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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Wednesday Night Scores

Greetings Gnafia!

Last night was an epic evening filled with freebies. The wife and I were able to redeem a coupon for two FREE Halo Spot's Strew dog food (retail value of $1.99 each) as well as a FREE can of Clean+Green Pet Cleaner after rebate. So I'll end up with 7 free points on my credit card reward's program because one of the can's of dog food ended up getting charged and I got cash back. I'm almost ashamed of counting credit card reward points as bonus wins, but you take what you can get, right?

Oh, you too can get these things. The Clean+Green can be gotten at PetCo, where you save $2 for being a PetCo Perks Member which brings the cost to $4.99, and the rebate form should be on the can itself. The Halo dog OR cat food (for cat people) can be obtained by signing up for the Halo News Letter by clicking here. Yes, you do have to sign up for the news letter and print out the coupon, but it's free food for your pet! We'll let you know how the puppy likes it. Be sure to use the Store Locator first to make sure it's available around you. We had to drive a few miles out of our way to find a store, but we needed to go to Michael's anyways.

I've started to look at rebate offers, too. So far there are a few winners that will make their way onto the Rebate Bonanzai of 29 October 2010 for the Friday Freebies. It'll be spectacular, so don't miss it!

That being said, things in general are going well. The apartment is starting to look like a real home instead of a pig style, the dog is barking less, and the job is finally becoming somewhat fulfilling. I need to get back into the swing of volunteering, however, to make my life a bit more complete. Isn't volunteering awesome? Leave a comment about your favorite volunteer event! Lets see how many comments we can get!

Keep it in the family!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Philosophy and Religion

Greeting Gnafia,

I've discovered that times that you're a little out of touch with your body and fine motor functions are great for doing some deep thinking. I'm not saying these are great times in general, but often I get the feeling that I'm floating in some water and my body feels a bit lighter than usual. I try to avoid getting up too fast and other potentially dangerous tasks, which gives me ample time to think. I also realize thinking is probably more dangerous than standing up for me. Oh, the irony.

At any rate, I've had plenty of time to think. I've started to ponder some great topics such as 'What is Heaven like?' and 'Can God give you his undivided attention?'.

Heaven, as the Bible tells us, is the house of God. There really isn't a whole lot else said about it, other than it's a pretty spectacular place to be. I began thinking, however, as to what such a place might be like. If it is somewhere that all people should want to go, and it is a paradise, how do you reoncile if different people have different ideals of paradise? What if under no circumstances would I define Heaven to be any place where I had to share the same space (regardless of how big and endless that space is) with certain people? Or vice versa? Are there separate 'instances' of Heaven for each person?

The answer to the above questions is that it isn't that Heaven is created to be my paradise. No, I do not believe either that the 99 Virginians promised by the Quar'an are a suitable representation of such a place. (But hey, if the extremists want to blow themselves up to go get their asses kicked in the afterlife by the founding fathers, more power to them. Just go explode over there.) Rather, the paradise aspect is because you get to exist in the presence of God. Such a paradise is certainly beyond the reach of human imagination. Though, if you're afraid you're going to have to run into that Department Head or Executive Officer in Heaven, I think John 14:2-3 sheds some light:

"JOH 14:2  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you
to be with me that you also may be where I am."

So it looks like we each get our own room. I don't have to share with 1st and listen for eternity how he could probably swim to Okinawa or Sasebo from Iwo Jima. Phew!

But this raised a second question. Can God give me his undivided attention? With roughly six billion people in the world, and approximately what, 1.5 billion Christians? 1.5 billion Christians whom, if we presume each recieve an equal share of God's attention, relates to 0.0000576 seconds of God's time that he devotes his attention to me each day. Thankfully God can do anything He wants in that 0.0000576 seconds, and can do everything, too. Otherwise I'd probably be hosed because I couldn't accomplish anything, even blinking, in that short period of time. I mean, in my entire life that's only 1.68192 seconds of God's time assuming I live to be 80 years old! Actually a little more, given leap years, but lets be realistic with the significant figures, eh?

Then it hit me. God isn't restricted by time. Perhapes he give his undivided attention to a single person throughout their entire life, then goes on to the next person in line, heads back to the next person that was born, see's their life through, and so on and so forth. God can be anywhere, at any time, and in as many places at as many times as He chooses! Phew. Of course, that begs to ask the question if humans can ever wrestle themselves free of the grasps of time. How awesome would that be? It might be like TiVo... for your life... sweet.

Hopefully this short insight into my philosophical musings amused you. Feel free to leave a comment if you want. If it sucks, it probably won't justify a reply, though.

Keep it in the family.