Apathy - Bastard Son of Safety and Security

As I think about the history of church people, or people in general for that matter, it's clear that when everything is going well, all the well seem to get going. That is, those who are dedicated to the ideology and community of the church begin to become a smaller and smaller percentage of the Christian population. When something is "easy" or "cool" it attracts all the wrong crowds.

Take for example the time in church history right after Constantine (Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under emperor Theodosius (r. 379-395) not Constantine, though Constantine definitely contributed to it's popularity; as per Ask Me Now). Yes the popularity of Christianity provided many opportunities for theological reflection, but there was also a safety in being a Christian. In fact, there was more than safety; becoming a Christ follower was a good political move. The church became "cool" and popular, attracting those who were just in it for themselves. The cancer of apathy slowly took over and the commitment dwindled. Someone once said that the church grew more under persecution than it did under popularity.

We don't feel a need for God when we feel safe. We still need him; but we forget. It's our education that gets us the job, our job that pays for our house and food, and it's the house and food that fulfill our needs. We become apathetic because we can provide for ourselves, we aren't hiding in the catacombs struggling to stay alive. But the real need for spirituality remains, hidden under the satisfaction of physical safety and security. How, then, do we unveil this need and shake off our apathy? How do we learn to live and love with compassion and desire not blind to the truth?

Frozen H2O

The other day a friend and I had a disagreement about whether water expands or shrinks when it freezes. I said "expands" as per the how pop cans I left outside exploded. He said "shrinks" as per how the water he puts in the ice cube tray is more than the ice he gets out. We turned to the infamous Ask Me Now. And the first answer came back as follows:

"According to our reference site, Generally, water expands when it freezes because of its molecular structure, in tandem with the unusual elasticity of the hydrogen bond and the particular lowest energy hexagonal crystal conformation that it adopts under standard conditions."

Feeling this to be inadequate to finish the conversation I asked a more specific question and came up with this:

"According to our reference site: Water starts out behaving normally. As its temperature drops, water obediently shrinks together--until it reaches 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees F.). Then, amazingly, water reverses course, its volume slowly increasing as it chills. When water finally freezes, at 0 C (32 F.), it expands dramatically. Scientists say water's quirky behavior is caused by the shape of its molecule and by how its molecules bond to one another."

Now with a satisfying answer, I then turned to the issue of the shrinking water in the ice cube tray. Here Ask Me Now failed to understand my question and spat out this answer:

"Liquid water is most dense, essentially 1.00 g/cm³, at 4 °C and becomes less dense as the water molecules begin to form the hexagonal crystals of ice as the temperature drops to 0 °C. This is due to hydrogen bonds forming between the water molecules, which line up molecules less efficiently (in terms of volume) when water is frozen. The result of this is that ice floats on liquid water."

So as I thought about the mystery of the missing water I began to develop my own hypothesis. Maybe the water in the ice cube tray isn't shrinking at all? Maybe it's evaporating into the air in the freezer? Think about it; when is the air driest during the year? In the winter when it's the coldest, like in a freezer. Maybe the cold dry environment of the freezer caused the water in the ice cube tray to evaporate. This is my hypothesis. I'll leave you with that.

"Banking Can be This Comfortable"

I recently received my first mortgage statement from TD Canada Trust. Believe it or not, this is an actual quote from the statement in regards to future statements:

“At TD Canada Trust, we like to keep you informed about matters affecting your account. Starting in 2007, TD Canada Trust will no longer send you a semi-annual mortgage statement. Mortgage Statements will be provided once a year.”

So because TD wants to keep me informed they have decided to stop sending two statements a year and instead send one. Because somehow one statement provides me with more information? It’s just so blatantly, obviously, and oxy-moron. It’s like a Gas Bar saying they are committed to being available for their customers; and, thus, are no longer going to be open all night. It just doesn’t make sense. If you want to send me fewer mortgage statements, fine; but don’t preface it with how you want to keep me informed. Just don’t send as many.

A Good friend of mine, Tara (also a work colleague), advised me to invest in some Pink Floyd this last Christmas. She said that I should buy “Dark Side of the Moon” and that the first time I played it I had to listen the whole album straight through in one sitting. I did; and needless to say it was awesome. Though my favorite song is still “Money,” the rest just emphasized it. There are little snippets of “Money” through the whole album, along with pieces of “Us and Them” (I’m sure I’ll find more as I go on). I was also blown away by the song “The Great Gig in the Sky.” The woman’s vocals were haunting and emotionally inspiring. The more I listen to it the more it feels like she is singing what I am feeling at that time. Even though I feel something different every time I listen to it. I can’t wait to watch “The Wizard of Oz” to it.