Doughnut dilemma

I recently put this comment on my Facebook Status:

"It's interesting how, when you bring doughnuts to a gathering people invariably say no; and yet somehow those doughnuts disappear by the end of the evening. Hmmmmm."

Got a lot of likes on this on, and a few interesting comments.

One person pointed out that they eat the doughnut hole because it has no calories.  Problem is that you have to get through the doughnut to get to the hole, don't you?

Another said that he breaks the doughnut into pieces to allow the calories to leak out.  Ok, that's just a rationalistic - ok maybe irationalistic - excuse.

The real problem with a doughnut is that it is a lot of fat that, once your done with it, leaves you with nothing.  I kind of think that is life without God.  We fill our lives with fat, but have nothing in the end. To coin a phrase I heard on an episode of the BBC show Blackadder, life without God is like a broken pencil - pointless. (Sure I'm mixing my metaphors, but it's a great line so I needed to add it!)
If we want to have real life, we need to have a right relationship with God, and that can happen through our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).  Life with God through Yeshua is like a cream filled doughnut: delectable.

If you don't agree with me, you can say so.  Better yet, lets get together for a doughnut - a cream-filled one I think.

Toy Story 1&2 in 3D. Why?

I just got back from watching Toy Story 1&2 in 3D with Lynda and the boys. I can't figure out why.

It's not like there was any change in the movie that made the 3D particularly awesome. They were the same old movies (which I like btw) but with a little more depth of vision, but often I could hardly even tell that. It was a disappointment. Just being disappointed I can take, but to have to be disappointed looking goofy with those Clark Kent glasses on - well that's going overboard.

It was great being with the family - having the boys complain about waiting in line, having to tell them to shush every 3 minutes, having to take Ethan to the bathroom every 10 - well that's what makes family movie nights worthwhile. But I'd rather have done it seeing something I haven't seen before - like this "Cloudy with Meatballs" movie. Sure, the title makes the movie sound silly - I here it's pretty good actually - but at least I could have fun making fun of it if it isn't.

Mind you - had I been to the "Meatballs" movie with the boys, I would have still had to leave every 10 minutes for the washroom, and would not have been able to see enough to make fun of it. So, it's just as well we went to Toy Story 1&2 in 3D.

They didn't have to do it though - make Toy Story 1&2 in 3D. I still would have gone to see Toy Story 3 in 3D if they hadn't. Who wouldn't? I just hope that, this time, the 3D effects will be worth it.

Live for the now, or live for eternity?

I had a friendly chat the other day with a Chassidic rabbi. One of the things he said to me, was that he does not live for the Olam Habah (the Life to Come), but for life here and now - something to that effect and I hope I have represented him correctly. I had heard the same sort of thing expressed by Shmuli Boteach at a debate he had in New York City with Michael Brown - that Judaism is more interested in the world we live in than in Heaven. The assumption here, of course, is that Christians live for heaven and not for the here and now.

I recognize that this is a rabbinic understanding, but I wonder if it's biblical. After all, King David said in Psalm 23:6: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Now I'm pretty sure that David was not anticipating living on the Tabernacle grounds for the rest of his life. For one thing it would not have been practical, and for another thing it would not have been allowed since he was not a Levite. No, David is looking towards the Olam Habah. He prays for Gods love and kindness in life, and then eternal life with Him after death.

I also think about the phrase you see over and over again in the Hebrew Scriptures after the death of the patriarchs and the kings, that they were, "gathered to their people." When Abraham was "gathered to his people,(Genesis 25:8)" he was nowhere near their burial grounds in Ur and Haran. Yet there is this tacit understanding that his people are somewhere to be gathered to, neither temporally nor spatially.

I feel that the Hebrew Scriptures are very concerned about the world to come. If it wasn't then how do we explain the great messianic expectations of the Jewish people in the days of Y'shua (Jesus). In fact, they were so focused on the Messiah of the Olam Habah - the one who would bring eternal world peace and eternal prominence of Israel - that they missed the Messiah who came - the suffering servant Messiah who would die for our transgressions as promised by Isaiah (see, for instance, Isaiah 53).

The more I think about it, the more I realize that my Jewish friend misunderstands the Christian perspective. As Christians, whether Jewish or Gentile, we look forward to heaven because that is where the Lord is. We look forward to heaven because our life in eternity will be a lot longer than our 80 years or so here on earth, and we'd rather spend it with the Lord than without Him. We look forward to heaven because it is there that the best rewards of life are found. We look forward to heaven, it's true, but we strive to live lives of righteousness for God, because we love him with all our heart, and all our souls and with all our might.

I believe that my Chassidic friend would say that he does the same, so in this we are not much different. So what is the difference between him and I? That's for the next post. For any who might be interested in this post, I welcome your respectful comments. I pray God's blessings on you all, whether you agree with me or not. May the Lord lead us all into right understanding, that we might be a blessing to Him.

Welcome to Richard's Shmooze Spot

Welcome to my shmooze spot. I have just started this account and hope to have something written here soon. I'm not sure what kind of stuff it's going to be. We'll just have to see.