Darkness and Butterflies

“…All of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.  And I realize just how beautiful You are, and how great Your affections are for me.  Oh how He loves.” –John Mark McMillan

The other day I got into a fight with a butterfly.  No, it isn’t as silly a sight as it sounds…well not quite.  I was doing some evening gardening and had the garage door open.  When I went in to get a rake I noticed a beautiful butterfly fluttering around, trapped inside the garage.

Normally I wouldn’t think too much of this, and have from time to time even pinned butterflies. I am not some overly-indulgent animal lover.  But this time I felt a little bit of sadness for the poor creature.  To her, she was trapped in some inescapable cave.  I took pity on her.  I decided it was female, not because of some butterfly expertise, but because I simply cannot imagine a male butterfly, though I know they must actually exist.  So with the creature properly personified, I was committed to action.

I grabbed the ladder with the intent of reaching up to the ceiling and gently cupping her in my hand, then releasing her outside.  But just at the instant my plan was about to work, she deftly avoided my grasp in the way that only bugs and small children can.  This set off a several minute period of me moving the ladder and repeating the procedure repeatedly with utter futility.  The butterfly did not appreciate any of my efforts.

As I was pondering the absurdity of the situation and how terrifying this must be to the butterfly, I watched the butterfly frantically moving from ceiling to wall to ceiling and narrowly escaping multiple spider webs.  Convinced that I was beaten in the summer butterfly campaign of 2010, I surrendered and retreated to my house in defeat.

In the morning, the butterfly was far from the front of my mind as I opened the door to get in my car, and was surprised to see the butterfly sweep out of the door into the open air.  She fluttered about low to the ground above my flower bed, and then climbed into the sky with the semi-inebriated flight style that butterflies seem to enjoy.  I smiled.  She was free.

So many times, I feel like that butterfly.  I sit in situations, toxic and painful, sometimes afraid to move, and bumping around my panic, avoiding traps both real and imagined.  I desperately want to find the light, to feel free and supported by fresh air and freedom.  I long for hands, caring and immense, to carry me to such a place.

I believe in those hands.  I believe that God frantically climbs ladders and reaches for me, but it is often difficult to tell those loving hands from giants bent on my destruction.  I know he loves me.  I pray for the doors to open so I can sweep into the sky with a clumsy sense of freedom. But right now, I just feel small.  And maybe if I quiet myself enough and don’t focus on the walls, I can just feel His hands envelop me.

Hold me and carry me.  I long for your immense gentleness to surround me and take me where you will.  I miss those hands, and I fear you will give up and let me bump around my prison in the dark.  You promise to strengthen your people and give them peace (Psalm 29).  Carry me.  Let me fly again in your light.  -Ryan

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Investigative Journalism Awesomeness

According to Miriam-Webster one of the hallmarks of what defines journalism is “writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.”  The framers of the Constitution of the United States understood that this was a key aspect of a free society.  This was inherent in the protection of the fourth estate written into the First Amendment.

Bloggers and Foxy News types are always complaining that this has been forgotten, but sometimes we need a refresher course with some easily digestible facts.

Case in point

A recent Hot Air link from the Los Angeles Times gave a snapshot into statistics regarding the current immigration controversy in Arizona.  The Article by Teresa Watanabe, Immigration now a top concern among Latinos, poll shows, reported that the poll “of 504 Latinos” revealed that immigration was now the main concern of American Latinos, spurred by the new Arizona immigration law that they overwhelmingly opposed.

The article further stated  that this issue would “galvanize Latinos of all political stripes into voting in November,” and that the majority would only vote for candidates supporting an “immigration overhaul.”

All of this may be quite accurate.  But as usual, there is a lot written between the lines of this article.

To her credit, at least the author lists the sponsors of the survey, the Hispanic Federation and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).  What Ms. Watanabe leaves out is that both the Hispanic Federation and LULUC have a very clearly presented agenda that is perhaps important in determining the validity of any survey that they undertake on the matter of immigration.

The Hispanic Federation, whose mission is, “To serve our community by building and supporting Latino institutions,” has recently put out a statement both condemning protection of the border and demanding “comprehensive immigration reform” as the only fix for our immigration problem.  Keep in mind that “comprehensive immigration reform” is one of those liberal talking-point catchphrases for  amnesty for illegal aliens.  “We need comprehensive immigration reform so hard working undocumented immigrants, who do the jobs other Americans won’t do, can finally come out of the shadows,” I believe is the officially sanctioned wording these days.  When any of these phrases are used, it becomes pretty clear which side of the issue the author is leaning toward.

On its homepage, the Federation refers to the survey in question, and gives the community’s reaction to the “Racial profiling law.”  One could not by any stretch of the imagination consider the Hispanic Federation an impartial party in this issue.

LULAC is far more militant as an organization.  Their website has an open call to boycott Arizona, although they trickily word it as, “boycott Senate bill 1070,” superimposed over the state outline.  I guess this prevents anyone from saying they actually called for a state boycott.  How clever.  I guess they also  fail as a disinterested survey party.

