But that goes against the whole point of choosing. It can't be anything you've done or will do. Thus when you look at Christians around the world, you'll find a few common characteristics, and a lot of variety. I'll leave the specifics to you. Because most of the attributes you'll find, such as sanctification, are a consequence, not cause, of God's choosing. I think the two verses above perfectly sum up the traits which remain. God chooses the lowly, not for anything in themselves, but for the sake of their forefathers and for His own name's sake.

One thing we can learn from this is how important relationships (see yesterday's post) are for us and for God.

Life is like a Game of Chess

An edifact from back when I was fascinated by the game of chess (probably 12th grade):

Life is like a game of chess:
You can’t see more than a couple steps ahead,
You can’t foresee all contingencies/possibilities,
You don’t know what others are planning on doing, and
You make mistakes and you can’t take them back.

God sees everything – past present, and future,
He knows all the possibilities,
He even knows what you are going to do, and
He never makes mistakes.
God is the better chess player – don't you want Him on your side?

Marionettes

Often I feel that life is perpetual dance to which my feet are enslaved but from which my mind is completely detached. I am compelled forward on a course as immutable as unknowable. It happens on a time that my path crosses that of another, and we each linger, momentarily diverted. But my mind can never conceive nor compass their ways, nor teach them to my feet, and neither can it communicate my ways to them, not knowing them itself. And so we pass on, each along our own course, whatever that may be. Must this always be so?

Addendum to Murphy's Laws

Sarregouset's First Law of Social Interaction
The greater the insistency of an explanation, the greater the intention of a cover-up.

Sarregouset's Second Law of Social Interaction
Amelodic humming is a sure sign of something weighing on the conscience.

Sarregouset's Third Law of Social Interaction
The only thing worse than being enslaved to someone else is to be enslaved to your own notion of their opinion of you.

Sarregouset's Fourth Law of Social Interaction
The more undeserved the compliment you are given, the more the giver wishes the same compliment were applied to himself.

Sarregouset's Last Law of Social Interaction
There are some things which a person cannot admit, even subconsciously, for it would break them. On such an issue, do not attempt to step between them and God.

Christmas is Coming!

It's ten days to Christmas, and I can't focus anymore. I've been listening to so much Christmas music I'm about max out my Pandora account. Finals seem like nothing compared to shopping for presents (which I haven't started!), and even my lab reports are starting to look like Christmas tree farms.

Aagh!

I should really write a Christmas letter of sorts here. Maybe later if I have time. Till then.

What next?

The dominant worldview in the West seems ready to shift from secularism to pantheism, or 'New Age spirituality', according to Nancy Pearcy. I expect this movement to become prominent in my lifetime, and here is one of the ways it should be identifiable:

The scientific theory of evolution will continue to be taught, but its supposed mechanism will change. Instead of primarily natural selection of genetic mutations, it will be physical forces driving the mutation of species. It will be said that the universe has an inherent property of promoting complexity, diversity, life, and and even consciousness, just as it has an inherent property of attraction of matter, called gravitation. It is already acknowledged that Darwinian natural selection is not adequate by itself, but a better successor is not forthcoming. The acceptance of this new evolutionary mechanism requires (and may encourage) the worldview shift that I foresee.

What other epistemological trends we should be watching today?

Gmail

WHY are the buttons in Gmail always changing their height? You know, the Archive, Report Spam, etc row across the top. 15px, 16px, 17 px, you think somebody could make up their own mind. I finally decided to take things into my own hands and go with 16px for myself:
.J-Zh-I {height: 16px !important}