Stuff Michael Meeks is doing | |
This is my (in)activity log. You might like to visit Collabora Productivity a subsidiary of Collabora focusing on LibreOffice support and services for whom I work. Also if you have the time to read this sort of stuff you could enlighten yourself by going to Unraveling Wittgenstein's net or if you are feeling objectionable perhaps here. Failing that, there are all manner of interesting things to read on the LibreOffice Planet news feed. Older items: 2023: ( J F M A M J ), 2022: ( J F M A M J J A S O N D ), 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, legacy html
- Up in the night with babies. Dealt with the garden lots of mowing action; when the mortal mortgage combat has cooled a little, need a better lawn mower. Staggered to discover the owner of the $700k house opposite uses it only as a weekend home / to watch the horse racing.
- Out to Tim & Julie's after lunch, great to see them. Looked over the plans for their extension, admired their garden, etc. Back home for H.'s second substantial success with the potty; wow.
- Gordon sermon on Exodus 20 - "#@&%!*": The 3rd Commandment.
- The regrettable distinction of being the most neglected of the commandments; not though because it's the most frequently broken. A recent study 1 in 30 words, from the typical American's mouth is either a profanity or an obscenity.
- A general sense that many have, that the use of language, profanity in particular is a matter of taste or manners; not serious. We wonder - what is it doing listed next to murder, adultery, theft etc. that seem so grevious in comparison. Such a common offense, mostly inexplicable by those that commit it, even by people that don't know his name.
- Why make a mountain of a mole-hill, actions speak louder than words - surely; but if words are so unimportant, why are we so resistant to changing our habits of vocabulary. Matthew 12 ... a tree is recognized by its fruit ... For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- Words are such an accurate litmus test of the heart from which they come. The vomit from the mouth, a definitive view of the sickness within. C.S.Lewis - Surely what a man does when he is taken off-guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is ... If there are rats in the cellar - you're more likely to see them if you go in very suddenly, but the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man, it only shows me what an ill tempered man I am. Apparently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always there in the cellar of my soul.
- A reciprocal relationship - not just very revealing evidence from the mouth of what is in, but words have a corrosive effect on ones heart. James 3 We all stumble in many ways ... likewise the tongue is a fire, it corrupts the whole person.. Tacitus - It is human nature to hate those we have injured [ counter intuitive perhaps ]. If you want people to go to war, get them to injur the enemy first with words - cf. ramping polemic & propaganda before a war.
- "It means nothing - it's just an expletive" - it's offensive to God to speak his name without worship, adoration, etc. "But everyone does it" - not even culturally true, the American Indians had no vocabulary to curse; similarly Japanese no curse words, though plenty of obscenities - many other cultures similarly.
- Not simply profanity, cf. Deuteronomy, also false prophets. Scriptures enjoin us - similarly applied to false swearing - in a legal context: purjury, but also covenant making & oaths: ordination or marriage vows. Tends not to even register as a problem in the dissolution of marriage. Or worship - Isaiah 29: These people come near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Is your behavior causing blasphemy - is our behavior a disgrace to the God whose name you wear.
- How can we respond appropriately; clever put downs for when other blaspheme ? No; the great danger in times like this - is that others think they're offending us. They are not; they're offending the God of the universe - which is infinitely more serious.
- How to fix the problem ? a change of heart - from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. What we need: Ezekiel 36 - I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean ... I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you ... and will move you to follow all my decrees & keep my laws.
- What to do: put off old behaviors and replace with new; ( Eph 4) perhaps a thief - he who has been stealing - must steal no longer - if all you do is stop stealing, you may still be a thief between jobs so: - but, must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. If you're giving yourself to philanthropy & hard work, you can't be a thief. How about - wrt. words each of you should put-off falsehood - a liar between lies ? - and speak truthfully to his neighbour, a replacement behavior; abnormal loving, honesty. In your anger, do not sin.
My content in this blog and associated images / data under images/ and data/ directories are (usually) created by me and (unless obviously labelled otherwise) are licensed under the public domain, and/or if that doesn't float your boat a CC0 license. I encourage linking back (of course) to help people decide for themselves, in context, in the battle for ideas, and I love fixes / improvements / corrections by private mail.
In case it's not painfully obvious: the reflections reflected here are my own; mine, all mine ! and don't reflect the views of Collabora, SUSE, Novell, The Document Foundation, Spaghetti Hurlers (International), or anyone else. It's also important to realise that I'm not in on the Swedish Conspiracy. Occasionally people ask for formal photos for conferences or fun.
Michael Meeks (michael.meeks@collabora.com) 