Love of film is just one passion in my life. This is the place where I publish all my other thoughts. ~RG

Thursday, September 22, 2005

If You Can't Stand the Fire...

This morning I desperately needed to fill the tank on my gas-guzzling truck. Well, not really fill it, but put the same amount of money that I used to and get only 3/4 of a tank. This has become a most painful experience over the past few weeks given the exorbitant prices for fuel. But, unfortunately, I have to get to work and this is the way I do it.

I usually go to the Arco around the corner from our house. Their pumps are a bit quirky, but they are usually priced decently ($2.87/gallon for 87 octane) and it is close by. I hate filling up in the morning because I am barely motivated to get out of bed and it is all I can do just to set my 4500 pound machine in the direction of work much less drive a little and stop to fill up for gas. But, nevertheless, this is the situation in which I found myself.

So I'm munching a granola bar and watching my hard earned money slide down the mouth of the tank when another truck pulls up to the same pump I am using, only on the other side. Now maybe I'm overly sensitive to this or maybe I'm impatient in the morning or maybe I'm right, I don't know. But this guy gets out of his truck to fill it with gas. No big deal so far, right? Well he leaves the truck idling loudly and he's sucking on a cancer stick so hard his lips are puckering. Immediately I am deeply disturbed by this. I kept thinking, perhaps he is just checking the price before he starts to pump then he will take care of the multitude of ignition sources he has surrounding him. I was wrong.

Do you ever look at people and wonder, what are you thinking? I am not better than anyone else. I make mistakes and do stupid things, but does this guy not know what gasonline does? In liquid form it is highly flammable and in vapor form it is explosive. Dude, burning fuel is what powers your horsepower revving, Flomaster-toting, pinstripe bearing, mud-slinging, country music blaring, 4x4.

No matter how hard the EPA tries, fumes still escape from the fill tube of a vehicles gas tank during filling. You can see it on a hot day; waving invisible clouds that seem to blur the view of whatever is behind them. So this guy, with his arm resting on the bed of his truck just above the fuel door, is puffing away. Cigarette blazing, truck running, oblivious to the whole concept.

Visions of movie-like explosions are running through my head. How can I escape this potential nightmare. Maybe only he'll go up in flames. I can't make my gas pump go any faster. How can I get out of here more quickly? Nothing doing. All while this is running through my head I'm mumbling prayers of deliverance under my breath. Come on, pump faster.

I thought about pointing out his ill-conceived ways. Maybe he is not aware of the hazards of running a vehicle during fueling and smoking near combustible liquids. Maybe he didn't see the huge signs plastered all over the station stating, "NO SMOKING" and "TURN YOUR VEHICLE OFF WHILE FUELING". Maybe he never learned to read. I was bigger than him so I figured I could take him if things escalated. But it is 5:15AM and I've barely had enough energy to shower and pack a lunch. I was in no mood for conversation, especially one likely to get "heated". So I filled the rest of my tank hopped in my truck and jetted out of there as fast as I could all the while shaking my head. Another perfect morning.

~RG

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The End of Allegiance

Federal Judge Rules Reciting Pledge in Schools Unconstitutional

This is unbelievable.

The Pledge of Allegiance was a daily ritual for me growing up in elementary school. Having gone to a religious private school (non-Catholic) it was performed just following morning prayer. You would think that as Christians we would have more vocal opinions against the Pledge. After all, isn't our sole devotion and allegiance suppose to go the King and Creator of the Universe? But we don't hear these outcries of injustice because most can clearly see that the Pledge of Allegiance is merely a statement patriotism. It is an appreciation and recognition of the freedom that many have fought and died for to create and sustain this country. The inclusion of "under God" affirms and recalls the fact that the founding fathers of this nation were firm belivers in an Almight God. Unfortunately, it seems things such as these are fast becoming relics of past generations. I'm not even sure if 1st through 8th graders were polled across the nation that 50% of them would know what the Pledge was, much less what it means.

The obvious solution, I think, is to state that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is and always will be strictly voluntary. You will not be held for treason for wishing to decline participation, but you will not be labeled a religious zealot for deisring to state your beliefs. If this happens the Pledge can then stand as another historic patriotic artifact in the realms of the Declaration of Indpendence, the Bill of Rights, and other such important American nostalgia sitting so quietly and sheltered in the Library of Congress.

Mr. Newdow's views of atheism should not be forced on those that believe in a holy God or those that have an overwhelming sense of national pride and respect for those who have built this country.


Mr Newdow,
I look forward to your long and arduos journey to eliminate this part of American history. Just think, once this battle is fought you have so many more to pursue including, but certainly not limited to, US currency, the Declaration of Independence, and prayer in Congress. Perhaps the US Supreme Court will construct a special courtroom just to hear your Establishment Clause issues complete with cardboard cut-outs of each of the Justices pre-recorded voices saying, "Case Dismissed".



A History of the Pledge of Allegiance

~RG

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Have Your Eyes Adjusted?

My wife and I went this past Sunday to check out a worship service at a Lifechurch that has just been planted in our neighborhood. It was quite an experience. During the sermon on Determining God's Will I was struck by something that was said by the pastor. I'll paraphrase it here:

You know when you walk into a crowded movie theater late and the previews are already showing? You are looking to try and find a seat and, at first, you can't see anything save maybe a few blurry heads bobbing in the rows. You definitely can't see enough to find the empty seats you need. But what happens? After a few minutes things become clearer and more focused. Your eyes adjust to the darkness and you are able to see some unoccupied chairs to relax in during the show.

Our heart behaves the same way. At first being outside the moral will of God seems foreign and hard to navigate. We stand dumbfounded at the bottom of the wasteland looking confused and feeling uncomfortable. After a while though, as we spend more time apart from Him and the things He desires for us, things start to become more comfortable. Our heart begins to adjust to its new environment, however dangerous and ghastly it may have first appeared. Soon we can nonchalantly go about our normal lives with little regard to how we are behaving and what consequences are actions have for ourselves and those around us. Our heart adjusts to the darkness until living there can seem as natural as if we were living in the Light. It is in this place, where we cannot see our own selfish desires and desparate need, that the guidance of the Holy Spirit and fellow believers is essential to spur us to open our eyes again to where we have wandered.


~RG