FORD MUNROW
Thursday, June 01, 2006
gossip gossip gossip yuck
I found this post from last summer and knew I needed to post it again for my own sake at least! I can tell gossip is one of those stupid sins that will always be a constant struggle. Talking about the book, Free to Disagree.
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Well this started out as a reply to comments on my last post on this book but I just kept typing and typing so I decided to just post it:) Something Jen's comment made me think of was at another point in this book the author talks about gossip. Gossip was one of those things that i never felt I had a clear definition to, so I started to ignore it. I read what he wrote on it and I haven't forgotten it since. So not to preach at you or anything... but maybe it'll help you a little too:) He says, "The sin of gossip occurs when a person gives and unauthorized, distorted, or false report that influences another person to form a bad opinion about the person being talked about." I never thought about it that way, it is so true though. That definition is showing the power that our words totally have! Just by saying ONE thing about someone, we can cause a person to have a flase opinion about someone else so easily! Whether we are talking about our friends, parents, siblings... He also suggested some questions one should ask themselves in order to detect or become more aware of gossip/slander. (It's hard for me to ask these cause I tend to judge the person who's gossiping and I forget that I am just as bad as them, hopefully I can use these just to kindly talk to my friends and maybe try and make them aware, as well, when they are gossiping.) "
1. Why are you telling me this?
2. Where did you get this information?
3. Have you gome to the people named?
4. Have you personally checked out all the facts?
5. Can I quote you if I check this out?"
"(This) reminder just might be the dam that holds back the rampaging river of gossip."
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Well this started out as a reply to comments on my last post on this book but I just kept typing and typing so I decided to just post it:) Something Jen's comment made me think of was at another point in this book the author talks about gossip. Gossip was one of those things that i never felt I had a clear definition to, so I started to ignore it. I read what he wrote on it and I haven't forgotten it since. So not to preach at you or anything... but maybe it'll help you a little too:) He says, "The sin of gossip occurs when a person gives and unauthorized, distorted, or false report that influences another person to form a bad opinion about the person being talked about." I never thought about it that way, it is so true though. That definition is showing the power that our words totally have! Just by saying ONE thing about someone, we can cause a person to have a flase opinion about someone else so easily! Whether we are talking about our friends, parents, siblings... He also suggested some questions one should ask themselves in order to detect or become more aware of gossip/slander. (It's hard for me to ask these cause I tend to judge the person who's gossiping and I forget that I am just as bad as them, hopefully I can use these just to kindly talk to my friends and maybe try and make them aware, as well, when they are gossiping.) "
1. Why are you telling me this?
2. Where did you get this information?
3. Have you gome to the people named?
4. Have you personally checked out all the facts?
5. Can I quote you if I check this out?"
"(This) reminder just might be the dam that holds back the rampaging river of gossip."
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
SWING me baby!
Swing me, Baby
Wow, that was a blast! I can't believe I actually did that! There is a church downtown that is currently doing a "swing dance outreach" that meets every Tuesday night. My little sis and her friends went last week and had a blast and I really wanted to go and try it out because I love watching dancing, whether it’s on TV or in person. I wasn't sure what expect from the evening as a whole and from the dancing itself. I invited a couple friends to come along with me and my sister and her friends. We get downtown and gather in two big circles, "girls on inside and guys on the outside," the male instructor was yelling. There were two instructors, a guy and a girl. Both were pretty young, not any older than their twenties. We had a group of what had to be about 50 couples which made hearing instructions a bit difficult. Once we were matched up with our partners they just went at it. I suppose I had expected some type of "beginner" lesson where they would teach you the same thing over and over again until you had it down pat. I don't tend to think of myself as "slow," but after tonight I must learn to face up to that very fact. Me and learning don't flow smoothly together, I need to take my time. I am thankful I had a partner who knew a little already and had some patience. "Okay everybody, this step is called the 'pretzel step.' You start out in this position, doing the basic step and quickly lead into swinging your partner like this." As I watched the girl being flung all over the floor I could here my cocky partner behind me saying, "Oh that's so easy, and how about I teach you a harder step." All I'm thinking is, "I have no idea what I am doing here! Let me at least watch what they are doing and see if I can get even the basic steps down." We would be taught a step by observing, then have a chance to practice it ourselves. Before you knew it, they were onto the next step. After a while my partner just walked away, which was okay, I think he was becoming bored with me not knowing what I was doing. I was totally okay with that because it allowed me to dance with a friend I already knew so I felt more comfortable learning. Once there was kind of a lull in the teaching we would just "free dance" trying to remember the steps we were taught. It was nice because it gave my partner and me a chance to perfect at least one main step which we did so many times I hope I will always have that one memorized!