One would expect better results from someone with a USC degree like Teresa Watanabe.  But oh, wait!  Her Facebook page lists her as a fan of Reform Immigration For America.  Their agenda is made perfectly clear.

So to recap, Thoroughly researched article—fail; Objective writing—fail; impartial survey—fail; LA Times writer trying to uncover truth wherever it may be found—massive fail.  This is no surprise.  In a recent survey conducted by RyanShinn.com, the Los Angeles times was found to be unreliable by 92% of respondents.

Why is this so bad?

Thomas Jefferson said that, “Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.”  He wasn’t the only one with this sentiment.  The press was understood as being the main instrument to counter inevitable propaganda intended to control and enslave a free society.

Dictators have also long known this.  Vladimir Lenin stated this principle quite nicely. “The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.”

It comes as no secret to anyone paying attention that the American main-stream press has largely abandoned the value of a free press in favor of acting more as a mouthpiece for propaganda that more easily fits their world-view.  But this fact needs to continually be brought back to our collective consciousness, lest we forget.    -Ryan

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Sun Chips Green Bag – Week 8

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Sun Chips Green Bag – Week 7

Here is the end of week 6, beginning of week 7.  It was shot on time.  I’ve just been delinquent in putting it up.

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Small Miracles

One of my favorite quotes comes from G.K. Chesterton. I won’t quote the whole thing verbatim here (although I can from memory). But basically it says that God has the eternal appetite of youth, and makes every single sunset and daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them. “For we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is far younger than we.”… (Click the header to read the full article)

Sun Chips Green Bag -Week 5

The holiday weekend kept me from posting this until now, but I took it on Friday, the same day of the week that I’ve generally done all the rest of the videos.  I am trying to be strict on this, as it is a very scientific experiment.

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Google in Charge

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Sun Chips Green Bag

Have you seen the new Sun Chips eco-bag?  It’s the one that makes a ton of sound whenever you touch it.  I had a hard time eating the chips, because every time I tried to eat my neighbors would stop by and tell me to “knock it off!”

In all seriousness, I love the idea of eco-friendly bags.  There is no reason that everything known to man needs to be wrapped in plastic.  If you really think about it, half of our landfills are filled not with things that are broken and don’t work anymore, but the packaging for all of our new stuff.  So, I enthusiastically support Sun Chips in their effort.

In case you aren’t aware of exactly what I’m talking about, here is a crash course from the Sun Chips people, themselves.

So, being the really scientific guy I am, I decided to conduct my own experiment.

I have my own compost bin at home.  So, gathered up some of the compost, and put it in a plastic tub.  I’ll be checking back with the bag each week, and showing updates.  We’ll see if the bag is really gone in 12-14 weeks, as they claim.  Here are pictures of the bag, and a short video showing the start of week 1.

Here is the video of me setting up the experiment.

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Happy Mother’s Day

As I have prepared for Mother’s Day this year, my thoughts have turned to flowery gifts and cheesy cards.  But in a way, the whole Mother’s Day card idea seems to be both a little impersonal, and overly discrete.  We buy a card with a flowery picture where some guy in an office has written something that appeals to the broadest audience possible, but we are supposed to pretend it is the sentiment of our innermost selves.  Often times we say something like, “I read this, and it captured my exact feelings for you.”  These are great for those who don’t have much of an ability to express themselves.

At the same time, we share these “deep feelings” with only the mother we are so proud of.  So the card that says, “I want the whole world to know how special you are,” is sealed tightly in an envelope and addressed only to that one Mom that you want the whole world to know about.

So, this Mother’s Day I want to do something a little different: instead of buying a card and sending it off for only my Mom to read, I’m going to do my best to capture my thoughts for my Mom in my own words and leave it out in the open for the whole world to see.  From this point on, I’ll be addressing my Mom directly in first-person, but everyone is invited along because I believe that my Mom is truly worth celebrating.

—–

Mom,

When I think back to all of the formative moments of my life, you are always there, front and center.  Every award, every performance, every skinned knee, you were there.  When I fell down, it was you who picked me up.  When I lost my course and aim, you helped me turn.

I remember you at every band performance, musical, and sports game.
I remember your strength in moments where it seemed like you and I against the whole world.

You taught me that if you lie about something, you might not get to go to the Halloween party.
You taught me that there is nothing much better than sitting on the counter on a Saturday morning and making breakfast together, and that
Bugs Bunny is always funny no matter how many times you’ve seen it.
You taught me that there is nothing more healing than the song “You are My Sunshine.”

You helped me see that amazing wonders of nature like Giant Sequoias are more than just trees.  They are the very fingerprints of God.

Through the good times and the bad, you’ve always been there and always persevered.  You’ve taught me everything I know, and I am proud to be your son.  Everything I have and everything I am is because of you.  I’ll always love you. Thank you Mom.

Just as a fun little bit from history, I was able to get an old picture of my mom from some of her professional dancing days.  She has always been really light on her feet.

