The Doting Child

Nielsen, the group responsible for TV ratings, contacted my wife recently to ask if she’d be willing to participate.  She told them we don’t watch TV much, if at all; but they said that was fine.  She agreed and they’re going to pay us $25 for keeping a log that basically has no information in it. This is hilarious to me.
Seriously, I don’t know how this will affect ratings…

In my college days, I came to some conclusions about television and got rid of mine. Currently, we own a 13 inch TV.  It sits awkwardly in a corner of the living room.  I enjoy DVDs from time to time (on my Mac); but as far as television programming goes, well… why do you think they call it “programming”?
Some people think I’m a “fundamentalist Christian wacko” for this, but I actually came to my conclusions back when I was an Atheist.
Here’s an excerpt from a forum I came across. He’s a plagiarist, but at least his links go to his sources. Fascinating stuff.

When you watch TV, brain activity switches from the left to the right hemisphere. In fact, experiments conducted by researcher Herbert Krugman showed that while viewers are watching television, the right hemisphere is twice as active as the left, a neurological anomaly. The brain’s left hemisphere, which processes information logically and analytically, tunes out while the person is watching TV. The crossover from left to right releases a surge of the body’s natural opiates: endorphins, which include beta-endorphins and enkephalins. Endorphins are structurally identical to opium and its derivatives (morphine, codeine, heroin, etc.). Activities that release endorphins (also called opioid peptides) are usually habit-forming (we rarely call them addictive). These include cracking knuckles, strenuous exercise, and orgasm. External opiates act on the same receptor sites (opioid receptors) as endorphins, so there is little difference between the two.

Psycho physiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost comatose) rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused, overly receptive states of consciousness. High frequency alpha waves do not occur normally when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland’s research implies that watching television is neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall. Regardless of the content being presented, television essentially turns off your nervous system.

Further research revealed that watching TV produces similar brain waves to hypnosis. When you watch TV, you passively absorb all the information without being aware of it. Later, when your brain needs to decide about something, it automatically trawls your mental database for relevant information. Your brain doesn’t differentiate between information received from the real world or TV, this information dictates your responses to any stimuli.

In an attempt to influence and persuade the masses, advertising addresses the psychological needs and wants of the consumer. North American society has a vested interest in reinforcing an individual’s failure to achieve sexual maturity. By exploiting unconscious fears, the media guarantees substitutes through commercial products and consumption. Sexuality, as reinforced by the media, is a most viable marketing technology. Repressed sexual fear, much like all types of repression, makes humans highly vulnerable to subliminal management and control technology. Through subliminal appeals and reinforcements of these fears, people can be seduced into believing almost anything. Advertisers have tremendous power to influence the thoughts and actions of society.

Violence in news preys on Americans fears of war, death and financial ruin to name a few. These fears are ingrained in every human’s primal nature. If society is in constant fear of losing their “way of life” they would never question supporting the military and political complex thereby giving these groups the ability to guide society in a direction that allows them to achieve their hidden agendas and personal goals.

Human brains were never designed to handle the stream of gory, violent, heartbreaking images that come at you during a typical newscast these days. The consequences of consuming these broadcasts are many-fold. From my perspective as a mental health counselor, I’m seeing more depression, insomnia and anxiety surface.

The TV ‘world’ becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: the mass mind takes shape, its participants acting according to media-derived impulses and believing them to be their own personal choices arising out of their own desires and needs. In this situation, whoever controls the screen controls the future, the past, and the present.
Considering the hypnotic state of the brain when viewing movies, mental imagery, biased news reporting, and advertising you soon realize we don’t have a chance in hell to live an un-manipulated life.

I didn’t intend to go this route.  It was supposed to be an innocent post about getting $25 for doing virtually nothing…

It’s been so long since I’ve had a meaningful post, I have a lot of thoughts stored up. Too many to sort through at this early hour. Why am I up so early? Well, I wish it were to pursue spiritual things, but unfortunately it has to do with our ongoing armadillo infestation. Yes, infestation. We’ve had it for about six years. Ever since we moved here.
I don’t know why they’re drawn to “nest” under my house (Specifically, under my bedroom floor), but they are. Is my house the only one in the neighborhood that welcomes the “little armored ones”? It’s like an armadillo pub. When all the other pubs are closing, they come to the one under my house. Sometimes it’s just when I’m drifting off to sleep. Or, as was the case this morning, around 4:00 am.
So, what does one do when armadillos start having a party under one’s bedroom floor? If you cherish sleep like I do, you probably wake up very bitter. In the early years, I woke up not knowing what to think, but these days I wake up and instantly see red. It doesn’t take long for me to roll out of bed, reach for the Ruger 10/22 International with the 4×32 scope and head out the front door with flashlight in hand.
Let me say a word about the “nesting” phenomenon. I’ve seen them “grab” piles of leaves and drag them backwards like an old man pulling a heavy load. It’s kind of comical. Unless, of course it’s 4:00 in the morning. Before I go much further, let my sensitive readers be warned …
Now I generally love all of God’s creatures, I really do. Armadillo’s are no exception. They’re pretty cute little animals. Quite amazing. Such a unique tribute to God’s creativeness. It’s amazing I can have thoughts of mercy even when I’ve been rudely awakened by a creature that is doing no telling what to my plumbing, phone line and whatever other important things are under my house. Even while his little head is in my crosshairs, I think “Awwww. Look at those tiny little eyes. And those perky little ears.” BANG! “Oooh. Boy, those little guys really flop around a lot. I hope he doesn’t squirt blood all over the side of the house like that one did back in ’03…” “Ok, time to go back to bed. I’ll dispose of the carcass tomorrow.”

