Walk Quickly

While wandering through the largest gorge in Europe the other day, I stumbled upon a strange sign. There were falling rocks that could apparently cause a cessation to your life so the sign said, "Walk quickly"

Not turn around. Not wear a helmet, but just move faster.

BEGIN SERMON:
We seem to do that too when we know we're getting close to doing something we shouldn't do. Instead of running away from the evil, we just do it quicker. We don't think about the danger or evil because thinking might make us change our mind. We think the fun of walking under the falling rocks will outweigh whatever consequences there are. Or we think there is no consequence for our sin.

My shell kept me safe from the rocks, but there isn't a shell that will keep us from upsetting God with our sin. Turn around! Run! (It's actually amusing to think about a turtle yelling "run".) Sin is never worth it in the long run.

The sermon brought to you by Fattened Calf where the Greeting Cards can lighten your mood after such a serious are never as serious as Eugene is...

Landing the Rocket

Was playing Nintendo Super Monkey Ball for the Wii today. (Which is quite a trick without opposable thumbs, thank you very much). There's a game in there where you land a rocket ship on a target. You're granted a thruster with limited fuel that keeps you in the air and helps you gently land the craft. The closest to the center wins.

It reminded me of life with the center target being total and pure contentment. In the game I spent most of my time thrusting this way and that overshooting the target and then having to thrust the other way and overshooting again.

For starters, lets begin with the goal - to bring a smile to God's face. This means doing what God wants you to do. BUT sometimes I try too hard and end up working and working on stuff and not just listening and talking with Him. But God gifts us to help others not just sit on our shells and pray. So finding the balance is the trick.

And sometimes just letting go. I wonder if we plan so much that there's no room left in the plan for His plan. Perhaps we should take a break from all our ministries and wake up each morning (not just Sunday) and ask God what we can do for Him today. Ministry is suddenly simpler if it's day by day. Send an anonymous money order to someone in need. Encourage someone with words or a card. Then go to bed and see what He says tomorrow.

Just a thought. By the way, I got beat by a ten year old - I landed my rocket on its side.

Turtle Ramblings

I feel unsettled.

Don't you hate that. It's as if something is undone but you don't know what it is. It's not guilt. Not like there's an emergency, but definately not contentment. Whenever I get like like this, my back right leg keeps nervously going in and out of my shell.

Perhaps it's classes starting again. Can I tell you a horrid thing - sometimes when you study the Bible academically, you lose sight of its power. it becomes another textbook. If you are or ever have been a student, you know what a bad word "textbook" is.

Perhaps its my current narrating job at the company. I know I will be doing more in future cards (in fact I think I'm dressing up like a sheep in the upcoming Christmas card), but there's more for me to do in this life. Maybe there's a big change coming.

Maybe I'm suffering from just being in the place so many of us are - "God, what should I be doing?" Meanwhile no answer seems to come...yet.

Before you start emailing me that the Bible tells you what you should be doing - that's too simplistic of an answer for what I'm talking about. I'm looking for specifics.

Unsettled and rambling. I think it's too early to be blogging...

Omnipotent Accountants

We had a card signing today where some fans wanted us to sign autographs on cards. For some reason, Reginald was the most popular table of the Fattened Calf Staff. He's only on one card and it's sort of a bit part, yet he always had a line (mostly female) waiting to sign the only card he's on. I don't even think he's blogging.

Mind you, I'm not jealous, I'm merely curious about human behavior. Most of the staff chalks it up to his English accent (I think he's leaning it more toward Australian at the moment.)

What about a foreign accent makes you people go crazy. If you can do a good accent, go some places where people don't know you and just observe how they change. (Obviously this may not work in a large city where foreign tourists are typical) I think most of us live in our own little world in America and change shakes our shells (literally for us turtles and metaphorically for you mammals).

Anyway, speaking of observing behavior, I had a fascinating conversation at the signing. In talking to a gentleman about whether he believed in God, I was told "not really, I'm more into karma."

I know your not "supposed" to talk about religion or politics, but this was a Christian store and frankly we animals don't have the same hangups you folks do. In fact almost all animals (except for cats) don't have the human feelings of self importance and have no issues being servants of a Creator.

But, let me get down off the top off my preaching shell and get back to the conversation. First, let's remember Heaven and Hell lay in the balance of this question of whether God exists. Should you really answer "not really"? I mean I can understand being sure either way or at least being on the road to figuring it out , BUT "not really" seems a bit noncommittal when the stakes are so high.

If I'm in a plane and the pilot asks if I will want a parachute in the event of an emergency, I don't think I'm going with "maybe" or the obligatory "whatever."

Moving on, I asked him about why he believes in karma. He says he's experienced it. So then I had to ask who determines that what you've done is good enough for it to come around for you or even how much good should come around?

"It's just the natural order of things" (I supposed this was better than saying "Mother Nature")

"But doesn't there at least need to be some being or a team of accountants adding and subtracting good and bad? And if you really believe in karma and it's byproduct of reincarnation who decides what you come back as?"

"Well, I haven't really thought..."

"See for you to believe in something like that there must be an all-powerful being in charge of it. Which begs the question, shouldn't you figure out what what this all-powerful being has to say to you?" Luckily the Christian store had a Bible handy which I must say was quite dramatic at the moment I handed it to him.

There are of course alternatives. There could be a team of all-powerful accountants. Lord help us.