Wow, that was a blast! I can't believe I actually did that! There is a church downtown that is currently doing a "swing dance outreach" that meets every Tuesday night. My little sis and her friends went last week and had a blast and I really wanted to go and try it out because I love watching dancing, whether it’s on TV or in person. I wasn't sure what expect from the evening as a whole and from the dancing itself. I invited a couple friends to come along with me and my sister and her friends. We get downtown and gather in two big circles, "girls on inside and guys on the outside," the male instructor was yelling. There were two instructors, a guy and a girl. Both were pretty young, not any older than their twenties. We had a group of what had to be about 50 couples which made hearing instructions a bit difficult. Once we were matched up with our partners they just went at it. I suppose I had expected some type of "beginner" lesson where they would teach you the same thing over and over again until you had it down pat. I don't tend to think of myself as "slow," but after tonight I must learn to face up to that very fact. Me and learning don't flow smoothly together, I need to take my time. I am thankful I had a partner who knew a little already and had some patience. "Okay everybody, this step is called the 'pretzel step.' You start out in this position, doing the basic step and quickly lead into swinging your partner like this." As I watched the girl being flung all over the floor I could here my cocky partner behind me saying, "Oh that's so easy, and how about I teach you a harder step." All I'm thinking is, "I have no idea what I am doing here! Let me at least watch what they are doing and see if I can get even the basic steps down." We would be taught a step by observing, then have a chance to practice it ourselves. Before you knew it, they were onto the next step. After a while my partner just walked away, which was okay, I think he was becoming bored with me not knowing what I was doing. I was totally okay with that because it allowed me to dance with a friend I already knew so I felt more comfortable learning. Once there was kind of a lull in the teaching we would just "free dance" trying to remember the steps we were taught. It was nice because it gave my partner and me a chance to perfect at least one main step which we did so many times I hope I will always have that one memorized!
Monday, May 15, 2006
Writing about writing
So we are susposed to write this "remembered event" story for english class. Tomorrow the rough draft is due and I have no idea what to write. I guess I decided to start here because it is more of a casual writing atmosphere than Ms Word. I guess the topic I finally decided to write on was when I visited Masada. I'm writing about it because for some reason it stuck out as a highlight of my trip. The only problem is that I still can't figure out why I enjoyed it so much. Maybe a better word is "Intrigued." I was intrigued by the place. I mean common'...a prosperous city is coming under attack and rather than being taken hostage by some pagan army they choose to murder their own families and then themselves? So alright, I'll give myself some credit for my interest. Another problem I can see is that in order to explain this story clear enough it is going to require alot of history. How do I keep this paper on target to being a "remmebered event" essay and not a history book? And another thing, how to I explain to a secular classroom filled with who knows what kinds of people that these people were not mad? Or were they mad? I would prefer not to create the image of all believers being madmen. Maybe I should do a little mroe studying up on what a zelot is, or was.
As we stood there on the bluff, overlooking the Dead Sea valley, I could see Masada. The sight was magnificent. Masada, being the Hebrew word for "fortress" definitly stood as a fortress in the desert. It seemed untouchable. Despite the magesty it held, and my awe at the mere sight, nothing could intrigue or amaze me the same as what happened on that very summit more than two thousand years previous. I tried to picture the scene unfolding, as I stood there, ready to acend with my group to the top of the fortress.
The Roman army was pressing their way up. They had built a "seige ramp" in order to reach the summit, and that is exactly what I was standing on, ready to climb. They used it to push up the seige engine they had also made in order to break down the walls of the city. I could just imagine what the Jewish settlers of Masada were thinking as they inevitably watched on and knew there would be no escape. Rome, being the most powerful nation at the time, became aware that this was a city filled with rebels who would not submit to the Roman authority and this was the reason for the attack.