Or something like that.
As best I can tell, this is kill #13 (I lost count) in nearly six years at the current residence. I average two a year, plus the occasional possum who hangs out at the same pub (only 3).

In other news, the bathroom renovation is drawing to an end. We can now take baths in our own home.

Guess I’ll scoot, I’m having breakfast with Randy this morning…

Came back a little early from the big hoorah, but it was still good. This gives me time to clean my gear, unpack, and get ready for work in the morning.

It was an awesome experience, as I knew it would be. It’s the type of thing that leaves you hungry for more. The “more” being a closer walk with God- a deeper spiritual life that goes beyond four walls and a steeple. It was a great experience of bonding with my friends, but more importantly, it let me step back, take a breath, and consider my spiritual walk. It gave me time to chew on things that I hadn’t in a while. To consider where I’m going and honestly evaluate whether the path I’m on is the path to continue.
If you’re going down the “wrong” path in life (let’s not analyze this too much), it only gets harder to jump back on the “right” path. Sometimes, there’s a lot of needless baggage to cast aside. Junk that weighs us down. The quicker you can change gears and turn around, the quicker you can reach your intended destination (and with fewer hurdles along the way).
I was challenged. Challenged by compassion (my lack of it) and by selfishness (my abundance of it). I hope that it didn’t manifest itself in overly noticable ways to the people I was with. You can’t live that close to people without seeing a clearer picture of their hearts. Speaking of that-
Michael is full of wisdom and humility. Will is very gentle of heart and passionate about life. Sean is in pursuit of God and His calling. Devin is full of love and spiritual insight. Sarah is submitted to God and seeks to obey Him in all things. Jana is an inspiration to me – a free spirited person who looks for God’s hand in the canvas of life.
I couldn’t have been with a better group of brothers and sisters.

In less than a week, I fly to Maryland for work and I hope it won’t have the opposite effect of Cornerstone.
I was sharing with a friend that I don’t want Cornerstone to be my highlight for the year. I want it to be my launching pad. A catlyst for change. I want each day to build on the next. Isn’t that what it should be like for us all?

Yeah, I saw some good bands, took in some good art, had some great converstations with friends, met some sweet people and drank some kick-butt coffee (better than the mighty Starbucks). But all those fun and enjoyable things pale in comparison to knowing God, which is what the Cornerstone experience is all about. You can’t put it into words, you just have to go and experience it yourself to find that what I say is true.

We had been good friends for a few years and one day, at the height of our friendship, I decided to do something crazy.  We grabbed a pastry, an apple, and some chocolate milk and sat on one of the benches at the Allsop Park Promenade in Hilcrest (Little Rock).  There, we did what we always did. Talked about God and about life.  It was a typical day with my friend.  She didn’t know I had been carrying a diamond ring in my backpack for over a week, waiting for the right conversation to happen.  The moment came, so I got down on one knee and gave her my gift. As she opened it, I asked if she would spend the rest of her life with me.  She said she wanted to say a prayer. WHAT!? I was a little worried now. You see, we were friends. FRIENDS.  She could very well say no and it would become a very awkward moment.  Time seemed to stop.  “Yes,”she said.   Yessssssssss.

So here we are, married for 8 years.  Tanya is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known.  I’ve not known a more feminine model of a Godly woman.  She has such a passion for studying the Word and is a prayer warrior.  She has a great gift for teaching and has a heart for ministry. She is an awesome teacher, both to our children and to our peers.  She has a beautiful voice and loves to praise God in song.  She’s a country girl at heart, yet we actually get along quite well.  Despite our minor musical differences, we find common ground in our love for music in general.  We’ve been to concerts ranging from mellow-Wynton Marsalis, to not-so-mellow- pre-famous Evanescence, as well as some quality shred- Living Sacrifice (and a wide range in between).  In addition to our love for music, we share a love of God’s creation and “the great outdoors”.  Of course, the thing that “glues” us together is a shared passion for God Himself.  What else could explain this union between a quiet country girl from Piggott and this once purple haired, pierced, tattooed punk from Little Rock?  I could go on and on and on. I’m sure you noticed my intent was to talk about my awesome friend, but I ended up talking about “us”.  The reason is simple.  We are a perfect team, a perfect compliment to one another.  I can’t imagine what my life would be like without her in it.

Thank you, God, for giving me a spiritually challenging, physically fulfilling and thoroughly enjoyable friend and lover!