This is much better than facebook.

The Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries is fascinating to me. Above all, it shows how we should not be ignorant of Satan's devices.

In the 15th century there was economic growth in key areas, mainly due to the wool trade in Europe. People began to have more food, and thus have a healthier, longer life. The extra money also allowed for the patronage of the arts. Those of learning increasingly looked back to the ancients for authority rather than the church. Due to disagreement among the ancients, scholars had to choose their beliefs. Simultaneously, the advances in science and exploration cast further doubt on long-held beliefs. Independent thinking began to flourish.

So people made Bibles and books. They read, thought, and often changed their minds. Science, not religious slumber, became the authority.

I'm thankful for this Enlightenment. We stopped believing things because power-hungry clergy said so. We know more about the world and have greater access to God's word than ever. But as always, the Adversary must corrupt that which is good. He has swayed the scientific world into disbelieving anything that cannot be empirically proven. The world has so rejected outside authority that everyone is their own authority. So many people are ruled by a narcissistic approach to life that cannot be reasoned with. How ironic...

A completely new model is now used in how the world as a whole views truth. The model used to be the artist's canvas. The artist creates the work. The artist had one purpose and one interpretation. The audience may scrutinize and ponder, but they cannot know what the artist intends without his telling them. The artist knows and can explain what the work means. Now there is the gestalt model. You know, the pictures that look like a rabbit to you but a duck to someone else. Same picture, but different experiences. People view truth this way. You see one way, I see another...same picture though. Some people are so open-minded there's nothing in it but a draft.

He always tries to pervert what is straight and convert the crutch into a burden. We are not ignorant of his devices.

Difficilis facilis, iucundus acerbus--es eadem:
nec tecum possum vivere nec sine te.

Gotta love Martial.

I have never looked forward to a summer as much as this one. The main attraction was having so much more free time than I had during the Spring semester. Surprise...I was dead wrong. Since I don't have facebook, I'll let everyone know what I'm up to:

-Two years with the brethren at Shoal Bluff and working on the third. I love being there. They've allowed me to grow more than I ever thought.

-Meeting Allen Dvorak to help each other with Portuguese. I have a feeling I'm not done with that language yet.

-Three more classes to finish at UAH. Wow...

-Interning at Northrop Grumman this summer, hence the busy-ness.

Like Anna said in her recent post, I have a lot to look forward to with her within the next couple of years. She is amazing and you should get to know her better if you haven't already. You'll be a better person for it. The people most dear to me are the ones that help me achieve what I didn't know I could. That's a little secret of life: surrounding yourself with those people. I want to be that kind of person.

After this December, it will be the first time in my life that I am the one to decide what I'm going to do and where I'll be. No limits; infinite options. Pretty exciting. Pretty daunting. But I've always loved challenges because they make me learn and grow. That's what I'm all about.

Puffin is a shy bird, but today we almost caught her.
She ate too much and got too fat to take off from the water.
With all her flaps a-flappin' and runway length to spare,
she had too big a fuselage to take off in the air.


Ram be nimble.
Ram jump higher.
Ram's got to clear
the man's barbed wire.


A moose went out to boogie at night.
He dressed himself to look just right.
He donned his very finest thread,
wearin' a twig hat on his head.


Brown bear on the coastline,
grizzly on the mountain tall,
he's the baddest animal,
the baddest one of all.
The others give him lots of room,
'cause he can lick 'em all.


Walrus in the daytime
sleeping in the light.
Walrus in the daytime
in the sun so bright.
All he's got's a flipper
to make himself some night.


We have to keep in mind, when things are out of place,
that things we do not know about can show a gruesome face.
But put them where they fit, and if they aren't misplaced,
you know a face this ugly
to another moose looks snuggly.

P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E. Always remember: the capital of Australia is Canberra, and Ottawa for Canada.