The end resolve of the Jews, however, was that they would not be swayed from their intentions. They were a noble people, some may call them stubborn, but they held to what they believed. That evening, as the Roman battering ram broke through the city's outer wall the people of Masada gathered. The Roman army returned to their camp for the night keeping close watch around the city to see that noone escaped. They would return for an easy attack in the morning. Eleazar, a leader among those at Masada is recorded to have said to his bravest men, "Long ago we decided to serve neither Roman nor anyone else except God, and now the time has come to verify that resolution by action. We, who were the first to revolt and are the last in arms against the Romans, must not disgrace ourselves by letting our wives die dishonored and our children enslaved. We still have the free choice of a noble death with those we hold dear. when they are gone, let us render a generous service to each other. But first we must destroy our property and fortress by fire, sparing only our provisions, so that the romans will know it was not hunger that subdued us, but that we preferred death to slavery." He went on to say, "Let us die as free men with our wives and children and deny the romans their joy of victory! Let us rather strike them with amazement with our brave death!" And that's what happened. When the Romans came bursting through the city walls the next morning they were prepared for triumph but instead were filled with shock, awe and even respect at what they saw.
What drives men to do such things as kill their own families? Belief, decisions and commitments are strong things. That day, as I walked in the same path as the Roman soldiers, as I stood is the very spot those men murdered their families and then themselves, I didn't know what to think. I just knew that the story I had just been told about those Jewish zelots was one bravery and commitment. Commitment to eachother, themselves and mostly to their God.
Okay, total rough draft but I like writing things, so I'll go over it and I'm sure the next product (assuming I will give myself more time to work on it and earlier than midnight) will be MUCH better:) Let's only hope, eh?
As we stood there on the bluff, overlooking the Dead Sea valley, I could see Masada. The sight was magnificent. Masada, being the Hebrew word for "fortress" definitly stood as a fortress in the desert. It seemed untouchable. Despite the magesty it held, and my awe at the mere sight, nothing could intrigue or amaze me the same as what happened on that very summit more than two thousand years previous. I tried to picture the scene unfolding, as I stood there, ready to acend with my group to the top of the fortress.
The Roman army was pressing their way up. They had built a "seige ramp" in order to reach the summit, and that is exactly what I was standing on, ready to climb. They used it to push up the seige engine they had also made in order to break down the walls of the city. I could just imagine what the Jewish settlers of Masada were thinking as they inevitably watched on and knew there would be no escape. Rome, being the most powerful nation at the time, became aware that this was a city filled with rebels who would not submit to the Roman authority and this was the reason for the attack.
The end resolve of the Jews, however, was that they would not be swayed from their intentions. They were a noble people, some may call them stubborn, but they held to what they believed. That evening, as the Roman battering ram broke through the city's outer wall the people of Masada gathered. The Roman army returned to their camp for the night keeping close watch around the city to see that noone escaped. They would return for an easy attack in the morning. Eleazar, a leader among those at Masada is recorded to have said to his bravest men, "Long ago we decided to serve neither Roman nor anyone else except God, and now the time has come to verify that resolution by action. We, who were the first to revolt and are the last in arms against the Romans, must not disgrace ourselves by letting our wives die dishonored and our children enslaved. We still have the free choice of a noble death with those we hold dear. when they are gone, let us render a generous service to each other. But first we must destroy our property and fortress by fire, sparing only our provisions, so that the romans will know it was not hunger that subdued us, but that we preferred death to slavery." He went on to say, "Let us die as free men with our wives and children and deny the romans their joy of victory! Let us rather strike them with amazement with our brave death!" And that's what happened. When the Romans came bursting through the city walls the next morning they were prepared for triumph but instead were filled with shock, awe and even respect at what they saw.
What drives men to do such things as kill their own families? Belief, decisions and commitments are strong things. That day, as I walked in the same path as the Roman soldiers, as I stood is the very spot those men murdered their families and then themselves, I didn't know what to think. I just knew that the story I had just been told about those Jewish zelots was one bravery and commitment. Commitment to eachother, themselves and mostly to their God.
Okay, total rough draft but I like writing things, so I'll go over it and I'm sure the next product (assuming I will give myself more time to work on it and earlier than midnight) will be MUCH better:) Let's only hope, eh?
Thursday, May 11, 2006
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