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Our New Throne

I never win anything.

The last thing that I won was a Super Nintendo on the night of my High School graduation.  And as the students in my youth group like to point out, that was a long time ago.  Since then–nothing.  No prizes for Ryan, although my wife wins stuff all the time.

That is why the events of 2 weeks ago were so surprising to me.  It started out with me doing the dishes after having our friends Andrew and April over for dinner the night before.  I turned on the under-counter radio in order to keep me company.

As I did the dishes, I was reminded of a problem with our kitchen sink.  We noticed some time ago that the sink in the kitchen seems to take 10 times longer to get hot water flowing than any other faucet in the house, and when it does it is never quite as hot as the others.  I don’t think about this often, except when I do dishes and have to wait several minutes before getting any hot water.

This information is worth noting, because as I waited for my water to warm, the radio was saying “You’re listening to Chris Miles on House Talk, and today we have with us Steve Hatcher, the owner of Steve Hatcher plumbing.  We’re taking all of your plumbing questions this hour.”

So I called.

It took a few calls before it all went through and I almost gave up, but eventually the phone rang.  After only a few minutes of waiting they put me on the air and both guys helped troubleshoot my problem.  But then the real fun began.

It just so happened that Steve Hatcher was giving away a free Toto toilet with free installation to someone who called that hour.  About 15 minutes after I hung up, still doing the dishes, Chris Miles announced my name on the radio.

I won a toilet!  I needed a toilet.  Peichi and I did the Dance of Joy.

The wheels of progress began to turn, and gained some quick momentum.  Mere minutes after my name was announced on air, Chris Mile’s assistant called to congratulate me on winning.  She seemed genuinely almost as excited as I was.  Shortly thereafter, Steve Hatcher’s assistant called to congratulate me as well.  She seemed just as excited, and told me that they would be calling me back again soon to schedule the installation.  During that second call we scheduled the job for Thursday afternoon the next week.

I called my friends and family with glad tidings of great joy…at least for me.  I also promised them all that they could do their ‘business’ in my new toilet once it was installed.  My friend Paul said he would be excited to do just that, and that I couldn’t say “I never win crap” now.  His joke.

When Thursday came around, Peichi and I were giddy with anticipation, and a little bit weighted down, after “saving up” so as to be able to fully experience our new toilet once it was in place.  We waited, staring out the window at every passing truck and van, inspecting them for plumbing ads on their doors.

The only imperfect part of the whole experience was that the plumber didn’t technically show up at the time we were told…but they did call us twice to let us know this, make sure it was all right, and inform us that Steve, himself, would be coming out to supervise. I told them both times that it was all OK by me.

Let me take time out for a second to say this: As a home owner and a person who works a busy schedule, I often have various people who have scheduled to come and do some work.  The phone, Internet, security, electric company, all have come at one time or another.  They seldom make the window they have told me in advance.  This is insensitive to me.  But in this case, they called several times just to keep me apprised and to make sure that it was all OK with me.

First of all, of course it is OK, I am getting a free toilet.  Second, I am almost always flexible when someone lets me know what is going on.  If more companies would do what Steve Hatcher plumbing did in that case, more customers would be satisfied with their service.  Most people know that plumbing jobs (or insert Internet, electrical, etc.) can take longer than a technician would have assumed by hearing about the problem over the phone.  Most people are also willing to be accommodating if the company would just let them know.  Steve Hatcher plumbing did this.  Even if my toilet hadn’t been free, I would be happy with that level of service.  It showed me respect.  Now back to the story…

Steve and Sean (one of his plumbers) showed up and began to get things going.

Everything went pretty smoothly.  They replaced my toilet, the mounting flange, fixed the water line to the toilet in a different bathroom, and even looked at the sink I called about in the first place.  Total cost to me $0.

But almost equally pleasing to me was that everyone was super nice, and fun.  Essentially, Steve was giving me his time, his employees time, his company’s money, and a free toilet.  He could have just thrown the thing in, charged me for the flange (or refused to install it until I had it done), and then gotten out quickly in order to make some real money.  But that isn’t what they did of course, or how they made me feel.

We talked about radio, the plumbing business, all the cool info about my new toilet, and played guitar.  When they finished, Steve even checked out my neighbor’s sink, free of charge.

Oh, and the toilet…Primo!  It is a water saving, super-eco throne.  It uses less than half the water of a regular toilet, while flushing with the power of one of those airplane jet toilets.  It is ADA compliant, which means for me that I can sit and read without my legs going to sleep from sitting so low.  Truthfully, I use it as often as I possibly can.  I get a little bit excited every time I have to go.

My point in this is not to advertise a plumber.  But I am the kind of guy who will let a manager know if my service was bad.  At the same time, I believe that when service is above and beyond expectations that should be recognized.  That is the kind of experience I had with Steve Hatcher Plumbing.  When I have a plumbing problem in the future, they will be the first, and probably the last ones I call. 

-Ryan

Below is a slide show of the pictures we took during all of this.

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